A few days later, the Son’s were invited back over to Capsule Corp so they could talk to their daughter again… only to find out that she didn’t want to talk to them. Videl understood right away about why she wanted to be left alone for a while. After all, privacy was something that had become scarce for Pan once her little brother came into the picture. Plus, Pan was about ready to move out on her own. Actually, at twenty-five years of age, she probably should have moved out a while ago, but with Gohan’s over protective nature and Goku’s sudden reappearance, Pan had wanted to stay near her family.
Gohan immediately started assuming the worst about his little girl’s emotional well-being and started asking his wife a million questions about why she would want to be left alone. Videl just told him that every woman needed a little ‘alone time’ once and a while and that he should be happy that she’s mature enough to take care of herself.
Of course, Bulma invited them to stay for dinner, but only after slapping her son on the back of the head for not informing Pan’s family of her request earlier. Videl and Chichi both helped cook the extra-large meal while the men… err… most of the men set up the dinner table. When they were done with their very large, extensive meal, they all went into the living area and relaxed with each other, striking up conversation about every day life and its hardships over coffee, wine and beer.
“So how’s business, Goten?” Gohan asked his brother.
“Busy… very busy. We’re adding another instructor to the team, though, so that should lighten the load.”
“That’s good.”
“It’ll require a slight pay cut for the rest of the instructors, but I think we can all afford it… especially with the large amount of new students that are signing up for the next year. We’re graduating six masters this year, twelve black belts and dropping a few intermediates who couldn’t take the heat any longer, but we’re bringing in forty new students, most of which have never even put on a gi before.”
“Heh, that sounds like fun.” Trunks scoffed sarcastically.
“Well, you could always come and help.” Goten hinted.
“Why don’t you, Trunks?” Bulma asked. “I’m sure they could use the extra experience, and it’s not like you’re too busy with work or anything. You haven’t even been into the office since last weekend.”
“That’s because Pan…”
“That’s no excuse.” She scolded, “I think you should go help Goten with his dojo. That way you could get a little exercise and help out a friend at the same time.”
“Mom, I’ve got other stuff to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like run our business… as I’ve been doing.”
Bulma laughed lightly, “And what could you have possibly gotten done in the last week?”
A classic ‘Vegeta’ smirk crossed his features, and by the look on his mother’s face he knew she was aware that smirk meant ‘inevitable defeat’, but he continued anyway, “Well, I’ve hired a new secretary, signed off on another bonus for the employees in the research and development department, settled a near-strike with our factory workers, bought out Willpower Electronics and their affiliates, negotiated an agreement to begin advertising our ‘softer side’ with the larger network’s news stations, broke ground at our site for the new, Western Head Quarters, over-sought the production of our new Briefs Air sneaker line, hired that TV soap opera star to be featured in our commercial spots for the new shoe, fixed the bug that was plaguing our Model-C0912 air car, spent an hour cooped up in a small room with that very smelly CEO from Light Technologies, just so we could come to an agreement on what to do with the shortage of workers on our assembly lines, as a part of our agreement, I went out on a date with the daughter of said CEO, who by the way is the ugliest woman on the face of this planet and smells just like her dad, I trained with father for more than two hours every morning, corrected a very disgusting problem we were having with our garbage disposal, washed my car… and… what else? Oh, I bought a puppy.”
“Where?!” Bra asked, popping up from her seat and looking around the room for a small dog.
“She’s not coming for another week or so, and she’s not yours, so relax.”
Bra stuck out her bottom lip and disappointedly plopped back down in her seat. “Daddy, I want a puppy.”
Vegeta groaned, apparently ignoring her. How old was she supposed to be again?
Bulma sat while looking wide-eyed at her son. “Wow, so you did get a lot done this week. So how much work do you do while you’re at the office on a normal day?”
“He doesn’t do anything.” Goten stated.
Trunks opened his mouth like he was about to argue, but then he closed it again and simply smiled. It was true, his normal office day wasn’t nearly as busy as the last week had been.
“Well that’s…” Bulma started before having her sentence interrupted by the ringing of their phone. “Excuse me.”
The group sat in silence for a moment as Bulma went in to answer the kitchen’s extension. Trunks listened carefully. Usually, when someone called, they were calling for him.
“Trunks, it’s for you.”
“I’ll take it in the office.” Trunks said, getting up and walking down the hallway.
Bulma barely had the chance to walk back into the living room before Trunks came back out of the office.
“Well, that was short. So why did the bank need to talk to you?” Bulma asked, seemingly oblivious to their guests.
“Oh, I just need to go in tomorrow and sign some papers verifying some charges that were made on my account.”
“What kind of charges?”
Trunks looked around nervously at the group of people sitting in front of him. How was he going to explain this? “Mom, it’s my money.”
A stern look almost immediately crossed Bulma’s face. Trunks gulped, trying to find an excuse plausible enough for the group before him to buy. “It was just a couple hundred grand.” He mumbled nearly under breath. However, not nearly quiet enough.
“Just a couple hundred grand?!” She shrieked, having heard him perfectly “What on earth did you buy that could’ve cost you that much?! Have you been gambling again?!”
Trunks shrunk back in his chair, trying desperately to avoid confrontation… especially this form of confrontation in front of the Son’s. “Well… you know… there’s the puppy…”
“That dog better be able to walk, talk and get a job if he cost a couple hundred grand!”
“Well, I also bought… a house.”
“A house?!” Bulma yelled loud enough for the house to shake. “Where?! What would you need a house for?!”
“A-about fifteen hundred miles or so south west of Central Capitol in the Chuuou Forests.”
“Hey, that’s a lot closer to our place.” Goten said. “That’ll put you smack-dab in the middle of the country too.”
Trunks shook his head confirming Goten’s statement and looked nervously back up at his mother. “Mom, I know it’ll be quite a trip to work every morning… but I really want to do this. Don’t you think it’s time I moved out on my own? I’m thirty-nine years old.”
Bulma’s expression softened as she slowly walked over to her son. “But why so far away?” She asked, sadness lacing her every word.
“I just…” He paused searching his mind for every available excuse he could use except the real one. “Well, the realtor showed me the property and I fell in love with it.” He lied.
Bulma put her hands up and cupped his face. “I suppose you’re planning on moving out soon?” She asked sadly.
“Yep.”
“It’s about time.” Vegeta mumbled from the corner of the room.
“So what other things have you bought with all this money you’ve spent?”
“Just… you know… furniture, some stock, a pool, a new car, a couple of expensive dresses… uh… dressy suits, and I put a little away in a high-interest savings account for the future, just in case anything goes wrong with the company. I also put away enough away to support you for a year without having to worry if the company went down.”
“Is there some reason you’re putting all of this money away that you aren’t telling me? Should I be worried about the business?”
“No! No, Capsule’s doing fine. In fact, she’s seen a ten percent decrease in production costs over the last month because of increased efficiency on the assembly lines.”
“Wow… That’s very… responsible of you.” Bulma added surprised, yet elated at her son’s behavior.
From the silent portion of the room, Marron spoke up, “If I didn’t know you better… I’d say you sound like a man who’s getting ready to settle down.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Videl added, a suspicious look on her face.
“Wha… what do you mean?” Trunks asked nervously.
“You can’t blame me for thinking that. After all, you’re working harder, you’ve bought a place of your own and it’s an actual house, you bought a dog, you’ve put money away for the future… this is all very untypical behavior for a man who once swore never to live conventionally. The only reason I can think of as to why you would go to so much trouble is because of a girl.”
“You’re insane, Marron.” Trunks answered.
“No, I think she’s right. So who’s the lucky gold-digger?” Goten joked.
“There is no girl.” Trunks said as he placed his right hand in the air. “Bachelor’s honor… there is no girl.”
Goten chuckled at his friend’s favorite past time. He looked over endearingly at his wife as he remembered the time when he was able to make the ‘bachelor’s oath’ along with his best friend. ‘Trunks is fooling himself if he thinks he managed to trick everyone into believing that sorry tale. Marron was right. He’s acting this way for a reason, and I’d bet my life that it’s because of a member of the opposite sex. I wonder why I haven’t met this mystery woman of his yet.’
