Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of DBZ.
The Truth
By: Blood-In-The-Stars
Trunks: 21
Pan: 18
He sighed looking out the window of his two hundredth floor view of the city in which is company was founded. He was the richest man in the world with the most pleasing lifestyle people would die and kill for all over the world. He had received everything he wanted since childbirth, all he had to do was point his finger at the object of desire and he would have it in a matter of seconds.
He was selfish and he knew it, but he felt so incomplete. His entire life was set for him for at least five lifetimes and he knew that his life wasn't perfect. A puzzle piece had been missing from his life since he's known her, the angel he couldn't get to fall from her Pedi stool in heaven to join him on earth.
She was one of the untouchables that he couldn't grasp into his rich, glowing hands that any woman would do so for him. She was different though, she wouldn't jump with his command, and she was the fighter that never stopped fighting. He wished he could point at her and she would be with him in a matter of seconds, but that could never be true.
He loved her ability to deny even the most powerful people; he loved her strong aura that could never rot from this earth. He wanted to point at her and she would be his but at the same time he didn't want that. He didn't want her to become weak minded and stupid, he just wanted her to be strong and loving like she always has been.
It killed him inside to know that tonight there were two possibilities and one would kill him on the spot. He would die inside and refuse to live in a rich life without sharing it with her. She was an obsession, a bright reminder of a past that he wish he could go back to. To a time where he was himself, to a time where he knew there was more to him than looks and riches, to a time where he was a person just like everyone else. She was the only one who could make him feel that and he had let it go then. He now vowed that he had to become what he once was and the only way to do that was gain her.
How many nights had he lost sleep from dreaming of her black silky hair slipping across his chest and her skin making his glow? How many nights had he awoken panting from the pleasures she gave him in his dreams? He couldn't count them right now, those dreams had been happening since outer space with her when he was only seventeen. She was at a new age of fourteen at that time, short but gorgeous. He couldn't classify these images he saw while sleeping dreams or nightmares. The dream of having her all to himself was a clear thought to anyone but the nightmare was waking up and realizing it was just and dream and that he didn't have her. The worst part was realizing that he might never have her and he never had her in the first place. That was the question that ate at his head day and night.
Her smell was in the air, whenever he looked up at the clouds her creamy face was there, when he took a step he would imagine another person there two feet right beside him where she should be. He knew he couldn't live like this anymore, she had to be his and she had to be in love with him back.
What if she doesn't love me? He thought in his head while rubbing his temple. His office door slammed, breaking his mind out of concentration.
"Trunks? What's wrong? Why aren't you working?" a blue haired woman asked him critically with her foot tapping on the floor of his office.
He sighed rubbing his eyes with his fingers, "Mother I think I'll take a sick day I'm just not feeling well. He took his briefcase and walked past her quickly, hoping that she would not be able to get a word out. His hopes were not granted when he heard his mother's voice as his hand just barely reached the door knob.
"Then maybe you should take a sick day everyday. You've been like this for four years Trunks. Ever since after that stupid parasite took over your mind and you were cured you just haven't been the same. What's wrong Trunks?"
"I could have killed her," he whispered between his lips remembering how he had been taken over and Pan was almost killed as a result of it. Bulma did not here what he said.
"What is it Trunks?"
"Mother I haven't been the same since the trip not that bastard of a parasite, who I am trying to forget still," he snapped at her with his hands starting to turn on the knob.
Bulma pointed her finger at her son and immediately shouted, "Don't you dare walk out that door!"
Trunks froze; he never disobeyed his mother unless his father said to do so.
"Your father has been telling me some things lately. I've found them hard to believe but somehow I think he maybe right. Trunks are you…sweety…god I don't know how to say this honey," his mother paused in her unsure ness.
He sighed heavily, he knew it was coming anyways so he might as well finish it for her, "You're about to ask: Are you heartbroken or in love, son?"
Bulma nodded and looked towards her son gratefully for finishing for her and she walked towards him to put his face in her hands, "I didn't want to believe it Trunks because in this world and in our position of life it's hard to love. We are the richest people in the world and it's hard to find someone who truly loves us. It's even hard to find friends who like us and who don't want just a quick ride to the top of the social status."
Trunks nodded, he already knew this, but he didn't want to be reminded of it constantly. It only told him that there was one person for him and one person only who would never use him.
