A/N: I wanted to do a heavy-Trunks chapter, so this came out quickly! And while I was writing, it occurred to me that I'm starting a Namek adventure with two characters that never got to be a part of it, so that shakes things up! Thank you to Julyza (hopefully this chapter satisfies your curiosity!), hisuichanxx (I want Trunks happy too, but it might take a minute with his trauma lol), lmamc, Guest (right now), Anzu Brief (very true! I love that you point out the change in their dynamic, because it's certainly crucial), Kitty in the Box (Yes! Vegeta is banking on the fact that Frieza will kill him, which seems like something he would think, but can also be… really unwise, honestly. Especially given what Geta potentially witnessed, but more on that another time ;) My Trunks is slated to accomplish a lot, but like his father, he has to fight for greatness!), Ell00Ell (Love Trunks! That's why I want to give him such focus!), Complex Dream, and Lisa8507 (yeah, I wish I saw more good fics with Trunks raised on Vegeta's planet, because I'd be interested in reading them).

Sidenote: Power levels have become basically a joke (and I'm not even touching the "S-cells" thing…) so I'm going to stay pretty vague about it. Trunks' base level is very strong for his age, prodigious really… but it obviously doesn't compare to his SSJ level. Happy reading!

Chapter 17:

"No, Dad, don't touch that!" Gohan wrenched the controls from Goku's hapless direction and fiddled with some of the buttons quickly, reinstating the ship to its flight pattern. "We have to keep it on autopilot, Dr. Briefs said!"

Goku scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Oh, right! Good thing you're with me, son…"

Gohan ignored his father in favor of the dashboard and Krillin rolled his eyes good-naturedly, thinking that it would be better off if Goku just stuck to the training room built by the Capsule Corp owner. Krillin suspected that he had built it with Goku's need for distraction in mind, or they would risk not getting to Namek at all.

And Gohan… the young boy was still turned to the controls with his perfectionist tendencies inflamed by this new playground of tech. It had been a near-miss that Gohan was here at all.

"Goku! Over my dead BODY will you take my baby to space!"

The overgrown Saiyan was shaking as he cringed in front of his wife. "Geez, Chi-Chi, you don't have to be that serious! I mean…think of it as a field trip!" He brightened, as if the notion sounded better as it came to him. "Gohan could learn so much out there… for school! C'mon!"

Chi-Chi snorted. "Oh, like how to get torn apart by monsters? Getting his beautiful brain bashed in by some alien thug?!" Every word got more hysterical and Krillin shifted uneasily.

"Hey, we'll look out for him, Chi-Chi! You don't need to… worry…" he gulped when Gohan's mother settled her dark, unblinking eyes on him. "I, uh…"

"Yes?" she hissed, "You have any PROMISES you want to make me? About how my baby boy won't get his neck snapped out there?! Well you can forget it!"

"Okay," Goku said hurriedly. "Well, why don't we ask Gohan what he wants?"

"I want to go."

All eyes fell on the boy that stood in the doorway, spine straightened in an uncharacteristically stubborn way.

"Gohan…" Krillin muttered in surprise. Even Goku looked taken aback. Chi-Chi almost wavered on her feet.

"You can't be serious," she said. "You—you don't know what's out there! Don't let your father push you into this, Gohan! Your schoolwork is too important to fall—"

Gohan put up a hand soberly, stopping his mother's panicked rant, and Krillin wondered in amazement who was the most mature person in this house. "I know I need to keep up. I'll bring my books with me and study the whole trip."

"But why—"

"Mom. Trunks needs help and he's all alone. He's my friend."

"Sweetheart…" Chi-Chi actually looked careful for once, choosing her words. "You haven't seen Trunks in a long time. Things have changed a lot since then."

Krillin knew there was some truth in that; Vegeta had kept Bulma and Trunks on his planet for years now, half of Trunks' life. He would probably be a completely different kid now, even if he hadn't lost his mom. But then, so was Gohan.

There hadn't been an adventure for the Earthlings since… well, since Bulma disappeared with Vegeta. Sure, there was the odd baddie, the Martial Arts Tournament, hanging out with Master Roshi (which Chi-Chi forbid Gohan from anyway…) but nothing challenging for Goku. And Krillin was sure that Gohan was old enough to feel it too. There was sleeping power in that kid… and even the most studious, gentle boy would be affected by that. Especially with a dad like Goku!

