18- Warmth

Mid-Spring

Trunks watched Pan in mild amusement as she walked down the stream ankle-deep in the water. She held the skirt of her blue dress up as she walked and talked. His little chatterbox was back, and he was grateful to hear her melodic voice chatting away.

Trunks followed right behind her. He had taken his boots off and rolled up his pants. The water was cold, but they were only in it to their ankles so that Pan would be okay.

Pan talked about the season they had missed. His heart felt heavy, and his gut thick with guilt when she mentioned sheepishly that she had gotten a bad cold. Somehow, Trunks knew that cold had something to do with him. In a sense, he had gotten sick as well.

"Are you okay now?" Trunks asked her.

"Mhm!" Pan chirped. She turned to look at him with an endearing smile. "It was just a small cold."

Trunks swallowed thickly. He still remembered what Dr. Brief's had told him before he left for a season. Pan was sick, but she always tried to play it off like it was nothing. Was she embarrassed, or was she worried about something? Trunks wasn't sure, but he had to talk to her about it. Her trying to cover it up every time she got sick would drive him crazy.

"Panna," he caught her attention, and she turned to look at him again. He let out a heavy sigh, "I know."

She glanced at him curiously as her brows furrowed together. "Know what?"

"About your sickness and your weak immune system."

Pan's eyes widened, and she let go of her skirt, allowing the end of it to fall into the stream. "You do?" She asked quietly.

Trunks nodded slowly. "Why did you never tell me?"

He watched as Pan's cheeks grew pink, and she shrugged before she turned and stared at the nearby waterfall. "I don't know," she whispered. "Embarrassed, I guess. And worried," she said, confirming Trunks' theory. "You're a strong Saiyan, and I'm nothing but a weak human. I was afraid that you wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"That's impossible," Trunks said as he walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "Plus, you're not weak, Panna. That slap you gave me the other week lasted for hours!"

"Hey!" Pan pouted as she raised a leg and splashed water towards him. "I felt terrible about that! Stop reminding me!"

Trunks snickered and splashed her back. "Why? I deserved it, and it surprised me. I didn't know you had such a rough side," he teased.

Pan splashed him several more times, and Trunks let go of her hand as he splashed her back. Soon, he was chasing her down the bank of the stream. She was holding her skirt again, and she screamed with laughter as they flung water towards each other. By the time Trunks had captured her and thrown her over his shoulder to carry her to the grass, they were both soaked.

Even though it was mid-spring, there was still a slight chill to the air, and the water was cold. Trunks sat Pan down on the grass, and she was shivering, her teeth chattering with small sniffs. She looked up at him, her dark eyes round and sheepish. "Sorry," She whispered between her chattering. "I think we should go back to the castle so I can dry off."

Trunks leaned forward and moved some of her dark wet hair out of her face before he cupped it. Pan gasped, and her cheeks were glowing pink as Trunks smirked at her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead before he moved down and kissed her cold nose. As he did this, he sent small, harmless waves of his Ki out to dry them off. He kissed both of Pan's warm cheeks for a double measure before he leaned back to look at her and run his hair through her now dry hair.

Pan gasped in surprise as she looked at her clothes. "How did you do that?" She whispered.

"I just used some of my Ki to dry us off," he smiled down at her.

Pan wrapped her arms around him tightly as her nose buried into his chest. "It felt so warm," she sighed.

Trunks held her gently as his fingers tumbled through her messy hair. He was positive that he could stay like this forever if given a chance. "Panna."

"Hm?" She hummed, and she sounded rather content.

"Don't feel bad about your body, okay?" He told her. "I don't care what's wrong with you, I still like you, and I'll be strong enough for both of us."

Pan looked up at him, and she was so short that her chin rested on his diaphragm gently. "Trunks, one of these days, I'm going to be the one protecting you," she promised, and she had such a determined look in her eyes that he believed her.

Late Spring

Bulla looked both ways as she secured the hood on her cape and took off down the street. She had just rounded a corner when an arm reached out and grabbed her around her middle. Her eyes widened as she grabbed the hand and quickly had the person smashed against the wall with their arm behind their back.

"Oh, no!" She gasped and quickly let go of the arm as she realized who it had been. "Are you okay?" She asked the Saiyan in front of her.

He chuckled and turned around to face her as he wiggled his arm. "I'm impressed, Princess!" He told her with amusement. "You've gotten better at that."

She gave him a grin. Even when she was in disguise, he always caught her. She should have known it was him right away, but she was just such a hurry to see him that she hadn't paid attention.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Bulla sighed as she jumped into his arms and wrapped an arm around him.

He caught her and held her tightly before he set her down. "Come on-" he grabbed her hand.

Bulla's cheeks were warm as she let him led her to his small apartment. Even though he was now a captain over a small squadron and made good money, he was very frugal. He had told Bulla on more than once that he was saving his money for a special occasion.

They made it to his small apartment, and he shut the door behind Bulla. She shook off her cape and turned to him excitedly. For reasons unknown to Bulla, he always wore a mask that was attached to his shirt. She could see his eyes crinkle in amusement as he lowered his mask.

He ran a hand through his messy black hair and gave her a charming grin. Bulla's heart pounded in her chest, just as it always did when she looked at him. She had known him for the last several years when she had sneaked into the market to practice throwing her daggers.

She never told her Appa or Trunks, but she liked weapons. She always acted uninterested in fighting, but she did it so Freiza wouldn't push for her to go on raids and worry her family. It was better that they saw her as the Princess that enjoyed shopping and dressing up more than anything else. And she did enjoy those things very much so, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy fighting as well.

He had taught her how to hold her daggers properly and how to throw them, so they hit her target every time. He taught her how to fight. He had become her best friend, and as far as she knew, she was his only friend. At least, he had told her that she was the only one that knew his real name.

