Feels good to have regular releases once more. Hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 16: The Next Step

Wednesday 4th November Age 795

The next morning Noca woke up early from strong visions and memories of what he had endured the previous night. He was so confused and unsure. The Saiyan started to believe he had actually had a really weird dream, but the more he thought about it the more vivid it started to feel. And the fear was starting to kick in.

He had to speak to Vegeta.

He told Pan that he would meet her, after she had finished at college, at Capsule Corp. That's when the perfect chance to speak to Vegeta would arise, as it still terrified him. The mere thought of holding Vegeta's dying body in his arms… in the state it was. That would haunt him for quite some time. But the Guardian said it was only one of many possible futures. This could all change.

Noca had to ensure that it did, in fact, change.

Noca arrived at Capsule Corp. around 4pm. Pan had just got there and Noca was happy that someone else was there. Pan would believe him, and she'd support any decisions he made on the matter. But there was one big question. Would Noca actually tell Vegeta about everything he had seen?

When he arrived, Noca met Pan, Bra and Dom, and sat with them in the kitchen. They were talking about things that had been going on at College and Noca informed them all that he would be starting at a new job the very next day. They were all, of course, surprised. Noca just explained that he was getting bored being at home alone most of the time and needed to make a change. This was a good change as he would be earning money as well.

Eventually, Vegeta emerged from the GR to get a snack and that was when the others were about to leave. Not Noca. He told them he needed to talk to Vegeta, then asked if Pan would stay with him. She didn't even question it and sat down next to him at the table. Vegeta almost instantly recognised that Noca had something on his mind and decided to start the conversation.

"What is it?" Vegeta asked. Noca swallowed and took a quick breath. He blinked and looked up at Vegeta as the Prince turned around.

"I want to know about the Saiyan home-world," Noca outright said his first point. This would be the way to start the conversation. Vegeta stopped drinking from his bottle and put it on the counter. The two stared at each other for a second.

"Originally called Planet Plant… inhabited by the Tuffle people," Vegeta explained, but Noca just chuckled. This frustrated Vegeta, a little. "What's so funny?"

"Not Planet Vegeta. The Saiyan home-world," Noca reiterated. Vegeta looked to the right, out of a window and then sighed.

"Why?" He asked, simply. He looked to Noca again and saw that the boy wasn't ready to explain just yet, but there was worry in his eyes. Vegeta swallowed and looked to the ground. "Planet Sadala. Never seen it. It was deemed uninhabitable long before I was born."

Noca closed his eyes and saw flashes of the ruined planet with the temple. That was it.

"We made a deal with the Tuffles. They would share their planet with us, to help us," Vegeta started to explain. "The more violent Saiyans took over and waged war against the Tuffle people. Eradicating them and taking the planet for themselves. My Great-Grandfather, the first in our family to be named Vegeta… took charge. Thus began the Saiyan Royal family."

Noca sat back in his chair and looked up at Vegeta.

"Whatever happened on Sadala changed our people," Vegeta finished. He then leant forward, putting his hands on the table. "Now tell me why you need to know."

Noca looked down at the table and was fiddling with his hands.

"I saw a vision… of a temple, somewhere out there…" Noca looked up into Vegeta's eyes again, "We said we would, but now we need to."

Pan looked between the two of them and was questioning it, in her head.

"We need to go to space… very soon," Noca finished.

"This has something to do with Kuyato?" Vegeta questioned. Noca nodded, not wanting to reveal how he knew it was to do with him. "So, we need to find the Saiyan home-world. Lost somewhere deep in space. Lots of great training opportunities."

Vegeta had a fairly excited expression on his face. Noca smirked and looked over to Pan. She didn't look very happy. Noca's smiled faded and he was about to ask what was wrong, but then she stood up, slamming her hand on the table.

"So, you're just gonna up and leave… like that?" Pan said, clicking her fingers. Noca wasn't sure what to say.

"Yes," He answered, bluntly.

"No." She started, shaking her head. "I can't let you. It'll be too dangerous. You might get lost… or worse. You can't just go chasing some random dream."

She was starting to get rather loud and very angry with him. Noca stood up too, prepared to fight for his defence.

"It is not just a random dream. This was a vision. I was shown this. I have to follow this," Noca tried his best to explain the scenario. Pan was still having none of it. She shook her head.

