Author: The Noseless Wonder
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would most likely be doing something rather than writing fan fictions about them. Yep, all I own is the car outside my window and the Trunks blanket that’s keeping me warm at this very moment. So don’t sue!
Author’s Note: Ag! It’s almost done! I can’t believe I’m about to finish this! And after only a year in the making! There will be an Epilogue though, but it will be short. Sorry this is late. I owe a HUGE thanks to Presea of “The Trunks and Pan Archives” for this. Not only has she stayed up until INSANE hours with me making sure I finished this thing, but she’s also given me a ton of ideas. (Not to mention the lines that I blatantly took from her) Anywho, you can thank Presea for this chapter being out so soon. If it weren’t for her G.I. treatment and boot-camp for fic authors, I might have taken another month or so with it! Thanks!
The light tapping of a pen on a paper pad was all that could be heard throughout the lonely vastness of her spaceship. Space was too quiet for her. No matter how hard she tried to fill her time in the company of noise and ruckus, nothing was working. In the end, the false sense of company would leave her… and she would be lonely again.
Pan laid on the bed stomach down. Her arms were crossed and laid in front of her, her chin rested against them. It was a hard and bony pillow, but it succeeded in propping her head up, which was all she needed. A pad of stationary was in front of her. It was still void of words, yet little doodles and scribbles littered every inch of the light blue sheet that was on top.
She wasn’t really paying any attention to writing in her journal anymore. She had spent hours, maybe even days trying to come up with the right words to describe what she was feeling. However, nothing came to her. Sure, a couple of mixed up sentences and choppy expressions were written down, but they were nothing that could’ve ever done her emotions justice.
She wanted to write… to Trunks. There were so many things that she needed to say to him, and yet few words would truly illustrate what she needed. From the moment she got back on the ship, she knew that she never wanted to see him again. Pan could live out her life content if she were never more cursed with having to gaze into his azure depths and drown in the warmth of one of his small smiles and welcoming glances. She had enough of him when she was in the past. She had seen more than she ever needed to see, and she was paying for it through her conscience. It was at such a point where she couldn’t even look at her lavender belongings without feeling an intense pain well up inside her head and stomach.
No… she could live without him. She would easily live life without feeling so helpless and susceptible to his charm and whit. He would never again be able to sweet talk his way out of trouble with her. No… she didn’t even want to be in the same room with him again. She had seen what he was capable of and he had clearly expressed to her how he felt. If he didn’t want her… then she wouldn’t allow herself to want him either… even if it meant denying herself of all the joy he brought to her life.
Pan’s conscience kept gnawing at her. If she was going to abandon their friendship, the relationship they had spent her entire life building, then shouldn’t she at least explain it to him? It’s not like she would ever see him again, she would make sure of that. Did he deserve to know what had happened during those two months?
The very prospect of getting him out of her life forever was the only thing driving her to write such a letter. If she had guts… true Saiyan courage… then she would tell him face to face, but she knew she didn’t. Writing letters was the easy way out. There was no direct two-way conversation that way and he couldn’t question her about anything. On the other hand, it would allow for her to be able to communicate everything she needed to on the first try without having to worry about not being able to find the right words. Yes… she would tell him everything with words written down on paper. There would be less heartache that way, which she had enough of while on her little excursion.
The loss of words came quickly, however, as soon as she put the tip of the pen to the stationary. Pan hadn’t the faintest clue of how to tell him what she needed to. Basically, she needed to convey everything that had happened from the ice cream parlor to the family get together at Capsule Corp. Then, she would simply explain that because of the poor feelings she still harbored for him, she thought it best if they were never to talk to one another again. The idea sounded so simple while it was swimming around in her imagination, and yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find the right words to do the job.
Pan sighed and plopped her head downward onto her bed. Frustration overwhelmed her, making her want to scream, hit something and break down crying all together. Her eyes fixed on the window next to her bed. She wasn’t sure why Bulma put a window there. It wasn’t like there was anything out there to see anyway.
Stars slowly passed by in the distance, yet it appeared as if she wasn’t moving at all. The universe appeared cold and lifeless to her at that moment, yet the black vacuum that was outside her small craft was home to countless species of beings, some sentient and some not. It was hard for her, hard for anyone to believe that a planet full of so much beauty such as earth could be part of such an endless, dark void that seemed to only want to take life away rather than give it.
She gave up on staring at the nothingness outside of her window. Instead, she rolled over and put her head on a pillow as she stared at the ceiling. She would rather daydream… fantasize about watching the sunset, and what the flower covered hills near her house looked like in the beginning of Spring. Cabin fever was already threatening to drive her insane, but she wasn’t even to the wormhole yet. She didn’t know how much longer it would be, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to get home.
Trunks stood on a rock while staring intently at the watery depths that rested below him. His brow was furrowed as if he was trying to decipher a master code, or trying to single-handedly balance the company’s financial records. His hands rested contentedly on his hips as he searched the surface of the murky pond for anything shiny, or familiar in appearance. He knew he would eventually have to jump into the pond, he was just trying to withhold the inevitable. He had already landed in it once that week, so he knew how cold it was. This particular lake was fueled by a waterfall which was derived from the cold, mountain springs that rested fifty or so miles north of there. The river which it fed from was shaded mostly by the trees of the forests which covered the area. To say that this lake was cold was an understatement.
Grumbling and muttering self-curses under his breath, he took off his shirt. His boots and socks were next, but only after an intense struggle that nearly caused his to fall into the pond anyway. His stomach and chest expanded as he took in deep breaths, attempting to stretch his air capacity temporarily so he could stay under water longer. His toe was placed at the edge of the water, sampling the temperature so he could brace himself for it. Immediately he recoiled, goose bumps spreading rapidly across the surface of his skin.
“Why did I have to pick such a cold pond to throw the ring in?” He asked aloud in a very whiny voice, one he often used on his mother in attempt to get a day off of work. He braced himself for the impact of the ice cold water and took a step back, ready to jump into the pond’s chilling depths.
“Trunks!” Yelled a voice, momentarily saving him from what was sure to be his icy death.
Trunks turned around in time to see his little nine year-old sister and Panny running toward him. “What are you two doing all the way out here? Does Mom know you’re out this far?”
“Yep!” Chirped Bra. “Momma sent Poppa to come and find you, but Panny and me wanted to come too, so he had to fly with us.”
“Then where’s Dad?” He asked.
