Chapter 11: Reunion - Part 1
Pan was lying in the grass at the lake near her parents' house, her arms behind her head and her eyes closed. She knew she always came to this place when she had to think about something or when she didn't feel good. This was the place where Goku had taught her how to fly, when she had been three years old and at this place she had decided to tell Trunks about her feelings the day everything had begun. But this time she really felt good, better than ever before, even though her head was so full of thoughts and memories that it was a bit overwhelming.
Earlier that night something had happened. She and Trunks had completed their bond and as that had happened, Pan had remembered everything what had just been a hole in her memories for the last six months. It was simply too good to be true. What if she just thought she remembered everything and that everything would be gone again the next morning? Pan began to shiver, when suddenly something or someone kept the warm sunbeams from reaching her body.
"Hey Panny!" a cheerful voice greeted her.
"Hey grandpa!" Pan answered smiling, but she still had her eyes closed.
"What's up Panny? No hug for your old grandpa?"
"Do you promise me not to be gone when I open my eyes or that I'll not just see your shadow again, like last time?" Pan asked and Goku could hear a hint of fear in her voice.
"Don't worry Panny. I won't go anywhere. I promise. You can open your eyes," he told her smiling and Pan listened to him. She blinked a few times so that her eyes could adjust to the light and she saw that her fear had been unfounded. Pan looked at Goku and didn't know if she should smile or cry. It had been such a long time since he had fused with the Dragonballs and disappeared with Shenlong.
"Grandpa!" she just shouted and jumped at his neck, hugging him tightly. Goku, who wasn't prepared for a greeting like this, stumbled backwards and eventually fell back. Laughing both of them got back up and sat down directly at the water. "I'm sorry grandpa… It has just been such a long time and I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, Panny. But I've always watched over you and the others…"
"If you've done that, I'm sure you can tell me how dad, mom and the others are," Pan said, hoping that she was right. Now that she remembered everything, she just knew that her parents and everyone else would be frantic with worry about her.
"Well, why don't you ask them tomorrow? I told Bulma where to find you, and Gohan, Goten, Vegeta and Trunks will come tomorrow and look for you in this world."
"Tomorrow already? Why so soon? I mean… I still have so much to do… I have to tell Trunks, I mean my Trunks, who I am. And this will already be hard enough. What can I say to him? 'Oh and by the way Trunks, I'm Son Pan, the daughter of your former sensei and I accidentally got into this world after I wanted to tell your other-self that I love him and I saw him with someone else, who is by the way the daughter of Krillin and Juuhachigou, your arch enemy and I couldn't see the portal because I've been blinded by the tears your other self caused to fall?' Oh yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't leave me after that," Pan finished her rambling with a sarcastic voice.
"Panny, he loves you. He would never leave you. Believe me, I know him. He would never hurt you. And besides, he marked you as his."
Pan carefully touched the bitemark on her neck, so reminiscent of a vampire bite, and yet completely different. "I hope you're right grandpa. And you really think they will find me tomorrow?"
Goku scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "To be honest, I gave them a small hint where to find you in Sunnydale."
"Okay…" Pan sighed, still not completely happy about this. Of course, she was happy that she would finally see her family again, but she believed that she needed just a bit more time to deal with everything and everyone else until then. There was just so much to do. "I just hope dad won't freak out about me and Trunks."
"I think the best way to find out is to tell him," Goku sighed and got back up. He wiped the dust from his orange gi and looked down at Pan. "Panny, I'm sorry, but I have to go now."
Feeling upset, Pan immediately also got to her feet. "Now? But we've just met. You can't go now! It's too early."
"Shenlong allowed me to talk to you because you needed my help. But now you don't need it anymore. That's why I have to go," Goku said and wiped a tear from Pan's eye.
"Will I see you again?" she asked in a desperate voice.
"I don't know Panny. Maybe. But I'll always be there when you need my help. Okay?"
"Okay…" Pan said sniffling and Goku walked over to her, hugging her tightly to his chest. He still couldn't believe how much she had grown. She had truly become a lovely young woman. "I love you grandpa."
