13- Gifts

Early Winter

"You're here!" Pan said a little breathlessly as she ran into Trunks.

He blinked and glanced around the castle. He had gone to her room first, but she wasn't there, so he had decided to look for her. He figured that since Dr. Brief was covering for him that it would be okay to roam the castle on his own. If anyone asked, all he had to say is that he was there visiting his Grandpa.

"Am I not supposed to be?" He asked curiously.

"No-" Pan said before she gasped and shook her head. "I mean, yes!" She sighed and gave him an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I just didn't expect to see you here today. I figured you'd be-" she glanced around- "on Vegeta-Sei celebrating your birthday with your family."

"Oh," his eyes widened, now understanding her reaction. He gave her a grin, "I can't believe you remembered my birthday."

Pan gave him a proud smile. "Of course, I remember. You remembered mine and friends remember friend's birthdays," she told him earnestly.

Trunks let out an amused chuckle. "Well, my birthday is close to Yule, so my family and I don't do much on my birthday. We have a big breakfast, and I'll get a few presents and a dessert later, but the real party is for the Yule," he told her.

"Ah," Pan nodded her head slowly. She gave him a warm smile that made his stomach flip, and she grabbed his arm. "Well, I'm glad you're here! I have something for you!"

Trunks let Pan led him back to her room. She went straight through her foyer and into her bedroom. She sat Trunks down at her vanity before she turned to run into her closet for something.

"Panna, I can't believe you just brought me into your room," Trunks muttered. Not once had she checked the hallways to see if any servants had seen them before she took him into her room. She had to have been the most unbothered by 'what servants thought' Princess he knew.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she walked out of her closet with a small package. "You've been in my room countless times."

"Yeah, but I snuck in. I wonder how many servants saw you take me into your room and what they thought," he mused, enjoying the way her cheeks turned a dark red.

"I- what?" She sputtered. She shook her head quickly, "it's just gossip! They all like to do it!"

Trunks chuckled, "it's alright. No one saw us anyway."

She pouted at him, her bottom lip poking out adorably. "I can't believe I got you a birthday present."

"You did?" Trunks asked in surprise as he eyed the package she was holding. Was that for him?

Her pout softened into a small smile, and she handed it to him. "Happy birthday!"

Trunks opened the package carefully, and his eyes widened as he looked at the black leather strap for a sword. The belt was engraved with his name in gold.

"I know you haven't brought your sword with you for months now, but when you did, I couldn't help but notice that your old strap looked worn," Pan said as she played with some of her hair. "I hope it's okay."

He hadn't brought his sword in a while because he felt comfortable around Pan. Maybe it was foolish to let his guard down as much as he did when he was around her, but he couldn't help it. There was something about Pan that made Trunks feel as if everything else would be okay.

"Of course it is," Trunks told her with a nod. "Thank you, Panna," he grinned. He was going to change this strap as soon as he got back to his room. He couldn't believe she had given him a gift like this.

"You said the real party is for the Yule," Pan said softly. "Does that mean I won't be able to see you for a few days?"

"I'm afraid so," he told her with a small frown. "I'll be pretty busy. Will there be another ball here?"

Pan nodded slowly, and Trunks wondered if she would dance with a man as she had him on her birthday. The thought of her dancing with someone else sent an uneasy feeling of dread through Trunks. He couldn't explain why he didn't like the idea- he just didn't! Maybe he could still visit her on the Yule. He would have to be careful, but he was sure he could do it.

Pan was almost asleep when she heard her balcony doors open, and a cold breeze rushed through her room before the doors shut again. She gasped, already knowing who it was because only one person came in through her balcony. She fumbled with the lamp beside her bed.

"Trunks?" Her eyes squinted through the darkroom to find him.

"Hey, Panna," he walked over to her slowly. "I thought you would be downstairs at the ball," he told her.

Pan blinked at him several times. Had he snuck in to dance with her again? Her body grew warm as she smiled. "Well, I might have lied and said I wasn't feeling well," she confessed. "I didn't feel like going to the ball." She was afraid Lord Koba would be there, and after the events that happened the last time they were together, she still wanted to avoid him as much as possible.

Trunks' eyes widened in surprise before a smirk crossed his face. "Sneaky."

"Did you go down there?" She asked.

"I might have," his smirk widened. "But once I saw you weren't there, I came up here."

Pan smiled, "thank you for coming. I'm happy I got to see you today. You can sit down if you'd like-" she motioned to her bed.

Trunks' eyes widened slightly before he caught her eyes. "You know, you really shouldn't invite guys into your bed like that. Especially one that's come to visit you at night."

Pan felt her cheeks grow hot as her mouth gasped open. "I wasn't-" she squeaked. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Trunks' lips curled into a teasing smirk that sent Pan's heart to go haywire. Did he have any idea of what he did to her? Of how flustered he made her at the most straightforward comments? He squatted down until he was sitting on the rug beside her bed.

"Still," he told her as his blue eyes grinned mischievously. "I think it would be safer for me to stay down here and you up there."

Pan was positive that her cheeks were red, and she knew that Trunks could see them. She was sure that he enjoyed teasing her like this, and if she was honest, she enjoyed it as well.

"Have you had a good Yule other than pretending your sickness?" Trunks asked to change the subject.

