Author: The Noseless Wonder with great thanks to Trinityblue, for helping me over a block. Oh, and Dr. Pepper. I couldn’t have stayed awake without you.*sniffles* I love you, my Dr. Pepper. *kisses can* Okay, I’m done now.
Disclaimer: Ha! I’m creative, but I’m not that creative. Nor do I have the financial backing to create and produce the best manga series/ anime cartoon on the planet. I give the credit to Akira Toriyama. That way, I won’t get sued.
Author’s Notes: AAAHHHH! *screams in frustration* I’m working on cutting the size of these chapters. At least you can’t get me for being under descriptive.
Goten flew towards his home with Marron in his arms. He thought that it was going to be a long ride back, after what he had done. He was sure that his wife would never let him hear the end of it. Really, he hadn’t meant to yell the fact that they were having reproductive problems in front of everyone. He hadn’t meant to lose his temper either.
On the way home, Goten had expected yelling, screaming, crying and even physical violence to come from Marron… but there was nothing. She just sat in his arms and watched the ground speed by underneath. She never even said a word after they took off. This scared Goten very much. It was much worse than yelling or crying. He could have handled yelling or crying, but this meant that she was more hurt than angry. He didn’t know what to say to her.
He remembered that when they were younger, she used to love it when he would do spins and loops while they were flying. It couldn’t hurt to try. Even if it made her angry, at least he would get some kind of a response. With no warning, he quickly made a large double loop and closed it with a spin. When it was over, he had gotten her to turn her head. That wasn’t quite the reaction he had been hoping for. He gave her a bright smile, wishing that she would get angry with him or something… but she just looked away, the same hurt expression on her face.
“Marron…” He said hoping to get her to look at him again, but she didn’t. She just kept looking down at the ground. When they got home, he set her down softly on the ground. She ran and unlocked the door. By the time Goten got through the door himself, she was already upstairs. He started to follow her, but she quickly ran into their bedroom and slammed the door. He took this as a good sign that he wouldn’t be allowed back in his bed to sleep that night.
He slowly turned around and glared at the couch. He hated sleeping on that stupid couch. The kitchen table would be more comfortable, but it would be cold too. “Oh well,” He sighed, “this isn’t the first time I’ve had to sleep on this couch, and it probably won’t be the last."
He let out another frustrated sigh as he plopped down, already feeling the wayward spring that was responsible for making his lonely, couch-condemned nights pure torture. He wanted to go talk to his wife, but he wisely decided that it was better to let her cool down first, so he sat there and flipped on the TV. She always came down to make herself a cup of tea before bed. He would talk to her then.
A few hours later, Goten was just starting to doze off when he heard the bedroom door open, and Marron’s light-weight steps travel down the stairs. He waited until she put the water on to boil to walk in the kitchen. That way, she’d have no choice but to stand there and listen to him if she wanted her tea. When he got there, he didn’t know what to say, so he just leaned against the door and watched her.
Marron hadn’t turned around, and Goten had been really quiet, but she still knew he was there. ‘Dang it,’ She thought, not wanting to talk to him, ‘why does the water have to take so long to boil?’
“It’s twelve o’clock.” He finally spoke up. “We haven’t eaten anything in a while, do you want me to make something?”
“No,” She replied, softly, but coldly. “I’m not hungry.”
He went up to her and moved around in attempt to get her to look him in the face. “What? Could that be a response from my wife?”
She finally looked up at him. He was giving her another cheesy grin, but she returned it with the look of death. He gave up on trying to improve her mood.
“Marron, can’t we talk about this?” He pleaded, blocking her from running up the stairs again.
She gave up on the water. She just wanted to be alone. “There’s nothing to talk about.” She sternly replied.
“Honey, I’m sorry.”
“Do you even know what you’re sorry for?”
“I have a couple of ideas.”
“I can’t believe that you shouted I was sterile in front of your entire family!” She yelled.
“I didn’t! I said that you weren’t sterile.”
“Your brother was the only one that knew that we were having trouble. I didn’t mind that, but you shouted at him about it with everyone there watching. Now, everyone will assume that we were going to him for advice, and they will be right!” She tried her best to get past Goten, but he wouldn’t move until they had talked it out.
Goten held her back, but he noticed that tears were beginning to form in her eyes, which worried him. “Marron, we’re gong to have a kid. It’s just going to take some more time and…”
“Goten, I really do not want to talk about this right now.” She tried harder to move her way past him, but he still wouldn’t budge.
“We can go to one of the doctors that Gohan mentioned. Maybe we can get some of those vitamins, and plan a schedule that’ll be more affective.” He chuckled lightly. “If worse comes to worse, we could always advertise for a surrogate mother.”
Marron knew he was only making a poor joke, but that was the last straw for her. With tears freely flowing down her face and her jaw clenched, she shouted at him, “Here’s a thought! Why don’t we just get divorced! That way, you can marry another woman and get her pregnant!”
Goten had realized the stupidity of his words as soon as they came out of his mouth, but it was too late to take them back. “Oh Marron, I didn’t mean…”
“Listen to me Goten, I’m sick of this obsession of yours! I want my marriage back!” She calmed sown, realizing that he had only wanted a family. “A lot of couples have survived without children, and frankly, I don’t want a kid if it ends up tearing us apart.”