"Things have changed…" Gohan repeated his mother's words. He frowned and his posture tensed, resolve in every line of his body. "But if I were Trunks, and I asked for his help, I would want him to show up. And Bulma needs our help too."

"I can't let Bulma down, Chi…" Goku said.

Chi-Chi understood that, she had already said that. Bulma and Goku had been friends forever and Chi-Chi knew this was just what her husband did. Her eyes welled up. "But that has nothing to do with dragging Gohan along with you!"

"Mom!" Gohan shouted. He did it so rarely that everyone clamped their mouths shut and stared. Gohan looked steadily at his mother. "Dad isn't 'dragging me' with him, I want to go."

He looked his mother dead in the eye. "I need to go."

Once Chi-Chi realized that Gohan would not be moved by any of her pleas, she gave her blessing, threatened to kill Goku if ANYTHING went wrong, and stomped off in tears.

Goku stared after his sobbing wife and winced as a door slammed, before looking down at his boy. "Are you sure about this, son?"

For a moment, Gohan did look a little scared, likely thinking about all the unknowns that this adventure would bring. But then he took a bracing breath and nodded his head. "Definitely, Dad! Let's do this for Bulma and Trunks!"

"You said it, Gohan!"

"Need help?" Krillin asked, knowing that the offer was more exhibition than anything else. Krillin wasn't good with this stuff either. Gohan shook his head and tapped a few more things before turning away from the panel.

"This thing drives itself, almost…" Gohan shrugged.

"Dr. Briefs is pretty amazing," Krillin agreed. "Are you gonna train with your dad now?"

"Hey, yeah!" Goku said excitedly. "I have a few things to show ya!"

"No, I have homework first," Gohan said dutifully. While he had not let his mother change his decision, the boy plainly had been keeping his promise to not fall back on his studies. "But I'll catch up with you later!"

"Alright, son!" Now having been reminded of what the ship offered, Goku disappeared out of the control room to wear himself out. Krillin, on the other hand, was feeling some apprehension. If Gohan wasn't going to train with Goku, that only left Krillin… and it was long-past the time that Krillin was able to keep up with the Saiyan.

Krillin sighed and rubbed his bald head. "Well, I better get going…" he gestured toward the door and turned to leave Gohan to his schoolwork.

"Hey…Krillin?"

The short human stopped in his tracks as he heard the tentative voice. "Yeah, Gohan?"

The boy was staring at the floor. "We'll be on Namek in a few hours… What do you think it's going to be like? I mean, do you think we'll be able to bring Bulma back to life with these Dragonballs? Do you think… well… do you think that maybe Trunks and Bulma could come back with us if this all works?"

Krillin paused at the frank, pensive questions… but then he smiled, because it was the only thing he could think to do. "I'm pretty sure if Bulma thought the Dragonballs could work… then it'll work." He chuckled. "She might be a pretty scary girl, but she definitely knew what she was talking about when it came to science!" He patted the thirteen-year old on the shoulder. "And don't worry about the rest! We'll figure it all out. Just focus on making sure we don't crash-land, okay? Because I sure can't steer this thing!"

He felt Gohan slightly relax under his hand and Krillin turned to go with a nod. Meanwhile, the questions Gohan had still stuck with him. What would they find on this planet? Besides that, after Vegeta had basically kidnapped Bulma all those years ago and she had warned them not to come after her, Vegeta had left Earth alone. He had gotten what he wanted, after all.

But what would happen now that they would see Trunks again? Would Vegeta leave well-enough alone if they decided they wanted to leave him? Krillin had a feeling that things couldn't be the same after this adventure, and for some reason, he hoped his gut was telling him the wrong thing.

VBVBVBVBVB

"Initiate landing sequence," Nappa intoned as Trunks stared out the window, looking at the new land. Green and purple, cool and about as far from the colors of Vegeta-sei as you could get… "Wait. It…it doesn't matter where we land, right?" Nappa called out to Trunks, unsure. The boy had stayed out of piloting, but he was the brains of this operation and had earned the Saiyan's fear and respect by his new turn in power and cold personality. It went against everything in Nappa to hold such feelings for a half-breed, but power levels didn't lie.

Trunks shrugged, affecting boredom. "No, land wherever…" He clenched the Dragonball radar in his hand. If it worked the same way that it had on Earth, then it wouldn't matter where they started off. From the last information he had gotten from Goku's ship, they weren't far behind. But they had their own radar from home and Trunks didn't want to waste time waiting for them to get here. Breaking up the search could only make it faster, right?

