January 18th, 784.

The same day she departed, at least according to her watch. The return procedure worked as intended. Trunks couldn't help a sense of relief washing over her, as she flew the Time Machine slowly above the ruins of West City, the ruins she hadn't seen in a year and a half. The ones she saw in 787 were already cleared, partially rebuilt, but this West City? This West City was her home and soon, she would rid it and the entire planet of its scourge.

As she landed and the familiar smell hit her, her blood boiled for vengeance, keeping her warm despite the cool air. She knew she could kill them easily now, it had been on the back-burner for so long. No fucking around and finding out, the moment the Cyborgs were spotted, they were dead.

Trunks capsulized the Time Machine once she finished shutting it off, and made sure to go through the motions around Capsule Corp to see if it was still safe and hadn't been breached. According to her watch, only a few hours had passed, it was early afternoon, but she was still worried for her mother, her mind still thinking she left her alone for a year and a half.

She made it through the hidden passages to the undergrounds and extended her senses for her mother. Bulma was down there, still working on a project, no doubt about it.

As she made her way through and into the habitation proper, the familiar sounds of the radio reached her ears. She was home, at last.

"Mother?" she called, putting the briefcase down on one of the many boxes.

Bulma looked up from her magnifying glass, and beamed seeing her daughter, altho quite changed. The exact same outfit, but her hair was much longer, and she looked taller and more adult. The scientist put down her tweezers, stubbed down her cigarette and rushed to welcome her baby back.

"Trunks! Goodness you're back. Your hair! Did it work? Did you bring back Son-kun? Are you ok?"

Trunks was quick to hug close, inhale the scent she had missed, and which couldn't really compare to the other two Bulmas. She indulged in touching and kissing, held close like dear life depended on it, took notice of the skin texture, the hair, the little details… Everything.

"I missed you... so much," she whispered, unable to let go, tearing up and breathing in and out her relief

.

It took Trunks a solid minute of making sure her mother was real before she could start explaining what happened. Bulma was patient, she helped her daughter out of her jacket and sword and let her snuggle in her arms on their couch like her life depended on it. She had to remove the top of her workshop denim under Trunks' insistence, hands sliding on each other's back under their tees.

".. It's been about a year and a half, for me," Trunks started. "The Cyborgs were far stronger than expected, but there were more, and there was another Time Machine with a monster that..." Trunks sighed, trying to put everything back in order, but the emotions finally got the best of her composure. She was home, damn it, she let it all out. "And baby-me isn't me because it's a boy who was born in June. It's alright, I kept hiding as male, young-you won't raise him thinking he might be a girl or something. Not only him, but older-787-me was also a man."

Bulma was speechless, none of it made sense, but she knew her daughter was not a liar. Things would fall in order and be clearer. As she continued explaining elements back as they came to her, Trunks didn't break contact, she even held on tighter, finding a sense of belonging she craved in her bones in her mother's arms. Personal space was meaningless.

"There's at least four universes. One that is almost identical to ours, except there was no Tapion and I was male. That Trunks traveled to 764 and 767 like me, got rid of the Cyborgs in the second universe and his own. That Trunks was killed in 787 and the monster, Cell, stole the Time Machine. There's our universe, the third one. And Cell went to the 763 of the 764 and 767 I traveled to. That's the fourth universe... And all of the Trunkses are male, except for me."

Trunks paused, looked into her mother's eyes, and with a smile, showed it was all good and safe. "After we won, I went to 787. He had died, defending the Time Machine, he had won against the Cyborgs only to... I couldn't.. I had to save him."

It was a lot to take in, but Bulma was a genius, and knowing Trunks' first trip had confirmed multiverse theory, this was all plausible. She'd keep her questions for later, if the rest of the explanation didn't answer them. Trunks finally put back some events in proper chronological order.

"So I arrived on May 12th 767, we fought the Cyborgs and lost. But they weren't like ours. And there were three, not just Seventeen and Eighteen, but that's.." complicated. Trunks sighed and continued. "We all survived, they spared us. So we retreated while Goku-san recovered— ah, he had just gotten sick. They didn't rampage at all, and then Cell appeared. Cell's goal was to absorb Seventeen and Eighteen. He couldn't do it in 787 because older-me had already destroyed them, that's why it killed him and stole the Time Machine… Anyway, Cell in 767 was killing so many people to get stronger and stronger.. Goku-san recovered, but he was still weak, so he told me to take Father into a special room to train and go beyond super Saiyan. In this room, one year inside is one day outside."

