Bra loved chocolate cake. Like most children, she had a penchant for sweets, but chocolate cake had always been her favorite. Every time there was a special occasion, her mother had baked one just for her. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Every time there was a special occasion, Bulma would go the bakery, buy a chocolate cake, and pretend that she had baked it just for her. She would smile and accept all of the compliments, knowing full well that she had not been the one who baked the cake. It was a great source of humor for her family --- everyone knew she hadn’t touched the oven in years. Of course, Bulma was oblivious to the fact that they all knew about her chocolate cake treachery. It was simply too funny to watch her beam and take credit for the cake, and besides that, no one had the heart to tell her.

It made no difference to Bra where the cake from anyway, as long as she could eat it. She would eat it carefully, selecting each and every bite and lifting it to her mouth as if it were a precious treasure. Her deep blue eyes would close as she tasted it, then she would open them and proclaim it “the best mama had ever made”. Bulma would smile arrogantly and tell everyone that it was really no trouble, while at the same time trying to cover up the bakery’s plastic cake container in the garbage can.

It was this fond memory that Trunks thought of as he stood at the kitchen counter. He stared down at the bowl before him, squinting at the brown goo that lay in the bottom of the mixing bowl. In a sudden rush of sentimentality (and stupidity), Trunks had decided to bake his little sister a chocolate cake. So far, things were not going well.

He had dispensed with the recipe in the very beginning. Recipes were for women. He had dug through the kitchen drawers until he found the only apron: a frilly white number with a big pocket on the side and a stitched design of a chicken in the middle. After tying it tightly around his waist, he had gathered what he assumed to be all of the ingredients that he needed to make a chocolate cake. There was the chocolate of course; he had found a couple half-eaten candy bars in the cupboard. He had crumpled them up and threw them into a large bowl along with a handful of flour, five or six eggs, and a couple packets of instant cocoa mix.

For some reason, his cake hadn’t turned out quite right.

Plus, he had basically destroyed the kitchen while trying to mix it all together. Chocolate was all over him, all over the cupboards and counters, and all over the floor. He had tipped over one of the chairs during his struggle with the mixer and unfortunately the cookie jar that had once proudly sat on the counter was in pieces all over the tiled floor. The electric mixer was still smoking in the sink. Taking a deep breath, he brushed the lavender stands out of his eyes, streaking chocolate all through his hair.

Tayhei chose that exact moment to unceremoniously wander in through the back door, clutching an armful of shopping bags. She was wearing --- as usual, a strategically planned outfit: A tight white sweater and long white skirt with a slit that went up much higher than necessary. She stood in the doorway for a moment with one long leg stretched out behind her to kick the door shut with a spiked heel. Then she turned, and faced him, tossing her long golden ponytail behind her shoulder. He watched with a grimace as her eyes took in his apron, the smoking mixer in the sink, and lastly, the incredibly messy kitchen.

She dropped her shopping bags and stared at him in disgust. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m cooking!” He snapped at her. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing?”

She crossed her arms casually and looked around the room with wide, green eyes. “Well, it looks like you’re destroying the kitchen.”

“Go shoot yourself.”

She raised an eyebrow and met his murderous gaze. “Do you want my help or not?”

Of course he wanted her help, and she damn well knew it. When it came to kitchen matters, he was completely clueless. The only thing that he was capable of doing in the kitchen was eating. He didn’t even know why he had attempted to make this cake anyway. He could barely even make himself a sandwich. I guess I was just trying to do something nice for my little sister. He thought. But if I had known that I was going to be ridiculed for it --- and worse, had to beg for her help, I would have just stayed up in my room.

He mumbled something nasty and unintelligible in reply.

Tayhei cupped a hand behind her ear mockingly. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

He growled at her and threw his arms up in frustration. “Yes! Yes, I want your help.”

She rolled up her sleeves and eyed the mess that he had made. Bowls and mixing cups were strewn all over the counter before her and there was a great deal of flour on every kitchen surface. After that same fiasco with the mixer, some of the brown cake mix had been thrown up onto cupboards, and was slowly dripping off onto the floor. Tayhei gave him a disgusted look. “Looks like you need it, Betty Crocker. I’m not even sure what you were trying to accomplish here.”

