Author: The Noseless Wonder, with thanks, once again, to Trinity Blue for helping me out with the Piccolo part. (Such an innocent name, such a violent imagination. 0:)
Disclaimer: No money, no prospects, no realty, no multi-million dollar production agency. *Sigh* Although I wish I did own some of the DBZ characters;) I don’t. So, don’t come to me wanting to buy Vegeta, because I’m not his creator, nor do I own his copyright. (Besides, Bulma will get mad, and her temper is not something you want to mess around with. It’s like playing with fire while swimming in lighter fluid.)
Author’s notes: What can I say? If anyone cares anymore, this fic WILL continue. I don’t care if I do have a full time job, or if everyone abandons this thing as “an incomplete work” writing is too much fun just to “give up on”. Oh, and I’m not the kind of person who just easily “loses interest” in her hobbies either. So, just be patient, the “end” will come.
It was cold, being so far north. An icy breeze blew in once and a while, causing the strongest of men to shudder in its influence. The green carpet that lay beneath sparkled with frozen dampness, already showing the signs of early morning. The sun had yet to show its face, but every other star in the sky shined with unparalleled brilliance due to the fact that there was a new moon tonight. Only a few animals and wild grass lived here. It was too high and too cold for anything else. However, nothing stirred tonight. There were no distractions, nothing living to be concerned about. The world around them seemed to know what was happening, and all was still.
Just over the horizon, however, two lights seemed to dance around, gaining notice from the occasional winter squirrel that happened to poke its head up. It seemed that even the animals could sense the intense power of the two warriors, who were sparring the night away. They had been sparring for quite a while, but one of the lights seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer by the hour.
The two lights stopped, only for a moment, as the smaller one was slammed into the ground. It looked as if a meteor had hit the earth, creating a crater as it made impact. The few animals that had been watching quickly scurried underground, as the world seemed to rumble in response to its new wound.
Pan let out a low groan as she forced herself to her knees. One thing she had learned during this entire night was never to let your guard down while facing Piccolo as an opponent. Her “teacher” didn’t seem to ever let up. He was being ruthless. The landscape around them was darted with similar craters. This hadn’t been the first time Piccolo had slammed her into the ground.
“Get up!” Piccolo yelled bitterly, floating a few feet away.
To say that Pan was getting tired of his insistence would be an understatement. He would yell at her every time she “landed”, then he would beat her up again. He would then repeat the process, never giving her a chance to breathe between. Pan was giving it all she had. If she had been allowed to go Super Saiyan, this would have been more of a spar, rather than a senseless beating, which it was fast becoming. Without being able to make the transformation, she felt helpless. Maybe that was Piccolo’s plan… to show her how much her and the others have relied on the transformation, other than on raw strength and skill. She wasn’t sure, all she knew was that she had used up all of her energy. Any move she made now only succeeded in making her mad and injuring her further.
Suddenly, she was knocked back as a small ki blast landed right next to her, throwing shards of rock at her and into her face.
“I said get up!” Piccolo yelled, even louder. Pan let a small growl escape her throat as she wearily got to her feet and into home stance, signifying that she wasn’t ready to give up. Gathering up what little strength she had left in her, she charged at him, only to be backhanded face first into the ground. When she turned herself around and sat up, she noticed that some of her ribs had been broken. She couldn’t get up, so she slowly crab-walked away from where he was floating, afraid that she would attack again. She glared up at the Namek’s disgusted face, she could tell that he knew exactly how much she was hurting, but he didn’t seem to care.
“You are no Son. No daughter of Gohan’s and granddaughter of Goku’s would fight so poorly. I don’t even know why I bother.” He had hoped that such a remark would make her angry enough to give her a push, but she just sat there, giving him no response or clue to what she was feeling. He gave up and walked away. She would be ready to train tomorrow night, maybe then she would…
Piccolo’s thought was suddenly interrupted by a kick to the head. He was knocked down to the ground, which surprised him more than anything. He looked up to see his attacker, who was still glaring at him the same way.
“I am not my father or my grandfather.” She simply said, as she turned away and started limping in the general direction of the ship. At this rate, it would take her a week to get there, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to curl up in her warm bed and sleep.
Piccolo stood up and wiped the purple-shaded blood off of his face. ‘She’s good.’ He thought. ‘I never even saw her coming. Imagine, she managed to give me much more than a decent workout. I thought I was going to lose it there for a while, and she never even went Super Saiyan. She could be a greater fighter than I, and maybe even Gohan if she wanted to. I should push her more, like I did with Gohan, maybe then she’ll live up to her potential.’
“It’s obvious that you aren’t.” He called out. “Gohan would have had the guts to stay and fight, especially after delivering such a kick.”
She ignored him and kept walking. There was no way he was going to get her to stay longer.
“But you’re just a female… and a human one at that.”