"But I have to tell you one thing: those Son's are the truest friends we have. Your father doesn't like to admit it but Goku is his best friend for life. Chi Chi is my best friend, Goten and Gohan are yours, and then Pan is Bra's best friend as well. So we certainly lucked out with them."
He growled loudly enough to make her jump back and fear his clenching, uncontrollable hands that were in fists. Why did she have to mention the Son's at all? Why did she have to say that name that cursed his dreams? He couldn't take the pain that grew inside him like the shooting bamboo in China that grows a foot a day.
Looking over at his worried mother he gave her an apologetic look from snapping at her like that. She didn't know and she didn't mean to say anything to upset him and he knew that, "I'm sorry. I've just had a long day and I want to go out to clear my head," His voice was quiet but Bulma heard her son.
"You know our special party is at home tonight with all of our true friends you know? Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, Launch, Piccolo, The Chestnuts, The Son's, Uub's even coming. The whole crowd should cheer you up sweety," she said hopefully trying to put a smile on his face.
He cracked a smile for her, just a small one, to fulfill her hope. She smiled back and kissed him on the forehead, "Thank god you don't look like your father. I love those damn smiles of yours that you inherited from me. Whoever this girl is Trunks, try confronting her, and if you don't trust her completely then it wasn't meant to be. Okay?"
"Alright mom," he truly smiled at her this time, however, nervousness clutched his heart at the moment and he could almost feel the birth of butterflies ready to explore his stomach. He now rested his hand on the door to keep his posture straight and try to look at least acceptable for his mother.
Bulma smiled at him and gave him a motherly kiss on the cheek, "I hope everything works out for you Trunks," Bulma then quirked an eyebrow at him, "Can I leave now?"
He looked down and saw his hand was still on the doorknob, he quickly removed it in his embarrassment. Of course his mother couldn't exit with his hand on the door. He didn't know what he was thinking, "Sorry."
She just chuckled at him and said, "Let's hope you have a few more brain cells tonight honey."
"I'll be sure to remember that mother!" he called out after her as she disappeared into the elevator across the hall from his office.
He closed his office door and slid his back against it all the way to the floor. Tonight was the night of truths and he could either come out a victor or he could get rejected. He'd have to wait and see but seeing wasn't the hardest part. Every second of waiting was causing his heart to pound harder and it was getting to the point where Trunks thought he was about to get a heart attack.
Could she love him in return like he loved her?
Could she forgive him for not being there as much as he should have been for the past years?
Could she realize that he was the only love that she would ever need in this life time?
Will she see his fear when he tells her?
His fear of losing her was too painful but if she did love him he'd waste many years living in fear.
She approached the house walking beside her best friend from their recent shopping trip. Pan of course dreaded spending hours on end with her mother and a crazy shopping freak for a best friend. This party was important according to Bra; it was only just another one of Bulma's parties to Pan.
Bra started giggling as she looked at Pan and she responded by rolling her eyes, "Come on Pan! You know you looked gorgeous! I love your dress it's so beautiful!"
Pan just rolled her eyes again and grumbled at her friend. She waved her hand in the air as a sign of showing 'whatever' to Bra, "Spending five hours at the mall with you wasn't exactly a great day."
"Pan you look beautiful and you know it!" Bra said punching her in the arm jokingly with a perfect pout on her face to show her 'disappointment'.
She looked down at her black and red dress that was squeezing the perfect areas of her body. The dress was mostly black with an outline of red on the sides and red spaghetti straps going across her shoulders. The length of the dress when down to right above her knees and showed off a little bit of her legs for the peeking eyes to see. She was defiantly eye candy material for tonight.
Bra pulled and turned the door knob and the door creaked open with anticipation. According to Bra's motto it was always better late than never she also loved that when she was late everyone noticed them come into the building. Of course Bra's brilliant plans always worked because as soon as they opened the door everyone went to them to greet them.
"How's it been going Pan? You look fantastic!" Uub asked with Marron holding on to his arm proudly. They had been engaged for two months now and their wedding was in May.
"I've been great! You guys are so perfect for each other!" Pan smiled gleefully at the both of them.
Marron smiled back at one of her best friends, "Oh thank you Pan you're such a sweetheart! I've been meaning to ask you something. I've decided that I only need two bridesmaids for the wedding. So I've already asked Bra if she wanted to be one already and she said yes! But you've been so busy lately it's been hard to reach your since our graduation! Don't you want to be my bridesmaid too?"