He put his hands on his hips, his muscles tense. “I have been slaving away in this kitchen for over an hour, you ungrateful wench!”

“I can tell you right now that it was most definitely a wasted hour.” She replied, picking up a nearby rag and wetting it with water from the facet. It was strange how capable the girl could be in a kitchen. Actually, it was strange how capable she seemed in everything. It was almost as if she had no faults; as if there were no tasks so great that she could not accomplish it. She went through life completely confident and infallible; there was nothing that she couldn’t do. He was used to that sort of mentality --- Vejiita was his father, after all. But for some reason it made him really angry to see her proficiently cleaning off the countertops and throwing his disgusting attempt at a cake into the trash can. All at once, he was overthrown with anger. He stared at her, watched her as she bent over to pick something up off the floor and rolled her beautiful green eyes.

“I was trying to make a cake for Bra.” He pointed out angrily.

She smirked. “Yes, I think trying would be the operative word.”

With one hand still on his hip, he pointed a finger at her and shook it angrily. “Well, what was I supposed to do? You took off, didn’t even tell anyone where you were going and you didn’t even have the decency to call and let me know that you were going to be late!”

He gestured around the kitchen with his free hand, still glaring at her fiercely with cold blue eyes. He ripped the frilly apron off of his waist and threw it onto the dirty table next to him --- it landed in another mess of the brown cake goo. “All day long I have to take care of the kid, keep up with the laundry, cook meals….Not to mention that I have to keep the house tidy as well. I spent over an hour cleaning and rearranging the living room today and you didn’t even notice!

Tayhei sighed. “Stop it, Trunks, before you start to actually grow breasts.”

Fury sprang up, hot and flashing and he clenched his fists at his side. How dare she make fun of him? All he was trying to do was be a man and take care of his family. He was working day and night to take care of his sister, this house, this company. His mother was gone forever and now his father had left them too. There was bound to be a period of adjustment. Did she just expect him to be able to handle everything right away, confident and perfect, just like her? Not everyone could go through life completely believing in themselves. As arrogant and prideful as Trunks was, even he had to admit that he wasn’t up to those kinds of standards.

And then there was his mother. Trunks had not even had time to grieve. How could he give himself time to mend, time to miss her, when there was so much work to be done? He was so busy being strong for everyone else that he didn’t even give his own heart a chance to heal. He and his mother hadn’t always gotten along well, and part of him had always thought that she showed favoritism over Bra. But they were connected, there ws no doubt about that. For most of his young life, his mother had been his only source of comfort. He could never find that kind of comfort or love in Vejiita’s eyes. She was the one who had slept by his bed and held his hand when he was sick, the one who gave him a hug and a snack when he came home from school. She was the one who had believed in him unconditionally. She knew that he was strong, that he was smart, and believed that there was nothing in the world he could not do. It was her support, her encouraging blue eyes and vibrant smile that had carried him through his younger years. As most children though, he eventually grew out of his mother’s love. It made him ashamed and sick to think of the times he was embarrassed to receive a hug from her or the times he had yelled at her when he hadn’t gotten something that he wanted. She had loved him dearly, wanted nothing but the best for him, always hoping that he would have everything that he desired. And in turn, he had treated her badly. His anger slowly melted away and he felt the fire disappear from his eyes, replaced with a barely noticeable sheen of tears.

I can’t think about this. I can’t give into the guilt and sadness now. He thought, turning away from Tayhei. Not in front of her; not when there are so many things that I still have to take care of. I am the man of the house now and I have responsibilities. I can’t mope around and cry like a child anymore.

“This isn’t my fault, you know.” He murmured, his back still turned on her. “If Otousan were here, he’d….”

Behind him, he heard her snort condescendingly. “If Vejiita were here he’d what? Whip up a five course meal and a scrumptious chocolate cake? Keep dreaming, Trunks. Vejiita was never that helpful to begin with, especially not when it came to you.”