"I love you, too. And please tell your grandma that I'm sorry that I left her again and that I love her with all my heart. Will you do that?" Goku could feel Pan nodding against his shoulder and smiled. "Thank you Panny."
Directly after he said that, Pan could feel him disappear in her arms and when she opened her eyes he was gone. "Thank you grandpa," she whispered with a light smile on her face as she lay back down in the grass and closed her eyes.
~*~
Pan woke up to the birds singing outside her window. She and Trunks had obviously forgotten to close it and the blinds the night before and so the sun was shining directly into her eyes. She sighed and snuggled deeper into Trunks' arms, who was still holding her as if he would never let her go. She looked at the clock on Trunks' side of the bed and it showed that it was just a few minutes past eight o'clock. She had just slept for a few hours, but she felt really happy. It wasn't just a dream, she really remembered who she was, and that was a huge relief. But the hardest part was still lying in ahead of her. Telling Trunks and the other Scoobies who she really was.
Sighing again she carefully slipped out of Trunks's embrace without waking him and got out of the bed. She grabbed a few clothes and before she left the room, she took one last look at Trunks, who had spread his body on the full size of the bed in the meantime. Pan chuckled lightly, because Trunks looked like a small and innocent schoolboy when he was sleeping. "I love you Trunks Vegeta Briefs," she whispered, before she left the room.
~*~
"Bulma, can't you work a bit faster on this machine? It's already nine o'clock!" Gohan growled in an exasperated voice, while he was pacing in front of the portal that would reunite him with his daughter.
"Sorry Gohan, but even I can't do magic. You could be glad that I've noticed this malfunction before you walked through this portal. Otherwise Dende knows where you would've ended up," Bulma told him, sounding clearly annoyed. Gohan had been acting like this for the past hour, ever since he had arrived and had seen that she was working on the machine.
"But I could've found her by now!" Gohan stopped where he was pacing and swung his fist back, ready to hit a metal wall in front of him.
"Gohan! NO!" Videl shouted, but he didn't listen and swung his fist at the wall. Videl squeezed her eyes shut, expecting a loud bang, but it never came. When she opened her eyes again, she could see that Vegeta was holding her snarling husband's wrist back, almost with ease.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Look." Vegeta pointed to the wall, showing that it belonged to the portal. "Or you would have to wait another few days before you can bring your brat back."
-
On the other side of the hall, Goten, Trunks, Bra and Marron were talking.
"Okay Trunks," Bra said, "whatever happens, let Pan make the first step. If she wants to insult you, let her do it. If she wants to beat you to a bloody pulp, let her do it. Understand?"
"Yes, Bra. I will do anything just to make her feel better. Oh god, you don't know how terrible I feel about this whole thing."
"You're right buddy," Goten said. "But this is your punishment for being so blind all the time. But don't worry, I'll stop her before she kills you."
"I hope you'll do that Son Goten, because I don't want to have a dead boyfriend. Oh, and Bra, you remember the first thing we want to do when Pan's back?" Marron asked her friend.
"How can I forget that? We will go shopping with my dear brother's credit card!" the younger version of Bulma said laughing.
A few minutes later, Bulma stepped out of the back of the machine and walked towards the men. She was cleaning her hands with a dirty cloth and there was grease all over her blue working clothing. "So guys, the portal's ready. You can go now if you want."
"Finally," Gohan mumbled and grabbed his backpack "Goten! Trunks! We can go!" He watched the young men saying goodbye to their girlfriends and walking towards him.
When everyone was ready, Bulma pressed a red button and a bluish and white vortex opened. The group stared at it in awe and Bulma walked towards Gohan and gave him something. "Here, that is the remote control. You know how it works." Gohan nodded at her and she took a few steps back. The four male Saiyajins exchanged quick looks, ready to take whatever might meet them on the other side, and then walked through the vortex, which closed behind them.
~*~
The portal opened in a crypt on one of the cemeteries in Sunnydale, waking up a few vampires who were living there. "What the hell is that?" one of them asked, staring at the blue and white whirl in fascination.