“My mother and grandmother are strong. What does it matter?” She said, finally stopping and giving him a response. She didn’t turn around. She was angry, and she knew that it had been his goal to get her that way, and she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her like that.
“Huh, I guess you’re right. Because even your mother and grandmother would fight to defend the Son’s family honor.”
“Family honor?” Where was this conversation going?
“You heard me. The Son’s are getting weaker. They’ve gone from being the strongest in the universe, to being…well…like you. And it only took three generations.” He spoke, feeling her ki rise. “At this pace, your children will be as normal as the idiot who runs the neighborhood fast food place. You’re weak, and because you are, your forefather’s rank among the strongest will be lost, and your family’s honor will die with Gohan and Goten.”
“I…am not weak.” She defended. She was so tired, she didn’t know whether to cry or hit him.
“Really? What kind of achievements have you made? What kind of enemies have you fought?”
“I…I went Super Saiyan two…and I…fought against a lot of enemies while we were trying to find the dark star dragon balls…I’m only one-fourth Saiyan. I wasn’t even supposed to be strong enough to make the transformation at all.”
“So?” He said, looking like he was expecting her to say something new. “Your grandfather was labeled the strongest man in the universe, your father had surpassed him in strength by the time he was in his teens, even Goten, of all idiots, managed to go Super Saiyan at a younger age than any of them.”
“But I…”
“How often do you train?” He interrupted.
“I go over to the Briefs’ house to spar with Trunks and…”
“Ha!” He laughed. “Trunks hasn’t really trained in years, and I imagine he’s the same way in the future.”
“I train with Vegeta too!” She turned around, giving everything away. He’d won, she was angry.
“Oh really? Is he in Super Saiyan when you do?”
“Well I…haven’t trained with him since I first went level two.”
Piccolo said nothing for a moment. He had made his point clear. “Goku is off training that boy who he thinks is Buu. He’s going to be more deserving of the Son name than you are, but that doesn’t really matter anymore. You are weak, your family is weak and your children will be weak. The Son name means nothing anymore.”
Pan stood there, a shocked look on her face, her fists clenched so tightly, she could feel her nails digging into her skin. Her teacher, her mentor, the man her father revered and respected, the man the entire family had come to think of as an uncle/guardian, the man that had died for her father, was suddenly looking more like her enemy than a friend. It was one thing for a teacher to push a student, to make them angry, to make them explode, but to question her family’s honor… it crossed a line.
Another icy breeze blew by her, just strong enough to stir her raven hair. Hitting her tired joints and open wounds, the gentle wind made her shiver. She silently wondered if that icy breeze was warmer than Piccolo.
‘What would dad say if he heard this? He would be incensed. He would want me to fight back, to give Mr. Piccolo what he’s been asking for.’
A fiery aura suddenly appeared around her. Piccolo’s artic stare turned into a look of surprise, of unexpectedness, which she liked. The aura blazed blue and red. It spun around her, picking up speed as she powered up even further. The reds and blues seemed to mix, then separate again. The electricity flowing around her lit up the entire area, making her look like a small, grounded thunderstorm. The force of the power was making her hair whip around, and the grass was doing the same.
Piccolo watched in amazement. This girl did have a lot of power and he was glad he was finally going to be able to see it. He was afraid she was going to go Super Saiyan, but she hadn’t yet.
Pan smirked and clenched her fists tighter. While letting out a blood-curdling scream, she powered up to what she felt was her max. Her aura exploded into a bright yellow dome, consuming everything within a 500-yard radius, including Piccolo.
Preparing for the shock wave, Piccolo crossed his arms in front of his face and leaned inward, determined to stay on his feet. As the blast swallowed him, he felt her raw energy flowing around him. It felt like his whole body had fallen asleep, giving him the sensation of thousands of prickly needles all over his skin. The explosion was powerful…and strange, unlike anything he had ever felt before, which always did tend to be the generational tradition in her family.
The aura faded, it was dark again. Piccolo waited a moment before moving. He thought for sure that he was going to look up and see Pan in level one or even level two. When he did look up, he was surprised. Pan wasn’t even at Super Saiyan; she was just standing there. The power was still present, but the aura had diminished. It was now simply creating a soft blue glow. She looked normal. Her hair was still fine and black as night. He could tell there was a difference though. Her pupils had disappeared, and she was a lot more muscular. Not to mention, her angry expression had melted away. She wasn’t smiling; in fact, she looked calmer than anything.
“Pan?” Piccolo said. “Are you…?”
She never let him finish that statement before her foot connected with his jaw, and his head jerked back. He doubled over in pain as her fist went into his gut. In one swift movement, Pan raised both of her hands above her head and brought them down on his back, causing him to slam into the ground, like she had done so many times that night.
