Author's Note:
For those of you who are slightly squirmy about sadness and angst, I have to warn you there's a lot of it in here so please read it at your own risk! And no, I don't own DBZ or DBGT and sadly enough I don't own a lot of money either! Please read and review! (Easy on the flaming please...^_^)
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Revenge of the Saiyan Heart - Chapter One
Pan's lower lip trembled so violently that soon her whole entire body began to shake with anger and pure hatred.
"You asshole Trunks! Don't you ever, EVER, tell me what love is supposed to feel like! I just poured out my heart to you and you can't just toss it away like a piece of garbage! I hate you! You're a heartless freak, I don't know what I ever saw in you BAKA!" She spat at him and her eyes acknowledged him with a fiery gaze.
Dear Dende, five long years she spent pining for this guy. How could he accuse her of not knowing what love meant? She felt hot tears of bitter anger welling up in her eyes. Five years, about two thousand restless nights of self-conflict all wasted on him. She bit her lip as she felt her energy rise to an uncontrollable level.
*No, you can't break down in front of this bastard,* she thought furiously to herself.
Her saiyan pride had been roughly pushed aside to reveal her long locked secret. It pained her more deeply than words could ever describe for her to realize that he didn't feel the same way. Sharp pangs of hurt pierced through her heart as her fierce eyes stared right at his cold, emotionless ones. She took a deep breath and tried hard to maintain her sense of self, it was a real struggle for her not to lose it all and blast his head off.
Hiding a glare, she said, "Well, I hope you have a nice time with Marron or what's her ass that you might play with after you're done with Marron. I'll get out of your way now, I guess it's for the best that you enjoy your little sluts while you're still old enough. Have a nice life Trunks Briefs."
Her efforts to try to be calm were once again shattered like her heart had been when Trunks replied just as coolly, "I sure will Pan. You can count on it."
He smirked slightly.
Something snapped inside of Pan, like stepping on a dry twig. She let her anger wash over her and with it her ki level, which rose higher and higher and higher. She let loose all of her pain from inside her and released it. A golden aura flickered slightly and then blazed like a raging fire. Sparks of electricity began flowing around the barrier as her jet black hair turned golden and her chocolate brown eyes morphed into a striking jade green. Trunks, more frightened than amazed backed away slowly.
Without another word, she took off into the morning air and was gone soon before he could blink. He was shocked, to put it plainly. Although Trunks knew she was powerful (being Goku's granddaughter and Gohan's daughter of course) but she was just a QUARTER saiya-jin. And she was a girl. No girl could ever turn Super Saiya-jin, that was unheard of. But there was no denying the fact; her energy level was incredibly powerful, even moreso than his own. Anyone within a ten mile radius could have picked it up easily.
Goten and Bra came rushing out from Bulma's house. The surprised look on both their faces told Trunks that they had felt it too.
"Who's was that? Your dad's ki or my brother's?" Goten asked Trunks breathlessly while looking around.
Trunks shook his head no, still dazed.
"Well, who else could it have been? No one except for Dad or Gohan has that kind of ki!" Bra exclaimed. "Was that you...?"
Trunks shook his head again and said softly, "It...it...was....Pan..."
Bra and Goten looked at Trunks incredulously.
"PAN?!?!?"
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Meanwhile, Vegeta was out near Mt. Paozu training. He hadn't had a good spar with anyone since "Kakarot" had left after his occasional visits to Earth. Growling, he punched a large oak tree and cracked it in half. Before he could further annihilate the poor tree, he caught wind of a very, VERY powerful ki approaching at an amazing speed. As soon as he had felt it, it was gone. He took off after it, curious.
*Strange, I haven't felt an energy this immense since my last battle with Kakarot,* the saiyan prince thought to himself. *Hmph, maybe there still is a worthy opponent left on this pathetic, weak planet. But who?*
He too, powered up and chased after the possessor of the energy. He had been waiting far too long for a good spar and wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.
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Pan raced through the sky, letting the adrenaline work its way throughout her body. She had done it. She based her whole, entire life to show, no, to PROVE to everybody that she was indeed as good as Goten or her father Gohan or even...Trunks. She gritted her teeth at the thought of her "friend." Even if she was a tomboyish sort of girl, she still was who she was and needless to say, she was DAMN proud of it.
*It's not like sparring is going to change my gender anytime soon,* she thought bitterly.
She knew she had achieved Super Saiya-jin Two, and even through her tears and broken heart, she was proud of herself. She couldn't wait to head home and show her Dad.
*He would be so proud of me!* she thought somewhat excitedly.
Then she slowed down considerably. She couldn't go home and face that BAKA, Trunks. No, her pride wouldn't let her do that again. She was not, she promised herself, she was NOT going to brawling back and lose her face again. Or rather what was left of it. Especially after what he had said to her...
Despite herself, tears came flowing down again and she couldn't stop herself from reliving in her mind the hurtful things he had said to her.
{FLASHBACK}
"I...I...I...love...you TRUNKS!" she finally sputtered out. She quivered and dared to look up at Trunks to see his reaction. She lifted her head slightly to see that Trunks had a mixture of shock and horror mixed on his face. Not exactly what she was expecting.
"NANI?!? Wha..?? Pan...!" His eyes grew round. "I never, ever thought of you that way. I thought we were like brothers, you know..."
Pan gave him a defiant glance. Her pride had taken over her again and she willingly succumbed to its control.
"DO I LOOK LIKE A BOY TO YOU? JUST BECAUSE I LIKE TO FIGHT AND THE FACT THAT I CAN'T STAND SHOPPING MALLS AUTOMATICALLY MAKES ME GROW A DICK?" she retorted, gravely insulted by his words.
She desperately wanted to slap Trunks in the face but held back and restrained herself.
"I...am NOT your brother, you idiot!" she yelled.
Trunks leaned casually against the wall outside his house, arms and legs crossed. He could be stubborn too.
"PAN!" he said, exasperated. "Don't take things the wrong way. You KNOW what I mean! Besides, you know I'm dating Marron because she asked me out! Besides, the idea of you and me is just too weird! It could never happen. Aside from the obvious fact that I am way older than you by ten years...For Kami's sake, I babysat you! It's not right. You're only seventeen and I'm twenty-seven! We couldn't ever date and you're way too little to know what love is like anyway."
{END FLASHBACK}
The tears stung her eyes. How she loathed the words.
*Too little...I'm too little for everything. It's not fair at all! Why can't anyone accept that fact that I'm not seven years old anymore? I hate it!*
She furrowed her brow and sighed with a resigned tone in her throat.
*Dignity* she told herself. *At the very, very least, keep your DIGNITY Pan!!*
Feeling a bit calmer, she flew off again, not paying attention to where she was going.
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Vegeta had to turn Super Saiyan just to keep up with the powerful ki. It was Pan's of course, but he didn't know it. It seemed to take forever to keep up, but after awhile of chasing, he spotted a flash of gold flying at top speed about two miles ahead of him. In a spurt of adrenaline, he cut in front of the stranger.
"Who are you?" he asked roughly and narrowed his eyes.
*Something is familiar about this saiyan,* he thought.
Then taking a double take, he realized to his (horror? surprise? Pan couldn't tell.) that the saiyan wasn't a male, it was a SHE.
"It's me, Vegeta-san," Pan whispered softly. "It's me, Pan..."
"BRAT?!?!? Gohan's daughter?" he said dubiously.
*Hmm, so it is. Heh, maybe she does have some real genuine saiyan blood in her after all.* Vegeta thought.
"Hmmph, I thought I had a REAL challenge," he said.