"I don't know," another answered. "But look, someone's coming out of it."
After the four men had stepped out of it, the vortex closed again. "Looks like we're not alone here," Vegeta stated matter-of-factly, when he saw the small group of vampires.
"Well, what do we have here? Looks like breakfast," the first vamp said, licking his lips.
"Breakfast? Where?" Goten asked confused, immediately thinking about eggs and bacon, and began to look around the crypt. There appeared a slightly crestfallen look on his face, when he didn't see any breakfast.
"Silly…" the second vampire said as he vamped out. "We mean you." The vampires lunged at them, but Vegeta just stretched his arm and sent a small ki blast at them, pulverizing them at once.
"Pathetic," he mumbled and walked to the door, carrying his bag over his shoulder.
"Dad, you've killed them," Trunks told him, staring at his father in shock.
"I know. But believe me. I did this world a favor. They were vampires."
"Vampires? I've always thought they didn't exist," Goten said, shaking his head.
"Oh no, they don't exist. As well as aliens don't exist. Are you coming now?" the Prince asked the other Saiyajins annoyed. He opened the door and left the crypt, followed by the others.
"And what shall we do now?" Goten wanted to know, after they had stepped into the harsh sunlight in the cemetery.
"I guess the best thing would be, if we split up to look for Pan. So our chances are better to find her fast," Gohan suggested. "Or what do you think Vegeta?"
"You're right. If one of us finds her, we will raise our ki high enough for the others to notice. And if we don't find her, we'll meet here again at sundown." Kakarotto had told him that the brat usually was found at a magic shop call the Magic Box, but he wouldn't go there, yet. If he had understood Kakarotto correctly, she had just remembered her past, and he guessed that she needed some time to figure things out and to talk to her friends. She just needed to keep her ki hidden, so that none of the others found her before she was ready. But the girl was smart, so Vegeta wasn't overly worried about that.
"Okay, either we find her or we meet here again at sundown. See ya!" Without another word, Trunks walked off and the other three Saiyajins followed his example and each of them left to another direction.
~*~
Vegeta had been walking through the streets of Sunnydale for about ten minutes, searching for someone who might help him to find the Magic Box, just so that he knew where it was. Suddenly he spotted a blue house with a blue sign on the top, where he could read the name of the shop. "Magic Box. It was easier to find than I thought. Now I can go a bit looking through this town and come back later," he mumbled to himself. At the same moment Vegeta wanted to leave again, a black car stopped directly in front of the shop. A young woman with shoulder length brown hair got out and opened the door to the shop, while a man with black hair and glasses opened the door of the passenger-seat of the car and another man with a black coat covering his body jumped out of the car and ran into the shop. The other two persons followed him and closed the door. Vegeta frowned slightly but quickly shook his head. Apparently this town was full of weird things.
~*~
"Hello customer, buy something and give me your mon…" Anya was looking for something behind the desk and stopped her speech as she got back up and saw Angel, Cordelia and Wesley standing in front of her. "Oh, it's just you."
"Hey Anya!" Angel greeted her. "Where's Giles?"
"He's in the back. Wait a second. GILES! ANGEL'S HERE!"
"Anya, what is going on?" Giles asked, when he came from the back of the shop. "Oh, hello Angel, Cordelia, Wesley. What brings you to Sunnydale?"
"Cordy had a vision of a large dragon appearing here in Sunnydale," Angel told him without beating around the bush.
"Oh, do you mean the Hellmouth beast?" Anya asked. "I mean, we had this yesterday. But luckily we were able to close the Hellmouth again."
"No, it was not the Hellmouth beast," Cordy said. "Believe me. I know how it looks like. It was just a really huge dragon."
"A-alright. Anya, call the others, please. I guess we have to do some research," Giles told her.
~*~
When Pan came out of the shower, she just heard how the front door closed. Curious about who that might be, she went downstairs, her hair still damp from the shower. On the kitchen desk she found a note with Faith's handwriting.