"I don't think you're being clearheaded," Pan suggested. Noca seemed to take some relative offence to that. He was certain of this and he really wished he wasn't. He wished he hadn't seen Vegeta dying in his arms, but that's what happened.

"I know what I need to do," Noca exclaimed, raising his voice a little. Pan was very shocked by this and stormed out of the room. "Fuck," Noca muttered to himself as he rushed off to follow her.

He managed to catch up with her in the hallway and put his hand on her shoulder, turning her around, but he tried not to be forceful. She stopped and avoided looking at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, but… I have to do this," Noca still found it too difficult to explain, "I have seen things I wish I didn't ever have to… I need to make things right."

Pan still found it hard to look at him in that moment and Noca started to understand. He sighed and looked at the ground. Pan took his hand in hers and gave him a very quick kiss on the cheek. "I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

After saying that she walked upstairs to Bra's room, leaving Noca standing there to ponder it all. He didn't move for a few minutes because of two reasons. One, he felt bad. Two, he didn't want to face Vegeta again right now.

Thursday 5th November Age 795

So, it was Noca's first day of working a proper, paying job. It was safe to say that he was reasonably nervous, but at the same time eager to start. This was going to keep him occupied while Pan was at college, but also, until he went to space with Vegeta. That was something that he knew would need to happen very soon, judging by what the Guardian had said, and Noca wanted to ensure that he did as he was told.

Noca arrived at the store and was immediately greeted by Alice. Turned out they had the same shift that day. Noca was pleased that she was there to help him settle, and she was equally pleased that he was there with her. She gave him a quick tour of the building and showed him where the staff area was. Noca didn't want to linger around too long and asked where he needed to go to get on with work as soon as possible.

Alice led Noca down to the warehouse and told him that there was a notice-board that told him all the things he needed to do. Noca saw the board and made sure to get started on his jobs as soon as possible. Alice had to go out onto the shop floor for her shift, but told Noca to come to her if he needed any sort of assistance.

The first part of the day moved relatively quickly. Noca found himself getting used to what had to be done. He had started bringing boxes down from high spaces. Boxes that were full of things that needed to go out on the shop floor. He would unload the boxes and make sure that the contents were stacked safely in the right area, ready to be taken out into the shop. Noca found that he was working with some reasonable people, but he didn't intend to get all friendly. He just put in some earphones and listened to music while he worked.

The only time he really needed to be shown what to do was when there was a delivery and he had to sign for it, but again, he learned quickly and got on with the next job. At about 1pm, it was time for Noca's lunch break and he planned to go and eat his food outside on his own, but someone stopped him.

"Hey," Alice called out to get Noca's attention. She walked up to him quickly and started to walk with him, "Where you going?"

"Just planning to eat my food outside," Noca answered. Alice didn't seem to like that answer and shook her head.

"I can't let you go and sit outside on your own, it's getting cold out there," Alice told him, "You should come and sit with me in the staff room… I don't wanna sit alone." She took a hold of his arm and smiled. Noca smirked and agreed with her. The two of them walked up to the staff room together and found a table at the edge of the room.

When they sat down Alice decided to kick up a conversation.

"How you finding it here?" She asked. Noca took a bite of his food, chewed and swallowed before he answered.

"It's good. Simple work, if I'm honest," Noca said, chuckling to himself. "It's a good way to kill some time though."

"I'm glad your settling in well, I honestly didn't care much for this job for a couple of months, but I'm definitely settled now," Alice explained as she ate her food. Noca wondered why she was working in this place.

"What are you up to anyway… other than working here, I mean?" Noca questioned, leaning forward in his chair.

"Oh, I'm at college. Satan City College, of course," She answered, rolling her eyes and smiling.

"What are you studying?" Noca asked, furthering their conversation.

"Creative writing," Alice said while nodding. Noca seemed to be a little surprised and smirked at her. "Yeah, I've wanted to be an author for a very long time now… I just don't really want to be stuck in Satan City. I've been here my whole life now… I want to see more of the World."

"Well, you're studying something very interesting, I hope it goes well for you, but if you feel like you're stuck here in Satan City why didn't you try to go for a different college outside of the city?" Noca questioned.

"My Mother… she doesn't really want me leaving," Alice rolled her eyes again and seemed rather disappointed. "She thinks I should stay in this city and close to home."

"But you feel like that holds you back?" Noca asked.