Ignoring the fact that he was in pain, Piccolo started to get up. Yet, before he got the chance to get to his feet, she lifted him by his gi and threw him into the air. Her image blurred away as she watched him involuntarily soar high into the air. Her image fazed back in and she was suddenly directly ahead of him. Piccolo had no time to move before he saw her fist coming towards him. He literally saw stars as he plummeted back towards the earth. She would not let him land. As he neared the ground, she kicked him in the ribs and sent him back into the sky.
Her little game of tennis continued. She easily caught, and then tossed the Namek, who happened to be twice her size, over and over again. After noticing that he was finally unconscious, she decided to end it. On his final flight up, she gave him one more, hard blow to his back, sending him downward again. This time, however, she never bothered on stopping him. He landed with a hard thud. As the dust cleared, Pan looked on. A small smile of satisfaction appeared on her face when she realized that he had made a bigger crater than all of the ones she had made.
She slowly floated down. This should have taught him a thing or two about over-pushing his student. Her smirk faded when she saw him laying there, out cold. If it weren’t for his training tactics, no matter how hard they might be, her father would have never gotten as strong as he did. She probably wouldn’t be as strong as she was either. Her father had always honored Piccolo, so she had always honored him, but she never understood why he deserved so much respect… not until now, anyway. He really was a good guardian to the earth, and a good friend to her family as well. He only pushed if it needed to be done, and she knew that now.
She walked up towards the crater feeling guilty. Maybe she could make him more comfortable or something until he woke up. As she took that first step, she finally realized how much energy she had actually used up. Her knees were wobbly, and she felt as though they wouldn’t even be able to hold her own weight. She took another step; she was at the edge of the crater looking down on him. She began to feel dizzy and everything got blurry. She dismissed it and tried again, only to trip over a rock. Pan was sent tumbling head first into the crater where she landed, not so softly, on a passed out Piccolo. The last thing she remembered before everything went dark was seeing a winter squirrel, standing over the crater, starring down at her. Then she blacked out as well.
A cool breeze blew in from the window, making the long, white curtains flow freely in the air. She rolled over, expecting to feel the well-toned arm of the man she loved, but found nothing. His side of the bed was empty, and getting cold. Bulma sat up, looking around the room for his unique shadow, but she couldn’t find it.
“Go back to sleep, woman.” He said, stepping back into the room from the balcony.
“What’s wrong Vegeta?” She asked.
“Nothing you should concern yourself with.”
“What? Did my little Veggie-poo have a bad dream?” She teased, in her mock baby-coddling voice. “Or are you just restless?”
He didn’t lash back; he didn’t even take that as an invitation to come back to bed, which slightly disturbed her. He said nothing, he simply continued looking out the window with narrowed eyes. It was almost like he was expecting something. “Vegeta, what’s wrong?” He still didn’t answer her. He was listening, but not to her. “Fine.” She said in defeat. “See if I make you breakfast in the morning after ignoring me like that.” She rolled over and went back to sleep.
‘What was that?’ He thought. ‘It was too far away for it to be Kakarott and that boy.’ He couldn’t just go searching for it. He wouldn’t even know where to look. It had disappeared too quickly. Just the same, he decided to stay awake for the rest of the night. He would be waking up in a few hours anyway, and the fact that the woman wasn’t cooking for him that morning meant that he would probably have to go kill something. That is, if he couldn’t convince one of the brats into making it for him.
She woke up feeling miserable. Her whole body ached, from her head to her feet. She also wondered why her bed was so hard, and dirty, and who had left the window open. At last, after much struggle, she managed to tear one eye open. She wasn’t in her room on her bed; she was lying on the floor of some cave. Everything came back to her in a rush. She remembered the training, the insults, the fight, the transformation, beating up Piccolo, and then passing out on top of him. But how did she get in here?
Ignoring her body’s cries to lay down, she stood up. Still feeling dizzy, she had to grope the wall of the cave to keep her balance. She looked around. The sun was beginning to rise. It was getting warmer, but not by much. The cold wind that had been there that night was still lingering, but the cave faced in a direction away from it, so she couldn’t feel its piercing chill. Her stomach growled loudly, protesting the fact that she hadn’t eaten in almost a full day. There was a small pile of wood by the area that she had slept. It was burnt. There were also two apples. Not even caring who had given them to her, she chomped down. She was astonished by how sour they were.
‘This must have been Piccolo’s doing.’ She thought, reliving the guilt she had felt the night before about beating the tar out of him. ‘Only he would have had enough sense to go through the trouble of finding me food that’s barely edible.’ She felt grateful to have had a fire to sleep by too.
‘He must owe my dad a favor or something.’ She figured.
After finishing her small, bitter, yet effective breakfast, she headed out of the cave. It took her more effort to fly because she was so weak, but it was still much faster than walking or driving a car. However, flying would release too much detectable energy, so when she got closer she decapsulated a car. It was a lot slower, but at least she could rest while driving.
