53- A New Era

Midsummer

Trunks was on the verge of losing his mind. It had been a hell of a week, and the nightmare just continued. First, his Appa had been severely injured in a blast that was meant for him. For the past week, he had been struggling with the guilt of knowing his Appa had gotten hurt because of him. Now his mate was in pain and fighting through a test Trunks had no clue about. Everything in him was screaming to run to her, but the stupid invisible shield wouldn't let him.

A cool breeze rushed through the air, and the hair on the back of Trunks' neck stood. He looked up at the mountain and gasped as he watched Pan sit up.

"PANNA!" He yelled as he took a step forward. The invisible shield was still up, and Trunks hissed as it shocked him back. "PAN!" He yelled again.

Pan stood up slowly before she glanced around. She looked down at them with a gentle smile, and Trunks' heart pounded at the sight of her. She turned to face the cave to the right.

"Show yourself!" She yelled.

The mountains and ground began to shake. Trunks couldn't keep his eyes off of Pan, who was shielding herself from a blast of wind. The right side of the mountain busted open. Rocks tumbled down, but the shield stopped them from reaching Trunks and the others.

"Oh, my-" Goten's voice shook as Bulla bit back a scream.

Trunks glanced up and gasped loudly. Chills ran down his back as his heart pounded in his ears. Pan was face-to-face with a dragon. A real dragon! Trunks could see its green scales shining in the moonlight. He felt his knees shaking. Those stories were true.

Pan was fearless as she reached out and touched the dragon's snout. They were speaking with each other, though no one could hear it.

Pan took a few steps away from the dragon as it pulled itself up. Trunks watched with eyes full of terror as the dragon breathed fire right at Pan. He screamed, but Goten held him back from getting shocked again.

"Trunks, look!" Bulla yelled as she pointed to Pan.

The fire had formed a sphere around Pan. Trunks could barely see her figure through the flames, but he could tell that she was okay. The orb shot into the sky, and it blazed brilliantly like a star. The dragon jumped up. He flew elegantly through the air as he circled the sphere.

The air was warm and buzzing. Something new was coming. Trunks could feel Pan's Ki spiking. It sent a shift through the air that left him breathless.

The dragon flew up- higher and higher; he twirled until he leaned back to fly down. Trunks' heart pounded in his ears as he watched the dragon fly straight at Pan.

The dragon hit the sphere, and a burst of blinding light escaped from it, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

Warm winds rushed by, and Trunks felt as if he were next to a fire. When he could finally open his eyes, he gasped.

The dragon was gone, and flames surrounded the mountain. Pan was floating above it all, and wings made of fire were on her back.

She was changed, but she was still his Panna.

As she fell to the firey mountain gracefully, Trunks felt something tugging in him. He glanced down to see that his ruby necklace was floating in front of him and pulling him towards the mountain.

Trunks swallowed hard before he took a step forward. He expected to be shocked, but he wasn't. He let out a breath before he took off in a run up the mountain. The fire was hot, but it didn't burn him.

Deja vu washed over Trunks. He had done this before once in a dream. It was years ago when he had tried to distance himself from Pan. He had dreamed of this. Trunks let out a breath and sped up his pace. His feelings for Pan had grown tenfold since then. He'd do anything for her.

As Trunks neared the peak, Pan walked out of the flames. The wings of fire she had had were gone. Her dress was torn from the fire, and her dark hair was wild and messy, just the way Trunks loved it. She had her arms cradled in front of her as she smiled brightly at Trunks.

"I've been waiting for you," she told him.

Trunks' lips twitched. "I'm sorry I kept you," he apologized. He didn't waste another second, to erase the space between them. He grabbed her face and kissed her.

"Trunks," Pan giggled as they pulled away. She held open her arms, and Trunks gasped.

"No way," he whispered as he stared at the four baby dragons in Pan's arms. Each one was a different color, and they seemed to be sleeping. They were tiny, no bigger than Pan's palms.

"They weren't pearls," she told him softly.

"Are you saying that they've been inside of you this whole time?" Trunks whispered.

"Mhm," Pan nodded as she looked at the dragons with a gentle expression. "Shenron protected them for centuries. These four are the last of the ancient dragons and the beginning of a new era."

"Shenron?" Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Was that the green dragon? Where did he go?"