'Hey P! Anya just called. Angel's in town with Wes and Queen C. Said it was important, something about a vision Queen C had. Dawn and me didn't want to wake you after your, how should I say, exhausting night with Trunks. Just come when you've slept enough. I didn't hear Spike coming home last night. Maybe he's still sleeping. So, write him a note when you leave. See ya, Faith PS: Tell me everything later!'
Usually Pan would follow her at once, but she didn't feel like it this morning. She first had to talk to Trunks and then she could take care of Cordy's vision. She got a cup out of the cupboard and poured some coffee into it. Pan then sat down at the table and placed the cup in front of her. Grabbing the cup tightly between her palms, she sighed and waited for Trunks to wake up and join her, growing more nervous with each passing moment. There were so many things that could go wrong and Pan was really, truly scared that Trunks might not take the truth about her memories well.
~*~
As Spike slowly woke up, his whole body was aching like hell. "Oww, did someone get the number of the truck?" he mumbled groggily. And then there was also this weird dream. It could have just been a dream. It couldn't have been real. It was simply impossible. Shaking his head, he carefully opened his eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It looked like an old factory, but when he tried to get up, he was being held back. Raising his head slowly, he saw that his arms and legs were spread apart and tied to the floor. "Bloody hell, who did this?"
"Look who finally decided to wake up," he heard female voice say behind him. Spike froze, once again remembering the dream and he wondered, if it maybe hadn't been a dream at all. He knew this voice so well and yet it somehow wasn't the same. It sounded so… different. The next thing he heard were steps coming nearer and finally he could see the owner of this voice standing in front of him. It really was Buffy, wearing black leather pants, a black top and black boots. "And I thought you were so strong. As far as I remember you've killed two Slayers."
"Buffy?"
"You already said that last night. Yes, I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are William the Bloody, Spike."
"So, it wasn't a dream? You're alive?" Spike asked, the tone of his voice betraying his complete and utter disbelief. "No ghost?"
"No, I'm pretty much alive. And you're still undead. I should have staked you by now, but I still have some questions… And I want to have some fun," she said smirking, revealing a small bottle with clear fluid. "So, tell me something about Pan and Trunks… And how to kill the Key…"
"What?" Spike asked, staring at the Slayer – the same one who was supposed to be dead and was still somehow still alive - in shock. "You've got to be kidding! Killing Dawn! You sacrificed your life to save her, or have you forgotten this tiny fact?"
"Blah, blah, blah… Quentin warned me that you might resort to some wildly made up stories to get away… But I won't fall for them. Whatever, I guess this means that you don't want to play my game?" Buffy asked eventually, leaning over his upper body and ripping his shirt apart, looking at him with a cruel grin on her face. "Fine… Then I'll make you play it." She opened the bottle and dropped some of its content on his chest. When the fluid connected with the skin, steam rose up from it and Spike howled in agony. "Oh, and by the way… You see that window in the roof?" she asked him, motioning to a window directly over Spike. "Around noon the sun will shine down here, directly at you… I'll release you if you tell me everything I want to know… Otherwise I'll torture you until the sun will burn you… So, do you still want to work against me, or do you agree to help?"
"Buffy, you… you don't want…. to do this…" Spike said, ignoring her question completely, his face a grimace of pain.
"Believe me… I'll enjoy it…" she told him, as she sauntered to a table in the corner and grabbed a wooden cross. She slowly traced the edges of the cross on the way back and, once she was again kneeling next to Spike, pressed the cross against his chest on the already burned wounds, letting Spike scream in pain again.
~*~
Pan didn't know how long she had been sitting in the kitchen, staring down at the long cold and untouched dark liquid in the cup, when she finally heard steps on the stairs. Her breath caught in her throat, as she looked up. Her gaze passed over the clock and she realized with a shock that it was already half past ten. So much time had already passed and she hadn't even realized it, while she had been so lost in her thoughts about how to break the news to Trunks without having him run away at the end of the conversation.
