Tayhei looked from the recipe book back to where Trunks was busy cracking eggs and putting them into a bowl. Shells and all. The look on his slightly angry face showed that he was not very excited about baking a cake at all, and perhaps he didn't even know how. She wasn’t sure why he decided to act like he knew how to bake a cake when he so obviously didn’t. Not that she knew how to do this either, but she was pretty sure that Trunks was doing something wrong. He just looked angrily confused. They had originally planned to wait for Son ChiChi to come help them with the cake. She remembered ChiChi from the very first day that she had arrived in the city: the woman carrying the beautiful orchids who had said hello to Trunks. Trunks had informed her that ChiChi was the best cook in the world and that she would be more than happy to help them out. She was glad ChiChi was supposed to be such a good cook because it didn't seem like her and Trunks were good cooks at all. She was fine with waiting for the woman to come, but Trunks had grown impatient very quickly. He had immediately gotten out the ingredients and put himself to work. She didn’t understand why he would do this, but she guessed it had something to do with the fact that Trunks was not a lazy person. He didn’t like to just sit around when things could be done; even if it meant jumping into a project that he knew absolutely nothing about.

"Are you sure you know how to bake a cake, Trunks-kun?" Tayhei asked incredulously. It had been a very long time ago, of course, but as a child she had watched her mother make cakes for her birthday. And as far as she knew, she had never seen her mother doing any of the things that Trunks was doing now. It just didn't seem right. She glanced down at the recipe book again and grabbed a bag of flour, still uncertain.

They were baking a cake for Bulma's birthday party tomorrow, secretly in the kitchen while Bulma was down in the lab. The woman knew nothing about the party, though she had been hinting around to them that she would like them. Tayhei almost smiled to herself as she thought about that. For someone who was so grown up and respected, Bulma could often act like a child. She was determined and ambitious, just like any adult should be, but she had little to no self-discipline. And when she didn’t get her way, she threw some of the most uproarious tantrums that Tayhei had ever witnessed. She and Trunks sometimes fought because of this. Trunks seemed to take on the role of the parent more often than his mother did. He took care of his mother and was very protective of her, much like a parent would watch over his child. At the moment though, Trunks was reminding her more of a stubborn brat than an adult.

He rolled his sky blue eyes at her. "Of course I know what I am doing. Anyone can bake a cake. You just put everything in a bowl, stir it, and then stick it in the oven." He explained in an irritated voice. This only gave Tayhei further proof that he had no idea what he was doing. Of course, he would rather die than let her know that. He was far too proud to admit that he didn’t know how to do something. And even when he didn’t know something, he still pretended that he did --- just so he wouldn’t lose face. It was rather charming in a childish sort of way. But she didn’t want anything to get in the way of them making a nice cake for Bulma’s birthday. It didn’t have to be the most beautiful cake in the world, but she wanted it to be at least edible. And she was pretty sure that if Trunks kept on cooking, the cake would not be safe to eat.

"Maybe we should wait for ChiChi." Tayhei suggested helpfully. "I'm sure she will be better at it than us, anyway."

"We can do it okay, Tayhei?" Trunks snapped and he looked down at the bowl that he had placed the eggs in.

She decided to give in. Trunks could be interminably stubborn and in most situations there was nothing she could do to change his mind. With a sigh, Tayhei poured flour into the cups that Trunks had gotten out of the cupboards, measuring just the right amount that they needed. In the process though, she accidentally spilled quite a large amount onto the countertop and the floor. A cloud of it rose into the air and suddenly tickled her nose. She tried to hold it in, but simply couldn’t help herself; she sucked in a big breath and sneezed. When she jerked with the sneeze, the bag in her hands jerked as well and flour went flying. The white substance floated through the air as if in slow motion, then landed all over Trunks’s head and back. Tayhei stared in horror as Trunks flinched. The egg that he had been cracking on the side of the bowl fell to the floor with a sickening smack, its insides spreading slowly between the indents in the tile.

