I think my update alerts are helping a bit in the review department. And just because I tell you I've updated, doesn't mean you get to skip out on reviewing! Emailing me or leaving a review is the only way I even know that y'all are reading my fic! It's very encouraging to know that people actually take time out of their lives to read my mindless DBZ-centered ramblings.

     So, yeah. I'm hyper now, mostly because I got the MOULIN ROUGE SOUNDTRACK TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah baby!! Ewan McGregor…*drools*  ^__~ Which I am listening to as I write…

      I'm fighting it y'all, but it's so hard not to give in…Once I'm done I want to rewrite the fic in first person, as I can put a lot more character development into it. I really want to just launch into first person, but for the sake of continuity, I guess I'll wait. Lemme know if anyone would possibly be interested in  the change of POV, eventually. It would also give me a chance to revamp the bits in this story that royally suck…

      Non-disclaimer: I am not disclaiming this fic, because it is mine, a product of my creativity, and whether or not I created all of the characters, all were based upon how I viewed the character. And seeing as I do have to figure out how they react in a situation that I have never seen them in, it is purely my imagination which weaves these character's individual personalities. It's my fic, and this is my last disclaimer.

(~*~)

       "Well that went well," Goten stated sardonically, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the blood flow. One would think there would be some wort of hinge in there now, if you considered for a moment how many times his best friend had broken his nose. Not to say he had never broken Trunks' nose. The guy just fought so dirty, not groin shots or anything, but he had his father's win-or-bust, survivor kind of style. Which translated to Trunks' winning a lot of matches, seeing as Goten was always the good guy. Funny how their sparring matches reflected those of the older generation. (AN: i.e. Goku Vegeta sparring, except Trunks won more, yeah.)

       Bra stood at the sink, rinsing out a bloodied cloth in steamy water before handing it back to her mate with a small smile. "I look forward to repeating that," she informed him, smiling coyly, blue eyes reflecting inner heat. He felt like taking her back somewhere private, and repeating it a few hundred times more.

       "Repeating what? My getting my nose bloodied by your Otousan?" He tried to feign innocence, but still managed to look like he would rather be someplace more…cozy, leaving him with a rather strange look on his face.

(NO!!!! My last Thin Mint!!!!! Oh the humanity!!!! *sobs brokenly…*)

       She rolled her eyes, punching him lightly in the chest.

       "Oh, now you're going to beat me up too? Well, better you than Vegeta I suppose. Go ahead, lay it on baby," he spread his arms wide, eyes closed. He grunted as Bra tackled him full force, lips pressed against his and arms almost in a chokehold around his neck. His arms encircled her waist in return as his back thudded into contact with cool linoleum.

       "Oh, Kami! Get a room would you? It's your freakin' house!" Goten opened his eyes and pulled his face away from that of his blue-eyed goddess, to glare at Trunks. He was vaguely aware of her satisfaction in embarassing her older sibling.

       "B-chan, B-chan, B-chan…" he chided. "I'm not embarrassed. A little nauseous, surprised, close to vomiting, yes, but not embarassed. You forget that I spent the first, sorry, only fifteen years of my life with both of our parents. I quickly grew accustomed to seeing them either fighting, or making out like there was no tomorrow and trying to get to their room as fast as possible without actually going through walls." She gave him a shocked, befuddled glance, sitting up to take a seat on Goten's stomach.

       "How'd you know that I thought you were embarassed?" She questioned.

       "There is a bond even between siblings, much like the one between Tousan and the two of us. And, I know as much about telepathy as you. For a bunch of blood thirsty warriors who refused to display emotion, the Saiyajin sure had a lot of family ties." She nodded agreement, expression thoughtful.

       "It's good you, uh, interrupted us, since I wanna spend some time with you anyways before you go. Wanna spar?" She questioned hopefully, curious as to whether or not he had learned anything really nifty in the other world. Goten watched with some amusement as her tail jerked back and forth in excitement. He reached out tentatively and ever so gently stroked the furry appendage from base to tip. She arched her back, eyes closing immediately, and growled softly, almost a purr. Glancing at his oldest friend, Goten gave him a puzzled look.

       "What'd I do?" He inquired. Trunks merely stared at him in shock, before finally finding his voice.

       "You mean you just spent like three hours with her, and you never once touched her tail?!" He took a hold of his own tail, "I'm gonna go back in the other room now, just, be careful. It doesn't take much." Finding himself to be even more confused than before, Goten looked back at Bra, who was only now recovering. She had opened her eyes, and was breathing calmly, if a little raggedly.

       He laid his hand on her hip, slowly moving it towards her lower back to gently massage the base of her tail. She inhaled sharply, reluctantly removed his hand from her tail, kissed him once, and stood up.

