The devil worked fast, but Bulma on a tight deadline worked faster. She needed to finish what that stupid idiot 'Prince' had asked of her, but considering how nicely he asked and how important it seemed, she gave it the detailed attention it deserved. It wasn't electronics, but jewelcrafting a pendant felt similar enough to precise soldering. Thankfully, with her (and her mother's) vast book of contacts she could make it in time. During lunch, she checked with Vegeta if diamond wasn't a better choice, but he grumbled something about the color not being right.
Making artificial pink diamonds could be feasible, and they'd be harder, but they just didn't have enough time to grow them. So she and Panchy pulled out the catalog and Vegeta chose amongst available stones. Vegeta's first choice of pink sapphire was confirmed, and after briefly eyeing through everything and ignoring the girls gushing over cuts and more, he chose a specific one; oval-shaped, polished and not cut, see-through and quite pale, about the size of a nail. The design Bulma showed him that same morning was meant to be placed behind the gemstone, and the whole thing worn as a pendant.
"You keep calling him your heir, is this related to that?" Bulma asked Vegeta as he stalked the lab while she worked, once the stone was delivered and he confirmed with a hmpf.
Bulma looked at her work through the magnifying glass, using precise tools to place the elements and mount the gem, the flat design behind it, and the setting to secure everything together. Bulma had made some jewels for herself and her mother in the past, but never with such precious materials.
"I don't want you to reject our son in favor of our older son."
"Don't be stupid. The boy will get the title when he has proven himself," Vegeta grunted.
"Title?"
"The title of Prince, woman," Vegeta sighed. It felt obvious and explicit enough, but he did his best to not get angry.
"So.. This represents the title?"
"The Royal Saiyan crest."
That information confirmed how important it had been for Vegeta, and him entrusting it to her touched Bulma, even if it gave her a lot of work.
".. You'll have to explain it to him before he goes home because he's going to be helluva confused if you just give him a pink pendant with a trident." Bulma couldn't help a little chuckle.
"I already recorded it."
The engineer turned jewelcrafter smiled, stretched up from the glass, then rolled away.
"Have a look, if it's to your standards, I'll solder it and it'll be done. Don't touch it, it's not secured yet, alright?"
Vegeta walked towards the station, bent over the magnifying glass, then pushed the glass aside so he could see the jewel directly. He didn't touch, even if he wanted to. There was a sense of loss, of clinging to futile symbols of a bygone era. He stayed observant for a long couple of minutes, rather than observing the object, he observed what it represented.
His alternate self had died to the Cyborgs, abandoning his child and mate, and soon, that child would avenge him. He took over the responsibility of acknowledging Trunks' status as heir, as his dead-self couldn't. Trunks had challenged him, fought him, confronted him and won, showing valuable qualities. The other Trunks did, as well. He took him aside a little after the piano concert. He couldn't recognize that Trunks as his heir, but he did manage to bear the scent of a Saiyan in heat long enough to tell him to not stop training. His heir must have informed him of the heat cycle, because Trunks mentioned it, apologized for the discomfort, and promised he wouldn't waste this second chance. 'Good.'
"What do you think?" Bulma's voice broke his reverie.
Vegeta moved away from the table, glanced at Bulma to find her eyes, and nodded approvingly with a little pleased smirk. "No one but Bulma fucking Brief could do it. This entire mudball of a planet should worship the ground you walk on, woman."
"I know," Bulma's vanity and ego appreciated the compliment, and she returned to work. Vegeta left her alone to finish the last touches, and she resumed playing her older self's recording to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything for big-Trunks and 784-Bulma. There weren't going to be any second chances for any of this, after all.
By the time Gohan and Trunks made it back to Capsule Corp, it was late afternoon, and Panchy had decided that since it was Trunks' last meal with them, an outside festive barbecue was in order.
Seventeen's red bouquet was properly put into a vase and put in the living room. Before they parted ways, Trunks had properly thanked the Cyborg for the sweet gesture, and he had left her with another, less ephemeral gift, which she kept hidden in her inner pocket.
Trunks hissed at the impromptu 'farewell party' and considered just leaving there and then so as to not face any of it, but she couldn't bring herself to do so, seeing how much work the housewife had put into it. Especially as Panchy had taken the initiative to call Kame-House to tell them to come for dinner, and not after dinner, if they wanted to.
