Bulma and Trunks

At Trunks's home,

Son Gohan lay in bed, breathing steadily and evenly, deep asleep.

His filthy clothes had been changed, and his entire body was wrapped in bandages, leaving only his eyes, nose, and mouth exposed. He looked like a mummy.

"Fifteen broken bones, severe internal bleeding in multiple organs, a brain hemorrhage, and extensive muscle tears. To think he survived injuries this serious. Saiyan vitality really is unbelievably strong."

Bulma marveled at this, then fed Son Gohan a Recovery Potion.

Once she was done, she pulled Trunks aside and asked, "Trunks, what exactly happened? Gohan suffered terrible injuries, but he's clearly still alive. Yet yesterday, you..."

"Gohan was lying in a pool of blood yesterday, and I couldn't sense any life in him, so I buried him. I'm sorry..." Trunks wiped his reddened eyes and lowered his head.

"All right, tell Mom everything that happened yesterday, from beginning to end," Bulma said.

"Okay."

Trunks nodded, recalled what had happened yesterday, and began recounting it to Bulma, word by word.

"Yesterday, after Gohan and I finished training, the androids suddenly appeared in a nearby city and started destroying everything."

"I wanted to go with Gohan to stop them, but he tricked me. He knocked me out when I wasn't expecting it."

"By the time I woke up and rushed over, it was already too late. Gohan was lying in a pool of blood without any sign of life, and those two hateful androids were nowhere to be found."

At this point, Trunks clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, veins bulging on his forehead.

"After that, I buried Gohan..."

It was exactly the same as what Trunks had told her through his tears after coming home yesterday.

There wasn't a single difference.

Bulma fell silent for a moment, then said, "Gohan was lucky to survive. He probably wasn't completely dead yesterday, and you went and did something so reckless..."

Bulma raised her hand to smack Trunks.

But seeing him standing there with his head lowered and his eyes red, her gaze wavered. She sighed and lowered her hand again.

"Oh, forget it. As long as he's alive, we should thank the gods."

Trunks must have been feeling terribly guilty.

After all, no one wanted Gohan to live more than he did. He respected and admired Gohan so much.

Bulma's gaze softened, and she reached out to ruffle Trunks's soft hair.

Son Gohan slept for two and a half full days.

On the third day, he finally woke up.

He stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before remembering that he had been reborn.

He was now at Trunks's home.

It took him another half a minute to finally turn his head.

A purple-haired boy was sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed, a smile on his face as he dreamed of who knew what.

A beautiful woman in a white lab coat bustled about the room, flipping through notes one moment and running calculations on a computer the next.

In the center of the room stood a half-finished machine with a very distinctive design.

Son Gohan glanced at the machine. His sluggish mind took a while to recall that this was probably the legendary Time Machine.

A few years later, Trunks would use this machine to travel more than a decade into the past and bring Goku a special medicine to treat his viral heart disease.

Goku would be saved.

The timeline would split at that point,

becoming two separate worlds from then on.

As he thought about this, Son Gohan swallowed. His mouth was parched, and his throat felt as though it were on fire.

"T-Trunks, water."

Son Gohan murmured in an extremely hoarse voice.

Then he lifted his mummy-wrapped leg and nudged Trunks's arm.

"Ah! Who kicked me?"

Trunks jolted awake.

His eyes widened, and he abruptly sat up.

Then he saw Son Gohan blinking at him.

"Gohan, y-you're awake? That's great! That's really great!" The boy's face was filled with delighted surprise, but he clearly hadn't heard what Son Gohan had just said.

"You little brat, get Gohan some water." Bulma walked over and gave Trunks a smack on the head.

"Ah, right!" Only then did Trunks react. He picked up the water bottle beside the bed, opened it, and brought it to Son Gohan's lips.

Of the two mouthfuls he took, a mouthful and a half spilled out, running down the corners of his mouth and soaking the bandages around his neck.

"I'd better do it myself," Son Gohan said.

He wriggled into an upright position.

Son Gohan found the bandages on his hand far too cumbersome, making it difficult to move.

With a shake of his right arm, he released a trace of energy and shattered the bandages.

He took the water bottle from Trunks and drained it in a few great gulps.

Bulma sat beside him and asked with concern, "Gohan, how are you feeling now?"

Son Gohan glanced at Bulma and said, "Much better. I'm just really hungry."

His stomach obligingly backed him up with a loud growl.

"Mom, I'm hungry too," Trunks said.

"That's good, then. Gohan, get some rest and don't move around yet. I'll go cook for you two." Bulma smiled, then turned to Trunks and tugged at him.

"Trunks, come help me."

"Okay." Trunks nodded.

"Gohan, I'll go cook with Mom first. We can talk in a bit," Trunks said with a smile.

"Sure," Son Gohan replied.

Mother and son left his bedside and headed for the kitchen.

By now, Dr. Brief and his wife were dead, and so was Vegeta.

Bulma and Trunks had only each other left.

Son Gohan, however, was even worse off than they were.

He was the only one left in his family.

Chi-Chi and the Ox-King had both died more than a year ago, around the time he lost his left arm.

During the days he lay unconscious, the androids had attacked Mount Paozu.

When Bulma and Trunks brought out plate after plate of food,

they discovered that Son Gohan had already put on his bright yellow Martial Arts Uniform and was standing in the middle of the room, carefully examining the half-finished Time Machine.

Bulma set a dish on the table and exclaimed, "Gohan, why did you get out of bed when I told you not to? You haven't recovered yet. You need at least another week of rest."

Son Gohan looked back and smiled. "I feel fine already. All I need now is a good meal. Once I'm full, I'll be all better. Hahaha!"

"Honestly, you're becoming more and more like Goku."

"You never take care of your body."

Bulma spoke reproachfully.

"But I really do feel fine now. I'm just really, really hungry."

"How long was I unconscious?" Son Gohan asked curiously.

"This is the third day. All right, go wash your hands. Once you're done, we can eat," Bulma said.

"No wonder I'm so hungry. That means I haven't eaten for at least three or four days," Son Gohan muttered, rubbing his stomach before going to wash his hands.

After washing their hands, they all took their seats and began eating.

During the meal, Trunks looked at Son Gohan. He hesitated nervously for a long time before finally speaking.

"Gohan, that day, I thought you were dead. I couldn't sense any energy or heartbeat, and your body had gone cold, so... so that's why I buried you. I'm sorry."

"Yes, Gohan, what exactly happened?" Bulma asked as well.

Son Gohan glanced at Trunks, then at Bulma, and stuffed an entire large bread roll into his mouth, like someone who had starved in his past life.

Only after swallowing the bread did he answer seriously, "Saiyans are incredibly tough. But back then, there really wasn't much difference between me and a dead man. If my will had been even a little weaker, I really would've died. But I kept thinking that Android 17 and Android 18 were still out there, so I struggled my way back."

"Trunks, the two of us can't fall so easily. Otherwise, there won't be any warriors left to protect Earth. We have to train hard and destroy those two damned androids as soon as possible. When I came back a few days ago, I noticed you'd been slacking off a little."

"Yes! You're right, Gohan!" Trunks nodded firmly.

That's Gohan for you. He always knows just what to say.

He's so inspiring.