Disclaimer: I do not own the Dragon Ball characters or legacy. All rights are reserved to the companies that own them.
Pan and Trunks: Romance and Reason
Chapter 6: Kami's Lookout
Pan stood on the edge of the Lookout. She stared down into the clouds trying to ignore the growing speculation and conversation from the group gathering behind her. It didn't take long for the group to begin to bicker about what exactly was going on. Trunks stood next to Goten who was excited about the possibility of a new fight. Goten in an effort to try and catch Trunks up on everything he had missed over the last three years was pointing to everyone while discussing any new techniques they had learned or if they were even active fighters anymore. Pan rolled her eyes at her uncle, but was glad that he was keeping Trunks focused on something.
When Goku finally made his way to Kami's Lookout it was hours later and he had tried to reach as many of the group as possible. Pan moved away from the edge and closer to the group as they began to discuss the incoming energy.
"We don't know anything about this approaching energy except that it has a high level of kai. For all we know it could be friendly, but at the same time I do not want to be taken unaware. I asked you all here with the hope that we could spend the next three days training and preparing for the approaching kai. I also wanted to make sure that those who do not fight would be in a safe place," Goku explained causing a few of the others to scratch their heads in confusion.
"What energy?" Yamcha asked coming to stand beside Bulma.
"The energy that we felt approaching earlier today or were you too 'busy' with one of your 'friends' to notice," Vegeta snapped causing Yamcha to redden in embarrassment.
Pan sighed and moved to stand next to her Uncle Goten who placed an arm around her shoulder and casually leaned against her. Pan jumped slightly when she felt something else. She glanced down and noticed that Trunks had wrapped his tail possessively around her waist. She turned to glare at him but noticed that his attention was completely focused on the other people and that he had acted subconsciously towards her.
"The plan is for us to go in pairs into the Time Chamber to prepare for any possible battle," Goku continued ignoring Vegeta's jab at Yamcha.
"How are we going to split up the days them?" Goten asked cracking his knuckles.
"Well since we have three days we need to allow our first line of defense to go in ahead of everyone else so they have time to recuperate after they come out," Bulma answered strategically.
"So basically some of us are here to act as guard dogs for the women," Yamcha muttered, sensing that he was considered weak.
"Yes," Vegeta answered.
"First day will be Vegeta and Goku, Second day will be Goten and Gohan, and the third day will be Trunks and Uub. Remember that a day in the chamber will equal one year out here," Bulma said with a smile as she read off a list in front of her.
"Day three won't work Bulma," Goku said softly from across the room. Vegeta agreed with a nod beside him.
"Why's that?" Bulma replied upset that they didn't like her plan.
"It needs to be Pan instead of Uub if the Brat is going in. Otherwise he doesn't need to go in at all," Vegeta replied.
"Why?" Goten asked looking first at his friend and then over at his father.
"Because if Trunks goes into the Time Chamber for a year he will most likely due to his bond breaking. He's already been suffering because he has not completed his bond yet, but being that far away from his bond mate would kill him," Goku responded looking pointedly at Trunks and then at Pan.
"Pan is not supposed to get involved with any of our fights," Gohan complained.
"Then you would keep one of our stronger fighters from going into that room as well?" Goku said to his son who looked down for several seconds.
"Look I know you don't agree with the situation, but I implore you not to be the cause of my son's death," Bulma commented finally understanding the implications of what Goku and Vegeta were talking about.
"Fine," Gohan whispered softly through gritted teeth. Gohan felt that he had just lost his daughter to Trunks.
"Then it is settled," Vegeta responded in a businesslike manner, before walking away from the group to ready himself to enter the chamber.
Pan watched as Vegeta and her Grandpa entered the chamber then there was nothing left to do but set up the beds. Kami's Lookout was beginning to look like a refugee camp. Bulma had set up Capsule Beds and had assigned everyone a specific place. Then she had assigned duties to each person to be completed each day. Pan glanced down at her watch and was shocked to see it was only four in the afternoon. She stretched her muscles before going in search of something to do.
She was about to give up hope on finding anything interesting to do and ask her mother if they needed any help with the cooking when she spotted a group of her friends beginning to spar. Krillin, who was now going bald naturally, was turned towards Yamcha for a battle. Yamcha stretched his hands above his head and then brought them down in an old school boxer pose. The two older Z-Fighters then launched themselves at each other and Pan found that she was drawn to watching the competition.
It took about two hours before Krillin and Yamcha decided to call it quits because their stomachs were growling too much to keep going. Pan smiled when she noticed that between the two fighters Krillin had actually won because he landed more blows than Yamcha. The group of her friends and family that had been watching the two began to walk to the outdoor area that Bulma had set up for everyone to eat at. Pan took a seat next to her father and mother. Pan was surprised to see Goten and Trunks sit down at the opposite end of the table from her.