Alice only nodded in response and looked down at her food. She really didn't know what she wanted to do. Whether or not she wanted to stay in Satan City to be close to family, or go somewhere else in the hopes that more opportunities will come her way.

"Anyway, what's Pan up to?" Alice asked, changing the subject and making Noca the new focus.

"She's doing a business course, in West City," Noca answered, "It's just something that she can actually make some use out of. With Bulma basically being family if she can get the degree she has an in at Capsule Corp."

"That's cool, I hope that goes well for her," Alice said, smiling. Noca smiled back at her. They spent the rest of their break chatting about things they had got up to since Noca had been kicked out of school. Noca obviously didn't talk about Freeza and that stuff. He didn't want her to think he was too weird. Once their breaks were over they both returned to work and didn't actually talk for the rest of the day.

Noca finished work around 4pm and by that time he made sure to get off home quickly. It had been a busy day. At least, Noca made sure he was busy all day. When he finally arrived home Pan came and asked him how his day had been. Noca told her he liked it, but he did miss out one major fact about his job. He didn't tell Pan he worked with Alice. There was no reason why he didn't tell, he just seemed to forget to.

Noca also asked Pan how her day had been and the first thing she told him about was a big party at the weekend. It was part of the college thing and she definitely wanted to go. Noca wasn't sure he would attend, but said that he would meet her after work, unless something else got in the way. Party day was only Saturday… two days away.

Saturday 7th November Age 795

Noca woke up and started to get ready for work. The weather wasn't to his liking, but he didn't really have any control over that, unfortunately. At least he would be inside most of his day and would avoid anything like rain, should It happen to rain, that is. It wasn't early that Noca had to be at work either, and he was only in for a few hours. Noca just remembered that Pan had asked him to go along to that party. He really didn't want to.

As he was about to walk out the door and leave for work, Pan caught his attention and had a question.

"So, are you coming tonight?" She asked. Noca stopped and turned slowly. She looked very hopeful.

"I'd really rather not…" Noca said, truthfully. She didn't really like that answer and seemed rather disappointed with him now. Noca sighed. "Maybe, if I'm not tired from work…"

"I hope you do come, it won't be the same without you," Pan said as she took a hold of his hand. Noca scoffed at that.

"You'll be fine without me, you'll still have fun with the others," Noca replied, but again it was something Pan didn't want to hear. Noca blinked and looked out of the door, then back to her. "I'll most likely be there… ok?"

Pan was happy with that answer. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, I'll see you later then, have a good day."

Noca watched her walk back to the kitchen and then turned to finally leave. He flew off at a fast pace, wanting to get to work quickly.

Once at work Noca seemed to get on with his work in relative silence. He didn't really want to interact with anyone and he wasn't sure what was wrong. There was something on his mind that was pinching at him, but he couldn't place it. He tried to shake it off a few times, but realised that he probably just looked weird. When it came to his break he tried to rush off outside, but still managed to bump into Alice.

"Oh, Noca, slow down a bit," Alice said with a little chuckle. Noca smiled weakly at her and apologised. Alice noticed that something seemed very off. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's…" Noca started, but he really didn't know what the issue was. He chuckled lightly and looked at her, "I don't really know."

"Oh, well, do you wanna talk about it?" Alice asked, clearly trying to be there as a friend. "You could always come by my place after work, have some dinner?"

Noca didn't know where this offer had come from and it actually made him feel rather uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly on the spot. At least he actually had an excuse to use.

"I can't… Pan wants to see me after work tonight… so… yeah, thanks either way," Noca answered, still appearing to be awkward. Alice nodded in understanding.

"That's cool, well, have a decent break," Alice said. She smiled at him as she walked off to go back to the shop floor. Noca didn't look back as she walked off and he just stayed in the hall. That was something weird that happened, at least in his eyes.

Noca just got on with his shift as normal and once finished he got changed into some different clothes in the bathroom and then decided to head off to this party. When he touched down in West City Noca noticed something that he would have had to worry about in the past, but at least there were no longer any issues.

He looked up in the sky and saw that there was a Full Moon that night. He smirked to himself and then walked to the house where the party was taking place. Noca found the right place and gingerly walked up to the door. Someone on the door gave him a strange look and for some reason Noca took that as an offence.