“He’s back towards the edge of the forest. He wanted to see if Bra could find your ki.” Pan explained. “Ms. Bulma would have a cow though, so you’d better not tell her.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” He said quietly. “Look, I’m busy right now. Tell Mom I’ll be back in a little while.”
“But Ms. Bulma was really mad. She said you forgot to go to work today.” Panny told him.
“I didn’t forget, I was just hoping she wouldn’t notice.” He mumbled. “I’ll be back after I find what I’m looking for.”
“What are you looking for?” Panny asked.
Trunks eyed the young girl, an idea popping into his head. She was the adventurous kind, after all… Trunks bet she would have a ball searching for a “sunken treasure” such as the ring. “Well, clumsy me… I accidentally threw a diamond ring in this lake and I need to find it.”
“Oooh… A diamond ring?” Panny asked with the utmost interest.
“Why did Momma let you buy a diamond ring?” Bra asked, suspicious as always.
“Um… I didn’t buy it. I was keeping it safe… for a friend.” He covered. “And now I need to get it back in a hurry. Will you guys help me?”
“Yeah!” Pan shouted. “What about you Bra?”
“Yuck! That water’s gross!” the older girl replied, plopping down on a rock to wait.
“Okay then, I guess that means Panny gets to have all the fun.”
“No Trunks! You have to come in with me!” Pan whined.
Trunks rolled his eyes, accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to get them to do all the work after all. “Okay, fine.”
Pan plopped down on the ground and practically tore off her boots. She carefully laid her bandana nearby, then wasted no time in jumping into the cold lake. Trunks watched in amazement as Panny resurfaced with a huge smile on her face, her big eyes showing obvious excitement at this adventure. How is it that she could be so tolerable to something so cold? Trunks frowned and took a leap forward, directly into the small lake. He resurfaced yelling and splashing around, stunned at the abrupt cold. Panny merely giggled at his silliness.
“J-just l-l-look for s-s-s-something in… in a b-blue box, or s-s-s-something sh-sh-shiny.” Trunks said while his teeth chattered.
Pan nodded happily and dove underneath the surface. Trunks followed. It took them little time to find the ring. While Pan was on her third trip down from getting more air, her foot got snagged in some seaweed. Trunks saw her get trapped and swam over to blast her free. When he did, sand went flying everywhere, causing the previously covered ring box to be revealed. The velvet had completely worn off, thanks to the sand and the water, but the metal casing the material covered was still intact, holding the ring firmly in its place. Trunks saw the gleam of the metal almost immediately and grabbed it.
He resurfaced, a large grin plastered on his now blue lips, thankful to know that his investment was still safe. Trunks levitated out of the water, and onto the dirt banks where the rest of his clothes were. Pan struggled a little bit, worn out from her effort.
“I-I-I’m glad you got your r-r-r-ring back.” Pan said happily while shivering.
Trunks looked back at her. Her skin was pale and her lips had a bluish tint to them. She looked almost sickly, but it was obvious she was just freezing.
“Are you okay Panny?” Bra asked.
“Yeah! I’m just cold.”
Trunks took a look at the small pile of clothes. The only thing she wasn’t wearing was her shoes and bandana. She didn’t have anything dry to put on. Trunks sighed and picked up his shirt and jacket. “Panny, take off your shirt.” He ordered.
“I can’t take off my shirt in front of you, you’re a boy! Pervert!” Panny yelled.
“Fine, then put this black shirt over your red one and then take the red one off while you’ve got the black one on, but do it quickly before you get the black one soaked too.” He ordered.
Pan quickly obeyed, and was very relieved to feel the warmth of his dry shirt. Then, Trunks took his tan jacket and wrapped it around her too. She topped off her look with her bandana, which was already wet from the water left on her hair. Trunks couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Panny in clothes that were so big on her, they went down to her knees.
“It isn’t funny!” Pan yelled.
“Okay… okay… Do you need me to carry you?” He asked.
“No, I’m fine!”
“Trunks, can you carry me?” Asked Bra.
Trunks bent down and allowed Bra to climb on his back. Of course, she wrapped her arms around his neck as if her life depended on choking him, but he didn’t mind so much. She was only beginning to learn how to fly, but at least she had gotten herself there.
“Come on, Pan. Let’s go.” Trunks said as he hovered above the ground.
Pan struggled to lift off. She was still really cold. “Umm… maybe I’ll just walk.” She said, her Saiyan pride not allowing her to admit she needed help because she was too cold to fly.
Trunks smiled and lowered himself to the ground again. Without a word, he swooped her up in his arms and took off. Pan wanted to protest, but she really couldn’t. She was too comfortable in his arms, snuggled against his warm chest.
With his sister clinging to his back, and the now comfortable Panny in his arms, Trunks headed back to Capsule Corp. As he was flying, he couldn’t help but look down at the small girl who was bundled up in his clothes. She looked so much like her older self, it was scary. He felt a slight ache in his chest at the all too recent memory of their time together. He was more disappointed then words could express that he would never again see his love...
Then again, the little girl in his arms would grow up eventually… and there was something to be said for waiting…
Trunks laughed the thought out of his mind. There was no way anything could ever happen between him and that time’s Panny. She was too much like a little sister.
Pan jumped out of the shower with a great velocity. She was so fast, only a rushing of wind and faint whistling could be heard. The water in the shower continued to spray down, even with the absence of its user, for she hadn’t even had the time to turn the knobs off. She rushed into her bedroom, grabbing the only thing she had time to put on, which was one of Trunks’ business shirts. After throwing it over her shoulders and only bothering to button a few buttons, she ran into the control room. Just as the computer sounded again, she strapped herself tightly into the consul’s chair and hung on.
“Ten seconds until wormhole reentry.” The feminine computer voice calmly warned.
Pan bit her lip and dug her nails into the seat of the chair she was sitting on. She was bound and determined not to pass out this time. In attempt to calm down, she did some deep breathing and focused on how annoying the computer’s voice was as it counted down from ten, but it proved useless as the ship started shaking from the turbulence. She whimpered and forced her eyes open. She was in awe at the beauty of the swirling vortex around her, but it didn’t last long. A slight dizziness caused her vision to blur. Within only moment, however, she felt her energy almost completely drain… which was probably a side affect of reverse time travel. Her last thought was of how she should’ve been recording what she saw… before she fell asleep quickly, her head rested gently against the seat back.