He observed Pan with scrutiny. She was still in SSJ2, still trembling from her anger and the soreness of the impact of the strain on her muscles. His hard face softened just the tiniest bit as he noticed her solemn, determined face to her flaming orange bandanna. She wore it proudly and never seemed to care what everyone else thought of it. As a matter of fact, she never seemed to let what everybody else thought affect her.
*Mmm...more like a real saiyan than her own father,* he thought. *What a pity...*
But of course, Vegeta wasn't going to waste his precious training time trying to catch up with Pan without getting what he wanted.
"Brat? How would you like to spar with me? I haven't gotten a good, decent spar in years," he said. "I think you may be worthy enough."
Pan's eyes widened. She always wanted a good spar ever since Goku left and ever since Goten had acquired an interest in girls.
"I would be greatly honored, Vegeta-san," she replied, lowering into a fighting stance.
Vegeta did the same as he told her sternly, "Good. Let's start now. Show me what you got."
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"What do you mean? I don't believe you, Trunks!" Bra shouted.
Even though Trunks was her older brother, the thought of her best friend being heartbroken surged through her mind like wildfire. Countless nights Pan had helped her get over boyfriend after boyfriend after boyfriend. It shamed her that she couldn't return the favor when Pan needed it the most. Unable to control her temper, she gave Trunks a hard slap on his cheek.
"How DARE YOU break her heart like that? Don't you have any feelings?" she yelled.
Bra stormed away angrily, leaving a frustrated Trunks alone to deal with an angered Goten. Goten glared at his best friend, but to Trunks' surprise, he didn't yell at him. He turned away and started following the sobbing Bra into the house. Putting his hands on her shaking shoulders, he tried to comfort her. Bra turned around with tears streaming down her face, ruining her heavily applied makeup.
"Oh Goten! I feel so ashamed. All this time Pan and I have been friends and I never even cared at all about her love life! I'm such an idiot, I didn't even notice. She was always there for me when one of my old boyfriends dumped me and I took it all for granted! I'm so selfish, all I cared about was me. It didn't even occur to me that Pan has feelings like any other normal girl too. It's all my fault! I should have noticed, maybe she wouldn't have hurt so much!"
She buried herself in Goten's arms. Smudging his shirt with mascara, she pulled back apologetically.
"Sorry about that," she whimpered. He smiled weakly.
"Don't put all that blame on you Bra, it's not all your fault. I'm at least half responsible for some of that blame too. I should've noticed, I'm her uncle! It hurts to think about it, I mean, I know how it feels to be rejected, to love someone you can't," Goten said softly. *Shit!* he thought. *Wasn't that a little obvious?*
*What did he say? Wait. He's not talking about me though. Forget it Bra!* Bra scolded herself, but didn't squirm out of the embrace.
He continued holding her as he shed a single tear. He turned around again, but Trunks was gone.
"Shh...it's okay," he whispered, resting her chin on the top of his head.
He tried to console her, but he himself couldn't say or think of anything that would be of any help. As much as Goten hated to admit it, the whole gang had sort of distanced themselves from Pan. It wasn't a surprise that they hadn't noticed any chemistry between the two. No one had truly understood her besides for Goku, but he was gone now. Goten's heart ached with Bra's as they both stood there, thinking that their Pan was off somewhere, suffering the pain alone.
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Pan skillfully launched a series of punches and kicks, most of which were blocked by Vegeta, but not without some effort. She aimed for his neck and his knees. Vegeta landed a punch on Pan's shoulder, but the punch was avenged with a well-placed kick on the side of his rib cage. Faking a roundhouse kick to the chest, she instead whirled around behind him. Vegeta fell for it and blocked it, but to no avail, as he was hit by a hard punch on his right jaw. Enraged, he too went SSJ2. Soon the two were working up massive amounts of energy. Vegeta was taken aback by the skills and abilities of the strong, stubborn girl in front of him. They were as advanced as his own, and if she was holding back, she was even stronger than he was!
Curious, but careful not to reveal it, he stopped in midair. Pan stopped too, but still held her fighting stance.
"Brat? We can stop now, I've seen enough."
Pan slowly relaxed from her position and took advantage of the moment to catch her breath. Pleased with the fact that she had given Vegeta a good workout, she powered down a bit.
"Where did you lean those moves? You've improved a lot since I last saw you train with that idiot uncle of yours, Goten!" he asked gruffly. *What has made her so powerful in such a short amount of time?* he wondered greatly.
A troubled look clouded over Pan's eyes as she turned her face away. Goten had stopped their regular training sessions to go out with Paris and various other girls years ago. Sparring sessions were broken last minute and she was often stood up. He forgot about Pan, and for some strange reason it never came up again. Vegeta noticed this look on her face and encouraged her to go on.
Pan spoke hesitantly. "Vegeta-san, it really is a long story and I don't want to take up too much of your precious training time..."
"Yes, go on. Spit it out and get it over with," Vegeta persisted rather roughly.
He motioned for her to fly down and then Pan began to explain the root of her power, letting go of every pent-up bottled emotion that had built up inside of her for so long.
"After my grandfather Goku went back, Goten trained with me everyday till I was fourteen years old," Pan explained. "But after awhile, we stopped training and sparring together because he started dating other girls more often and soon our sessions were few and far between. Bra and Marron don't fight that much, they're way too busy shopping and dating anyway. Mom and Dad are really busy at work, I don't see them too often, much less spar with them. I felt so alone because I didn't fit in, and there was no one to spar with."
Vegeta reacted to this small piece of information by flinching a bit with eyes that understood, but Pan didn't notice. She continued with a stronger voice.
"I really did feel friendless for awhile, so I started to train myself. I'd often sneak away at times when I was sure no one would notice me and I'd just fly away and just train myself really hard. I've been doing this for almost four years now. I didn't think anybody would think it suspicious and I was right, they never did. Actually, I don't think they ever really cared. I trained painfully and vigorously so I could feel better about myself. It was one of those rare times that I didn't feel so lonely and it was a time that I didn't feel like utter crap and it became a habit after while. I couldn't stop myself from wanting to be special. Maybe I'm not as pretty as Bra or Marron, or as smart as my father, so I at least tried to improve the part that I was proud of to show everybody that even a girl like me could fight as well as any boy and if I was lucky, maybe even better."
Pan had never admitted this to anybody, but she figured Vegeta would keep it a secret, for she thought he might feel that same way. Now that Trunks was officially out of her life as a friend, she couldn't count on anybody anymore.
Vegeta raised his eyebrows. *This girl of Gohan's has got more saiyan potential than I've ever seen, even in my own son,* he thought to himself.
"I understand, Pan," he said quietly.
Pan looked up, a bit surprised. No one had ever truly understood her in a long, long time. It was almost too good to be true. She smiled a small grin, but it was genuine, something she hadn't feel her face show for far too long.
"Thanks for hearing me out Vegeta-san, I feel much better," she told him gratefully. *At last...someone who understands,* she thought, relieved a bit.
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Later that afternoon, people began to gather at Bulma's house for a celebration lunch. Bulma had invited Pan, Goten, and Marron's family along with her own family. Everyone was there, it was supposed to be a wonderful feast to celebrate Pan's seventeenth birthday. Actually, in other words, everyone was there except for Vegeta and Pan. However, instead of the usual chaos and hearty gossip, the whole room was quiet.
"Where is that damn Vegeta?!? I'll pulverize him," Bulma threatened furiously. She had worked too hard for this...
*If and WHEN he comes back, he is SO not getting off the hook!* she thought.
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Back near Mt. Paozu, Pan was still sparring with Vegeta. When she turned her head towards the hillside, she noticed the sun directly shining down on them. It was noon.
