Chapter 19: Free

As the rain poured down in the streets and on the rooftops and people hastily made their way to a dry spot, Bra realized that the summer was near it's end. Autumn was knocking on the door, along with it's sharp, rough wind. Soon, leafs would begin to fall, flowers would slowly wither and the sun would mostly hide behind thick clouds. Somehow that thought was a slight comfort; the beautiful sunny days made her time parted from Goten and her good friend Pan even harder to endure. Like the sun that gave her strength and made her happy, but was now hidden behind a wall of rain, the tears from heaven, so was she parted from her beloved.

"Why does it have to be like this, Dende?" She asked the Guardian of the Earth, "I doubt that you can hear me, and even if you can, I don't think there's much that could be done about it…"

"But something can be done, Bra." A soft voice spoke.

"Dende, is that you?" Bra jumped up from her bed. But it wasn't Dende that was looking at her with a sly glare…

"Trunks!" She gasped, "did you hear me?"

"Shh, no need to worry, sis."

"What you mean?" He had something up his sleeves, that was for sure.

"I mean that you can trust me, I have a plan."

"I knew it!" She cheered, "I knew you wouldn't turn on your best friend and your loving sister!"

"Listen, we have to be quick, Bra. I had to act like a total dickhead, so that father would trust me. I think I finally gained his trust, because he and mother have gone off to some other inventor, something about a new way of training. And he trusted me to make sure you wouldn't leave the house."

"Oh, Trunks!" She hugged him but he pushed her off him.

"No time for that, sis, we have to get out of here before he returns. Be sure to hide your ki, so he won't find us when they return!" She nodded. "Good, now quickly grab your suitcase and follow me!"

"Okay, guys, listen closely." Goku lowered his voice in order to keep everyone sharp, "Trunks and Bra are on their way here. As soon as they arrive, I'll take you all to Kame's house."

"Are you sure they will be safe there?" Goten looked worried, "it's quite an obvious place, Vegeta would go look their for sure!"

"Exactly," Goku smiled, "it's so obvious that he won't even bother to look there! He wouldn't think we would be that stupid!"

"Ehh…" Goten rubbed the back of his head, the same time as Gohan. Pan looked at them and laughed loudly.

"You know what they say, like father like son," She chuckled, "but in this case it would be better to say: like father like Son family. You guys all have that same, weird habit!"

"Just like the habit of the Son family, to eat like a pig and not be ashamed about it?" A familiar voice sounded behind them.

"Bra!" Pan immediately turned around, ran towards her best friend and hugged her tightly.

"Bra!" Goten also yelled, he followed Pan and after the two girls let go of each other, he grabbed Bra, swung her around in his arms and kissed her passionately.

"Oh.. Goten…" Was all she could say before Goku ordered them all to touch him –he claimed he had learned that technique just because of that- , it was time to leave.

"Take care, you lot!" Chichi yelled, just before Goku touched his forehead with two fingers and they all disappeared. Thanks to his Instant Translocation technique they were at Kame's house in a jiffy where they were happily greeted by the whole gang.

"Oh man, it's so good to see everyone again!" Goku smiled widely as he shook hands with Yamcha, Tien and petted Chiaotzu on his head. He bowed in respect to Master Roshi, who grinned widely and hid his face behind a dirty magazine again. Puar, Turtle and Oolong came to greet them as well, it was a lovely sigh to behold.

In the chaos of hugging, greeting, shaking hands and sharing stories with each other, Pan escaped out of the house and made her way to the water. She sat down on the pearly white sand and rested her head on her hands, a deep sigh escaped her lips.

"Everyone seems so happy," she sighed, "but I can't help but feel worried."

"Maybe I can make you feel better?" A soft voice tickled her left ear, a warm breath caressed the side of her face. Trunks.

"Please… don't do that…" She turned away.

"Oh, Pan… You have all the right to be mad at me, but I didn't do it because I wanted to, it was for the best, for the sake of all of us!" He stretched out his hand, touched her cheek with his fingertips, they slid under her chin and softly forced her to look at him.

"Trunks…" She whispered.

"When you were stabbed by that… weird woman… I was so scared Pan. I couldn't think straight anymore, I thought I was going insane, I was going insane… I killed her, I killed that woman, a mere human. I know it was over the top, but I couldn't help it. All I could think of was her, hurting you, and you… turning white as a sheet. Dende… My heart stopped beating…"

"Oh Trunks…" It seemed there wasn't much else she could say.

"Shh, that's not all." He pushed one finger against her lips, "you have no idea how happy I was, how relieved when you returned with Goku and the others, looking healthy." He hugged her tightly, "those days without you, were hell, Pan. They were really hard, but the thing that kept me going, kept me pretending to be a bastard, so that father would trust me, was you. The thought of being with you again, the thought of seeing your lovely smile, feeling your soft punches when I annoy you… Holding you and kissing you…" Before she could even say anything in return, his mouth had cleverly captured hers, she surrendered to her feelings, to the moment… to him.

Suddenly they both froze, jumped up and turned around. There were Goten and Bra, looking at them with wide grins on their faces. Pan and Trunks immediately turned red and looked the other way, which made Goten and Bra laugh even louder.

"I'm so happy I'm free again, and all thanks to you, brother dear." She walked over to Trunks and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad that everything is right again," Goten smiled, pulling Bra in for a quick kiss.

"So am I," Trunks followed his friend's example and lifted Pan up in his arms. "Nothing is gonna stand in the way of our happiness now!" And he sealed that promise with a kiss.

Now Trunks thought that nobody knew about their whereabouts, except the people that they could trust, but he was wrong. Someone had been watching them from the shadows, their every move, someone knew that they left Capsule Corporations and that they were going to Kame's house. They didn't know him, but he knew them very well…

"Curse you, Trunks Briefs, curse you and your whole bloody family!" The silhouette of a young man was visible in the pale moonlight, his hands clenched to fists and his teeth grinding. Though the wind was gently playing with his hair, there was nothing gentle about his appearance. "And curse that Pan Son…" He raised his hand that was holding a knife, the moonlight reflecting on it. "I will get my revenge…soon…"

Excusez-moi for the short chapter, but this is all I could bring up for now, I want to make them longer but I don't want to write rubbish, ya know? And yeah the last bit about the creepy stalker person.. it just had to end like that, to keep the tension, if ya know what I mean *wink wink*

Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, please review!

~Areyasha