When the ship touched down to solid ground, Trunks floated out and below, clicking the radar on. "Alright!" he exclaimed when the radar lit up with seven points. He didn't want to feel it, but there was the smallest welling of hope within him at the sight of it. He had wanted to believe all along that he'd get his mother back, and every step forward got him feeling more positive, whether he liked it or not.

Nappa landed beside him. "What do we do?"

Trunks looked up. They only had one radar, and he didn't care that Vegeta had caused Nappa to be pledged to him. He didn't trust the underling one bit. "I've got our map, so you'll follow me!" he commanded.

He started to jet off when something had him frozen in a crouch. Power levels… strong ones.

"Hold on," Nappa said, he must have felt it too. "Those are strong."

Trunks thought back to what he knew. The denizens of this planet were much stronger than average humans, but they were also a peace-loving race. "Mom said the Namekians were—"

"Unless Nameks are on par with upper-level Cold soldiers, that's not them," Nappa interrupted. The brat may have his little mission, but this was something Nappa would know about. "Someone might be here."

"Someone stronger than me?" Trunks asked dangerously.

"Than you… that night?" Nappa said, remembering that terrifying force. "…no." He had an inkling of who the invaders were, but he didn't want to say and be wrong yet again. It didn't make sense for them to be here. And if it was who he thought, then just by a question of numbers, he would be pulled into the fight. And however strong this brat was, Nappa was no match for this opponent. "But—"

"But nothing!" Trunks cut across, "I know that bringing my mom back doesn't mean anything to you, but I'll pulverize anyone who gets in my way. And that includes you. Your King ordered you to help me, so stop being such a coward. Let's go."

Nappa felt anger and humiliation burn through him at the words, but did nothing as the purple-haired brat bent his knees again and whistled into the air like a rocket. The little bastard was right; he had his orders. He flew after him, knowing that the runt was purposely going too fast for Nappa to catch. "Damn it! Ah, well… let the kid fly into trouble if he wants to so badly," the Saiyan thought with a smirk. And maybe he could watch the little half-breed deal some pain to Saiyan enemies.

Up ahead, Trunks could see white, domed buildings that were pretty small, like high-tech huts. He suspected that the Namekians lived there. And as he got closer, he was proven correct. Green men-like creatures with ears like tiny satellites were milling around among the domes. Closer still, he could see that their movements were panicked… like the way the slaves on Vegeta-sei moved when they were going to be blasted by an angry Saiyan. And those power levels… they were there too, and they didn't feel friendly.

Trunks automatically slowed down as he searched for potential threats. His youthful instinct was to plow right in, but the weight of the unfamiliar surroundings and his father's voice wouldn't be dismissed.

A Saiyan Warrior ALWAYS takes stock of their situation before they attack—never lose an opportunity to take the enemy by surprise, or find an advantage before you engage.

Bitterly, he knew his mother would agree, even if she would not be happy that Trunks was on a foreign planet with only Nappa for assistance. Slowing down gave Nappa the chance to catch up to his charge. Trunks rolled his eyes as the panting jerk came up behind him.

"Let's go over there," Trunks muttered, pointing to a mint-green hill with enough of a lip that they could duck below it if they needed to. He tucked the Dragonball radar into his clothes, for now.

Trunks peered over, from their higher vantage point, and watched as a wizened green man backed into view of them, his arms raised hopelessly. With his Saiyan ears, he didn't need to strain to hear.

"I've already told you, we have nothing for you to take. We live peacefully, we have kept to ourselves and merely do what we need to survive." He was speaking to someone Trunks couldn't see, but he gritted his teeth when he heard screams. "Such a life would not appeal to one like you."

Two smaller green people, children younger than Trunks was, trembled into view and moved nearer to their leader. He wanted to rescue them from whatever was frightening them, but he hesitated, hoping to see who the bad guy was before he charged in.

"C'mon…" Trunks mumbled, his eyes glued to the scene. "Show your face."

But he never got what he was looking for. The enemy attacked brutally, and after a short struggle, the older Namekian's neck was snapped. The two kids broke off running, heeding the last words of their leader, and a ki blast came from around the domes, obliterating one of the kids with awful finality. That did it! Trunks couldn't just watch anymore.

