Never Goes As Planned
By: Pan-chan13
Disclaimer: All hail the genius of Akira Toriyama.
Author's Note: Has anyone watched Dragonball Z Kai? What's that all about? Enjoy!
It was amazing how Earth was a lone planet surrounded by multiple lifeless ones. Once you reached a certain point past its galaxy, there were numerous inhabited planets and even planetoids. On one those planets not too far from Earth, Bra sat cross legged on a luscious red couch in a room provided by that planet's saiya-jin embassy.
Past events often left her thinking because for years they have been unresolved.
Princess Bra drank her caffeinated beverage, letting the ceramic cup stay on her lips for a while even after she stopped drinking from it. She was distracted to death and Trunks would pay dearly if he came out of this empty handed. Why did he constantly reject her help?
Her mind organized her current gathered data.
The saiya-jin prince and princess were always considerably well advanced in intellect even at such young ages. It was a substantial amount of years ago when they had already speculated an underlying plot after an attack on a saiya-jin diplomat's ship as it was en route to Earth.
Son Gohan was a third class saiya-jin who proved himself worthy enough to garner the title of Ambassador to Earth. It proved a prudent choice. Not only did Gohan exceed expectations established by their class system – such as possessing the ability to turn super saiya-jin – he also took up a human wife, Videl, who coincidentally was daughter to a very influential man on Earth.
When Videl had attended a saiya-jin social event, which King Vegeta held rarely apparently because of his antisocial nature, she was pregnant with her first child. That was when Trunks had first met Pan, before Pan was even born.
In human terms Trunks appeared to be a teenage boy, which was why Videl reacted with surprise when he claimed that the baby would be his mate. Additionally, no news had been disseminated about her union with Gohan, much less her pregnancy. And she wasn't showing at all, in her opinion.
Of course Gohan had to explain saiya-jin mating customs and how we biologically go about determining mates to her extensively before she inadvertently disrespected saiya-jin royalty by voicing her complaints. Yet even this knowledge did not prevent the Gohan, diplomat to Earth, from being surprised. Royalty and third class? It was almost unheard of. But it seemed his family had a knack for knocking down third class stereotypes. For one, three of them were capable of becoming super saiya-jin, an ability said to be reserved for first class and royalty.
However, out of courtesy, each saiya-jin prince or princess went through a long line of suitors that other planets or other noble saiya-jins would push on them. Humans and other species like them found the saiya-jin mating rituals to be old fashioned, based on irrational methods. Mates, or husbands and wives, were to be chosen by going through a series of men and women and choosing the best one. This process couldn't be done by using 'gut instinct' as they dubbed the saiya-jin way.
How rude.
If only they could truly understand. The biological and mental ecstasy and torture you feel with your mate is exclusively caused by only one person. It is a type of chemistry that allows one to know who he or she will spend the rest of his or her life with even before they get to know the mate on a personal level.
Granted, it never was a perfect system. The main reason being that it is and always will be almost impossible to find one's mate. Lower class saiya-jins are so high in number that at one point the monarchy just randomly paired males and females together for the purpose of procreation.
To please them to gain access to resources, Bra's father's forefathers played into the dating game and on some occasions would actually find their mates in the process. Noble saiya-jins decided to attempt to take advantage of this as well, pushing their children into the royal court to vie for the seat second to the throne alongside royalty from different planets.
Politics, Bra scoffed.
After she became of age, Bra could remember that each year she had to suffer suitor after suitor and date after date. So this was the pain her brother endured for years since he became of age as well. Whether Bra married or not was inconsequential. She would not take the throne as long as Trunks lived and continued to have heirs. Thus, a large amount of pressure rested on Trunks' shoulder to either take a political wife or find a mate that was capable of ruling beside him.
Expectedly, the throngs of women who flocked to his feet were beyond numbers. The beauty of these women was even beyond the high standard that Bra had set for her brother. Yet under the courteous gestures and reluctant small smiles he gave them was the sign of his internal battle, which could only be better described by the tasks he had set himself to do in the midst of averted eyes.
Bra had been born two years before Pan so at the time she was oblivious to his pains. As a little girl Bra witnessed her brother's fervent arguments with their mother and father. A teenaged Trunks formed vaguely in her mind. He was pacing back and forth while his sympathetic mother looked on. Father, however, had been stern. Trunks' mate had been born on Earth but he could not go to see her. He did not even know what they named her, whether it was a healthy birth or wrought with complications.
"Vegeta…" The queen had started but a single grunt silenced her soft plead. She did not like seeing her son in this state despite the fact that she could not fully understand the agony a saiya-jin felt in relation to their mates. The king had similar sentiments but he knew that Trunks could not abandon his son's current duty to the Alucardians. Trunks was to help quell rebel forces and then begin peace talks. It was not a light matter and could not be easily tossed aside so that Trunks could see his infant mate.
