Trunks stood silently for what felt like forever in front of the gravestone behind the cabin in the hills he had shared with his wife and Kid. His head bowed and his eyes wet with glistening tears that stained the black suit he wore. It was one month since the death of his only lover and wife Mai. It was one month of sadness.
It was late autumn, and the orange and gold leaves clung to the trees as best they could before the rapidly approaching winter came to claim them and blanket the earth with snow.
He knew this would happen. Yet it dug into him like the fangs of some cruel beast and did not let go.
Ever since the destruction of his timeline and his relocation to this new universe with his at the time soon to be wife Mai, he believed things would go on forever.
No. He wanted to believe that. He desperately wanted to believe it, and so when Mai died of old age and he continued living due to his half Saiyan heritage, he wept.
Yet he was glad, glad for all the life they had.
Kneeling in front of the gravestone, he spoke.
"I miss you so much. It hurts not having you here with me and Rosemary. Every day, every day without you, it hurts" he spoke, his voice quivering.
He wiped the tears from his face as a breeze blew up some leaves that drifted through the cemetery.
" I'm trying my best to be a good father, a good Dad, but this past month has been hard".
"Remember when we vowed our vows, how you promised me that you would never leave? How I promised you the same? Well, you're gone now, and I'm happy for you. I'm happy you stayed with me as long as you did" he choked through grit teeth.
The tears fell upon the leaves beneath Trunks as he cried.
" Remember when I was young, and so where you? How we fought, how we survived through the pain, the joy, the hurt? Wherever you are out there, I love you. I always will".
The tears fell stronger.
" Remember when you said when we grow old and our daughter grew up that we won't be sad? We both where. How we spent the years after in a blur? How we finally had peace?".
"Well, I have peace even more now, but without you it feels so empty. My life was changed, torn apart and rearranged. I don't know what to do. I'm sorry for making this about me, but no matter how I try to stay put. I just can't. We've lived out our quiet life in the hills away from the world with Rosemary but I think it's time for us to step out into the world again. So please, give me your blessing one last time. I promise I'll look after our daughter for the rest of my time on this world".
Just at that moment of despair, Trunks felt a soft ghostly hand gently cusp his right cheek, and a momentary warmth enveloped him in a gentle embrace.
That was his wife's final blessing to him. She was watching over him still. His tears flowed even more, but this time it wasn't painful, instead it was joy.
He felt a wellspring of determination rise from within him and he rose from his knees and shook the stiffness from his muscles.
A smile stretching across his aging face, his beard glistened from the tears that had gotten lost in it.
The firm and sharp look on his face softened, giving his aged haggard look a drastic decrease in how old he looked.
Since even half Saiyans lived long beyond that of Humans and aged slower, despite him being eighty one, he looked not a day older than his late forties.
Turning away from the Gravestone, Trunks walked up the dirt path back to his home in the woods. It was time he and his daughter explored the world for real.
He had been content living the quiet countryside life away from everyone in the new world besides his neighbors in the hills. They had no need for city life, or for excitement. They both had lived through the androids, through Goku Black. Through Dabura and Babadi. He had stopped the awakening of Buu.
He would not let his daughter go through such things. Such Terrible pain. So they lived quietly in the countryside.
Now though?
Rosemary had turned fourteen and it was time to show her the world. He would have to be the loving father he barely had. Vegeta loved him, but it was in a very different way than he wanted his daughter to grow up with.
While Vegeta was cold and isolated up unto his violent end at the hands of the Androids, he wanted to be warm, compassionate and caring.
Mai had passed away at the age of Seventy nine, a respectable age for a woman who had gone through everything she did. The two had waited so long to have a child since there was so much happening in their life, that settling down properly and enjoying the quiet for a long recuperating decade was important. Luckily, despite the very late pregnancy, their daughter was as healthy as could be, likely due to both her healthy mother and father.
All that was left was for Trunks to nurture Rosemary to a strong and good person before she moved out to the big world.
With the help and patience of Mai, the family was strong. Trunks loved his daughter in the way only a father could, but there came a time where he should not be so overly protective of her, and it was coming soon.
She had had very little contact with the outside world. Trunks had made sure she was safe beyond all else. This was after the accident that landed them in this strange world, and Trunks knew that she would begin to resent him if she stayed in the small forest village out in the countryside forever.
So he made up his mind.
He was going to take her to the big city, Orario. If she wanted to go of course.
The thing he was most concerned about was a God trying to coerce Rosemary into their Familia. It was yet another reason why they hadn't lived in the city.
