9- Summer Cold

Late-Summer

Pan's lips chattered and she shivered as she wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. A cool wind rushed past her and she sniffed. Truthfully, she probably shouldn't have been outside but she didn't want to risk not showing up and Trunks arriving.

"Panna?"

Pan looked up to see Trunks as he walked towards her. She smiled, "hi."

"What are you doing out here?" He asked as his blue eyes looked up at the grey sky. "A storm is coming, you know."

"I didn't want to not be here if you arrived," she told him with a frown. "I didn't want you to think I was avoiding you or something."

Trunks let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Panna, trust me, if it was pouring down rain then I wouldn't think you were avoiding me. You should probably head back inside before the rain comes."

Pan's frown deepened. He had just arrived and he was already saying goodbye because of the weather. This was another reason why Pan had wanted to go to the clearing. For a chance to see him, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"Wait," Pan said as an idea popped into her head. "Would you like to come inside?" She asked.

"What?" He raised his brows at the question. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Well, it's just that you just got here, and Saiyans can fly, right?" She raised a brow.

"Yes," he nodded his head.

"My room is in the south wing of the castle," she told him. "On the fourth floor. I can open my window for you and you can fly in. That is if you'd like to come in," she whispered. Pan feared that maybe she was asking too much.

"Okay," he said.

"Really?" Pan smiled.

"Yeah," Trunks nodded. "But first, you need to get inside," he said as he glanced up at the darkening clouds.

Pan glanced up just as lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud roll of thunder. She jumped, her hand instantly flying to her ears as her heart thudded against her chest. It was supposed to have been a rainstorm, why was there thunder and lightning?

"Are you scared of storms?" Trunks asked her curiously as he removed her hands from her ears.

Pan's shoulders were tense as she glanced around the area. "I-I'm not very fond of them," she told him honestly.

"How far is it from here to the castle again?" He raised a brow.

"Half a mile," Pan whispered.

Trunks nodded his head as he walked over to her. "Excuse me, then."

"Wha-" Pan couldn't even finish her word before Trunks scooped her up in his arms as if she were nothing. Her heart hammered as he held her against him tightly and took off running. Her arms wove around his neck and she buried her face into his chest as the cold air rushed past them.

In a matter of seconds, Trunks came to a stop and Pan peeked her eyes open. She gasped when she saw that they were already at the edge of the woods near the castle. A loud clap of thunder rolled overhead and Pan gasped as she clutched Trunks tighter.

"Sorry," he told her gently. "I was trying to get you out of here as soon as possible."

Pan felt her face grow hot as she realized she was holding onto him and slowly she let him go. Trunks sat her down carefully and gave her a small smile.

"Go on inside," he told her. "I'll go to the south side of the castle and wait."

"Thank you," Pan told him softly before she turned around and dashed inside.

The castle was full of secret passageways and she used several of them to dash up the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Hey!" A voice stopped her in the hallway and she turned around to see Yamcha staring at her with a grin. "I know you're not about to ignore me."

"Cha-Cha!" Pan yelled and ran over to him to hug him tightly. "I thought you were due back next week?" She asked.

"I came back a week early," he chuckled. "What has my niece in such a hurry?"

"Oh," Pan's eyes widened.

Yamcha always had interesting stories to tell when he came back from missions and presents for her, but she didn't have time for any of that at the moment. Trunks was outside waiting for her.

"I was outside and I'm not feeling too good now," Pan said as she made herself frown. "I was going to go lie down before supper."

Yamcha's brows furrowed together and he took a step to her and felt of her forehead. "You're warm. Do you want me to take you to see Dr. Brief?"

"No," Pan shook her head quickly. "I'll just go rest first. If I'm still feeling unwell at supper, I'll go see him."

"Okay," Yamcha sighed. "You contact him right away if it gets worse, Panny," he told her sternly.

