Disclaimer: I own nothing except the pic used, though I don't own the characters.

Surviving History

Chapter Twenty Five – Similarities and Differences

Trunks was feeling exceedingly annoyed as he sat down at the kitchen table beside his alternate self. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy after receiving his new, unwanted label. As far as titles went, Hero was fine, but as a nickname it was just downright embarrassing. "You know, it's not really necessary for me to call you that. We can call each other Trunks without too much confusion."

"It's alright," said his counterpart with a strained smile. "I can handle the torment for awhile. Besides, you three probably won't be here very long once Mom gets cracking on your time machine."

Across the small kitchen, Pan was helping Bulma put together a platter of sandwiches, both women still snickering at Hero's expense as Rink stood between them and peered up at the counter expectantly.

Trunks could hear the women murmuring to each other but he quickly grew bored with their chatter. Apparently so did his unlikely twin. "So, is our father still as much of a jackass as I remember?"

"Actually," Trunks replied with a lopsided smirk. "He's mellowed out quite a bit ever since Bulla was born."

"Bulla?" Hero wanted to know.

Trunks nodded. "My little sister. She can be a real pain in the rear but Dad can never seem to say no to her."

"Sister..." Hero contemplated the information quietly for a moment, and Trunks could tell that Bulma was doing the same as she had paused abruptly in her activities and grown just as quiet. Both quickly recovered though, and Hero smiled. "It figures he would have a soft spot for a daughter."

Trunks spent the next few minutes relating a number of other differences in his and Pan's dimension, suddenly realizing just how much he truly had to be thankful for after seeing just how dire things could be, if events had taken a different course... No Pan, no Bulla, no Goten, no Dad. Only Mom. His gaze had unwittingly drifted to the blue haired woman as she smiled and handed Rink a triangle of a sandwich.

The girl squealed with delight and munched hungrily as Bulma bent down to pick her up and proceeded to cross to the table and sit down with the child in her lap. When Pan followed with the platter of food and took the chair beside Trunks, Rink was already reaching in vain for another serving, her arms proving too short for the task. "She's not related to Goku but she's sure got a Saiyan's appetite, doesn't she?" Bulma laughed and procured another sample for the girl. Rink in turn smiled broadly and leaned back to thump her head against the woman's chest as she ate contentedly.

"Hero," Bulma whined with a pout. "I want one of these. If you won't make one for me then at least go out and find one to adopt. Kami knows there are plenty of orphans these days."

"Mom," Hero groaned miserably. "You make it sound as easy as getting a pet."

"Well, this one certainly acts like a pet," Bulma replied with a humorous grin aimed at the girl in her lap. "Feed her once and she's your friend for life." She looked back up to pin her son with a suggestive expression. "Besides, you've practically got girls lining up at the gate, every day."

Sighing in exasperation and humiliation, Hero tried to bury his face in his hands. "Don't remind me."

Trunks couldn't help but sweat a little, nearly feeling his fellow's misery as his own. "She nags you about grand-kids too, huh?"

"Yeah, it's getting really old," Hero muttered into his hands.

"Do you have to hear it every birthday like I do?" Trunks sighed.

"Both our birthdays and mother's day." Hero rolled his eyes.

"You've got to be kidding..." Trunks couldn't even wrap his mind around the horror and madness that would cause him. He understood the fact that he probably should have married and had at least one kid by now, but that didn't mean he had to be nagged about it all the time!

This was all besides the fact that he really wasn't all that great with kids. Despite looking back with fond memories on his first Grand Tour with Goku and Pan, there had definitely been some unpleasant moments where he often felt like the only adult within an entire star system and even more often wanted to bash his head against the ship's console.

More recently, he was feeling awkward around Rink, and she was partially his responsibility now. So far, he hadn't been forced to interact with her much since Pan was tending to her constantly. Trunks knew better though. He would be expected to take on some of the work once Pan got bored with the chore. It was inevitable really, Pan always got bored with every new interest, eventually anyway.

He wasn't looking forward to receiving his new mandate, but he had been the one that made the decision to bring Rink along, so he would accept the consequences.

