He jumped out of the yellow time machine and pressed the button to fold it into a capsule. Placing it safely in his capsule box then returning it to his inside coat pocket, he turned and scanned the area. It looked like home but it didn't feel like home. "I suppose one doesn't really ever become comfortable with time travel." he thought to himself as he started climbing the hillside leading into the West City where Capsule Corporation would be located.
As he made it to the very top, he stopped so he could once again scan the area. The landscape was the same yet it felt foreign to him. Still, it was good to be home. It was good to have his feet on the ground. Before he could ponder it any longer, he felt an energy, a strong one... impressive actually. He heard a motorcycle engine getting louder indicating it was coming toward him. He only had to wait a few seconds before he saw the rider. It was a woman, dressed in black and brown vertically striped pants with heavy, black combat boots. She wore a black tank shirt with gun holsters fastened below her chest, around her hips, and around the thigh of her right leg. She wore goggles that reminded Trunks of what people wore around the time they invented automobiles; round, thick glasses with leather straps. Her coal black hair was divided into two very long, shiny braids. Her arms were muscular, Trunks noticed and, to his surprise, admired, even though they were covered up to her biceps by long, fingerless gloves. "Who is this?" Trunks wondered.
She rode to a few feet from him before she lay the motorcycle down on the ground while jumping off so she could run to him. She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. Trunks stood there, dumbfounded and shocked. He couldn't respond to her embrace or kiss, yet he couldn't move away from her either. Her hair was soft and she smelled like the gardenias from his grandmother's garden in the alternate time where he had first time travelled. He wouldn't allow himself to actually feel her embrace let alone her kiss. He was simply stunned.
She realized finally that Trunks was not responding to her. She broke away from him and searched his face. "Trunks," she spoke in a quiet, concerned voice. "Are you okay? Where have you been? Are you hurt?" She stepped back and looked him over then met his eyes again.
"You know me?" Trunk asked her increduously. His eyes widened in disbelief. She smiled at him as if he were joking.
"No, I do not know, you. I greet everyone that way." She laughed. Her voice was mesmerizing to him. She swatted his arm. "Of course, silly. You have been gone away so long that you have forgotten all about me, then?" She smiled at him showing how wide her lips and how white her teeth were. Trunks was confused. He'd never met this woman before in his life, that much he knew for sure and yet, he was attracted to her. He noticed every detail about her and was entranced by her. He had never felt this way about anyone, ever.
The longer he stood staring at her, without answering her, the more concerned she became. Slowly her smile receded, hiding her teeth first, then eventually disappearing from her face altogether. It seemed ages that they stood there, on top of that hill, just staring at each other... but in reality, it was only a few minutes. She finally sighed and glanced at her motorcycle. She walked over and heaved it upright in order to put the kickstand down. She busily dusted it off, sneaking glances at him, not understanding what had happened to him or why he wasn't talking to her. When she could take it no longer, she turned and put her hands on her hips. Trunks thought at first she might be drawing a weapon. But then he realized that she had the same stance that Bulma or Chi Chi would take when they were about to yell at their spouses.
"So tell me, I demand to know," she began obviously trying to keep the panic out of her voice, "Trunks, what is going on? What is your problem? Where have you been AND what HAPPENED?"
"Wow!" he thought, "I don't know her but I really, really think I want to know her." He stood there lamenting the fact that he hadn't repsonded to her when she said hello to him. He began to imagine her doing it again and this time what he would have done differently, mainly returning her kiss.
"Hey!" she yelled and snapped her fingers at him breaking his trance. "Are you even listening to me?" Now anger dripped a little over each of her words and believe it or not... he still felt smitten. "What is happening to me?" Trunks thought feeling uneasy. She would have done a better job getting an answer had she pulled a weapon out, that he could have handled. This, he could not.
"I'm sorry.." he began lifting both hands up the way he had seen Goku do many times when trying to calm Chi Chi down. "I don't know you, I've never met you before in my life. But please, you have to believe me when I say that I DO want to get to know you." His cheeks flushed pink, "I do."
At this, she burst out laughing. "Oh no, you poor, poor man! I am so sorry that I didn't see it before you are obviously Trunks but you are not MY Trunks!" Trunks who was struggling to maintain his disposition with her, at once became focused on the matter at hand. Now it all made sense to him. "Of course!" He quickly agreed, "I thought this place seemed foreign to me yet it is home. Well that explains that." He glanced around but quickly found himself looking back to her not wanting to see anything else. "So where am I? What year is it and how do we know each other?"