"His time was up," Pan frowned. "But he lives on in them," she motioned to the babies. "Trunks," her voice was soft as she smiled at him. "I can wake your Appa."

Pan walked down the mountain slowly as not to disturb the sleeping dragons in her arms. Their time to wake up would be soon, and she wanted them to rest all they could until then. She looked down at them and giggled.

Trunks' arm was wrapped around her tightly to keep his cape around her shoulders. He chuckled, "who knew dragons were cute, huh?"

"I can't wait to show the twins."

A worried look crossed Trunks' far, and Pan laughed as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry. These dragons saved our babies, remember? They'll be best friends," she smiled knowingly.

"Panny!" Bulla called as they neared the base of the mountain.

"Hi!" Pan greeted everyone with a bright smile. "I'm okay," she promised. "I'm sorry that I worried all of you."

"Oh, Panny!" Chi-Chi cried.

"Mama, wait!" Pan called to stop her mother from attacking her in a hug.

Chi-Chi sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Pan shook her head. "I just don't want you to squeeze them," she held out her arms so everyone could see the baby dragons.

There were gasps of surprise as everyone crossed around to look at the dragons. Pan wasn't surprised. Something they had all thought was nothing more than a myth was now a reality.

"Panny, we're they-" Goku couldn't finish his sentence.

"Yeah," Pan smiled softly, somehow knowing what he had tried to ask. "They were inside of me."

"Those were the pearls?!" Gohan gasped.

Pan nodded again. "Shenron, the dragon from earlier, put them in me when Papa brought me here on the day I was born. They could only hatch once I awoke as the next Dragon Queen, but I couldn't do that until my King arrived," she smiled at Trunks. "They had waited centuries for me, and Shenron was growing too weak to keep them healthy. So he put them in me so they would be bonded to me and be born healthy."

"But they made you so sick!" Chi-Chi cried.

"They saved me," Pan said quietly. "I know sometimes I got sickly, but they were preparing me for this moment," she smiled at her mother. "Trunks," she looked at her mate. "It's time."

He let out a small breath and nodded. "Okay, I'll go get him," he said before he disappeared.

"Who's he's getting?" Goten asked as he peered over Pan's shoulder to look at the dragons.

"Vegeta," Pan answered. "I can wake him."

"You can?" Bulma asked with a choke.

"Yes," Pan smiled at the woman. "Or I guess I should say, they can," she motioned to the dragons.

Trunks appeared back quickly with Vegeta in his arms.

"Lay him down over here," Pan said as she walked to a flat spot in the dirt.

Carefully, Trunks laid Vegeta down. He looked lifeless as his chest moved slowly. Trunks looked up at Pan with a gentle expression. He trusted her. She could do this.

Pan looked down at the dragons and sucked in a breath. She used her Ki to warm her breath before she blew on them gently. "Time to wake up," she called to them softly.

The dragons began to stir. They wiggled with little stretches as their tiny wings twitched. Pan giggled and found Trunks' eyes. He had walked over to her to watch the dragons wake.

"Shall I introduce them to you, your Majesty?" She asked Trunks softly. "They haven't just been waiting for me. They've been waiting for you too."

Trunks' blue eyes were wide, and his cheeks were a faint shade of pink. He smiled softly and nodded his head. "Let's meet them."

The first one to stand was the biggest. His scales were thick and bulky and mostly a wooded color. Around his eyes and down his back, and on the inside of his wings, his scales were a darker brown color.

"Tremor," Pan called, and he looked up at her.

Tremor went to smack his lips and lick his face, but his tongue stretched out too far and smacked one of his eyes. He hopped off of Pan and almost fell clumsily.

"Careful," Pan told him gently. He trotted over to some dirt before he started to dig into the soil. Soon, he was nuzzling his way into the ground before he disappeared. Little uphill tunnels began to run through the soil.

"What's he doing?" Trunks asked gently.

"He likes to dig," Pan giggled.

Once Tremor was done, he popped out of the ground and shook himself off. He sat like a dog would and reared his back paw back before he scratched himself for a few seconds before he trotted over to the others.

"Wow!" Goten awed as he bent down to him. "Can I hold him?" He asked Pan in excitement.

Pan nodded. "I think he would like that," she said truthfully.