“Marron, I can understand how you must feel, but if we just keep trying…”
“You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said, have you?!” She yelled.
“I just don’t understand why you aren’t willing to make some sacrifices!” He was beginning to get angry.
“I am, I just don’t want to have to sacrifice our marriage!”
“We don’t have to! We’ll just go to the doctor and find out what’s wrong with you and…” He was starting to fume. How could she be so selfish?
“He won’t find anything.” She almost whispered.
“Why not?”
She delayed in telling him anything. What she had to say was not going to make him happy.
“Why not?!” He yelled.
“I’ve been… taking precautions, to make sure that I wouldn’t get pregnant.”
“When…?”
He froze, his face showing disbelief and disappointment. He turned his back to her, but she continued, “I didn’t… at first.” She explained. “It was just in the last six months, when you started obsessing over it. Ever since you would start picking out baby names after ever doctor’s appointment. Ever since we started trying those… ridiculous therapies. I just thought that if we tried, and we failed, then you would eventually give up, and we could go back to just enjoying our lives together.”
He didn’t say anything. He just stood there. “Goten?” At first, Marron couldn’t read his reaction, but then she saw his hand. It was curled up into a fist, and he was squeezing so hard that his entire arm was shaking.
“Why did you… How could you…” He was having trouble finding the words, he was so angry with her.
Marron stood there wide eyed as his hair went blonde. She expected to see Buu or Bebi nearby. It scared her when she realized that it was her he thought of as his enemy this time. She actually felt afraid of him. She wanted to turn away and run, but something stopped her. She couldn’t believe he was about to blow up at her, and she wasn’t sure how far he would let it go before he stopped it.
He turned and looked at her. His eyes were filled with more rage than she had ever seen. The pot of water boiled and whistled, alerting the cook that it was ready. This startled Goten, and out of reflex, he reached his hand out. He watched, horrified at himself as a small ki blast escaped from his finger tips and headed directly to where Marron was standing.
The ki blast missed Marron, barely. It hit the pot behind her and shattered it. Marron screamed, afraid that it was still going to hit her. Her eyes were shut and she hadn’t realized that it had missed her. Marron’s scream brought Goten out of his haze of anger. He quickly returned to normal, only to find her clutching the wall.
The very sight, and the thought that he had been the one to do this to her made his heart crumble. He started walking towards her, but when he got to her, all he could do was sink to his knees and wrap his arms around her waist. He held on to her tightly, and protectively. Tears fell from his eyes when he remembered that the only thing she had to be protected from was the horrible monster that was himself.
“Marron, I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t aiming… It just slipped out of my fingers.” He pleaded.
She sank to her knees as well, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “I know.” She said softly. “It was an accident.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I would rather die than ever hurt you. I love you.”
“I know.” She comforted. “I love you too. It was just an accident, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
They sat there for a while. Marron only let him go when she felt that he had stopped crying. He never cried, and that was what had scared her. “Listen, I’m going to go wash up.”
“Okay.” He stood up and let her go. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, but I would appreciate it if you made that phone call you’ve been meaning to make.”
He stood there, not quite sure what she meant at first, but he got the point. “Okay.”
Marron walked to the bathroom, grabbing a towel on the way. When he heard Marron close the bathroom door, he picked up the phone. He dialed his brother’s number, but he dialed slowly, unsure of what he was going to say.
“Hello?” He heard a voice sleepily ask from the other side of the line.
“Hi Gohan, it’s me.”
“It’s after midnight Goten, what do you want?”
“I need to start training… now.”
“Goten, what’s wrong?” Gohan could tell his brother was upset.
“I blew up at her.”
“You did what?!” Gohan’s volume woke up Videl. She tried to ask who was on the phone, but Gohan motioned for her to be quiet. “Is she okay? What happened?”
Gohan talked to Goten for a few minutes. Videl could tell who it was by the conversation, and by the fact that his voice was loud, probably because he was upset. After hanging up, Gohan told Videl the whole story while he got dressed. He asked her to stop by their house later and make sure that Marron was okay. He packed quickly, grabbing some extra clothes for Goten, kissed his wife on the forehead, and walked out the door.
Marron was in the hallway, quietly eavesdropping on what Goten was saying. She heard everything. She knew that he loved her very much and would never do anything like that to her on purpose. She should have been sad, or angry, but she wasn’t. She was happy. After training was over, they could go back to living their normal lives.
After putting her car back in its capsule, Pan hurried down the street. She was a little late, but knowing Trunks, he wouldn’t go inside without her. She was amazed with the building. It was an old style theater with the original sign and everything. There was no way to tell that the place was a disco, except for the quickly growing line outside the front door. It donned on her that it might take a while to find Trunks. She had to shuffle through the entire crowd that was waiting.
Trunks leaned against the side of the building. Goten and Marron both noticed that he was off in la-la land, and he had a smirk on his face that head been there since they met up forty-five minutes before. They were near the front, so when the line started to move, they should have moved. Goten and Marron started walking in with the crowd, but Trunks just sat against the wall, scanning the line for his date.