Trunks turned to face her, practically red with anger and the vein near his temple standing out vividly. His hair and entire backside was covered in stark white flour and his fists were clenched at his sides. The bit of flour that was stuck in his hair fell forward, coating his eyelashes and landing on the tip of his nose. He glared.

She couldn't hold it in any longer --- Tayhei burst out laughing for the first time in years, her laugh echoing through the kitchen like the tinkling of small silver bells at Christmas time. She had never seen anything so funny in her life. The flour, the egg, the expression on his face, the way that he was glaring at her….Even the way that he had been trying to pretend that he knew what he was doing, when he so clearly did not --- It all struck her as incredibly hilarious. Despite the fact that Trunks was absolutely fuming, she kept on laughing, barely able to breathe. She dropped the bag of flour on the counter top and held her sides, consumed with laughter.

Despite the fact that he was covered in flour and she had been the one that threw it on him, he began to chuckle slightly too. His laughter was more sheepish than anything, and she guessed that he must have finally realized how silly he had been about the whole ordeal. They just should have waited for ChiChi. He bent over, still laughing, and she liked the sound of it. It was loud and genuine, but not the sort of laughter that one would find annoying. She didn’t think she’d ever heard him laugh before, although he smiled more often than any human being she knew. Unfortunately, the humor wasn’t over, because Trunks did another impossibly stupid and embarrassing thing. He stepped forward to pick up the bag of flour off the counter --- Possibly to extract revenge, but unfortunately slipped on the egg that had cracked on the floor. One second he was on his feet, and the next he was laying on the ground covered in not only flour, but egg too.

Tayhei's laughter grew even louder and became contagious; she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks and her sides were beginning to burn. Trunks was laughing just as hard now too, unsuccessfully trying to remove the egg and flour off of his back. It was embarrassing, yes, but he didn’t truly think that she was laughing at him; she was more laughing at the situation. At least, that was what he hoped. He had truly been an idiot. If he had only been patient enough to wait for ChiChi, the two of them wouldn’t have ended up in the kitchen at all. Not that he minded now; it was good to hear her laugh and see her smile. He couldn't help but notice how much more beautiful she looked when she laughed, her golden hair falling into her face as she struggled to breath through giggles.

Beautiful or not though, she had still covered him in flour, and now it was time for him to return the favor. Normally he wasn’t very fond of revenge, but if it were something as simple and harmless as this, he was all for it. Quickly, he grabbed the bag of flour off the counter and flung the bag at her, spilling flour out into the air and covering the girl head to toe. She paused in laughter for a moment, blinking in surprise as flour spilled off her head and into her eyes. She looked down at her completely white hands, her eyes filled with amazement, as if she didn’t really think that he would have done it. Then a look of pure mischief appeared on her face. With movements so quick that it would have been hard for the average eye to follow, she picked the bag up off the floor and grabbed a handful, throwing it at Trunks. He ducked and she threw another handful as he scooped up excess flour and egg off of the floor and flung it at her, laughing.

It felt so good to laugh again. It had been such a long, long time since he was able to let himself go. It felt like everything in his life was so completely serious: the danger of the jinzouningen, the pain of losing Gohan and everyone else in his life, taking care of his mother, taking care of the city….It just all piled up on his shoulders until he didn’t think he would be able to take it anymore. He spent every moment agonizing over everything and his heart was so full of pain and anger that he was certain there wasn’t anymore room left in there. And then Tayhei came along and seemingly changed everything. He wasn’t just a warrior protecting the Underground City and fighting off the jinzouningen --- he was a real person, too; a real person who needed to laugh and have fun every once and awhile. He needed to have fun, otherwise all of the stress and pressure was eventually going to drive him insane. He didn’t think it was too selfish of him to want something like that. He could still take care of the world and the people that he loved; he just needed to laugh every once and awhile too.

