Considering everything they'd found out recently, Syowa and Mika didn't even question the possibility of time travel. Mika seeing Tora's change between the moment she first bought the binders and the moment she appeared with the baby was only a tangible proof of it all; the binders had seen months-long wear and tear despite only two days having passed. And the baby really looked very similar to his older version, so.. Lapis and Lazuli confirmed it to be true, as Cell had also come from the future. They also casually mentioned that Vegeta, Trunks' father (and Tora's father) was actually an alien, which explained the whole flames-aura-blonde thing.
Mika knew he was a little in over his head when trying to give comfort and understanding to the 'kid with the sword' but clearly this was new. As much as Lapis and Lazuli weren't completely human anymore, as they demonstrated after Tora left them. Regardless, despite the trio being different from his usual audience, Mika vowed to keep doing what he had always done: offer sanctuary to those who had trouble being accepted by society at large. The circumstances were different, but the result was the same so...
Lapis and Lazuli had changed, sure, but deep down they were still the rowdy energetic traumatized kids he once knew. They went through worse, and had come out of it with super powers, but also a deep desire to be free and happy, and Kami help him, he would make sure they would reach that goal. They had been stripped of their lives for so long, it was time for them to start anew.
June 2nd had started at dawn by trying to put the Cyborgs on the track to not-being mass murderers. Trunks trusted Vegeta and Gohan to take care of them should Krillin and Sixteen be wrong about them. It turned out both worse (why did Seventeen insist so much on dating her?!) and better than expected (Mika was the right choice). Everything was confusing, and more people being interested about who 'shared her bed' absolutely repulsed her.
Especially as the correct answer to that inquiry was technically Gohan. Her Gohan saw her as a child to comfort and care for, and she saw this world's Gohan the same way. She knew her Gohan loved her, and this world's Gohan at least liked her, and as much as she loved both Gohans back, none of it was even remotely romantic, or Kami forbid, sexual in any way. Or so she hoped. Even Vegeta had implied otherwise. Men were absolutely disgusting.
She unlocked her room once back into her clothes and binder for the rest of the afternoon, she went to the lab to see if she could help Dr Brief with the repairs of the Gravity Room. The Capsule Corp mastermind had already finished and was in testing phases, much to her delight. The next morning everything should be ready. She was ready.
Chichi and Gohan were staying at Capsule Corp for the time being, and while Trunks was asleep, the widow announced her pregnancy to Bulma and Gohan. She was already three months along. Trunks was formally told once she was out of the lab, about to go have a smoke with coffee outside. She congratulated the woman with perhaps what could be described as restrained enthusiasm; truth was she wasn't sure if it really was good news, but Chichi seemed to be happy with 'Goku-sa's last gift to her'. Trunks knew Bulma was ready to give her and Gohan all the support needed. Which is why Chichi was staying over at Capsule Corp for a little while: to be able to get medical care and lighten Gohan's burden a little.
By dinner time, Dr Brief explained that the Gravity Room only needed a few tweaks and would be ready to go. Vegeta grumbled something about 'fucking finally' and Bulma scolded him that it wasn't for him and that he'd better stop being so self-absorbed. The banter between the couple started. Trunks glanced Vegeta's way a moment, before giving a smile full of gratitude to the old scientist. He was a life-saver, literally. She then told everyone at the table that she would be departing to 787 the following morning.
"I'm coming too," Gohan broke the silence, putting down the spoon he was using to feed the one-year-old who had chosen him as his caretaker for dinner.
"No, you're not!" Chichi protested, alarmed.
Now it was a banter between mother and son, and Trunks just didn't connect the dots. 'Coming where?' Vegeta promptly left the table, the screeches and more were getting to his nerves and he had no reason to stay once his meal was finished. He ignored Bulma calling out for him.
"I talked to Krillin-san! He agrees with me, mom, we can't let Tora-san go alone. Namekians don't know him, but they know us." Gohan protested firmly his mother's refusal to let him go, since clearly she understood it faster than Trunks did.
"It could be dangerous, Gohan-san, I know my world but I don't know how different 787 is… I can't risk your life. And best case scenario, we will stay there for at least four months." Trunks tried to get a word in. Gohan gave her a stern look, he had decided, but being told no profoundly hurt him and it showed.
And so she didn't have the heart to really refuse him. She couldn't really promise to keep him safe, considering he was that much more powerful than she was, but she could at least assure that time travel in itself wasn't dangerous.
"Isn't the Time Machine too small for various passengers?" Dr Brief observed.