So Trunks properly thanked Panchy and accepted the kindness she was given. Hopefully she had ordered enough pastries. She spent a solid hour making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, did the laundry for her room, packed everything that was hers. Most of it was already in a capsule, with the exception of her sword. The only thing she deliberately left behind was a copy of the notebook she had written about Saiyan heat and puberty she had completed with her older self. She cleaned her notes, rewrote every single word Vegeta had told her, and put in her annotations and observations, time conversion, educated guesses, as well as older-Trunks' own temperature as evidence that the information given may not be accurate to half-breeds, even if she couldn't pin-point when his heat would end.
She wrote an apology for not having taken the time to go through it all with Bulma. She explained in her notes that she hoped Vegeta would eventually open up and answer her questions, by the time Gohan would make use of it. Hell, perhaps he would even mellow enough to teach Gohan or Trunks himself when the time came.. 'I did promise him I would leave you my notes, because it had been a frustrating ordeal for him to deal with Earthling ignorance.'
At the end of the letter explaining what the notebook was, Trunks expressed her gratitude for everything Bulma had done, and signed both with the tiger symbol, but also her full name: Trunks Brief. And like Bulma did in the little scribble she got during her last trip, Trunks, too, drew herself, with a peace sign, long hair and a smile.
Everyone showed up, except for Dende and Piccolo (who had already refused the invitation) and Tenshinhan and Chaozu (who had gone back to the mountains). Sixteen helped Panchy set up everything, with Tama firmly on his shoulder, probably whispering orders to his returned tireless servant. Trunks offered to help but was chased off by the blonde woman.
When Krillin arrived, the time traveler went to properly apologize to him for fleeing the previous time, but the monk dismissed it and thanked Trunks for arranging the meeting. He and Eighteen would go on a date the following week and Trunks couldn't be happier for the monk and hoped it would work out. Krillin passed something into her hand, a little wrapped box, and said it was Eighteen's farewell gift. She and Seventeen weren't exactly invited for fairly understandable reasons, but they had already told each other all they needed to.
She accepted the box and slid it in the inside pocket of her jacket, intending on opening it once at home as instructed.
Trunks also took the time to properly thank Yamcha, Roshi, Oolong and Puar for their acceptance, their kindness. She apologized to Yamcha in particular, she had felt she had wronged him by being rude and cold towards him. The bandit warmly gave her a pat on the back and told her to relax.
"What's this?" he asked, and indicated his own hair.
Trunks touched her hair, questioning what he meant, then reached her elastic. Or rather, the beaded hair tie. Oh.
"I broke my last one," Trunks lied, red. She knew the green double bead hair tie wasn't the type of elastic she got used to wearing.
"Oooh it's a girl's gift! What a player, when did you find time to score a girl?"
Trunks was gone before Yamcha could finish mentioning the true nature of the hair tie, and she made sure the green beads were hidden in the hair so others wouldn't comment on it.
By dinner time, Gohan was on baby-duty with Chichi, Bulma came out of her lab to join everyone, looking dead tired, but relieved. Vegeta also showed up to take some food and keep an eye out, but he didn't mingle.
Sitting by Gohan and the baby, Trunks helped feed her alternate self, who seemed to understand something was up. She had to admit she'd miss the two of them for widely different reasons. She did her best to ignore Krillin and Yamcha trying to pry out of her who her girlfriend was, but thankfully Chichi was the one who reminded the men to behave and keep their dirty comments to themselves.
Bulma approached to take her baby away to put him to bed. Trunks took a moment to hug him, pinch his cheeks, touch his forehead with hers, and let him grab on her hair one last time. She tickled him a little, then they waved goodbye and Trunks fixed her hair with a content smile. The boy would grow up happy and safe. She then gave back her attention to Gohan, who observed with tenderness how good his older friend was with children. She reached to her neck, she detached her remaining dog tag, keeping only the one her older self had given her, and put it in Gohan's hand.
.
Both knew their bond wouldn't be broken despite not seeing each other ever again, but Gohan was still shocked to receive a gift so personal. 787-Bulma had explained to him what the dog tags were for, the gruesome role they served, what they represented, and Gohan saw Trunks and Tora exchange one of theirs, a way to remember each other. Tora giving him the other one was shocking, wouldn't it be best if it was given to Vegeta?