The group dropped the conversation and went on to another one. Apparently, Trunks had done a pretty good job of hiding the facts from his mother because she was engrossed in a different conversation within seconds. Trunks smiled to himself and sighed in relief. Almost on reflex, he stuck his hand in his coat pocket and began twirling the little blue box around, hidden from sight. Just a few more days…
She bit her bottom lip as she looked out the main window. There it was… exactly as she had left it, the comparatively small blue globe she had called home for so long. Pan continued to stare at it as the planet grew bigger and closer to her window ever so slowly. It would only be a few more minutes now.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, extending her senses as far as they would go. Her breathing became deep as she concentrated, stretching her senses beyond the control room, outside of the ship, through the shrinking vastness of space between her and her home then over the earth. A smile traced her lips as she found them. She was amazed that she had been able to sense her parent’s ki’s over such a great distance. Especially since she they were keeping them suppressed. A short distance away, she felt her Uncle, Marron, Grandmother and Grandfather’s ki’s, plus Uubu’s. They were all very close together, yet very small and barely sensible. Pan smiled again, knowing that her Uncle and Aunt were probably visiting because they knew she was coming today.
She continued to search the earth, finding Vegeta, Piccolo and even Bra. They were all close together near Capsule Corp. apparently awaiting her return as well. Her smile slightly faded as she felt Trunks’ ki just a little ways away, next to Bulma’s. He was probably working again, totally forgetting that she was supposed to be back that day.
Pan shrugged it off and focused on getting the communicator back on line. She was amazed she could sense all of them from such a large distance away though. She wondered if her grandfather could do the same thing and decided it was probably the mysterious transformation she had undergone that had made her so sensitive to the ki’s of the others.
Moments later, back on earth, several bangs and thuds could be heard as Trunks hurriedly ran into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?!” Bulma asked her son, who was frantically searching around the room.
“Phone… I need the phone, where is it?”
“Your sister’s talking on it.”
Trunks stormed into the living room where Bra sat on the couch contentedly chatting away. Without warning, he grabbed it out of her hand.
“She’ll call you back.” He said to whoever happened to be on the other end of the line.
“Hey!” Bra shouted. “Trunks, I was talking!”
Trunks waved her off as he dialed the number and walked into the other room.
“Gohan? Hi, it’s Trunks. You might want to head on over. Pan’s about to land.”
The ship’s engines fired as it neared the ground, slowing the vessel to a safe speed in order to land. It touched down softly, the hydraulic landing gear hissing as it absorbed the shock of landing. The occupant inside the ship was nervous, clutching the arms of her consul’s chair so tight, the metal bent in and was crushed under her stronger than normal grip. However, she was safe… and home after a two month long adventure into the unknown territory of the past.
Outside, the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Even Goku Jr. was completely silent as the ship landed a short distance away and slowed to a halt. The landing coordinates pre-programmed into the ship put it directly in the middle of the small area of open land outside of the home. The group themselves were all standing just outside of the rear screen door a couple hundred feet away. The booster rockets were pointed downward and scorched the grass before they burned out, leaving the ship to be held up by only its landing gear. The observers felt a slight warm breeze as the fire dissipated and the ship stopped.
For a few seemingly long moments, nothing happened. The birds around them began singing again, having been scared away by the loud boom the ship had made from its engines firing. Gohan nervously looked at his wife, afraid of what might have happened to the ship during reentry, after Pan had contacted Trunks on the communicator. Even Vegeta had a comparatively interested and worried look on his face. Bulma had only seen that look on his face a few times in their life together and she was surprised that her husband cared so much for the grand-spawn of Kakarott.
A large lump formed in Trunks’ throat as some more quiet moments passed. Did the heat shielding hold up during reentry? Were the oxygen tanks intact? What if there had been some kind of hull breach? She could’ve been killed instantly without them knowing and her ki was too far suppressed to tell. All these things ran through his mind as he frantically tried to remember the schematics of the space ship and what could’ve gone wrong. Goten made a small noise in his throat, causing Bulma to jump due to the apprehension that had been built up by the period of silence.
Finally, the hissing of hydraulics could be heard once again as the main door to the ship slowly descended to the ground. Relieved, Gohan exhaled loudly, not having realized he was holding his breath. A large smile crossed his lips as he lifted off the ground and flew the short distance to the ship. Of course, Videl and the others followed as a figure stepped out of the entry way. Without even landing, Gohan flew forward and swept his daughter into his arms, embracing her tightly.
“Hi Daddy.” Pan said, tears threatening to spill over as her father spun her around in the air.
“Pan…” He began, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words.
“Hmm?” She asked, pulling herself slightly away from his embrace.
“D-don’t ever do that again! You had us scared to death!”
Pan laughed lightly, knowing he was very grateful to have her back. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground and let her walk over to her mother, who she hugged tightly. “Hi Mom.”
“Panny… you look so cute.” Videl tried to say as her throat constricted on her and tears poured down her cheeks.
As soon as she was released from her mother’s arms, her grandmother came over and hugged her too, sobbing in her ear. She was trying to say something, but the tears were coming too fast for her. “Grandma, I’m fine.” She assured.
Quickly, she switched over to hug her grandfather. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he hugged back and straightened his posture, causing her feet to lift off the ground due to his height. “Hi Grandpa.”
“You didn’t get into too much trouble while you were there, did you?” He teased.
“No, only as much as you would’ve gotten into.”
“That’s good.” He said as he laughed.
Pan hopped down and walked over to the other women where she was swamped with compliments.
“Wow, you look better in those clothes than I did.” Bra said.
“No kidding.” Marron told her, “You look great!”
“Thanks.” Pan said with a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.
“Did the ship give you any trouble?” Bulma inquired.
“No, none at all, but the games were a little boring.”
Bulma laughed and gave her a light hug, silently thanking any higher power that could hear her for bringing her friend’s daughter back home safely.
Pan smiled and turned around, only to face a very apologetic looking uncle whose head was pointed to the ground. She smiled and went over to him, bringing him into a tight embrace.
“Pan…” he began, “I’m sorry for…”
“It’s okay, Uncle.” She said.
“It is?” He asked, surprised.
“Sure it is. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Yes it was!” He argued.
“No, really. I’m okay and everything will be back to normal in a few days.”
“Well, what can I do to make it up to you?” He asked, pulling her away.
Her face twisted in concentration as she thought about if for a moment. Her face brightened up as she got an idea. “Well, the ship is filthy. You could clean it up for me!”
Goten’s shoulders sank as he realized how messy Pan was when she was left alone and how much work that would be.
“You said…” She started.
“Okay, okay… gees… but you have to come and tell me what to clean out.”
“I’ve already done laundry. Just throw every thing on the floor in the trash.”
Goten took a deep sigh and looked despairingly at the ship, dreading what was to come. Pan laughed at her uncle, but stopped as soon as Trunks came in to her view. He smiled brightly at her, examining her from head to toe as his smile turned into a smirk.
“You look… different.” He said smoothly.
“Thanks...” She replied, feeling uncomfortable under his visual probing of her new appearance. “I think.”
Without warning, he moved in to hug her. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in. She returned the hug, not wanting to act suspiciously, but she did it softly. Two months before, she had been comfortable wrestling around with that same man on the floor without there being any sexual tension at all. All of a sudden, it seemed nearly impossible to simply hug the man without her knees melting. Did he have to smell this good all the time? Was it her imagination, or did he use the exact same cologne throughout these past seventeen years?
He closed his eyes as he subtly dug his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled slowly. The action didn’t go totally unnoticed by the woman in his arms as she tried her best not to collapse into his arms or kiss him right then, but it seemed the rest of the crowd was oblivious to the chemistry… or so they thought.
Videl’s expression went from a loving motherly gaze to one of total astonishment as she witnessed the scene in front of her. She happened to glance over at Bulma who had the same look on her face. They looked at each other with confusion, silently communicating the same suspicions. Body language like that usually only meant one thing for a man and a woman, but neither of them had exhibited such behavior before… had they? Videl looked nervously toward Gohan who was simply watching, as were the rest of the men around them. Were they totally oblivious to everything going on?