Trunks checked his appearance in a mirror nearby before heading to the computer consul in the lab at Capsule Corp. He actually caught himself humming. Well… at least he had a good reason to. That day was the day he had been looking forward to for years. It was the day she would be coming back. He checked his watch one more time before sitting down in front of his blank computer screen.
In only a few seconds, a small green light and a coordinate grid appeared over the once blank screen. The little green light was the tracker on her ship. She made it through. Trunks smiled brightly as he let out a sigh of relief. He straightened his shirt collar one more time and initiated communication program via remote on her ship.
A TV monitor slowly lowered itself from the ceiling. It went unnoticed by the ship’s occupant who was still asleep. Trunks had a small panic attack when he saw what was on the screen in front of him. Pan was there, but it looked like she was unconscious.
“Pan? Pan?! Wake up Pan!” Trunks said, suddenly fearing the worst.
More panic rose in him when he realized for the first time that he had no idea what the affects were of going the other way through the worm hole. From that moment forward, he didn’t have any knowledge of the future, which scared him to death. What if she had suffered some sort of head injury or…
“Pan, wake up!” Trunks yelled more desperately.
“What?” Pan groaned, turning her head to the screen.
“What happened?! Why were you unconscious?!”
“I don’t know…” she started, pausing to yawn in the middle of the sentence. “I guess I just… fell asleep.”
“You… fell asleep while you were going through the wormhole?”
“Yes.” She answered plainly, trying to clear her head so she was coherent enough to talk to him, then hang up. He wasn’t the first person she wanted to see after she got back to the future, but she was expecting him.
“Oh…” He answered, trailing off after he noticed what she was wearing… or more like what she wasn’t wearing. He could already feel the blood rushing to his head. He was afraid it was going to start coming out of his nose if he kept gawking at her like that. “So, did you run out of clothes or something?” He joked, in order to keep his calm exterior. Inside of him, however, his mind was reeling.
Pan looked down at herself and blushed. Trunks’ dress shirt she had been wearing wasn’t buttoned all the way, and it was still damp due to the water on her hair from her shower. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, the blush that she already had on her face was getting redder. “I was in the shower when your computer warned me that the ship was about to go in the wormhole. If it would have given me more warning, I could have changed… and maybe I wouldn’t have passed out like I did.” She replied sternly and with a slight growl emanating from her throat.
Trunks gulped. “Well, I…”
“Are my parents there?” She asked, cutting him off.
“No, I haven’t called them yet. We didn’t know when you’d be back.”
“Then have them call back when they get here so they don’t freak out about me. I’m going to go get dressed.”
“Okay, I’ll…” He was cut off by the screen going black. “She hung up on me!”
Trunks shook his head and walked back to the phone to call Gohan and Videl. This little reunion wasn’t going the way he was wanting it to at all.
Videl stood in front of the stove and gently pushed her now-graying hair behind her ear. With the utmost care, she stirred the pot that lay before her, gazing at it as if all the answers to her life’s problems were held at the bottom of the stainless steal container, waiting to be discovered. Her brow was furrowed in concentration while her mind tried to figure out the trivial question of the task at hand… When would the carrots be cooked enough to put the rice in?
“I didn’t know soup could be so interesting.” Said an abruptly loud voice from behind her.
She jumped slightly, but relaxed as she felt his large, strong arms circle her waist and rest gently on her hips. He put his chin lightly on her shoulder and chuckled in her ear, the heat of his breath sending goose bumps up and down her spine, despite the fact that she had been standing in front of a hot stove for the last hour.
“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” he asked soothingly.
“No, I just have a bit of a headache and I wasn’t prepared to be assaulted by my husband.” She said as-a-matter-of-factly, while cocking an eyebrow in hopes of gaining his playful interest.
He chuckled again, this time lower, as if he was trying to seduce his own wife out of her apron. He leaned closer into her ear and in a very low, smooth voice whispered, “That wasn’t an assault. If you want to see an assault, just wait until later tonight when Goku goes to bed. Then, I can show you something I learned from one of your women’s magazines that will…”
“You read my women’s magazines?!” Videl asked, slightly amused, but mostly surprised at his confession.
“How else am I supposed to know what you want? You never tell me.” Gohan stated, earning a playful elbow in the ribs and a blush from his wife. “Besides, they’re right about most of the advice they give. You know that thing I did the other night where we…”
“Gohan!” Videl quietly scolded, “Goku’s in the next room and you know how strong his hearing is!”
“Oh, don’t worry about him, I put in a video for him to watch. That’ll keep him busy for a…”
“If-you-like-to-talk with tomatoes! If-a-squash-can-make-you-smile…!” came a loud, off-tone and very young voice from the living room, interrupting every conversation within a mile with his volume.
“…while.”
“You put in Veggie Tales?!” Videl squealed, rubbing her head at the pain her young son’s voice had inflicted on her.
“Well… why not?” He asked innocently, frowning as his wife tore herself from his embrace in order to get a bag of rice from the cupboard.
“You know perfectly well why not!” She yelled louder, causing him to wince at the similarity her voice had to his mother’s right then. “He always gets hungry after watching that cartoon!”
“But dinner’s going to be ready soon and…”
“That’s not the point! The point is he’ll be in here every five seconds asking when dinner will be ready the moment that tape’s over! He is your father’s grandson, you know.”
“Videl, why are you getting so upset?” Gohan asked, desperately trying to maneuver his way out of the trouble he didn’t know he was in to begin with.
Videl turned and angrily opened her mouth, but once again, she was cut off by her incredibly untalented boy shrieking another song, “Oh wheeeeeeeere is my hairbrush?! Oh wheeeeeeeeeere is my hairbrush?! Oh…”
“Goku! Shut off that tape!” Gohan yelled a little too loudly, directly into his wife’s unsuspecting ear.
“But Daddy…!”
“No ‘buts’! You can watch it after dinner!”
Videl groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose as the pain shot through her head. “Gohan… shut up.”
“Sorry honey.” He cringed, knowing that he got himself in even deeper than he was before.
Not knowing what else to do, Gohan returned his attentions to his wife by rubbing her shoulders. Within mere seconds, her muscles went from feeling as stiff as wood to feeling like soft clay in his fingers. He smiled knowingly. You don’t just live with someone for thirty years without knowing their soft spots.