The two were still tossing flour at one another and giggling like children when ChiChi appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a recipe book and a mixing bowl. She had been delighted that Trunks had asked her for her help. It had been a very long time since she had cooked for anyone but herself and she was eager to make a meal that other people could enjoy as well. She had gotten so used to Gokuu and Gohan always asking for seconds and thirds and fourths that she always ended up cooking more than necessary. It was sad now when she sat down at her small kitchen table and realized that she was the only one who was going to be eating all of that food. So, when Trunks had told her about Bulma’s surprise party, she was more than willing to come and help out. Besides, Trunks was a sweet boy to be doing such a thing for his mother; he was always taking such good care of her. She just didn’t realize that she was going to walk into such a scene of chaos. She blinked and stared at the large cloud of flour and the two white blurs moving around the room hitting each other playfully and throwing more flour. It was amusing of course, but they were probably ruining her friend’s kitchen.

"What is going on here?" She demanded angrily, placing one hand on her hip.

Both Trunks and Tayhei straightened up instantly and dropped the handfuls of flour from their hands. She didn’t know much about the girl other than what Bulma had told her in telephone conversations, but she knew that Trunks was not the sort of boy who normally indulged in such activities. She wasn’t even sure when she had last seen him laugh; if she had ever seen him laugh at all. ChiChi would never want to take something as wonderful away from him as laughter, but she simply could not let the two of them carry on like this, especially when there was a cake that had to be made. She eyed them with a disapproving glare, but said nothing. She had never been one to keep her mouth shut, but this time, ChiChi thought it might be better if she just minded her own business. She was just happy that Trunks had a bit of humor and happiness inside of him after all.

As the two of them stared down at the white floor with guilty faces, ChiChi stepped cautiously into the kitchen. She blew the film of flour off of the kitchen counter and set the recipe book and mixing bowl down firmly. She turned around and faced them, her hands on her hips and her mouth set in a firm line. If she wanted things to be nice for Bulma’s party, she had to get the two of them into shape and this kitchen clean. She hated to work in a messy kitchen and as far as she knew, this was where they were holding the party itself. She looked around the room wearily. It looked as if winter had come in there and just snowed all over the place.

"All right. We've got two hours until Bulma's surprise party. That means you have two hours to clean up this mess while I bake a cake." She explained in an authoritative voice. Then her face softened into a bit of a smile as she stared at the two of them, who looked so guilty and helpless standing in front of her. "In all my years, I have never seen such a sight. You look like a pair of ghosts. Now get to work cleaning up this kitchen."

They nodded and they looked happy to have gotten such a light punishment. Knowing that they only had a short time to clean up a huge mess and prepare for the party, they got right to work. Trunks grabbed a sponge from the sink --- the only area that had not been assaulted by flour, and threw it to Tayhei. He headed out of the room then, in search of a broom to sweep the mess up off of the floor. Tayhei, who obviously had serious experience in cleaning, went to work right away on the counters, rinsing the sponge after every swipe.

Because she loved cooking and because she was happy to have seen the two of them laughing and having fun just like normal kids their age, she began to hum. She kept up a steady, beautiful melody as she expertly measured and mixed the ingredients for the cake. She was going to ask Trunks what he wanted to make for Bulma; that was why she had brought along the recipe book, but after seeing the mess and noting their time crunch, she had just decided on her own. Chocolate was perfect for Bulma and a luxury these days in the Underground City. Luckily because her friend still remained the richest woman in the world, she was never in need and had a large supply of it. It was going to be nice to be able to cook with interesting ingredients like this again. In her own little kitchen she only had the basic necessities --- all of the food items that she used to love were now either too expensive or non-existent. As her peaceful humming filled the room, it caught Tayhei’s attention. The girl stopped cleaning for a moment and looked up at her with thoughtful green eyes. ChiChi smiled back and noted that the girl was staring at her hair, which was tied up in her usual bun. She began to feel slightly self-conscious and studied her mixing bowl, stirring quickly and proficiently.

"ChiChi-san, how come you have all that pretty hair up in a bun?" Tayhei asked suddenly, while rinsing the sponge off in the sink. “It’s so shiny and dark; I bet it would look wonderful if you let it fall down around your shoulders.”