Normally her response would not have had that big of an effect on him, but with the way he was feeling right now it felt like she had shot him straight in the heart. It was yet another reminder of the fact that he was so incredibly alone now. He had always had someone or something to hold onto, but now he just had….nothing. She was right, Vejiita had never cared about him much in the beginning, but it was starting to look as though he didn’t care at all now. He had chosen the time to leave perfectly: the time when Trunks needed him the most. And although Vejiita had a valid reason for leaving and although Trunks understood why his father needed to do this, it still hurt.

“Well, when he comes back---” Trunks searched desperately for the right words, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

He heard gentle steps from behind him and suddenly Tayhei was standing in front of him. He closed his eyes tightly and turned the other way, not wanting to let the girl have a chance to make fun of him again. But when he opened his eyes and looked at her again, his fear melted away. Her usually sharp and dangerous green eyes were less threatening, and her eyebrows were drawn together with something closer to concern than malice. Her arms were still crossed tightly across her chest, but her entire disposition lacked the usual arrogance that she held herself with. Instead, she looked almost….empathetic. The whisper of tears suddenly turned into a raging river, running down his smooth cheeks. He bent his head down, short lavender strands falling onto his face as he cried.

“Don’t fill yourself with false hope.” She said wisely. “It only hurts worse when things don’t happen the way you hoped they would.”

In her eyes, he saw caught a glimpse of something that he had never seen in her before. It was then that he realized there was much more to Tayhei than he had ever imagined. Like him --- like everyone, she had suffered and been hurt before. Her perfect persona, her unchanging confidence was nothing more than a protective wrapping around a very gentle person. But Trunks knew all too well how strong that protective wrapping could be. There was nothing in the world that could break through that exterior.

“What do you mean?” He asked, quickly drying his eyes on his shirtsleeve. It was one thing to shed a few tears in front of her, but it was quite another to stand there with his cheeks all wet and his nose running. He might as well maintain some of his dignity while he was still able to.

She sighed. “What I mean is that you can’t expect things to always happen the way that you plan them. And when you hope and hope for something to happen a certain way and it doesn’t, you get hurt. If you keep hoping that Vejiita is going to come back and become this amazing father figure --- it isn’t going to happen. And it’s just going to hurt worse when your hopes are crushed like that.”

“Well, hope is the only thing that I have left.” He argued. “If I didn’t have hope that he would come back, I wouldn’t be putting out all of this effort to keep Bra happy. I wouldn’t have tried making this cake, I wouldn’t have tried cleaning up the house, and I certainly wouldn’t have kept Capsule Corporation. I’m doing all of this because I have hope that things are going to work out in the end. If I didn’t have that hope, I would have given up on everything. I would have left, just like Otousan did.”

Tayhei shook her head. “That would never have happened.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re stronger than him.” She replied. “You’re everything that he is --- only better. Your parents were kind of opposites, each good in their own way, but each having faults as well. You took the best of his traits and the best of your mother’s traits and became what you are today. Your mother would have never left. She would never have given up hope. That’s where you get it from.”

“She was pretty amazing, wasn’t she?” He spoke softly.

They were quiet for a long moment, simply staring at one another. He couldn’t be sure of course, but he had a feeling that she would not use this little incident against him. He had to admit that most of the time he feared her and her sharp tongue, but right now he didn’t feel threatened at all. It made him feel enormously better to know that he at least had someone else on his side. Tayhei might be extremely temperamental and almost….well, evil, but somehow he knew that if there were ever a problem that needed to be solved, she would be right there by his side --- especially if it came to Bra. He had a feeling that Tayhei would walk across hot coals for that little girl.

Of course, because he was stubborn, and because she was even more stubborn, none of this would ever be said aloud. Most likely, the two of them would never speak of this kitchen scene again. They would lock it away inside of them, along with the rest of their feelings, until they could learn to trust each other. He looked down at the mess on the floor.

“What are we going to do about Bra’s cake?” He asked timidly.