"I will!" She promised before she turned back around and opened the doors to her foyer. She rushed past the little table and couch and to her bedroom doors which she flew open and locked behind her. Quickly, she rushed across the room to her balcony and opened up the glass doors.

"Trunks?" Pan called.

There was a rush of wind as Trunks landed on her balcony. He slipped in and grabbed her to pull her inside just as the rain began to pour.

"Wow," Pan whispered as she shut her balcony doors. "I guess that was good timing."

She glanced up at Trunks and saw he was looking around her room curiously. She felt her face grow warm as she looked around it. It was nothing special, not really. Her canopy bed with thick ivory-colored sheets and white curtains surrounding it was stationed against one of the long golden walls just a few yards away from the balcony. She had a desk against another wall and several bookshelves and dressers. Across from her bed were two large doors that opened up to her closet. She was nervous though because Trunks was the first man that wasn't a relative or a doctor to be inside her room.

"Uhm, across the room, in the corner over there is my bathroom, if you ever need to use it," Pan told him. "And the doors beside it, you don't have to worry, there's a foyer between those doors and the outside hall. Everyone always knocks on my bedroom doors and waits for my permission before coming in. Should we go upstairs?" She motioned to his other side, where nestled in the corner was a small, spiral stairway.

"You have a loft?" Trunks asked curiously. He gave Pan a nod and held out his arm so she could lead the way.

"Yeah," Pan nodded as she started up the stairs. "I wanted to keep all my hobbies separate from my living space," she told him.

Her loft had a plush grey couch in the center of it with a TV hanging on the wall. A sowing machine was set up in a little corner with several mannequins set up around the room with partially made outfits on them.

Trunks walked over to the edge of the loft and looked down the balcony in her bedroom. He turned around to look at her and smiled, "it's nice. It fits you, Panna."

She smiled at him and glanced out her window where she could see trees blowing and lightning flashing outside. "Trunks, what's the weather like on Vegeta-Sei? Do you have storms like this?"

"It's mostly hot," he told her. "During fall and winter, the temperatures will cool a little, but not a lot. It's very rare if we get snow and during our summer months, we get lightning storms a lot, though we rarely get rain with it. Our weather is a lot different than earth's always changing weather."

Pan walked over to her couch and sat down on it before offering him a seat beside her. She watched as he cautiously sat down beside her and his eyes widened as he fell back more than he expected.

Pan let out a small giggle. "How do you know about the earth's always changing weather?" She asked curiously.

"The screen my Appa has in his office picks up a satellite from the earth and it shows the weather channel," he grinned at her. "My Eomma watches it a lot. She's a scientist and I think the earth's climate fascinates her."

"She's a scientist?" Pan blinked in awe. "So she must have invented tons of things."

"Hm, yeah," Trunks nodded as his brows furrowed together in thought. "She made this bracelet," he held up his hand. "It's what allows me to travel to see you. Also, years ago when my Appa was younger, our space pods were very small and only sat one Saiyan per pod. Now, our ships are bigger and faster. She also fixed our Scouters."

"Scouters?" Pan asked curiously. She hoped she wasn't asking too many questions. She frowned, "I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions, you don't have to answer."

"It's okay," he gave her a small smile. "It doesn't bother me. Scouters used to be a big earpiece that we would wear. It was a communication device and there was a screen that went over our eyes that would read power-levels off to us. However, we learned that many can hide their power-levels and we could guess what they were without our Scouters telling us, so that part was pretty useless. So my Eomma made them a lot smaller. Now, all we have to do is stick these round silver-looking devices behind our ears and they allow us to communicate with each other."

"Wow," Pan was in awe. Trunks' mother sounded like a true genius! "You said you could guess people's power-levels?"

"Well, not necessarily their power-levels, but more like their Ki's, which is their life force. If the Ki is low and steady then the person probably isn't that powerful. If their Ki is erratic and high, then they're either mad or strong. It really just depends on the person because even someone who had a high Ki can be weak," Trunks told her.