ChiChi looked up from the mixing bowl and smiled gently at her. "I've kept my hair up like this almost all my life....I wouldn't recognize myself if I put it down." She admitted,

It was odd that the girl mentioned her hair. She had just been thinking about that earlier in the week when she caught a glance of herself in the bathroom mirror. Normally she wasn’t the kind of person that would study her own reflection, but there was something about herself that day that she couldn’t help but notice. Perhaps she was just scared that all of the pain and heartbreak might have worn down her appearance as well, but it hadn’t. She wasn’t an old lady, as she had so often thought she would be by now. She wasn’t even close to being old. She still looked almost exactly the same as she did the day that Gokuu died. And to him, she had always been pretty enough. She cracked an egg expertly on the counter top before adding it to the bowl. A faint blush spread across her cheeks. "Sometimes, I would wear it down for Gokuu....He never really said it, but I know he preferred it when it wasn't up in a bun."

"If he never said anything, how did you know?" The younger girl inquired. She tucked a stray strand of her golden blond hair behind her ear and tilted her head in question.

She was inquisitive, perhaps a bit too inquisitive, but at the moment ChiChi did not mind. Sometimes it was hard to talk about her husband, but other times she longed to speak of him. For some reason, at times she wanted everyone in the world to know what a wonderful man he had been. She wanted everyone to know what kind of a relationship they had had. Other times it was painful to even think about it. Right now though, she enjoyed being there with the girl and sharing her wisdom of love and relationships. She shook her head with a bittersweet smile on her face, remembering some far off moment that she had experienced long ago, not quite faded with age. Back then, Gokuu and her family had meant everything to her. They had been all that she thought about and all that she cared about.

"I think on some level, I always knew what he was thinking.” She told the girl. “We had some sort of connection, I guess. He didn’t even have to say anything most of the time because I could just see it in his eyes. In the same way, he would always know if I were hurt or in danger. He would come running back to me from anywhere then, just to make sure that I was okay. We were just connected by the heart, I suppose."

Tayhei raised her eyebrows and mopped up a pile of flour with her sponge slowly. It looked as though she had some very deep thoughts on her mind, though ChiChi would never dream of asking her about them. The girl looked up at her again with those soulful green eyes. "I did not know it was possible to do that."

"Well, that's what happens when you fall in love. You learn a lot of things are possible." ChiChi explained, feeling older and wiser than she ever had before. For some reason, she felt protectiveness over this young girl, who was so innocent when it came to love. Bulma had told her that she had been living on her own for quite some time, and ChiChi assumed that the girl had probably forgotten what it was like love and be loved. And that would be a terrible thing, because love was the most beautiful thing that ChiChi had ever come across. She could tell just by looking into those wide green eyes that Tayhei had a good heart and she knew that one day she would make someone very happy. That was the way that ChiChi herself had looked long ago before she even met Gokuu --- pure of heart and full of dreams.

"I'm sure you will find it someday too." ChiChi continued, smiling at her. Her eyes turned to see Trunks walking in through the doorway at that very moment. She grinned at him with a mischievous look on her face. “Trunks will find someone too, though I'm not sure any girl would want to date him with his hair such a hideous color."

"Hey! Your dress is purple, ChiChi-san." Trunks pointed out, laughing. He gripped the broom in his hands and began sweeping up the floor quickly.

ChiChi looked down at her dress. "I guess you're right. Purple is my favorite color, but I think you are a little young for me Trunks-kun."

Bulma smiled over the candle lit cake at her friends and family, who eagerly waited for her to make a blow out the candles. Her son was there of course, as well as the few employees that worked in the house and a few other co-workers and friends from in town. Trunks could have invited the whole city --- most everyone knew who Bulma was and was friendly with her. But he had chosen to keep the party somewhat small and personal, which she was thankful for. She didn’t need the entire Underground City in her kitchen. She was happy to see a few faces that she didn’t expect to see, though. It was nice to be around her employees in a setting that didn’t involve paperwork and manual labor. Her son had done an excellent job of organizing her party. She probably could have done a better job herself, but that would have taken the whole element of surprise away from it. And she highly enjoyed surprises. It was just nice to know that this many people cared enough about her to show up.

