Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT or any of the DB, Z/GT characters. They belong to Akira Toryama. This fan fiction is solely for the entertainment of the readers and to practice my own writing abilities. I do however own the story ideas/plot and any non DB/Z/GT characters. So no stealing! (I might change my mind if you ask.)
A/N: Hey guys. This is my first fan fiction ever so please don't be too harsh. Anyways, sorry Trunks/Marron fans, but I really like Trunks/Pan, Goten/Bra, and Uub/Marron pairings. Please don't be angry. I just think these guys look cutest in these pairings. This is a medieval setting. Well I hope you guys like my story. Please read and review!
EDIT: I've decided to come back through and rewrite part of the story. When I first started it I didn't have everything figured out. Later parts in the story do not match up with earlier parts. So I'm rewriting a few things and editing the beginning. It is also Alternate Universe for future readers. They don't have their Saiya-Jin powers, they can't fly and there is no Saiya-jin blood. They are strong and heal faster than normal.
And as a warning for people who want to come back and reread these rewritten chapters, Trunks' character has changed quite a bit from the original beginning. Didn't want to shock you too badly without warning. He's not very nice to say the least.
Part I
"One year, three months, two weeks, and five days," she sighed as she scratched a new line on the wall. It was covered in similar marks made by a small stone she had found a while back. She walked to the window, staring out at the land around the ancient tower with her dark blue eyes, midnight colored locks hanging in her face. She doubted anyone knew she was there, much less would come to rescue her. She had tried countless times to open the large oak doors, which were the only entrance and exit to the tower, to find them sealed shut. She had felt a strange aura around the doors whenever she ventured near them, the kind of aura she felt only if she were in the presence of a magic spell. She somehow survived the quiet and the loneliness, finding things to do to pass the time away. Earlier on in her imprisonment in the tower she had found a wardrobe filled with clothes and had changed out of the dress she had been wearing into something more comfortable. Though it did seem odd to her that there would be clothes in the old, abandoned tower. Sighing again, she turned away from the window and headed out of the room.
"There is still more of the tower I haven't bothered to explore," she said out loud to herself, her voice echoing in the hall. She headed for the nearest staircase that lead up towards the top of the tower. It was pretty tall, and she hadn't wanted to explore it at first, spending most of the time trying to get out. She didn't think that she would be spending the next year or so here. There was still much to explore. She pulled the stone out of her pocket that she used to mark the days and her path so she wouldn't get lost trying to come back down. She climbed for a while before she made it to the last spot she marked where she had last stopped. Tired, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath for a moment. She rested one hand against a stone for a moment before pushing herself off from the wall with the same hand. Suddenly the stone under her hand began to move in from the pressure she was putting against it. This startled her and she jumped away from the wall, watching in awe at what was happening. Stones began sliding in and moving to either side, creating a doorway into a room she had never seen before. One she probably wouldn't have found had she not been leaning on the wall. She stood staring with her mouth slightly open until the stones stopped moving.
She snapped out of her trance as curiosity got the better of her and she cautiously stepped into the room. In the direct center of the room laid a rectangular shaped, glass coffin. She walked towards it, wondering what something like that was doing in this tower. That's when she saw that someone was in it.
"Oh, my God!" she screamed backing away from it. Inside it was a young man. What on Earth is a dead man doing in here! Her mind screamed. After a moment she slowly took a step forward for a closer look, to be sure that what she saw was real. When she got close enough to see inside the coffin again, the man was awake and pushing against the lid of the coffin. She froze for a moment before she realized that he would run out of air soon if she didn't help him. She quickly went to the right side of the coffin, gripping the edge. She pulled upwards and pushed away from herself with his effort to get the lid off, it sliding down off to the other side. He sat up in the coffin, coughing as a strange liquid sloshed onto the floor. He was soaking wet, his lavender hair clinging to his face. He appeared to be glowing to her, the liquid giving off a strange blue light. She studied him a moment as he looked around the room. His eyes were a beautiful blue color with flecks of sapphire in them. He reached up to move some of his hair that was plastered to his face out of his eyes. He shivered, the liquid causing the coolness of the room to seem greater than it was. He turned his head to look back at her, his eyes narrowing.
