Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball / Dragonball Z / Dragonball GT.

Have a good read.

"… and that's the story of our heroes."

"Wowee, they're awesome! I wanna be as cool as them! Do you think I can?"

"Of course you can. That's why you have to study and train hard."

"Yeah! That way, I can get strong and smart and I'll kick anyone who gets in my way!"

It was a fair early morning with a kind of weather people wouldn't simply pass up.

Since it was Saturday, people from all over quickly flocked to the central park in order to enjoy their morning stroll. This particular lady and her little son were among those people; they, just like the others, had made it a routine to always spend some time in the morning walking around the park to enjoy the fresh morning air as well as the beautiful scenery. The fact that it was now springtime made it all the better since trees and flowers everywhere could be seen blooming, giving rise to a colourful landscape.

The lady, clad in a casual—and yet regal-looking at the same time—led her son to a relatively huge stone sculpture of two young boys standing beside each other, hand-in-hand. Right by it was a white pedestal on which information about the importance of the sculpture was inscribed. His interest piqued, the son exerted his best effort to climb up the pedestal, but to no avail; he was simply too tiny to reach the top.

"Mommy, gimme a boost! I wanna see what's on it," he pouted in irritation.

Seeing this, the mother let out a small chuckle and lifted her son up on her shoulders. Now feeling happy for being able to read the rather lengthy inscription, the little tyke began reciting the sentences out loud; however, being a six-year-old, his reading skill wasn't impeccable and there were quite a number of words he had yet understood. Whenever he encountered difficult words, his mother would patiently explain what they meant.

This adorable sight elicited coos from many people who happened to be nearby, to which the lady responded with a tender smile. The passers-by felt very honoured to be greeted by her and they bowed—some even genuflected—in reverence despite her insistence not to. She found this situation rather uncomfortable and was actually starting to feel uneasy.

Fortunately for her, she was spared from further awkwardness by a familiar figure walking toward her. The crowd, as though fully aware of what they had to do, made way for the teenager as he approached the mother. Then, after saluting her by placing his right fist over his heart, he said, "Good morning, Princess Pan."

"Hi, Chicory! Morning!" exclaimed the little boy. He leapt off his mother's shoulders and immediately latched onto the newcomer's leg.

"Good morning to you too, little Prince. How are you feeling today?" the teenage boy, whose name was Chicory, affectionately ruffled the boy's spiky hair, gaining his mother's as well as the passers-by's smile.

The boy, while reaching out to Chicory's hands, pumped one of his fists in excitement. "I'm great! Hee-hee! Mommy just told me a story about my granduncle and his friend. They're so cool! I wish I could meet them."

"Why, they sure are. Along with His Majesty and your late great-great-grandfather, they're the heroes of the Saiyan race, how could they not be cool, as you put it?" replied Chicory. He then lifted the kid Prince above his head and started swinging him around like an airplane. "And that's a veritable fact known to people from all across the Kingdom. Your mother named you after your granduncle so that you may grow into a strong and great person like him."

"What's 'veritable'? Is that something you eat?"

Chicory found it difficult not to chuckle at the boy's innocent inquiry. "No, no! That's 'vegetable'. 'Veritable' means—"

He was cut mid-sentence by Pan who managed to get his attention by clearing her throat. Looking embarrassed for having forgotten his intent even though only for a moment, he put the Prince—who in record time reassumed a comfortable position in his mother's embrace—down and saluted the Princess once again.

"I know you enjoy playing with Goten, but that's not the main reason you're here, right?" asked Pan, her tone of speaking playful and very casual.

"Of course not, Your Highness," replied Chicory, "His Majesty… King Gohan, is looking for you."

Pan looked genuinely surprised. "Oh yeah… it's breakfast time. But it looks like Goten still wants to be here…" she said. After a few seconds of thinking and weighing the pros and cons of her decision, she finally voiced out her opinion. "Oh well. I guess there's no harm in hanging around for a little while. I'll be there in… uh, twenty minutes, okay? I'm sure dad will understand."

Chicory acknowledged Pan's orders by nodding firmly. He then turned to Goten whose grin was still wide as ever. "Now, I have an errand to do, little Prince, so I suppose I'll see you again this afternoon for your martial arts training after you are done with your studies. After that, we still need to perfect your Super Saiyan transformation, too," Chicory elaborated Goten's schedule for the day one by one, to which the latter acknowledged by nodding fervently. However, when he was about to leave, something caught his attention, so he kindly pointed it out. "One more thing before I leave, though. Please be mindful of your tail. Do you remember what you have to do with it?"

Goten wagged his tail for a moment, then rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly upon realising what his aide was talking about. "Oops… sorry! I'll be more careful! Hee-hee," he said as he wrapped his tail around his waist.

"Yes, that's the way. It prevents someone from hurting it or chopping it off. You don't want it to happen, do you?"

"Uh… no way! That's scary!"

"Very good. Always be vigilant, and you'll be a strong warrior in no time," said Chicory as he again ruffled Goten's spiky mess of hair. He then turned to Pan and formally asked for permission to be excused.

Not being a huge fan of the uncomfortable and unnatural manner of how people should have interacted with Royals, Pan urged him to drop the tenseness. "Aw, stop being so stiff already," she shrugged. Suddenly an idea crossed her mind; with a rather mischievous smile pasted to her face, she whispered in a covert manner, "You know what, forget about dad for a while. Why don't you accompany us in our morning walk? I'm sure Goten wouldn't mind, right, sweetie?"