"Oh, Dende, I totally forgot! There's a big picnic lunch this afternoon..." Pan groaned. The last place she wanted to be was wherever Trunks was. Trunks, as a matter of fact, was the last thing she wanted to see. "I really don't wanna go, Vegeta...do you think you could make up an excuse for me while I stay out here and train some more?"
Vegeta grunted in his reply. He hated group get-togethers, but simply for the sake of Bulma and Bra, who knowingly had the poor saiyan prince wrapped around their fingers, he attended them anyway. Vegeta wiped his sweat with his arm and straightened up. Turning to leave, he told Pan, "Don't worry Pan, I'll take care of it." He left.
Pan wondered greatly as she stopped her assault on the air around her. Since when did Vegeta stop calling her Brat?
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As Vegeta flew back towards the Capsule Corp, he began to think to himself.
*Can't blame Pan for wanting to get away from everyone around here. Stupid humans, stupid fools, and stupid emotions and most of all, the way humans make the concept of 'love' seem so small and stupid. Stupid...stupid...stupid...Hmph, now that I think about it, I have noticed Pan has stopped coming over for awhile now. It's been ages since her last sleepover with Bra.*
Smirking to himself in his usual trademark, but somewhat softer and more sympathetic he said gently as he could, "Smart girl, that Pan, that granddaughter of Kakarot. Smart girl." He could probably never admit that he was slightly soft to Pan to anyone but himself however, so he snapped back to his usual trademark frown when he approached his home. Hiding his emotions was something he was good at, something that he was able to do since he was a young boy. However, he could see through everyone else's mask, but Pan's mask had slipped gingerly past him. Still deep in thought, he crashed through the door.
"Stupid human inventions," he grumbled, brushing himself off.
Everyone stared at him while he entered the room, seeming indifferent and oblivious to the fact that everyone's eyes were glued to him.
"Vegeta, just WHERE have YOU been?" Bulma demanded sharply. "Why don't you ever use doors properly? And where's Pan?"
"I was training. Pan told me to inform you that she wasn't feeling very well and that she won't be attending," he replied simply. Then he added, "GODDAMN THE DOORS!"
Bulma started to say something but a look in Vegeta's eyes told her not to question the situation further.
"But she was perfectly FINE this morning," Marron said. "How?"
Wordlessly, Goten and Bra glanced sideways at Trunks discreetly in unison. Only Vegeta noticed this however, as everyone else picked up their forks.
"Come to think of it actually, I haven't seen Pan in awhile..." Marron noted. "What's up with that? I thought she spent half her life here!"
"Probably training her ass off," Krillin replied, rolling his eyes humorously. "That girl thinks sparring is her life. She's pretty good though, I must admit."
Turning to Goten, 18 said, "You and your dad trained her well, she may become as strong as you one day."
Goten said nothing.
Vegeta snorted loudly at this. Following this, the rest of the meal was as quiet as a graveyard on Sunday.
*Fools, all of them are damned fools,* he thought. *Goten? Training Pan? He wouldn't last twenty seconds just sparring with her now. Damn ignorant humans.*
Bulma turned to Goten, who for once wasn't stuffing his face with food. He was, ladies and gentleman, picking and pushing it around.
(Author's Note: I know, I know what you're thinking. Goten wouldn't give up food for anything! Yeah, but so what? This is my story so PBBBT!)
"Goten, why aren't you eating? You haven't touched a thing on your plate!" She rushed over like the over-protective mother-clucking hen she was and felt his forehead.
Now normally, Goten would've rolled his eyes good-naturedly but he sat silent as a stone. Noticing this, Bulma slammed her hands on the table in a frustrated manner and abruptly stood up.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked angrily. "Listen up! I spent way too much time and energy into making this party stocked with food and Pan's not even here and this is HER party. The mood is terrible, and no one, NOT EVEN GOTEN, is touching their food. Is there something going on that I don't know about?"
Silence. No one dare speak a word. It was one of those moments that you could her a small, single staple drop from twenty meters up and still here it crystal clearly.
She swiveled so she faced the emotionless Vegeta.
"Vegeta, I feel that you're hiding something. What's the REAL reason Pan can't come, HMMM?? Saiya-jins just don't get sick and Pan never lets a stupid stomach ache let her down! What is it here that I don't know about? Someone better tell me NOW! Or else I guess I'll have to force out of you!"
Bra spoke up and cocked her head towards Trunks.
"If you really want to know, you might want to start by asking TRUNKS here," she said icily. She left the table and excused herself.
Every head swiveled in Trunks' direction.
Embarrassed as hell, Trunks yelled indignantly, "I didn't do anything! Stop blaming all this crap on me!"
Goten sprang up from his chair and was about to leave after Bra but he were halted by a furious Bulma. Needless to say, he stopped dead in his tracks. An angry Bulma on the loose is something everyone there wanted to avoid. At all costs.
"What did Trunks to do Pan?" she asked quietly.
"Oh, nothing much, just broke my poor niece's feelings, that's all," Goten replied sarcastically, shooting a dirty glance at Trunks. Sure, Trunks was his best friend and everything, but Pan was his niece. He couldn't believe it. He knew about Trunks' infamous reputation concerning girls and he didn't want his niece to become a victim of it like so many others before her had.
"I didn't mean to, I didn't do it on purpose," Trunks retorted. "And that's coming from an uncle who ditched his niece, who he CLAIMS to love so much, just to go out with other girls, like PARIS!" He narrowed his eyes and returned Goten's glare.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Goten seethed.
"You think I'm the only one who hurt Pan? Well, have you forgotten about all those times you broke your sparring dates just to go around chasing girls with that cell phone of yours? You loved your cell phone more than your own niece!" Trunks said, hands crossed on his chest.
Goten said nothing, but his fists were clenched. His ki raised slightly.
"That's right Goten! Pan told me herself, about how you always came home talking about some girls you met or calling some girl you met and how you always forgot that you stood her up! She called me up CRYING! I hadn't seen Pan cry since then! And who made her cry? Oh yeah, I remember. It was her own uncle!" Trunks pressed on.
"SHUT UP YOU BAKA!" Goten said furiously. His ki was peaked to reach SSJ just then, but Bulma intervened by placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him back.
The two boys had lowered themselves subconsciously into a fighting position, totally unaware of the fact that Krillin, 18 and Marron were staring at them, feeling uncomfortable with the tension that was building up rapidly.
Vegeta looked at Goten to Trunks, and then Trunks to Goten, who were still bickering.
"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" he hollered.
x
(Author's Note: Good old Vegeta...heeheehee, you gotta love him!)
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Pan punched the air mercilessly. She had been training for five hours straight and was still going. It was getting just a little bit late, but she wasn't going to stop. Bead of sweat fell like heavy raindrops as she continued to push herself.
*That's it Pan, release all that pressure and blame the whole world,* she thought, throwing a series of punches in the air. She liked to pretend she was actually sparring with someone and imagined someone there. It was easier to vent her anger out that way. This time, she pictured Trunks, so she hit the air at least ten times harder.
She was still in SSJ2 mode, and was still furious at what Trunks had done to her. Not so sad anymore though, but still angry and highly distressed. The rejection was so painful, it felt like part of her soul had died and Pan knew this. It was like taking the sting of an injection needle, but feeling the numbness afterwards. The only way she thought she could get temporarily forget the numbness was to train, train, train.
She looked at the sky. The sun was almost gone, only a small dot on the horizon. It was probably about seven or eight o'clock.