Bulma looked at her daughter like an extra head had grown.

"There sure are strange places in the universe, but one full year with Vegeta?"

"It was intense. Men are shameless and disgusting, he actually jumped into my bath, all butt naked and dirty and everything! But I think he doesn't know I'm a girl." Trunks fidgeted. "I later punched him for it. Broke his nose," she smiled, proud of herself. It had been a satisfying conclusion to her gripe.

"Good." 'Damn right you did! Goddamnit Vegeta, how crude can you be.' But Bulma, while recognizing Trunks as her daughter through and through (as she had shot Goku and hit Vegeta for similar missteps), she doubted Vegeta didn't find out about her gender, especially if they spent a year together. Better let Trunks believe otherwise, it didn't matter in the end, so she just cuddled her baby.

"So we trained hard, and so did Goku-san and Gohan-san, and with Tenshinhan-san and Piccolo-san I became a better martial artist. I improved a lot. Cell fulfilled his goal, hunted and ate the Cyborgs to become the strongest ever. And it organized a tournament, because why not I guess. In the end, Cell was destroyed by Gohan-san, and with the Dragon Balls, all those it killed were brought back to life.. Including the Cyborgs. Because they were good people. And they are, really. Eighteen is going to date Krillin-san. Seventeen was.. mindful."

Feeling her mother tense, Trunks brought her closer to her.

"It's alright, Father promised he'd keep them in line. And so did Gohan-san. They're far more powerful than them now, and Shenron judged them as good people so... But Goku-san.. died anyway. In the fight against Cell, he sacrificed his life to save the planet. I was told he refused to come back to life, as he's the reason why Earth is always in danger. I'm sorry, Mother, all that hard work and..."

Trunks kept her own death to herself, even forgetting about it as her mission had been to save Goku. Bulma gave her daughter's face a gentle caress. Perhaps it was fate for Goku to die, but at least that world was at peace.

"Son-kun is stubborn like that, but that world is at peace now, that's what's important."

The girl had to agree and squeeze herself closer, almost purring under her mother's hands rubbing her hair and the back of her neck.

"What about Gohan-kun?"

"It was hard, he blamed himself for it, but I have faith it'll be alright in the end."

"What now? This Cell-guys exists here, too?"

"Yes. I have Dr Gero's lab location so I can burn it to the ground before it hatches and harms anyone, and I also have more than enough power to slaughter the Cyborgs as soon as they're spotted. And.. I have New Namek's coordinates with a compass to go there once we have a proper spaceship."

Trunks was impatient, she was ready to go, and Bulma knew it. She was still worried for her daughter, just in case the Cyborgs had been holding back all along, years of living in terror and legitimate worries wouldn't disappear overnight. Instead of fighting to be a distraction and to save people, this time it was clear Trunks was confident she'd win. She hoped Vegeta's worst qualities hadn't rubbed off on her too much.

".. Past-you wanted to cut my hair. I refused. I wanted you to see it. To see me again with long hair," she whispered. Her mother deserved her girl back, and soon she'd have her.

Bulma knew what she was saying, knew how much it meant for the both of them, and she gave her daughter's scalp some nice scratches, undoing the beaded hair tie so she could see all of it.

"It really suits you, thank you for keeping it for my sake. Do you want to keep it long?"

"For now, yes."

"And that's a cute hair tie, too."

"A girl gave it to me," Trunks chuckled and admitted, all red.

"A girl, uh?" Bulma insisted with a playful tone. "A girl friend ?" And only teased further when her girl somewhat confirmed with a shy nod.

".. I did my best to be good."

"My baby's grown so much.." she fake lamented, and kissed her temple loving and acceptingly. "Seems you didn't get as boy-crazy, like I was." Seeing Trunks' reaction, beet red, avoiding eye contact and acting tiny, Bulma knew. She tickled her girl. "You did! Oh you'll have to tell me all about that. Cute boys too? My baby, the irresistible—"

"Mother!" Trunks whined, she didn't want to embarrass herself any further by talking about her intimate life.