"W-w-who th-th-the hell are y-y-you?" he asked, teeth chatting as he shivered. She narrowed her own eyes at his rudeness.
"The person that just saved your butt from that coffin you're sitting in. You don't have to be rude, you know," she replied. He closed his eyes for a moment before rephrasing his question.
"What is your name and what are you doing here?" he asked through his teeth.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I'll be nice and answer you. My name is Son Pan. I don't know why I'm here. I was mistakenly locked inside," she answered. He looked at her curiously, studying her.
"A Son, huh? I apologize for my earlier rudeness. I have my reasons for doing such," he replied, looking away.
"Who are you then? How do you know my family?" she asked. He looked back up at her with those strangely beautiful eyes.
"My name is Trunks Vegeta Briefs. Your family are old friends of mine," he answered. Her eyes widened.
"You can't be Trunks Briefs. That's the prince's name and he's dead!" she cried.
"No, not quite, but almost. I don't have to prove myself to you, but if it helps I'll explain. I was out riding one day when something, or rather someone, spooked my horse. I was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. When I woke up I was in the hospital ward in the castle. Someone must have poisoned me. That's all I remember," he said, looking away again. She held her hand out to him to help him out of the coffin. He looked at her hand before looking up into her face. She saw a look of defiance there as he raised his hands and put them on either side of the coffin, attempting to lift himself up out of it. She huffed a sigh and let him do as he pleased. He tried to move his legs, but having been shut up and unmoving for so long they refused to work for him, so he had to use his upper body strength to get out. His hands were still pretty wet and as he was almost over the side of the coffin his hands slid, causing him to fall in a heap to the cold stone floor. Pan moved forward slightly to help, but caught sight of something that reveal the truth to her; a gold ring on one of his outstretched hands with his family's crest stamped into the metal. She gasped, rushing forward.
"Your Highness, let me help you" she said, kneeling beside him on the floor. He tried pushing himself up with his hands, but his energy was spent and he fell to the floor again. He tried to crawl across the floor with his arms instead. "Such a stubborn fool." she muttered to herself.
"So what makes you believe me now?" he asked, glaring up at her from the floor. She pointed to his hand with the ring.
"The royal family crest, my lord," she answered. He looked at his hand and at the ring. He sighed and laid still.
"I'm not going to get anywhere," he said under his breath. To her he said, "Fine." She took that as a sign that he was willing to cooperate with her. She nodded, moving to take one of his arms and putting it over her shoulders. She could feel his body involuntarily shivering slightly as she slowly brought him over to a chair against the far wall to the coffin's left side. She sat him down in the chair and moved back a few steps, crossing her arms. He looked her up and down.
"Are you not a woman? Why do you wear such clothes and not a dress?" he asked. She gave him a dirty look.
"I don't wear dresses, your highness," she answered shortly. He laughed.
"A woman that doesn't wear dresses. That's a new one," he said. Pan glared at him again, moving across the room to a different chair. She crossed her legs and then her arms again.
"Should have let him suffocate," she muttered, closing her eyes. Trunks watched her for a moment before he attempted to try moving his legs again. He lifted himself up with his arms as if to stand, but his legs continued to ignore his command to move. He tried to catch himself, but he ended up falling to the floor in a heap. Pan opened her eyes at the sound of him hitting the floor. She stood and walked over to him quickly.
"You shouldn't push yourself so much," she said, moving to help him up. He glared at her, slapping her hand away.
"I don't need you telling me what I should and shouldn't do," he said, bringing himself to his knees. She huffed a sigh and let him do as he wished. She watched as he pulled himself back up into the chair before she moved away again and sat back in her chair. She sat there a moment before getting back up and walking back over to him. She bent down over him, pulling his arm up and around her shoulders. He looked up in surprise at first and then in anger.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. She looked at him with a stern look.
"Helping your stubborn ass downstairs because I doubt you could make it without falling down them and killing yourself. If you have a problem with that you'll have to deal with it or sit in that damn chair and starve," she shot back. He opened his mouth for a comeback, but nothing would come so he shut his mouth and glared at the space before him.