“Hey, Trunks?” Goten asked, but got no response, “Hello? Earth calling Trunks, come in Trunks.”
Trunks finally poked his head up, but he was oblivious to everything that Goten had just said. “What?”
“The line’s moving.” Goten said, pointing out the obvious. “When the line moves, we should move with it. That way, we can actually get through the doors.”
“You guys go ahead and go in. I’m waiting for someone.” He said.
Marron looked at her watch. “I don’t think that Dex is going to show. He’s already forty-five minutes late.”
“Oh, I’ve given up on Dex. He knows that if he doesn’t come with a group, he probably won’t get in, so I guess he’s not going to show.”
“Then who are you waiting for?” Marron asked.
Trunks chuckled, “Well, you’ll never guess who showed up at Sloshy’s right after you left…”
“You’re kidding.” Marron and Goten both said. Goten said it mostly in disbelief.
“No, I sort of… ran into her on the way out.”
“Then why isn’t she here?” Goten asked, still not quite believing his friend’s story.
“She said it would take about an hour to get back, and that was about an hour ago. She isn’t late, she’ll be here.”
“Right, we’ll see.” Goten doubted.
“I wonder why Dex isn’t here yet.” Marron changed the subject.
“Who knows? I guess that’s what you get for trying to treat a guy to a night out.”
“Heh,” Marron shook her head. “Men.”
Pan searched, but she was having trouble seeing over all the crowds. She couldn’t even read their ki’s. Finally, when the crowd dwindled down a bit, she could see black, spiky hair next to a lavender bowl cut. ‘That must be them.’
“Trunks!” She yelled, trying to get his attention.
Instantly, Trunks head popped up and a bright smile appeared on his face. He walked over and grabbed her hand in order to assist her in getting through the hordes of people. They made their way back to where Goten and Marron were standing, but he didn’t let go.
“Hi!” Pan cheerfully greeted. She had to remind herself that in this time, Goten and Marron had never met her before.
“Hello,” Marron noticed that Trunks was still holding the girl’s hand eagerly. Pan noticed Marron noticing and blushed. “My name’s Marron.”
“P-Kara. Kara Oakie.” Pan extended her free hand to shake Marron’s.
Marron jabbed Goten in the side with her elbow, reminding him to be nice. Goten was just trying to remember where he had seen this familiar looking girl before.
“Goten Son,” He finally spoke up and shook her hand, “have we met somewhere before?”
“Not officially,” Pan said in attempt to cover her tracks, “but I saw you last night at Sloshy’s.”
“Yeah, but I mean before that.” He studied her face. “You look awfully familiar.”
“People say that all the time.” Pan chuckled nervously. “I must just have a familiar face.”
All of sudden, a hundred disappointed groans could be heard. A large portion of the crowd turned away and started leaving. Some of them were yelling obscenities to the bouncer up front. Pan was grateful for the distraction.
“They closed the doors.” Goten said to Trunks. “I hope you brought a lot of extra cash.”
“Don’t worry.” Trunks said. “It’s taken care of.”
Trunks held back a while, so all of the people left behind could make their complaints to the bouncer and leave. When the stragglers were gone, Trunks made his way up to the bouncer. “How much is it going to take this time Jr.?”
“The usual.” Jr. was a really big man, but most of it wasn’t muscle. However, he did manage to intimidate the majority of people who gave him trouble.
Trunks discreetly pulled out his wallet and made sure no one was around. He pulled out two, one-hundred dollar bills and handed them to the bouncer.
The bouncer took them, but reached out his hand for more. “With interest.” He corrected. “I’ve already let more people in tonight than I should have.”
Trunks made an insincere smile and pulled out another fifty as well. Jr. took the money and shoved it all in his breast pocket. Without checking for identification, he unhooked the rope that blocked the doorway and motioned for them to enter. “As always, it’s a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Briefs. Be sure to tell them Jr. sent you, they’ll put you on the upper balcony.”
“Gee Jr., thanks.” Trunks said with sarcasm. He put his arm around Pan’s waist and ushered her in, the others following.
“What’s so great about the upper balcony?” Pan whispered to Trunks.
“There are less people there because of weight restrictions.” He answered.
“Not to mention, the upper balcony gets its own private bar.” Goten mused.
“They also play the hat game up there.” Marron said enthusiastically.
“Hat game?”
“You don’t know what the hat game is?” Goten couldn’t believe that. They played the hat game at clubs across the world. “They play it in every club that I’ve ever been to.”
“It’s just like musical chairs, but with a hat. They choose a fast song and pass around the hat. The person who has the hat on their head keeps it on their head until the DJ yells for it to be passed. Whoever happens to have the hat at the end of the song wins it.” Trunks explained. “It’s just a stupid gimmick to make people stay longer and drink more.”
Marron leaned forward to talk to Pan, “He’s mad because he’s never won the hat.”
“Have you ever won it?” She asked her.
“No, but Goten has. That’s why I think that Trunks is just jealous.” She whispered, knowing full well that Trunks could hear her.