"Just like your gorgeous mom! And what's this?" Bulma indicated the pendant which had come out of the shirt. "Oh and that's not your dog tag."

"That's a gift from Father, something Saiyan that past-you helped with. He left me a note but I've not listened to it yet. And you're right, that's older-me's tag. We exchanged them before we parted ways." She missed her alternate older self more than she was willing to admit, and Bulma fully caught on to her tone of voice.

"I bet he was handsome."

"Of course he's handsome, he's me, but male," Trunks tried joking like Bulma did, playing on her own sense of vanity, but it came out as inauthentic. "Ah, past-you gave me a case full of stuff for you." Trunks tried to change the subject. "And she promised it wasn't full of glitter."

Bulma let it slide but she took note of her daughter's reactions and promised she'd find out more, one way or another.

After Trunks had had enough contact with her mother, she accepted a cigarette and some coffee. She had left 767 at night but it was barely early afternoon in 784, so some caffeine would do wonders to help her stay awake. The cigarette was stubbed less than halfway through. The pair opened the briefcase to see what 767-Bulma had prepared, an ear still on the radio, just in case.

A lot of capsules in different cases, but also a couple of physical books were present, and a couple of sealed envelopes with their respective names on it.

"Uh, secrecy much?" Bulma noted, and Trunks shrugged, taking her own envelope to see what was in it.

They read their own envelopes on their own. Bulma's was much thicker, and when Trunks finished hers, she scooted over seeing her mother pale, but she folded the paper and shook her head no.

"I'm sorry Trunksie, I can't let you read that. At least not right now."

Trunks disliked it, she frowned and stared, but didn't insist considering how serious her mother looked, how shaken her voice was. That was worrying, but Trunks knew her mother would tell her if it was something she could do something about.

"Mine just told me the white capsule case was for me and contained stuff that would be of use. Wishing me victory and happiness and lots of girls, " she huffed a little about the last part, and Bulma chuckled.

"Bet she put a 'ladies' man' onesie on baby-Trunks."

".. Mother, was I supposed to be born male?"

Eventually the question came out, it had been on the backburner for a year and a half, and encountering two male versions of herself and knowing there was a third one didn't help Trunks' sense of identity.

And Bulma had to think about it, and sighing, she shook her head. "No. Give me my computer, I'll show you."

Trunks went through her case, gave her back the computer and sat by her side. Bulma went through the medical files, including her ultrasounds, and helped her daughter understand what she was seeing as they weren't easy to make sense of.

"That's you, when you were teeny tiny like this," she explained fondly over the eighteen year-old medical files. "And here you were growing up. I was looking for a tail, you know. Gohan-kun was born with one, and Chichi freaked out when he came out."

"I was born without one, right? The baby and older-me didn't have one either."

"Mhm," Bulma confirmed and wrapped her arm around her kid's shoulders. "So this was you at twenty weeks. You were definitely a girl. If baby-you has another birthday, then he's not you."

"Yes, he's my older brother, technically. Not the same zygote. But older-me, he's male, he was always male, but we share a birthday.."

"I'm no geneticist, Trunksie, and I will research it, but it doesn't really matter. You're you no matter what."

Trunks had to accept it, and so she did without doubts. It didn't matter, her older-self had told her, and with multiverse theory being confirmed, her 'sample wasn't relevant'. She had to push her doubts aside and worry about her own reality.

.

When Bulma went through what her younger self had given her, she gushed over the unfiltered amount of pictures. And Trunks promptly regretted all of her life choices.

"Do not say 'pair of Trunks' or else.." She threatened her mother who looked very disappointed she couldn't say the pun that had come out after seeing a few pictures of her baby with a babier-baby that looked just like her.

What surprised them both was seeing a few pictures of her with her older self, and his mother.

"He is handsome. He looks softer, so relaxed, at ease. Wait, that's his version of me? Oh I look like I haven't slept in days."

"She spent days mourning her son, then she saw me. But she doesn't have as many white hairs as you."