Pan got back to her ship a few hours after she left the cave. All that she was looking forward to was a hot bath and about three days worth of sleep. When she pulled up, however, she saw Piccolo meditating against a tree, and she feared that sleep would never come.
She tried to walk past him. His eyes were closed. He was meditating after all; maybe she could get by without him even noticing her. She hurried by, keeping her ki low, and being as quiet as possible. “It’s about time.” He grunted.
She froze, “Uh…good morning Mr. Piccolo. Thanks for the apples and the fire.”
He said nothing. He just continued to levitate, his arms and legs crossed and his eyes closed.
“Umm…if you want to go train some more, just give me a few hours and I can…”
“You don’t have to train if you don’t want to. You’ve proven yourself worthy of being a Saiyan, especially one of the Son family.” He said, as if it was the hardest thing on earth.
“I don’t? Then why…?”
“I came here to remind you, that even making one small difference in the time line could result in tragedy. Believe me, I know.” He warned. “Your friends, Trunks, Goten and Krillin’s daughter, you have to make them forget, don’t waste anymore time.”
“Okay, I know they shouldn’t have seen me. I was sloppy.” She admitted. “As soon as I see them next, I will rectify my mistake.”
She turned and walked into the ship, figuring their conversation to be over.
“Pan,” He said, “Your father…will be proud when I tell him what happened.”
She smiled softly at him and walked back into the ship. ‘No wonder Dad said that he loved training with Mr. Piccolo. He’s full of so many surprises.’
Trunks plopped down in his desk chair. He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands and sighing heavily. The day had been a nightmare. His peaceful slumber had been interrupted by his mom, who had woken him up and informed him that this one week of his “summer off” was going to be spent planning the yearly budget for Capsule Corporation. She was too groggy to go into details, but judging by her plugged up nose, and the fact that his father was yelling something in the background about her vomiting on him, Trunks gathered she was sick.
The day progressed and things only got better. The power went out across the entire corporate building, and the back-up generators were slow, causing everything he had gotten done that day to be erased off of the computer he was working on. When he had made the polite request to his secretary to re-write everything he had lost, she walked out the door, yelling something about him sending her last paycheck through the mail.
It was still morning, somewhere between eleven and one, he could only guess. The record books and the paper work, however, were already forming a giant mountain on the top of his desk. There was even another small mound forming on the floor. As much as he could get done, the piles only seemed to grow bigger.
After successfully losing his phone five or six times, Trunks finally recruited the closest person he could find that would work for the cheapest pay. The boy’s only job was simply to answer the phone, take messages, and stop ANYONE from walking into his office unless they were related. Unfortunately, the boy seemed to have trouble grasping the true meaning of the phase “hold all my calls”.
Trunks had almost mentally snapped when the waste disposal robots began to bring trash in, rather than take it out. The floor of his office was now completely covered in bits of crumpled paper and other people’s lunches, as was the entire building. He looked down at the clock and groaned. On any other day this summer, he would be waking up right about this time, ready to take a long, hot shower before settling down to watch TV or hang out with Goten and Marron, except for on those dreadful days when his dad would make him train, but even training was preferable over this.
A small, warm breeze blew in from the open window. The sky was teasing him, he was sure of it. He got up, fully determined to slam the window shut, like he should do, as opposed to climbing out of it and taking off in flight, like he wanted to do. Before he could get it all the way shut, another breeze blew in, this time carrying the sent of a summer’s day with it. Oh how he wanted to relax by flying through the clouds, taking off his stuffy suit and finding some nice spot to just lay down on. Maybe he would even camp out.
That was the last straw, the temptation was too great; he grabbed a capsule with a change of clothes inside, and started taking off his tie. He was half way out, unwavering in his decision to make a run for it, when the intercom buzzed. It nearly made him jump out of his skin.
Reluctantly, he climbed back in the window and started searching for the phone, again. He followed the sound as best as he could. It eventually led it to his desk, where he found the cord. Following the cord, he finally found the phone. It was underneath a half-eaten piece of pizza left over from that day’s breakfast. He picked up the phone, only to hear a dial tone.
“Figures.” He sighed.
“Mr. Briefs?” The young boy called while walking in the door. “Why didn’t you answer my call?”
“I had to find the phone first Toby.” The headache that had been menacing Trunks all morning was now making good on its threat to get stronger.
“It’s Timmy sir.” He corrected. The squeak in his voice not only showed how truly young the boy was, but it also sent a shockwave of pain directly up to Trunks’ head. “There’s a Mr. Goten on the line for you.”
“Tell him to go away.”
“He says it’s important.” Timmy said.
Trunks laid his head down on his desk. At least this would be an excuse to take a break from work. “Okay, I’ll take it, thank you.”