She smiled apologetically to her friend and hugged her, "I would love to be one Marron! Oh I'm so sorry I've been so busy with work recently at King Enterprises! You remember they offered me a job right out of high school for my mathematical engineering capabilities that my father taught me!"
Marron gasped along with Uub in absolute shock, "But didn't Trunks offer you a job at Capsule Corporations after your dad retired? I thought you would work there as head engineer since you were your dad's apprentice."
Pan looked down at her shoes slightly angered at the moment while Marron put her hand over her mouth. "At King Enterprises they never forget important dates!" She yelled loudly enough to make sure Trunks (where ever he was) could hear her.
"Yeah I'm sorry Pan," Marron said looking down.
Pan smiled and waved off her anger, "It's alright Mar-Bear," she said using an old childhood name to lighten the mood, "I'm going to go talk to other people and I'll catch up with you guys later!"
"Okay Panny see you later!" Marron said her goodbye as Pan walked off.
She ran into her uncle Goten who was looking for Bra, his long time crush, of course. Pan quickly walked past him to the doors outside for some air. Later tonight Bra would have a date with her uncle and they would finally be happy together after years of tension for both of them. They had a crush on each other since childhood and Pan knew they deserved to be together.
Tonight Yamcha will get drunk and Vegeta will have fun kicking him out of the house for hitting on Bulma. Her father and mother would stay almost the whole night like most of the Son's and Briefs do together to talk of old times. Her grandmother would cuddle up with her grandfather and eventually fall into slumber on one of the couches. Uub will whisper into Marron's ear and they will giggle and go home to their apartment in to the city. 18 and Krillen will for awhile to reminisce with the others of past times before going home.
Pan knew that she herself would sit outside and stare at the stars for hours longer than usual. Normally at these parties her and Trunks would laugh and talk for hours while looking at them. But now she was a silhouette with the night and would remain that way until her family decided to go home. The stars were always the greatest comfort to her, especially now when she felt left out. She always felt that they were left out too out there in space all alone in the giant black abyss. Pan remembered visiting them and feeling like she was one with them she told that to Trunks one time and he smiled at her and said 'me too'. She couldn't believe she even trusted him enough to tell him those things now.
"Pan?" a voice disrupted the crisp night air around her. She turned around to capture the person who had intruded on her thoughts.
She was surprised to see him standing there, one with the night, as she was now. Glaring at him she turned back into her position to look at the stars, at least they didn't make her sick to the stomach. He daringly walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder and caressed her with his thumb.
"Panny why are you ignoring me?" he asked solemnly with his eyes glazed over in sadness. He had used the old childhood name that he always used to call her.
"Where the hell have you been?" She finally snapped suddenly. The looking of fury was terrifying to Trunks as he pulled his hand back.
He knew what she meant but he could not speak at the moment. "You're not my best friend anymore! You should just leave me alone like everyone else is at this party!"
"Everyone is leaving me alone too like they do at every party," he responded to her looking down at the ground innocently, "but that's why I've always had you. You and I always look at the stars together and I thought…" He paused at the moment sad that he was too afraid to talk to her sometimes.
"Well since you won't even finish I might as well finish for you! You thought wrong boxer boy," she sneered cruelly at him with snake like eyes appearing through the slits of her eyelids.
He looked up at her, "But Pan..." she cut him off.
"I don't know what kind of friend are you? You didn't show up for my birthday, or my graduation but you come out here and expect everything to be like old times! Well it's not Trunks! I bet you forgot my birthday and my graduation!"
Defensively, he shot back at her, "I never forgot any of them! I've just been afraid recently ok? You're an adult now and I've waited until I could finally tell you! I had so many plans to tell you! I meant to tell you at work, but no, you decided to work for the enemy and not me, you're best friend!"
"You're not my best friend anymore so why don't you just leave!" she screamed loudly so the frogs in the creek nearby stopped croaking and the crisp hair was now hot intensity building around them.
He clenched his fist in anger, not to ever hurt her of course, but to try and beat down the fury in him for being so stupid for not being there. "I would leave Pan except I refuse to run away anymore! I know everything about you! I know what makes you cry, what makes you happy, I know your weaknesses and strengths! I've known everything about you for all of these years yet I've had to watch those boyfriends of yours use you and hurt you for so long! You just wont listen to me anymore it's like I'm invisible!