"It is, but Mother gave me a bracelet to shrink someone's size and weight." After all, Bulma had planned for Trunks to come back with Goku should no other solution be viable, and gave her, alongside all sorts of tools, the bracelet she once used with the rascal to be able to ride a magical cloud.
"The Micro Band!" The young mother at the table immediately recognized what her future son was talking about. That brought back memories for sure.
Chichi side-eyed Trunks for agreeing to take her baby boy away, but eventually she accepted. Gohan was mature enough to make his own decisions, and he promised he'd stay safe. And from her perspective, he would only be gone for a few hours or days. Trunks confirmed her plan: after going to New Namek and wishing that Trunks back, she intended to come back to 767, as close to June 3rd as possible without risking arriving earlier than they departed, then go back to her own 784, as she wasn't going to try her luck by using the return procedure of her machine in a different era. Bulma agreed it was probably the wisest choice.
Gohan, after asking permission from Bulma, went to call Krillin, and Krillin decided that he, too, would come on the trip if possible. It was only fair to that older version of Bulma, wasn't it?
After dinner, Trunks went out to smoke and drink coffee with Dr Brief and Panchy to enjoy the early evening, and properly thank them for enduring her presence for so long. Neither of them seemed bothered, and told her she'd been of great help with the baby and the menagerie. Trunks noted how Vegeta was trailing her once again.
By late evening, everyone called it a night and went on to sleep. Trunks went through the documentation once more to prepare her trip the next day, but she was restless and she knew Vegeta was still around. She decided to go to the music room well into the night. She left the door to the music room open and played on the piano while reading the sheets on her computer screen, working on her timing as the program showed how fast she should be playing. She hadn't played since the day before the Cell Games, and while smoking had been her go-to stress relief, music was healthier and kept her physically sharp.
The subtle invitation had worked and she felt Vegeta come around and stay behind the door, a dark eye peeking in to look every now and then.
Eventually, the door closed, but Trunks didn't change her demeanor. He didn't hide his presence, he had come in, and he was approaching. He circled the instrument and its user and made his way to stand behind the open lid of the grand piano, his gaze focused on the strings moving as the keys were hit to produce the slow and repetitive melody, some sounds echoing as the pedals were pressed. She didn't stop playing, didn't glance even if he was obnoxiously present in her field of vision, didn't even fully acknowledge his existence, repeating the melody with different scales, either from the right hand or the left one, creating a pleasant loop. She had no reason to tense or fear Vegeta, his ki was quiet and had lost all sense of hostility towards her since the two of them broke the Gravity Room. He'd changed, as she had fully noticed since the memorial the day before.
Trunks hadn't forgiven him for his stunt with Cell, but she realized she just didn't care that much about it anymore, at least when it came to her personal feelings about the man… beyond the whole 'his stupidity almost destroyed the planet', obviously. There was no bond anymore, there was never a bond to begin with. She had chosen to carry on her existence with no melancholy about missing something she never had to begin with. And yet, here he was, after she'd been brought back from the dead with his armor on, staring at her fingers which moved on the black and white keys, and how that caused the piano hammers to hit the strings and produce the sounds. For a solid half an hour.
Eventually the younger one met Vegeta's eyes, even if for an instant, trying to understand why he was there to begin with. The Saiyan looked back after an instant, then looked away with a deep scowl. His body language closed off, even more than before, arms crossed, shoulders tense but slouched. Not an ounce of defiance. Trunks realized at that moment something was wrong with Vegeta, he was trying to communicate something, and perhaps something was wrong with her too, as she realized how hurt she truly had been by his actions, and the shame about having lied.
And yet, she didn't stop playing, but her gaze was more insistent, more pressing, pushing away the possibility that he knew all along she was never his heir, his son to begin with, as the melody her fingers conjured got faster, more passionate even. The moment she stopped playing, Vegeta met her eyes.
And still, no words came. Vegeta loathed it all, loathed how hard it was to communicate in earthling terms, how isolated he felt, and deep down, he knew Trunks tried and put in a lot of effort to get it with the time they shared in the strange void. But his heir had failed at understanding the genuine Saiyan pride of wanting to face an opponent at its strongest. Even if his hubris had gotten the best of him, but better die a warrior and win like a coward. Vegeta knew it had been the wrong decision the moment he felt Trunks intervene before Cell executed him. How to balance 'making the right decisions' and 'respecting his heritage as the sole survivor'? Kakarot had quit his fight, which was offensive beyond belief, but he also had some sort of pride as he made sure his brat would face his opponent at its strongest. And yet, yet, the moment Trunks died, pride didn't matter. What mattered was vengeance. Which is why he had no qualms about attacking Cell when he was fighting against Kakarot's brat. A cheap shot, but one that secured the win, and one he had promised he would give.