Timmy walked out the door and Trunks picked up the phone hoping that Goten was calling to tell him that there was some monster threatening everyone’s lives and they needed his help to defeat it. “Hello?”
“Hey bud!” The familiar voice greeted from the other side, a little too loudly for Trunks.
“Hey Goten. What’s up?”
“Oh…nothing much.” He simply replied.
“Goten, you called while I was kind of in the middle of something important.”
“Well sooooorry.” He said insincerely.
“My secretary said it was something significant. What’s wrong?”
“Well…I…” He went silent.
“Goten?”
“Well, Marron’s been talking about this guy, Unagi. Have you heard anything about him?”
Trunks threw his hands up in defeat. He was rapidly losing patience with his friend. Today was NOT the day to bother him with something so trivial. “Goten, you called me for that?! Are we back in high school or something?”
“Well…I just wanted to…”
“You’ve got to stop being so jealous. It’s not like you two are involved. As far as she knows, she’s free to date whoever she pleases.”
“I’m not jealous!” Goten defended. “I’m just…concerned…as any good friend would be.”
“Yeah, right.” Trunks calmed down. “Look, I’ve heard her talk about him too, but I’m not sure if it’s a crush, a relationship, or if he’s just a friend.”
“Oh.” Goten replied disappointedly.
“Well, what do you expect? You won’t even tell her about your feelings. If you don’t ask her out soon, I will, just despite you.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Try me.”
Goten didn’t believe him. “Whatever happened to Kara?”
Trunks remained silent.
“That good, huh? What happened?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it.” He coolly stated.
“Wow, what’d she do?”
Trunks gave no answer.
“Let me guess. She was after your money, just like all the others?”
“No,” Trunks denied. “She wasn’t like that.”
“Then why’d you dump her?” Goten pried.
“I didn’t dump her.”
“Then why’d she dump you?”
“She hasn’t dumped me!” Trunks started. “She just…hasn’t called me. Not since the club anyway.”
Goten just sat there on the phone for a minute. He wasn’t sure what to say. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut. “Well…maybe it was for the better.”
“Why would you say that?!” Trunks defended. “She’s probably just busy. She IS visiting relatives after all.”
“Right, well, I didn’t think she was good for you anyway.” He said. “It seemed like she was trying to hide something.”
“She WAS trying to hide something. She can fight, remember?!”
“There was something more than that. Her story didn’t match up very well.”
“Goten, she was probably just concealing her true identity for the same reason we do. Believe me, I’m sure that the last thing she wants to do is attract unwanted attention.” Trunks defended, wondering where Goten came off saying something like that.
“How come no one’s ever felt her ki before?”
“She hides it. Plus, she lives far away. Maybe we were out of range or something.”
“No, someone would have felt it. Either your dad or mine could have sensed that level of energy from outer space if they needed to. Besides, someone would have had to train her. You can’t get that strong just by hiding your ki all your life.”
“Well, maybe she was the exception. Goten, I would think you of all people would understand the need to keep some secrets from the world.”
“I do, I just…well… something about her doesn’t sit right with me, that’s all.”
“Well,” Trunks fumed. “She doesn’t need to win your approval. She sits fine with me, and that’s all that matters. I trust her, and I would think, as a friend, you would trust her too.”
“But Trunks…”
“Look Goten, you keep your nose in your own business, and I’ll keep my nose in mine, all right?” Trunks all but yelled.
“Fine.” Goten surrendered, “Just don’t come crying to me when she dumps you and takes you for all the money you’re worth.
Trunks was about to hang up on him but he really wanted to get in the last word. “Oh, by the way, Unagi is some huge, rich, blonde guy who happens to be inheriting one of our largest client’s companies. Eighteen set him up with her a few days ago, and she hasn’t stopped talking about him since.”
The only response Trunks got was a growl and a click, followed shortly by a dial tone.
He slammed the receiver down and growled as well. He refused to let what Goten had said get on his nerves. He picked up a record book and started reading, determined to shove the entire conversation out of his head.
“Mr. Briefs?” Timmy said loudly, barging through the door.
“What?!” Trunks jumped up and roared, slamming his book down on the desk and breaking it in the process. Realizing he had Timmy just about frozen in fear, he quickly regained composer, thankful he didn’t transform. “What’s wrong?” He continued, much more quietly.
“There’s a woman here to see you.” The young boy choked out.
“Well, thanks Tommy…”
“Timmy.”
“…but I don’t want to talk to anyone unless they know how to balance the corporate budget, or reprogram a dozen waste disposal robots.” Trunks plopped down in his chair and opened the top half of the book he broke.
“Sir, she’s being pretty persistent. She says it’s important.”
“I don’t care. Just tell her to leave a note and put it somewhere I can find it.”
“Umm…okay.” The boy walked out the door, a sweat drop forming on his forehead.