"You got a problem?" Noca asked. The guy stepped forward in a threatening fashion, but his friend seemed to hold him back. Noca shook his head as he entered the building and started to look for Pan. For some reason he could not only sense her better than everyone at the party, but he could even smell her. Noca shook his head as he moved through, trying not to knock people.

Eventually he came to an opening and turned in a circle to try and spot her. Luckily, he managed to and saw that she was fine, dancing with Bra and some others. Noca nodded to himself and was about to walk off to get a drink, but something scratched at his senses and he snapped back to look in Pan's direction. Noca could feel his instincts pushing him and when his eyes fell upon his girlfriend… those instincts, those sense, went haywire.

There was a guy. He was near Pan. He had his hand on her arm. There was a smile on his face. Pan acknowledged his existence and… and she didn't seem to care. Noca's emotions were starting to fuel his actions. Pan continued to dance with him, harmlessly, unaware that Noca was fast approaching.

The teen didn't even bother to make himself known. He just sauntered up to the guy and with a simple push, had him falling to the floor with a thud. People moved around to create space for the guy as he tried to push himself up, but Noca pushed him back down and was ready to follow up with a fist. Pan had to grab a hold of him.

"Noca! Stop!" Pan yelled, trying to be heard over the music, as she grabbed his arm and held him back. Noca stalled and slowly turned to face the girl. As soon as he saw the look on Pan's face, the disappointment and annoyance, Noca's primal instincts started to fade away and he was calming down.

Noca backed away as the other guy stood up and rushed off away. Noca shook his head and looked up at Pan. He started to notice that everyone was looking at him and he breathing was getting heavier.

"Sorry…" He said, rather quietly before rushing towards the exit and out of the house. Pan quickly chased after her boyfriend.

Noca got outside and walked to the curb and stood there with his head in his hands, finding it hard to shake whatever problems he felt in his head. Pan exited the building and walked down the steps, fast approaching Noca. She wasn't about to give him space.

"What the fuck was that about?" Pan asked, sounding very angry with him. Noca looked at her slowly and couldn't find any words. "Why did you have to come and wreck my night? We were just having fun…"

"Sorry…" Noca said again, "I don't know what came over me…"

Noca clenched his fist, cracking his knuckles in the process. His breathing was getting heavier and there was clearly something wrong. Pan noticed this and she even started to feel the emotions within him. Those… instincts, but it was a little different. No. These weren't Noca's instincts she could feel. They were her own…

Pan took a hold of Noca's hand and stood close to him.

"You need to calm down," She said in a soothing tone, almost a whisper. Noca closed his eyes and took a breath. He turned to look his girlfriend in the eyes. The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Noca still feels his instincts fuelling inside of his head. He shook it again and then pulled his hand away.

"You go enjoy your party… I'll just go home," Noca said, about to turn around and go. Pan moved quickly to stop this. She put both her hands on his head and pulled herself up to plant a kiss on his lips, but it wasn't that simple. The two of them started to make things a little more passionate and heated. Noca forced himself to break the kiss and he could see the confusion on Pan's face.

"Have you been drinking tonight?" Noca asked, not sure that Pan would act like this otherwise. Pan shook her head.

"I had a couple before coming out, but not since I got here… why?" She questioned. Noca wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, but it didn't feel like she was lying. Using his senses, he could tell that she certainly wasn't drunk. This only begged more questions.

Pan kept her hands on Noca's head and smiled at him.

"I just… really wanted to kiss you," Pan said as she pushed in for another one. Noca pulled back, just a second. He tried to get his bearings and make better sense of the scenario. He took a glance at Pan and finally had a chance to drink in how she looked. Her hair was down, she was wearing a little bit of make-up, and the outfit she had on… a dark blue dress that was cut in a V-shape, showing some cleavage, and it stopped a little above the knee.

Noca swallowed as he kept his eyes on her body. Pan noticed and smirked to herself, she liked it. Noca shook his head again and looked away into the distance. He didn't understand the situation, he had no idea what was going on… and neither did Pan.

Noca glanced back at her and saw the look on her face. A look he had never seen before. Something… almost… seductive?

"I'll stay for a little bit. You enjoy the party, I'll just hang with Dom," Noca said, smiling at her. Right now, all he could feel were some urges that had never been within his mind before tonight. At least, they had never mattered to him before. Pan moved in for another kiss and this time Noca placed a hand on her waist and found that he wanted to wander, but soon felt Pan's hand touch his. She pulled away and quickly pecked him on the lips one last time before turning away and walking back into the party.