*The dinner must have been over by now,* she figured. *Besides, maybe I can ask Vegeta if I could use the gravity room tonight. Best of all though, I won't have to see Trunks. He's probably making out with Marron at the movies or something.*
Her last thought sent small shivers of a mix of feelings. Jealousy, for one. Then sadness, then anger, then she sighed and shrugged. She stopped her training and flew over to Bulma's, strategically hiding her ki to avoid confrontation.
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Vegeta sneered at everyone. It was getting quite late, but everyone was now sitting in the living room at their house. Bra had returned, and was sitting between Marron, who sat next to her parents, and Goten. Bulma was next to Vegeta. Trunks had distanced himself from all of them by leaning against a wall, arms crossed, with a frown almost identical to his father's. Everyone was waiting for Vegeta to say something.
"If all of you want to know where Pan's been keeping herself so badly, then why don't you stop talking about it and just ask her?" he growled.
Just then, as if right on cue, Pan herself walked in.
"Hey Vegeta-san, can I use the gravity roo..." she cut herself off. Everyone's eyes were staring at her. *Shit, everybody's till here!* She silently cursed herself for not being more aware of everyone's ki.
She backed away slowly as everyone noticed that she didn't have her raven tresses or her coffee brown eyes. Yes, she hadn't dropped out of SSJ2 yet.
Bulma's eyes were widened so much that her eyes practically bulged out. Trunks was unmoved by this. Goten and Bra had identical dumbstruck faces. Krillin and 18 were blinking in disbelief and amazement, as Marron said, "Oh my gosh...dear Dende!!"
"She's reached SSJ2, that's right!" Vegeta scowled. "Maybe if you'd pay some attention you would have known a lot earlier."
Pan was overwhelmed by all this as her knees suddenly felt weak. The eyes that stared her were boring holes in her. She couldn't bear to look at Trunks so she avoided his glance by turning her back to him.
Bra and Marron got up and scurried over to Pan, asking, "Pan, honey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm okay!" she lied. Powering down dramatically she fibbed. "I, uh, just wanted to know if I could borrow some headache pills or something, um, cause I have a headache but I see you're all busy and stuff so, um, I'll just, like, leave now." Putting on a fake, practiced grin she turned towards the door to leave. She couldn't even look at Trunks for fear she might break down in tears right then and there.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Goten blocked the door. "Tell us what's really going on with you, where have you been? We're all worried sick about you!"
*Right, they're worried sick. They worry about me just like they worry about dog shit on their carpet.* Pan thought bitterly. *Fuck, I don't have to stand around listening to this crap.*
"If you'd really care about me, you'll LET...ME...GO!!!" Pan let her temper rise and with it her ki. She had held back everything for almost four years. She wanted to let it out, give them a taste of what had been killing her. *That'll show them!* she thought.
"I'm not a little baby and I'm tired of being treated like SHIT, that's what's wrong!" Pan turned coldly to face everyone in the room.
She yelled, "If any of you care about me like you say you do, then how come you treat me like SHIT? I'm sick, and I'm tired of being bruised and beaten while all of you guys go out there and have your fun and then come back and shove it all in my face! At least you could have TOLD me, maybe I would've dealt with it better, but to just plain forget me? That's caring? Yeah, I'm sure you guys really care for me, that's why none of you have cared about where or more importantly HOW I've been for the past four years? Where do you think I go after-school? What do you think I do when Goten goes out with girls? How do you think I feel when my two so-called best friends Bra and Marron go out shopping and ditch me? How do you think I feel when the only person who really understands me is dead? What would you do? What would you do when you've kept everything bottled up and hidden for FOUR years! What would you do when you find yourself alone at school, alone at home, and alone everywhere you go, because the people you call your friends are somewhere else and don't even give you a phone call? Don't any of you get it? This isn't friendship!"
Trunks choked by these powerful worlds. 18 and Krillin were stupefied. Tears streamed down her face while she said this last thought.
Bra and Marron took a couple steps toward Pan, but a serious look in her eyes told them that they would be fried to the ends of the Earth if they took just ONE more baby step. No one had ever seen Pan like this. Her face was angry but strangely enough it was also entwined with traces of hurt and confusion. Her eyes were like the source of a river of tears.
She shook with resentment to everyone, but she wasn't quite done with her verbal assault payback yet.
"What is friendship? Is friendship all about ditching other friends, then calling the ditched friend up the next day about how fun it was? If any of you are my REAL friends, then I have to honestly say I'd rather have frickin' enemies!"
"Pan!" Bra screamed, putting her hands over her ears. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"Stop what Bra? Do you know how many times I wanted to yell that at you when you call me up and account the details of your dates?" she said coldly. "Did you care what I thought? Obviously not. Now, neither do I."
Bra just gaped at Pan, scared. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined Pan like this, she was always the happy and cheerful one and the one that seemed to find the good in everything. The light in the dark, the soft in the hard. What had gone wrong between their best friendship?
Vegeta was astonished at his daughter's reaction to those words. He didn't notice that Pan had so much power and emotion stored from four years of ignorance over his own children and even her uncle. Even he had underestimated her. Pan was exactly acting like a saiya-jin would. And everyone in that room was moved by her stinging words.
*Even the woman, for once, is at a loss for words,* Vegeta smirked inwardly.
Pan flared in SSJ2 again and shoved Goten out of the way quite roughly. Before she took off however, she had one more thing to say.
"And considering everything," Pan continued. "I've never had a friend among you guys in my whole entire FUCKING life!"
And she took off into the star-dotted night, leaving a crowd of people just staring.
************************************************************
Two days passed, but there was no sign of Pan anywhere. Despite efforts, no one could find her at all. It seemed that without her, the days seemed to just crawl by. Nothing was fun anymore, it was like committing a sin to have fun without Pan. Marron, Trunks, Goten and Bra had been deeply touched by Pan's words the other day. None of those four said it out loud, but they all silently vowed not to take her cheery personality for granted again if she came back. IF...being the operative word of course.
Bra sobbed uncontrollably, secretly hating herself for the way she had acted. Goten had felt so ashamed that his appetite seemed permanently lost. Marrot hurted inside too, because she and Pan were so close and she often even forgot Pan even existed. No one hurted as much as Trunks however. Pan was one of his best friends, even though he didn't feel about her in a romantic, more-than-friends sort of way.
Everyone, more or less, was deeply affected by all this. Gohan and Videl were desperate and devastated, to say the least. They, along with Chi Chi, hadn't been filled in on the events that happened that previous evening. Bulma, who was always like a second mother to Pan, called Krillin's family, the Son family, and her own family to a meeting. Now they were all sitting in a circle at her house, saddened and depressed by Pan's sudden disappearance.
"Obviously, she doesn't want to be found. She probably is hiding her ki or using an energy shield," Bulma said, as she knitted her eyebrows in frustration.
Videl was wringing her hands. "What's happening to my poor baby? She's out there all alone, why is she doing this to us? Why won't she come home?" She sobbed on Gohan's shoulder, who was trying hard himself not to break down.
Chi Chi was just as hysterical. "She's missing school! She's going to fall behind in her class! She's just like her grandfather, leaving and going away without notice!" She kept on babbling about between sniffs and bawls.
"Calm down everybody, this isn't helping!" Krillin said, trying to lighten the moment.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MISTER? MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS OUT THERE, WHO KNOWS WHAT THE HELL SHE'S DOING? AND WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?" Chi Chi pounced on Krillin and started to throw a hissy fit.
"Eh...heh...heh..." Krillin stuttered as he backed away from her menacing glare.
The rest of the afternoon was silent.
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to be continued...
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed part one! It's my first fanfic *ever* and I really really want to know what you think of my writing. Pardon if there are any spelling errors! Please review this fic and tell me so I can make it better and I'll try and update as often as I can.
