Chapter One – Home Sweet Home
Five Years Later Somewhere in Space
* Friday, September 6th, 9:15am *
* Pan's POV *
"Reaching destination in ten hours," The mechanical voice of the ship snapped me out of the meditation faze making me realize that I had been sitting in the same spot for the last twelve hours.
Stretching out, I bit back out a groan as the muscles pull and flex back into place before standing up and heading to the bathroom to step into the shower to soak up some of the heat if my body would allow it. Reaching around the frosted glass door, I felt around for my thick blue robe and bundled up before stepping to the mirror and stared at the emotionless and flawless face staring back at me. Her ebony eyes remained lifeless as she reached up to move some strands from her face before I stepped away. Opening a small refrigerator, I pulled out one of the last blood bags and fastened it to my fangs just hoping that I could ignore that rest of the time on this ship.
"I promise that I will never let anything happen to you..."
Shaking my head, I threw away the now empty bag and walked into the barely used sleeping quarters. Lying on the crisp sheets, I extended my hands to flex the burning sensations in my fingers and had one lingering thought before passing out. You happened to me…
* 6:40pm *
* Trunks' POV *
I kept my eyes on the slowly opening shades of the window as the sun began to sink behind the mountains as my heart began to race. All day, I could hear the others rush around the sealed palace making preparations for the return of the most intriguing females that had been born on this planet besides my mother and sister. Most of the palace would normally be asleep when the sun took its time moving across the sky but today was an expectation for my parents had remained awake to make sure everything was ready.
"Trunks, for the final time, get off that lazy, mopey ass of yours and get ready to go," My sister yelled down the corridor even though I heard her rushing up the stairs on the other side of the wing. "Pan is finally coming home after being out amongst the stars for so long!"
Pan, I thought as I forced myself to sit up from the old navy blue futon. "Whatever," I mumbled as I folded the tattered light pink blanket up and tucked it under the mattress so no one would see it. It has been a long time since I had seen her after what happened between us. Kami, even the entire gang of Z fighters knew what happened and made sure I was punished accordingly for making her turn her back to me… To everyone…
{Flashback}
It had only been a few months since the hurt young woman had taken off to her new training desire and a low cloud of depression have been hanging over the entire valley. Almost ten miles from Son Goku's small peaceful home in the mountains in the late summer, the Z fighters gathered in a large clearing the instant the sun set for one of their meetings which I was forced to attend since the matter to be discussed had to do with what I had started. The woman's father, Gohan, got first cracks at me since mom forced me to take an involuntary vacation from work since I took to locking myself away in one of the creation buildings to go to the picnic that she had been planning behind Dad's and my back a few days afterwards.
"How could you hurt my daughter like that after what you had promised? You stupid bastard, she loved you and every fault although it was against my orders. I told her she would only get hurt if she kept her hopes up. And what you did proved me right!" He threw a weak enough ki blast to force me back towards the center of the field.
"Gohan, let me explain. She could do much better- deserves someone better than me. I work too much to care for a woman like her. She is powerful and beautiful, Gohan. I will never live with myself if she finds herself alone every night while I am at work. She deserves to be happy," My arms blocked my face and chest as I stumbled over rocks. "I let her go even though she is my…"
"I hope it kills you to know that she is alone now, that she had made a decision not to choose another," Gohan said in anger before throwing a ki wave at me that made me blackout.
{End of Flashback}
"Let's go, brat," My father stood in front of me as I snapped out of my daze.
I looked at him in surprise before sighing, "Father, I need to ask you something." He looked at me with an indifferent expression on his face as I began to talk, "Do you think she has changed since she had left?"
"Have you even felt for her ki, boy? Ever since she left, every morning and evening her ki would skyrocket like she was in some sort of distress. She even called one evening after Gohan went to go visit the empty estate and all she wanted to know was how you were. She began training fiercely so much within the last year or two. Of course she has changed and she is getting close to her transformation."
And I have a feeling that reason would be me, I thought as my eyes fell to become glued to the floor. Grabbing a blue t-shirt off the back of the chair, I walked out of the room to go downstairs to meet up with the rest of the family.
"Come on, lazy bones," Bulla grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car without another word as our parents laughed behind us.
Gohan's Mansion
* Normal POV *
The summer moon slowly began to rise from behind the mountains as the women finished cooking the meal while the men were instructed to hang the lights around the backyard. Videl stood in the back door as a sigh escaped her lips as she watched the two grown men spare along the large meadow while laughing at each others mistake. Patting her on the arm, her mother-in-law smiled before carrying a large pot roast to the table set near the shed with all sorts of other food.
Gohan appeared at her side suddenly and kissed her with passion, "Hello, gorgeous."
"Gag, can you two please get a room," A young male voice spoke behind them causing Videl to jump and hit him in the head on instinct.
Gohan laughed lightly as he massaged her shoulders while pulling her into his body as she turned towards the now injured brother-in-law, "Not a chance, little bro. Just wait until the right girl goes through her transformation and see how you get; by the way, nice hit, Hun."