Just before Trunks stepped into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, Pan took one last deep breath. He went over to her and kissed her gently on the lips. Pan didn't respond, couldn't respond as tightly wound as she was at that moment, but Trunks didn't seem to notice, as his grin didn't even waver, when he asked, "Good morning Panny. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did sleep well," Pan told him, as he took a seat on the other side of the table. She forced a smile on her face, trying to sound cheerful, but she noticed at once that she hadn't succeeded, when the smile on Trunks's face suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a look of regret.
"Pan…" he mumbled apologetically, looking at her imploringly. Guilt immediately rose up within him. He had known that it had been a mistake, that it had been too soon, that she hadn't been ready yet. "I'm sorry… I really am. I didn't want to force you last night, but… I don't want to make any excuses, but still, there was nothing I could have done to prevent that… I should have talked to you about it, I realize that now. See, you need to know…"
"Trunks, stop," Pan interrupted him. "I-I wanted it as badly as you… Honestly. Last night… it was wonderful, believe me…" Pan met his gaze, but the worried look on his face didn't disappear. She sighed deeply. "Really, you don't need to regret anything."
Trunks sighed with relief, sensing through their bond that she was really honest with him. However, if it wasn't what they did last night, what else was bothering her? "But… what is it? What's wrong? Something's bothering you, I can see it…"
Pan looked at him for a moment longer, before she realized that she couldn't procrastinate any longer. Trunks deserved to know, and in a way, Pan was also dying to tell him. So, after having taken a deep breath, she pulled her hair aside and revealed the mark on her neck. "I'm sure my dad wants to kill you when he sees this."
"What?" Trunks asked confused. This was the last thing he had expected her to say.
But Pan ignored his question, beginning to ramble, as her nervousness overwhelmed her, now wanting to get everything out into the open as quickly as possible. "You might think that he couldn't possibly be able to kill you, but believe me. After my grandfather died, he started training again and when he wants to do it, he will be able to kill you… You must know, my father is really overprotective when it comes to me. I'm his only daughter, his little baby. He didn't even want to teach me how to fight. I asked him on my third birthday, but he refused and told me that he could never train me. I asked my grandfather then, and he happily agreed. We started the same day with training. One year later I visited my first tournament…
"At this tournament my grandfather met another boy and left to train him. From this day on, the father of my best friend took over his job and continued my training. And believe me, this training wasn't easy. He didn't think of me as a little girl, he treated me like a fighter and he loved me like his own daughter, even though he never showed it. Ten years later my grandfather suddenly came back and he, a good friend of mine and I made a long trip. The trip took one year, and in this year the crush I had since my early childhood on my best friend deepened. After this year my grandfather died, or left us… We don't know exactly what has happened. That was about four years ago.
"The day where this woman found me here in Sunnydale, I wanted to tell my friend how I felt. I wanted to tell him that my feelings for him have grown stronger and that I was in love with him, even though he's fourteen years older than I am. On that day, just when I wanted to tell him this, I saw him in the park, kissing a girl, also a good friend of mine. When he noticed me, he told me smiling that they were a couple. It hit me hard to find out about them like this. I had believed for so long that he might return my feelings, and I couldn't hold my tears back any longer. He wanted to know what was bothering me and assured me that I could tell him everything since we're best friends. I just said 'Best friends. Yeah, that's what we were.' and left. He followed me, but I sped up… I couldn't see much because of the tears… And the next thing I know was waking up in the hospital, without my memories…"
Her tears had begun to fall during the tale, and when she had been talking about the incident in the park, the flow of tears had become stronger. Trunks wanted to comfort her, he just couldn't see her like this, and yet he didn't know what to do. He had listened patiently to her rambling, but the more she said, the more his shock grew, and now he was almost unable to do anything. At first he had been surprised to realize that somehow in the course of the last few hours, Pan had regained her memory. He should feel happy for her, but something else quickly destroyed the happiness – and Trunks immediately felt guilty about it.
What had destroyed this happiness was one simple thing: Pan had been in love with someone else before she had lost her memory. Her worst fear had become true. Was she still in love with this guy? She had once claimed that she wouldn't be able to love anyone from her past, because she loved him now. But love was a tricky thing. If her feelings for this other guy had been lost along with her memories, shouldn't her feelings have returned along with them?
