Author's Note: This is a Trunks and Pan fic. If you don't like this couple please don't read, and if you do anyway you aren't allowed to flame me. The characters may be OOC in some parts, but bear with me. This fic is fluff, read ahead at your own risk.

Come Stop The Rain

By: SilverInochi Briefs

*****

The dark clouds of the May morning came closer together, signaling a gloomy and down right terrible day. I didn't care though, I had one thing in my life that shone no matter how many clouds were in the sky and no matter how much nature apposed it. She hated it when I said things like that, but hell, a man can say what's on his mind, can't he?

Her apartment is on the top floor of an elevaterless building. To any normal Saiya-jin, this wouldn't bother them. To me, Mr. President of Dunkin' Donuts, going up fifteen floors on foot isn't the way one plans their afternoon. More like a night afternoon rump and then a couple of TV dinners myself, nothing too romantic... but no, here I am, marching up stair 124, and cursing at the cobwebs over in the corner. She says this keeps her fit. I say it's a royal pain in the ass.

Don't get me wrong, I do work out. Not this way of course, but the biweekly beating by my father does works out well into my muscular structure. You never could tell that man you were tired, he'd beat the shit out of you at five in the morning with a big grin on his face and a spring in his step. It almost makes you want to stay home and see how happy cleaning the floor in the gravity room with your face would make him. But then, you rationalize with yourself, you get the same satisfaction out of your mother whenever you show up at work.

I wonder if my parents are sadists...

Anyway, this apartment building is old, with mainly old people living in it. I love the old folk, some of them are sweet and nice. Especially Mrs. Tsukino on the third floor, ever since that fire-breathing husband of hers kicked the bucket, she's given me a new pie every day. And all I have to do is wink at her. It sorta makes a guy know he's got options... not that I need them, I can always pass them on to Goten...

Her apartment is never clean. I do not complain about this, because such an atmosphere makes me feel right at home, seeing as my own bedroom holds similar underwear on bedpost coziness. And with that couple screaming at each other in the flat below us, I never feel homesick after a nice night here. It's like waking up on Saturday when I was a kid. Get out of bed, put on yesterday's clothes, pour some milk into a cereal box and eat it all while watching Bugs Bunny beat that stupid Fud person.

She's waiting for me right outside her door, as she usually is, because I never plan the thirty-minute walk up the stairs. I would fly, but Gohan tried that once and the landlord got a bit pissy. He doesn't try such foolish and convenient things anymore. Two years ago, I would ask her if Goten and I could go inside and take a breather, but she'd slap us both and send us down marching. I always hated that. It's funny how now my energy is instantly rejuvenated at the sight of her bright eyes and sunny face.

"Hi Trunks!" she says, in that more commonly cheery voice. She was always such a pessimist as a kid, always complaining about how no one cared about her, or about how it wasn't fair that none of the boys liked her and all that other girl stuff Goten and I would never understand. Bra and Marron would try to help, but that usually involved dresses and makeup, and that didn't fly with her. I take that back, it did... right out the window.

"Hey there Pan," I said, standing in front of her with my hands in my pockets, sagging my already saggy jeans a little lower. This was the way our greeting usually went, me staring at my shoes. She giggled a bit, holding her hand over her mouth to not bother anyone else. That lovely little hand, however, didn't stay there. I felt it under my chin a few minutes later, lifting my face to meet hers. She was still smiling sweetly, looking from side to side before I attacked her mouth with mine.

She laughed against my mouth, causing her lips to vibrate, and making mine curl into a smile. I loved things like this, it almost makes you forget that it's raining. It almost makes you forget you have to go to work tomorrow. It almost makes you forget she has a neighbor... however, the voice of that damn woman is enough to make you remember pretty damn fast.

"How many times do I have to open my door, and see you two at it in the hallway? Why can't you start that in your apartment? I have seven children, do you think they want to open the front door and see you two making out on their doorstep? What if it had been one of them?! They're babies, they're still to young to know where they came from..."

You know, I find it hard to believe that woman has ever had sex.

"Honestly, your irresponsible actions will get you both into trouble someday! You might wake up nine months from now and have seven children of your own to support! How would you handle that, huh? You, Pan, with your teaching martial arts, and you boy, with whatever it is you do!-" Has this woman left her house in twenty years?- "How would you support a family of your own?"

Bitch.

Pan looked hurt and shocked at the woman, and for a few moments my only desire was the beat the mouth right off that woman, tear out her voice box, and feed her insides to my father. How dare she say stuff like that? I alone could support a family, and Pan wouldn't have to do a thing... but she'd want to, so I'd let her. You can't be raised going to Women Power Rallies without know a thing or two about independent women, I tell ya.

Pan waved it off though, bowing her head and apologizing to that awful slime of a woman, saying something about how she was sorry that we bothered her and her large family. She grabbed my arm, and yanked me away from my place, and making me almost topple over on top of her. She almost ran down the first flight of stairs, before stopping and choking, "I think that's so funny!" she said, laughing in an almost painful manner.

