This is it. After 60 short chapters, I am finally ready to let these insane characters and minimalist writing style go. It's a been a fun ride, and I'm glad I got to see it through to the end.

Thank you for reading, reviewing, PM-ing, and encouraging me to continue. For suffering through the silly bits and embracing this giant cast, you're awesome and I adore you for it. I don't know if this is the ending you envisioned for these guys, but when other things shifted as the story went, I never could picture this wrapping up any other way. Enjoy!

10 Years Later

"Stop Trunks," the little dark-haired boy said in pseudo-whisper, pushing aside the tangle of leaves and peeking through the foliage to where a small group of boats sat unattended. "I don't see anything."

He was shoved aside by the lavender haired boy who had not only a year on him but three inches as well. "There. Your stupid uncle left the keys for the boat in the ignition. See?"

Goten squinted. There were four boats docked on D Island and he couldn't see keys in any of them. But Trunks was sure he'd spotted his Uncle Raditz leave the keys inside, and Trunks was good at noticing when one of the adults slipped up.

D Island was crowded today. The corn harvest was in and all available hands were supposed to be helping pick the year's crop. Trunks grinned.

"That means they'll all be too busy to notice," he said.

"Notice what?"

"Keep up, Goten. They won't notice that we're gone."

A twig snapped behind them and both boys turned to find a girl only a few years younger than them frowning, her arms crossed, lips pursed, and blonde hair pulled into a pair of ponytails on either side of her head.

"Gone where?" she asked, clearly unimpressed by the boy's latest plans for mischief. "If you're sneaking off, I'm telling. You know you're not supposed to think about going to the continent. Not after last time."

Goten scratched his head while Trunks frowned. "We have to go Marron, before it's too late! The adults are making the continent boring, and I heard my dad and Mr. Nappa talking last night; there are hardly any Walkers left. If we don't hurry, we'll never get a chance to fight a Walker."

"You aren't supposed to want to fight Walkers," Marron replied. "They're dangerous."

"Ug. Girls," Trunks shot back. "At least Goten and I are faster than you. C'mon Goten, let's go!"

The pair of boys took off into a sprint and the little girl huffed before grabbing her skirt and chasing after them. Chancing a glance backward, Trunks saw how much room they were gaining on Marron and laughed. Until he collided into something solid. His head smarted and he rubbed at the tender spot with the back of his hand.

"Woa kids," Tien said, steading Goten's shoulders as the younger boy's hands windmilled wildly around him.

"Sorry Mr. Tien," Goten apologized once he was righted.

"No need to apologize. Just watch where you're going. Soldiers need to look forward, remember?" Tien grinned and at his side, gun resting on her shoulder, Lunch laughed.

Crap Trunks thought. The corn harvest was coming to a close. His mom and Chichi were near the shore, too close to the boats to sneak off out of sight now. Beside the pair of chatting women, Goten's 10-year-old brother Gohan stood helping Videl with her basket of crop.

The pair had both been born in the year after the Turn, and both had been given opportunities to fight and prove themselves on the mainland. Gohan had been a part of the search party that rescued Videl's camp. Her father, the annoying Mr. Satan, had been the camp's leader but he'd eagerly joined their group, back when they'd only had 4 islands and none of the soybean field or any of the hover crafts Trunks' mom had built.

After Gohan helped Videl remove her basket from the pile, she left to continue picking while Gohan turned and sat cross legged on the ground, opening his book and taking to his studies. Trunks frowned. Chichi was A Island's tutor, but Gohan was the only one who took the schooling seriously.

"You boys aren't getting into any trouble, are you?" Lunch asked, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"No," Goten and Trunks insisted, at the same time Marron exclaimed, "Yes!"

There was a beat of silence, and Marron sighed. "Trunks and Goten were going to take a boat to go to the contienet."

Tien's face fell. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because," Trunks groaned. "All the Walkers are almost gone. I heard dad saying that they were getting harder and harder to find."

At the mention of his father, Trunks looked over to the edge of the field where Vegeta and Goku had given up any pretense of helping out in favor of sparring. Piccolo and 18 shot the pair jaded looks as they walked past, baskets brimming with corn.

Krillin approached the small group with an affable look. He'd stopped shaving his head and some of his dark hair flipped from the edges of his ball cap.

"Hey daddy!" Marron greeted.

"Hey sweetheart. What're you doing here? I thought you were on B Island helping Roshi."

Trunks straightened up. He'd much rather spend time with Roshi than pick corn. "We can help."

"I'll drive you three over to the island. I think there's enough help to go around here," Krillin said, and he waved farewell to Lunch and Tien as he climbed aboard a small, red speedboat. Trunks glared at the horizon as his dreams of fighting Walkers were dashed. If Tien told his father he'd been thinking of sneaking off again… He sighed. Goten pouted at his side, but when they spotted Roshi on the shoreline of B Island the younger boy immediately perked up.

"What's wrong with Trunks?" Roshi asked, smiling as the three children helped Krillin with mooring the boat to a post.

"He's upset because we never get to fight Walkers," Goten replied with the flippancy of a weather report.

Roshi chuckled. "Is that it, huh? Well, you'll get your chance soon enough, boys. You know… Instead of helping me with the ropes, why don't we do something a little differently." The boys straightened and Marron cocked her head to one side. "Let's do a bit of training, then." His eyes met Goten's, the young boy a near-perfect replica of his father. "I trained your father before the Turn."

"Really?" Goten exclaimed, face alight with joy. "Did you train Trunks' dad too?"

"Hn." Trunks crossed his arms in front of his small chest. "No way. My dad got the best training in the military. He's taught me a lot; I could show you, Goten."

Goten's grin widened. "Well I want to learn from Master Roshi. There might be no Walkers here, but it never hurts to learn something new."

Roshi laughed. The early days of fear and hopelessness were sometimes difficult to remember; peace had settled over the group of islands that had become a refuge for survivors. One day they would return to the continent and try to rebuild all that had been lost. For now, they continued not just to survive - but to live.