Trunks gave Marron a dirty look, but Pan just laughed at his expression. As they got closer to the upper balcony doors, Pan expected to hear some kind of hard, driving beat, but she didn’t. She could have promised that she heard the song switch from a classic salsa beat to a waltz.
Marron saw “Kara” giving a strange look as the music got louder. “This is kind of a strange club.” She warned.
“So I gathered.”
They walked through the doors and on to the balcony. Pan was amazed by the size of the interior. All of the seats had been torn out, and the floor had been leveled so that it wouldn’t slant. There was a bar instead of an orchestra pit, and the stage had been converted to another dance floor with fancy lights flying all around, and a TV screen in the back showing people dancing. There were tons of people on the main floor, a lot more than there were on the upper level.
Trunks separated from “Kara” as she looked over the balcony and walked over to Goten. “Do you think you and Marron could dance alone? I want to have some time with Kara.”
Goten laughed at his friend. “But Trunks,” He sarcastically whined, “I wanted to dance with you.”
Trunks gave him a dirty look. “Very funny, I just want to get to know her a little better.”
“Oh yeah,” Goten said, making another sarcastic remark, “and everyone knows that a noisy club is the best place to have a deep, meaningful conversation.”
Trunks continued his dirty look.
“Man, you really have it bad for this girl, don’t you?” Goten chuckled.
Trunks’ scowl turned instantly into a smile as he looked back to where she was standing. Goten threw his hands up in defeat. “I give up.” He said as he walked over to Marron and escorted her to an area closer to the bar.
Trunks walked up behind “Kara” and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. As she turned to face him, the arm fell to around her waist. ‘He’s working fast tonight.’ She thought.
“So, what do you want to do first?” He asked.
“I don’t know. You decide, you’ve been here before.”
“Are you thirsty?”
“Not really.”
“Then dancing it is.” He seemed a little reluctant in getting out onto the floor as he eyed the people dancing. “I have to admit though Kara, I’m not really good with waltzes.”
“That’s no excuse.” She smiled at him as she took his hands into her own and led him out onto the dance floor. He just followed her. She put his right hand into her left and forcefully wrapped an arm around her waist as they began playing a faster waltz. He didn’t mind being controlled by her. In fact, he blushed when she pulled closer to him as they started dancing.
She chuckled lightly, “This disco’s music is… unique.”
“I think it adds to the charm.”
Pan was slightly surprised at Trunks’ comment. “It’s unique, but it’s…nice.”
“Yeah, it’s very nice.” Trunks said as he pulled her closer and subtly sniffed her hair. As Pan felt his nose brush by her ear, she got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t talking about the club anymore.
Pan heard Trunks mumble something, but she couldn’t hear it. “I’m sorry?”
“Nothing,” He denied, “I didn’t say anything.”
The dance continued quietly. Pan was wondering why he hadn’t made anymore small talk, and why he was so silent. He would normally be chatting away. “Trunks, is something wrong? Why are you so quiet?”
“Nothing, there’s nothing…”
“Ouch!” She screamed at the feeling of getting her foot stepped on.
“…wrong.” He cringed. “Sorry, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She said returning to his arms, “Look at it this way, you didn’t break anything this time.”
“Yeah, but I could have.” He silently wondered why he hadn’t injured her. His weight should have, at least, made her limp, but she just kept dancing. He had completely shattered the foot, and his relationship with the last woman he had tried to waltz with.
He mumbled something again. This time, Pan strained to hear. She could barely make out what he was saying, “One, two, three… one, two…”
He was counting his steps! Pan had to stifle a chuckle. At her prom, he had been a more than reasonable dancer, what happened?
She suddenly bit her lips as she held in another scream. “Sorry.” Trunks said. He was about to suggest that they sit that one out, for the sake of her feet, but then they changed the song. The song they were now playing was much faster. Trunks couldn’t tell if it was classic American, or Celtic, but it didn’t matter to him. “Now there’s something I can handle.”
She was about to ask him why when he pulled her closer. They both blushed as they realized that they were now pressed up against one another, but Trunks paid it no heed. He regained full control and spun her around to the music. His feet seemed to move exactly where he wanted them to, and this time, that didn’t include her feet. She was astonished at the skill and experience he seemed to have with this particular dance. She struggled to keep up at first, but managed to match his steps the entire way. After the song was over, Pan was left laughing, out of the shock and because of the fun she had just had.
“You can’t dance? Yeah right.” She laughed. “That was great! Where’d you learn that?”
“No where. I made it up. Waltzes are harder for me because the rhythm is so even and you have to dance the same way with each one, but faster dances are better. You can improvise on the rhythm.”
Pan simply nodded. She had no idea Trunks could move like that, outside of the battlefield anyway, but she was starting to realize where exactly he had gotten his sense of rhythm.
“Goten, I didn’t know you could dance that well!” Marron said, trying to catch her breath.
Goten smiled. The two of them had danced before, but he had never put so much feeling into it. He was hoping that Trunks’ recent luck with the ladies would rub off on him. Besides, he had enjoyed surprising Marron like that.
“I guess all those years of fighting really came in handy. It was a good way for you to learn rhythm.”
