[Book One of Tales of The Dragon's Pearl]
-Love is the strongest force in the world. It is the greatness of a road leading towards the unknown-
Living a miserable life under androids' terror leaves Goku's daughter and Trunks with no choice but to m...
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From up in the sky, one could easily tell which part of the world was mourning because there was the colour white gathered in the eastern part of the world. Gathering near the Dragon's Tear Lake were the villagers whose hearts had been touched by Prince Son Gohan of the Fire Mountain, the grandson of the Great Ox King, who had been the village's protector all his life. Though the Son family never lived a fancy life like the royals, the villagers were still knowing and respecting them as one.
The Dragon's Tear Lake had always been the place the villagers shared their moments, be it happy or sad moments. They spent their time with their loved ones in the lake, then they became part of the lake when they died.
The first time Trunks watched the fire ritual was when Goten died two years ago. He wondered why people would put a candle in a small paper ship, letting it float on top of the lake. Tenten told him that it was to let the Dragon God know that someone was about to depart from the world so the Dragon God would come to fetch them and led their way to the other world. Though they didn't know if they were talking about the same Dragon God that came from the Dragon Balls.
In those two years, it was the third time Tenten float the candle for her family. It was probably her fourth knowing how her father passed away shortly after she was born.
Trunks sat by her side, accompanying her as she bowed at the people who came to express their condolences because it hurt him to see her doing it all alone. He wore a white shirt and white pants to match her white kimono because he didn't have the kind of clothes they had.
Tenten remained silent all the time, shed no tears, and showed no expression in the three days they mourned for Gohan. She only spoke a thing or two regarding the ritual preparation to him and Bulma. And his mother expressed sadness much more than Tenten herself. For Bulma, the loss of Gohan was almost equal to losing her own son because she had seen Gohan as her own, and so did Trunks. Gohan was the substitute for the father he didn't remember, the brother he never had, and the greatest teacher of all time.
But that was still nothing compared to Tenten, who had lost the last thing that supported her heart.
At the end of the ritual, Tenten poured Gohan's ash from the urn, and knelt beside the lake to bid her goodbye to her brother. Trunks clenched his fists at the thought that none of these had to happen should Gohan never sacrifice his left arm for his life.