"Hey!" Nappa growled when Trunks disappeared and shot right in front of the other green boy. "Damn half-caste brat!" He moved from his hiding space, hovering lower, but didn't follow Trunks just yet.

"Pick on someone your own power level, loser." Trunks glared heatedly at the Cold soldier, deciding this was worth losing the element of surprise. The guy was bright red-skinned and had a ton of white hair. Trunks couldn't help but think that considering how the Saiyans mocked Trunks' coloring, they would have had a field day with this guy! The red guy's eyes widened when Trunks landed before him, and he tapped his scouter before collapsing into laughs.

"Yes, like you?" He rubbed crimson hands together. "Is this a trick? Your power level is more pathetic than there's. I'm surprised you can even fly, kid."

Trunks had learned to suppress his power level on Earth, so it didn't surprise him that many aliens didn't know about the technique. If Frieza's goons did, they wouldn't need the scouters, would they?

"Who are you? I've only seen these green blokes running around. Take a wrong turn in space?"

"No, but maybe you did," Trunks said coldly.

"Please don't be dead," the Namekian boy who Trunks was protecting, whispered to his friend. Trunks shook with rage at the words. He knew what it was like now: to beg a dead person to live. There were dead bodies all around them.

"I'm going to kill you," Trunks promised the murderer. The ground beneath him rumbled and he released a little on the suppression. Meanwhile, he tried to get a better sense of his opponent's power level… it was high, maybe higher than Trunks could handle as he was, without trying to do the transformation that happened when his mom was killed. The red guy looked quizzically at him, probably because his scouter was reading differently now.

"What's going on?" he muttered.

"Hey, Jeice! Whaddya think this is?"

Another one of these thugs showed up, and he was holding exactly what Trunks was looking for. Yellowy-orange, with some red stars, there was no mistaking the memories from his childhood! Except, it was much bigger than the Earth balls. He doubted he could carry more than one easily—two at the most.

"Where'd he come from?" This guy was much bigger than the one he called Jeice, blue and bald. He jerked his chin at Trunks. "Doesn't look like the rest of them."

But Trunks was preoccupied with the Dragonball. Pretend you aren't interested in it. Distract them so they forget about it. But if they don't know about the Dragonballs… then why are they here, killing people? He could still hear the last kid left whimpering, not moving from the shelter of Trunks' shadow.

"You bullies like to kill innocent people for fun?" Trunks smashed his fist into his open palm. "I'll fix you."

"Is this brat serious?" The blue guy stared, but Jeice shrugged.

"Let's get on with it and kill him. He asked for it, anyway." He struck a fighting pose and Trunks raised his power level more, feeling both confident and a rush. He wanted to fight someone. It was almost a relief to get the chance.

The blue guy tucked the Dragonball under his arm and waved a hand dismissively. "You don't need me to swat away this pathetic runt. I'm going to find the others, catch up when you're done."

Trunks couldn't let him go, he needed that Dragonball! And if the blue guy took it, they might find others and realize that there was something important about them. "Scared, Ugly? Maybe you don't want to get beaten by a kid?"

Trunks suspected that if the big one had pupils, he would have been rolling his eyes. But still, just that simple bait did the trick and he dropped the Dragonball and assumed a pose next to his buddy. Trunks sensed Nappa nearby, but he stayed hidden out of the way. He either wanted these guys to gang up on Trunks and kill him, or he thought Trunks could handle them both. Whatever.

"You asked for it, brat."

The blue one lunged, clearly expecting Trunks to be slower than he was and for this to be over in a second. Trunks smirked when both creeps looked stunned as Trunks side-stepped him and sent a kick to his knees. Even in shock, the blue guy was way fast for someone his size. He recovered quickly and moved at Trunks for real and they began trading blows.

"You just gonna watch?" the blue guy demanded.

Jeice nodded, his head tilted up to where they were fighting. "Seems unsportsmanlike to fight a kid two-to-one, Burter… I'll take him if you tire out."

Tire out? Trunks growled because they still weren't taking him seriously. "You want to play fair? Watch this!"

Trunks let out a bellow and clenched his arms like he did that night, willing his energy to release and turn him into a Super Saiyan. Interested, Burter hung there and watched as Trunk yelled continuously and raised his power level. The world reacted to him, whipping up the green life. The little Namekian kid crawled out of the way in fear, behind one of the domes.