I refuse to be invisible to you anymore Pan. All I want to do is tell you how I feel but I've never had the guts to do so. I've kept my innocence for you and you just haven't realized anything."
Pan stood frozen by Trunk's outburst, she had never seen him so angry before in her entire life. She wondered if this was the first one he had ever made, if it was he had just wasted it over her. What was he trying to tell her?
"Trunks," she said calmly towards him hoping to pacify his anger away, "you can say what you want to now."
Unclenching his fists finally he tilted his head upward to meet her eyes, to her surprise she saw fear in them. Slowly he had his hands approach her cheek, he flinched back when he almost reached her but he continued again when he noticed that she didn't move. Pan shook slightly when his hand came in contact with her cheek and curled lightly around her neck. Their breath was heavy and for a moment everything stood still around them, water at a near by hose in the garden stopped in mid- drop. The party music seemed to disappear and the frogs once again stopped croaking in the endless night.
"I want you to forgive me for everything, but mostly I want you to forgive me for this," after his final words he took a deep breath as he made the plunge, almost as if he was fulfilling a dare to jump into cold water.
Taking a step forward and using his hand to tilt her head up his lips descended on hers in perfect harmony. To his surprise when he took the plunge, her lips were warm and welcomed him with the taste was peaches and strawberries. Her pulled her closer when he found that she was responding to him with full force like he had hoped she would.
Trunks reluctantly released his lips from hers and stared silently into her chocolate eyes that were claiming his sky blue ones. She reached up and brushed a piece of hair out of his face while she pecked his lips with hers, "Pan, tell me you feel the same. Please tell me that you love me like I love you."
Her eyes were still locked with his when water gathered in her eyes and crept slowly down her face. "I do," she emphasized her words in order to get past her teary voice. She wrapped her arm around his back and buried her head in his shoulders while repeated, "I do, I do," over and over again. He stroked her back and while smelling and kissed her hair.
"I love you Pan," he said holding her tighter.
Pan sniffled and replied smiling, "I love you too."
"I was there at your birthday and graduation Pan. I wanted to go and see you so badly but I was scared. I made all these goals to tell you on these important days but I couldn't I kept on freaking out at the last minute," he admitted softly in her ear.
"We'll pretend it's my birthday then and I just got the biggest present of all," reassured his while her hand caressed his cheek.
"I've loved you for so long I just didn't know how to say it to you," his voice sounded relieved as if years of watching what he said to her had done a number on his voice, "I've been dreaming about you," he finally said truthfully.
"I've been dreaming about you as well," she said, "but then to be honest I never imagined in my dreams that our first kiss would end up with us floating a hundred feet in the air above the house."
Trunks looked down and chuckled to himself but then put a serious face on, "This is the way it should be. I have something for you that I picked out for you three and a half years ago."
"What is it?"
Tugging at his pocket for a while he finally was able to grasp the possession he had kept for her, "I don't know if it's too soon but I've dreamed of this as well. Would you be Mrs. Briefs?"
Pan looked up into his eyes in immediate shock and took the ring from him. She stared at it silently knowing that it must have cost him a fortune. The ring was white gold with blue sapphires surrounding a round cut four carat white diamond, "Trunks," she gasped.
"Will you?" he pressed further with his eyes still on her in anticipation.
"Yes I will!" She didn't stop the tears of joy falling from her eyes this time.
"There are conditions though…"
"Oh god here comes the torture," Pan said rolling her eyes sarcastically.
"I'm not that mean! I just want you to come and replace your dad's position at C.C.!"
"Deal," she said calmly but not truly paying attention.
"Pan why are you looking at me like that?"
"So what kind of dreams were they? Were they hot?" Pan said winking at Trunks who blushed.
"Well …um," he scratched his head.
"And were you serious about keeping innocence? Because we should correct that, I think you're too old to be a virgin! I am too!" she gleefully added at the end while seductively looking him in the eyes.
"Are you sure?" he asked quietly but inside he was excited and ready to go any minutes.
"Yes," she whispered in his ear before nipping at it lightly.
They took off into the sky towards his room and collapsed together on his bed. As long as they were living they would have each other, want each other, and need each other. There was no holding back now. At the end of the night whispers of I love you can be heard from a bedroom while two people stare at the stars that made them never feel alone. If one were to say 'The End' now it would never be true, Trunks and Pan's love will never fade or be torn, because together forever they shall be…
May their lives continue happily because there are no ends.
Review please…and absolutely no flames.