The surprise must have been clear on his face, because Tora put both of his hands around Gohan's, closing the boy's hand on the item.
"Keep it as a token of our hardships and successes. Live, and thrive. I know I will."
.
As much as she said she didn't want to be seen, to be remembered, Trunks knew she was lying to herself, and out of everyone, she wanted to leave something to Gohan. He had given the tags back more or less against his will when Chichi noticed he was wearing them, after all, and Trunks had noticed.
Trunks was happy to see the boy accept the item and hide it in his pants' pocket, where he pulled something else he placed in her hand the exact same way. A little flustered, Gohan couldn't word what it was, he hadn't prepared anything. Trunks looked at the item, a laminated card-sized photo of herself and him, on his ninth birthday. One of the many photos Chichi took that evening, this one was of Gohan turning to thank Tora for the cake, with bright stars in his eyes, and Trunks looking back with fondness and care. Just before opening the gifts. It was a little over a year ago for the two of them, but for Chichi it had been a couple of weeks only. Trunks looked fondly at the picture, then pulled her wallet from her inside pocket, and put the picture on the inside, opposite of her picture with her Gohan, where she usually kept her mother's ID card. When she would open her wallet, she'd see both pictures. She put it away, leaned in to hug Gohan, and whispered her deepest gratitude for the gift, that she would cherish it.
The pastries were popular, and Bulma came back just in time to eat some of them, finally allowed to appreciate the choices of dessert her alternate son had made, and was vocal in her appreciation of strawberries. Vegeta also got in closer, to spot his new favorite sugary prey, the so-called tiramisu. Trunks couldn't help but look with a certain pride at her alternative parents gushing over the pastries she chose for them. The assortment was appreciated by everyone else, and with Gohan, herself and Vegeta present at the table, she knew there was no such thing as 'too much food'. Which is why there were more than enough for all Earthlings, and the Saiyans could just inhale everything that was left after they'd taken a 'polite' portion.
After dinner was cleared, coffee and tea were enjoyed, Trunks, after clipping her sword on her back, pulled her capsule case to pop out her Time Machine and get going. Bulma told her to wait, and ran back inside.
While she was doing so, Trunks gave farewells to everyone individually, shaking hands. She hugged Gohan one last time, whispering she'd miss him and was glad to meet him. Gohan returned it without reserve, thanked her, and almost didn't cry. She shook Sixteen's hand, wishing him the best, and gave Tama a little scratch between the ears. Panchy hugged and kissed her cheeks, and Trunks got stiff at the display of affection, especially when the older woman said to come back sometime. She had no intentions of coming back.
When it came to Vegeta, who, for coffee, had been given his cup to drink while he stayed firmly away from everyone else, Trunks didn't know exactly what to do. Approaching the table and the crowd for tiramisu had been one thing, but that didn't mean he'd sit and engage in the socialization rite that came with drinking coffee after a meal. Trunks hesitated, until he gestured subtly for her to follow him and he moved away from the terrace and further into the gardens.
The beige pants and muted green long-sleeved shirt the Saiyan wore looked nice, and Trunks appreciated the efforts he made to look like an Earthling. No gloves, either.
When they had walked sufficiently away, Vegeta turned to face his heir, and looked at her, sternly. The gray pants, the larger traveling jacket, the sword, the black top. Apart from the longer hair, Trunks looked the same as the first time they saw each other. His eyes narrowed, and Trunks promptly reacted when the man phased in, blocking his punch with an open hand. He smirked, appreciating his heir's quick reaction, and relaxed, signaling the test had been successful.
"You'll win," he affirmed, and Trunks nodded, face beaming with certainty and joy at the prospect of victory.
Then Vegeta stuck his hands in his pants, pulled a little fabric pouch, and put it in her hand. She looked at it expectantly, feeling two distinct objects in it, and with a glance, she questioned. He made a vague gesture to prompt her to open it, so she did carefully.
Two objects were in it. A pendant with a pink oval stone with a black shape behind it, some sort of a trident coming out of a half sphere, and what Trunks recognized as a small dictaphone.