But his yell extended too long after the increase to his power had stopped. Trunks' scream died and he looked down at the aura around him, the lack of golden tint. What the heck?

"It's not—"

A blow to his back sent him plummeting to the ground like a shooting star, leaving a small crater at Jeice's feet and a big ache in Trunks' head. But he still couldn't comprehend what was going on, it didn't make sense. I can't do it again. I can't transform!

The red alien was laughing his head off. "I'll admit, raising your power level like that is a neat trick. Are you done with your tantrum, kid? We entertained it politely and watched, so now I guess we can change the rules and pound your brains in together."

Trunks wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up to see the two aliens dopily high-fiving each other before closing in on him with purpose. He scrambled up to get on guard, thinking quickly about what to do. If he couldn't transform into something super-powerful that would easily beat them, he'd just have to get another strategy. He could still take these guys!

"Whatever you think will help you win," Trunks said, knowing he should never show fear, "because you're gonna need it!"

With a yell, Trunks leapt into action. He tried to remember all of his father's words which, while they burned him with anger, were dead-useful in a fight. But no matter how powerful you are, two-on-one is unfair and hard. Trunks would concentrate on one of them and the other would attack at his back. It wouldn't take long for this to wear him down, and apparently, Nappa wasn't coming to help. It was more merciless than any fight Trunks had had with his father… or Geta. Geta.

Trunks growled and landed a hard kick on the big one, Burter, that sent the blue jerk reeling. But Jeice landed both fists to Trunks' back and Trunks went down. "You're strong, kid," the red-skinned Jeice admitted, panting. "I don't know what little freak powers you have or where you're from, but I'm sure Frieza would be pretty curious about you." Trunks was just about to come to his feet when Burter grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him painfully up so he was dangling off the ground. His scalp felt like it was on fire. "You and whatever planet you're from." Then he pulled back his fist and punched Trunks so hard in his gut that his body caved in and blood splattered from his mouth. He did it again and Trunks felt his ribs cracking from the force.

"Got nothing to say now?" Jeice taunted, backhanding the boy so he was flung from Burter's grip and went flying into the side of a dome. They laughed as they walked to where he had been tossed, taking their time.

Get up, get up, get up! Trunks ordered himself, feeling desperate. He was hurt, worse than his mother had ever allowed him to be while training. But he was the Super Saiyan, the Legendary Warrior that his father went on about, so why couldn't he do it now?!

He heard one of them tap their scouter. "Captain, there's a kid here—not one of the green things—that has some crazy battle power. Burter and I just found him. I say we bring 'em to Frieza and see what he'll pay to enlist the brat and get information on his planet. I'd bet on a hefty lump of credits for this."

Mom… I have to do this for her. This thought began to throb in his head, refusing to go away. Neither could he. Trunks staggered to his feet and looked between them. He wouldn't last too long like this, so he had to find a way to end it quickly. What could he do?

There was one, dark solution. But he couldn't—he couldn't think about this. He had to save Mom!

"Hey! Let's make this two-on-two!"

Both aliens jerked their heads toward the voice, distracted by Nappa, who was finally emerging into view with a ton of bravado for someone who had been hiding for as long as he had.

"Wait a minute," Jeice said slowly. "Aren't you that Saiy—"

Trunks suddenly burst with instinct, his fists moving without permission. With all the power he could summon into his arm, he flew forward, his hand going through the alien's armor, through red flesh, through—

Oh… oh no.

Trunks, horribly, felt his hand open and close around something and drew back in disgust and shame, but it was too late. His blood was purple. A gaping hole was all that was left as Trunks reversed and Jeice stumbled forward and fell towards Trunks. Sickened, the boy jumped away and the body landed on the ground, gargling for a moment before everything stilled.

There was a moment of silence, and then Trunks heard a whimper, probably the Namekian kid, before Burter kneeled over his partner and turned him over. "Jeice?"

Trunks couldn't feel his legs as the wound came back into sight. I did that. How could I… No, don't fall. Just stand, don't move and you can't fall... Nappa came up next to him, mouth gaping. But Trunks was numb, he couldn't think about what happened next. The blue guy looked… upset.

He looked up and Trunks saw the downturn in the red eyes. Trunks knew he should be tensing up, readying himself for an attack, but his body felt frozen in this nothing stance. Nappa, however, shifted, and Burter turned to watch him, clearly calculating the odds of fighting them both. After a moment, he made a decision, hauling the bloody, lax body over his shoulder and piercing Trunks with a glare.