Marron looked around nervously, confirming that Videl and Bulma were thinking the same thing. She kept trying to tell herself that what she was witnessing was her imagination. There was no way on earth that her long time friend and ex-fiancé could be falling for her much younger niece. This couldn’t be happening.
Gohan happen to catch the movement of his wife’s head out of the corner of his eye. That’s when he noticed the strange looks the women were giving each other, and when he noticed the way Trunks was smelling his daughter’s hair and wrapping his arms very low around her waist. A frown instantly cut his smile as he struggled to keep his ki down. He realized that men sometimes felt attractions for people they normally wouldn’t, but there was no way that he was going to let Trunks act on those attractions… not with his very young daughter.
Wanting to interrupt the scene in front of him, he dropped to his knees and whispered into his son’s ear, “Hey, go see what your sister got you for your birthday.” Immediately, the young Saiyan ran over to where they were.
Pan wondered silently if Trunks was ever going to let her go. It had only been a short hug so far, but she really didn’t want to give anybody any ideas about the two of them. Just as she was about to pull away, she felt a small tug on the hem of her black skirt.
“Panny?” Said a small voice from behind.
She turned around, still blushing brightly and grateful for the interruption. “Hi Goku!” She said sweeping him up in a hug.
“Did you get me any toys?”
Pan laughed out loud “You’re Mr. Impatient, aren’t you? Well, I suppose I could give you your gift now...”
“No wait.” Chichi interrupted. “Do it tomorrow… at your ‘welcome back’ party.”
“’Welcome back’ party?! Grandma… I said no parties!”
“Come on, this’ll give you a chance to tell us all about your trip. We haven’t seen you in two months. Humor us…” Chichi argued.
Pan smiled. “Okay,” She caved, “just don’t go to too much trouble.”
“Great! Oooh… but I’d better start getting things ready.” She said, quickly walking back in through the door to start her task.
The group started following her inside.
“Not so fast.” Pan said to her uncle, holding an arm up to his chest do he couldn’t walk inside. She pulled out a trash bag, seemingly from nowhere and held it in front of him. “You’ve got a job to do, remember?”
Goten’s shoulders sank as he turned around and started walking back towards the ship.
That night, Gohan, Videl and Chichi decided to stay over at the Briefs’ home, even though the rest of the family went to their perspective houses. That way, it would give them more time in the morning and they wouldn’t have to tow Goku Jr. all the way back out there. Bulma always was a more than gracious host anyway, so they always felt welcome to stay when they needed to.
As soon as Pan walked in the door, Bulma pulled her over and took her to Capsule Corp’s main Doctor, the one the entire Son and Briefs clans went to if they ever had any major problems. He was the only person outside of their small circle of family and friends who knew of their true heritage and Pan’s trip through time. Of course, like any Doctor, he poked and prodded, took a few blood samples and asked her a thousand questions about how her all-around health had been while she was in the past. She just happened to mention the severe headaches and nightmares she had been having that eventually went away and he went berserk.
For three hours, he injected her with strange looking fluids, took numerous cat scans and took vial after vial of blood. It had caused unnecessary fear in her family, who were beginning to worry about the after-effects of time travel. Their worry could have been averted if she would have had the courage to tell them it was all brought on by guilt, but she never once opened her mouth. Here she was trying to forget what had happened in the past and the Doctor’s prodding only refreshed those memories. She felt guilty for lying and scaring her parents, but if they ever found out what had happened, her life would be ruined. Needless to say, the Doctor never found anything wrong with her, but then again, some of the tests weren’t completed yet.
After her ‘check-up’, Pan chose the nearest guestroom to where she was and collapsed on the bed inside. Coming home had almost been more traumatic for her than the actual trip had been. Not even caring to change clothes, or wash the hint of make up from her face, she crawled under the covers and fell into a deep sleep. It was an early bedtime for her, but she needed the extra rest. However, her internal clock betrayed her and woke her up exactly five hours later… just in time to see the clock change from 11:59 to midnight.
After nearly a half an hour of struggling, tossing and turning, she finally gave up. She noticed she was still in her skirt, so she changed into some sweats, climbed out the window and headed for the gravity room. Vegeta should’ve still been up, maybe she could catch some late night… err… early morning training from her ex-Master.
“Pan!” A voice called out, interrupting her short flight to the gravity room.
She turned around to see the dark shadow of a familiar figure waving at her from the rooftop. “Just great…” She muttered sarcastically. “Hi Trunks. I was just going to see if your father wanted to train.” She spoke in her normal, cheery voice.
“He’s not training tonight.”
“He’s not?!” Pan asked, stunned. “Then where is he?”
Trunks chuckled nervously, a reddish hue covering the top of his cheeks, yet remaining unseen under the cover of darkness. “If you really want to know, seek his ki.”
Pan concentrated for only a moment before she blushed in realization. There were only a few things that could cause Vegeta to break his nightly training schedule and well… only one of them had to do with Bulma. She’d rather just leave it at that. Knowing she would regret it later, she flew over to the roof and sat down next to Trunks.
“So what are you doing out here?” She asked, pulling her knees to her chest.
“I could ask you the same question.” He replied, suddenly displaying that same lady-killer smile he was so popular for.
“I went to sleep early, so I woke up early… too early.”
“Hm.” He acknowledged. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Why not?” She pried.
Trunks sighed, breathing in the chilled night air that carried with it the scent of dampness and morning dew that hadn’t yet formed. “I just couldn’t. I’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“So you’re just looking at the stars?” She asked, wondering if and when he ever found the time to enjoy natural beauty like he used to.
“Yep. You and Goten always saw some sort of charm with the sky, so I thought I’d try to see that charm too.”
“What are you talking about?” She asked. “You love escaping from your office and flying through the air. You always said that the sky was your safe haven.”
“I like that, but I never saw the charm in just laying on my back and staring at it. I used to love it as a kid though. I guess I’ve just been up there too much… I don’t wonder about it anymore… it’s like a mystery that’s been solved.”
“Maybe you’re just looking too hard. This isn’t astronomy class, you’re not supposed to study them; you just sit back and allow yourself to enjoy them, once and a while making up new constellations.”
“Maybe… or maybe being so grown-up has taken all the fun out of life.” He said, leaning back so that he was spread out on his back over the roof.
Pan scoffed softly. “I’m grown-up too… but I still love staring at the stars.”
“Do you?”
“I miss them.” She admitted sadly.
“You were just up there. What’s to miss?”
“I know, and believe me, when I was up there I wanted to get home as soon as possible… but now, now I want to go back.” Her gaze left him and returned upward as she watched the slow descending of the western stars in the horizon.
“Well, you know what they say. When you’re at home, you long for true adventure. When you’re on a true adventure, you long to be home.”
Pan sighed as she absorbed what he said. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
“It’s kind of like being married.” He added. “When you’re single, you spend so much time searching for that ‘special someone’ that you can spend your life with… but when you’re married… well… there has to be some reason why fifty percent of all marriages end up in divorce.”
“You really don’t know what that ‘reason’ is though. Every couple we’re really close to is still together.” She pointed out, wondering how and why this topic suddenly came up.
“Yeah, but if you think about it, how many times have we come close to losing each other, or have lost each other? I’m sure that would make a person more likely to appreciate their mate.”
“True…” Pan added softly, deciding to drop the topic instead of delving into his personal thoughts. For a moment, there was a small silence. It was comfortable though… as all the small silences these two friends shared were. “Don’t you ever miss it though?”
“Hm?”
“Being up there.” She said, pointing towards the sky, “Searching for the dark stars, facing danger at every corner and eluding it, soaring past the stars so fast they look like… like…”
“Like giant, compressed, balls of gas?”
“You just had to ruin my moment, didn’t you?” She slapped him lightly on the arm. “I was being poetic.”
Trunks laughed shortly. “You call that poetic? I was forced to go on that trip… just like I was forced into taking over Mom’s company. For you, it was a freely chosen adventure. For me, it was like another day at the office.”
“Admit it, you miss it.” She repeated, purposefully ignoring his last little insult.
Trunks breathed deeply and swallowed his pride. “Yeah, I miss it. I miss it a lot.”
“I would like to go back up there sometime.”
