Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.

Chapter Fourteen – Half Asleep

Was it a dream? It seemed real, but then, if it wasn't a dream, wouldn't she know for sure if it was or not? That's what made dreams so real...you didn't know it wasn't real until you woke up.

Pan stumbled over a chair but didn't fall, as she continued roaming the kitchen among her sleepwalking. Something about space travel caused her do this; in fact at one point in their previous journey, she managed to fill the trio's living room floor with Goku's socks, and underwear from out of his duffle bag. Why she was going through his clothes, the elder boy hadn't a clue, but her targets must have been random due to her sleepwalking, since she had also been into the mustard...Trunks still wasn't sure how Goku weaseled into getting the bedroom cleanup duty while Trunks got stuck with the kitchen.

At present, Pan had already been in the bridge, but auto-pilot was strict about it's users, so she could do no harm there. After that, and the dinning room,(-kitchen-) she was on her way back to the 2nd floor through the elevator, but not before pressing a multitude of buttons. How she managed to do all this asleep was a mystery, but it was doubtless that it took less than three hours to complete her rounds.

There was only two places on the ship she hadn't searched...The 4th floor, and the forbidden. But then, there was no boundaries with the unconscious Pan, hence the underwear incident.

In her dream, Pan noticed she had paws...black paws. And she was in the middle of a rain forest; it was dark, and she could see the leaves moving with the wind. The sky could hardly be seen through the thick canopy, but she noticed it to be dark blue through the patches she did see. She disregarded her strange velvet form and pushed her way through the surrounding underbrush...

On the 2nd floor Pan walked up to the door connecting to Trunks' room. The sensor blinked and chirped, therefore admitting access.

Pan stepped, claws and pads molding with the earth as she entered a clearing with water overtaking the middle. Pan paused, ears and tail flicking before cautiously approaching the freshwater pond...

The room was pitch black, Trunks slept soundly, undisturbed, by the sound of the door opening and closing, while Giru remained in standby mode on a desk next to Trunks' bed; with one light blinking every five seconds.

Pan crossed the room and stood right next to Trunks, who was still fast asleep and facing the other direction.

Upon reaching the pond, Pan peered into the water, only to see her reflection, but this time she didn't pass it off so easily. What she seen staring back at her was a black cat, a panther to be exact. She gazed curiously at her reflection for mere seconds before realization finally hit. Her feline features quickly soured, coupled by a hiss which soon intensified in volume, ultimately resulting in a high-pitched roar.

A scream erupted throughout the ship. Pan found she had lost her balance and fell backward, she had only enough time to blink, and not enough time to register her surroundings before another outcry of surprise was sent through the space vessel. Trunks was instantly on his feet and had shot two ki blasts, which would have hit Pan had she not of fallen backward after waking up.

Pan, still in shock, began backing up in a slow crab-crawl. Everything was so confusing, she still didn't understand why she was in there...and why was Trunks shooting ki blasts and yelling at the top of his lungs?

Trunks stood there, motionless, apart from breathing for a grand total of five seconds before he finally blinked and got his breathing under control.

By now Pan was a good five feet away, still on the floor and trembling with confusion. What happened to all her courage? Things have growled at her before, and she just growled right back, so why was it she was so terrified of Trunks right now?

He turned his full attention on Pan, somehow knowing exactly where she was. His eyes were focused and controlled, surprising for someone who just woke up.

He took a step toward her and concern rushed to his face as he watched Pan back away from him even further, his features were impossible for Pan to see in the pitch black room. "Pan...are you ok?" he asked gently and raised a hand in an attempt to calm her.

Trust outweighed her better judgment, as she stood cautiously. "T-Trunks, are you done freaking out?" she asked him and took a step herself. She wanted to hug him for reassurance if nothing else.

The half Saiyan smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Pan yelped and leaped to hug him, relived that he was back to normal. "Don't do that ever again Trunks, for a minute I didn't know what you were going to do!" she told him, desperately gripping him around the waist, for fear she would lose the good Trunks if she let go.