"That's what I thought," she said, lifting him out of the chair and heading downstairs.
It took a while before the prince could move his legs again, much less actually stand and walk on them. Pan bit her tongue more often than not at his rudeness and helped him whether he wanted the help or not. Things were bearable for the most part, but he was really beginning to get on her nerves. He kept to himself and rarely even talked to her, which didn't bothered her any. Most things that came out of his mouth were rude comments and she would much rather him be quiet than speak.
She was staring out the window and humming softly to herself a soft tune, a lullaby her grandfather used to sing to her before he passed away. Not that Goku was much of a singer, but his voice always soothed her when she was younger and she could still remember it, even though it had been years since she had heard it last. She closed her eyes trying to recall her grandfather's face as her voice rose from a hum to soft singing. Trunks, who had been trying to practice standing, stopped a moment to listen to her singing. He wrinkled his nose before returning to trying to stand.
"What nonsense is that you are singing?" he grumbled, falling back into his chair. Pan cringed, opening her eyes and turned around to face him.
"What is your problem now?" she asked, sighing.
"Your singing is annoying," he answered. She glared at him, folding her arms.
"It's a song my grandfather used to sing to me when I was a child," she said. Trunks smirked.
"No wonder it makes no sense," he said. Pan grew angry, stepping towards him. "Now shut up, I can't concentrate." He moved his hands to the arm rests of his chair, lifting himself up to his feet again. Her face was red with anger as she moved toward him. She raised her hand, slapping him smartly across the face. Surprised, he fell back into his chair, a hand to his cheek. Her head was bowed as she shook with anger. He stared up at her a moment before he narrowed his eyes.
"Now, you listen here, girl. I could have your head for such an action towards a member of the royal family," he started. She looked up at him with fire in her eyes.
"No, you listen here. Get off your damned high horse. You've done nothing but complain the whole time you've been awake, either that or insulting me. You would have died in that coffin of yours if I hadn't been around to help you out of it. You would have never gotten down those stairs if I hadn't of helped you down them. You wouldn't have been able to eat if I hadn't of cooked your food. What kind of prince are you? What of ruling your country and helping your people? You are spoiled, rotten and stubborn as an ass! You do nothing but wallow in your own self pity because you can't walk and because you almost died. You take all your trouble out on me and I'm quite tired of it." She moved, getting right up in his face. "My grandfather was a great man. He is dead now. You can insult me and be rude to me all you want to, but I will not have you insult a part of my grandfather's memory, even a silly lullaby he used to calm me down when I was sick. You are the kind of person that this world doesn't need and you make me sick." With that she stormed out of the room, leaving the stunned prince by himself with his still burning cheek.
It was a while later before Pan even considered returning to the room with the prince. She peered inside the doorway to find the prince standing near the window she had previously been occupying, his hand moving over the side of his face she had struck. She was surprised that he had made it that far in his condition. She stepped into the room, placing a plain metal tray on the table at the center of the room. The prince turned to see what was going on. She grabbed the chair he had been sitting in, pulling it to the table. She then stood there, not looking at him, but passed him out of the window. He watched her a moment before slowly moving towards the chair she was standing next to. Halfway there he moved one foot the wrong way, falling to the floor with a grunt. He struggled to get back to his feet, but his legs were already tired again and wouldn't listen. Pan moved forward when she realized he couldn't get back to his feet on his own. She held her hand out to him, expecting him to push her away as usual. He looked at her hand, raising his to push it away, but stopped. When he put his hand in hers she looked down at him in surprise, helping him to his feet and to the chair. Neither said a word to the other as he began to eat the food she had prepared for him. She moved to sit down in another chair across the room from him, crossing her legs and arms once more. He looked up at her from his food for a moment.
"Not eating?" he asked her. She looked at him.
"I already ate," she answered. He returned to his food. She turned her head to look out the window. For the rest of the day neither one said another word.
For the next few weeks Trunks kept up a daily routine, with wanted or unwanted help from Pan, to strengthen his legs again. As each day passed he could walk farther and a bit faster than the day before. Trunks held his temper in check better than before she let him have it and chose to stay quiet rather than be rude to her. Her words ate at him every time he was alone with his thoughts. Pan hardly said anything to him anymore unless it was out of necessity.