“Given this planet’s luck with evil villains from outer space, I’m sure you’ll have your chance.”
Pan smiled and laughed softly. Changing the subject for no real reason other than curiosity she began, “Bra told me you bought a house… and a puppy.”
Trunks smiled and scoffed quietly. “Yeah. It’s nice, you should come see it some time.”
“I will.”
After another small silence, Trunks spoke again, this time, so quietly that even Pan had a hard time hearing him, “It’s too empty though…”
“Hm?”
“The house… I feel lonely when I stay there.” His tone was more curious than sad… as if he had no idea what it was like to feel alone. Pan silently sighed because of this.
“Well, I suppose it takes a little while to get used to. Living on your own, I mean. Around here, you’ve had your parents to make plenty of noise. Especially when they’re fighting. You’ll get used to the silence after a while though, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I guess that’s why I bought the puppy. Still...”
“’Still’ what?”
“Still…” He began, his voice filled with longing, “I wish I had someone to share it with.”
Pan’s smile faded. She was grateful for the darkness when her vision began to blur with unshed tears. “Well, you could always marry. You have enough women throwing themselves at your feet, just pick one of them.” She said, nearly choking on her words. ‘What happened to distancing myself from him?’ She asked herself.
Trunks looked at her abruptly after hearing her struggle with what she was saying. He looked for some sign of emotion, but she had her head down so that her bangs covered her eyes and her knees her held up to her chin as she sat, covering most of her face. She abruptly stood up without warning and started levitating. “I’d better get to bed. My parents are going to exhaust me with questions tomorrow.” She said, slowly heading downward towards the window of her guest bedroom.
“Pan, wait!” Trunks called out quietly after her.
For some reason that was beyond her at that moment, she stopped and listened to him.
“I don’t want one of the women who throw themselves at me. I don’t like them and I can’t stand them either.” He argued.
“Then what do you want Trunks?” She asked, never turning around to face him.
A solid lump formed in his throat as he tried to summon strength from within, “I’ve wanted to tell you… I-I… should’ve told you this a while ago, but… I want someone who will come with me when I want to escape from my office and fly through the air. I want y…”
Pan looked up into his eyes. His words and the raw emotion she saw in his blue depths made her heart skip a few beats. ‘What’s happening?’
“Good night, Trunks.” She interrupted out of nowhere, then descended quickly and flew in the window.
Trunks sighed, feeling that aching loneliness that had plagued him through most of his life infect him again. “Good night.” He said quietly to no one after she had descended beyond his sight.
Pan collapsed on her bed once again, silent tears making their way across her face as gravity pulled them downward, sideways across her cheeks. Confusion swam in her mind, making her want to throw up. There was no headache though, and she was grateful. She went to sleep again that night, this time being lulled by the way her eyes felt tired after having cried for so long.
Trunks stayed up on the roof top, staring at the stars. For the first time since he was a boy, he saw the true beauty in the indigo sky and allowed himself to be charmed. Thoughts… doubts ran through his mind as well. He knew he would never look up at another starry sky without thinking about her. There were so many things… so many thoughts, ideas and a few proposals he had wanted to say to her that night, but his words failed him. She seemed to have gotten the point from the look on her face. He would know for sure the next day, at her party.
The next day was going to be a rough one. Trunks knew that from the moment he woke up. He rolled out of bed at about eleven in the morning, having enjoyed his last few weeks of being able to sleep in due to Pan’s situation. His mother had made it clear that he was going to work the next day, there was no escaping it. Plus, he had a lot to do this day, so sleeping in a little wasn’t going to hurt. He hadn’t exactly gotten to bed very early the night before either. He tossed and turned until the sun rose.
Grudgingly, he got up and jumped in the shower, turning the water pressure up all the way and hot. That’s how he liked it, especially when there were knots in his shoulders and back like there were that particular day. After making sure that he smelled his best, he walked back into his room. Tiredly, he rubbed his eyes and made his way over to his bed where freshly pressed slacks and a dress shirt lay. He was trying to look his best when he faced Pan and talked to her.
Lifting his shirt in front of him, he inspected carefully. “Where did that come from?” He asked no one in particular after seeing a coffee stain on the collar.
Not really caring about the shirt’s value, he threw it into the trash can and proceeded to dig through his closet for a new one that looked similar. He stopped when he came across his old green gi from his teenage years. He only wore it a few times, even though his mother had actually called in a favor with Chichi to make it for him so he could wear it to the boudakai he competed in when he was eighteen. From what he remembered, his mother had wanted him to look just like he did when he was eight and fighting Buu because he would look so cute. He had other plans though. Instead, he changed in the men’s locker room to a black tank top and loose pants. After all, he was going to be on TV and green was definitely not in style.
Trunks thought about it for a moment and decided to go to Pan’s party in his green gi. It was about time he got some use out of it anyway and he had a good idea on how to do it.
Back at Capsule’s lawn, the peculiar looking space craft sat unmoving, still in the same position it had landed in the day before. Trunks could hear crashing coming from inside as he made his way towards it. Random objects were being carelessly tossed out the main door as the occupant inside slowly worked his way further into the ship, sifting through clothes and trash that had been left laying around.
“Goten?” Trunks called from the entrance, standing slightly over to the side as to avoid the unidentified flying objects his long time friend was throwing out of the ship.
“Hey Trunks.” Goten greeted cheerily as he popped his head out the door. “How come you’re wearing that? I thought you hated green.”
“Oh, I was hoping we could go spar or something before lunch… and this was the only thing I had to wear that was clean.”
“No, not right now. I have to clean this place up.” Goten said, turning around and continuing to stuff the items that remained on the floor into the undersized trash bag. Trunks followed him in, curios to see if it looked and smelled anything like it did in the past after Pan had been living in it. “I can’t believe one girl could make such a big mess after being alone for only two months.”
Trunks laughed lightly, agreeing with him. The place was very messed up for having had only one occupant traveling in it. “I always thought Pan was a neat freak.” He said, stepping over the strewn clothes lying all over the floor of the control room.
“I thought she was too. Maybe she messed it up on purpose to make my job harder.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He agreed absentmindedly as he slowly walked over to the bedroom door and took a peek inside.
“You wouldn’t believe the stuff that she wants me to throw away. Look at this.”
Trunks turned to see Goten holding up something very familiar looking. It was a gold chain with a clear stone hanging from it. He smiled, suddenly remembering the time he gave it to her… the night when he told her about his heritage. ‘That’s ironic.’ Trunks thought.
“And look at this,” Goten added, pulling a piece of dark material off of the floor. “I’m no expert, but I think this is a pretty nice dress. I wonder why she would want me to throw it away.”
Trunks’ jaw dropped slightly before he could catch himself. He reached his hand out and smoothed the slightly wrinkled velvet with his fingers, feeling the curves and the stitching of the embroidered flowers. He could still remember the feeling of having his arms around her waist, the way she looked wearing the exact same dress, making him want to hold her against him forever, the smell of her perfume and shampoo as he sniffed her neck subtly while trying not to get caught, how her soft lips tasted as she pressed them against his, and the sound of her smooth voice as she spoke in his ear about how she loved him… and how much she would miss him.
“Trunks? Hello! Earth calling Trunks!” Goten nearly shouted.
Trunks was quickly jolted out of his reverie by his friend’s rather annoying voice. “What?!” He snapped defensively.
“What’s with you and all this day dreaming lately? And why are you still standing here petting Pan’s dress?”
Trunks quickly tore himself away and dropped his hands back at his side. “It feels nice, that’s why. And I wasn’t daydreaming, I was just… distracted.”
“Uh huh.” Goten muttered, obviously not buying his story. “Well, I’ve got work to do. Are you going to help, or do you want to just stand here fantasizing about women’s clothing some more?”
Trunks narrowed his eyes, but quickly dropped the topic. “Are you sure Pan wants you to throw away all of this?”
“Yeah, she said everything on the floor. The dress and the necklace were on the floor, so I guess she doesn’t want them.”
“Oh.” Trunks realized with disappointment why she didn’t. “I tell you what, I’ll clean up around here.”
Goten eyed Trunks suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch. I was just thinking that I would like to keep some of the things she’s asking you to throw away.”