She grinned at him and straddled her bike. "Come, let's get you home and then we can talk." She reved her engine and glanced at him slyly.. "So would you like a ride or shall we race?" Trunks felt an energy surge through his body. He was turned on by her and there was no way he was going to ride behind her feeling that way. "Race!" He said immediately and took flight in the air toward the city. The mystery woman spun her back tire and lurched forward. "It's ON!" She yelled, knowing full well that he didn't hear her and that she would lose the race.
Trunks was anxious to see Capsule Corporation. The state of it would give him an idea as to which timeline he was in or if he was in a new timeline. "It's possible the date on the time machine was messed up; although I'm sure I checked it." He thought to himself as he raced through the sky.
As he cleared through some clouds, Trunks looked down and saw the headquarters and parts of the Atrium. He swerved around in time to see his mother, Bulma and Gohan's wife, Videl waving to him from the balcony. He smiled and waved in return, slowing down so he could land on the balcony. He glanced around, pleased that the mystery woman did not get ahead of him.
"Trunks! You're home!" exclaimed Bulma hugging him as he blushed and smiled at Videl who also greeted him. "Welcome home, Trunks. We've all missed you." Videl added patting his arm.
"Yeah, about that..." Trunks began but was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle sliding to a stop. "I wasn't too far behind!" the young woman called as she put the stand down and angled her bike into park. Then she flew up to the balcony and landed gracefully in front of them. Trunks narrowed his eyes at her beginning to fear the worst.
Bulma laughed, "Let me guess, you two raced here, didn't you?" Videl smiled at Trunks then put her arm around him, "Pan knew you were back, she immediately sensed your return. I've never seen her move so fast!" Bulma agreed, "She started to fly off then decided to grab her bike since she didn't know what kind of condition you'd be in..." at that the three women looked down and then shyly at him and then each other.
"PAN!" Trunks was horrified. "OH NO! No! No! no! no!" His mind was screaming. It couldn't be possible. In fact, this was absolutely impossible. "Definitely a completely different timeline." Trunks muttered under his breath wryly. Pan heard him and smiled sadly. "Uh, Mom, Bulma, this isn't our Trunks." Bulma looked from Trunks to Pan, "What do mean? It certainly looks like our Trunks." "Give her a chance to explain, Bulma." said Videl. "Here, why don't we all sit down." She pulled out a chair and motioned for Trunks to sit down. He didn't want to sit down. He wanted to collect the information he needed concerning the time and date so he could get in his time machine and get back to reality. His reality. The one where Pan is just a child; Goku's granddaughter; Gohan's daughter. He didn't want Pan to be some enchanting, young woman that he wanted to embrace and kiss and smell her hair again. He remained standing.
"He didn't know me." Pan blurted out. "He had no idea! NONE! That's what I mean." Bulma and Videl gasped. They both stared at Trunks. "Well..." Videl asked cautiously, "do you know who we are, then?" Bulma sat down in a chair and waved her hand as if swatting a fly away from her. "Of course he knows his mother!" Videl turned to Bulma and quietly sat down next to her. The three women were silent for a moment. Finally, Bulma looked up at him with a grin. "Are you hungry?" Trunks grinned back at her. "Always." he answered.
Bulma and Trunks headed toward the kitchen leaving Pan and Videl on the balcony. They both understood that Bulma wanted to speak to her son, whichever timeline he came from, she considered him to be her son.
"So, what's going on in your reality?" She asked casually with a smile as she began pulling ingredients from the refrigerator. Trunks loved this about his Mom. No matter what the situation was, she always found a way to remain calm and easygoing. "I was returning home from New Planet Vegeta." Bulma gasped. "What? Are you kidding me? There's a new planet Vegeta?" Trunks smiled as he took a bite from the plate of food she placed before him. "Not quite." he chuckled. "It was a ploy to destroy my father. Long story. Another time?" Bulma nodded her head in agreement. She wiped down the counter and poured herself something hot to drink. As she sat down beside him, she sighed. "I hope my Trunks is okay." Trunks reached out and touched her hand. "I'm sure he is." He smiled. She smiled back at him.