"Trunks, there is nothing more to discuss. You must rest for tomorrow. You would not want to see her anyway. She looks weak and fragile."
The pacing immediately stopped and Bra's brother turned with wide and intense eyes. He did not bother to hide his surprise nor his obsessive interest.
"You've seen her?"
"Son Pan? Yes, yes. The idiot Kakkarot makes it habit to fill my royal inbox with updates that do not pertain to my ruling."
"Her name is Pan!"
"What a beautiful name." Queen Bulma sighed, her hands over her chest.
"It's perfect. Father! What does she look like?" It took all the prince had to hold himself back.
"Like you did when you were born - ugly. What do you expect from an infant?"
"No father. The color of her eyes, her hair. Do you think she will grow to be taller than me? Damn my genetics."
At this his father's eyes hardened and the queen could not help but laugh. It was surely a sore spot to touch upon – Vegeta's height.
"How was the birth?" Bulma asked.
"Few complications. The brat almost came out feet first but it managed. Gohan's human mate is fine as well."
"A fighter, for sure. She will need training. Father, can we build a compound for that purpose?"
Bulma gasped. "She's too young to train!"
"Perhaps an earth-type sauna for after sparring. Or a library might suit her if her interests are in books."
Trunks began to mumble, as if instantly wiping the current scene from his senses and immersing himself in a world that he would build for his mate, Pan.
The king, however, did not like to be ignored and thus sent Trunks to his quarters without so much of a picture after he physically reprimanded the prince with a spar.
Unfortunately, after the attack on Gohan's ship, Pan was nowhere to be found. According to reports, Gohan and some of the crew was found stranded on a planet. He had somehow survived the blast but he could not recollect where his wife and young daughter had gone.
Trunks was devastated. He had planned for his reunion with his mate and looked forward to seeing her grow into a woman he would love. Many other cultures from planets near and far would call that an unhealthy relationship. Trunks was a mate, not a father. And Bra agreed to a certain extent. Raising a child was to be left to the parents. But Trunks was an exception. He loved Pan from day one and wanted to continuously shower the girl with that zealous feeling. The only comfort Bra could give to her brother was a conspiracy theory.
"Don't you think it's odd that after the attack on her ship she goes missing yet we find her father?"
"What do you mean?"Trunks asked, raising a brow.
"The attack on their ship was targeted for sure. I checked the reports. Those were no ordinary ships that they spotted before the attack. It is my belief Pan is in hiding. They planned on her coming back as soon as they deemed it safe to return. However, the threat they suspected is probably still present."
Trunks did not disregard his sister's words but he did not take the time to confirm it either. But how could he? His duties as prince were overwhelmingly numerous. Thankfully, Trunks was a genius like his mother and had the stamina of his father.
Bra set her gaze on her window, from where she could see a ship landing in the docking area. Recognizing to whom it belonged to, she jumped to her feet with some anxiety while her mind finished her contemplations with recent events.
Several months ago, a woman claiming to be Pan appears along with a doctor who said he found her and her mother floating in a space pod unconscious. The mother had recently passed away but not before giving explicit instructions to him to go to Planet Vegeta and present Pan to the royalty. The doctor said he was surprised but followed her last wishes.
The Pan that appeared at their gates was beautiful with her long black hair, deep eyes, and womanly curves. She attracted many of the saiya-jin guards that day. And of course Trunks, blinded by his happiness, immediately went to her side and professed that he had been waiting for the day they would meet again.
"Is she really her?"Bra asked her mother, who did not seem as happy as Bra would have expected.
"They ran tests on her and say she has DNA linking her to the Sons."The older, but still beautiful queen replied.
"So, it's her. Trunks would know better than anyone though, right? He established a connection. If he hasn't objected to her identity by now then she should be legitimate." Bra sighed.
"He hasn't…been able to establish a connection with her." Queen Bulma hesitated.
"I don't understand. Then how does he know?" Bra shook her head, a look of concern on her face.
"The conclusion they reached is that somehow Pan's lack of saiya-jin upbringing and her human blood has affected their connection. It would take time to re-establish it. For now, the only thing tying Trunks to her is his unconditional care that he has been harboring for so long."
At the time it screamed of deception to Bra. Something was not right, but no one would entertain her mistrust. And when she herself had interacted with Pan, the girl did not at all seem like a person Trunks would be able to mate with. Surely, Pan was refined and said nothing to insult. Most men loved her for her timid nature and graceful ways. But saiya-jin mating always successfully links you to someone whose personality complemented yours. It did not make sense that Trunks would end up with a woman who did not challenge him.