“Trunks… I don’t think the dress is your size.” Goten joked, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Trunks. “Well, Dad and I have had a lot of time to talk recently… and he’s told me some pretty interesting stories about your little galaxy tour. How do I know you’re not just going to take all of her clothing to satisfy your own twisted fetish?”
“Fine.” Trunks replied, turning and slowly walking out the door. “You can clean this place up yourself.”
“Okay, okay, okay, okay.” Goten said quickly, running in front of Trunks and forcefully pushing him back into the ship. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just do me a favor and don’t tell anyone it was me who cleaned up the ship.”
“Why?”
“I have my reasons.”
Goten once again gave him a suspicious look, but he ignored it. Not wanting to waste anymore of his day off on working, he shoved the trash bag into Trunks arms. “Have fun.” He said before flying away.
Pan woke up late in morning, the sun already high enough to shine through the windows of her usual Capsule guestroom and into her eyes. Not wanting to waste anymore time than she already had, she quickly got up and was showered, dressed and groomed within minutes. Heeding a formal request from her grandmother, she dressed in effeminate attire, emphasized with a little makeup and her hair up.
She had gotten used to wearing the skirt and the shoes, but she didn’t know if she was comfortable donning the uncharacteristic clothes so soon after getting back. Whenever she put on those same clothes in the past, her alter ego Kara would take over, automatically changing her mannerisms and attitude. It got to the point where ‘Kara’ had practically become a split personality. Now, however, Kara was dead… buried six feet underground along with all of the feelings and memories Pan had acquired while in the past. Pan didn’t want to dig her up again, but she knew that Kara’s qualities would end up shining through her normally rough exterior. Pan just hoped a certain demi-Saiyan wouldn’t notice.
Momentarily enjoying a moment of peace, she drew her curtains back and leaned out the window, absorbing the mid day air and the sun shine, which she had missed on her journey back through time. When she was a little girl, it didn’t bother her as much to be cooped up in a space ship for weeks at a time. Maybe it was simply because everything was bigger back then, and she was smaller. Now it seemed, the world and all the space around it was too small for her, as if she could never escape from the ghosts that haunted her.
“Goku! Stop it! That cake is for Pan!” Her grandmother roared, suddenly snapping her out of her reverie.
Although her peace was interrupted by her grandmother’s screech, she couldn’t help but laugh a little. She was home…
Knowing that everyone was outside anyway, Pan jumped out of her second-story window and on to the ground, a large shopping bag in-tow. It seemed, she still had something to learn about wearing a skirt and flying. After landing on the plush green grass, Pan walked around to the back yard. She went quietly, not wanting to draw attention. However, her plan failed, and she was met with an onslaught of more hugs from each of her family members.
“Panny! I’m so glad you went with the skirt!” Chichi chirped. “Well, you came out just in time. I was about to call you for lunch.”
Pan smiled politely as she was led to the out door dinner table where the rest of her family and the Brief’s were just sitting down. She sat next to Goku, who was foaming at the mouth at the sight of the food before him.
“Pan have you seen Jr.?” Gohan asked, sitting down across from her.
“No. I didn’t come through the house and he wasn’t in the yard.”
“Oops.” Goku Sr. said, a guilty look on his face.
“What ‘oops’?” Videl asked, slightly worried.
Goku didn’t give an answer. He put his two first fingers to his forehead and concentrated for a moment. In a flash, he was gone, but reappeared quickly, a giggling bundle of demi Saiyan underneath his arm. “Jr. and I were playing ‘hide and go seek’ and… I guess I got distracted by the food when I was supposed to be seeking.” The older Saiyan laughed nervously as he put his other hand behind his head. Goku Jr. squealed in delight as his grandfather swung him over his head and placed him in his booster chair.
Pan laughed too. Her little brother was so cute. She was thankful he hadn’t aged much while she was gone. Still, she knew he would grow up too fast… unless he happened to take after their grandfather where as he would never grow up at all.
“So… I guess we should start.” Chichi suggested, looking at her watch.
“Wait, Trunks isn’t here yet.” Bulma said.
“I don’t see why we have to wait anyway. If he wants to eat, he should’ve been here on time.” Vegeta complained, appreciating the rarity of having food cooked by someone with skill, as opposed to his wife.
“I’m here.” Trunks said from behind, grabbing the empty chair at the end of the table and sitting down.
“What have you been up to?” Bulma asked, noting his old, green gi.
“He’s been taking a bath. What does it look like, Woman?” Vegeta griped. “It’s about time you got some more training in, Boy. Though it doesn’t do any good if you don’t sweat. No wonder you’re getting weaker.”
“I haven’t trained yet. I was planning to after dinner.” He responded, once again ignoring the condescending attitude in his father’s voice. “Uh, should I change? I can run in and…”
“No, you’re here now and everyone’s hungry. Let’s just go a head and eat.”
No one had to say anything more before Goku started swallowing his plate full of food. The rest followed, in a slightly more calm matter as the women made chit chat. Every once and a while, Trunks looked up from his plate and stole a glance at the woman across the table from him. Once and a while she would look back, but turn quickly, as if she were trying to avoid him. Trunks sighed inwardly.
“So, Trunks… isn’t that the gi I made for you?” Chichi asked, wiping her mouth politely with her napkin.
“Um… yeah, Ms. Chichi, it is.”
“Hmm… That’s the first time I’ve seen you wear it.” She said, getting up and walking over to him. “Does it fit okay?”
Trunks’ cheeks turned bright red as Chichi tugged at the neck and waist line of his gi to check the fit. Goten laughed loudly as he watched his friend’s face turn every shade of crimson possible. Marron promptly hit her husband in the stomach.
“Mom… your food’s getting cold.” Gohan said, trying to hint that Trunks most likely would like to finish his meal as opposed to having her hands tugging at his clothes.
“Ooh… sorry.” Chichi apologized, remembering that Trunks was nearly forty now… not seven. She quickly made her way back to her seat.
Trunks chuckled nervously, his blush fading. Pan laughed a little too, along with the others, at how embarrassed Trunks must have been. Her mistake was looking over at him to see his expression. Instantly, they locked eyes. Her smile faded as his soul searched hers, his eyes glued to hers as if he could see right past her shell and into her heart. An uncomfortable feeling of familiarity sunk in. The way he was looking at her, the way he was acting towards her, he was behaving just like he had in the past, just like he had with Kara. It was almost as if…
Pan abruptly cleared her throat, tearing herself away from his gaze and forcing herself to regain composer. “Jr., I have your birthday present with me.”
The little boy popped his head up, instantly dropping the chicken leg that was in his bite. At five years of age, the demi-Saiyan was still unsure as to which one was more important, food, or presents.
“Do you want it now?”
The little boy eagerly shook his head. “Yeah!”
Pan dug underneath the table and pulled out the three gifts from the shopping bag. “Mom, Dad… I got you something too. I saw these in the past and I thought of you, so I bought them.”
Videl looked at her curiously. “What are these?”
“Just open them.” Pan insisted.
“This doesn’t seem right.” Videl said as she unwrapped the small package. “You just got back from a journey across time and you’re bringing us the gifts?”
Pan smiled at her mother. “Like I said, these are things I know you’ll like.”
“Hey!” Gohan remarked. “I haven’t been able to find a bright blue and yellow horizontal, pinstriped tie in a long time! Thanks!”
“That’s because they went out of style twenty years ago, Brother. I think Pan is trying to tell you something.” Goten commented.
“Pan, I’ve been looking for this album for years! How’d you know I wanted it?” Videl asked.
“Are you kidding? Every time we go to the store, you look for it.” Pan answered. “So how do you like your present, Jr.?”
“It’s cool!” He exclaimed studying the box. “What is it?”
“It’s a video game you can hook up to your fingers.”
“Cool!”
“I’ll show you how to use it after lunch.”
“Uh… hey Panny,” Goten started, popping his head up from his dinner plate once more. “I sort of have a… gift for you too. If you want it, anyway.”
“What’s that?” Pan inquired.
“Well, Piccolo told us about your transformation to a new level in the past.”
“He did?” Pan asked nervously, unsure of what else Mr. Piccolo told them.