Trunks shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand. He finally found the place where he had left off, when he heard a thump and the door opened. He had to stand up just to see over the stack of papers and books on his desk.
“Jimmy? Are you…?” He froze. Instead of seeing the squeaky-voiced boy secretary, who happened to be in the middle of puberty, he saw the bright eyes and the brilliant smile of the one woman he had been thinking about for so many days.
“Hi Trunks.” She said, hoping he hadn’t forgotten about her, although if he had, it would make her job a lot easier. It had been almost a week. She had promised to call him, but Piccolo had been very diligent about her not talking to Trunks anymore. It was for the best anyway. She could only end up getting hurt. The only reason she was there today was to spray him with the formula.
“Kara, hi!” Once again, he slapped himself mentally for sounding so eager. He was supposed to be mad at her for ditching him.
“Mr. Briefs!” The boy yelled while running into the office. He was rubbing the back of his head, which still hurt after his run-in with Pan. “I tried to stop her, but…she pushed me into the wall.”
“Oh, that’s okay Tony…”
“Timmy.” He corrected.
“…. she’s a friend.”
Timmy shook his head and walked back out the door. He was beginning to see why the original secretary had chosen today to quit.
A small silence occurred as Pan made her way around the office. ‘Must be yearly budget time again.’ She thought, observing the mountains of paper work and trash. “So…doing a little redecorating?”
“Heh, hardly.” Trunks laughed, mostly in frustration. “I just have a slight backlog in the paperwork department.”
“That much is apparent.” She observed.
“So…um…what can I help you with?” Trunks felt a little awkward, asking such a question, but he hadn’t seen or heard from her in nearly a week, and it was a little strange for her to just show up at his office.
“Well, I just came by to see if you wanted to go to lunch or something.”
“Oh,” He was more than slightly surprised at her invitation. If she wanted to dump him, she could have just called him on the phone. There was no reason for her to come all the way down and talk to him in person for that. “Actually, as you can see, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
It didn’t take much for Pan to detect a tone of irritation in his voice. ‘Whoa, what a blow off. He could’ve just said that he wasn’t interested. I should have called him. No, I’m here to make him forget, not to encourage this. It’s for the best this way.’ She knew she had yet to truly convince herself of that.
“Sorry.” He said, returning to his work.
“That’s okay.” She faintly smiled at him. “Maybe some other time then.”
She reached into purse for the spray, but pulled back when she remembered the security cameras in his office. ‘I’ll have to wait and get him after he’s off of work. The sooner this thing ends the better.’
Trunks watched as she turned to walk out the door. This woman had been the foremost thought in his brain since the day he first laid eyes on her. This woman’s smile itself had been the sole cause of so many of his sleepless nights, her eyes continually haunting his dreams. The smell of her perfume was enough to make him break out in a sweat. That simple kiss on the cheek she had given away had completely weakened him, making him feel as vulnerable as a newborn kitten. He didn’t think it was possible to be so affected by a woman. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was that he was feeling towards her. Whether it was love, or just another infatuation, he couldn’t tell, but in any case, he couldn’t just let her walk out that door. If she did, he knew she would never be back. “Kara?” He said quickly.
“Yeah?” She turned, just in time to see him trip over a pile of trash, just to get to her.
“Maybe we could…well…order in, or something.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled.
“Great.” He felt a large rush of relief sweep over him. Maybe he was going to make progress with this girl after all. He didn’t even seem to notice that he was staring blankly at her.
“Trunks? Is something wrong?”
“Huh?” He jumped. “No, is Chinese okay?”
“Perfect.”
“I’ll just call it in. I hope you don’t mind if I get some work done while we’re waiting. I’m pretty swamped around here.” He was trying to give some sort of explanation for his earlier comment, hoping she wasn’t completely insulted by it.
“No kidding. Is there anything I can do to help?” She looked around the room, trying to figure out how long it would take him to clean it up.
“Do you happen to be an accountant, or expert on robot repair?” He asked.
“No, but I can straighten up around here, and file stuff too.”
“Our filing system is a little…”
“Let me guess, you organize your accounts by size, not by name.” She interrupted.
Trunks gave her a strange look. “How did you…?”
“I worked as a secretary for a friend one summer. He worked in a big corporation like this, and they had the same filing system.” She made sure to leave out the fact that he friend was him. She knew where everything in his office went. The whole building turned into a war zone every time yearly budget went around, and she knew how to handle it when it did.
Trunks smiled, keeping in mind that he needed a new secretary. She was definitely someone he wouldn’t mind being around all day, every day, he was sure of that.
Eight hours later, Trunks and Kara’s daylong challenge had finally been completed. They had long since finished their order-in Chinese lunch and were now finishing off their dinner.
