Finding Hope

Chapter 86: Mentor and Students Reunited!

Tsubaki's pov

I laid beside Trunks, staring at the ceiling in the room that we had been given. Trunks had been tossing and turning for a while but it seemed like he had calmed down, I couldn't close my eyes without seeing Bulma's death replay over and over in my head. I let my thoughts wander off and thought of Gohan, wondering how he was doing since I last saw him. He and Videl were just in the beginning stages of their relationship and it seemed they were basically made for each other. Just like Trunks and I. And like Mom and Dad. I wonder if he still was a fighter, which I forgot to ask Dad about. Trunks startled me when he woke up suddenly, sitting up in bed, sweating slightly. "Trunks, it's okay." I immediately sat up, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I asked, sliding forward causing the covers to slide off of me. "Yeah.. I had a nightmare." He said, I scooted forward and wrapped my arms around him. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked, "No.. I don't want to think about it." I brushed his hair back and laid my head on his shoulder, "Okay. Just know that I'm here if you need to talk about anything." He hummed in response, "Enough about me. How did you sleep?" He asked, "Not much.." He put a hand over my arm as I hugged him, "Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head no and Trunks sighed, the two of us taking a moment of silence. "What do you want to do today?" He asked, breaking the silence. "Well... I don't know."

"Let's go check on Mom and see if she needs any help."

The two of us got out of bed and headed towards the lab, nearly running into Goten and Kid Tsubaki who were playing around without a care in the world. I couldn't bring myself to even smile at them because I felt like there was a heavy weight on my chest, Trunks grabbed my hand and led me down to the lab. I was surprised to find Kid Mai and her two other friends in the lab with Bulma, she didn't like having people help if they didn't know what they were doing. Mom sat beside Bulma, the two discussing something as they looked at Momma B's notebook. "Hey guys," Bulma smiled, noticing us standing in the doorway. "Did you guys get any sleep?" She asked, "Trunks got some sleep. I.. I couldn't sleep." I said, Trunks pulled me closer to him as Mom frowned in concern. "How are the repairs coming along?" Trunks asked, taking the tension away.

"It's going well. It amazes me just how much Future Chi-Chi knows about the time machine and it's mechanics." Bulma looked surprised, "Well, our Bulma taught me a lot after Tsu and I moved into the house with Trunks and Bulma. I don't know much other than what she taught me." Mom explained, brushing a strand of her hair back. "I figured out how to compose the time machine's energy source, it will take a full day to save up enough to fill the tank." Trunks and I were surprised when she said that because Momma B had to deal with a longer timeline. "Really? That's incredible. It took my mother nearly a whole year to fill up half the tank." Trunks explained. "It must have been really hard for her since she had limited resources." Bulma sighed.

"Do you need any help?" Trunks asked, "No, we got it. And you two should take a shower and change out of those dirty clothes." With that the two of us headed back towards the room, I was surprised to find that there were clothes laid out for both of us. Since both of us weren't in a very good mood, I decided that it was time to lighten things up, especially since for now, we were safe from Goku Black. Besides, I needed some sort of distraction to keep myself from thinking about the deaths and the past 48 hours in general.

"You wanna shower first?" Trunks turned towards me, taking his jacket off and throwing it on the bed. "Actually.. I was thinking..." He looked back at me, "How about we showered together?" I hummed, walking over to him. I hugged him from behind, "Oh, really?" He smirked, his attitude completely changing. "Yeah. I mean, we could always shower separately but.. We have some alone time and both of our moms are busy so we won't be interrupted." I blew on his ear, making him shiver slightly. "Tsu, you're playing a very dangerous game, right now." He warned, "Oh am I?" He turned around and threw me over his shoulder, making me squeal as I held onto him and he walked us into the bathroom. As soon as Trunks shut the bathroom door and locked it, he placed me on my feet and immediately kissed me. I immediately kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. After we kissed for about three minutes, I turned the shower on and let the water get warm while Trunks started undressing. I started undressing and when I turned around, Trunks was fully naked and staring at me. "What?" I asked, "Nothing, I just.. I can't believe how beautiful you are." I blushed, "Trunks..." He chuckled and walked closer to me, grabbing my waist. "What? It's true. Tsubaki, you're beautiful. Never let anyone tell you different." He leaned down and placed his lips on mine, I melted into the kiss. He then surprised me when he lifted me up, making me squeal as he walked us into the shower. The warm water ran over our bodies as Trunks put me down softly on my feet and backed me into the shower wall. He crashed his lips to mine and the minute I kissed back, I could feel the passion and love he felt. My tail brushed against his skin, tugging him closer to me. Our shower eventually got really heated and it took us a while to get washed up and get out.

Once we were fully dressed, we went outside and someone came to mind. Gohan. Throughout this whole ordeal we hadn't seen him once which made me wonder what he could possibly be doing, last time we heard from him was before Goku Black arrived. When we walked outside, both Piccolo and Krillen were doing yard work which was slightly odd as Krillen was working as a police officer in recent years. "Hey guys," Krillen noticed the two of us, "Hey," I waved, "You get enough rest?" Piccolo asked, "Not really, do you know how Gohan is doing? We haven't heard from him in a while." Trunks asked, "If you're thinking of Gohan going with you to the future then I'm sorry to tell you but that's not a good idea. Gohan's become more of a scholar in recent years and has stepped back from fighting." I wasn't too surprised to hear this, he had both Mom and Dad so he didn't have to become like his future counterpart. "I know it's hard hearing that since he was your mentor in your timeline. But I think the best thing for you guys to do is to go see him." Krillen suggested, "Now may not be a good time since he's at a conference. But we have a map of his work area." Piccolo hands Trunks a map, he two of us say thanks and head off to find him.

"i dind't think he would have changed so much." Trunks said, "I did." I said, Trunks looked over at me with slight surprise. "Think about it Trunks, he was able to grow up with Dad and Mom. We changed history the moment we came back here the first time. And with Cell and the androids being taken care of and Dad and Vegeta still alive, Gohan was able to focus more on his studies. Mom made him study, knowing that Earth would have people to protect it without him needing to be involved. Though, I'm certain she has had trouble keeping Goten and Kid me in line and on the right track for academics." I explained, making him think for a bit. "Look, there it is." The two of us landed, looking around at various buildings before we spotted Gohan who looked so different than he used to. He was dressed in clothes that I knew Mom must have made him wear from the time after we left, he looked so well-kept and put together. The oddest part was that I couldn't sense any sort of power coming from him, not like how I used to sense it when we were here years ago, fighting against that crazy bastard Jean. "Gohan," Tears sprung in my eyes as he turned his head, his eyes going wide as he saw Trunks and I standing together. "Trunks? Tsubaki?" He stopped walking, taking in our appearance. "Gohan," Trunks nodded, "You're really here?" I launched myself at my older brother, who caught me with ease. I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore and started sobbing in his arms, making Gohan concerned. "Tsubaki, what's wrong? What are you two doing here?" He looked at Trunks, rubbing circles on my back as a way to comfort me.

"It's a long story." Trunks said, "Well, I have time. I just got done with work. How about we go get Ice cream?" He pulled back from me but I held onto him, not wanting to let go of him. "I don't think she'll let go any time soon, Gohan. We've been through a lot in the past few years. I'll tell you while we get ice cream."

"Okay." Gohan nodded.