He wanted Rosemary to enjoy her childhood without the intervention of the Gods and Goddesses. There was only one thing that he had done as a father that he could say he had hurt Rosemary with.
He had removed her tail as a baby. It was for her and the world's safety
If the Gods knew of her, and his powers and heritage, they would not leave them alone.
Thus while Rosemary was kind, gentle, softhearted and a country bumpkin, he had taught her how to defend herself and control her monstrous power.
Deep in thoughts, Trunks made it back to the large Cabin Trunks had built with his own hands.
It was large and spacious, made from the wood of the colossal and durable Tamarisk trees from the eastern continent. The house could withstand a siege if it was put against it. Such durability was needed while raising a half Saiyan baby.
And so, when Trunks stepped inside the living room from the back, he was greeted with a soft "Hi Dad" from his daughter who was currently scouring the pages of a book she had recently borrowed from the small town library. It was a book on the story of Adrasteia, a Nymph that had looked after Zeus as a baby.
Such books were written after stories told offhandedly by the Gods hundreds of years ago much to the chagrin of various other Gods. However they had left the books to be read by any mortals and historians willing to read them.
Swiping a strand of dark blue hair out of her eye, and going back to devouring the words on the pages, Rosemary seemed quite engrossed in her reading. She had the build of her mother, slender and sturdy, with the softness of Trunks's face back in his childhood.
Her blue shirt she loved wearing sat comfortably on her and her blue pants made from the finer fibers found on the continent fit her well. She wore comfortable shoes that did not feel too tight or too wanted her to have a comfortable upbringing. He felt he owed it to her, himself, and especially after Mai was gone.
Much like Trunks and his mother Bulma, she had inherited the inquisitive mind they shared, and the kindness and curiosity of Mai.
Trunks had been hesitant to tell her about the troubled world they came from when she was young, deciding to wait till she was older to drop that bomb on her
Sitting next to her on the couch, he spoke.
" Rose, I think it's time we talked" Trunks began, careful of his tone trying not to show any of his earlier sadness.
" What is it Dad?" She asked, placing the cloth bookmark in her book, closing it up on her lap.
" I think it's time to go to the big City" Trunks said, looking at his Daughter hesitation in his eyes.
" Really? This is awesome" She said, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. A big grin forming on her face.
" Yeah, you've spent so long in the countryside with me and Mom that you must be looking forward to seeing Orario" Trunks continued, a happy look filling his face, seeing his daughters excitement.
" Great! When are we going? I'm so excited!" She squealed with happiness, jumping up from the couch with a little hop.
" I'm glad you're excited, but there are some rules I'd like to make sure you know before we head out" Trunks said trying to keep a stern look, only to fail spectacularly, leaving him with an awkward half grin half flat face.
Hearing this, Rosemary deflated.
"Ughh, rules" She grumbled but sat back down and looked at him attentively.
"Now this is for your safety" And others he thought but didn't say out loud.
" Make sure no matter what you do, do not join anyone's Familia first and foremost. If you forget everything else that I've told you, remember that" Trunks said. A young girl with immense power rivaled only by her sheltered kindness would be a great prospect for the manipulative or uncouth.
"Okay Dad, you've been telling me this since I was twelve" She mumbled back but otherwise didn't protest.
"Second, do not get into a fight. If someone is bothering you, come get me or run away. Never ever attack someone" Trunks continued, his eyes sharp, showing his sternness.
"Yes Dad" she answered. Her Dad had always drilled this into her. She should never raise her fists to another person unless she had no other option.
" Third, if anyone does anything or says anything you don't like, run back to me immediately and tell me what happened" Trunks said, making sure that nothing would happen to her.
" And fourth, don't run off without telling me, okay?" Trunks finished.
"Yes Dad, I know" She answered with an irritated huff.
" That's a good girl, c'mon pack up for a week and let's go to the big city " Trunks ruffled her hair and got up with a laugh seeing her feined irritation melt away into excitement again.
"Yay! I love you Dad" She shouted, getting up and hugging Trunks before running upstairs to her bedroom to pack up.
Trunks just smiled happily as he watched her disappear up the stairs.
"Time for me to pack up too" he said before walking over to his own bedroom down the hall from the living room.
And so, after many years in the countryside, Trunks and his Daughter were going for her first trip to the Big City Orario.
With his wife looking down on them from above and his daughter by his side, there was nothing that he couldn't do.
How will Rosemary enjoy the city? What will Trunks do and who will the family meet? Find out what happens next time on Dragon Ball Fantasy.