Honestly though, he just never felt very well equipped when it came to children, for some reason he lacked the latent ability to get on their level and humor them appropriately. He guessed, or hoped rather, that such a skill would come naturally when he finally did decide to procreate, though he certainly wasn't in any hurry about it. He idly wondered what Pan's thoughts were on the matter but found himself unable to even make a guess. Frankly, she could lean either way and her potential answer terrified him. He tried to force the thought away, at least until a proper opportunity arose to question her...

"Nope," Hero responded, completely unaware of his counterpart's inner conflict. "Apparently, getting a grandchild would be the best gift I could ever think of to give her."

"That's just not fair," Trunks replied automatically, shaking his head with a weary sigh.

"I know!"

"I am sitting right here, you know," Bulma growled from her seat.

"We know!" both men chorused.

"I'm hoping you'll lay off if you hear us complain enough," Hero grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," Bulma sighed out and relented as she turned her gaze to Pan and Trunks and held out her hand expectantly. "Alright you two, what's your story and what's this I hear about your faulty time machine?"

Trunks handed over the capsule containing the machine and proceeded to recount their unsanctioned trip to the past as they ate, with Pan throwing in little morsels of information that she deemed important. By the time they were done explaining things, Rink was off Bulma's lap and had her face and hands pressed against the glass of a transparent door that appeared to lead to an indoor menagerie where various critters scampered around.

Trunks nearly scoffed with indifference. It seemed that no matter what dimension, Capsule Corp. upheld his grandfather's legacy of taking in animals, be they rejects or the disabled.

One such specimen, a large brown dog with a scarred right eye, came up to the door and licked the glass where Rink's face was pressed parallel. The child yelped, obviously frightened and stumbled back onto her rump with a whimper, tail curled and probably on the verge of tears.

Thankfully, Pan and Bulma were out of their seats before a meltdown could occur. "It's just a dog, Rink," Pan told her calmly as she knelt beside her. "Nothing like that big cat that tried to eat you before."

It occurred to Trunks that if Rink hadn't seen what or whom had actually killed her, she probably attributed her dying experience to the Mammoth-Tiger that Pan was referring to, since it was probably her last memory of terror before getting wished back to life.

"Best to face your fears head on and get them over with right away, I always say," Bulma said as she pressed a switch on the door, causing it to pop open with a hiss and allowing the canine entrance.

Trunks and Hero remained in their seats and grumbled in unison. It seemed that another likeness between dimensions was his distaste for dogs and his mother's insistence that he get over it.

As the beast strode in, tongue lopping happily and making a beeline for Rink, the girl whined and cowered against Pan, freezing up and clamping her eyes shut when the dog began to harmlessly lick her face.

"Aww, somebody made a new friend," Bulma said with a simper. "No need to be afraid of him, Rink. Duke is way too mellow to hurt anyone."

After cringing in terror for a few seconds, Rink finally blinked in bewilderment as her face was thoroughly washed. Once she determined that the dog had no intent to hurt her she giggled and slowly eased away from Pan's protection. "That tickles!" she squealed as the dog sniffed and snorted at her head and ears.

Duke then moved to inspect Pan and she in turn smiled and gave his broad head a pat. "Hi there big guy!" He huffed at her in an easy acceptance and padded over to Trunks and Hero next.

Trunks stiffened in response and tried not to shift uncomfortably as the huge dog studied him, obviously confused by the paradox of identical men before him. "Move along Duke, you're making the other me nervous," Hero said as he waved a hand. The dog sneezed consecutively and grumbled as he lumbered back over to Rink, his thick fluffy tail wagging lazily as she gave his head an experimental pet.

Trunks released a relieved breath. It wasn't that dogs scared him exactly, they had just always made him feel uneasy. He could only liken it to the fear some people had of bees; where most people were not deathly allergic, they were still unequivocally afraid of the tiny insect, whose worst offense was to sting you.

"You're pretty small, Rink, so Duke shouldn't mind if you ride him," Bulma was saying as Trunks looked over to see her lift the girl onto the beast's sturdy back. To Pan she said, "well, there you have it, you've got yourself a new babysitter. He accepts hotdogs and cheeseburgers as sufficient payment for his services." She turned to the men. "Hero, you can take them out and enjoy the festival while I'm running a diagnostic on the time machine."

Hero nodded compliantly but Trunks moved to stand. "But wouldn't it go faster if we helped you?"