"Based on my Ki right now, what would you guess my power-level to be?" Pan asked him. She was curious to know although she knew it would be a low number.

"Hm," Trunks looked at her and his brows furrowed together in concentration. "414," he finally said.

Pan's eyes widened and she gasped. That was such a big number! "Really? Is it-" she noticed Trunks' lips twitched and she pouted as she leaned over and gave him a playful shove. "You liar!"

Trunks just laughed in response.

Trunks sat at the table silently as he stared at the drink in front of him. He had had a great day with Pan the other day, and he had been excited about going to see her again. His mood soured when he walked into the dining hall and saw that the Cyborgs were there for a visit.

Trunks had no problem with Marron, who was the one he was supposed to marry, but her mother, Eighteen was a royal pain. Everything had to be to exactly her way and Trunks didn't understand why his parents catered to her so much.

Eighteen was chattering away about the upcoming wedding and Trunks glanced over at Marron. Like him, she had her eyes down as she stared at her plate. When they were younger, the arranged marriage hadn't bothered them, but now since they were older they both had realized they weren't meant for each other.

"Yes, next summer will be perfect," Eighteen said.

"What?" Trunks glanced up.

"The wedding," the Cyborg said. "It'll be held next summer. Doesn't that sound lovely, Marron?"

Trunks glanced at Marron and saw her look up at Eighteen with a forceful smile. "Yes, Mother."

"Why summer?" Trunks asked.

"Why not?" Eighteen countered as her blue eyes sent him a glare.

"Maybe because it'll be hot as fuck," Trunks told her with a huff.

"Would you like to make it sooner then?"

"No," he growled.

"Trunks," Bulma gave him a stern look but he ignored it. She should have known that by now he didn't show respect to those who didn't deserve it and Eighteen had never done anything to deserve his respect.

"Then what would you like for us to do?" Eighteen asked crossly. "Shall we cater to your every need, Prince Trunks?" She quipped.

"Considering it's suppose to be my wedding, I should have a say," Trunks asserted. "But as a start, here's a suggestion just for you," he said as he leaned over the table closer to where Eighteen was sitting diagonally from him. "Fuck off!"

Trunks stood up as he heard the gasp of surprise from the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Endou snorting his drink out of his nose. He couldn't help but feel a little pleased with himself as he turned around and walked out of the room. He had a Princess to go visit.

To Trunks' surprise, Pan wasn't in the clearing. He wondered why since the weather was nice again but thought perhaps, she was staying in her room for the day. At first, he wasn't sure if he should go see her or not. She had invited him inside the other day, but that had been because the weather was awful.

Before Trunks knew it, he was standing on Pan's balcony. He could feel her low Ki on the other side of the door and she was alone, which was a relief. He was half tempted to leave, because what if there was a serious reason as to why she wasn't in the clearing?

It was as if he had no control over his body as his arm rose and he tapped on her balcony door. It took her several seconds for her to answer and when she did, Trunks understood why she wasn't at the clearing.

Her pale face had a greenish tint to it and there were dark circles under her eyes, yet, when she saw Trunks, she grinned.

"I was worried you wouldn't come," she told him in a quiet voice. "I was hoping you'd come here."

"I wish I hadn't," Trunks frowned as he felt guilty to have disturbed her rest. "You're sick."

"It's okay, the sick could always use a little company," she told him. "That is if you'd like to stay."

Trunks knew he should go home but the Cyborgs were most likely still there and he didn't want to put up with anyone yelling at him. "Okay," he said as he stepped inside.

Pan shut the door behind him. "By the way, I'll leave my balcony door unlocked for you," she told him. "That way if you ever arrive and it's raining or I'm not at the clearing, you can come to find me."

"Panna, are you sure you're alright?" Trunks asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from swaying.

"It's just a summer cold," she said as if it were nothing. "I'm fine-" no sooner had the word left her mouth before she was hunching over in a coughing fit.