“Ooh…” Videl groaned. “You sure do know how to get out of trouble, Gohan.”
He chuckled and moved southward on her back. She sighed and forgot about her soup for a few moments, allowing it to bubble over occasionally and evaporate with a sizzle after hitting the burner below.
“Hmm…Gohan… You know, if you would do that every time I felt this stressed, you wouldn’t have to worry about ever sleeping on the couch again.”
“That would almost be worth…” Gohan started, before being interrupted by a high-pitched ringing.
”I’ll get it!” Goku Jr. screamed after hearing the phone ring. He ran into the kitchen and jumped on the chair, then picked up the phone with all the enthusiasm five year-olds are known for. “Hello?” He asked happily. “Umm… Yeah… No… I think so… No… No… Yeah… Uh huh… Really?!… Cool!”
“Goku, who is it?!” Gohan asked, growing impatient with his son’s private conversation he was having with whoever was on the other end of the line.
“Trunks!” He answered.
Not having heard anything from Trunks since the day they had all finished training, Gohan forcefully grabbed the phone from the young boy, wondering if he was calling because of something with Pan. “Trunks, hi! What’s going on? Really? We’ll be there in a minute!”
“Gohan, what was that about?” Videl asked.
“That was Trunks.”
“I know that! What did he want?!”
“Pan’s back.”
Videl gasped and shut off the stove. She tore off her apron as Gohan grabbed their son and they were out the door in a flash. They didn’t even bother with a car, they just took off into the sky, much to Goku Jr.’s delight.
Trunks took another deep breath and turned the monitor on again. When no one answered the call, he looked around the room, using the moving option on the receiving side of his communicator. She wasn’t in the control room. Without even giving it a second thought, he turned on the monitor that was in her bedroom. Fortunately for Pan, he happened to be looking at the keyboard and not the screen when her image popped up in front of him.
“Ah! What are you…! Son of a…!”
He looked up just in time to see a red-faced Pan covered only by her extra large bed pillow. His face was red too, but it wasn’t necessarily from embarrassment. “Oh, Pan I…”
“What makes you think you have the right to just call me in my bedroom without asking permission first?!” she shrieked. “No wonder you put a monitor in here!”
“No! Pan, I…”
Without listening, Pan picked up her other pillow and threw it directly into the monitor. “Perv!” he heard her yell, just before the screen went black.
Trunks collapsed his upper body onto his desk, purposefully hitting his head hard on the less-than cushioned wood surface. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” He repeated after hitting the desk with his head repeatedly.
It was only a second later when Gohan and Videl ran into the lab. After welcoming the frantic, young family and discovering that Pan had returned without her son telling her about it, Bulma quickly followed them into the lab, only to find Trunks looking solemn with his head down on the desk.
“Where’s Panny?!” Gohan shouted, causing poor Trunks to jump practically ten feet in the air.
“Is she okay?! What’s going on?!” Bulma asked, with almost as much desperation in her voice as Gohan had.
“Relax! She’s… just… getting dressed.” Trunks answered reluctantly.
Sighs of relief could be heard coming from both Videl and Bulma. Gohan allowed the muscles that he had been keeping tense for more than an hour to finally relax as he set his son on the floor. Trunks could actually spot the shadow of a smile on the two very alleviated parents. His mother, however, was still in a tense stance. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face wore a questioning scowl that, in his entire life, had always sent him running for the hills in attempt to escape.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, trying his hardest to appear nonchalant in front of his very observant mother.
“Why is the monitor off now? Weren’t you just talking to her?” Worry was still lacing her voice. It was the kind of sharp and frightened voice that Trunks had only heard her use once or twice in his entire life.
“I just told you, she needed to get dressed.”
“Why couldn’t she just leave it on and go into the bedroom to change?”
“I was talking to her on the monitor in the bedroom. I had to turn it off so she could have her privacy.” He said confidently, showing his mother the Presidential side of him that he was so famous for in the corporate world. He smirked proudly, when he noticed her softening look and was sure she wasn’t going to reply. He thought she was going to back off and leave it at that… he was wrong.
“Since when did you install a monitor in the bedroom?!” She asked. The worried tone had left her voice, but was instantly replaced by one that was almost childish and teasing.
Gohan’s ears perked and he snapped his head up in alarm, not liking the correlation of the word “bedroom” in reference to Trunks and his daughter. Trunks noticed his glare from a distance while trying hard to swallow a very large lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.
“I… did it a couple years ago. You know, I thought she… I mean… whoever might travel in the ship would appreciate a communicator close by at all times and…”
“You mean so you could call a beautiful, young woman while she was in the middle of getting changed?”
“No! Mom! I…”
“Then why did you say she had to ‘go get dressed’? Was she not dressed when you called her?”
“Mom,” Trunks began, using all the severity that he could muster, knowing that if Gohan ever got wind of what his feelings about the young girl inside that small ship were, it would be the end of his life. “Pan was in the shower when the ship’s alarm went off. Someone didn’t install an alarm that gave enough warning for her to jump out the shower and dress properly.”
Bulma looked like she was about to counter with her patented angry-mother-attack-of-death for a moment, before calming. Her expression softened as she looked on apologetically towards her son. Trunks sharply, but quietly exhaled, releasing the breath he didn’t know he had been holding.
“I’m sorry honey.” She said as she walked over and hugged his head in her arms.
“That’s okay Mom.” Trunks said hurriedly, trying to pry himself from her smothering embrace before Goku Jr. started laughing at him, Vegeta walked in, or he died from suffocation.
“I just… I’m so relieved that we didn’t end up being solely responsible for her death. I mean… it was my fault that she fell in to the ship, my fault that the ship wasn’t able to be turned around, my fault that she didn’t wake up with more warning before she hit the worm hole, my fault that…”
“Ms. Bulma, it wasn’t your fault.” Videl said, walking over and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Accidents happen, especially in this family. Besides, this isn’t exactly the first ship she’s been on that she wasn’t supposed to be.”
“It wasn’t really anyone’s fault… and I’m sure Pan did just fine being by herself for two months.” Gohan confirmed.
“Yeah, if you’re going to blame anyone, blame Goten.” Trunks joked happily, only to look up and face three angry adults who were all glaring at him.
With all they had been through recently, Gohan really couldn’t see the humor in that statement. “I’m sure I you asked her, Panny would say she had a blast doing something so adventurous on her own.” He said, switching the subject off of Trunks’ poor humor.