"Yay, alright! Chicory's gonna join us! You're awesome!" Goten concurred. The joy in his voice was unmistakeable.

"B-but, Your Highness, as much as I'd like to, I can't do that!" answered Chicory, "I'm just an aide and I'm not supposed to interfere with your activities, so I mustn't—"

Again Pan interjected the aide. "'Just'? After all you've done in being Goten's caregiver and teacher? You know, you're the closest thing to a brother Goten has ever had, although you two are thirteen years apart," she argued, "That said… I'm the Princess, and if you want an order, this is it. Come with us! You need to have fun too, you know."

"But what about—"

"Nah, just relax. I'll cover you later, don't worry."

Without waiting for further response, Goten seized the aide by the hand and yanked him away from his mother. "C'mon, Chicory, follow me! Lemme show you where my favourite lizard usually hides!" exclaimed the little Saiyan in sheer excitement.

Seeing the camaraderie and almost brotherly bond displayed between Goten and Chicory, Pan couldn't resist smiling as she recalled everything her father had told her about how difficult it was to live in the past. She considered herself very fortunate to be able to enjoy the privileges of living in a utopia of justice. In this post-war peace period people—regardless of their class—were able to live alongside each other and interact freely, and it was unlike anything the past had ever seen, and how she was glad beyond belief that her only and much beloved son didn't have to go through that period of hardship which was now referred to as the Schism Ages.

All in all, equality had made living a whole lot easier for virtually everybody in the Kingdom, and no one was exempted…

… and it was all thanks to her granduncle, Son Goten, and his friend, Trunks Brief, whose passing more than fifty years ago had transformed their Kingdom into a better place to live.

Pan lifted her head to behold the grandeur of the sculpture before her and produced a weak smile. The sculpture was a work of art—a magnum opus, one might say—crafted a long time ago by two talented members of the Royal Family, and it so perfectly and beautifully displayed life-sized replicas of Goten and Trunks walking side by side and sporting sincere smiles on their face.

"If only you were still here, Uncle Goten, Trunks…" with hopes that the two prodigious boys she never had the chance to meet would hear her words, Pan whispered silently to the clouds, "Everybody's speaking about how great you are. They're always talking about your courage, determination, faith, and friendship. Really, how I wish I could've met you and learned a thing or two from you… and that Goten could've met you, too…"

"… our heroes."

Even centuries later, after countless reigns under different Kings, the sculpture still stood gallantly at the centre of the ring-shaped park which had long replaced the city walls as the border between the historical districts of the Kingdom that were now one: the city and the town.

This held true despite the fact that the Saiyan Kingdom had turned into a technologically advanced capital of the world; the park, now known as Remembrance Park, was one of the few protected places within the Kingdom's boundaries. People, as well as members of the Parliament themselves, had exerted unholy amount of effort to preserve the park at all costs and the sculpture along with it. As a result, the varying shades of green of grass and trees provided a comfortable and welcome respite for tired eyes after or during a hard day's work, as well as proof that nature and technology—represented by skyscrapers and solar panels which also doubled as roads—could coexist.

Being intended to serve as a memento of a turning over of a new page of their history, the sculpture never failed to remind every single soul who happened to cast a glance on it of Goten and Trunks's noble sacrifice so that everyone could live in harmony with each other. Surely their spirits would dwell in the hearts of people and encourage them to cherish the life of equality they now enjoyed.

As though oblivious of Mother Nature's attempts to erode them and render them unintelligible, these powerful words were inscribed on the white pedestal right by the side of the sculpture:

ANTITHESIS
A sculpture by Prince Son Gohan and Lady Videl Satan
11 October, Age 775

This sculpture serves to honour two revolutionaries who were the best of friends, and was officially sanctioned by King Bardock on the first Day of Remembrance, 18 October, Age 775, at the rising of the sun.

On this spot was ended the journey of lives of Prince Trunks Brief, a Royal, and Prince Son Goten, a Commoner who was posthumously granted the status of a Royal with the ascension of King Bardock, his grandfather, to the throne.

Deemed traitors, they were convicted of interacting with each other. In the olden days, cross-class interactions without the supervision of at least one Praetorian were considered taboo and were punishable by exile or death for this particular case.

Prince Trunks, then eight, and Prince Goten, then seven, were executed just as the sun rose on 18 October, Age 774 by King Vegeta, the former's father, himself. This event triggered a revolution now widely known as The Great Uprising. Led by King Bardock, then a Commoner, a great number of Nobles and Commoners who were enraged at King Vegeta's highly controversial decision stormed the castle compound on the very same day as the Princes' execution.

Although many other lives were lost, King Bardock succeeded in usurping the throne from his predecessor and was crowned the day after. In just a few months under his reign, the Saiyan Kingdom underwent numerous major changes for the better, the most notable being the abolition of the restriction on cross-class interactions. Slowly but surely, friendship and trust began to form across the whole Saiyan race and brought about positive impacts on economic, political, and sociological systems alike.

Prince Trunks and Prince Goten's spirits will continue to dwell in our hearts today, for because of them, we now know interactions between classes, when done correctly and responsibly, could only result in peace and harmony.

May the souls of our Princes rest in peace, and may they be able to see their endeavours have borne much fruit.

Thank you, Prince Trunks and Prince Goten.