Goten remained silent, but thought about how if it were anybody else, he would have had to explain it. She seemed to understand him. Better, in some ways, than even Trunks.
The night continued. Both couples were having an incredible time. Trunks kept surprising Pan with his skill, which he had, ironically, picked up from the battle field. The DJ played all sorts of songs. It reminded Pan of ballroom dancing, almost. Nobody had seemed to even notice the time flying by. It was all going too fast.
The DJ put on a faster, Latin sounding song and yelled, “Hat game!” through the microphone. Everyone cheered as he threw a hat out into the audience. All at once, a hundred hands reached up to try to get it, until it finally rested on someone’s head. About every eight counts, the DJ would yell, “Pass!” and the hat would travel to the next head.
Trunks and Pan were way on the other side of the room, so they had little chance of even getting it, but Trunks didn’t care. His attention was straight ahead. He did all the fancy moves he had done before, but he was still amazed how she could keep up with him for so long. It was Pan’s turn to surprise him. She schemed on what she could do the next time he dipped her.
As if on cue, he dipped her, all the way back. As she slowly traveled down, she brought her knee up around his waist. She had expected him to blush, or even let go and send her head first to the ground, but he didn’t. The surprise was hers when he grabbed the back of her leg and held her there.
She heard the DJ yell, “Pass!” as the people in she was facing, upside-down, handed her the hat. She quickly sat back up and placed the hat on Trunk’s head, just as the song ended.
“Hey!” She laughed, “You won the hat!”
“Yeah, thanks to you. It should be yours.”
“No way, it was on your head when the song ended.”
He took the hat off to look at it. It was black, suede, and the brim was curved up. The top of it was rounded off. “You bring me luck.” He said, pulling her closer, “I should hang around you more often, maybe it’ll rub off on me.”
Pan felt nervous about the sudden closeness. He was more comfortable, less constricted around her, and that wasn’t necessarily good. ‘I probably deserve this.’ She thought, ‘Mom and Dad would kill me if they saw me dancing like that.’
Trunks grabbed her waist as another slow song started. He hadn’t realized that the smile she was wearing was one of discomfort. She wasn’t about to tell him that though. She allowed him to dance closely as the beat started. Even though things were getting a little too close, she was still enjoying herself.
On the other side of the room, Goten continued with Marron. He had been hoping for another slow song. With every turn, he had a new excuse to bury his nose in her hair. The slower beat allowed him to pull her closer, and wrap his arms around her. She didn’t seem to notice. While Goten’s attention was focused mainly on the blonde angel in his arms, Marron’s attention was on Trunks and “Kara," that annoyed him. He attempted, several times, to swing her around so that her back was towards the other couple, but she would just turn her head, or push him back around so she could see.
“Whoa, did you see that move she made?” Marron said as she observed. “It won him the hat.”
“Yeah, look at that.” Goten said with fake enthusiasm, “Marron, you look really nice tonight.”
“Thanks Goten. You too.” She said quickly. “You know, I wonder who her parents are. You were right, she’s really familiar.”
“Marron,” His voice was soft and smooth, “what’s that perfume you’re wearing? It smells incredible.”
“I don’t know, I used my mom’s.” Again, she swung her head around quickly so she could watch the other couple. “Look at the smile on his face. He’s not going to let her go without a fight.”
Goten let out a sigh of frustration. She wasn’t getting the point. “Marron, Trunks asked me to dance over here for a reason. I think he wants to be alone with Kara.”
“Be alone? But we… they’re…” Marron stared blankly before she finally got Goten’s point. “Oh! Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t spy on them. It would probably be bad if she noticed.”
Goten chuckled in relief that he finally might get some attention from her. He picked up her hands and started dancing again, but they only got a few steps before she interrupted.
“Goten, I’m thirsty. Do you think you could…”
“Yeah, sure.” He agreed disappointedly, predicting her request. “What do you want?”
“Well, I…”
“No, don’t tell me. A club soda with lime.”
She nodded her head. “Right on, thanks Goten.”
He walked back to the bar, shaking his head all the way. He was so close. If only she would have noticed…, but she didn’t.
Trunks bent down and rested his chin on Pan’s shoulder. Her arms almost involuntarily moved up around his neck. They were so close, it was almost like they were hugging, as opposed to dancing. They had stopped “dancing” shortly after the song had started. They were at a simple rock now.
She knew that encouraging him could only lead to disaster, but Pan couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t that she was tired, it was that she was enjoying the closeness. That was why she laid her head on his chest. That was why she rested the curve of her nose in the crook of his neck.
Trunks closed his eyes with her response. He wanted her there, with him, in that moment forever. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he moved, cautiously, hoping he wouldn’t scare her away.
Pan felt him smell her hair. She could hear him sniff. His face traveled slowly, brushing against her own. His breath stirred her bangs, tickling her forehead. Her eyes closed without her permission. She knew what was happening. Her mind was shouting every logical reason for her to stop, but she didn’t. She had never needed someone to look after her before, at least, not that she would admit, but she felt so warm and safe in that moment, in his arms. She wanted to stay there.