The last piece of trash had been thrown away, the last file tucked where it belonged. The budget had been planned, organized and copied, and the robots had been reprogrammed. The sun had finished its daily shift, showing off its true beauty with an extraordinary sunset. The bright pink and orange clouds now cast an eerie glow into Trunks’ office, and onto the couch where the two sat.
“I don’t know what I would have done without you today Kara.” Trunks said.
“Neither do I.”
“Was today hectic enough for you?”
“Yeah, I would say so.”
Timmy walked through the door. He had stayed all day, but only because Trunks had promised him a small bonus. He looked as tired as the other two did. Running copies and answering phones took a lot more out of him then he thought it would, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have stayed as long as he did.
“I’m going home Mr. Briefs. Is there anything else?” He asked, praying as hard as he could that his response would be no.
“No, thanks for staying today Timmy.”
“Timmy.” The boy automatically corrected.
“Right, that’s what I said.” Trunks laughed. He hadn’t been aware that he had kept calling him by the wrong name until Kara had pointed it out to him.
Timmy opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t. Instead he decided to count his blessings and leave while he still could.
Pan chuckled as Timmy walked out the door. “Well it’s about time you got it right.”
Trunks looked out the window and sighed. The view outside was almost as breathtaking as the view next to him. “It’s a beautiful night. What do you say we go for a walk and get some ice cream or something?”
“I think that’s a good idea, but skip the ice cream, I’m stuffed.” She lied. Truth was, she was still very hungry; she just needed to get him away from the public eye.
They walked out of the building. Trunks turned on the security system, leaving the entire place to the security guards and the newly reprogrammed waste disposal robots. “Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere.”
Trunks put his arm around her shoulders and escorted her to a nearby park. It wasn’t a very big park, but it had a nice view of the sunset. They walked for a few minutes without saying anything. The sky was mostly clear, the temperature was perfect, and the clouds that were there were still shinning red and orange.
Pan kept her hand in her purse, on the spray can. She would need to catch him off guard; otherwise, his reflexes would be able to stop her before she got it in his eyes. She was just glad he had taken off his glasses. It made for one less obstacle to pass.
She wished she could just take this a little further. Maybe someday, if she ever had the courage, she could use this instance to prove her argument. To prove that there really could be something between them if it wasn’t for the age difference. She looked up into his eyes. He looked down at her, his eyes reflected the affection for her that had always been there, but this time, it was different. There was something else that those eyes said to her this time.
The battle of truly how far she would let this go had raged in her mind since the night after the club. Everything within her being told her to go ahead with it. It was about time she got this kind of attention. Her brain, however, was making a convincing argument to spray him as soon as possible. It kept reminding her that she would have to do it eventually anyway, and the later she did it, the more it would hurt. Normally, she would just think it out a little more, but with Piccolo looking over her shoulder, she reluctantly sided with her brain. Despite what she wanted, she had to consider what was best. Man, she was beginning to really hate that phrase.
Trunks was glad he had gotten to spend the day with her. He had a good time at work, with her there, which Trunks thought was amazing. Work was never fun for him. That is, unless he got to fiddle around with a new product. Despite the fact that they had been rushing around all day, they had actually had a few good conversations. He felt like he knew her a lot better now. She was exactly the type of girl he could imagine spending the rest of his life with. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but she seemed to be precisely what he was looking for. She was attractive, she could take care of herself, she could fight and dance, she had a brain, and she wasn’t after his money. Goten had been right about something though. There were a few things about her story that didn’t match up. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t talked to him since that night.
No, Goten was just being an idiot again. There was no was she could be that good of an actress. Besides, he knew what signs to look for. He had fallen under more than a couple of girl’s spells. Those were the girls who had wanted to jump right into bed with him, the girls who wanted to get married after two weeks of dating, and the girls who had tried too hard. Those girls were all out to get his money, his inheritance, or even some of Capsule Corporation’s technology. They all had exhibited the same type of behavior… behavior that was not characteristic of Kara.
She was going too slowly to be conning him. She seemed to be comfortable around him, as opposed to trying so hard to be exactly what he wanted. Besides, you can’t just pretend to know how to fight; it was something you had to pick up after a lifetime of training. She hadn’t even tried to get any information from him either. When she was in the office, she was around him all the time; she hadn’t even gone near the computer, which was where all the important information was kept. Any decent con would know that.
There was nothing she had done that deserved any kind of suspicion. He was just going to enjoy her company while he could. Goten would just have to keep his nose out of his business. There was however, one question that Trunks did have for Kara. Something that had been bugging him for a few days now.
“Kara? Can I ask you something?” He asked, breaking the silence between the two.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“Trunks,” She laughed, “I’m sure so many of the girls you dated would love to see you with the tables turned. I bet you left a lot of them with the same question. ‘Why didn’t he call?’”
Trunks chuckled, “Yeah, I’m sure, but really, why didn’t you?”
“I…” Pan had to think of some plausible excuse quickly. She couldn’t just tell him what had really happened. “I just had some…family problems.”