For those of you who are slightly squirmy about sadness and angst, I have to warn you there's a lot of it in here so please read it at your own risk! And no, I don't own DBZ or DBGT and sadly enough I don't own a lot of money either! Please read and review! (Easy on the flaming please...^_^)
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Revenge of the Saiyan Heart - Chapter One
Pan's lower lip trembled so violently that soon her whole entire body began to shake with anger and pure hatred.
"You asshole Trunks! Don't you ever, EVER, tell me what love is supposed to feel like! I just poured out my heart to you and you can't just toss it away like a piece of garbage! I hate you! You're a heartless freak, I don't know what I ever saw in you BAKA!" She spat at him and her eyes acknowledged him with a fiery gaze.
Dear Dende, five long years she spent pining for this guy. How could he accuse her of not knowing what love meant? She felt hot tears of bitter anger welling up in her eyes. Five years, about two thousand restless nights of self-conflict all wasted on him. She bit her lip as she felt her energy rise to an uncontrollable level.
*No, you can't break down in front of this bastard,* she thought furiously to herself.
Her saiyan pride had been roughly pushed aside to reveal her long locked secret. It pained her more deeply than words could ever describe for her to realize that he didn't feel the same way. Sharp pangs of hurt pierced through her heart as her fierce eyes stared right at his cold, emotionless ones. She took a deep breath and tried hard to maintain her sense of self, it was a real struggle for her not to lose it all and blast his head off.
Hiding a glare, she said, "Well, I hope you have a nice time with Marron or what's her ass that you might play with after you're done with Marron. I'll get out of your way now, I guess it's for the best that you enjoy your little sluts while you're still old enough. Have a nice life Trunks Briefs."
Her efforts to try to be calm were once again shattered like her heart had been when Trunks replied just as coolly, "I sure will Pan. You can count on it."
He smirked slightly.
Something snapped inside of Pan, like stepping on a dry twig. She let her anger wash over her and with it her ki level, which rose higher and higher and higher. She let loose all of her pain from inside her and released it. A golden aura flickered slightly and then blazed like a raging fire. Sparks of electricity began flowing around the barrier as her jet black hair turned golden and her chocolate brown eyes morphed into a striking jade green. Trunks, more frightened than amazed backed away slowly.
Without another word, she took off into the morning air and was gone soon before he could blink. He was shocked, to put it plainly. Although Trunks knew she was powerful (being Goku's granddaughter and Gohan's daughter of course) but she was just a QUARTER saiya-jin. And she was a girl. No girl could ever turn Super Saiya-jin, that was unheard of. But there was no denying the fact; her energy level was incredibly powerful, even moreso than his own. Anyone within a ten mile radius could have picked it up easily.
Goten and Bra came rushing out from Bulma's house. The surprised look on both their faces told Trunks that they had felt it too.
"Who's was that? Your dad's ki or my brother's?" Goten asked Trunks breathlessly while looking around.
Trunks shook his head no, still dazed.
"Well, who else could it have been? No one except for Dad or Gohan has that kind of ki!" Bra exclaimed. "Was that you...?"
Trunks shook his head again and said softly, "It...it...was....Pan..."
Bra and Goten looked at Trunks incredulously.
"PAN?!?!?"
************************************************************
Meanwhile, Vegeta was out near Mt. Paozu training. He hadn't had a good spar with anyone since "Kakarot" had left after his occasional visits to Earth. Growling, he punched a large oak tree and cracked it in half. Before he could further annihilate the poor tree, he caught wind of a very, VERY powerful ki approaching at an amazing speed. As soon as he had felt it, it was gone. He took off after it, curious.
*Strange, I haven't felt an energy this immense since my last battle with Kakarot,* the saiyan prince thought to himself. *Hmph, maybe there still is a worthy opponent left on this pathetic, weak planet. But who?*
He too, powered up and chased after the possessor of the energy. He had been waiting far too long for a good spar and wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.
************************************************************
Pan raced through the sky, letting the adrenaline work its way throughout her body. She had done it. She based her whole, entire life to show, no, to PROVE to everybody that she was indeed as good as Goten or her father Gohan or even...Trunks. She gritted her teeth at the thought of her "friend." Even if she was a tomboyish sort of girl, she still was who she was and needless to say, she was DAMN proud of it.
*It's not like sparring is going to change my gender anytime soon,* she thought bitterly.
She knew she had achieved Super Saiya-jin Two, and even through her tears and broken heart, she was proud of herself. She couldn't wait to head home and show her Dad.
*He would be so proud of me!* she thought somewhat excitedly.
Then she slowed down considerably. She couldn't go home and face that BAKA, Trunks. No, her pride wouldn't let her do that again. She was not, she promised herself, she was NOT going to brawling back and lose her face again. Or rather what was left of it. Especially after what he had said to her...
Despite herself, tears came flowing down again and she couldn't stop herself from reliving in her mind the hurtful things he had said to her.
{FLASHBACK}
"I...I...I...love...you TRUNKS!" she finally sputtered out. She quivered and dared to look up at Trunks to see his reaction. She lifted her head slightly to see that Trunks had a mixture of shock and horror mixed on his face. Not exactly what she was expecting.
"NANI?!? Wha..?? Pan...!" His eyes grew round. "I never, ever thought of you that way. I thought we were like brothers, you know..."
Pan gave him a defiant glance. Her pride had taken over her again and she willingly succumbed to its control.
"DO I LOOK LIKE A BOY TO YOU? JUST BECAUSE I LIKE TO FIGHT AND THE FACT THAT I CAN'T STAND SHOPPING MALLS AUTOMATICALLY MAKES ME GROW A DICK?" she retorted, gravely insulted by his words.
She desperately wanted to slap Trunks in the face but held back and restrained herself.
"I...am NOT your brother, you idiot!" she yelled.
Trunks leaned casually against the wall outside his house, arms and legs crossed. He could be stubborn too.
"PAN!" he said, exasperated. "Don't take things the wrong way. You KNOW what I mean! Besides, you know I'm dating Marron because she asked me out! Besides, the idea of you and me is just too weird! It could never happen. Aside from the obvious fact that I am way older than you by ten years...For Kami's sake, I babysat you! It's not right. You're only seventeen and I'm twenty-seven! We couldn't ever date and you're way too little to know what love is like anyway."
{END FLASHBACK}
The tears stung her eyes. How she loathed the words.
*Too little...I'm too little for everything. It's not fair at all! Why can't anyone accept that fact that I'm not seven years old anymore? I hate it!*
She furrowed her brow and sighed with a resigned tone in her throat.
*Dignity* she told herself. *At the very, very least, keep your DIGNITY Pan!!*
Feeling a bit calmer, she flew off again, not paying attention to where she was going.
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Vegeta had to turn Super Saiyan just to keep up with the powerful ki. It was Pan's of course, but he didn't know it. It seemed to take forever to keep up, but after awhile of chasing, he spotted a flash of gold flying at top speed about two miles ahead of him. In a spurt of adrenaline, he cut in front of the stranger.
"Who are you?" he asked roughly and narrowed his eyes.
*Something is familiar about this saiyan,* he thought.
Then taking a double take, he realized to his (horror? surprise? Pan couldn't tell.) that the saiyan wasn't a male, it was a SHE.
"It's me, Vegeta-san," Pan whispered softly. "It's me, Pan..."
"BRAT?!?!? Gohan's daughter?" he said dubiously.
*Hmm, so it is. Heh, maybe she does have some real genuine saiyan blood in her after all.* Vegeta thought.
"Hmmph, I thought I had a REAL challenge," he said.
