Author's Note:
Okay, I think I just may have indeed got rid of this writer's block. During my leave of absence, I've been working on another fic, Antics of Love. Well, here's the disclaimer I've been forgetting to add to my stories.
I don't own DBZ or any other thing that may pop into my story, yadda, yadda, yadda, and so forth! There, I did it, happy now you rich lawyer scum?!
Anyhoo, on forth with the story!
Alone
Chapter 3
Pan flew around, not going anyway in particular, all she wanted to do was get away..far away. She sped up when she felt a familiar ki behind her. "Damn it, what does he want?" she said bitterly before stopping to land in an open field.
Trunks landed almost silently behind her, almost as if he didn't want her to know he was there, but he knew she knew, he just wanted her to acknowledge his presence.
"Why'd you come?" Pan asked emotionless. It took all her strength not to let herself fly with her emotion like she did earlier.
Trunks looked straight ahead, she acknowledged his presence but refused to look at him. "I came to check on my friend." He said like he cared.
"Thanks, but I'm fine." She replied stubbornly.
"Bull shit." Trunks said a little agitated.
This caught her off guard, but quickly regained her composure. "I said I'm fine."
"You were crying, the Pan I know never cries." Trunks stated as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"How the hell would you know?" Pan spun around looking Trunks in the eyes. "Are you there when I cry myself to sleep every night? Are you there when I have to excuse myself from the dinner table to have an emotional break down in the bathroom? And are you there at night when I wake up from crying in my dreams only to find that the tears are real?" After a moment of silence she realized that she said too much. She literally threw her pride on the ground for him to do as he likes. She turned to leave, only to have him stop her.
"What's going on? I care about you and it kills me to see you like this." He said as he look deeply into her watering brown eyes that threatened to spill at any moment.
It's been a long time since she heard those words from anyone, `I care about you.' This was her undoing. He noticed that her bottom lip began to quiver as a single tear ran down her cheek, knowing that there would be more he pulled her into his strong arms and let her cry on his chest.
"Please tell me what's happening." Trunks begged.
After a few moments of sobbing into his shirt, she let it out. "They're dying." She said softly before sobbing even harder into his chest.
`What? How? Why?' His mind was running with questions he wanted to ask, but knowing how hard this is for her, he gently rocked her back and forth stroking her soft raven hair. Her scent invaded his senses, the smell of lavender and peppermints, an odd combination but he found it rather appealing. He cleared his throat as Pan's sobs became less violent and her breathing slowed down.
"Feel better?" He asked as she pulled away.
"No, I'm not even sure if I can feel better anymore. It's been too long, too long since I felt anything but this." She said softly as she wiped the tears from off her cheeks. She looked up at Trunks who seemed as lost as she was at the moment, for some odd reason this brought an emotionless smirk to her face, he knew it was emotionless cause their was nothing in her eyes, just pure melancholy. "I know what you're thinking." She said as she looked at the ground. The ground was the only thing that kept her from crying yet again.
"What am I thinking?" he asked a little taken from her state of emotionless. `I don't get it, just a few moments ago, she was balling her eyes out, now she's emotionless, or so it seems.' He thought to himself.
"You were wondering how they're dying and why." Pan said still not looking up from her previous spot on the ground. She walked over and sat on a rather large rock in the middle of the field.
Trunks sat down next to her, "Well, this is coming as a rather large shock and I wouldn't be able to do anything till I find out what in fact is going on." He said as he looked at her, she didn't respond. "You told me this much, I need to know. After all, opening up a bit might help you feel better."
She sighed knowing that he was probably right. "It all started a few years ago, when I was 16. I can still remember that day." She smiled half a smile. "Everything was perfect! I woke up to caring parents, father was leaving in an hour to go train with you and Goten for a week in the wilderness and I was going to stay with Bura for a couple days. I was so excited, your guys' house is so much bigger than mine and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I'd get to stay in a mansion, get to see all the neat contraptions your mother was building and I'd get to annoy your father, which I thought was the best part." She stopped to look at the stars.
Trunks couldn't help but to smirk a bit at that last part. "You're lucky you were born female, other wise he would've beaten some sense in you." He joked playfully.
Pan sighed before continuing. "Well, I couldn't sleep very well that night. I had forgotten.um." she paused before continuing, ".my toothbrush."
"You didn't forget your toothbrush, what did you really forget?" Trunks inquired.
"It's not important, but if you must know, I have.eer.had a teddy bear named Mr. Booboo." She said sheepishly. Trunks was right, talking was starting to help her feel a little better.
He smirked at the thought of Pan sleeping with a teddy bear, "Don't think you're the only one, I sleep with Mr. Rags, my stuffed bunny."
She looked at him oddly before continuing with her story. "I didn't feel right without him, so I sneaked out of my guest room's window that I claimed as mine and flew towards home. I quietly flew through my window that I left open from the night before and grabbed Mr. Booboo from off my bed. That's when I heard it," Pan stopped and looked down at the ground as if she was about to cry again.
"That's when you heard what?" Trunks asked. His full attention was on her and her alone, she didn't mind the attention, it's been awhile since she could actually open up to anyone.
"My mother. It was disturbing to say the least, I wasn't sure if she was having sex or a walrus was running rapid in the house somewhere." She said before stopping again. "I was curious to say the least, I thought maybe she just feel asleep with the HBO channel on or something, that's what I hoped. I didn't feel my dad's ki and anyone else's ki at that. I tiptoed into the hallway leading into the living room and that's when I saw it. My mother was sleeping with another guy, the TV was off and candles were lit everywhere. I couldn't believe my eyes, I didn't care if she saw or heard me, I ran as fast as I could out of the house and back to Capsule Corp. I cried myself to sleep that night for the first time in a long time, the first, but not the last." She looked over at Trunks who was still absorbing all the information. "Well, I guess that weakling of a guy carried HIV and infected my mom, who later infected my unsuspecting dad. Now they're dying and there's nothing I can do about it. I could've done something about it though, I could've told my dad and then at least."
"No." Trunks interrupted. "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault." He said as he put his arm around her.
"Promise you won't tell anyone. Please. It would kill my dad if he knew anyone knew about this." She pleaded.
"You have my word on that, milady." Trunks said as he raised his right arm. "Under one condition."
"Oh?" She pondered.
"You never ever tell anyone about Mr. Rags!" he smiled.
"Fine, just don't tell anyone about Mr. Booboo, he'd die too if anyone knew that he still slept with an animate object." She offered weakly.
Trunks smiled at Pan once more looking into her eyes, "I'll always be here for you."

(Okay, I finally finished this chapter! Gives her victory sign as she dances around the room. Please review and let me know what you think. Sorry it took so long for me to post this, I've just been pondering on other things lately. Next chapter should be up in a little bit.)

^_^