"I'll find you later. And then I'll finish you, brat," he vowed. Then he took off into the sky, zipping out of sight of them. Trunks watched until he couldn't see red and white anymore.

"I didn't think you had it in you," Nappa muttered.

Trunks was unable to keep himself up any longer. He fell to his knees, promptly emptying his stomach on the grass.

"I killed him," he moaned. "I… I killed someone!"

"He was going to kill you," Nappa said reasonably. "Worse, he was going to sell you to Frieza, who would have played with you before he killed you! Get a grip!"

He grabbed Trunks by the scruff of his neck and raised him up until his legs stabilized and supported his weight, still shaky. Trunks knew that Nappa was saying the truth, but it felt… wrong. Could both things be true? Feeling the pang in his ribs, he cradled his arm protectively against them. Something was really wrong. And he couldn't help but think that his mother would be so ashamed of him.

Nappa scowled as Trunks fell back to his knees and heaved again. "Get up, you little half-breed brat! Saiyans half your age lay waste to whole planets and have not sniveled and vomited afterward! And you better get used to it if you want to survive this, because you made the stupid mistake of not killing them both!"

Trunks' side was in excruciating pain from his ribs and the force of the expulsion; he ignored Nappa and took deep, gulping breaths. But everything Nappa was saying was true… he couldn't be a baby. His mom's life depended on it. If he had to kill people, then that was what he had to do… right?

I took advantage of his distraction. It wasn't a fair fight. But they ganged up on me, so why am I trying to be fair?

"Do you… do you need help?" said a small voice, breaking into Trunks' inner conflict.

The little Namekian was peaking back around the dome, sniffling. His strange ears twitched, probably in fright. Nappa scoffed. "They left one alive after all that! Worthless race doesn't even deserve to live."

"Shut up!" Trunks yelled, triggering easily. Nappa had said the same things about his mother and him, after all. "Those guys were awful."

"Yeah, well 'those guys' were part of the Ginyu Force. And if two of them were around here, then the other three have to be somewhere on this planet too. Which means that these green lumps are all doomed anyway…"

The boy quivered all the more at Nappa's words and Trunks wanted to help him. "What's your name?" he asked as kindly as he could, despite the pain.

"D-Dende… I'm Dende."

"Hi Dende, I'm Trunks… Sorry about," he swallowed, "what happened to your friends."

It was a lame thing to say, but Trunks knew it was also the proper thing to say, given the situation. Dende squeezed his eyes against the tears and then composed himself slightly, nodding at Trunks' midsection. "I… I can h-heal you, if you want."

"You can?"

"Yes," Dende nodded nervously. "I'm not a fighter like you, so if you hadn't come… but I am a healer."

"Sure," Trunks said gratefully, "that'd be great."

Shooting a panicked look at Nappa, who was eyeing him with disdain, the child approached. "It works best if you lay back."

Trunks moved to comply and Nappa snorted. "What's to say this kid doesn't kill you while he's messing with your insides. You'd be better off using the Tank."

"We don't have time," Trunks snapped. "And Dende isn't going to hurt me." His gaze sharpened on his father's lackey as he settled on the ground. "And we aren't going to do anything to hurt him."

Nappa crossed his arms, chafing under the order. "And should I be listening to you? I thought you were the Legendary Super Saiyan! I saw you up there, trying to raise your power level. Maybe it was a one-off and you just made it look like you were."

"It wasn't!" Trunks denied furiously. He didn't know what happened to prevent him from changing again, and it was frustrating because he somehow knew that it was still somewhere inside of him. But for some reason, he couldn't pull it off. "I feel it still there… I just…" he breathed as Dende bent over him and his hands glowed. "I can't figure out why I can't pull it up again…"

"Oh! I could take you to Guru!" Dende declared hopefully. He kept his eyes locked on the lavender-haired boy, because the big, bald guy terrified him. "He might be able to help you with your problem." Dende knew that Guru helped many of the Namekian warriors, so maybe he could help this young warrior.

"Where's your guru?" Trunks skipped over the detail of who Guru was because with the comforting warmth of Dende's healing, he was quickly remembering all the things he needed to worry about.

"He's far from here," Dende said apologetically, withdrawing his hands from Trunks' abdomen. "But it will be much faster since you can fly." The green child's eyes widened with a horrible thought. "Unless those men have gone after Guru too!"