I didn't get it, "What's funny about it?" I asked, crossing my arms and turning my head away, glaring at the chipping paint of the side of the stairwell, "that woman is mean, bitchy, rude, she's probably PMSing, which only makes the whole thing worse..." I continued, about ready to list all the things that would make a woman be that rude to anyone else. I knew the reasons man, I could write you a book about them...

"Trunks, Trunks, hun, you don't get it," she said, shaking her head, and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Her face was calm and smiling, but at the same time scary. I knew Pan. If a woman insulted her like that, she would have threatened to punch her face in before apologizing and laughing about it later. "That's got nothing to do with what I was laughing about. You know me, I wouldn't be laughing about that kind of thing. Silly."

Now I was just itching to know, "Well," I said, straightening up and then promptly lazing my knee to a bit of a slouch, "I don't get it Pan, what's so funny about what that bitch just said? Huh?" The had to be good, she was never a happy person about this kind of sick, disgusting thing. Little did I know the response would be something to break my heart for the rest of the day.

"Trunks," she said, losing the cheeriness in her smile, "she was right."

***

We didn't talk much during lunch. I can't imagine what she was thinking, I couldn't believe what I was thinking, and I think we were both a little too dumbfounded to even contemplate what should happen next. All I did was poke at my food and wonder what she meant. Was the whole relationship over? Was it some kind of sign that women gave off to scare men? Was I thinking about this too hard?

Was it true?

We went for a short walk afterward, though my favorite part of the park. She didn't say anything about the light drizzle, and she didn't say anything about before. She just stared ahead, not saying anything. I wanted to say something, but I had that nasty thought of what if I said something wrong, or what if she didn't want to talk about it... but you know me, nothing stays in my head to long before it come out my mouth, hee hee, "Were you telling the truth?"

Pan didn't stop walking, she didn't stop looking ahead, and her voice simply screamed that whatever train of thought she'd been having hadn't stopped either, "What are you talking about?" she asked calmly, as if daring me to say what she'd been thinking all afternoon, "Was I tell the truth about what?" she stopped walking, and so did I. She was a foot or two ahead of me, and her face never lost it's placid expression.

"You know what I'm talking about," I said, crossing my arms, and allowing the now harsh rain soak through my hair, "Back in your building," I paused, not liking the way I phrased that, "Last time we talked," Oh yeah Trunks, make it sound like you've been holding this in for five years, way to go buddy! "You said that woman was right, and that we'd make terrible parents. That neither of us could ever support a family and our lives would be hell... I'm asking you, do you honestly think that?"

"Did I stutter when I said it?"

"Pan," I said, more confused now that I knew the truth, "What in the hell would make you say something like that? You can't honestly believe that woman... I mean, her youngest child is about ten and she's afraid about it knowing about sex. I knew about sex before I even knew how to say the word! All I had to do was ask good old Daddy! He'd tell me just about anything about the female anatomy, I mean-"

"That's just it!" she said, turning and walking away again, "Don't you get it?" she asked, turning back to me and putting her hands into her long black hair, "Say what you want to Trunks, but if someone gave you a baby to take care of you wouldn't no the first way to do it! Your father never knew right from wrong, and I'm sure his father didn't either, and if you were a dad you'd be the same way! I'm not saying it's a bad thing Trunks, I'd make a terrible mother too. I never got along well with children, and I'm in no rush to have them, and I always thought that if I never had any I'd be doing a favor to society. But now Grandma ChiChi has this crazy idea that Uncle Goten is never going to settle down and I'm in charge of the whole fucking Son gene pool and..."

I kissed her, her rambling was getting annoying. And scary. But it was only scary because it made perfect and normal sense. The biological clock was ticking. I should find that funny though, because she's only 25, but when you're messing with ChiChi you're messing with the food intake of the strongest fighters in the universe. No one wants some big purple dinosaur taking over planet Earth with the whole Son family DOA because ChiChi was on strike would you?

"Trunks no," she said, putting her fingers over my mouth, and shaking her head, "This whole thing is worse than you can imagine. Trunks, we need to be realistic about it. This is really fun, your relationship has taught me things and helped me learn to try and be independent, but Trunks, I'm scared about my future, and sometimes you just need to let things go-"

"No," I said, my voice just above a growl, "don't you start talking like that because of what some woman with seven kids said to you. It's not worth your time or your energy. You're a lovely person Pan, you really are, and you're going to make a wonderful mother someday, and you're going to have beautiful children, and I can only hope I can be the beautiful husband who you do all this with... but if I'm not," I said, trying my best to be realistic, "you'll do a wonderful job anyway because you're a strong person and you think fast on your feet. You can do anything you want to and I love you for that."

Pan looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was practically pouring now, the rain was hanging off her nose, and her chin, and I wanted to kiss it all away as fast as I could even try to. But I wasn't going to. I had to be mature about this. Pan was being serious about serious adult issues. I had to be serious about them too, seeing as I was older than she was. It was my duty. She blinked, trying no to sniffle, "Trunks, I want to go home."

***

So I took her home. She smiled weakly at the door, turning and walking inside, leaving the door unlocked behind her. I sat in the hall for almost twenty minutes trying to think of a way to make this problem seem less fatal. There had to be a way I could help her. One way I could prove we both knew what we were doing, and that we could do anything together. And the idea hit me like a boulder rolling down a mountain.