His head moved further down, his forehead resting on hers. He reached his finger through her arms and tilted her head up slightly. She allowed her head to lift easily under his control, simply losing herself in the moment. She had, after all, dreamed of that moment her entire life. Why wouldn’t she enjoy it? His nose brushed against hers now. She could feel his breath flowing around her mouth. He must have been close, real close. Instinctively she moistened her lips, in anticipation of what was to come.
He was millimeters away from his target and getting closer. She wanted to let him reach it too… but she couldn’t. “Trunks.” She breathed, their lips so close, she could almost taste him. “all this dancing has made me thirsty.” She said, reluctantly pulling herself out of his embrace. “Do you think you could get me a drink?”
He opened his eyes to see her standing there, looking very uncomfortable. He shook his head like he was trying to snap out of a daze. Kicking himself he realized, he had been too forward with her. “Sure, what do you want?”
“A Coke and grenadine.”
“Cherry juice?” He finally realized why she hadn’t been to too many bars.
“I’m not that much of a drinker.” She chuckled nervously.
“All right, I’ll be back.” He walked towards the bar, still very unsure about what had just happened.
Pan watched him as he approached the bar. His back was still turned to her. Pan spotted the exit. It was only a few feet away. It would be easy. She could walk out the door, go back and get her spray, then surprise him on his way home. Sure, he would be hurt, but it’s not like he would remember any of it anyway. She took a deep breath and hurried to the door. She was almost there, when a hand reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Kara?” A feminine voice asked.
Pan cringed as she turned to see who it was, even though she already knew. “Hi Marron.”
“Where are you going?”
“I was just going to…um…go…” She was taking too long with her answer.
Marron got the point. “I hope you weren’t leaving because of what happened.”
Pan shook her head, but gave Marron a questioning look.
Marron chuckled. “I didn’t mean to spy. I try to make a point of keeping my nose out of my friends love interests. It’s just that, Goten left to get me a drink, and I wanted to see how things were going. You have to believe me, Trunks is not just some fast jerk who wants to get you drunk so you’ll go home with him. He’s really hung up on you. I’ve known him long enough to be able to tell. That look in his eyes says it all. I even dated him for a while, and he never gave me that kind of look.”
Pan was left at a loss of words after that. She had seen Trunks get that look in his eyes when he talked about Marron. It was right before they got engaged. “I…I’m not going to leave,” She lied through her teeth, “but I still need to use the ladies room.” She walked away. She felt bad, but she had to leave, there was no other way.
Marron watched sadly. The tone in “Kara’s” voice had told all. Plus, the ladies' room was on the other side of the dance floor, opposite the exit. Marron turned away to find Goten. If she told him, he may be able to break it to Trunks easier. She shoveled through the people in effort to get to the bar. Something suddenly blocked her path.
She looked up to see a very large, ugly man looking slyly down at her. She knew this face very well, and turned to run, but he grabbed her, preventing her from going anywhere. “Hey, Marron is it?” The voice whispered in her ear. “You remember me don’t you? We had a delightful conversation, and you were about to come with me for coffee, when that little gay boy stopped us.”
Marron shivered. She remembered this guy alright. The last time she had gone to a club with Goten, he had come up behind her and tried to abduct her. There was no “delightful conversation," or “coffee” about it. He had tried to violate her. Luckily, Goten had been there, but this time, they were all the way at the bar.
Pan was practically out the door when she heard Marron scream. She turned her head in time to see a large man holding Marron’s mouth shut while pressing her against him. He was heading quickly to the exit left of where Pan was. A few people heard the scream, and noticed that the blonde girl in his arms did not want to go freely, but they just stood there, afraid to do anything.
Pan looked around for Trunks and Goten, but they were no where to be seen. They obviously hadn’t heard Marron scream, or realized that it was her. Pan had to do something. She couldn’t just sit there and watch as her friend was taken out and raped, even if it would change the course of history.
“That wasn’t very nice.” The man whispered in Marron’s ear again. “Hey honey, don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to have a little fun.”
Marron was struggling as best she could against him, but he was too strong for her. Pan couldn’t believe the cowardice of the people around. They knew what was happening, but they just stood there.
She hurried over. “Let her go!” She simply yelled, not wanted to show her excessive strength.
“Who’s going to make me?” He looked around and saw who exactly was doing the talking. A disgusting smile spread across his face. He slowly scanned her up and down, obviously paying special attention to the area above her knees and below her shoulders.
“Put her down.” Pan said again. Her face wore a scowl. Her ki rose slightly as the intruder moved closer to where she was standing.
He was still holding Marron, but he let go of her mouth to wrap his other arm around Pan, assuming that she too was weaker than him. That was a mistake Pan was bound and determined to make him pay for. He was strong, but to Pan, the stench of the alcohol he had just consumed was stronger. He pulled her up against him as well.
“You know,” He purred in her ear, “I’ve always believed that three’s company…”
Pan allowed her ki to rise again, but she didn’t want to make a move until Marron was away and safe.
Trunks ordered their drinks, then sat down with a thump. He let his head fall into his arms as he let out a frustrated sigh.
“What’s wrong with you?” Goten asked from beside.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He said glumly.
“Hey, I thought you two were doing pretty good. What happened?”