A small sneeze caused Pan to look down, and she saw the next dragon was up. Her scales were sleek and neatly pressed against each other. She was mostly a sky blue color, with a a stone-color on her underside and paws.

"Whirlwind," Pan smiled.

Whirlwind let out another sneeze before she stood up and spread out her wings. She hopped down a lot more gracefully than Tremor had. She seemed to float in the air before she landed on the ground.

Pan gasped as she felt a pinch, and she glanced down to see the next dragon was up. She let out a laugh and held up the hand he was wiggling in. His little teeth were snapping at her playfully.

"Kalamity," she looked at him fondly. His scales were as black as midnight. His eyes were star-speckled. Even though the moon was the only light, Pan could see a hint of green in Kalamity's scales.

"You're going to be my problem child, aren't you?" She asked with a twitch of her lips.

He bleeped his tongue out at her as if agreeing.

Pan held out her hand to Trunks, and his eyes widened as Kalamity crawled from her hand to Trunks'. "He's their leader," she told him softly.

The last little dragon was still in Pan's palms. She was still sleeping, but it was time for her to get up. Vegeta was waiting for her.

"Crescent," Pan called gently. "Time to wake up, Little One."

The smallest of the dragons finally stood up with a little yawn. Unlike the rest of them, she had snowy feathers instead of scales. She fluttered her wings as Kalamity chirped on Trunks' shoulder.

"Yes, she's awake," Pan smiled at Kalamity before she met Trunks' eyes. "They're mates."

"Really?" His eyes widened.

"Mhm, and so are those two-" she motioned to Tremor and Whirlwind, who was on the ground next to each other.

Kalamity jumped from Trunks' shoulder down to Pan's. He walked down her arms until he reached her palms where Crescent was. They nuzzled each other for a few seconds before Crescent jumped off Pan's hand and started to fly towards Vegeta.

In the light of the full moon, Crescent glittered. She flew over to Vegeta and began to fly in a circle around him. Silver dust fell from Crescent that started to glow. After she made two full circles around Vegeta, she flew back to Pan and landed safely in her arms next to Kalamity before yawning.

Pan watched as the silver dust slowly fell to the ground and sprinkled around Vegeta. It only took a few seconds before his chest started to move naturally. He let out several coughs and a sneeze before he sat up as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell?" He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the silver dust on his arms.

"Appa!" Bulla cried as she and Bulma ran over to him and fell on their knees to hug him.

"Go on," Pan nudged Trunks.

He stumbled over to them, and Vegeta glanced up at him with wide eyes. "Look at you," he said proudly. "You got crowned, didn't you?"

"How could you do something so stupid?" Trunks asked him as his voice shook. "You nearly got killed!"

"What do you mean?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Doing stupid things and putting yourself in danger for your brats, that's just what Appa's do," he said with a smirk as he pinched Bulla's cheek.

Pan watched the scene with a fond smile before she glanced down at her arms. Tremor and Whirlwind had climbed up her legs and were now resting in her arms with the other two. She let out a small sigh as she watched the four dragons. It was a new beginning for Vegeta-Sei.

Poe gasped awake. Her hibernation tank popped open, and she fell to the floor with shaky limbs. This was different than all the times they had awoken before. Just what had happened?

With a shaky breath, Poe pulled herself up to her feet and she swayed as she rushed to her door. The ship was shaking. The lights overhead were flickering. Servants were running by frantically until they spotted her and gasped in surprise.

"What happened?" Poe hissed.

"W-we do not know," a servant shook their head. "You're not due to wake up for another ten years. Lord Nahum is erratic, he-"

"Go find sacrifices immediately!" Poe screeched before she took off to Nahum's room.

Nahum's hibernation tank was rattling, and Poe quickly opened it. He was still asleep and thrusting around frantically as his arms and legs swung in every direction. Poe didn't know what was wrong with him and her gut twisted anxiously. She placed her hands on Nahum's temples and called her power forward. She was weak due to decades of sleep, but she couldn't let her Lord hurt any longer.

Nahum came to with such a mighty yell that Poe fell back. "M-My Lord?" She called as she watched him sit up.

His aura was dark, and his narrowed red eyes turned to look at Poe. His lips curled into a snarl. "SHE'S ALIVE!" He roared.

"It simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons."

-J.R.R Tolkien