".. It's not my father's medallion, but it's the best we could make here, with Bulma's help," he explained in a hush.
Trunks didn't know what to think of it, she looked back at the older man with more interrogations. Why her? Why not the baby? Why not her older self? Why pink? But with the dictaphone, she figured most answers would be there, and her curiosity wasn't worth ruining the moment. She had to accept the gift for what it was, that he chose to give it to her for a reason. With the few words he gave her, she knew it was of Saiyan importance, and it was for her, not for her mother.
So she put back the voice recorder in the pouch, the pouch in her inner pocket with Seventeen's gift and Eighteen's tiny box, and held onto the pendant and its chain.
And as any girl who had been gifted a necklace, even if she could do it herself, she put it back into his hand and turned her back at him, holding her hair up for him. And as he had done so for Bulma a couple of times, he did it for his heir.
When he was done, she turned around to face him, the chain shorter than the one she wore for her dog tag, looking for approval. Vegeta looked her up and down, and gave a nod.
"Now go back to your mother and obliterate all those who stand in your way."
Trunks nodded with a genuine smile, glanced behind her briefly as if afraid they were spied on, then hugged her father close, ignoring his stiffness and confusion.
"I will. Thank you, Father," she whispered, and ran back towards the terrace before getting overwhelmed with emotion.
When she came back, Trunks saw Bulma come out of the house with a little silver briefcase.
"Here," she panted and extended it. "For older-me, mostly, but there's a capsule case in there for you."
Knowing there was no use refusing, Trunks accepted and nodded, appreciating the gesture, especially if it was mostly for her mother.
"I hope it's not full of glitter," she feared a prank, but smirked as Bulma lightly punched her arm for insinuating such a thing.
It was then Bulma noticed the pendant, and they exchanged a silent smile which carried an entire conversation; 'yes he gave it to me,' 'it looks good,' 'it's pink, can you believe it?,' 'I'm glad I could help it happen.'
"Take care of yourself, Bulma-san," Trunks warmly wished her the best, after hiding the pendant under her shirt.
"You too," Bulma hugged her close and was pleased not to have been fully rejected, even if Trunks didn't hug back, her 'big son' at least leaned into the hold.
"I left something for you on the bedroom's desk," Bulma heard the whisper.
It was time to go. The time traveller went to her machine, opened it up, put her sword and the briefcase between her feet, and with the procedure notebook in hand, checking her watch and that everything was in order, she prepared her maneuvers. She gave everyone a glance and a smile as she closed the cockpit, and took off slowly as they waved goodbye or just observed the science display. Her eyes stayed a little longer on her father, who had returned to the terrace, and he saluted with two fingers when their eyes met. She returned the gesture with confidence, and focused back on making sure she hadn't forgotten anything while engaging the return procedure.
One last glance at 767, that June 12th, she enjoyed the city landscape, full of life and night lights. Then she spotted something moving in her field of vision, her heart almost skipped a beat when she recognized the Cyborgs' silhouette, but she calmed down when she realized they were this world's, and not hers. And most importantly, they weren't alone. They weren't looming threats over a city, but sneaky visitors.
Eighteen and Seventeen hadn't been invited, but Seventeen knew when she was leaving, and decided to inform his sister.. and their hosts and friends. With Syowa firmly secured against her, Eighteen floated safely and out of sight of most of those on the ground. Seventeen was carrying Mika, and the two of them also waved, with Seventeen making a 'stay silent' gesture. Syowa also waved, widely so, a beaming expression on her face, while Eighteen looked reserved but at peace, a faint smile on her face. She was far less outgoing than her brother, and Trunks knew her presence was meaningful.
Trunks made eye-contact long enough to let them know she'd seen them. She gave them a bright smile, appreciating their enthusiasm and presence, then launched the return command.
The Time Machine disappeared.
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Thank you for your support once more! FFNET stats aren't updating for some reason.
This is chapter 24 out of 26 for the Purpose arc, but two (and not one as initially planned) more arcs await!
Please don't hesitate to comment, it really means the world to me to see you either write whole ass essays about what you liked and what moved you, and keysmashing absolutely makes my day.
I also wanted to let you know I published two little side stories, for the Vegebulocracy event, which couuuuld give you an idea of the end game for A different baby. Please check them out on my profile!