“Yeah… and well, according to him, I made a very similar transformation myself.”
“When… when was this? Why didn’t you tell me?!” She asked passionately.
“It happened while you were gone… I… the reason I got so angry before…”Goten started hesitantly to explain as Pan listened intently. “I needed to train this new power. It was making me over aggressive and… well, I lost control, so I trained. I ended up transforming while I was fighting Dad.”
She paused for a moment, letting the new information sink in. “So… you’re saying that you got angry and that’s what caused you to transform into the exact same level that I did when I was in the past?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s weird. Are we the only ones who have done this?”
“Yeah, you are.” Gohan answered. “And that’s why I agreed when Goten asked to take you into the ROSAT for a year of training.”
“The Room of Spirit and Time?! You’re kidding! You wouldn’t let me go in there before! You kept telling me how tough it was and how easily a person could go insane!” Pan yelled, suddenly excited at what her family was telling her.
“Well… that was before, when you were just trying to reach Super Saiyan and didn’t want anybody to go with you.” Gohan answered. “I think you should train this new power of yours with someone who’s your equal and right now… that leaves you with Goten.”
Pan was still confused, “But why don’t I just train with someone stronger than I am so I can build strength?”
Goten exchanged glances with Gohan, wondering if he should go on. “Pan…the day I first transformed… I was… nearly able to defeat Dad.”
“Defeat Grandpa?” Pan asked in disbelief.
“At level four.” Goku chimed in, voice full of pride, mouth full of food.
Pan slumped over in her chair slightly, her head swooning.
“Pan? Are you okay?” Videl asked concerned at the fact that her daughter’s complexion was now a couple shades paler than it was a moment before.
“So what does this mean? How are we able to do this?” Pan asked.
“I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll find out something in the ROSAT.” Goten answered.
“So we’re definitely going?” Pan asked, getting excited at the thought of a year straight of doing nothing but training.
“Yeah. I’m already packed. Whenever you’re ready to go, we’ll just…”
“Now!” Pan interrupted, rocketing out of her seat.
“Like… right now, now?” Goten asked. “Shouldn’t we at least let our food digest?”
“Come on, Uncle! I want to go train!” Pan shouted, walking over and pulling on his arm.
“Pan…” He began, trying to pry his arm away from his ecstatic niece.
“Hey… are you doing anything tomorrow?”
“Well, I…”
“We could stay in there for two days!” She exclaimed happily.
“No, Pan… we can’t.”
“Why not?” She asked, her voice full of disappointment.
“I already went in the room when I was a kid. I don’t want to end up getting sealed in there for eternity.” Goten said.
“Oh… well, then we should talk to Dende and see if he knows how much time you have left. Maybe we can stay for a day and a half or something.”
“That would be okay.” Goten agreed. “Why don’t you go pack and I’ll go grab my stuff and talk to Dende? We can meet up on Dende’s lookout in a few hours.”
“Sounds good to me.” Pan said picking up her stuff and getting ready to fly back to her house. “I’ll be up there within the hour.”
“Wait!” Trunks shouted, jumping out of his seat. He succeeded in grabbing the attention of everyone there with his outburst.
“What’s wrong?” Pan asked.
Trunks looked around, unsure of what to answer. He wasn’t ready for this yet… but he didn’t want her to spend a year and a half in the ROSAT without knowing how he felt. ‘Here goes nothing.’
“I-I… I have a gift for you too.” He admitted.
“You do?” She asked, her eyes traveling over to Bra and asking a silent question.
Bra just shrugged. She had no idea what her brother was up to, and from the looks of it, neither did anyone else. Pan was slightly unnerved.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“What do you mean, ‘what do I mean’? I bought you a present.” He said apprehensively.
“Oh. Okay… Well, what is it?”
“We have to fly over to my house. I-I left it there. It will only take a couple of hours.”
“Um… but I wanted to pack for the…”
“You go head.” Videl interrupted. “We’ll be leaving soon. I can start packing for you.”
“Yeah, and I was sort of hoping we could go tomorrow anyway, so I can have some time to get ready.” Goten stated.
“Oh.” She said, sounding disappointed. “Okay then. Just let me go get changed.”
Trunks nodded as she flew from the picnic area, back up to her normal guest room. He noted her disappointment, but tried to look past it. ‘This has to be done now. If I let her go into the ROSAT without saying anything, it could ruin everything.’
“Trunks…” Bulma started. “What did you get her?”
“You’ll find out when she gets back. I’m not telling you now.” He told her.
“I bet it’s something personal.” Bra said in a melodic tone.
“That’s none of your business!” He quietly snapped.
“Oooh, it is!” She chirped.
“Shut up…”
“I’m ready.” Pan said, now wearing a sweater and pants, her bag over her shoulder.
Trunks smiled and they took off into the sky. It would take nearly half and hour to get there, considering his house was half way between Capsule Corp and the Son’s place. The flight there was traveled in mostly silence. It was an awkward silence, so different from the comfort that these two friends normally shared in each other’s company. Neither really knew what to say to one another.
“So tell me about your trip.” Trunks suggested, trying desperately to ease the tension.
“There’s nothing to tell.” Pan told him, lying through her teeth. “I landed, I stayed in my ship, I went shopping, sparred with Piccolo, and then I came back.”
Trunks nodded silently, not wanting to prod any deeper until he was ready. Once and a while, he caught himself staring at her. It was a habit he hoped he wouldn’t break. She was exactly like he remembered her to be seventeen years ago. She looked exactly like she did when he sat down across from her at Sloshy’s, exactly like she did when he told her he loved her. Pan noticed his staring and looked back, wondering what he was hiding behind his blue, crystalline eyes. He suddenly looked away, a small blush creeping to his cheeks that he hoped she couldn’t see.
“Uh… so when are we going to get there?” She asked, trying to ease the discomfort.
“It’s right below us.” He answered, coming to a dead stop and floating down.
Pan followed suit and descended directly in front of the doorway to a large, luxurious house. Trunks unlocked the door and walked inside, setting his keys on a table beside the entrance. Pan looked up and around. His home was very large, but very homely and cozy. It looked nothing like Capsule Corp. Each floor was done in hardwood, except the living area wish had plush, white carpet. It was the kind of carpet that you could lay down on and fall asleep. In fact, she had to hold back the urge to walk around without her shoes on so she could feel the soft material squeeze between her toes and squish down under her foot.
The décor was arranged in her favorite colors. There were even fresh flowers lying in a vase on almost every coffee table or counter top. The ceiling was high, opened up with skylights that poured sunlight into nearly every room. To the right of the entrance and past the living area, there was a long, winding staircase leading up to the second floor where the bedrooms were. She could only imagine what they looked like. All in all, the house was very warm… and small.
“Trunks, your house is beautiful!” Pan yelled into the kitchen where Trunks had gone.
“You don’t have to stay in the doorway. You can come further in, you know.” He joked.
Pan obeyed and walked slowly through the doorway and past the living area, studying all of the accessories and paintings in each room. “Don’t tell me you decorated this yourself.”
“Nope, I hired someone. After I told her what I wanted, she went to work.”
“When I move out, you’ll have to give me her name… if I can afford her. She has great taste. But why’d you pick a house so small?”
“It’s small?” He asked amused, knowing it had to be twice the size of her parent’s home.
“No, but compared to Capsule Corp., it is.”
“Actually, it only takes up one-twenty-fourth of the square footage that Capsule does.”
“Why?”
“No laboratories or office buildings. Most of my parent’s house consisted of machinery and workers. I didn’t want that. I prefer to leave my work at work… where it belongs.” He explained from the kitchen. “Hey, you want to meet a new friend of mine?”
“New friend?”
She heard a door open and close and suddenly, a small, yet very rambunctious brown blurb ran in to greet her.
“This is your puppy?! Oh! She looks just like Bee did!” Pan yelled, picking the puppy up.
“I know.” Trunks said, leaning against the doorway and watching her laugh while petting and coddling the young dog as she struggled to keep it from licking her face. “That’s why I got her.”
Pan eyed the large, some-what worn, red ribbon on it’s collar and looked at him suspiciously. “Is she my gift?”
Trunks smiled.
