I can't even remember a time when you weren't there, to lead me into your games and pranks, to share with me the blame for all the trouble we could cause for the sake of amusing ourselves.  Only a year older than me, but such a difference it was then!  You were the leader in everything we did, and I was content to follow you in whatever you did, wherever you went.  Sparring with niichan, teasing oneechan, tormenting your father, whatever we did we were together.

It seems that I was little more than your shadow back then, bound to you with no way of controlling what would happen next, for you were the one who would choose our direction, and I would drift behind you, unnoticed.  It wasn't just you, of course; niichan was always a better scholar, tousan a better fighter, and so I looked up to them, while standing in the shadows they cast as a result of their overwhelming achievements.  But you - I was your shadow.

I had a bond with you; how it formed I don't know, but I knew it was there, I could feel it, especially when - especially when I became more than just a pale shadow stuck to your shoes.  When I became a part of you and you a part of me.  That moment when we stood no longer two, but one, thanks to my father's teaching.  In this, of necessity, we were equals, and at last I was a match for you; counterpart rather than sometime companion.  That time was short-lived, but its consequences...

I don't think anyone realized what had happened to us.  Only our fathers could have any idea - but neither one of them would ever say anything about it, if they indeed do know.  My father has always been rather oblivious to the intricacies of interpersonal relationships, while yours has a tendency to ignore them, unless it suits him.  Sounds a little bit like us, doesn't it?  No wonder we haven't talked about it either.  We should have;  for now we live together apart.

I've watched you for so long, for most of my life, waiting for you to acknowledge what I know exists between us.  But you never do; you never seem to see me waiting.  A shadow's touch is swift and fleeting.  I am a shadow no longer, but - to me, you seem to fade beyond my reach a little more with each passing day.

Is it too late?  Have I left  it too long, waiting for you to break out of the shell you hide behind?  That's right - I know the truth behind that mask of yours, behind the biting comments and sharp remarks.  You think to drive me away, don't you?

It's far too late for that, now.

I know you, Trunks, and you are mine.