Trunks gave her a questioning look.
“Well, not problems…really.” She quickly covered. “My…uncle did think that I had been training hard enough lately, so he took me out to the wilderness and we…sparred for a few days.”
“Who’s your uncle?” He asked, wondering who had the strength to train her.
“No one anyone’s ever heard of before.” She lied. “He’s just an old hermit who doesn’t like to go out in public very often.”
“I never felt your ki. How hard did you train?”
Pan began to sweat. He was asking a lot of questions. “My uncle…taught me everything I know. He has a unique ability to hide his ki, and so do I.”
Trunks shook his head like he understood, but really, he was only more confused.
Another silence occurred. Pan looked up at the stars, admiring how many there were and how much they shined. The sun was set now, and there were a ton of stars to be seen. Funny, they seemed to shine brighter in the past. Trunks, on the other hand, was only looking at her. The same feelings for her he had experienced that night at the club were starting to pop up again.
“I understand.” He spoke softly, almost as if he wasn’t really paying attention to his own words. His focus seemed to be elsewhere. “I know what it’s like to have a relative that pushes so hard to train more. My father does that to me.”
Trunks stepped in front of her and looked down into her eyes. Pan blushed at the expression that Trunks had on his face. She knew what that look meant. He just kept staring at her, she wasn’t sure what to do. She knew what she wanted to do, and she knew what she needed to do, but her brain and her heart were disagreeing so much, she felt as if she could be torn in two.
Her hand was still on the spray can. Her mind screaming at her, ‘This is the perfect time! Do it now!! He’s defenseless!’ She didn’t move. Her hand remained there, on the spray can.
“Well,” She replied, searching for any grasp whatsoever on the situation. “I’ll be going away to train with him after these two months are over, so that should make him…happy…”
Her words trailed of as Trunks lowered his head dangerously close to hers. Stroking her jaw line with his fingers, he brought himself nearer, being cautious and slow, in case she wanted to back off again.
The temperature in the air seemed to rise. Pan could feel his soft touch, and she was almost sure that he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Their noses brushed together. Trunks paused his descent one more time, as if to ask her permission. She could feel his warm breath swirling around her mouth. She didn’t want him to stop.
Finally, his lips met hers. He went softly at first. He wanted to make sure that she was going to kiss him back. She stepped closer, deepening the union, and giving him the answer he had wanted. His fingers slipped off her jaw and he wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her so close, she was pressed against him. Inside of her purse, she hesitantly let go of the spray can. Her hands climbed slowly up his arms, and came to a rest around his neck, returning his warm embrace. He could feel her fingers combing through his hair, making him want to go further.
The moment lasted what was sure to be a long time. Neither was aware of how much time had actually gone by. The kiss deepened still, making it difficult to breathe. Pan tensed at the sudden journey Trunks was taking, but she made no move to stop. She only reciprocated. She wanted to know what this part of him was like, but if things kept moving at the rate they were moving, she would have to pull away. There was a line she had set for herself a long time ago about how far a relationship could go and when it could go there, and she didn’t want to cross that line, even with Trunks.
Finally, they broke, each trying to catch their breaths. Pan felt a sudden surge of embarrassment as the heat rose to her cheeks. She wasn’t exactly sure of what to say or do after something like that. She wasn’t really experienced with these kinds of relationships. “That was…nice.” She simply stated.
“Yeah.” Trunks agreed, still trying to catch his breath. He was relieved that she had said that, instead of running away. Maybe now they could actually start seeing each other.
Pan looked at her watch. It was already nine. “It’s getting kind of late.” She said, trying to make any excuse to get out of there. “I should be going. My uncle worries about me if I’m not home by dark.”
“Okay,” He smiled. “Can I walk…fly you home?”
“No thanks. He doesn’t like visitors.”
“Right, before you go though…” He took one of her hands in his, and started playing with her fingers. Her knees about melted.
“Yeah?”
“There’s a formal dinner at Capsule Corp. in a couple weeks from now. I was kind of hoping you would be my guest. It would be nice to have someone there who isn’t completely dull.” He said.
“I would love to go.” She accepted without even thinking.
“Great, but I… hope to see you before then too.”
She smiled, “I’ll give you a call.”
He gave her a weird look.
“Really.” She laughed. “I will.”
“Okay,” He bent down and gave her another soft kiss. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” She said as she turned and walked away. She was grateful to be of some distance away when a tear slipped down her cheek. She had put up a good façade, but who knew how long it was going to last. ‘What am I going to do?’ She asked herself.
Trunks looked on as he saw her hop into the sky. He was disappointed that she had to leave so soon, but he wasn’t about to complain that he hadn’t had a good time. “Yes!” He yelled, while punching the air. He knew she was going to be invading his dreams again that night, and he couldn’t wait.