Goten gagged again as they kissed once more and shook his head in disagreement, "That probably will never happen since mom won't let me out of her eyesight. What, with all this strength," He flexed his arms and Goku almost fell over laughing, "It's better to find someone who can handle me after I get away from her and that pan..."
Chi-Chi walked to the front door to throw some recycles in the bin only to stop as she saw Bulma walking up the path with a pan in her hands and Vegeta slowly following behind with his hands in his pockets, "Hey, guys. Where are the kids?"
"Fighting because Trunks does not want to be here," Bulma looked at the younger woman with a knowing smile as Goten peered around the corner with a carrot in his mouth.
"I am shocked he came at all," Gohan said bitterly as he touched his mother's shoulder and then winced in pain as his head tilted to the side, "Ouch, Videl."
"Let it go, dear," She said simply with a hint of anger in her dark eyes as she kept her hold on his ear before pulling him back in to the house causing the others to laugh.
In the middle of the long drive, Trunks leaned against the tree that held the old tree house that kept him and Goten away from the young Saiyan girls when they were becoming a bother while Bulla held her side.
"That was a cheap shot, you bastard," She said through her teeth with hardly any breath as she glared daggers at him.
Smirking slightly, he ran his fingers over the burn on his shoulder, "Next time, don't press a ki ball against my shoulder and ruining the one shirt that she gave me."
Suddenly, a new black Mercedes flew up the road and into the drive, dusting them with dirt and gravel causing them both to curse as they frantically dusted themselves off.
"Ten if it is Yamcha," Trunks muttered as he picked a twig out of his hair.
"You're on," Bulla smirked, knowing who it was, and dashed up the drive to stop a few feet from the bumper of the car.
As the door swung open, they both gasped in shock as a tan woman leaned down to put a pair of heels on the ground before slipping her tiny feet into them. Sliding gracefully from the vehicle, the woman straightened her tight yet flexible dress and flipped her waist length black hair back before turning to see them both with a smile that shown in her dark eyes. Her ki flexed erratically as they both knew that her twenty-fourth birthday was approaching fast along with her transformation.
"It has been a long time since I have seen you, Bulla. How is everything since I left on short notice?" The woman's ebony eyes locked into her best friend's blue ones as she walked up to her.
"Son Pan?" Bulla asked softly as she looked over the woman that she used to hang out all the time and felt her heart race before falling short.
"Who else, silly," Pan teased as she laughed lightly before picked one of her grandmother's cherished flowers and put it in her hair, "Marron who suddenly decided to dye her butter yellow hair black and got a boob job to match my 34Ds? Come on… I see you went through your transformation beautifully."
All of a sudden, Bulla attacked her with a tighter than usual hug and what little body weight she had, surprisingly Pan was able to stay on her feet. "I missed you…"
Trunks returned to his previous activity, leaning on a tree, as he tried to remember what Pan looked like before she left; A thin, scrawny figure with short black hair with that silly orange bandanna and now here she is, a model's body and condition with hair straight to her lower back. Noticing that she was avoiding his gaze, he ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he could feel the faint pull of both their transformations.
"I will go tell them that you have arrived," He muttered sadly as his shoulders sagged a bit knowing that she would not just openly start talking to him again and began to walk up the rest of the drive before a small, smooth yet slightly calloused hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back gingerly. He looked at the hand and back to its owner only to find Pan staring at him in shock and shook her head.
"Please do not do that," She said in a sad, worried tone as if she was struggling to resist the pull, "We will go together."
It has been the first time she had spoken to me since I turned her away, he thought as she stepped back, releasing the electric current of emotions that flowed between them, to grab her purse and keys from the vehicle. They walked slowly to the house while Bulla chatted away about the strange sensations that form whenever she was around Pan's uncle.
The door opened instantly as they reached the porch and Videl ran out with tears rolling down her face. "Pan, you are home," She cried as her daughter hugged her tightly, dropping her purse and keys on the bench near the front door on the porch.
"Hi, mama," were the words that made Videl's heart race as she stepped back for the others as they gathered around to greet her with hugs and kisses. As they lead her inside, she looked back at Trunks with sorrowful eyes before turning her head and turned her emotions for him into stone. After all these years, my heart still races when I see him, she thought as she smiled as her uncle picked her up in a crushing hug. Soon they were summoned into the backyard to eat the wonderful feast that Chi-Chi and Videl made. As they ate, Vegeta watched his son carefully while he, Trunks, watched Pan's every move out of the corner of his eye.
"How is training, Pan," Goten asked as everyone settled down into a calm atmosphere, most leaning back in their chairs while Goku and Vegeta chose to spar.
"Boring when you are alone, why? Do you want a match against me?" Her voice and eyes became excited as she looked over his condition making everyone laugh at the table.
"I bet I can still kick your ass," He laughed and sat back as she laughed wholeheartedly, "You still haven't gone through your final transformation."
There was a deadly spark in her eyes that no one had seen before amongst the happiness, "Didn't Grandpa ever teach you about masking ki? You have no idea what you are in for." Just then, the doorbell rang and she went to answer it.
The one person she dreaded to see there spoke impatiently, "I am looking for Trunks."
Marron had come over.