“Speaking of asking Panny…” Trunks said, attempting to regain what little dignity he had left. “She’s probably dressed by now… if you want to call her…”
Pan sat silently in the consul’s chair in the control room. She was dressed now, and was waiting for him to call her back with some news on her parents. Her face was still flushed from embarrassment and anger… but was it anger at him, or towards herself? ‘What was his problem anyway?’ She thought angrily. ’What is my problem?’
When this momentous trek of hers had first commenced, she had been scared. She was being forced out by herself into nothingness, and made to live there for two months on her own. If this had been a purposeful test of her will, she would have failed it, hands down.
From the day she took off, Trunks had been there with her, comforting her and coddling her until it seemed as if he was right there along with her in the ship. Nearly at the moment she landed, she ventured out where she knew she wasn’t supposed to be, conversing with the wrong people. Only she could be so callous as to risk the safety of her own universe for the sake of not being alone.
“Was it worth it?” She asked herself.
Inwardly, her mind and heart were still in a slight panic. She had been feeling nauseous recently. She wasn’t sure, but she was hoping against hope that the stomach ailment was coming from stress and that she wasn’t pregnant, or inflicted with some… Saiyan version of an STD.
“That would be the perfect ending to this little story, wouldn’t it?” She spitefully laughed at herself.
She could imagine going home and having to announce to Trunks and her family that she was pregnant. She could picture in her mind the looks on their faces as they asked the humiliating, yet justified questions that would come from her parents and anyone else who happened to be in the room. ‘How could you be so stupid? Where exactly did you think this fling of yours could go? When did he find out you were Pan? Before or after he took you into his bed?’ She pictured the disappointed looks on their faces. Sure, after some time, they might grow supportive. Videl, Bulma and Chichi might actually start looking forward to the birth of their new grandchild, but there would always be her father… wearing a superficial smile, trying to act like he had forgiven her, when in reality, all he could think about was her failure.
Then, there was Trunks’, who was another story all together. ‘How could you do this to me, Panny?’
How was she to answer him? How was she supposed to tell him she was going to have his baby? She wasn’t even sure that he could ever be attracted to her, his little Panny, on any physical level, and yet, she very well might end up baring his child.
“You don’t know if you’re pregnant yet.” She told herself, trying to calm the nerves that had resurfaced abruptly.
Even if she wasn’t pregnant, she wouldn’t be out of the woods with this thing… but it would certainly make life a whole lot easier. There was still the factor of Trunks. In the last week in space, she had been planning… trying to come up with something decent to say to him. Around the sixth day of being alone, she finally switched tactics. Every time she saw him, especially if he was with another woman, she would have to face her feelings and memories of the past two months. For the rest of her life, she was doomed to relive her personal nightmare over and over again without ever getting the chance to share it with anyone. Every time she saw something purple, or stared into a stranger’s blue eyes, she would be forced to live over the guilt that plagued her.
Sure, some people might say that was being obsessive… but that’s what this whole thing was to begin with. From the moment he first held her in his arms as a baby, it had become an obsession with her… and attraction that grew and grew over time.
She really couldn’t prevent that from happening, for it had happened all ready. All that Pan could really do was except that fact that she had fallen for the same pair of azure eyes that the other two-thirds of the world had. She was just another member of his fan club… and even if she were to give birth to his child, that’s all she knew she ever would be.
So… the determined, stubborn, prideful Panny simply gave up on her predicament. When she got home, she decided, she would distance herself from him, even if it meant distancing herself from Bra, Bulma and her ex master Vegeta as well. She didn’t know if she could live with her secret while being so close to all of them. Besides, Pan had seen the real side of Trunks. He was a regular heartbreaker, she knew, but she had no idea he could be so ruthless at it. And to think that man had the gall to call her in her bedroom while she was trying to get him out of her mind and get dressed at the same time!
Pan sighed and sank into her consul’s chair further. Then again, maybe she just wanted to avoid him because of the guilt she was feeling towards her own actions. Still, it pissed her off that he would think so lowly of her, he would call her the moment she got back. He probably thought she needed a babysitter or something.
“Or maybe he just wanted to get a peek at my…”
The monitor in front of her clicked on, suddenly interrupting her thoughts.
“Haven’t you seen enough?!” She yelled, expecting to see the natural born scowl of the peeping tom himself. Instead, however, the screen fazed in and the grinning face of a young boy appeared before her.
“Hi Panny!” He chirped.
“Goku!” She shouted joyously. “What are you doing calling me on this?”
“Mom and Dad said I could surprise you!” He quickly defended, wanting to get out of any trouble he might be in.
“Where are Mom and Dad?” Pan asked, not seeing anything in the monitor past her little brother’s big head.
“I’m five now!” Goku said happily, switching the subject for no apparent reason.
“I know that! Congratulations! So where are Mom and Dad?”
“Did you get me anything for my birthday?”
“Yes I did, but you’ll have to wait until I get home to see it.”
“Awww…” the little Goku groaned.
“It won’t be too long from now. Can you go get Mom and Dad for me?”
“What is it?”
“I’m not going to tell you!” Pan said, laughing lightly at how innocently frustrating he was being. “Where are Mom and Dad?”
“What does it look…”
“Goku…” Said a disapproving voice from behind him.
A gasp of slight surprise was the only thing more that could be heard from the young Saiyan as a giant arm suddenly wrapped around his waist and carried him off of the table he was sitting on. Pan smiled as she looked through the monitor at her father gently putting her brother on the floor. Goku turned around, a look of disdain was on his face which caught his look-alike father off guard.
“What’s that look for?” Gohan asked in a tone that he only used when someone was about to get into trouble.
“You interrupted us.” Goku said.
“Does that mean you can look at me like that?” Gohan stated sternly.
“No…” Goku admitted in a whiny voice, now seeming more sad than anything else. “But Momma said it was rude to interrupt people… and I wanted to see Panny… and… and…”
Gohan’s hard expression softened as his son’s face suddenly became red and filled with tears. “Goku…”
“You deal with your child and I’ll deal with mine.” Videl said with a wink as she picked up Goku and carried him in to the room.
Gohan smiled at his wife… silently thanking her. He sat down quietly in the chair which rested in front of the communicator where Pan was watching. Gohan took a good look at his daughter before speaking. She looked so… different. “Panny? Are you okay?” He asked with concern in his voice.