Finally one day Trunks' legs were mostly recovered from his sleep in the glass coffin and Pan had discovered that the spell holding the doors shut had either ended or had been lifted. It was decided that Trunks was ready for his journey to the castle and Pan could finally return home to her family's cottage. On the day they were to leave, Pan went into the room where the wardrobe was that she had found when she first got locked in the tower. She made her way to the wardrobe and opened it, pulling out something comfortable to travel in and changed. She then chose something she was sure would be good for him and headed back to the room he was staying in. He was standing in front of a mirror, looking at himself. He had pulled back his shoulder length hair, with a black ribbon, into a pony tail. She cleared her throat to gain his attention and placed the clothes she had in her hand on his bed. He inspected them for a moment as she stepped back. When he took a step forward towards the bed she turned and walked out of the door, closing it behind her. She went to the room that served as the kitchen and gathered some bread and cheese together for each of them. She found two bags she could fill with water for each of them to take on their separate ways. She then proceeded to wrap each share in a plain brown cloth. When she was done she went out to the oak doors and stood waiting for Trunks.
A few moments later he came down the stairs, holding onto the wall and Pan pushed open the doors. When he caught up to her she handed him his own bundle and the both stepped outside. She shut the doors behind her as Trunks stepped out into a wooded spot and began to look around. When she turned back to him she saw where he was and raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing, your highness?" she asked, walking towards him. He looked up at her when he found a suitable stick. He lifted it to show her.
"Considering I'm not fully recovered, covering this distance with a walking stick will prove much easier in the long run." he answered, watching her a moment as his expression changed, "And you can stop calling me 'your highness.' Trunks will do just fine." Pan raised her eyebrow again, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh? Now are you trying to get me to do something so you can punish me for it as soon as you return to your throne, 'your highness?'" she asked, mockingly. He looked away from her and down at the stick in his hand, holding his temper once more.
"As you yourself said in your own words, I am not fit to wear the title as prince. Therefore I am saying that all you have to call me is Trunks. Not 'prince' or 'sir' or 'your highness.' Just… Trunks," he answered through his teeth. Pan slowly dropped her hands from her hips at what he was saying, realizing this was probably the only time she would see him break his pride like this. She smirked, watching him.
"Alright, Trunks it is. Now let's get going," she said. He nodded and they headed down the path together. After about an hour or so walk they came to a path that went in two different directions. One led to Pan's cottage, a half a days walk from the tower, and the other way led to the village and then the castle a little bit further away.
"Well, off on our separates ways then," Pan said. Trunks nodded, happy that he would finally be rid of her. She annoyed him to the point of anger. Not that Pan didn't feel the same way. She was tired of looking after the big baby.
"Finally," he muttered. She glared at him.
"Don't like you either, stubborn ass," she shot back. He turned his back on her with a, "Hmmph," heading off towards the right. Pan stuck her tongue out at him, blowing a raspberry before heading towards the left.
"Serves you right you jerk," she muttered to herself. Pushing all thoughts of him aside, she thought of home and her family. That made her smile as she began to hum softly to herself. "At least I don't have to worry about ever seeing him again. Not like that will ever happen twice."
A/N: Soooo, what do you guys think? Definitely a twist in personality for Trunks. When I reread this part after I got a ways into the story I thought that I made them like each other too soon, considering what I have planned. So, I did the classic, make 'em hate each other until they work out their differences thing. Plus there where a few things I needed to fix. The prince is supposed to be dead and in the original Pan didn't find it crazy at all that the prince was alive and sealed in a glass coffin with her in the tower. Had to go back and fix that too. I had to completely rewrite this part from scratch because so much had to be done to it, but I did look back at the original and wrote from that, but while improving it.
So? Do you like it? Hate it? Let me know what you think and whether or not I should continue rewriting. I have more planned for the later parts. Sorry that this chapter was so uneventful, but even the original was pretty boring. Don't worry, the action will pick back up with the rewritten Part II. Please review on your way out:)