"Trunks?" Pan asked carefully, as she watched the different emotions pass over his face. In the end, she could just see pain on his face, a pain so raw that it almost broke her heart. And she knew what had hurt him so much. He believed that she didn't love him anymore, which wasn't true. She just needed to make him understand that. "I-I remember everything… And everything I just told you is the truth. But I also didn't lie all the other times, when I told you that I love you. I do, I really do. I'm in love with you now. Now, now that I know what love truly is, I realize that what I felt before for my friend was really just a crush. It has never been as deep and strong as what I feel for you. A-and I don't want you to think that I love you, because I had a crush on him. I fell in love with you without even knowing that he existed… Damn, I'm rambling again… everything's just so overwhelming. All the memories…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry…"
"Hey…" Trunks was immediately at her side, taking her hands into his own. He looked directly into her eyes, his own gaze soft. Her words sounded so sincere, and he could detect no lie through the bond, so how could he not believe her? It was true, it was overwhelming, but not just for her, even though he couldn't even begin to understand how she must feel. "I'm sorry, luv… I didn't want to hurt you. I just… You're right… it's surprising and overwhelming and right now, I'm not sure what to think. I'm glad, of course, that you have your memories back. It's just so sudden. But I believe you, when you tell me that you love me, because I love you, too. You can tell me everything and I won't judge you. You know that, right?"
A huge wave of relief washed over Pan, as Trunks said this. She entwined her fingers with his and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thank you…"
"You're welcome," Trunks replied with a soft smile tugging at his lips. "But I need to know one more thing: Is your name really Pan? Or do I need to get used to some other, weird name, like Joan?"
A laugh escaped Pan's lip, as she shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm still Pan…" But then, from one moment to another, she got serious again. "Trunks… I haven't told you everything, yet. And what I will tell you now is even more unbelievable. Either it's just one big coincidence, or the Powers wanted to mess with us a bit… So… Just… please just listen to me and don't interrupt me…"
"I'll do everything, Pan. What is it? You can tell me." He watched her closely, as she bit down on her lower lip, wondering what she might tell him that was so incredible.
"Alright…" Pan took a deep breath, and after having hesitated for a short moment, she finally said, "It's about my family… who they are. Trunks… You-you know my family, or at least some of them. My father is Gohan… Son Gohan. And my mother's maiden name is Videl Satan. She's Hercule Satan's daughter. As you can probably guess already, Son Goku is my other grandfather. And after you left, grandma ChiChi gave birth to another son, Goten. He was conceived shortly before the Cell Games. The one who trained me after grandpa Goku went away was your father, Vegeta. He and Bulma have gotten a second child, by the way. A girl, Bra. She's my best friend and just a year older than I am. Another good friend of me is Marron, the daughter of Krillin and Juuhachigou." Pan wanted to look away, too scared to meet Trunks's eyes, when he heard what she was going to say now. "It was Marron and the other Trunks who I saw that fateful day in the park. It was Trunks I had a crush on."
Shocked by this revelation, Trunks pulled his hands away, despite of what he had just told Pan. He leaned back and closed his eyes, having to think about what she had said. He had been ready to expect anything – that she was part demon, that her parents were some high and mighty politicians, superstars or something like that. But never, never in his wildest imagination, had he believed that she was part Saiyajin just like he was, and to top that, Son Gohan's daughter. But what was even worse than all of this combined, was the fact that she had admitted to having a crush on the other Trunks, who had still been just a baby, when he had been in the past the last time. And even though Pan had assured him that she didn't love him because of her former crush, Trunks still didn't know, if he really could believe it after all.
This was really a lot to think about.
~*~
After having wandered through the small town of Sunnydale for about two hours, during which he had encountered some beings that seemed to be classified as 'demons' in this dimension, the whole time wondering how a whole town could be in denial about what was right in front of their noses, Vegeta decided that he had waited long enough. The longer he waited, the higher were the chances that one of the other brats found her before he did.