“Yeah, Daddy. I’m fine.” She answered. “I’m homesick though.”
Gohan smiled as he felt his heart warm. It had been a long time since she had used the term “Daddy” with him. He guessed it was just one of those weird feelings that parents get towards their children at random. Something still didn’t seem right though. He looked her in the eyes, hoping for the ability to see right through her and determine what was wrong in her life like he used to when she was little. When he did, she turned her head to the side, as if to avoid being seen through.
“How come I don’t believe you?” He asked.
“Because you’re being overprotective. I’m fine.”
Her voice failed to convince him that nothing was wrong… but he dropped the subject, thinking that maybe it was only the stress of having journeyed across time. “So how was your trip?” He asked lightly.
She chuckled, “Incredibly boring. It’s too bad Bulma picked such a dull time for me to go back to. I think I would have rather gone back to the time of Buu… or Cell… someone interesting.”
Gohan laughed, “You probably could’ve kicked their butts in a matter of seconds. Of course, Buu would have been a little tough, but at least you wouldn’t have been bored.”
Pan smiled and looked up at him. Gohan had to do a double take when he saw her face. She was wearing a smile, but her eyes showed something else. ‘Is that pain?’ He thought, his fatherly instincts kicking in.
“Dad, make sure Grandma Chichi doesn’t throw a party for me or anything for me when I get home. I just want to get home and into my own bed, but knowing Grandma and Bulma… they’ll throw the biggest bash in town to celebrate.”
“Okay, I’ll tell them to go easy on the festivities.”
“Thank you.” She said, very relieved. “So where’s Goten?”
“Oh, I called him on the way over here on my cell phone. He told me not to tell you anything, but he said he’s planning a surprise for you… as sort of an… apology.”
“He is?” Pan asked. “What kind of a surprise?”
“I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me anything. He just said to make sure you have a couple of days free after you get back. He said he might not get the chance to talk to you before you get back home.”
“Oh… that’s okay.” She said, rather disappointedly.
“Pan…” Gohan began.
“Hmm?”
“Why won’t you tell me what’s really going on with you?”
Pan let out an exasperated sigh. “Dad, nothing is wrong! I told you that!”
“Does this have something to do with Goten?”
“No…”
“Me or your mother?”
“No, I…”
“Your grandmother?”
“Dad!”
“Trunks?”
Pan growled and threw her hands up in the air. “Dad, please…” She started, before interrupting herself and changing tactics, “Yes, it is. I’m upset because he put a monitor in the bedroom and then called me while I was getting dressed. It’s embarrassing.” ‘That ought to get him to shut up.’
“Oh, well… I’m sure it was an accident.” Gohan defended.
“I know Dad. I’m just a little angry.”
“Oh… okay. Well, is there anything you want me to tell your mother?”
“Just tell her that I’m doing fine…” Pan said before adding, “Oh, and tell her she’ll be pleased to know that I’m kind of getting used to this ‘skirt’ thing. I might grow to like them after a while.”
“Hehe… okay. Pan, hurry home.”
“I will. Bye Daddy.” She said as she turned off the monitor.
“Bye…” Gohan said quietly to a blank monitor.
Pan collapsed onto the floor after she turned off the monitor. She was so homesick now, that she was actually feeling physically ill. “I want to go home.” She said quietly, before getting up and heading back into her empty bedroom. Just another seven days…
After talking to both Trunks and Bulma for a bit, Gohan and Videl went back home. Of course, dinner had been ruined since they had rushed out the door, so they picked up something on the way back to their house. After their late meal, the three-fourths family settled down for the night.
Videl stood in the bathing room, her silky night gown shimmering in the light from the vanity mirror. With her hands, she slowly caressed the night cream into the skin of her face, stopping every once and a while to inspect the lines around her eyes… as if to see if she could erase them from existence by simply stretching and gently stroking the skin around them. Her husband walked in behind her, wearing only a pair of sweat pants as pajama bottoms. “Is Goku finally asleep?” She asked, lightly admiring her husband’s appearance in the mirror.
“Yeah, I just tucked him in.” He answered quietly. “So how come he started crying all of a sudden back there?”
“Oh… he was just tired and hungry. You know how your family gets cranky when they’ve skipped a meal… ”
“Ah…” He answered simply, his brow was furrowed in concentration as he stared at the counter below him, wondering silently where the longer hairs in his razor had come from as he studied its clogged blades.
“Sorry.” His spouse said, startling him out of his preoccupied state of mind.
“Hmm?”
“I didn’t get a chance to go to the store today and I had nothing else to use… so I used yours instead.”
“Oh…” He replied half heartedly. “That’s okay.”
Videl eyed him suspiciously as he continued to frown and concentrate on the semi-useless razor. “You know… it takes you months to grow any sort of stubble anyway. I don’t know why you keep that thing around.”
“Hmm… yeah.” He quietly agreed.
“Are you even listening to me anymore?” She asked a little louder.
“Huh? Oh, sorry honey. What were you saying?”
Videl let out a sigh. “So what’s on your mind now? I have a feeling it has nothing to do with shaving.”
“Ah… it’s nothing.” He denied.
“Liar.”
“It’s just… well… You might think I’m crazy, but…”
“But what?”
“Did Pan seem… different to you?”
“I don’t know. I was with Goku, remember? I didn’t get to see her.”
“Oh…” Gohan said quietly.
“What do you mean ‘different?’”
“It’s nothing. Never mind.”
“Gohan, you’re being disconcerting.” Videl said, frustration evident in her voice. “What’s wrong? How was she different? Don’t worry me about her anymore. I want to know that she’s safe.”
“It’s just… for a moment, while I was talking to her… I could’ve vowed to anyone that she looked sad. Not only that, but her attitude’s changed. She was just… different.” Gohan looked over at his wife, and sighed in disappointment at not being able to clearly convey what he was saying. She was giving him a weird look, so he knew she hadn’t a clue about what he was talking about. “And now my own wife thinks I’m crazy, doesn’t she?”
Videl chuckled, mostly in relief, “No, honey. You’re just talking about father’s intuition.”
“Oh really?” Gohan asked, semi-sarcastically. “And I thought only women had parental, psychic abilities.”
“Well, you’re wrong.” She said, playfully poking him lightly in his bare chest. “You know that little voice inside your head that tells you which new boyfriend is going to break her heart? And when to stay away from her during certain days in the month? Well, it’s the same thing.”