Pan felt saddened that Trunks had decided not to sit near her, but she understood that it was all about control. Pan began to dig into the food gulping mouthfuls of good home cooking. She looked up and noticed that every other Saiyan was eating the same way while the humans were eating at a much more reserved pace. Pan had never understood the reason why she always felt so voraciously hungry, but she figured it had to do with the Saiyan part of her being most dominate.
"Chi-Chi this is amazing!" Krillin commented before taking in another mouthful of chicken.
"It wasn't just me cooking," Chi-Chi replied almost daintily eating at her own food.
Nobody else said anything for a while, but a general thank you as the continued to scarf down their food. Once Pan was done she knew that her duty would be to help clean up the dishes and make sure they were washed for the next day. For the ladies it would be right back to the kitchen to make some snacks for later that night. Pan stood gathering the plates and heading towards the kitchen completely unaware of the conversation about her taking place as she left.
"I don't like it one bit Videl," Gohan said with a sigh leaning back away from the table.
"Gohan she's older than we were when we got together," Videl responded softly.
"That was different," Gohan replied and Videl snorted before rolling her eyes at her husband.
"How was that any different? My father wanted to kill you because you decided that we needed to mate before we even finished our last year of high school. If it wasn't for your mother you probably would have carried through with the wedding and everything without getting permission. The worst part was it didn't stop you from making me your 'wife' Saiyan style and trying repeatedly to start a family," Videl replied standing up from the table.
"I know that and that's why I don't like this. We were too young and she's still my little girl. He's much too old for her and will expect certain things from her that she's not ready to fulfill yet, and honestly if you think I'm going to let a child of Vegeta's," he stopped when he saw that Pan was returning.
"Honestly, it's not your choice," Videl replied and then walked away from her husband letting him mull over those thoughts.
The rest of the evening passed much the same as the afternoon did. After Pan finished helping with the dishes she was shooed from the kitchen. She headed outside where the Z-Fighters were sitting around sharing stories about the adventures of their youth. Pan laughed and smiled at some of the more humorous stories.
"Do you remember that time when we were on our way to fight the androids and then suddenly Bulma shows up with a little lavender haired baby? We all thought it was Yamcha's even though the boy had such a sour look on his face. I will never forget the surprise when Yamcha told us who the real father of Trunks was," Krillin said laughing.
Bulma smiled at the memory and looked over at her son who looked more and more like his father except for the purple hair. Trunks looked back at his mother with one eyebrow raised, surprised that he had never been told that specific story. Bulma just smiled back.
"Well how about the fact that you ended up married to one of those androids we were heading off to fight," Yamcha shot back in response to Krillin.
Eventually it grew much too late to sit around and talk so Pan left to find where she was going to sleep dragging Bra with her. It didn't take long to find it and she looked around at some of the other already sleeping Z-Fighters. Bra quickly crawled into the bed and fell asleep leaving Pan to sit on the edge of her bed to wound up to actually sleep even though she felt exhausted. Pan decided to walk around for a few minutes before crawling under the covers.
After an hour she decided to see if her uncle or Trunks was awake so she could have someone to talk to. Pan quietly walked into the other room full of bed. She moved first to her uncle's bed and poked him several times, with no luck. She gave up when Goten started muttering about waffles. She then turned her attention to the bed beside Goten where Trunks was sprawled across the bed dosing. He had an arm thrown over his eyes and his body was stretched out over the end of the cot. Pan smiled as she reached out to flick his nose gently. He moved in his sleep to try and shoo away whatever was disturbing his sleep. Pan smiled once more and reached out to flick him again. She continued to flick him gently wondering how long she could keep it up before he awoke.
She reached out prepared to thump him on the forehead when she was grabbed and yanked forward on top of Trunks. She began to squirm trying to get free, but she went completely still as she felt his tail wrap around her waist. Pan thought he was going to yell at her for annoying him, but soon realized that even though he had grabbed her he was still sleeping soundly. She tried to move to free herself, but every time she would squirm he would hold onto her tighter. She leaned up trying to force his arms to let go, but soon heard a discontent growl coming from him. She sighed and decided to rest for a moment before trying again.
She didn't want to wake everyone else because that would only cause her more embarrassment. Pan didn't know how Trunks would react if he was awoken and she definitely didn't want to confront her father. She knew that if she powered up she could probably shock Trunks enough to get free but it would cause everyone else alarm and that was something they didn't need when there was a possible enemy approaching. As she continued to figure out a plan of escape her eyes began to feel heavy and as she listened to the rhythmic beat of Trunks's heart she drifted off to sleep.