He walked over to her and grabbed her face. Bulla was sure her cheeks couldn't get much warmer. They hadn't been dating for long. It had been right before Spring began after he returned from the last long raid that he had asked her to let him court her. Bulla, unlike Trunks, had never had to worry about an arranged marriage and so she accepted without hesitation, but their courting was still a secret. At least for now, it was.

"I've missed you, Bu," he told her quietly as his thumbs stroked her cheek.

She smiled at him as she reached up to hold his hands. His palms were rough with callouses from training, but they always held so gently. "Welcome home, Goten," she told him before his lips found hers.

"How did I manage to get into this situation?" Trunks muttered as he shook his head.

Pan giggled from her perch on top of the wooden fence that surrounded the training grounds near the castle. "Mama said you were really strong. Yamcha's been all pouty since he found out we're courting and he's a general, you know. So I guess that's why he wants a mock fight with you and his soldiers-" she motioned to the other side of the fence we're a group of men were standing and stretching.

Trunks let out a heavy sigh, "you do know that I can wipe the floor with those guys with my eyes closed, right?"

"Of course," Pan grinned.

"Okay!" Yamcha said as he walked up. He nudged his way between Trunks and Pan as he leaned across the fence. "Men, get ready! Let's see just how tough you are!" He told Trunks.

"Careful, Cha," Chi-Chi said as she walked up with Gohan. "He's quite strong."

Yamcha let out a small scoff, "my men have been training for years."

Trunks let out a huff, and he rolled his eyes as he looked at Pan before he started walking towards the group of men on the other side of the fence. He raised his arm and waved his hand at them.

"Come on," he said, sounding bored more than anything.

"What a confident punk," Yamcha muttered.

Pan elbowed him with a pout. "Just you wait, Cha-Cha."

Yamcha let out a disbelieving huff, and Pan grinned. She was excited to see Trunks fight even though she knew he would take it easy to an extent since he was going against humans.

The first two guys charged at Trunks, who huffed and placed his hands on his hips. With a swift movement, he slid between the two of them before raising his leg and roundhouse kicking them in the back. Both of them let out groans as they fell to the ground.

Soon, even more men from the military came rushing forward. Pan was giddy as she watched Trunks avoid every punch and kick. He elbowed, kicked, and even picked a guy up and tossed him over his shoulder before he took down the rest of the group. After the last man standing had been hit in the gut by Trunks' arm, Pan turned to look at Yamcha with a smug smile.

"Holy shit," Yamcha muttered, staring at Trunks in awe as he wiped some dust off of his arms.

"That was incredible," Gohan commented. "I've never seen anyone so skilled. He reminds me of-" he let out a small breath.

"Your Father," Chi-Chi answered.

"Yeah," Gohan nodded slowly.

"Really?" Pan said as she looked at Chi-Chi. She had heard so many stories about what a great fighter her Papa had been! It had been the main reason as to why Goten had always trained so hard.

"Mhm," Chi-Chi nodded with a smile.

"I tried to go easy on them," Trunks told Yamcha as he walked up to the group. There wasn't a single scratch on him, and he wasn't at all out of breath. "But you might want to take some of them to see my gramps-" he motioned to the soldiers behind him.

"General-" one wheezed from his spot on the ground.

Yamcha yelled and jumped over the fence to rush to the men quickly.

Chi-Chi clicked her tongue and shook her head. "He should have known better."

Gohan let out a laugh, "you know Yamcha doesn't think half the time, Mom." He looked at Trunks and grinned, "you were awesome out there! If we had someone like you in our ranks, we'd be unstoppable!"

"Oh, I bet," Trunks muttered under his breath.

"Weren't you going to join the military?" Gohan raised a brow as he looked between Trunks, Chi-Chi, and Pan.

"Ah, actually, I'm taking over my Ap- Father's trade," Trunks said. "He works in government."

"Oh, interesting," Gohan said. "Where-"

"Gohan," Chi-Chi said as she grabbed his arm. "I'm getting hot and faint. Will you walk me back to my room, please?"

"Oh, of course, Mom!" Gohan wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You two stay out of trouble," Chi-Chi said as she looked back at Trunks and Pan and sent them a wink.

Pan blinked, "what was that about?"

Trunks snickered, "your Mom knows I'm a Saiyan and just covered for me, that's what."

"What?" Pan yelped as she looked at Trunks. He was in front of her now, and even though she was sitting on the fence, he was still a few inches taller than her. "When did she find out?"

"That one time I moved her plant pots for her. The dang woman tricked me. I said Appa, and she knew right away."

Pan let out a huff. Somehow she wasn't even surprised. "What a clever woman!"

"She has a clever daughter too-" Trunks said as he poked Pan's forehead.

There were a few low groans, and Pan and Trunks turned as Yamcha ushered his injured troops out of the pin. His eyes caught Trunks' and he pouted.

"I did go easy on them," Trunks told Pan.

"I know," Pan nodded. "It was exciting watching you fight!" She told him with a grin. "I've never seen it before."

"Oh?" Trunks smirked. "And were you swooning?"

"Most definitely," Pan giggled.

"That was nothing though-" Trunks waved a hand behind him. "I'll have to sneak you onto Vegeta-Sei so you can see a real fight."

Pan's eyes widened, and she felt excitement bubble up in her. She wanted to go to Vegeta-Sei more than anything! She wanted to see where Trunks grew up and what his planet was like.

"I look forward to it," Pan told him with a grin.

"Things that fall;
Petals
Teardrops
Snowflakes
Rain
Stars
Tides
Eyelids
Time
Shadows
Leaves
The sun
And I,
For you."

-Unknown