One of Trunks’s friends, Engin, had come to the party. She didn’t know the boy well, but had heard a bit about him from ChiChi. Supposedly, the boy was a menace, though she didn’t see any signs of that as he sat at the table. Actually, he hadn’t said more than two words to her since she came into the room. He seemed preoccupied with talking to Tayhei. She had expected this sort of thing. There weren’t many girls of her age group in the city and the few that did live there had already been spoken for. There were a lot of younger marriages these days, which left a lot of boys Trunks’s age left without anyone at all. Tayhei was a beautiful, new girl to the city and she was bound to get a lot of attention. She meant to warn her about it earlier, but it seemed as though the girl was handling it wonderful. She didn’t even seem to notice the boy who was fawning over her. When it came time for Bulma to blow out the blazing candles, she caught of glance of Engin and could tell that she was getting a little more than frustrated.

Trunks and Tayhei beamed proudly at the gorgeous cake, which ChiChi claimed the two of them had made. She didn’t even know why her friend had decided to try and lie about it. Any idiot could see that it had in fact been ChiChi herself who made it. Trunks might be strong, but he had never touched an oven in his life, and Tayhei didn't seem to be much of a cook either. She suspected that if the two kids had helped, they didn't do much, or the cake would have been lopsided and half-cooked. Plus, her kitchen would have been literally destroyed during the baking process and at the moment it looked even cleaner than it had earlier that morning. She looked over at ChiChi and shook her head with an inward laugh.

"Make a wish." Her friend said gently, her dark eyes glinting.

Bulma thought about what she would wish for, her face growing thoughtful. There were a lot of things that she would like to have her in life. For starters, she definitely no longer wanted the jinzouningen hanging around. Actually, if she could have it her way, she would make it so that the jinzouningen had never come at all. The world would be perfect again, untouched by their evil hands and completely peaceful. Everyone that she had lost would be with her once again and she would never have to spend her nights crying because she missed all of them so much. But that was a hollow wish, one that she knew would never happen. The past simply could not be undone, no matter how hard she wanted it to be that way. If she was going to make a wish, she needed to make one that was worthwhile. Her eyes drifted over to her son and she looked at his sky blue eyes and felt her heart ache for him. She knew that Trunks wasn't very happy. He had grown up in a twisted, awful world without a father and with a mother who wasn't much comfort. He had to spend every day of his life worrying about what was going to happen to him, tasting fear and defeat every single time he went outside the city walls to fight the jinzouningen. He was sad, and the sadness ran down so deep into his soul that it was heartbreaking just to look into his eyes sometimes. If there was any hope of changing that look and erasing all of that sadness, she was all for it. These past few years her son had been everything to her.

She took a deep breath and made a silent wish. I wish Trunks could find happiness somehow.

All the candles blew out at once, and she smiled happily at her son, who was busy explaining something to Tayhei. It was most likely a fighting move because he kept gesturing and moving his arms about as if he were trying to hit someone. Bulma noticed that for once his eyes did not have the dark, depressed look that they normally had. His face reminded her of the day that she had found them sparring together in the gravity chamber --- he actually looked happy, with a genuine smile on his face. He didn't seem to notice that Engin was glaring darkly at him from the corner of the room; didn’t seem to notice anyone else except for the golden haired girl. He was totally, completely involved with Tayhei, as if she were the only person standing in the room with him. She shared a secret glance with ChiChi, who had noticed the same thing.

Maybe she shouldn't have used up her wish on something that had already happened.