Bulma studied him for a minute. "I bet you are wondering all about us." Trunks nodded. "Okay," Bulma drew a deep breath and began. "Goku died of a heart disease. The sad thing about it is, the medicine that could have saved him was developed just a few years later. Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillen, and your father, Vegeta, were all destroyed..." "By the androids," Trunks interrupted her. "I travelled back through time and delivered the medicine myself." Bulma shrugged her shoulders and continued to tell him what happened. "A few years later, an alien named, Frieza, showed up and proceeded to take over the planet." Trunks froze. "How is THAT even possible. The androids would have easily destroyed Frieza! Nevermind that he was already destroyed BEFORE the androids came here." Bulma looked at him quizzically. Before she could answer, Trunks stood up. "I'm sorry. I really am. But this..." he shook his head, "this is messed up... this is crazy. I'm sorry. I have to go." Bulma jumped up and approached him. "Oh Trunks! I'm sorry too. Of course, I understand. I really do." She hugged him tightly and then let him go.
He rushed out the door and propelled himself to the sky, heading out of town. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't sense he was not alone. "Pan and I are together? Frieza came to earth and overtook the androids? Goku, my father, everyone is dead?" Trunks couldn't believe any of it. As he landed, he reached into his pocket to pull out his time machine capsule. "You're leaving without saying good bye to me?" Trunks spun around and came face to face with Pan. "I have to go." He simply stated. "Fine, then go." Pan said flippantly. She crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in the air. Trunks chuckled, "There's the girl I know." he thought to himself ruefully. He pushed the capsule button and threw it. As the time machine appeared, he started toward it, feeling a sense of relief to be gone from this timeline.
"Wait!" Pan ran to him. "Wait, please!" She grabbed his arm. "Please, I just want to talk to you. I know you're freaked out about the Freiza thing and I know I'm being selfish here but I just really, want to just... talk." Pan gulped. "I miss you so much."
Trunks sucked in his breath. "I'm not him."
"I know, I know... I know that. I just... I miss him, okay. I know." she began again.
"How are the two of you even together? I'm repulsed actually, the age difference alone, not to mention you're a child, you... it's wrong...no matter how you look at it... it's wrong."
Pan looked at him in disbelief. Big tears formed in her eyes. "How could you say that to me? She stuttered, "You, you, you, you LOVE me!' She glared at him.
"I'm sure I do." He answered quietly. Pan raised her eyebrows at him and took a deep breath. She tried again. "You and my father were best friends. He trained you and me, together." Pan started to explain.
Trunks held up a hand to her. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"Fine then go!" Pan spit at him. "My Trunks would have offered to help. My Trunks is a good guy, strong, brave and not afraid of anything."
Trunks knew he should ignore her. He knew she was goading him. He knew the best way to handle this situation was to leave... yet he didn't have the strength to let that biting comment go. "I am a good guy." He corrected her.
She smiled victoriously, "Oh, are you now?" she sang to him. Trunks rolled his eyes. "I suppose you are strong and brave too." she teased. Trunks smirked at her. "So I've been told by a few..." Pan laughed. "I love it when she laughs." he thought to himself. "And helpful too, then?" Pan asked innocently. Trunks knew he was defeated right then and there. He ran his hands through his long lavendar hair and hugged the back of his neck for a second asked her quietly. "How may I help you?"
She walked over to a fallen log and sat down, patting the spot beside her. He politely joined her. "He left a little over a year ago. Have you ever heard of a Dr. Gero?" Trunks nodded. "Well, Frieza hunted him down. He wanted his laboratory and all of his work. Bulma was scared to death that Capsule Corporation would be next."
"And was it?" Trunks asked her, now wanting to know more. Pan shook her head. "No, it was really strange. Frieza took Dr. Gero, all the androids, his army... everything and left the planet. Just like that; without a fight." Trunks noticed the way her eyebrows knitted together as she told him the story. He also couldn't help but to notice that she still smelled like gardenias. "My father anticipated Frieza's return with an android army. And sure enough, just a couple of years later, he did." Trunks eyes widened. "What happened then?"
Pan stood up and faced him. "We fought. My father was killed and you destroyed Frieza. The bulk of the androids escaped though and that's where you went.. after them. It's been over a year now. I wanted to go with you but you made me promise to stay here to protect Earth. Where are you?" Pan choked back her tears. Trunks rushed to her and pulled her to him. "It's okay, Pan." he whispered soothingly in her ear, feeling terrible that he was enjoying her embrace even though it was clearly not for him to enjoy.