He observed Pan with scrutiny. She was still in SSJ2, still trembling from her anger and the soreness of the impact of the strain on her muscles. His hard face softened just the tiniest bit as he noticed her solemn, determined face to her flaming orange bandanna. She wore it proudly and never seemed to care what everyone else thought of it. As a matter of fact, she never seemed to let what everybody else thought affect her.
*Mmm...more like a real saiyan than her own father,* he thought. *What a pity...*
But of course, Vegeta wasn't going to waste his precious training time trying to catch up with Pan without getting what he wanted.
"Brat? How would you like to spar with me? I haven't gotten a good, decent spar in years," he said. "I think you may be worthy enough."
Pan's eyes widened. She always wanted a good spar ever since Goku left and ever since Goten had acquired an interest in girls.
"I would be greatly honored, Vegeta-san," she replied, lowering into a fighting stance.
Vegeta did the same as he told her sternly, "Good. Let's start now. Show me what you got."
************************************************************
"What do you mean? I don't believe you, Trunks!" Bra shouted.
Even though Trunks was her older brother, the thought of her best friend being heartbroken surged through her mind like wildfire. Countless nights Pan had helped her get over boyfriend after boyfriend after boyfriend. It shamed her that she couldn't return the favor when Pan needed it the most. Unable to control her temper, she gave Trunks a hard slap on his cheek.
"How DARE YOU break her heart like that? Don't you have any feelings?" she yelled.
Bra stormed away angrily, leaving a frustrated Trunks alone to deal with an angered Goten. Goten glared at his best friend, but to Trunks' surprise, he didn't yell at him. He turned away and started following the sobbing Bra into the house. Putting his hands on her shaking shoulders, he tried to comfort her. Bra turned around with tears streaming down her face, ruining her heavily applied makeup.
"Oh Goten! I feel so ashamed. All this time Pan and I have been friends and I never even cared at all about her love life! I'm such an idiot, I didn't even notice. She was always there for me when one of my old boyfriends dumped me and I took it all for granted! I'm so selfish, all I cared about was me. It didn't even occur to me that Pan has feelings like any other normal girl too. It's all my fault! I should have noticed, maybe she wouldn't have hurt so much!"
She buried herself in Goten's arms. Smudging his shirt with mascara, she pulled back apologetically.
"Sorry about that," she whimpered. He smiled weakly.
"Don't put all that blame on you Bra, it's not all your fault. I'm at least half responsible for some of that blame too. I should've noticed, I'm her uncle! It hurts to think about it, I mean, I know how it feels to be rejected, to love someone you can't," Goten said softly. *Shit!* he thought. *Wasn't that a little obvious?*
*What did he say? Wait. He's not talking about me though. Forget it Bra!* Bra scolded herself, but didn't squirm out of the embrace.
He continued holding her as he shed a single tear. He turned around again, but Trunks was gone.
"Shh...it's okay," he whispered, resting her chin on the top of his head.
He tried to console her, but he himself couldn't say or think of anything that would be of any help. As much as Goten hated to admit it, the whole gang had sort of distanced themselves from Pan. It wasn't a surprise that they hadn't noticed any chemistry between the two. No one had truly understood her besides for Goku, but he was gone now. Goten's heart ached with Bra's as they both stood there, thinking that their Pan was off somewhere, suffering the pain alone.
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Pan skillfully launched a series of punches and kicks, most of which were blocked by Vegeta, but not without some effort. She aimed for his neck and his knees. Vegeta landed a punch on Pan's shoulder, but the punch was avenged with a well-placed kick on the side of his rib cage. Faking a roundhouse kick to the chest, she instead whirled around behind him. Vegeta fell for it and blocked it, but to no avail, as he was hit by a hard punch on his right jaw. Enraged, he too went SSJ2. Soon the two were working up massive amounts of energy. Vegeta was taken aback by the skills and abilities of the strong, stubborn girl in front of him. They were as advanced as his own, and if she was holding back, she was even stronger than he was!
Curious, but careful not to reveal it, he stopped in midair. Pan stopped too, but still held her fighting stance.
"Brat? We can stop now, I've seen enough."
Pan slowly relaxed from her position and took advantage of the moment to catch her breath. Pleased with the fact that she had given Vegeta a good workout, she powered down a bit.
"Where did you lean those moves? You've improved a lot since I last saw you train with that idiot uncle of yours, Goten!" he asked gruffly. *What has made her so powerful in such a short amount of time?* he wondered greatly.
A troubled look clouded over Pan's eyes as she turned her face away. Goten had stopped their regular training sessions to go out with Paris and various other girls years ago. Sparring sessions were broken last minute and she was often stood up. He forgot about Pan, and for some strange reason it never came up again. Vegeta noticed this look on her face and encouraged her to go on.
Pan spoke hesitantly. "Vegeta-san, it really is a long story and I don't want to take up too much of your precious training time..."
"Yes, go on. Spit it out and get it over with," Vegeta persisted rather roughly.
He motioned for her to fly down and then Pan began to explain the root of her power, letting go of every pent-up bottled emotion that had built up inside of her for so long.
"After my grandfather Goku went back, Goten trained with me everyday till I was fourteen years old," Pan explained. "But after awhile, we stopped training and sparring together because he started dating other girls more often and soon our sessions were few and far between. Bra and Marron don't fight that much, they're way too busy shopping and dating anyway. Mom and Dad are really busy at work, I don't see them too often, much less spar with them. I felt so alone because I didn't fit in, and there was no one to spar with."
Vegeta reacted to this small piece of information by flinching a bit with eyes that understood, but Pan didn't notice. She continued with a stronger voice.
"I really did feel friendless for awhile, so I started to train myself. I'd often sneak away at times when I was sure no one would notice me and I'd just fly away and just train myself really hard. I've been doing this for almost four years now. I didn't think anybody would think it suspicious and I was right, they never did. Actually, I don't think they ever really cared. I trained painfully and vigorously so I could feel better about myself. It was one of those rare times that I didn't feel so lonely and it was a time that I didn't feel like utter crap and it became a habit after while. I couldn't stop myself from wanting to be special. Maybe I'm not as pretty as Bra or Marron, or as smart as my father, so I at least tried to improve the part that I was proud of to show everybody that even a girl like me could fight as well as any boy and if I was lucky, maybe even better."
Pan had never admitted this to anybody, but she figured Vegeta would keep it a secret, for she thought he might feel that same way. Now that Trunks was officially out of her life as a friend, she couldn't count on anybody anymore.
Vegeta raised his eyebrows. *This girl of Gohan's has got more saiyan potential than I've ever seen, even in my own son,* he thought to himself.
"I understand, Pan," he said quietly.
Pan looked up, a bit surprised. No one had ever truly understood her in a long, long time. It was almost too good to be true. She smiled a small grin, but it was genuine, something she hadn't feel her face show for far too long.
"Thanks for hearing me out Vegeta-san, I feel much better," she told him gratefully. *At last...someone who understands,* she thought, relieved a bit.
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Later that afternoon, people began to gather at Bulma's house for a celebration lunch. Bulma had invited Pan, Goten, and Marron's family along with her own family. Everyone was there, it was supposed to be a wonderful feast to celebrate Pan's seventeenth birthday. Actually, in other words, everyone was there except for Vegeta and Pan. However, instead of the usual chaos and hearty gossip, the whole room was quiet.
"Where is that damn Vegeta?!? I'll pulverize him," Bulma threatened furiously. She had worked too hard for this...
*If and WHEN he comes back, he is SO not getting off the hook!* she thought.
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Back near Mt. Paozu, Pan was still sparring with Vegeta. When she turned her head towards the hillside, she noticed the sun directly shining down on them. It was noon.