"Thank you." Trunks broke the silence after a while of staring.
".. For what?" ' Why is this brat thanking me?' Vegeta blinked. Trunks had won the staring contest against the compound's second strongest opponent (Tama was still firmly holding onto its champion title).
"... You fought for me, protected the little honor I had left," Trunks had to acknowledge, after what Krillin and Yamcha told her about how Vegeta had acted when she died. She tried reading into his expression, but there was nothing there after the initial surprise.
"You're my heir," was the only logical sentiment Vegeta expressed. He moved away, ready to leave.
Trunks fought back the urge to correct that. Vegeta was stubborn, he had decided she was his heir regardless, despite having betrayed her, then having fought to avenge her. So she instead tried something else, something that had been bugging her but she couldn't truly explain. So she called on Vegeta before the man had left the room.
".. How do you apologize, the Saiyan way?"
"You challenge the offended party to a spar and have them work it out of their system. You fight until the offended party is happy with the beating and has forgiven you, or has killed you." Vegeta used his words, explicitly so, as his mate had told him. He left the music room without a glance back and closed the door behind him.
Trunks didn't sleep that night, trying to make sense of what her father had tried to tell her.
The next day, Trunks and Dr Brief ran some tests, her on the Time Machine that wasn't hers, and him on the Gravity Room, to make sure it had more than enough fuel and safeguards to make it to New Namek and back, in 787, without trouble.
Krillin, Yamcha and Master Roshi arrived early, and Chichi used the opportunity to tell them she would be having a second son soon. The news was received with joy (and a sleazy remark which was met by Chichi's punch).
"Today is June 3rd, 767," Trunks repeated out loud as she checked the console of the Time Machine. "The return procedure will take it back to May 787, if everything works as it did prior."
The logs didn't lie. This Time Machine worked exactly like hers, and it had done two round trips already. If she added her own first round trip, that meant there were three instances of things working as intended.
"I'm coming too, Trunks, not going to let Gohan claim all of the victories!" Krillin was ready with a bomber jacket, a cap, and some comfortable pants. Truthfully, he wanted to see for himself what that future looked like, and going to New Namek with Gohan had an air of déjà-vu. He knew it was going to be a few months long trip, too.
Trunks tried fighting it, but she was too focused to even try and argue further. Gohan wanted Krillin to come, so Trunks complied. Bulma had prepared some capsules for the trip; supplies and documentation for her Future Self, a generator, and a house for when they'd arrive at New Namek. The Gravity Room, once triple checked, was returned to its capsule form and was given to Trunks to put in her case, alongside her computer and other personal supplies.
Even Vegeta was outside on the lawn, looking at everything happening with a certain annoyance, leaning against a tree further away. They were all far too loud. Panchy kept baby Trunks in her arms even if he, too, clearly wanted to enter the Time Machine, pointing and pouting.
Then Trunks realized something. Her mother had only given her one Micro Band. Still, that didn't deter the two would-be time travelers, and after a janken, it was decided Gohan would sit on Trunks' knees (after she confirmed it wouldn't bother her use of the commands) and Krillin would wear the bracelet. It was for the best, as despite the two being the same height, Gohan was lighter than Krillin.
It wasn't farewell, it was 'we will be back soon', so the faster they were on their way, the sooner, relatively speaking, they would be back. Trunks stayed distant and focused, but Gohan and Krillin shook hands or hugged goodbye with everyone. Bulma didn't hesitate to pull her 'big Trunks' into a close hug, and Trunks tried to gently push her away, but eventually she gave up and let it happen. She didn't return the hug, but she tried giving her a kinder smile when she was finally released.
Trunks thanked all the gods listening that Gohan had won the janken as she was far more comfortable with his proximity than Krillin's. The monk shrank to the size of a tiny doll and Gohan put him in his shirt's pocket. The two half-breeds hovered over the Time Machine, and Trunks placed her sword against her right leg, while keeping the procedures notebook in hand. Only when she gave the ok did Gohan come and sit on her lap, trying to make himself tiny.
The dome closed on them, the Machine slowly took off. Trunks explained she would fly higher, for safety reasons, and once everything properly ignited, she glanced down at everyone who was waving goodbye. Vegeta had stepped out of under the tree and looked up as the machine was taking altitude. Gohan had given his goodbyes already and was half snuggling and making sure he wasn't on the way. Trunks lifted a hand to say goodbye as well through the glass dome, the same gesture she did to Goku and Gohan in September 764.
The Time Machine and its three occupants disappeared once she launched the return procedure.