Path Not Taken

Chapter 3

By

Devon Masterson

AN: Pretend GT didn't happen

"How come you didn't wait for me?" Pan asked as she pouted by the lake. "I wanted to teach you how to fly."

"You needed to get your strength up," Reiko answered as she sat beside the young girl. "Now we can play together."

"Yeah," she replied as she saw the benefits of the situation. "Trunks says you can fly fast too. You learn fast."

"It was kind of like flying in outer space except I don't have wings," Reiko commented.

"Wow," Pan sighed in amazement.

"Wings?" Trunks asked frowning. He had never seen a person with wings before. It was odd to think of feathers coming out of someone's back and flapping. "Wings are for birds." He chuckled.

"I guess that is weird," Pan said disappointedly. "You have to have a ship to fly in space."

It was Reiko's turn to frown. "That's how I got around when going from planet to planet."

"That's impossible," Trunks remarked smugly. He may not be a scientist like his mother but he had a firmer than normal understanding of it. Most beings could not survive the lack of pressure in outer space. In fact there were only a few beings that he ever knew of that could survive and that was Freeza and his family. That was hearsay, however, he never personally saw Freeza nor encountered his family so he could not be totally sure about that fact.

"I'll show you," Reiko said determined as she stood. Despite the determined look she wore, doubt was in the back of her mind. All of the time she had called upon her heavenly wings she was Sailor Moon and she could not do that in this world. But she still had some of her powers; maybe teleportation was one of them. She was quite powerful when she left and was able to teleport without the scouts. "We'll go to the moon."

"The moon is gone remember, Piccolo blew it up," Pan pointed out as Trunks snickered.

Reiko sighed. She had forgotten what Videl told her about it. There was something that was not right about that. She was in tune to the moon and she did not feel the slightest bit off in fact she felt more alive tonight than ever. If she had been home, she would assume that it was a full moon, but there was nothing in the night sky. "What if they're wrong…" she thought as she concentrated with all her will on the familiar foreign place.

"What are you doing?" Pan asked.

"Thinking about home," she answered as a soft light surrounded her.

Trunks observed quietly to see what she was about to do. He could feel her energy level rising quickly as though she was about to attack someone. He would be on guard in case he missed something that she sensed. He looked toward Pan and her warrior instinct kicked in as well as she looked around prepared for a possible ambush. The both of them quickly turned towards Reiko when they saw something bright form in the center of her chest. It was the crystal from before. A beam of light shot from it and shined on a fixed point in space. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Reiko said nothing but took their hands and pulled them upward with her as she followed the beam of light.

"Where are we going?" Pan asked curiously, her sense of adventure being piqued with each foot they ascended.

"Mare Serenitis," she answered.

"Mare Serenitis?" Trunks asked then suddenly looked towards where the beam seemed to sitting in space. He started to pull his arm away. "We're going too high."

"You'll be safe with me," she replied just before surrounding them in a bubble of energy. Once they were inside, she let their hands go. "Here we go." Trunks and Pan stumbled slightly as they bubble made a sudden burst of speed towards the end of the light.

"Wow," Pan said as she watched the stars whiz by. They had to be traveling the speed of light. "Look Trunks."

Trunks looked to where she pointed and for the first time with his own eyes saw the planet of his birth. It was more beautiful than anything satellite pictures ever produced. "Earth…"

"It's beautiful isn't?" Reiko asked as they slowed down. She remembered the first times she saw Earth from a distance. She imagined she looked something like he did right at the moment. She touched his shoulder and smiled.

"We're here," Pan announced causing them both to turn around. "There's nothing here."

"It's hidden," she replied as she felt her birthright grow warm. She threw her head back as a wave of confusing images washed over her. This was the second time this had happened to her in the past couple of days. Her body felt heavy as she tried to sort the images and she could feel herself falling.

"Reiko!" Trunks exclaimed as he caught her before she fell. He held her close to him when he heard Pan gasp then turned around. His own jaw slackened in shock as he saw a large whitish mass melt into view. "The moon." He had never actually seen it before, but his blood would know it anywhere. The life of his father's race was ruled by the cycle, just like Reiko's apparently was.

"We have to go back," She said softly. "I'm not ready yet."

Trunks nodded in agreement. It was quite obvious from her reaction that she was in no condition to continue on further.

"Bye, Moon," Pan commented as they moved further and further away from the satellite never taking her eyes off of it. There was something about it that was so transfixing. It was a good thing that her tail had been removed when she was born. Her father told her what happened to sayians who looked at the moon and she did not want to hurt anybody. Also she knew it must be a rare sight to see a full moon, none them had ever seen it before except in pictures, she and Trunks were the first. "Me and Trunks-kun," she thought as she turned around and saw Reiko in his arms as they descended. She frowned. She did not like how close he was to her friend or how close Reiko was to him. She knelt beside and Reiko and work her way in between them. "It's okay, Reiko. You just need a nap."

Reiko smiled at Pan's sweetness then yawned. "I could use a nap."

©2002 Devon Masterson

I don't own anything in here except the plot;p I'm just having fun here folks.