Noca watched her walk away and smiled to himself, but he still wasn't a hundred percent sure on what was going on… or what would even happen when the two of them got home. But he was ready to go with it.

There were no more distractions at the party and Noca stayed with Dom just like he said he would, but when it was time to go he and Pan both wanted to get home quickly, but Noca had to admit to himself that he was a little nervous. He still wasn't sure why.

When they got back to the house both of them made their way to bed, but before he had a chance to enter his room Noca was stopped by Pan taking a hold of his hand. Noca slowly looked up into her eyes and saw that alluring expression. She leant in close and whispered to him, "Stay with me tonight."

She pulled away and started to walk towards her room. Noca just let her guide him. He still didn't have a clue what would happen, but he knew it would be something… interesting. As soon as they entered, Pan closed the door as Noca stood there. He didn't know what to do. His nerves were starting to get to him, but he could also feel his instinct starting to kick in.

Pan put both her hands on Noca's chest and grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him towards her and planting her lips on his. Noca could feel that she was starting to take control, but his instincts weren't having any of that. He placed his left hand on her waist and his right went to her face as he started to take control of the kiss. It started to become more passionate and heated as they moved towards the bed.

Even though Noca felt some control, it was still Pan pulling him towards the bed. She lay back down on the covers and pulled Noca down with her. The young man broke the kiss for a second and looked into his girlfriend's lustful eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked, sounding a little worried. Pan giggled lightly and kiss him again.

"This feels right… doesn't it?" She said in a questioning manner before continuing the passionate kissing, not giving Noca a chance to reply. He still wasn't sure of himself, but that wasn't stopping him now. Noca moved his right hand down from her face towards her shoulder and his left hand started to move under her dress and towards her breasts.

Before tonight he had only ever seen Pan's breasts by accident, but this was truly the first time he was getting to touch them. Something inside his head was thrilled to be doing this, but the other part (the Saiyan part) was telling him that the best was yet to come.

As Noca started to do more with his hands Pan decided she would do more with hers. She found herself moving a hand down the front of Noca's body towards his crotch while the other was under his shirt, on his back. She was tracing shapes on his hardened back with her nails and could definitely feel the reactions from Noca as he trembled slightly, but that was just the reaction that Noca was getting from Pan when his hand finally reached her breasts.

It was strange, but it felt so right. Pan's hand reached its destination and Pan started to to have a feel on the outside of his trousers. Noca bucked slightly and that managed to earn a smile from the young woman. Noca could feel the smile as they were still kissing and that's when he finally moved up and took a breath. He looked down at the beauty in front of him. Because of where his arm had been, up her dress, it had been lifted up slightly and Noca could see the bottom half of her stomach and her underwear.

He took a heavy breath and could feel himself getting more excited, but logic burst into his head once more and he looked into Pan's eyes. Noca took his shirt off, basically ripping it from his body. Pan giggled at this and was happy to get a look at his hard, sculpted body. Noca then removed Pan's dress and smirked. The girl quickly removed her bra and threw it to the side, letting Noca look down upon her almost completely naked body. There was only some underwear in the way.

Pan sat up and put her arms around Noca's neck and pulled him into another kiss, touching her bare breasts to his bare chest. It was strange feeling that excited both of them. Noca pushed down as they went back to laying on the bed once more.

Noca broke the kiss and started to kiss all the way down her body, between her breasts and down past her navel, down to that area between her thighs, but that's where he stopped. He looked up at his girlfriend and their eyes met again. Noca sat up and looked down, again.

"Are you sure you want this?" Noca asked, being very serious right now. His instincts wanted him to carry on, but Noca managed to push them down and control the situation. Pan smiled.

"Yes… I do."

Yeah, so I know people may not be entirely pleased with the place I decided to end it, but this is the chapter that convinced me to update the story to an M rating. At first I didn't think I would write content worthy of an M, but I did intend to include something a little more detailed or graphic. I'm happy that I didn't and I think the subtle way it ends is a good idea.

But either way, let me hear your reviews! I'm a bit let down that the previous chapter didn't receive any, but I hope to see some familiar names show up this time.

Thanks for reading.

Next Time... Chapter 17: Fracture