I found myself running up the stairs a short while later, jumping a few here and there, in no way feeling the usual pain I felt when I came up the stairs. I nodded to Mrs. Tsukino down the hall as I passed her floor, and she yelled something about an apple pie waiting for me. I ignored the bitchy woman next door as I passed her a floor down, and I gave her the finger when she yelled to me to be quiet in the apartment because her brats were sleeping.

I noticed when I got in, that Pan had cleaned her apartment. She almost never did that, which told me she was stressed and worried, and I could only hope that it wasn't anything to do with fearing I might not show up again. I didn't pause to think about the fact that I was still soaked until I was halfway to the living room, but it didn't seem to be that big of a deal. I found Pan sitting on the floor by her sliding balcony doors, her legs pulled up to her chest, wet jeans meeting wet yellow shirt. Her orange bandanna was tied tight in her head, and that only meant she was feeling insecure. Her hair was slowly drying, but was still wet enough to look as though she just got out of a swimming pool.

She looked surprised to see me there, as if she didn't think I would ever come back to see her again. If I were in a similar situation I'm sure I would have too, but at the moment there was only one thing I could think about. "Trunks, what are you doing here?" she asked, suddenly shaking her head as if scolding herself for asking a question like that, "Why did you come back? After everything I said... Trunks I-"

"Pan listen," I said, sitting down next to her, and taking her hands in mine, causing her legs to drop down to her side, "I know you're scared, and I know that your life isn't looking easy, or fair, or anything you even want to think about- or ever should think about right now. But you are, and now I am too, and I want it to be easier. I don't want to lose what I have with you, I don't want you to worry about your future well-being.

"But I want to ask you something," I said, shifting my weight, "you don't have to say yes, you don't need to answer, but I need to ask. I need to know if I can have the chance to be the sorry bastard to wake up the fifteen flights to this apartment and walk right into a pile of clothes and step on hair pins and call it home. I want to burn breakfast for you every Saturday morning and wake you with it's nasty aroma, and have you smile and eat it anyway. I want to wake up and not want to go to work not because I hate it but because I have a reason to," I took a deep breath, "I want the chance to spend the rest of my life being a terrible parent with you."

Pan bit her lip, trying her best not to sniffle, but crying all the same, "Oh Trunks... that's just-"

"No, there's more," I said, sitting up on my knees on an unstable balance, "I've known you in theory for your whole life. But what most people can't see is that, what no one but you and I can't see is, I haven't known you in the way I love for more than a year. It's corny, but yes, I've fallen so deeply for you that I now have to wonder what in the world I was doing before you were part of my life... I know what you feel even when you don't say anything, and you... save me. Pan, I'm asking as a man, as a Saiya-jin, and as a wounded warrior, if you would please take me for yours forever."

Pan didn't need hours. She didn't need days. She didn't even need fifteen seconds. No sooner had the worlds left my mouth and she nodded and hugged me, knocking me off my wobbly perch and send me crashing to the floor, "Yes Trunks, I will take you, and keep you, and hold you close for as long I can. Thank you Trunks, thank you," she said, running a finger over my lips before kissing me with all I thought she could and then some, "I look forward to an eternity with you."

"So do I," I said, smiling, "I hope this solved your problem," I smiled, "because there's an apple pie waiting for me downstairs and it's starting to weep my name..." then a thought hit me, "Oh shit!" I said, "I forgot to give you your ring!" I began to quickly fumble through my pockets, and Pan moved other to the other side so it would be easier. I held the box out in my hand like a prize, smiling triumphantly as I opened it and held out her ring.

It had a wide band that was made of silver, sized with a ring she'd left at my house a few nights ago. There were tiny emeralds laced all the way around it in the shapes of ivy leaves, and it bore little ruby roses every leaf. In the middle on the top was a yellow diamond the shape of a star, that sparkled in the lighting of the corner. She stared at it for a few minutes, and I began to wonder if she hated it, before she turned to me again with teary eyes, "It's beautiful Trunks, simply gorgeous! How on Earth could you afford-"

"I come from the richest family in the world Pan," I said, rolling over so I was on my hands and knees over her small frame, "You shouldn't ask such silly questions," I said, putting all my upper weight on one side and sliding the ring on her finger, "How about we put this ring on, and celebrate our engagement... our parents don't need to know until tomorrow," I said, grinning.

"Oh but Trunks!" she laughed, hitting me on the side of my arm, "the kids next store, they could hear us! We'd be setting a bad example," I started nibbling on her neck obviously not giving a shit, "Trunks, Trunks what are you going to do when we have children?! You can't very well have your way here in the living room with a five year old in the place!" he giggled as I moved on to her collar bone.

Leaned forward and looked her in the eye, "Perhaps not," I grinned, "All the more reason for me to right now..."

Neither of us would notice for several hours that the rain had stopped. According to the weather guy, and that bitchy woman next door, it ended right around the time Pan and I got engaged. Funny isn't it? Mother Nature was almost telling us it was meant to be...

*****