Trunks quickly scooped her up and carried her to her bed. He sat her down before handing her several tissues that were on her nightstand and a glass of water.

It took several minutes, but Pan's body finally stopped shaking. She sniffed several times and drank all of her water as she cleared her throat. She moved to get up but Trunks stopped her.

"What do you need?" He said. It was strange for him to ask her that. He didn't know the first thing about how to care for someone who was sick since Saiyans didn't catch colds. Still, he had this desire to take care of her.

"In the medicine cabinet in my bathroom is a blue package with red wrappers inside of it," Pan's hoarse voice spoke. "I need those, and outside my door in my foyer is a small refrigerator. There's some water inside of it and there are also sodas if you would like one as well."

Trunks nodded and entered her bathroom first. It was as grand as he thought it would have been. A large marble tub sat in the middle of the room and off to the side, a large walk-in shower. He raced to her cabinets and threw them open as he searched for the blue package and then he went into her foyer and grabbed a water for her.

"Thank you," Pan told him gratefully as he handed the items to her.

Trunks watched as she opened the package and pulled out what looked like a candy wrapped in red paper. She unrolled it and stuck it in her mouth.

"When you're sick, you eat candy?" Trunks asked as he sat on the side of her bed.

Pan smiled at him and dug into the package again before handing him one. "It's a cough drop, it helps with sore throats. Here, try one. It's cherry-flavored."

Trunks looked at the wrapper carefully before he slowly unwrapped it. It was red, just as Pan's had been. He stuck it in his mouth quickly. It did have a rather sweet flavor to it, but his mouth felt weird. Warm, but cool. He bit down on it the card candy until it was all crushed and there was nothing left.

"Panna," he glanced at her and knitted his eyebrows. Why was she giggling? "My mouth feels weird," he told her. He felt as if he could breathe fire, that is, if that fire was ice.

"Y-you're supposed to suck on them, Trunks!" She said between her giggles.

"Oh," his mouth formed the sound. "Stop laughing before you choke," he pouted at her.

After a few more giggles she calmed down and let out a peaceful smile. It was quiet for a little while before Pan started to giggle again.

"Was it that funny?" Trunks sighed.

"I'm not thinking of that," Pan told him with a shake of her head. "I was thinking of earlier, how you carried me up."

Trunks watched as her cheeks grew pink. "I was just trying to get you to bed quickly. Sorry if I startled you."

"No," she shook her head, her cheeks growing even darker. "I was thinking about how you did it the other day too. It just felt- it felt nice," she admitted quietly.

Trunks let out a small breath but he felt his ears growing warm. If this is the reaction he would get from her then maybe he would pick her up often.

Trunks frowned as he looked out one of the balconies of the castle on Vegeta-Sei. He had arrived back not long ago after spending a few hours with Pan. She was still sick which he didn't like but the Doctor and her Mother had arrived and so it was his time to leave quickly.

"Oh, Trunksie!" An arm wrapped around his neck as a familiar voice laughed.

Trunks huffed, "get off," he told Endou as he moved his arm.

"Where have you been? Hiding?" Endou was grinning like mad and Trunks could only imagine the chaos that happened after he left.

"What happened?" Trunks sighed.

"Oh, nothing really," he said. "The Queen made up some lie about how you've been doing missions for Frieza and you were stressed. Eighteen said they would be back another time when you weren't so 'emotionally unstable' and the King looked as if he was about to slap her."

"I wonder why he doesn't," Trunks groaned as he threw his head back.

Endou laughed and hopped up on the railing beside Trunks. "What's up with you, Trunks?" He asked. His voice had a softer tune and Trunks straightened his head to look at his friend's worried eyes. "You've never spoken to Eighteen like that before and there have been times when she's been bitchier. Don't get me wrong- you were great!" He grinned and clapped his hands a few times. "I just thought you liked Marron?"

"I do like Marron," Trunks told Endou. "But I don't want to marry her. I see her the same way I see Bulla."