Bulma could imagine the rollercoaster of emotions her slightly older self went through, and nodded. She pinched her daughter for the white-hair comments, though, and thanked 767-Bulma for sending her dyes and hair products alongside everything else.

"Hey what's that? Go back." Trunks indicated back, and pointed at a picture of her sleeping on a couch similar to the one she was on, with Gohan in her arms. And she cursed, recognizing the moment.

"It reads June 2nd, 787."

"That's when we arrived with Krillin-san and Gohan-san. I fell asleep." Trunks grumbled at her own vulnerability, and how 787-Bulma managed to snatch a picture of that moment.

"You guys used to sleep like that all the time, I have a few," Bulma taunted her daughter, finding the picture adorable.

"What about my consent, uh," she sighed, defeated, but she still touched the screen, appreciating the peaceful snapshot.

"Ah there's one of you sleeping in other-you's arms. You guys look adorable.. and eerily identical."

"787-you couldn't differentiate us, when I hid my hair." Trunks was pretty proud of the test she and the other Trunks pulled on the other Bulma as revenge for the constant sibling teasing.

"Well the binder does the job, and he has soft features. I bet he would make a beautiful girl, with a hint of lipstick and a cute blouse."

"Gohan-san could tell us apart easily. He said we have different scars, but only he and Father could see them," Trunks chose to ignore the comment on her alternate self's femininity, and spoke of their strange outside differences. To Bulma's unspoken question and raised eyebrow, "Saiyan eyes?" she answered non-committedly.

It took Trunks a few days to go through the details of her trip(s) with her mother, and let her go through all of the notes and capsules 767-Bulma had given her. She was comforted in her identity as a girl, against all odds, but decided she would face the Cyborgs as she always had. They did not deserve the truth, and keeping the Golden Warrior as male was good for her upcoming civilian life.

The Cyborgs turning good was a shock, but not as big of a shock as it was finding out about Vegeta's emotional reaction to Trunks being wounded by Cell during the so called 'Cell Games'. Trunks wasn't able to say she died to her mother, she just said she had been unconscious. She also kept quiet about having been put in Vegeta's armor. She didn't hide that the Cyborgs in 767 found out she was a girl through Sixteen's radar, though, but they'd promised to keep the information secret as seemingly, it had been something they valued when they were still human.

Trunks reassured her mother that no matter how humane the 767-Cyborgs had been, how many qualities they had shown, she was going to show no mercy to those in her world. They weren't the same.

Eighteen's little wrapped box contained her earrings, and Trunks couldn't help a fond smile at the 'thank you for removing our shackles and bringing us back Sixteen' note. Seventeen had gifted her his earrings too, expressing a similar sentiment of enjoying freedom and a new chance at life. She had told him it was mostly Krillin's doing and couldn't accept, but 'Lapis' was stubborn and couldn't take no for an answer. The pairs were slightly different, so she put them together in Eighteen's box and put them away in her shoebox of precious belongings.

Vegeta's voice in the dictaphone, which contained a lot of hesitations and curses, made her smile. She listened to it alone first, just in case, but hearing him talk about the importance and significance of the color and symbol of her pendant, the little he knew about his heritage made her decide her mother could hear it, if she wanted, but Bulma refused. Hearing Vegeta's voice talking to their daughter was too much for her poor heart, especially seventeen years after his passing, and the 'what could've been' ached. Even if she built the Time Machine for that very reason, she was still a widow.

So, after checking if she wanted to know, Trunks just relayed the relevant information. Pink was indeed an important color in Saiyan culture, it was the color of the royal family, because it was the color of the skies and of divinity. Bulma went to find that 'badman' shirt she had bought for Vegeta, remembering fondly how often he actually wore it, despite having other options. She thought Vegeta would shun it, but quite the contrary, it seemed.

The symbol, which Trunks thought was black, but was actually dark red, represented the strength and blood of their ancestors, before their loss to the Freeza army and their subsequent enslavement. The actual symbol represented life sprouting out of a supernova, spreading in separate directions, like Saiyans spread to conquer, the royal family leading as the vanguard of such efforts. Trunks was now that spear.