“I tried to…kiss her.” He said, embarrassed.
“Oh, the moment of truth.”
“Yeah, she didn’t run away, but she didn’t seem very…happy about it.”
“Well, you’ve only known her for a couple of days.” Goten pointed out, “It’s not like you’ve known her for as long as you can remember, and have liked her for years. It’s not like you’ve tried everything you know of to get her attention, but she doesn’t even realize that you’re hitting on her.” Goten took a sip of his drink. He felt worse than before now.
Trunks chuckled, knowing exactly who Goten was talking about. “I don’t even think Marron knows how you feel.” He said, trying to be a comfort, but then he switched tactics. “You were awfully mean to her as a kid, maybe she holds it against you. In fact, she probably hates your guts for it.”
Goten laughed, knowing Trunks was joking, “Well, she was ugly when she was a kid.”
“Goten!”
“She didn’t even have a nose!”
“She took after her father.”
“My point exactly, but now she looks like her mother.” Goten’s voice returned to its seriousness. “She looks amazing.” He put his head in his arms next to Trunks. “Besides, everyone looks ugly as a kid.”
“Well, maybe everyone else, but not me.” Trunks continued to joke.
“Are you kidding?” Goten laughed. “I’ve seen your baby pictures, you were one of the ugliest…”
“Excuse me,” The bartender interrupted, “if you guys are ever going back to your dates, I suggest you leave now. If you don’t soon, that guy over there is going to take them for himself.”
Goten and Trunks turned around to see a very large man. He was pressing “Kara” and Marron up against him. Anyone could see that they didn’t want to be there, but he didn’t seem to care. Goten and Trunks’ ki’s flared when they noticed how low his arms were around heir waists, and how much lower his hands were venturing.
“Get your filthy hands off me!” Marron yelled.
Pan stood there, struggling to keep her ki as low as a normal person’s. Her jaw was tight and she was glaring at him. The man looked her over again and burped in her face, there was no longer any doubt that the man was drunk. Pan recoiled because of the smell.
“On second thought, Blondie’s not worth that much trouble. Maybe I’ll just take you.” His fingers slid up the back of her skirt, and they were getting higher.
Pan couldn’t take it much longer. No one took advantage of her like that and lived to tell about it.
Thankfully, he let Marron slip out of his arms as he focused his attention on Pan. Marron fell to the ground, but quickly got up and ran over to Goten and Trunks who were rapidly approaching from the side. Goten protectively pushed her behind him, so he would be between her and the man.
Pan’s ki increased again. She was now simply trying to keep herself from going Super Saiyan… it would ruin everything. A blue aura slowly began to surround her.
“Marron, isn’t that the guy who tried to hurt you last time?” Goten asked, recognizing him.
“Yeah.” She said, still a little shaky.
“He’s not going to live to see tomorrow! That no good, jerk face, son of a…” The profanity continued under Trunks’ breath as he charged, ki risen, to the man who was harassing his girl.
“Trunks, wait!” Goten grabbed his arm. “Do you feel what I feel?”
Their jaws simultaneously dropped as they turned their heads and saw her. “Kara” was out of the man’s arms. He had let go because of the shock. A blue aura burned around her as she levitated a foot and a half off the ground.
“Her ki…” Trunks started, his jaw slack and his eyes wide.
“It’s so high.” Goten continued with the same expression on his face.
“I didn’t know she could do that.”
Pan levitated higher. She never even said anything to him, but she figured he was so drunk, he wouldn’t remember anyway. She was high enough now to where she could easily kick him in the head, despite her skirt. The impact threw him over a table to the right. He was barely conscious, but Pan still wasn’t satisfied. She went over and grabbed his arm, throwing him across the floor.
After he slid to a halt, she emitted a small ki blast on his arm. It didn’t blow the arm off, but it left a burn that would probably cause a scar. It would give him something to remember her by.
Turning around, she wiped her hands. It had taken virtually no effort, but she was still proud of herself. That pride, however, diminished fast when she turned around and saw everyone staring at her. Everyone in the club started applauding her, but Marron, Goten and Trunks were all looking at her like she had changed colors. She quickly grabbed her hair and was relieved to find it black and fine as opposed to gold and stiff.
“At least, he won’t be able to grab anybody else for a while.” She sheepishly grinned at all of them.
The four walked down the side walk quietly. Pan had to fill out a police report saying that it was self defense. The police didn’t give her any trouble… they had a hundred witnesses saying she was telling the truth.
Trunks walked to the side of Pan. His hands were in his pockets and he looked very uncomfortable. Marron and Goten were behind. Goten still had a protective arm around Marron’s shoulders.
Pan was more than a little uncomfortable with the silence. “Look,” She spoke up as she turned to face Goten and Marron, “I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any discomfort with having me around.”
Marron smiled, “That’s okay, I should thank you for what you did.”
Goten and Trunks still looked a little spooked. She had released too much of her ki, much more than the strongest of any human’s. “I didn’t mean to lie. I didn’t know who I could trust. I have a larger ki than normal for a fighter, and I didn’t want anyone to attack me thinking I was the enemy.”