Bulma appeared in the doorway outside his room, knocking timidly while trying to balance the rather large pile of laundry in one arm. A moment of silence fell, then strong strides to the door and it opened quickly and Trunks’s face appeared, looking excited and happy. Bulma smiled at him and held out the laundry as best as she could, trying not to drop the freshly cleaned clothes on the floor. It wasn’t often that she did laundry, but every once and awhile she started feeling lazy and helpless and decided to do something worthwhile. Truthfully, she didn’t know much about any kind of domestic chore. It wasn’t something that she was proud of, but she had grown up in a world of comfort and had never been taught those kinds of things. So, she had unknowingly shrunk a few of her son’s clothes and turned a few pairs of his socks pink. She just hoped that he wouldn’t notice until she had exited the room. He tended to get quite frustrated with her when she attempted to do things that she knew nothing about.

"Oh. It's you." He stated plainly, his face dropping back into its habitual scowl. He held the door open for her, and she came inside, setting the laundry down on the bed, glad to be rid of the huge load. She was tougher than she used to be years ago, but she still wasn’t quite used to manual labor. She simply didn’t have the arms for it. She was beginning to hate her parents for bringing her up in such an easy, comfortable environment. She wished that she could be like some of the women in town: tough and unrelenting, ready for any kind of danger or situation. Even ChiChi was tougher than she was, though she would never let her friend know such a thing. Idly, she rubbed her sore arms and watched her son. Trunks followed her back into the room and flopped into his reading chair, his lavender hair falling into his face, which looked almost childlike at the moment.

"Don't get too excited or anything." Bulma teased him, as she ruffled his hair. "I know I am not a super model, but I still look good for my age. I thought this green sweater really complimented my eyes, but I guess I’m just not pretty enough for you, am I?"

"Okaasan! That is disgusting. You are my mother." He spat out. He did in fact look genuinely disgusted and he turned his face up to her. "I just thought you were someone else, that's all."

Bulma threw him a conspiratory wink and sat down on the bed. "I know. You were expecting Tayhei. Did you think she was just going to show up at your door with a red bow on her head, waiting to fulfill your every wish? I don't think she is that type of girl, Trunks."

He turned a deep and unnatural shade of red and began to stutter. "I was not expecting her to do....that. I thought she might want to spar or train...."

That was the stupidest excuse Bulma had ever heard. She knew damn well what he wanted Tayhei for; after all, she had been a teenager herself once. Boys his age were full of raging hormones and ideas about girls that were entirely not true. Of course, she hated Trunks to be thinking like that, it just wasn't nice. Especially to a girl like Tayhei, who was far too innocent and sweet to be caught up in that. She had seen the way that Engin and the other boys from town had been looking at her, and it made her angry to see them thinking of her that way. It made her even angrier to imagine Trunks thinking about her that way, but lately she had seen a strange look on his face whenever Tayhei appeared in the room. She hoped against hope that her son had true intentions; after all, he had such a good heart and was normally so intelligent and kind. But she just had to make sure, for the sake of Tayhei. The poor thing simply wouldn’t know what to do if she was faced with that kind of thing.

"I will not have you taking advantage of that girl." Bulma commanded sternly, placing her hands on her hips. "She may be pretty, but that is no excuse to---"

"Okaasan!" Trunks howled, his face turning an even deeper crimson color. His brows drew together in embarrassment and anger and his sky blue eyes glared. "I do not....I don't want her for that. She is my friend. Nothing more."

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Sure Trunks. And I suppose now you'll tell me that you are going to quit fighting and take up tap dancing lessons." She quipped in a sarcastic voice.

Trunks shook his head and gave her a very serious look. "Iie, Okaasan. Ballet."

"I know you like her. I am your mother, I can tell you don't just see her as 'a friend'. And if you honestly believe that, then you are fooling yourself." She insisted. "Maybe you have good intentions and what you’re feeling is harmless, however, I do not want you taking advantage of her. There are plenty of girls in town for those kind of....activities. I am not saying you have permission to indulge in that type of behavior, but if you do, it's your money and---"

"OKAASAN!" Trunks howled, covering his ears quickly and turning several shades of deep red. "I cannot believe you actually think I am a complete pervert! That is disgusting! Go bother someone else...." He exclaimed, and practically ran out his bedroom door.

Bulma sat on Trunks's bed for a long time, tears streaming down her cheeks as she held her sides with laughter.

Chapter 7
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