"Oh, Dende, I totally forgot! There's a big picnic lunch this afternoon..." Pan groaned. The last place she wanted to be was wherever Trunks was. Trunks, as a matter of fact, was the last thing she wanted to see. "I really don't wanna go, Vegeta...do you think you could make up an excuse for me while I stay out here and train some more?"
Vegeta grunted in his reply. He hated group get-togethers, but simply for the sake of Bulma and Bra, who knowingly had the poor saiyan prince wrapped around their fingers, he attended them anyway. Vegeta wiped his sweat with his arm and straightened up. Turning to leave, he told Pan, "Don't worry Pan, I'll take care of it." He left.
Pan wondered greatly as she stopped her assault on the air around her. Since when did Vegeta stop calling her Brat?
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As Vegeta flew back towards the Capsule Corp, he began to think to himself.
*Can't blame Pan for wanting to get away from everyone around here. Stupid humans, stupid fools, and stupid emotions and most of all, the way humans make the concept of 'love' seem so small and stupid. Stupid...stupid...stupid...Hmph, now that I think about it, I have noticed Pan has stopped coming over for awhile now. It's been ages since her last sleepover with Bra.*
Smirking to himself in his usual trademark, but somewhat softer and more sympathetic he said gently as he could, "Smart girl, that Pan, that granddaughter of Kakarot. Smart girl." He could probably never admit that he was slightly soft to Pan to anyone but himself however, so he snapped back to his usual trademark frown when he approached his home. Hiding his emotions was something he was good at, something that he was able to do since he was a young boy. However, he could see through everyone else's mask, but Pan's mask had slipped gingerly past him. Still deep in thought, he crashed through the door.
"Stupid human inventions," he grumbled, brushing himself off.
Everyone stared at him while he entered the room, seeming indifferent and oblivious to the fact that everyone's eyes were glued to him.
"Vegeta, just WHERE have YOU been?" Bulma demanded sharply. "Why don't you ever use doors properly? And where's Pan?"
"I was training. Pan told me to inform you that she wasn't feeling very well and that she won't be attending," he replied simply. Then he added, "GODDAMN THE DOORS!"
Bulma started to say something but a look in Vegeta's eyes told her not to question the situation further.
"But she was perfectly FINE this morning," Marron said. "How?"
Wordlessly, Goten and Bra glanced sideways at Trunks discreetly in unison. Only Vegeta noticed this however, as everyone else picked up their forks.
"Come to think of it actually, I haven't seen Pan in awhile..." Marron noted. "What's up with that? I thought she spent half her life here!"
"Probably training her ass off," Krillin replied, rolling his eyes humorously. "That girl thinks sparring is her life. She's pretty good though, I must admit."
Turning to Goten, 18 said, "You and your dad trained her well, she may become as strong as you one day."
Goten said nothing.
Vegeta snorted loudly at this. Following this, the rest of the meal was as quiet as a graveyard on Sunday.
*Fools, all of them are damned fools,* he thought. *Goten? Training Pan? He wouldn't last twenty seconds just sparring with her now. Damn ignorant humans.*
Bulma turned to Goten, who for once wasn't stuffing his face with food. He was, ladies and gentleman, picking and pushing it around.
(Author's Note: I know, I know what you're thinking. Goten wouldn't give up food for anything! Yeah, but so what? This is my story so PBBBT!)
"Goten, why aren't you eating? You haven't touched a thing on your plate!" She rushed over like the over-protective mother-clucking hen she was and felt his forehead.
Now normally, Goten would've rolled his eyes good-naturedly but he sat silent as a stone. Noticing this, Bulma slammed her hands on the table in a frustrated manner and abruptly stood up.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked angrily. "Listen up! I spent way too much time and energy into making this party stocked with food and Pan's not even here and this is HER party. The mood is terrible, and no one, NOT EVEN GOTEN, is touching their food. Is there something going on that I don't know about?"
Silence. No one dare speak a word. It was one of those moments that you could her a small, single staple drop from twenty meters up and still here it crystal clearly.
She swiveled so she faced the emotionless Vegeta.
"Vegeta, I feel that you're hiding something. What's the REAL reason Pan can't come, HMMM?? Saiya-jins just don't get sick and Pan never lets a stupid stomach ache let her down! What is it here that I don't know about? Someone better tell me NOW! Or else I guess I'll have to force out of you!"
Bra spoke up and cocked her head towards Trunks.
"If you really want to know, you might want to start by asking TRUNKS here," she said icily. She left the table and excused herself.
Every head swiveled in Trunks' direction.
Embarrassed as hell, Trunks yelled indignantly, "I didn't do anything! Stop blaming all this crap on me!"
Goten sprang up from his chair and was about to leave after Bra but he were halted by a furious Bulma. Needless to say, he stopped dead in his tracks. An angry Bulma on the loose is something everyone there wanted to avoid. At all costs.
"What did Trunks to do Pan?" she asked quietly.
"Oh, nothing much, just broke my poor niece's feelings, that's all," Goten replied sarcastically, shooting a dirty glance at Trunks. Sure, Trunks was his best friend and everything, but Pan was his niece. He couldn't believe it. He knew about Trunks' infamous reputation concerning girls and he didn't want his niece to become a victim of it like so many others before her had.
"I didn't mean to, I didn't do it on purpose," Trunks retorted. "And that's coming from an uncle who ditched his niece, who he CLAIMS to love so much, just to go out with other girls, like PARIS!" He narrowed his eyes and returned Goten's glare.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Goten seethed.
"You think I'm the only one who hurt Pan? Well, have you forgotten about all those times you broke your sparring dates just to go around chasing girls with that cell phone of yours? You loved your cell phone more than your own niece!" Trunks said, hands crossed on his chest.
Goten said nothing, but his fists were clenched. His ki raised slightly.
"That's right Goten! Pan told me herself, about how you always came home talking about some girls you met or calling some girl you met and how you always forgot that you stood her up! She called me up CRYING! I hadn't seen Pan cry since then! And who made her cry? Oh yeah, I remember. It was her own uncle!" Trunks pressed on.
"SHUT UP YOU BAKA!" Goten said furiously. His ki was peaked to reach SSJ just then, but Bulma intervened by placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him back.
The two boys had lowered themselves subconsciously into a fighting position, totally unaware of the fact that Krillin, 18 and Marron were staring at them, feeling uncomfortable with the tension that was building up rapidly.
Vegeta looked at Goten to Trunks, and then Trunks to Goten, who were still bickering.
"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" he hollered.
x
(Author's Note: Good old Vegeta...heeheehee, you gotta love him!)
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Pan punched the air mercilessly. She had been training for five hours straight and was still going. It was getting just a little bit late, but she wasn't going to stop. Bead of sweat fell like heavy raindrops as she continued to push herself.
*That's it Pan, release all that pressure and blame the whole world,* she thought, throwing a series of punches in the air. She liked to pretend she was actually sparring with someone and imagined someone there. It was easier to vent her anger out that way. This time, she pictured Trunks, so she hit the air at least ten times harder.
She was still in SSJ2 mode, and was still furious at what Trunks had done to her. Not so sad anymore though, but still angry and highly distressed. The rejection was so painful, it felt like part of her soul had died and Pan knew this. It was like taking the sting of an injection needle, but feeling the numbness afterwards. The only way she thought she could get temporarily forget the numbness was to train, train, train.
She looked at the sky. The sun was almost gone, only a small dot on the horizon. It was probably about seven or eight o'clock.
