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Tender Souls
By Kaiousei

Trunks sat patiently up on a hill with his chin sitting on his knee. He stared out onto the ocean and watched as the setting sun shimmered and shone on the top of the water. It made him feel slightly tired.
He had come here a lot recently. It was like his own secret place. A place to get away. Away from everything that plagued him recently. No one had figured out where he went when he left and he wanted to keep it that way. This was his place; he didn't want anyone to invade it. Maybe someone would share it with him someday, but until then he wanted it to himself.
A breeze blew by him, blowing some of his lavender hair into his face. He raised a hand to pull it back again, and he returned to his position. It was a chilly day and he wasn't as cold as he should have been. And being right by the ocean, it wasn't as windy as it was supposed to be. This made Trunks think it was a magical place.
Trunks sighed as the sun set and he knew he had to go home. He had been here for about an hour and he knew his mother would be worried... He had once appeared way to late and she had been in tears. Everything she had been through made her quite jumpy and easily worried. Trunks didn't blame her, because he was kind of the same way. That’s why he let himself do all of her chores and things that required going long distances.
The world was slowly recovering from the attack of the androids. There were two kinds of people around. The people who had learned to appreciate life and knew to trust others. And there were people who had been through too much, possibly had gone insane, and attacked everything that moved. That’s what made Trunks and Bulma worry about each other so. Although Bulma was confident of her son’s power, he still worried about her often. Possibly a little too often. He didn't understand why she worried, but then again, she didn't understand why he worried.
Trunks stood and fired himself into the air with his power that he didn't quite understand himself. He flew in the direction of Capsule Corporation. He loved watching the world around him go by. The past looked so beautiful. The future reminded of a Phoenix. Here in the future, the androids had burned the world to ashes, and now it was rising again.
He was proud to be a part of it.

It took Trunks quite a while to soar all the way to Capsule Corporation. It took him a while, but not too long. It would take a whole lot longer to walk there. Trunks softly landed on the ground and stretched a bit before walking into his house.
His mother was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug full of coffee. She was staring silently into it before she looked up and saw her son. She smiled, showing a bit of relief and quickly wiping it away.
"Good evening mom," he greeted as he came in and sat beside her. He smiled warmly. "How are you feeling?"
Bulma smiled weakly back. "A little tired. I guess that’s just my old age kicking in." She laughed and finished with a sigh. "Where did you disappear to so late?"
"I just went for my nightly fly," he replied, pouring himself some coffee. He liked tea better, but coffee was there for him now so he drank that instead. He shivered a little. The furnace hadn't wanted to work lately.
His world was miserable, but it was a poor happiness that many took for granted.
"Aww, honey, if you're cold, you should go get a blanket or something. It's almost winter and that damned furnace isn't working... We're gonna turn into icicles."
Trunks smiled, humoring his mother. "I'm sure we'll survive. A little cold weather should be nothing compared to what we've been through."
"No, it's more like cold weather will be much more than that of which we've ever been through."
"You're so pessimistic."
Bulma laughed, stopping to take a sip of coffee. "At least we have warm water. That should keep us going for a while." She sighed and rested her head on the top of the chair. "Trunks, can you look through the cupboards for me and see what we need for groceries?"
"Sure, mom." Trunks abandoned his coffee and got up to root through the kitchen. He took a pad of paper and a pen from the counter and threw it onto the table where his mother was sitting. She gave him a thumbs-up.
Trunks started at the fridge. "Alright, we need juice, butter, milk, I think the cheese will last us to next grocery day. We have a few apples left, but we're pretty shot for fruits and veggies. We should also get some hot-dogs. We're running a bit low, but I think there's some in the freezer." Trunks closed the fridge and opened the freezer. "Okay, forget the hot-dogs. We should get a few of those TV dinners for when we're too tired to cook. And we should get some hamburger." He closed the freezer and went to the cupboards. "We're running low on peanut butter and jelly. Lets get strawberry jam this time. We should get more rice and maybe some munchies like cookies and chips." He closed the cupboards and sat down next to his mother again. "That’s it."
"Thank you, Trunks. I'll go get them tomorrow."
"Nah, I'll go get them. You sleep in tomorrow. You need your rest, mom. You can't just go on forever with no breaks."
"I know, I've been learning that the hard way." Bulma laughed before choking into a cough that made Trunks' face crease with worry. She raised a hand to signify she was fine. "I'll be fine on my own. I'm not that old. I'm just not very healthy. I need to start working out and gain my youth back."
Trunks smirked. There was no way he could change his mother's mind, so he came up with another idea. "How about we go together? Spend a night on the town, that sort of thing."
Bulma's eyes lit up with a silent pride. "I'd love to. You always come up with the best ideas."
They sat there for a moment in silence before Bulma got to her feet. "I'm heading off to bed." She stretched. "Don't stay up to late, Trunks. We have a big day tomorrow."
"I know, mom."
She smiled with that pride again. "I love you, Trunks. You're my only reason to live in this world."
Trunks blushed, not really sure how to reply. "Mom... Go to bed..."
She giggled at her son. "You're so handsome. You're going to make a girl very happy someday."
"Yeah. Someday..." Trunks watched his mother scale the stairs and smiled. He remembered her past form. The Bulma from the past had fussed over her so much; he thought it was to make his father jealous. Trunks stifled a laugh and wondered if it worked.
"I hope they're happy..."
A shiver rocked Trunk’s body as a breeze flowed through a broken window. He realized how tired he was and he retreated to his room to hit the hay himself.

*~Chapter 2~*