Extending his senses one last time to make sure that the other Saiyajins weren't close, Vegeta pushed the door to the apparently rather small shop open. The doorbell chimed, but he ignored it, as he looked around. The shop was bigger than he had expected. His senses told him that there were two relatively high kis in the back of the building, along with some lower ones, not visible to him, but none of them belonged to the brat he was looking for.
Suddenly a female voice interrupted his thoughts. "Excuse me?"
He turned his head and first now noticed the human female. She had blonde hair, but this didn't appear to be her true hair color. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he scowled deeply at the young woman, who was standing her ground, apparently not at all bothered by the unfriendly expression on his face. "What do you want?"
The young woman stemmed her hands into her hips, a move that reminded him too much of his own woman for his liking – this usually meant that whatever was said next was meant to sound bossy – and glared up at him. "In case you haven't noticed, this is a shop. And I work here, which means that I'm here to help you spend your money. But, if you don't plan on spending any money, I need to ask you to leave."
"You work here?" Vegeta asked. If that was really the case, she just had to know the brat. This would make his search much easier.
The young woman nodded, slightly confused. After all, she had already told him this, hadn't she? "Yes, I do work here. Anya at your service, at least if you want to buy something. Otherwise… shoo!"
An amused smirk tugged at Vegeta's lips, as he listened to the human. This one was certainly different. "I'm looking for the brat."
"I'm sorry," Anya said, sounding confused, "but we don't sell any bread. But maybe you want to have some candles or holy water," she suggested instead, showing him a small bottle with clear liquid and a black cross on the white tag.
Rolling his eyes, he said, "Stupid human. I'm not talking about bread. I meant 'brat', the girl. I was told she'd be here. And I don't want to buy any of this stuff."
"Hey!" Anya now snapped indignantly. "I already told you. If you don't want to leave your money here, you have to leave. So, go away!"
Alarmed by Anya's yelling, the Scoobies rushed from the back of the shop to the front, where the argument was taking place. "Ahn? Are you okay?" Xander, who was immediately by her side, asked her worriedly. He looked back and forth between his fiancé and the stranger, who had made her so angry.
"No, I'm not okay. This… man just barges in here, demanding to see some brat and doesn't even want to buy anything!"
With a dark look upon his face, Xander now turned towards Vegeta, though he felt slightly intimidated by the man in front of him. For some reason, he was giving him the creeps. Still, he gathered all his courage and said, "You heard her. Buy something or leave. Or else…"
"Or else… what?" Vegeta asked, slightly amused.
"Or else we remove you from this shop by force," Faith now stepped forward, already cracking her knuckles.
"I won't leave until you tell me where I find the brat. None of you can make me leave before that, neither by telling me to nor by using force," he told her matter-of-factly. "Kakarotto told me that I would find her here. So, where is she?"
"Who are you talking about?" the dark-haired Slayer now wanted to know.
Vegeta simply rolled his eyes again in annoyance, though he had to admit that the girl had the right spirit for a warrior and her ki was incredibly high for a human. "I'm talking about the girl. Her name's Pan, though I don't know if she maybe uses a different name here. I was told that she has lost her memories."
"A-are you family of her?" Giles eventually asked the stranger. He was still a bit wary, but if this man knew more about Pan, he might be useful to them. And maybe he could help Pan to regain parts, if not all of her memories.
"No, or, well yes… since last night I guess…" Vegeta answered. "But I'm also her teacher since she's been four years old."
"What do you want from her?" Willow wanted to know, sounding quite defensive. "Are you from the Council? Because if you are, I will only repeat Anyas request: Go away."
Vegeta was surprised to suddenly sense some power from this otherwise weak girl. This power was a bit darker and he wasn't sure what to think of it. Shaking his head, growing more annoyed with each passing moment, he answered, "No, I'm not from this Council. As for the reason, why I'm here: I was sent to this place to bring her and her mate back home where they belong."
The Scoobies just stared at him for a moment, which couldn't have been longer than a second, before all of them started to talk at once, some in outrage, others in confusion. Vegeta groaned, wondering what he had done to deserve this.