       "I really need to spend time with my brother, love. Besides, I don't really think you want to do that on the kitchen floor. I certainly don't. We can explore later." He stared after her retreating form for a moment without really seeing her. He put two and two together, as Trunks cryptic message unraveled in his mind. He had thought touching her tail had simply been like a good back massage, after all, it was a part of her spine. But it had never occurred to him that it made her feel like… that. No wonder she had reacted so…nicely.

(~*~)

       "So how 'bout that spar, Niichan? I bet I can kick your sorry ass from here to tomorrow in like, two minutes," she smirked at him, using her favorite line(which almost always worked on their father) to try and goad a spar out of him. He smirked coldy at her in return and lead the way outside.

       "Fifteen years ago you would have been in your room playing with Barbies or makeup. Tousan and Kaasan even had one of their fights about whether he could train you or not. Kaasan won, but her victory was, shall we say, short-lived." She nodded grimly, sliding easily into a fighting stance.

(AN:Hmmm… I don't know if I'm gonna be that great with fighting scenes, but I do want them to get in some good dialogue…I guess I'll give it a whack! Sorry if the sparring really sucks, just focus on the speech.)

       He copied her stance, and then stood up straight again, only now really analyzing her choice in clothing, which he assumed to be her training outfit. She had on a dark blue sports bra and and matching pants, leaving her well-toned midriff open. Pristine white boots and leather gloves made him chuckle.

       "What?" She questioned, examining herself self-consciously.

       "'Tousan chose your gear didn't he." Trunks snorted when she shook her head.

       "No, but I like the color scheme," she flashed a wicked smile his way. "And if you happen to be laughing at my gloves, quit. Have you ever felt Touchan's hands compared to Goku-san's? They're soft as anything, as are mine. You should probably consider wearing gloves, too." She shifted back into a near crouch, and he followed suit.

       "If you aren't a Daddy's girl, I don't know what is."

       "Mama's boy," Bra spat waspishly, shooting towards her brother. When she was near he put up his guard against her oncoming fist, only to feel a sharp elbow grind into his spine. He turned around swiftly, only to be caught in the back again, this time by a hard roundhouse. The blow sent him flying forward, and his course was swiftly redirected when Bra put a knee into his gut. She pulled back to wait while he nearly coughed up a lung, her boot tapping impatiently.

       "Is that as fast as you move? You're a Super Saiyajin, show me," she demanded.

       "I don't think—"

       "We'll go further from the house. And I have a watch, so we won't lose track of time." He looked her over again, somewhat curious as to the location of her watch. He voiced his query as they flew towards the barren rocky desert, pockmarked with craters from the many previous matches.

       "It's right here," she explained, pointing a gloved finger to her right eye. "It's kind of like a contact lense, only thinner. You simply squeeze your eye shut, and you can see the time on a digital display, any color you want."

       "I suppose you made it too?" He asked, sarcasm slightly tinting his words.

       "Actually, yes. I also revamped the whole capsule market, they're all about the size of an aspirin now, and they store more."

       "I'm impressed," he admitted. "It seems like you're doing a great job carrying on both family businesses." She nodded reluctantly.

       "It would be a whole lot easier if you were here to take your share of the load." She grumbled under her breath.

       "Well I suppose that can't really be helped, can it?" He replied, a sad tinge darkening his blue eyes. They landed on the hard-packed soil. "You sure you wanna fight like this?" He had to be sure that he wouldn't hurt her, or there would be hell to pay. (AN: Eek! My first power-up on it's way! ^_^;;)

       She widened her stance and something in the distance rumbled threateningly. Pebbles resting on the ground began to quiver, making a familiar clicking, stirring sound. He narrowed his eyes to protect them from the now swirling dust particles, noting how quickly her ki was rising. Incredibly quickly.

       Bra's bright blue eyes shifted to a gleaming turqoise, and her short hair stirred upwards, forming short golden spikes. Her tail, wrapped protectively about her slim waist, changed to match the hair on her head.

       The quaking beneath his feet slowed, eventually stopping altogether, aside from a barely perceptible vibrating, only to begin again when he powered up to her level. Which was shockingly close to his maximum.

       "Is that as high as you go?" He asked, mentally kicking himself when he worded it like a challenge. She smirked.

       "No, but I wouldn't want to hurt my dear Niichan." She grinned wickedly. He almost shivered. So this was what happened when 'Tousan was left to raise a child on his own.

(~*~)AN: I feel like I'm making Bra sorta schizophrenic. She's all hugging and sweet one minute and the next smirking and grinning evilly and stuff. Is she schizo? Or just a complex character(wouldn't that be nice!)? Lemme know(in a nice way) in your REVIEW. (Hint, hint, wink, wink.)

       Why on Chikyuu do I feel as though I would be happy to just hug him like this forever? Pan questioned herself, horribly confused. She didn't even know this guy! And here she was watching the sun set on the horizon, nestled warmly in his embrace.

       "Him? Who him? Me him?" trunks voice invaded her thoughts, pulling her quickly out of her man-induced stupor.

       "What are you talking about?" She murmured somewhat incoherently, tilting her head up to look at him. Confusion painted his features.