Trunks gave her notebook about Saiyan mating and heat to her mother, unwilling to have that uncomfortable conversation yet, but hoped to convey the information she wanted her mother to have from it all. They both were wanted, and consciously, positively willed by her father, as Saiyans don't have kids by accident. Even if her mother never expressed it, Trunks always believed she thought it all had been an accident. Bulma was comforted by the certainty of Vegeta's care, she had faith in him and had had a glimpse of his true self, but never expressed any of it.

Days turned into a week of silence when it came to Cyborg activity, and Trunks had resumed her patrols, without having unpacked everything; both literally and figuratively. She just needed her radio, the earpiece to listen to it when she was out, and her sword. She took the Senzu bean that had grown with her, just in case, and Bulma had her test whether her watch was still connected to Capsule Corp with its emergency system.

Bulma returned to her usual routines, but divided her work between going through what her past self had sent her, alongside information from her future self, and her next project, the one she had started between Trunks' two trips.

Strangely, the compass Kaio-sama had given her didn't indicate anything, when she pulled it out for Bulma to use with the coordinates for New Namek. The older scientist found the item strange, but Trunks affirmed it had shown the right way, both in 767 and in 787. Perhaps it was broken, but Trunks couldn't figure it out, and she was already on edge with frustration.

"Trunksie, don't worry about that yet, I will take care of it after this other project," Bulma reassured and redirected to more actionable actions.

Eventually on her third patrol out, and unwilling to risk the looming threat any further, Trunks planned to go to Gero's sublab. She told her mother about her intentions, and after thinking for a moment about it, Bulma refused that she take any of the research back to her, and gave her blessings to blow it the fuck up. However, if she found Sixteen, Bulma trusted her daughter's judgment of his utility and didn't oppose him being brought back.

Sadly, unlike in 787, in 784, Sixteen's pod (and his hardware) had been destroyed when Seventeen and Eighteen broke free from Gero. The sublab was mostly identical to 767's, with the exception of Cell's little fetus form being actually far more similar to the horrible moult Gohan had found near the Time Machine.

It took Trunks all of her willpower to not blow everything up the moment she entered, she still wanted to look over some elements before letting loose of her power. The supercomputer was working diligently and feeding the creature that would become Cell and try to kill her in three years. The papers and data she saw were all similar to what she saw in 767, including Gero's book under his bed, the one Gohan had called a diary. She made a silent prayer for Lapis and Lazuli, wishing them the best in Otherworld and for them to find peace once the Cyborgs using their bodies would be destroyed.

With newfound resolution, Trunks was happy to unleash everything she had held back to obliterate the entire mountain, transforming and burning everything with her ki until all was disintegrated and left no trace and no chance of survival or reconstruction.

The radio interrupted the music to warn about a potential attack as the ground shook, but 'Tora' used her watch to communicate through the radio canals after a little inconspicuous silence. No need for her display of power to worry anyone.

"This is Tora. I am near North City. I think it's an earthquake, I felt it in the mountains."

Other voices from North City confirmed nothing attacked their city, and asked Tora to come by for deliveries.

Over the following weeks, Bulma noticed how her daughter was pacing and fidgety, ready to pounce at any sign of activity. She stayed put, however, she didn't try to find the Cyborgs on her own. Clearly, the anticipation was killing her, more than the last time she came back, because of how confident she was in her ability to actually bring peace, once and for all.

It took the Cyborgs two more months to make their presence known, but before Trunks could take her sword and fly off to finally free her world, Bulma showed her a drone that she had been testing to follow her watch.

"Show them, those in 767," she nodded, determined.

Trunks looked at her mother curiously, and seeing the Time Machine was up and running, despite not being fully charged, understood her mother had planned something in relation to the past, somehow. No matter, she would do what she needed to be done, and if the Drone followed her that was alright. Her plans didn't change.

.

.

.

FFNET isn't updating the stats nor sending me any emails about reviews or questions, so please don't hesitate to reach me through twitter or tumblr (secretsofdbz) ^^

I got another fanart too, one related to Resolutions part 2! You'll find it linked over there as well.

Only one more chapter to finish this arc, and two more arcs remain! Are you ready for a wild ride? I know I am!