"Mhm," Pan nodded. "Mama and I always go and pick some snowdrop flowers. There's some there-" she pointed to the vase beside her bed with the pretty white flowers sat. "Did you have a good Yule?"

Trunks nodded with a small hint of a smile. "It was nice. We had a big feast and a festival to light the Yule logs. I brought you something." He pulled out a bundle from behind him, and Pan's eyes widened as she took it.

"For me?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes," he chuckled. "It's a present."

"But I didn't get you one-" she gasped. She hadn't expected him to come, so she didn't prepare anything!

"It's okay," he told her with a shrug. "You got me a birthday present. It looks great on my sword, by the way-" he smirked. "I'll have to bring it sometime to show you."

Pan's heart gave an excited flip, and she smiled as she placed the package on her lap. "Still, if I had known you were coming, I would have gotten you a present. Your birthday and the Yule are two completely different days."

"It's okay," he assured her. "It makes up for me not getting you a birthday present back in the fall."

"But you came to the Ball," Pan mumbled. His appearance had been a gift in itself, and when he had danced with her! She still remembered what it felt like to dance in his arms.

Trunks furrowed his brows together and seemed deep in thought for a few seconds. "Alright, then. Birthdays or the Yule?"

"What?" Pan blinked, surprised, and confused by the question.

"Pick one."

She furrowed her brows and pooched her lips out in thought. The Yule was a wonderful time of the year when families celebrated the ending of a year and looked back to appreciate everything they had. Birthdays were a day set aside for just one person, though.

"Birthdays."

"Okay, then. From now on, I'll only get you a present on your birthday, and you can only get me one on mine. We'll celebrate the Yule just like this," Trunks smiled at her softly.

Pan smiled back as her stomach grew warm. She would like that, really like it.

"But I guess it's a tradition we'll have to start next year," he continued. "You have a present this year-" he motioned to the package that was still resting on her lap.

Pan traced her hands over the wrapping material. It was in a beautiful gold wrapping, and she opened it slowly. She gasped as she picked up the dark grey, silk velvet fabric. She had never felt anything so soft! It was so beautiful too!

Quickly, Pan climbed out of her bed so she could turn the lights on to see the fabric better. She picked it up as she reached her bed and held it against her cheek. There was a ton of it!

"It's so beautiful," she told Trunks with a sincere smile.

His cheeks were a faint pink as he smiled up at her from his spot on the floor. "You said it gets frigid here during the winter," he said. "And that material is thick and warm. I thought you would have fun making a dress out of it or something."

Pan's smile widened. "Does Vegeta-Sei make this kind of material?" She asked curiously as she carefully started to fold the fabric up.

Trunks nodded, a small, proud smile on his lips. "In the south part of Vegeta-Sei, where it's more tropical, there's a forest. It's the only forest Vegeta-Sei has, but it's home to thousands of silkworms. It's where we get our silk."

Pan gently placed the folded up fabric on her nightstand and turned off the room light, so the lamp beside the bed was the only light shining again. She sat down next to Trunks on the floor beside her bed. He didn't say anything, which she was grateful for. She liked it better when they were next to each other.

"Is your armor made out of some type of silk?" Pan asked curiously. He hadn't worn armor to visit her in several weeks, not since he had returned from the last raided injured. Still, she couldn't help but notice that the fabric had seemed dense and durable.

"Partly," Trunks admitted. "I told you my Eomma's a scientist, right?"

Pan nodded her head for him to continue.

"She uses light-weight silk as part of the fabric. It allows us to move freely. Most of that is the first layer. The armor plates that go over our chest and waist is a special material she made from combining metal and diamonds from Vegeta-Sei. It's nearly indestructible. But, the armor plates are tied at the sides, and sometimes it's easy for an enemy to strike us there. You saw it yourself not too long ago," he told her.

Pan nodded slowly. "Your wound is still healing good, right?" She asked.

"It's just a scar now," Trunks smirked. "I got plenty of those. My Eomma is working on the way to toughen the under armor, though. She's tired of us coming back with them in shreds."

"I don't blame her; I would be too," Pan giggled.

Outside, several fireworks began to go off. Pan gasped and jumped up as she shut off her lamp. She grabbed Trunks' arm and yanked him up and rushed him to her balcony door so they could watch the firework show. They popped and sizzled in brilliant colors, lighting up the cold, dark sky.

"So, you don't like storms, but you like fireworks?" Trunks asked her curiously.

"Fireworks are beautiful," Pan shrugged.

"So are storms."

Pan scrunched up her nose. "Storms are dangerous and unpredictable," she told him quietly.

She supposed that was the main reason why she didn't like storms. Not the loud bangs and crashes they made in the sky. Not the blazing hot trails of energy they shot across the sky. But the unpredictability of them. It always gnawed at her anxiety.

Maybe it was because strangely, she felt exactly as the storms did on the inside sometimes. There was something wild, unpredictable, and dangerous lurking inside of her- watching, waiting, for the right time to come out. It terrified her.

It was something that she had never confessed to anyone. Not her Mama or Dr. Brief. Not even Goten when he had been around.

"Dangerous and unpredictable?" Trunks mused. Pan glanced at him and saw he was smirking. His blue eyes were glowing in the dim light as his gaze held hers. "That's what makes them so beautiful."

"Why do you like thunderstorms?"
"Because it shows that even nature needs to scream sometimes too."
-E.D.