       "I didn't say anything. I was just thinking over whatever you were mumbling about." She looked down, deep in thought.

       "But I didn't say…anything…either." She glanced up at him in near-horror, pulling away quickly.

       "No way!" She cried, voice panic-stricken. "It can't…not so soon! I've barely known you a day, and already we may have…" she cut off, refusing to admit what she knew to be true. She closed her eyes, but found that it was impossible to block out his confusion, his thoughts, anything. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, this was impossible! You only bonded with someone you knew, you loved, that was a match for you in every way. Goten and Bra was one thing, they had known each other their whole lives! But this. This was just insane.

       She allowed some of these thoughts to filter through to him, hoping they would alleviate his confusion without her having to explain.

       She was trapped. Eternally bound to this quiet man, of whom she knew little more than that he was from the future, hated some androids, never knew his father, and had been close to hers. What if he had pent-up anger, and beat her regularly? If he was too attached to his mother to care fully for her? Or perhaps he could never bring himself to love her at all! He had just been nice to her today so he could get her in bed later.

       He touched her cheek softly, tracing her jawline with a finger. She could feel the heat from his body, standing so close to her. Too close. She started to move away when a gentle hand caught her shoulder, holding her with that small touch as easily as an iron shackle. Yes, he must be using her.

       "I wouldn't do that to you, Pan. We'll figure this out, ok? Just calm down." He tipped her chin upwards with forefinger and thumb, and her midnight eyes stared into his blue uncertainly. He gently pulled her into another hug, waiting patiently till she relaxed. She buried her face against his chest, letting his warmth relax her. Oh yeah, this wasn't too bad. It might take a little getting used to but…NO! She still had no idea who this man was, and she intended to find out before…before what? He left?

              Pan pushed away roughly, refusing to let her physical impulses influence her. If this was even going to work (which it wasn't) she needed to know more about him than the fact that he made a nice snuggle-toy. It couldn't work anyhow. How long would it be before he and his mother left? And what would that do to their bond? Would it just fade away? Or break? Or would they stay bonded, though parted by time, timelines, everything, unwilling to go on without the other, and unable to find someone new.

       All her dreams of living happily with her mate, having children and raising them together, all had just died a quick, less than painless death. Tears she was having great difficulty fighting welled in her eyes, threatening to fall with every blink of an eyelid.

       "Pan, you're getting hysterical. You need to calm down, and we can talk about this. I know we can figure it out." He proceeded to sit on the couch, gesturing forcefully for her to seat herself. She obeyed and sat with her legs under her, leaning against the arm of the couch and as far from him as she could manage. Her eyes stared straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge his presence or the lone tear that slipped unbidden down a pale cheek.

       "I'm beginning to think that you don't even want to bother with trying to fix this. I think it would be easier to discuss it if you would quit ignoring me."

       "Fix what?" bulma questioned from the doorway, looking questioningly at the two on the couch. trunks and Pan turned around to face his mother, silently duking it out as neither really wanted to explain their…situation.

       "Now that's just childish!" trunks snapped, turning to face Pan, who was smiling triumphantly.

       "Oh, like you were being mature." She replied.

       "You've got room to talk, I'm not the one getting hysterical about it. You seem to think I know more about you than you know of me. I have all the same questions and worries."

       "Then why didn't you say anything?"

       "I didn't need to, you said it all."

       "Would someone please explain what you're talking about? And I'm sure your silly bickering isn't helping. trunks, I know you better, since that somehow seems to be an issue here, you will tell me what the hell is going on!!"

       "We're bonded," he stated bluntly.

       "You're what?"

       "Bonded! We're bonded for some reason, and we don't know why," looking stunned, bulma sat down heavily in the nearest chair. She glanced at trunks, and then Pan, back to trunks again, and lowered her eyes to the carpet.

       "But how could you…"

       "Well there's the thought process of the day," Pan noted sarcastically, earning her an evil look from trunks.

       "trunks, where's your 'Tousan?" bulma queried softly, brow still furrowed in thought. He reached out to sense the older man's ki, and Pan felt her cheeks getting red in response to his embarrassment.

       "He's um, busy…right now," bulma simply nodded.

       "Good."  Arched eyebrow from the peanut gallery. "And I mean that on more than one level." She smiled evilly at her son's obvious discomfort.

       She crossed the room to sit between her son and gohan's daughter.

       "trunks, we need to flesh out your ideas for the time machine, I think there might be a little more possibility than we thought."

***

     I have a new idea for a fic, woohoo! Hopefully one that I will follow through on. You'll know when it's posted to, because I will plug it shamelessly at every turn… ^_^

      I need like 10 reviews here y'all, cuz I got it out quick, and long. *Pats herself on the back* yes, everyone may kneel before the almighty Beji…well, maybe NOT but I guess it would be ok if you just left me a big fat review instead!!

    Thank you! Love ya much!!!