“Trunks… thank you… but I can’t keep dogs at our house. Not with Jr. being so young.”
“I had a feeling something like that might happen, so I thought… maybe… the dog could stay here.”
“And stay here alone while you’re at work?”
“I have a day maid. She can take care of her for now.”
“Ooh.” Pan said quietly… setting the dog back down on the ground.
“But the dog’s not your only present. There’s more coming.” He said brightly.
“You’re kidding.”
“No, that’s what I came back here for. Come on, let’s go.” Trunks said, opening the door for her.
“Where are we going now?” She asked.
“It’s a surprise, but first, you’ve got to put this over your eyes.” Trunks said, pulling out her orange bandana from her back pocket and folding it then tying it over her eyes so she couldn’t see anything.
“Hey!” She yelled, slightly offended that he felt so comfortable reaching back there. “How am I supposed to fly?”
Trunks smirked. Even though she couldn’t see him, she knew something was wrong. She gasped loudly, sensing the sudden lack of support. Her legs were swooped out from underneath her as he lifted her in his arms, pulling her securely against his chest. He could feel her tense in his grip. She was uncomfortable being so close to him… He’d have to do something about that.
“Geez…” He groaned falsely, hoping to egg her on a little and get her to relax, “Did you gain weight while you were in the past?”
She growled quietly, unhappy mostly with her current, helpless situation. “I was just informed that I’ve made a transformation that could very well mean I’m stronger than you. Don’t make me test that theory.”
He chuckled dryly, “Oh, I’m so scared.”
“When are we getting to my surprise anyway?” She asked, changing subjects.
“Well, it’s going to be another few minutes.”
“Fine, but one more smart aleck remark from you, and you get to see my new transformation first hand.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be there before you know it.”
Shortly thereafter, they landed. Pan was still blindfolded. The only thing she was aware of about her surroundings was that they had flown over a few fast food places and a gas station on their way there. She could smell them overhead. They must be in the city.
“So, are we uptown, or downtown?” She asked.
“You’re observant.” He said, taking her arm and leading her forward. “Follow me. I’ll tell you if there’s a step.”
“Where are we? Which city is this?” She asked.
“It’s not horribly far from your house.” He told her, guiding her across the street to spite the strange looks the people around were giving them. “Not horribly far from mine either… Step up.”
Pan obeyed and took a step forward and over a curb. Suddenly, they stopped. Pan sniffed the air and listened carefully, wondering what on earth they were doing on a side walk and what this had to do with her gift. “Trunks… we stopped. Are we there?”
Trunks stepped in front of her and gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Pan…” He began, his voice soft and tender… so much so that Pan was disconcerted about what she was walking into.
“Yeah?” She asked nervously.
“Before we… before I take off your blindfold y-you have to promise me something.”
“Um… okay.”
“You have to promise… not to run away.”
Pan stepped back slightly, surprised with such a request. “What kind of gift is this? You’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry. I-It’s just that… I-I… I… You’ll know what this is about once you find out what it is.”
“Okay… I promise, but please take the blindfold off now, this is killing me.”
Trunks laughed lightly, wrapping his arms around her head to untie the knot holding the bandana in its place. Slowly, he uncovered her eyes, nervousness building inside him, making his stomach feel like there were a thousand butterflies inside flapping around. Pan opened her eyes and rubbed them a little, her vision blurry and used to the darkness of the bandana. She looked up at Trunks, his eyes filled with worry.
“Trunks…” She started, wondering why he looked so tense.
His worried frown changed to a small smile as she look further up at the sign on the building above them. She gasped loudly, looking back at Trunks confusedly and then glancing up at the sign again. Her mouth was forming words, but sound didn’t come out.
“You can change the name if you want to. Maybe you can call it ‘Pan’s’ or something catchier.” He suggested, chuckling at her evident shock. “It’s yours now, so you can do whatever you want with it. You don’t even have to sell ice cream if…”
“You bought me Sloshy’s?!” She yelled.
“Do you like it?”
“Do I like it?! Trunks… Thank you!” She said, jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Suddenly, Trunks’ smile became twice as wide and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He sighed, enjoying the contact. She was sure not to be so friendly once they got inside.
“Can we go inside?!” She asked, abruptly pulling out of his embrace.
Trunks chuckled again, “Sure we can. That’s what we had to go back to my place for.”
He took a set of two brass keys out of his pocket, a small red ribbon was tied at the top, holding the two together and held them out for her to take, “Do you want to do the honors?”
Eagerly, she grabbed them and jumped towards the door. The keys fit perfectly into the locks, which Trunks was grateful for. Otherwise, with Pan’s strength, they might have ended up breaking inside the lock she would have blasted her way into her new shop. Pan tore open the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges while running inside.
“Trunks… how did you do this?” Pan asked, astonished even more by the inside. It looked exactly like it did back in its prime… right down to the checkered floor tiles and the brightly colored booths, chairs and tables.
“I talked to the old owner. He remembered all of us too… In fact, he sort of blamed us for him going out of business because of our appetites. I asked him about the furniture and he told me that everything had been stored in the back room… so I had it all refurbished and put it out here.”
Pan laughed. “It was his fault… he’s the one who came up with the ‘Monster Sloshy’ idea. It wasn’t our fault we took advantage of the large portions he offered.”
Trunks laughed with her, mainly out of anxiety. He glanced at the table in the corner of the store furthest from them… on the far wall. Didn’t she see it?
“Trunks… this looks exactly like it did before it closed!” She said, running her hands over the material of one of the booths. “This place closed down while we were on our galaxy tour. I haven’t been here in… in…”
“…weeks.” He finished for her.
Pan snapped her gaze back to him. “W-what do… what are you talking about?” She asked, hoping what was happening really wasn’t happening at all.
Trunks walked over to her slowly, his gaze set downward, toward the floor. As he reached her, he took her hands in his, playing with her fingers as he looked up into her eyes. His expression was soft, one of a caring nature. He paused for a moment, seeking some hint of her reaction written in her eyes. “I have something to tell you…” He turned his gaze to the side, focusing on the table in the corner. She followed his eyes right to where he was looking.
In the corner, near the table, a black, dress mannequin stood its ground, covered in the beautiful gown she had worn so many years ago. Fastened around its neck was the shiny, gold necklace, the diamond charm hanging proudly at the bottom as it shined and glistened in the low light coming in from the windows. On its head was the black, satiny hat, slanted a little to the side, like she had worn it.
Pan stepped back, tearing her hands out of his. Her head was shaking, her mouth forming noiseless words, “N-no… no… You’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say…”
Trunks’ expression sank as he saw her glossy eyes. They were pained, and scared. She was looking at him as if he had betrayed her, stabbed her in the back. He wanted to take everything back, to forget about ever telling her, to spare her the confusion and the pain that was evidently shooting through her.
“I’ve missed you all these years… Kara.”
Pan turned and started heading quickly towards the door, desperate to get out of that situation, to run from him again. It felt as if someone had just shot her through the heart. ‘He remembers?!’
Without sparing a moment, Trunks ran in front of her, covering the exit with his arm. “You promised you wouldn’t run.” He reminded her quietly.
“I lied!” She yelled, her voice shaky with rage and other emotion.
“Pan…don’t run away from me again! Don’t run away from your problems like a child! You ran away from me once, wasn’t that enough?! Please! Just let me explain…”
“No! Don’t tell me this! Tell me you don’t remember!”
“But I do.” He said calmly.
“No! I sprayed you with that… with that memory junk! How do you remember?!” She asked, a tear finally spilling over onto her cheeks.
“I… I… fell into the pond. You know, the one near your ship. When you sprayed it into my eyes, I lost my balance.” He explained, deciding to continue when he saw the confused look in her eyes, “Water reverses the effects… remember?”
Pan shook her head. “No… I have to… I have to go find the spray thing again… I can still…”
“No.” He stated, “It won’t work now. I’ll forget everything about you, everything about our experiences together. I won’t even remember you being on our galaxy tour.”
“Fine! Then you’ll forget!” She yelled. “I don’t care! Forget me! I’ll…!”
“Pan!” He yelled over her voice, getting her attention again. “I don’t want to forget.”