*The dinner must have been over by now,* she figured. *Besides, maybe I can ask Vegeta if I could use the gravity room tonight. Best of all though, I won't have to see Trunks. He's probably making out with Marron at the movies or something.*
Her last thought sent small shivers of a mix of feelings. Jealousy, for one. Then sadness, then anger, then she sighed and shrugged. She stopped her training and flew over to Bulma's, strategically hiding her ki to avoid confrontation.
************************************************************
Vegeta sneered at everyone. It was getting quite late, but everyone was now sitting in the living room at their house. Bra had returned, and was sitting between Marron, who sat next to her parents, and Goten. Bulma was next to Vegeta. Trunks had distanced himself from all of them by leaning against a wall, arms crossed, with a frown almost identical to his father's. Everyone was waiting for Vegeta to say something.
"If all of you want to know where Pan's been keeping herself so badly, then why don't you stop talking about it and just ask her?" he growled.
Just then, as if right on cue, Pan herself walked in.
"Hey Vegeta-san, can I use the gravity roo..." she cut herself off. Everyone's eyes were staring at her. *Shit, everybody's till here!* She silently cursed herself for not being more aware of everyone's ki.
She backed away slowly as everyone noticed that she didn't have her raven tresses or her coffee brown eyes. Yes, she hadn't dropped out of SSJ2 yet.
Bulma's eyes were widened so much that her eyes practically bulged out. Trunks was unmoved by this. Goten and Bra had identical dumbstruck faces. Krillin and 18 were blinking in disbelief and amazement, as Marron said, "Oh my gosh...dear Dende!!"
"She's reached SSJ2, that's right!" Vegeta scowled. "Maybe if you'd pay some attention you would have known a lot earlier."
Pan was overwhelmed by all this as her knees suddenly felt weak. The eyes that stared her were boring holes in her. She couldn't bear to look at Trunks so she avoided his glance by turning her back to him.
Bra and Marron got up and scurried over to Pan, asking, "Pan, honey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm okay!" she lied. Powering down dramatically she fibbed. "I, uh, just wanted to know if I could borrow some headache pills or something, um, cause I have a headache but I see you're all busy and stuff so, um, I'll just, like, leave now." Putting on a fake, practiced grin she turned towards the door to leave. She couldn't even look at Trunks for fear she might break down in tears right then and there.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Goten blocked the door. "Tell us what's really going on with you, where have you been? We're all worried sick about you!"
*Right, they're worried sick. They worry about me just like they worry about dog shit on their carpet.* Pan thought bitterly. *Fuck, I don't have to stand around listening to this crap.*
"If you'd really care about me, you'll LET...ME...GO!!!" Pan let her temper rise and with it her ki. She had held back everything for almost four years. She wanted to let it out, give them a taste of what had been killing her. *That'll show them!* she thought.
"I'm not a little baby and I'm tired of being treated like SHIT, that's what's wrong!" Pan turned coldly to face everyone in the room.
She yelled, "If any of you care about me like you say you do, then how come you treat me like SHIT? I'm sick, and I'm tired of being bruised and beaten while all of you guys go out there and have your fun and then come back and shove it all in my face! At least you could have TOLD me, maybe I would've dealt with it better, but to just plain forget me? That's caring? Yeah, I'm sure you guys really care for me, that's why none of you have cared about where or more importantly HOW I've been for the past four years? Where do you think I go after-school? What do you think I do when Goten goes out with girls? How do you think I feel when my two so-called best friends Bra and Marron go out shopping and ditch me? How do you think I feel when the only person who really understands me is dead? What would you do? What would you do when you've kept everything bottled up and hidden for FOUR years! What would you do when you find yourself alone at school, alone at home, and alone everywhere you go, because the people you call your friends are somewhere else and don't even give you a phone call? Don't any of you get it? This isn't friendship!"
Trunks choked by these powerful worlds. 18 and Krillin were stupefied. Tears streamed down her face while she said this last thought.
Bra and Marron took a couple steps toward Pan, but a serious look in her eyes told them that they would be fried to the ends of the Earth if they took just ONE more baby step. No one had ever seen Pan like this. Her face was angry but strangely enough it was also entwined with traces of hurt and confusion. Her eyes were like the source of a river of tears.
She shook with resentment to everyone, but she wasn't quite done with her verbal assault payback yet.
"What is friendship? Is friendship all about ditching other friends, then calling the ditched friend up the next day about how fun it was? If any of you are my REAL friends, then I have to honestly say I'd rather have frickin' enemies!"
"Pan!" Bra screamed, putting her hands over her ears. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"Stop what Bra? Do you know how many times I wanted to yell that at you when you call me up and account the details of your dates?" she said coldly. "Did you care what I thought? Obviously not. Now, neither do I."
Bra just gaped at Pan, scared. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined Pan like this, she was always the happy and cheerful one and the one that seemed to find the good in everything. The light in the dark, the soft in the hard. What had gone wrong between their best friendship?
Vegeta was astonished at his daughter's reaction to those words. He didn't notice that Pan had so much power and emotion stored from four years of ignorance over his own children and even her uncle. Even he had underestimated her. Pan was exactly acting like a saiya-jin would. And everyone in that room was moved by her stinging words.
*Even the woman, for once, is at a loss for words,* Vegeta smirked inwardly.
Pan flared in SSJ2 again and shoved Goten out of the way quite roughly. Before she took off however, she had one more thing to say.
"And considering everything," Pan continued. "I've never had a friend among you guys in my whole entire FUCKING life!"
And she took off into the star-dotted night, leaving a crowd of people just staring.
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Two days passed, but there was no sign of Pan anywhere. Despite efforts, no one could find her at all. It seemed that without her, the days seemed to just crawl by. Nothing was fun anymore, it was like committing a sin to have fun without Pan. Marron, Trunks, Goten and Bra had been deeply touched by Pan's words the other day. None of those four said it out loud, but they all silently vowed not to take her cheery personality for granted again if she came back. IF...being the operative word of course.
Bra sobbed uncontrollably, secretly hating herself for the way she had acted. Goten had felt so ashamed that his appetite seemed permanently lost. Marrot hurted inside too, because she and Pan were so close and she often even forgot Pan even existed. No one hurted as much as Trunks however. Pan was one of his best friends, even though he didn't feel about her in a romantic, more-than-friends sort of way.
Everyone, more or less, was deeply affected by all this. Gohan and Videl were desperate and devastated, to say the least. They, along with Chi Chi, hadn't been filled in on the events that happened that previous evening. Bulma, who was always like a second mother to Pan, called Krillin's family, the Son family, and her own family to a meeting. Now they were all sitting in a circle at her house, saddened and depressed by Pan's sudden disappearance.
"Obviously, she doesn't want to be found. She probably is hiding her ki or using an energy shield," Bulma said, as she knitted her eyebrows in frustration.
Videl was wringing her hands. "What's happening to my poor baby? She's out there all alone, why is she doing this to us? Why won't she come home?" She sobbed on Gohan's shoulder, who was trying hard himself not to break down.
Chi Chi was just as hysterical. "She's missing school! She's going to fall behind in her class! She's just like her grandfather, leaving and going away without notice!" She kept on babbling about between sniffs and bawls.
"Calm down everybody, this isn't helping!" Krillin said, trying to lighten the moment.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MISTER? MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS OUT THERE, WHO KNOWS WHAT THE HELL SHE'S DOING? AND WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?" Chi Chi pounced on Krillin and started to throw a hissy fit.
"Eh...heh...heh..." Krillin stuttered as he backed away from her menacing glare.
The rest of the afternoon was silent.
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to be continued...
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed part one! It's my first fanfic *ever* and I really really want to know what you think of my writing. Pardon if there are any spelling errors! Please review this fic and tell me so I can make it better and I'll try and update as often as I can.