Raindrops

20: From Eden

He'd done it. He'd finally revealed his true emotions and yet... as he watched Marron lay motionless, it was her parents who received his declaration of love. And he had to admit it was quite terrible timing, Trunks and Eighteen have never been on the right footing. There has been a bubbling hatred for Trunks especially since that day he bullied Marron to the brink of tears. Lazuli was truly a formidable presence, and he always felt as though he were walking on thin ice whenever she was around. And to add fuel to the fire, his father and she has had a mutual hatred for as long as he'd been alive...but he didn't think it was fair to have their kids involved. After all, Trunks was nowhere near to his dad's attitude...was he?

Lazuli's heels clicked against the white tile floor. Eyes narrowing down on Trunks, she was face to face with the same boy who incessantly bullied her daughter. In Lazuli's opinion, Marron always had poor taste in men. That applied to Cash and Trunks...the only two men she's truly fawned over in her short life.

"Mama," the young girl softly began. "Can I ask you something?" The young girl twirled her pigtails around her fingers, her big blue eyes staring deeply into her mother's. "Can you...cut my hair?"

Lazuli tilted her head curiously, her fingers running amongst her beautiful golden locks. "Now why would you want to do that?" She cooed.

Marron slumped down on the floor, her stubby legs jutting out before her. "I-" She paused, "I want Trunks and Goten to like me..."

Lazuli could feel the bitterness rattle within her chest. "Marron," she placed her hands gently on her shoulders. "There is no reason to change yourself for those two boys..." In truth, Lazuli loathed the influence that Bulma and Chi-Chi's kids had on her daughter. Always idly watching them as they sparred, begging to be trained to the point where Roshi actually took it into his own hands.

It wasn't that she didn't want her daughter to be a capable fighter...but she didn't want her childhood to be robbed by battles...not like hers.

"Listen, Marron," Lazuli ran a gentle hand on her cheek, watching as her daughter nuzzled into the palm of her hands. "I will cut your hair...under one condition."

"...okay..." The young blonde began, eyes shifty.

"You never let another boy control you..."

"You..." Lazuli began, grabbing the hybrid's cheeks within her index finger and her thumb, much like a child. "How could you possibly love her."

Trunks' eyes were widened in shock from the forwardness of Lazuli's action. He was rendered immobile...his pupils constricted as he stared into the older woman's icy eyes. She had pictured him as some sort of monster, and how could he blame her? With everything that Saiyans have done to humans, and his father having such a strong thirst for vengeance against her. The room was in shambles due to the scuffle Goten and him had moments earlier. He didn't deserve Marron. He knew that...and he accepted that now. But what could he possibly do? Betray his emotions? Impossible.

Trunks was a grown man, CEO of a company, and technically heir to the throne of a dead race of warriors; he didn't intend being treated like a child.

She released Trunks' cheeks, leaving red imprints on him. "Marron doesn't need a senseless Saiyan in her life," she continued, crossing her arms above her chest. "She needs someone who will stay with her...someone who will protect her."

Goten quickly emerged, offended by the woman's statement. "Are you saying Trunks is going to cheat on her?" Goten quickly paused as the woman shot him an icy glare. "Us Saiyans are very strong y'know."

Lazuli turned towards the taller hybrid. "No," the woman began, "I've seen what your mothers have gone through...I've seen what Saiyans do...they leave whenever it's convenient to gain strength...my Marron...she needs someone normal...someone who won't leave her in times of peril."