He returned her embrace, but not nearly as tight. Still, he wasn't complaining about the outcome.

After a moment, neither said anything, but Trunks started looking around his room, surveying the damage he had done. It wasn't that he regretted the results of this incident, but he really could have injured Pan with those unstable energy blasts, and that scared him more than anything else right now. "Pan, why are you in here? It's not that I mind, but I could have seriously hurt you a minute ago."

Meanwhile Pan had closed her eyes, she was thinking of nothing else except clinging to the person that had nearly blasted her. She just wanted to stay like this until everything in her mind stopped spinning around in confusion. She blinked at the sound of Trunks voice, then tilted her head when his words finally sunk in, all the while her head clung to his chest.

A long moment passed and Trunks tried to meet her gaze, but to no avail, he could hardly see her outline much less her face.

"Pan?" he echoed when she still didn't answer. By now Trunks had grown impatient with the fact that he couldn't discern what she was thinking.

Before Pan could protest, Trunks had lifted her into a cradle position, and he waited again for her to say something, but Pan remained silent, all she could think of was that she felt spellbound, as if Trunks had told her something that enthralled her to obey.

Without an objection from Pan, Trunks crossed to the door, which beeped and complied to open. He stepped out and the door closed, leaving a very confused little robot to hide underneath his table. "Giru."

What was going on? It was like being mesmerized, and Pan couldn't make herself say or do anything, almost like there was something deep down telling her that if she did do something, it might cause the half Saiyan to go berserk again. But then another part told her not to be afraid of him right now, however it was beyond her comprehension right now to conclude why; therefore with the combination of those two thoughts and the fact that he was holding her so gently compelled her to simply take no action at all.

After the brief elevator lift, it opened up to the 4th floor. The observation room was more like an open -see through- dome, with only one pillar placed directly in the middle, which severed as both the elevator and a control panel.

Trunks stepped out, as he did so, illumination from the stars spread to their faces and Trunks found his answer. Pan's features seemed to tell him that she was still in a daze of sorts, and she had no intension of talking as of yet.

When Trunks set her down, she felt a slight pang of disappointment, but it passed quickly as he sat down beside her.

Trunks decided he would be patient and wait for her explanation. As he waited, he cast his eyes on the slowly passing stars and planets.

It hadn't even occurred to Pan that she should explain everything ranging from the dream, to the shouting. To be honest, she was still trying to catch up with the present, she was only just now noticing the background of blackness, dotted with celestial bodies.

As Pan examined her surroundings Trunks looked at her again and noticed she was not wearing her bandana; her hair hung by her cheeks, somewhat impairing her vision. With a slow movement, Trunks reached and combed her hair back, all the while watching for a reaction, but he got none.

Pan ignored his current activities and remained fixed at the emptiness of space, she was in deep contemplation about his outburst earlier. She knew for sure that she'd seen him like that before, but she couldn't place when or where.

She thought about it more, and was so close to remembering when suddenly Trunks broke the dead silence, "You should keep you hair down more often." It was hardly loader than a whisper but it was enough to scramble her thoughts.

Pan looked at him, totally disregarding his comment. "Trunks, I've seen you like that before, but I can't rememb-" It was strange, it came to her in that very instant as she was talking.

Her face paled with the thought and Trunks leaned closer with a worried look. "Pan? What's wrong?"

"No," Pan whispered at first, then shouted it again as she gritted her teeth while her throat ached with heartache. "NO!" she screamed for the third time and hugged him desperately around the neck.

At this point Trunks was counting this day as being very productive with Pan, all except for the energy balls of death, that was definitely not a plus. But that was enough daydreaming, Pan was shaking profusely and Trunks thought he heard her sob. "Pan, all I caught was 'no', you're going to have to tell me what's wrong," he said while combing her hair with one hand.

Between sobs Pan had managed only one word, "Baby."

It was but one word, however it left Trunks horrified as a thousand dreadful memories came flooding back.
---