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Trunks had been training alone, this afternoon. Lately when training with others, he'd lose focus and end up talking too much. It was always about his past, how their timelines had diverged. He enjoyed conversing with others, but in order to stay on top of the game he needed to focus.
So, alone with his thoughts, he trained. A few hours had passed and he felt quietly proud of himself for staying on track and making good use of his time in controlling and amping up his ki, and practicing various techniques.
Taking a few moments to rest and relax, Trunks plopped down at the top of a cliff, overlooking the landscape. It was mid-afternoon, calm and quiet with a slight chill in the air. The sounds of nature around him were so peaceful; he'd forgotten what that felt like. Light clouds misted along the horizon of a bright blue sky, and mottled shades of green, brown and grey coloured the plains and mountains that were sprinkled across his view.
And then someone was in the distance, and he suddenly missed the company of others. It was peaceful, but lonely here. So he went off in the direction of the ki with the hopes of meeting up with someone to spar.
Approaching the ki, he noticed it was his father, expression set in his usual angry scowl. Hesitating as he hovered there, Trunks heard his father's voice. "What do you want, boy." Less a question, and more a warning.
Trunks drifted to the ground and landed. "I wanted to train..." He tentatively responded.
A scoff. Vegeta turned away from him. "You're wasting your time. Get lost, brat."
His honest thoughts poured from his mouth before he had the chance to filter them. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm at your level. It's a fair match."
A mocking laugh. "Child, you are deluded." Dismissed entirely.
And something inside him snapped. Whenever there'd be a spark of rage within him, he'd snuff it out before it could ignite him. He'd never allow what he felt to influence his words or actions. He'd been so good to not let his father get to him before.
But right now, unguarded, he hadn't readied his defenses. And so when the spark came it ignited and exploded out of him.
''Shut the fuck up! I'm sick of your comments. Aargh!!" His hands came up to grasp at his hair, pulling it.
Vegeta looked at him, unflinching, but giving his full attention. Finally.
"You best become aware of who you're talking to, boy."
The composure of Vegeta's response infuriated him further, and he lashed out. Leaping toward toward the older man with a yell, Trunks saw the man assume a fighting stance before he lost control.
% % %
Vegeta hit the ground once again, bloodied and thoroughly worn from battle. Trunks had by far the upper hand and was continuing to dominate him, and they both knew it. But Vegeta's pride didn't allow him to concede defeat in this manner - surrender would have to be beaten out of him.
Trying to get up, but struggling, Vegeta saw Trunks appear before him, standing at his feet. The young warrior was still panting with rage.
Vegeta glared at him from his prone position. Things had escalated way past what they usually did in sparring matches. "What do you want?"
"All I want... all I ever wanted... is for you to be a father to me."
The boy's demand was perplexing. "You're strange, boy."
Another primal scream and Trunks was on top of him, beating him into the ground. He was frantic, desperate. As if this was all a matter of time, and he was running out of it.
CRACK!
Vegeta groaned as he felt something break. A rib? A collarbone? Both. Finally Trunks leaned back, as if snapped ot of a trance. He was panting, and his eyes darted here and there. Vegeta coughed up some blood, it spilling down his cheek and onto the soil below. It bubbled slightly at his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath.
Once Vegeta had cleared his mouth, still being straddled by the young man, he finally spoke. "Why would you want that. You hate me."
Trunks' gaze was downcast in more ways than one. "No! I wish I could!" His head drooped. "The truth is, I love you dad. And what I want more than anything is to hear that you love me too!"
That was too much, too fast. Vegeta couldn't handle it. He closed his eyes. He felt Trunks shift forward to speak into his ear. Lowly, quietly.
"You're in pain, huh, dad?" A slap stung his cheek. It felt almost like a gentle tickle compared with the beating he'd just received. "Well this is all your fault. Because this is the only way you will hear me. You made me do this."
Things were getting hazy. He was lying on his back, but was still feeling dizzy. He kept his eyes closed. Heard Trunks make a choked noise above him. Felt the boy's arms wrap around his neck, and stay there.
Trunks embraced his semi-conscious father, hugging him tightly. It was the only chance he'd ever gotten, and he'd had to resort to using force to get it. Seventeen years of pain and longing crashed down on him, and he collapsed in on himself, resting his head down on his father's neck, himself defeated.
The young one's efforts were certainly valiant. How hard was it to touch the boy without violence? In these moments, Vegeta felt it didn't matter. And so he placed a hand on Trunks' back in reassurance, in favour.
Trunks choked some more then burst out into hysterical sobbing. Lying there, with some broken bones and a mouth full of blood, his adolescent son lying atop him in an embrace, well - it wasn't so bad. He'd been in worse situations, that's for sure. It had been an interesting development at the very least. So Vegeta continued to hold the sobbing teenage Trunks until he slipped into unconsciousness.
% % %
Days had passed, and Trunks hadn't the nerve to return.
After he'd beaten his father into unconsciousness, he'd composed himself somewhat then taken the man to the Capsule Corp infirmary to leave him in the care of Bulma without a word. Then he'd left.
He couldn't do it. Couldn't face the questions, the worry. Couldn't lie. Couldn't deal with the shame that would come with facing his father. So he'd left, and had been spending the past few days among the wilderness, observing nature once again in an effort to calm his turbulent mind.
It had all happened so quickly.
But now here he was, overlooking a great and majestic canyon. It was still, quiet, unmoving. Perhaps if he concentrated hard enough, he'd be able to adopt its stoicism and forget his past ever happened. Forget his life ever happened. Simply become one with the natural world of unfeeling, unthinking creation.
He began to notice a ki heading his way. Whoever it was, was far, right now, but would arrive in a few minutes. His heart leapt into his throat, no doubt this would be someone coming to question him or yell at him for what he did. Maybe Goku? He was the peacemaker of the group but didn't seem to be the disciplinarian type.
What would Goku say? What would he say to Goku? He hadn't even begun to formulate the sentences he'd needed to explain his outburst.
Oh God.
It was Vegeta.
No doubt come to settle the score for the sake of his honour.
Trunks' heart began to pound anew. He felt suddenly panicked, this was the last thing he'd been expecting. And while trying to process his situation, Vegeta appeared, standing behind him.
"Trunks."
Trunks continued to gaze over the canyon, unable to speak.
Vegeta stepped closer. "Boy, enough of your sulking."
His shoulders around his ears, Trunks finally spoke. "What do you want?"
"Familiar question." Vegeta remarked offhandedly.
A deep shame struck Trunks' conscience. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
This caught him off-guard. He turned around to face Vegeta, who appeared before him near completely healed. "Huh?"
"Perhaps I'd have done the same." Vegeta looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "Well, the violence anyway."
Trunks' mind turned upside down. If Vegeta was him, he'd have done the same in reaching out to his father through violence. Suddenly it made sense. This was how they reached out to one another. Violence wasn't simply a means of winning battles and establishing dominance, but also a way of processing emotion and letting off steam. The goal wasn't to kill one another, but to get closer.
Having spent his entire life without the presence of a full-blooded Saiyan, he'd adopted Earthlings' views and not even realised a different way of thinking existed.
And he'd gone and done this. But, it had gotten him somewhere with his father and for that he was grateful.
"Boy, time will settle you. Be patient." Came the voice from before him, snapping him from his thoughts back to reality. "Now come home. Your mother is worried."
Trunks nodded, mind still swimming. He'd finally found the key, and his father had all but given it to him on his own accord. So many new emotions swelled as his chest as he followed his father back home.