“We understand, don’t we Goten?” Marron asked, but got no response. She elbowed him in the side again.
“Oh! Yeah, sure.” He was still lost in thought. Something with this girl’s story didn’t seem to sit right with him.
“Anyway,” Marron gave Goten a dirty look, “you can trust us. Don’t worry Kara.”
“Thanks.” Pan smiled softly.
From the background, Trunks gave Goten a silent message, one that he got quickly. “Marron, it’s getting late. Why don’t I…drive you home.”
Marron got the point of Trunks’ message too. He wanted to talk alone with Kara. “You’re right, it’s almost 1:30.”
“Goten,” Pan informed, “you don’t have to pretend. I can read your ki perfectly.”
Goten paused, unsure of what to do. Something was still off about her, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Why was she so strong? He wanted to ask her some questions, but he knew that Trunks would never forgive him if he interrogated her, especially at that time. He just smiled and nodded.
Picking up Marron, he flew into the night sky. When they were finally up high enough, Marron snuggled into Goten’s chest. He was so warm, and she was so tired. He blushed, to his own surprise, at this simple action.
“Are you okay?” He asked concern filling his voice.
“I’m fine,” She yawned, “just worn out, mostly by your dancing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Goten, stop being so overprotective of me. That jerk didn’t get anything, thanks to Kara, and I wasn’t hurt. I’m fine.”
Goten smiled, quietly wishing he could spend the rest of his life being over protective of her.
Trunks and Pan continued to slowly walk sown the sidewalk, even though they weren’t really going anywhere. The awkward silence continued, but Pan had had enough of awkward silences for the evening.
“So whatever happened to your friend that was moving?” She asked.
“I don’t know. He just didn’t show up. He wasn’t that great of a friend anyway. He was always quiet and spent most of his free time in a lab. He just works for my mom, so he likes to take his breaks when we go out, probably for company.”
“Then why did you have a night out planned for him?”
“I think we just wanted an excuse to go out for ourselves. There’s been too many people telling us to straighten up and act mature, so we needed an excuse.”
“Oh.” Pan nodded.
The awkward silence started again, but this time, Trunks had to get something straight. “About earlier tonight, I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, you didn’t.” She sort of lied. “It’s just that, I’m leaving in a little over a month and I don’t think that’s ample time to start a relationship.”
“I rushed you, I’m sorry. I know I’ve only known you for a couple of days, but I feel like it’s been a lot longer.”
“In some ways,” She started, inwardly laughing at the irony of it all, “I feel that way too. I don’t know. I would like to see where this could go, but it will probably just make leaving harder.”
“Well,” He said, “we could take it slow.”
“Slow is good.” She kicked herself. The words coming out of her mouth were exactly the wrong ones.
The wind kicked up and blew Trunks’ hat forward. Pan caught it and put it on her head. “What do you think?” She laughed.
“I think it looks better on you.” He chuckled. “Why don’t you keep it?”
“No, it’s your hat. You won it.”
“Well, winning it was good enough for me. Since Goten saw it, I really don’t have anymore use for it. Besides, it’ll give you something to remember me by when you go back to your little corner of the world.”
She smiled. He resisted the urge to kiss her at that very moment, which was very hard for him. She looked so beautiful under the street lights. He felt himself becoming lost in her eyes again. “Umm…” He tore himself away. “I would like to take you to dinner, soon. If I had somewhere I could reach you…”
“I don’t really have a phone number right now. Why don’t you give me yours?”
“Okay, that’ll work.” He fumbled through his wallet for a business card. He found one, and gave it to her. “Don’t lose it or I’ll have to come looking for your ki.”
She laughed. “It’s getting late. I’d better go.”
“Yeah it is.” He said, disappointed to see her go.
She stood there for a moment, tapping the calling card against her fingers. She was unsure if what to do. Finally, she walked up and gave him a hug, which he gratefully accepted. Turning her head, she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before saying, “Goodnight Trunks.”
“Goodnight Kara.” He whispered in her ear.
The bass in his voice was enough to drive her insane, so she quickly flew off, afraid of what she might give in to if she stayed there much longer.
As she was flying away, she turned back once more. She chuckled at the sight of him. There was an evident blush on his face and he was rubbing his cheek where she had kissed him.
When Pan got back to the ship, she took off her hat and plopped on the bed. She sniffed the rim. It still smelled like him. She threw it to the side and took out the calling card that he had given her. She held it above and stared at it. She imagined it was him when she slowly lowered the piece of paper to her lips.
“You’re late.” The deep, scratchy voice made her jump out of her skin. Her face was red with embarrassment.
“Mr. Piccolo, I was just…”
“Where were you?”
She swallowed hard. She could tell he was mad at her, she’d better answer this question carefully. “I was out.”
His eyes narrowed. Man, was she ever going to get a beating for this.
“Mr. Piccolo,” She began, “I’ve had a hard day and I was…”
“Get changed! I hope you’re ready to train.” He practically yelled.
“Right.” She grabbed her clothes, dreading the night that was to come.
In the middle of her sparring clothes laid the spray canister and a case of the vials that went with it. As she picked up her clothes, they fell under the bed, completely out of her sight.