“Na… I think that’s just experience talking. After all, she hasn’t exactly been the luckiest in love… and I’ve trained in the art of knowing what days of the month to stay away from you and my mother too. That skill was merely acquired for sake of survival.”
“Uh huh…” Videl said, not sounding quite convinced. “I know of the father-daughter bond. I had one with my father once. You know, there was a time when he could always tell if I had been hurt while training. No matter how well I managed to hide it, he would always guess what sort of injuries I had and how bad they were. Then, he would ground me from training. The next time I trained, if I was injured, I would try my hardest to hide it so I wouldn’t get grounded again, but he could always tell.”
“Maybe he just paid off his employees to keep an eye on you or something.”
“No.” Videl denied, a slight sadness in her voice. “This was before the days of his fame and fortune. Once he finally started making some real money, he forgot about me. I could’ve collapsed in front of him, or thrown my dismembered arm at him and he wouldn’t have noticed. I guess all of the money, fame and women took his eyes away from me and we lost that father-daughter link.”
Gohan gently wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sorry sweetie.”
Videl smiled and hugged her husband in return. “Well… at least my son is a momma’s boy. I’d like to have a close relationship with one of my children and since you’ve got our daughter, I guess I should be thankful I’ve got our son.”
“What do you mean?” Gohan asked with minor amusement as he gently pulled away from her embrace to look at her. “Our children love us both equally and we loved them both the same too, right?”
“Of course! It’s not a matter of love though, it’s a matter of who gets along with which parent and when. I just happen to get along with Goku more because he is such a momma’s boy… just like his father.”
“Well, Pan is… hey!” He interrupted his own words. “I’m not a momma’s boy!”
“Uh huh.” Videl agreed, being whole heartedly sarcastic as she walked into their bedroom.
“I’m not!” Gohan insisted, following her to their bed. “Well, not as much as I used to be.”
“You keep telling that to yourself, dear.” She got up on her tip toes and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek before turning off the light.
“I could be worse, you know.”
“Sure you could.” Videl responded, the sarcasm in her voice never leaving.
“I mean, I switched careers against her will… That ought to say something about me.”
“Uh huh, but you’re still a part-time scholar. You never really left the career your mother chose for you, so that doesn’t count.”
Gohan wanted to argue more, but as he looked down at his beautiful wife lying in their satin-sheeted bed, he chose otherwise. Deciding to finish the argument the next day, Gohan crawled in bed after her and attacked her with his affections. There were things he’d much rather be doing than arguing about something so apparently wrong on her part anyway.
Trunks stirred in his sleep as the vision of a nightmare danced through his head. It was a vision of the past… haunting him at every turn. In this vision, he felt shame, humiliation and the fear of his father as a horrible shadow loomed over him, taunting him. A high-pitched laughter of a young boy echoed in the background as he was made to do things and say things that should never come from the mouth of the son of Vegeta. This nightmare was not a very common one, but it reoccurred much more often than Trunks would have liked and it always sent him into a feverish cold sweat.
His eyes twitched under there lids as his extremities moved out of reflex. Anyone who may have been observing could tell that he was dreaming… and suffering in the prison that his slumbering mind had created for him. In this prison, he relived the lurid dream, unable to wake from its terrifying grips… Forever caught in a cycle of mortification until the sleeper awoke.
‘It’s a good thing mother and father aren’t here to see me in drag.’ Trunks said to himself in his dream, tripping over the hem of his dress as a large, blue, fish-like creature chased after him.
‘Treance dear! Treance dear! You make such a cute bride! But stop running or I’ll be too tired for the honeymoon!’ The creature yelled in delight while effortlessly catching up to the running Trunks.
Realizing that he was getting nowhere, the disguised and very disgusted Trunks stopped in his tracks and allowed the large creature to pick him up in his hand. In a falsetto voice, Trunks spoke while adding an obviously fake, high pitched-laugh, ‘Oh, lord Zu-nama, you caught me. I bet you can’t do it again!’
He quickly jumped out of the creature’s hand and started running again. This time, he was using all of the strength and agility his lineage was known for. He even turned Super Saiyan just to gain some extra ground. It wasn’t just his life that would be at stake if the big fish caught him. No, it was his pride that would suffer the most. Especially if Goku or Pan were to say anything to anyone back home about it.
‘Treance! Treance dear, come back! Treance! Treance!’
“Trunks! Trunks! Trunks, do you hear me?! Trunks! Wake up!”
Trunks jumped awake, startled by the very close voice of whoever was calling his name. “Zu-nama…!” He began, stopping after he realized the true owner of the voice was much more attractive and he wasn’t really wearing a dress.
A loud chuckle could be heard from the other side of the line. Pan struggled to keep her laughter to herself, but it was useless. The poor man sitting in front of her had been having the same nightmare for the past eleven years and it was all because of one of her stupid plans to earn a black-star dragon ball back from some villagers on some far-off planet.
“It isn’t funny, Pan.” Trunks stated, knowing full well why she was laughing.
“I think it is.” Pan said, still lightly laughing. “There’s got to be something about this in one of Freud’s books on sexual dreaming. I bet deep down, you’re secretly dying to get back into that wedding dress. Maybe it was the fish-monster Zu-nama. Perhaps, he left a mark on your heart?”
“Shut up.” He said with a glare, causing Pan to only laugh harder. “It was your fault! I just wanted to go and beat him up or something! But noooooo… You had to come up with that stupid plan.”
Pan had to wipe a tear from her eye after laughing so hard. The memories from that period of time that she held were sad and hurtful, but Trunks had always managed to cheer her up… even when he wasn’t meaning to.
“Okay, okay…” Trunks said, inwardly laughing with her, outwardly appearing as humiliated as the day it had happened. “So… why did you call?”
Pan sighed a bit… reality setting back in. “I… wanted you to give my parents and everyone else a message for me.”
“And what message is that?” Trunks asked, slightly concerned with the sudden loss of the spark that her eyes had always held. Now, for some reason, her cerulean pearls had grown dull. “Pan? Is something wrong?”
“No! No…” She answered enthusiastically, fearing that he was worried about her well-being. “I… I’m simply asking a favor of you. See… I’ve gotten used to such privacy and I-I’ve grown attached to the quiet solitude of this ship. So, I was wondering if you could tell everyone not to contact me until I get back.”