More tears poured out of her as she looked desperately into his gaze. “Trunks…”
He gently wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb and led her over to a table. “Sit down.”
“No, I should be…”
“Sit down.” He repeated, surprised when she actually did sit down on the table.
“What?” She asked, her voice full of contempt and pain.
He looked into her eyes, holding her gently at the shoulders so she wouldn’t take off again. “Pan… a long time ago, I fell in love with you. I’m still in love with you.”
“You fell in love with Kara.” She spat.
“But you are Kara.”
“No, I’m not. Remember? You said it yourself! You told me how much you were in love with Kara and how sad you were that she was dead. You called me a bratty, little tom-boy with too much time on my hands. You said that you didn’t even want to be friends and that all I ever wanted from the beginning was to manipulate you. You called me a child who would never grow up. You said that you were in love with Kara and that I could never be Kara!” Pan said, getting louder and more emotional with each word.
“I was wrong.” He said quietly. “I don’t remember what I said to you. All I know is that it hurt you, and that I wanted to take it back the moment it left my mouth. Before you left… I didn’t say all the things that I wanted to say.”
“And is that supposed to make everything right again?!”
“No! I just…”
“Trunks, what is this all about? Why did you even bother telling me this?” She asked, her voice quiet and solemn. “Were you hoping to get a good laugh or something?”
“No, Pan… I wanted to tell you how I feel. I’ve waited to tell you for so long… I love you.”
“Don’t patronize me!” She shouted. “You don’t love me! You loved Kara!”
“No, I love you!” He yelled, matching her passion. “For seventeen years I’ve been getting to know you, learning your likes and dislikes, becoming your friend! I didn’t do that because I wanted to laugh at your feelings! I wanted to know you… you Pan Son, not Kara Oakie because I love you!”
“And you just expected me to jump into your arms after hearing all of this?”
“Best-case scenario? Yes, I was hoping you would feel the same way… but if you don’t…”
“I don’t know how I feel…” She admitted quietly. “Trunks, for so long I… I was infatuated with you. I don’t know if it was just… a crush… or if I was mixing up our friendship for something more, but… then I had to go on this stupid trip to the past and I fell in love with you. The worst part was… you felt the same way. But you didn’t have those feelings for Pan. You loved Kara Oakie… the girl who liked to wear dresses and who was lot more feminine than I am. She wasn’t a tom-boy, she fought, she looked great in a dress, she wore make-up… she was your type. I’m not your type though… not Pan Son. Pan Son would rather head out and spar than go out to dinner at some fancy restaurant. Pan Son will challenge you… yell at you. Kara Oakie was… she was your fan. She never argued with you.”
“Yes she did.” He corrected, laughing lightly.
“Then I had to go screw up things even more by going to bed with you… Trunks, I wasn’t supposed to…”
“I know.” He interrupted, putting his forehead against hers while taking her hand in his and savoring the moment. “Pan, I spent the last seventeen years of my life getting to know everything about you. I knew of your promise.”
“And I had to win that stupid hat… This whole thing wouldn’t have happened if I would’ve stayed away from the club.”
Trunks laughed lightly. He was relieved that she was finally calming down. He reached over and grabbed the hat off the mannequin, placing it on Pan’s head. “I still think it looks better on you.” He said softly, closely inspecting her expression.
She looked up at him, seeing something in his eyes, something she never thought she would see. He was looking at her the same way… the same way he looked at Kara when they first met and when they kissed. “Trunks…” She started, fresh tears falling from her azure eyes, making them sparkle like crystals as they reflected the light. “I wanted to hate you. I think I did for a while there too.”
He lifted his left hand and wiped them from her cheeks, wrapping his other arm around her waist and pulling her closer. “Do you now? Do hate me?”
“I thought I did… but you had to be so stubborn and I…”
With a renewed passion, he touched his lips to hers. Softly, she kissed back, crying as her heart warmed and her head spun. Trunks felt an old fire start to burn within him. It was old, but familiar. Seventeen years old, to be exact.
He pulled back softly and smiled. “You don’t know how much and how often I’ve wanted to do that. I love you.”
She gasped, silently spilling tear after tear as he knelt down in front of her, lifting a small box out of his pocket. “I never got to do this before, so you’ll forgive me if it’s a little weird.”
She shook her head, unable to form words. She knew what she wanted to say… she knew what she needed to say. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t find her voice.
“Pan… I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I… will you? Marry me?”
“Trunks…”
“I know this is soon. You just got back and everything… from a time when I yelled and criticized you. But I promise that I said all of those things to a near-stranger, not to the woman standing in front of me. Now that I know you, you’ve proven to be everything opposite of what I called you. You’re a fascinating, mature and very beautiful woman, Pan. In these seventeen years, I’ve grown not only to love you, but to envy you. I’ve become enamored with you. I love every part of you from your toes to your bandana, from your sense of humor and compassion to your fiery temper… from your grasp of humanity to your Saiyan strength. I love a woman fourteen years younger than me, a woman who could kick my rear all the way into next week, the only woman on earth who can make me laugh even after a hard day at work. I love a woman who’s father is going to tear me apart, but the only woman who I would be willing to go through such torture for.”
“You deserve better…” She said quietly.
Trunks scoffed. “Like who? Yakiniku? Her sister Teriyaki? How about Inari? Oh yeah, they were all joys. I so enjoyed the times they blackmailed me and tried to get into my wallet.”
“But I’m not even… I mean… They were so exotic, so gorgeous, they were your type. Maybe you just haven’t found the right woman yet.”
“Pan… I’m forty years old.” He said. “I’ve been searching for a long time. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re prettier than any of those little girls were. I’ve already found the right woman! I didn’t grasp it at first… it took me a long time after you left seventeen years ago to realize that it was Pan I loved… the little girl I used to baby-sit for… Pan and Kara. After so many years of thinking this through and agonizing over my feelings, I knew you had to be with me. I love you! I have fun with you and if your father ever knew exactly how attracted to you I am he would wring my neck.”
Pan laughed lightly, a blush forming on her cheeks. ‘He’s attracted to me… and he loves me… Trunks…’
“Pan… marry me.”
“I want to… but this is too soon.”
He got back up looking disappointed. In truth, he had just had his heart crushed. “That’s okay. We can wait if….”
“It’s not that. Trunks, you said it yourself… you’re forty years old, I’m twenty-five. Your father and mine have never trusted one another. What makes you think we could work past these obstacles?”
“I know. Believe me, the age difference was one of the foremost things on my mind during the last seventeen years. But once and a while, two people who aren’t the same age fall in love. It happens… a cruel trick of fate, God’s sense of humor… what ever you want to call it… but it happens. Some of these kinds of relationships work out better than others. It just takes some work. We can do it.”
“Over a fourteen year span?”
“Well, think of it this way… When this all started, you were three years older than me.”
Pan chuckled a bit, her face finally lighting up and her tears drying.
“You know, while I was in the past, I actually had headaches and nightmares because of the guilt I felt.”
“I forgot to tell you…” He interrupted. “Those weren’t from guilt. Your headaches were side affects of the time travel in addition to the stress you were feeling at that time. The rest of your medical tests came in this morning and they confirmed it.”
“Really? Those were killer headaches. I only got them when I was around you.”
“Yeah… that might have been due to the temporal difference or something. I don’t know. Time travel’s still a mystery to us.” He laughed lightly. “I bet the morning we woke up together was miserable then.”
Pan didn’t really see the humor in it. “I felt like I was going to die.”
“I’m sorry…” He began, suddenly serious again. “What were the nightmares of?”
“They were just nightmares… nothing important.” She denied.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated softly.
She looked up at him and smiled lightly. “I don’t know if this can work.” She said sadly, resting her forehead against his shoulder.
“We have to try.” He whispered into her ear. “Please… Pan… I love you.”
“Trunks…” She started. “I still… I need to think about this. If I answer you now, I could end up messing up our entire lives.”
Trunks smiled tenderly. "Look." He turned the ring over, and as she got a closer look at it, she felt her heart pound. There, inscribed in the gold, were three words, ‘True Love Waits.’ “Take all the time you need. I can wait.” He said, leaning down and kissing her again as he slipped the engagement ring over her finger.