That was when Bra took matters into her own neatly manicured hands and went on a search for the real Pan Son. Bra thought it would be too obvious, but she first looked into Videl's own home planet – Earth. And to her surprise she found a woman who had the greatest potential to be the person she was looking for. Bra had to only abduct around 50 people for it. At one point, she had accidentally taken a man dressed like a woman. He was promptly returned, his memory erased. Bra shivered at the memory but her thoughts were interrupted by voices in the hallway adjacent to her room.
"Please let me help you change into fresh clothing." A female saiya-jin, one of Bra's helpers, insisted as he walked in with the tattered shirt and singed pants. A faint smell of explosives lingered in his wake. Ignoring the helper, he continued his long stride into his sister's quarters. Sighing in disappointment, the girl took her leave.
"I am relieved that we made it before our fuel ran out." Prince Trunks sighed as the door to his sister's quarters opened and shut. A wave of air artificially made fresh hit his senses and he stretched.
Behind Trunks trailed a shorter, petite woman with unruly hair and black smudged marks on her face. Her pajamas were in ruins. Her pant legs were ripped at the sides and the severed halves flopped around Pan's slender legs. "Your ship was running on less than 40% efficiency. It's a waste of fuel resources." Pan commented, walking in as well. "Bra!" She acknowledged and ran to the princess hurriedly.
"Pan, what happened?" Bra asked, a little cringe on her nose from the smell of burnt hair and clothing.
Pan shook her head and pointed an accusing finger behind her at Trunks, who was now slipping off his shoes. "I was hoping you could tell me. That ball of purple hair and arrogance won't inform me of anything! My apartment is nothing but debris and smoke!"
"What?" Bra's brows furrowed and she made eye contact with Trunks to confirm that they were on the same page. It was an attack, plain and simple.
"Someone might have seen me going into the apartment without escorts and took advantage of the situation. Luckily we were quick enough to create a hole in the kitchen wall and jump out. The other earthling fainted, however." The prince said with a calm demeanor.
"You walked into my apartments while assassins followed you? Practically invited them, haven't you? Couldn't you have gone somewhere else and taken them there instead?" Pan turned on him. She had every right to be angry right now. During the half hour it took to fly to this planet, Pan occupied herself with the unconscious Marron and forced herself to exercise patience with the lack of information as to why this man had entered her apartment, why she had felt the way she did in his arms, why he suddenly professed an undying love to her, why her apartment blew up, and why it was so important that she go with him to another planet away from earth. But now, now was a different story.
Bra placed a soft hand on Pan's heaving shoulders. "Pan, listen carefully. I was not able to explain when we met due to my brother's interruption but Trunks and I are heirs to the Planet Vegeta. I mentioned that we were on a royal vessel…"
Pan interrupted her. "Prince and princess of the saiya-jins?" She remarked looking between both of them and with a quiet voice asked, "Do you often abandon your thrones to destroy the lives of common earthlings?"
Bra winced with guilt but Prince Trunks laughed and leaned back into the couch he was currently lounging in. "You could get yourself into trouble addressing us that way." The comment only provoked the black haired female hybrid, who stalked towards him and glared. "I could always finish what the assassins started."
Trunks stood up and towered over her. "I'd like to witness the attempt."
With a smirk Pan pushed an extended pointer finger into his muscled chest. "Gladly, but first I demand you rebuild my apartment and don't forget to include a two person jetted tub, an upgraded kitchen, and a new robot helper to replace my poor Alpha!"
Bra took the time to observe her brother and her brows raised high. He was enjoying the interaction with Pan, almost too much. Pan would have to learn the hard way that Trunks liked her angry and would continuously push her buttons to see her that way. This proved most promising! The pressing issue at hand, though, was losing the assassins. Who were they, she wondered, and how did they follow Trunks undetected?
Bra sighed. They needed to leave this planet. "Trunks, stop flirting. Pan, you're only tempting him. Look, he has his tail wrapped around your thigh."
"His tail is…WHAT?"
A small figure sat on the throne on the Planet Vegeta, bodies littered at his feet. There did not seem to be any bloodshed but the bodies were still, except for the deep breaths of sleep.
After the sound of quick footsteps, another figure bowed deeply before the enthroned one, appeared. "Dr. Gero, our correspondence on earth said that the plan failed."
Silence ensued as the small figure stood. In the light now, one could see long white hair topped with a tall cylindrical hat. His eyes narrowed at the news in a calculating manner.
"It was a foolhardy attempt, but it will not matter whether they reach this planet or not."Dr. Gero chuckled and then turned his head to his right, where a slender person sat in the queen's seat.
"Pan, your fiancé is coming home. We need to make preparations."
Author's Notes: What do you think? Push the Review button and let me know!