"Let's go!" Trunks said, rising rapidly at the panic in Dende's voice. "Oh…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the very thing that he had come so far to get. He turned to Dende. "Listen, the reason I'm even here on your planet is because I need to collect the Dragonballs!"

"H-how do you know about the Dragonballs?" Dende asked, now second-guessing any thought he had of trusting these strangers. Seeing this, Trunks rushed through an explanation.

"I come from a place called Earth—"

"Vegeta-sei—"

"Shut up! I come from a place called Earth that has its own Dragonballs, but it's really far from where I've been…" Trunks trailed off in agitation, not wanting to get into it. "Look, basically, my mother was killed and I couldn't help her in time, and I know that the Earth's Dragonballs bring people back to life, so I figured these would work the same way."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah… she… she's my mom." He didn't know how else to describe it. "I need to bring her back and this is the only way!" He looked pleadingly at the Dende. "Can you help me? I'd be willing to do anything!"

"She sounds really important to you," Dende said helplessly. "Like…" he glanced at the smoking, broken bodies that surrounded them and again, he looked as if he might crumble before gathering together with determination. "Okay, let's take this one with us and… and we'll go to Guru and you can tell Guru about everything. I know he'll help if you're good!" Dende didn't want to consider what would happen if they were bad, but he held tightly to the fact that Trunks saved his life and had seemed nice, besides the part where he seemed very familiar with bloody battles and pain.

"Aren't you two brats forgetting something?" Nappa sneered. "We still have to deal with the rest of the Ginyu Force, who might be after those stupid balls themselves."

"They didn't even know what they were when they found one," Trunks negated. "And who even is the Ginyu Force?"

"Frieza's men," Nappa answered. "Well, they're hired by Frieza for special jobs sometimes. They do a lot of what he does… break down planets, sell them off, usually to Frieza…"

"So you think Frieza sent them?" Trunks said cautiously.

"Probably not, they probably just ended up here and thought they'd slaughter everyone and sell it off." Nappa had been around long enough to know how the PTO operated. "But if they think something's off, they'll use it to their advantage. They already talked about selling you to Frieza."

"And they saw you," Trunks added, feeling a sense of dread. "The red one," he couldn't say his name, it brought back too much. "He almost called you a 'Saiyan'. And talked into his scouter to someone about me. They could, they could mention this to Frieza! And then Frieza could go to Vegeta-sei and…"

"Oh, and you care suddenly?" Nappa snarled, he was bolder now that he knew Trunks wouldn't erupt into a Super Saiyan at any moment.

"I don't," Trunks said immediately, but it left a bad taste in his mouth and it felt like a lie. "I—but my mom is still there! And if Frieza attacks, then who knows what will happen!"

"Then I suggest you figure out how to go golden again, brat, because if you don't, nothing on the planet stands a chance," Nappa said grimly.

Dende had no idea of most of what the two Saiyans were talking about, but what he understood scared him. And he wanted desperately to see if Guru was okay and tell him what happened to his village. "Let's take the Dragonball and go see Guru," Dende encouraged Trunks.

The half-Saiyan would never let on to Nappa, but he was worried about not being able to transform. Nappa was right, Trunks needed to be able to go Super Saiyan to accomplish what he wanted. The list of worries kept getting longer too… more fights and more people that could potentially want the Dragonballs, if they found out what they were.

Trunks caught sight of Jeice's blood on the ground—a wide, purple stain—and looked away. "Okay. Dende, you tell me where to go and I'll carry you on my back. Nappa, you take the Dragonball and while we're flying, you can tell me more about the Ginyu Force. Because I bet we'll run into them again."

Nappa gritted his teeth, but obediently lifted the Dragonball and followed after Trunks and the green kid. For my King, he kept thinking. For my King.

A/N: This one was long, but hopefully action-packed enough to keep you interested. Goku and co will be arriving next chapter, and probably flailing a bit. What might you think will happen when Trunks reaches Guru? Hopefully, he can explain what Trunks' issue might be? Or something? And obviously, the Ginyu Force is a surprise (although there's already one down, sorry Jeice fans), but my thinking was if I'm rearranging the heroes somewhat, I wanted to rearrange the villians, especially since we've established that Frieza doesn't know about Namek. I hope you enjoyed! Let me know!