"Ah, so like a baby sister?" Endou nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Trunks frowned. Endou didn't have any siblings of his own, but he had grown up with Trunks and Bulla and Trunks knew he saw them as his own siblings. The feeling was mutual, even if Endou was his biggest pest sometimes.

"The good thing, though, is that she won't be back for a while," Endou grinned at him.

Trunks' lips twitched into a grin. "Want to go get a drink?"

Endou gasped as he jumped down from the rail. "Are you inviting me to go drinking with you before supper?"

"Do you want to or not?" Trunks muttered and crossed his arms.

"Yes!" Endou shouted as he wrapped an arm around Trunks' shoulders. "Let's go!"

Chi-Chi let out a small sigh as she sat in the chair hidden in the corner of Pan's room and watched her daughter sleep. Earlier in the day, Pan had seemed to be doing better but around sunset, she started coughing again with shakes and fever. Dr. Brief had given her some medicine with strict orders to rest. Every time Pan got bad like this, Chi-Chi slept in the chair so she could be close in case needed.

A noise outside made Chi-Chi's ears perk and she turned towards the balcony. It opened slowly and her heart thudded and her stomach dropped. Was someone coming into Pan's room? Just who could have made it on the balcony? There were no ladders or stairs leading to her balcony!

Chi-Chi got to the edge of her seat, ready to jump up. The noise seemed to have woke Pan, and she stirred. Chi-Chi stood, ready to block Pan from whoever was-

"Trunks?" Pan's hoarse voice whispered.

The figure stumbled slightly and walked over to the bed. "Hey, Panna," he greeted.

Chi-Chi blinked. Did Pan know this person- this man? How did he get into her room?! Chi-Chi silently sat back down into the chair. Neither Pan or Trunks, as Pan had called him, had noticed she was there. Although she was tempted to jump up and demand answers, she thought it wise to listen for now.

"Are you drunk?" Came a hoarse giggle from Pan as she sat up.

"Uh, maybe a little," Trunks admitted with a snicker as he sat down on the bed. "Sorry, it's probably why I was dumb enough to check on you so late."

From the dim moonlight that shined into the room, Chi-Chi saw Pan shaking her head. "No, thank you for checking on me. It's really sweet of you."

"I brought you something," he said and held out a small blue flask.

Pan reached out to touch it. "It's cold," she whispered.

"It's from an underground fountain under the castle," Trunks told her. "When I used to get hurt from training, my Appa would bring me some of this water. I was always better the next day."

Chi-Chi watched with curious eyes as Trunks opened the flask and supported Pan as she took a big gulp from the flask. She let out a puff of air and Chi-Chi could see her breath!

"It's so cold, and yet I feel warm," Pan told him. "That was the best water I've ever tasted. Oh wow," she said softly. "I'm suddenly really sleepy."

Trunks let out a soft snicker. "Yeah, it tends to knock you out for a few hours." He got up and helped her lay back down before adjusting the blankets around her.

"Trunks?" Pan mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, Panna?"

"You'll come back, won't you?"

"Of course," he told her softly.

Chi-Chi watched as he stood there for several minutes as Pan drifted off to sleep. Her breaths were calm now compared to the harsh breathing she had right before he had shown up.

"Goodnight, Panna," Trunks whispered. He pressed a button on his wrist and in a matter of seconds, he was gone!

Chi-Chi was left blinking after him and her eyes darted to her sleeping daughter. She didn't have to wonder what he was anymore because now she knew. He was a Saiyan, he had given away when he said 'Appa', a word she clearly remembered her late husband calling his own father.

"Oh Panny," Chi-Chi let our a small sigh as she looked at her daughter. "Please be careful," she whispered.

He came unexpectedly
I truly did not expect him
Or his effect on me,
My heart,
My mind,
My feelings,
He was the calming sound
Of the light, pitter-patter of drizzle
On an April Sunday morning
In my brutal, destructive hurricane

-(s.g.)