Bulma waved a bothered hand at him and strode for the hallway leading back to her workshop. "Not really. It's mainly a waiting game for the computers to finish scanning. Go on, the festival can be fun if you ignore how outdated it seems."

"You should know that there's no point in arguing with Mom," Hero commented ruefully. He stood and made his way for an opposite hallway leading to the exit, giving Trunks a withered smile. "But she's right, the festival can be fun, with the right perspective and circumstances..."

Puzzled by his words, the two time travelers shared a look and a shrug before following after him. Still mounted on Duke, Rink made a contented noise and hugged his furry neck as he moved to trail after the others. Lumbering along at Pan's heel, the dog seemed to sense Trunks' annoyance and kept a healthy distance from him.

As Hero led the way out of the huge Capsule Corp. complex, he started to exit through the main entrance doors but halted abruptly. He gawked at the front gate for a moment, where a small crowd of people had gathered, all of them beginning to cheer at the sight of him.

Before Trunks could make an inquiry, Hero swiftly turned on his heel and waved for his charges to follow. "Eh, I forgot about the fanatics. They always go nuts during the festival. Come on, we'll have to use the secret passage or they'll never leave us alone." He began to lead them down another corridor but Trunks took a second to peer out a window at the howling crowd. With a drop of sweat and a nervous laugh he noticed that the majority of the people gathered outside were young, attractive women; it seemed Bulma hadn't been exaggerating when she said girls were lining up at the gate...

"If things are like this here, how in the world do you expect to walk around in public during the festival?" Trunks asked him with an incredulous look.

"Well, it's not as bad as you think. It's pretty crowded and most people are too distracted to notice me, especially when there's a handful of self-proclaimed decoys wandering around." Hero returned his nervous smile. "Actually, that's what I thought you were at first, just another lunatic fan with a really good costume, except that looking at you was too much like looking in a mirror."

Trunks could easily relate to his last statement, since that was exactly how he had felt upon their initial encounter. Their only obvious difference being the length of their hair. Of course, there were other, more subtle differences that he could see between them. For one thing, Hero had a much more serious and rigid air about him, in the way he spoke and walked, even the way he held himself. It was as if he never let his guard down, always anticipating a new threat to strike from the shadows.

It made sense though, Trunks decided, considering everything his other self had gone through. All the fighting, all the loss and grief, it was a wonder he was so stable, actually. Trunks was almost certain that if he didn't have his family and friends, if they were suddenly ripped away from him forever, he would go entirely insane with loneliness. Even more so now, the thought of not having Pan in his life was too painful to even think about. He couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and sorrow for his other self, yet at the same time wasn't able to stamp down that flash of selfishness and suspicion in his heart.

He wasn't sure what he would do if Hero got even the slightest inkling of looking at his Pan in that way... It only occurred to him that his wandering thoughts had only spanned a few seconds when his counterpart continued speaking, completely oblivious to the guarded look Trunks was sending his way. "Not to mention that if we stay in close proximity then people will think we're brothers and it's a known fact that I don't have a brother, therefore no one will suspect that I'm the "real" Trunks."

Nodding, Trunks managed to dismiss his suspicious thoughts, however, his face must have still held a fleck of resentment because Pan suddenly swatted a hand at his arm, a knowing expression on her face as she studied him. "What's with that sour look? Don't you like having a mob of fans after you?"

Trunks nearly snorted in response. Pan was certainly barking up the wrong tree, but he wasn't about to openly admit to feeling jealous if he didn't have to. Especially when there weren't even any real grounds for feeling that way. Actually, he realized that it was Pan that had a reason to feel jealous, what with a legion of fangirls screaming after him. Yet, uncharacteristically, she didn't seem perturbed or the slightest bit bothered by it. Either she was unwaveringly confident in the bond they shared or she just simply knew him too well and it was no secret that such mass attention made him uneasy.

As they made their way to the end of the long corridor with Hero striding right up to the exit, Trunks smirked at Pan and took one of her hands in his. "One fan is enough for me, thanks."

AN: I don't support any active jealous-feud-thing between Trunks and Mirai/Hero, but I thought I should at least address the idea here. I honestly don't see why they would ever fight over Pan. They are very different characters, despite being the same person.(mind-blown)

Next Chapter: Pan almost couldn't restrain a snort. If only they knew how "authentic" both men really were.