Release

Chapter 5: Returning Love

"Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."-- Iris Murdoch

~*~

     I walked home; my car was capsulated and tucked in my back pocket. Goten had a date to get to. I hope this girl knows exactly how lucky she is, because if she doesn't, I'll make it painfully obvious. My legs we're moving at a steady pace, and I began to think about my life. One-fourth Saiyan, daughter of a celebrity and a genius, powerful fighter, love sick, hopelessly attached to her uncle. Notice how school and college weren't mentioned once? There are more important things to life. I clasped my necklace unconsciously.

"Tanks Unca Gogo!" The small girl examined the ring in utter fascination. The tiny golden band was donned with a small orange ball with four red stars on the inside.

"So pretty Unca! Pan wuvs you!" and she hugged him hard.

           

     My fingers eventually out grew the tiny ring, so mother had it placed on a gold chain. It was now part of my appearance and I never left without it. I sighed. The decision had been hard, but I had made up my mind to let Goten live his life. I may not be as smart as my father, but I am smart enough to know that people move on, often times leaving things they cherish…behind.

     I was obviously so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't feel the time pass by. The sun was starting to set and I was at the front door of Capsule Corp. A cup of tea and a chat wouldn't hurt. I knocked on the door. Vegeta answered.

     "What the hell do you want, Kakkorot's brat's brat? Our sparring match is not till tomorrow," he sneered.

     "I'm just stopping by Veggie. Is Bra here?" I asked.

     Vegeta grunted, "She left a little while a go. She had a "date" or whatever you humans call the silly mating rituals."

     "Darn. Well, I'm coming in anyway. I'm running a little late and I'm going to call home."

     Vegeta grumbled but let me in. I made my way to the phone on the kitchen counter. After a quick conversation with Mom, I had decided to stay the night to train a little. I hung up the phone then went to the kitchen to fetch my tea. Raspberry tea sounded good. Mandarin orange is also tasty. I finally decided on Mandarin orange. After brewing it, I was stirring the sugar in my tea and letting the delicious aroma lift my mind.

     It had always been his favorite.

A large hand settled on my shaking shoulder, and I realized that I was crying. The tears had fallen quickly, but the path was still fresh.

     "Are you okay, Panny?"

     I cleared my throat, "I'm fine, Trunks." A shuddering breath escaped my lips, and several more tears fell. I began to furiously stir my tea; droplets of it burnt my skin. I felt another large hand settle on my other shoulder, and my eyes squeezed shut. Before I could comprehend what was happening, I was pulled into a tight bear hug. I began to shake as my tears finally surfaced and I cried silently, dumping the water of my eyes on Trunks's shoulder. He rubbed my back soothingly.

     "You feel like you're losing him, Pan, but you're not. He still loves you very much. You have no idea how much that guy talks about you." he stated sincerely.

     My crying was close to stopping though my breathing was still irregular. My fingers had laced through Trunks's, and we were leaning against a wall, his back to the wall.

     "How about you sleep next to me tonight." He suggested.

     We did it often; sleep in the same bed, him, Goten and me. It was an innocent suggestion and one that I did not want to say no to. So I agreed.

     After allowing me the time to change, Trunks joined me in his room. We crawled under the covers of his large bed, and after he stroked my cheek with the backside of his hand to make sure I was through crying, he wrapped his arms around my waist and I began to fall into a blissful sleep. My last conscious thought was hearing Trunks's voice…

     "I'll never leave you Pan. Don't worry about that."

~*~

I woke up to very blue eyes staring intently at me. After giving a startled gasp, I tired to sit up, but a firm grip was held on my waist. I glanced questioningly up at him.

     "You were smiling in your sleep. That was good to see. You were a wreck last night."

      "Yeah I was," I replied groggily. "Can you let go of me? I have to pee."

     He looked down at his hands that were protectively holding on to my waist and chuckled nervously before letting me go. I went to the bathroom and tried to shake the memory of his warmth out of my head. After talking care of my business, I stepped back out. He was still lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. I took this chance to startle him by running and pouncing on him. What I didn't know was that he was expecting it.

     He caught me in the air and I started giggling like a school girl. He smirked before suddenly reaching up and kissing me softly on my lips. My eyes flew open and I gasped out loud. I felt him smirk against my lips before slipping his tongue in my already agape mouth. I felt my eyes drift shut and I began to kiss him back. He was purring contently and he put his hands on both sides of my face. He finally pulled away and ran his thumb over my lips. I could feel the raw emotion in the room. He kissed my forehead and spoke.

     "I had a dream last night that some guy took you away from me. And you loved him with everything you had. But what made it more unbearable was that you loved me before him, but I pushed you away."

     He began to nuzzle my neck affectionately, "You married him and left us all behind, and I was hurt that you forgot about me. I decided when I woke up that I would confess my feelings for you. Goten has always given me subliminal hints that you liked me so I figured I had nothing to lose."

     I nervously ran my fingers through his hair. I suddenly began to breathe really hard.

     "Pan? What's wrong?"

     I felt his hands support my lower back and neck as he kissed my lips softly.

     "It's okay Panny. Breathe," I did as I was told, "That's a good girl."

     I grasped his large hand in my own, "Sorry Trunks, it's just that it happened too fast. I thought I didn't have a chance with you and then all of a sudden, you admit to having feelings for me."

     He nodded.

     "How about we get another hour of sleep?" he suggested.

     I curled up to him, "Sounds good to me."

~*~

Not angsty this time, I decided to give the T/P fans something to read. I'm also trying to make my chapters longer. Did anyone notice???? R/R! --Lonna