Trunks flinched, slightly taken-aback by her request. “Are you sure? When you left, you didn’t want to be alone at all.”
“I know, but I was scared then. Now I’m coming back home, and I want to enjoy the time I have by myself.”
“Oh… okay.” Trunks regretfully agreed. “But will you call us before you land so I can tell your parents?”
“Yeah.” Pan said. A small silence spread between them. Pan figured this signaled the end of their conversation. “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you in a few days then.”
“Pan, wait…”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got to tell you something before we hang up.”
Pan pulled her hand away from the power button on the communicator’s screen. She turned her attention to him once again, wondering where the solemn expression on his features came from. “What is it?”
“When you… w-were about to enter the worm hole… I said something to you, but I got cut off. I don’t think you heard it.”
“No, I probably didn’t.”
“Well… I was going to give you this big, long speech about… about all that we’ve been through and how much both of us have grown through the years… b-but I ran out of time. Truthfully, what I had to say to you is very simple… It just… it’ll just take some explanation… I guess. I finally worked up to it, then I got cut-off. I need to tell you, and I don’t want to loose it this time too, so I’ll…”
“Trunks, what is it?” Pan asked, getting slightly annoyed with his uncertainty, yet growing more curious and impatient by the second.
“I wanted to tell you that I l-lo…”
“Trunks!!” His sister screeched while walking into the room.
“What?!” He snapped.
“Mom’s mad at you and she’s taking it out on me. Will you go see what’s bugging her before she cuts off my allowance?!”
“No! Can’t you see I’m talking to Pan, or are you just really as stupid as you look?!”
“Shut up! You know, if Dad were in here, he’d…”
“Don’t give me your ‘Daddy’s little girl’ crap. I want to talk to Pan and I’m…”
“Trunks.” Pan stated, once again earning Trunks’ full attention.
“Yeah?”
“Go save your sister’s fashion fund. Whatever you have to say can wait until I get back. We have time.”
“But Pan, I…”
“I’ll see you in a few days.” She said quietly as she severed the communications link between her and Trunks.
“But Pan…” Trunks quietly added after the screen went blank.
He stood up very aggressively and walked over to his sister. He was very tempted to throw her into the nearest brick wall, but instead, he merely glared at her. In return, she stuck her tongue out at him, earning a loud growl from the throat of Trunks as he walked away to tend to his homicidal mother.
Pan sighed and sat down in the consul’s chair. She enjoyed laughing with him. Even when she was bound and determined not to be as friendly with him, to practically hate his guts… he could still make her laugh. Their memories… they were nice ones… most of them, anyway.
The ones that weren’t happy nearly tore her apart… like the death of her grandfather and watching Trunks get turned into steel… thinking he was dead. They had been through so much together. Was it even possible to leave their friendship behind?
There were only a small number of people in the universe who could understand her like he could. In fact, even her own parents and supposed “best friend” didn’t know her like he knew her. Bra was nice, but she was so different. She seemed ashamed and completely ignorant of her ancestry. She was the only true Princess on the planet, and yet she seemed to often forget the royal blood that coursed through her veins and filled her heart. Plus, she was a flake, Pan knew, and that’s what annoyed her the most.
Her parents were the best parents in the history of the world, but they didn’t quite understand her either. Her father… he had gotten a taste… developed a hunger for the warrior’s blood that filled his body. He had gotten a glimpse of the true power that all Saiyans were capable of. When that power exploded inside of him, there was nothing more important in the world. Pan had been old enough to witness a few of his high points. While training with his father one day, he had been challenged beyond what he was capable of. Of course, being the son of Goku meant that small obstacles such as the lack of power and strength while facing a more than worthy opponent could be overcome easily.
That day, he had finally regained the ability to go Super Saiyan two. As he transformed, Pan remembered, a passionate fire of unparalleled intensity washed over him, and suddenly… suddenly he was a new man. The scholar in him was momentarily gone… replaced by a blood warrior… the son of a race long forgotten.
Even long after that day, Pan could spot the embers in his eyes… remnants of the fire that once burned so brightly. Whenever the opportunity came to spar, Gohan occasionally joined in, whereas before, he would’ve simply watched… and remembered what it had been like. Unfortunately, that fire had been dulled by years of desk work, study and the raising of his family. Even in his prime, he often denied his power… seeking out his human half to fulfill his wants and needs. Even he did not listen to the hard-beating lust his heart felt for a good fight.
That was the kind of fire… the kind of lust for combat that burned inside of Pan. She seemed to be more Saiyan than her father and uncle combined. No, her father would never truly understand the Saiyan heart that beat within her chest.
There was her grandfather Goku and Vegeta. They were her mentors… the only people on earth who would agree to a spar, no matter what the conditions, without need of an explanation. The only people on earth who could truly console her… and read her soul so intensely and accurately, simply by sparring with her… no words needed. However, being full blooded Saiyans, they couldn’t understand her human side and therefore, had no clue as to her occasional need for normality.
With her uncle being as consumed with humanity and as withdrawn from his father’s lineage as he was, that left only Trunks. Trunks… He was always there for a spar… more than willing to skip out of work for it. He was the kind of guy she could join in combat for one minute, than act like a normal person with the next.
With all they had been through… all of the years they had spent growing together… their friendship had grown and grown. Pan had never realized before how close they really were. She silently wondered if he was as close to her as she was to him.
Maybe what she was seeking was impossible. Maybe there wasn’t any way to actually just cease their friendship. Maybe friendships like this were normal for Saiyans. Maybe it enabled them to form closer bonds to their fellow warriors… in order to develop a trust between them, developing deep enough to where they would gladly give their lives for that other person.
In any case, Pan knew that this friendship of theirs had gone awry. It had long ago been tainted with droplets of stronger feelings. Feelings that may or may not have been right. Feelings that seemed to be immortal… never dying no matter how much she fought against them. Feelings that she knew he would never reciprocate.
Perhaps it was time to kill these feelings off for good. If she were to land with her heart as weak as it was due to her experience in the past, then she would leave herself open and vulnerable. Surely then, these feelings would never go away and she would be doomed to live out her life as they haunted her, never truly giving her release, never allowing her to be happy. She had a week to defeat this enemy. It had to be defeated… killed off for good this time. She silently vowed that when she landed and looked at the lavender-haired, living ghost who had haunted her, she would feel nothing but respect and honor for her fellow warrior, her friend… nothing more… nothing less…