Disclaimer: If I owned Dragonball Z, I would never have to go to school again, or get a job cuz I'd be stinking rich! But sadly, I don't, so I must be patient till I'm rich and famous and then I can buy Trunks and Veggie-chan... So kawaii...

A/N: I decided that I did not like Ashika, so she shall be replaced by Mirai Pan… This should be interesting…

Chapter 8: A Parting Leads to a Meeting

How could they? How could they just abandon me like this? These questions rolled over and over in Trunks's mind.
I thought they loved me, or at least, I thought mother did. I guess I was wrong. He walked down the lonely road, kicking a tin can at his feet. Not looking ahead, only focused on the can.
THIS is for Mom! He violently stomped on the can.
And THIS is for Dad! He screamed in his head, kicking it into the air above him.
Now THIS is for all the lives you've ruined androids! DARN YOU!!! He released a ki blast, blowing the can into billions of fragments that could never be put back together again. After calming down a bit, he continued onward, hands in his pockets, concentrating on his boots.

"Hey! Watch it!" A girl's angry voice shrieked at him as he stumbled into her.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Trunks said, leaning down to help the girl up he'd knocked over a second ago.

"Aw, it's OK, I've gone through much worse if ya know what I mean!" She replied as she got on he own two feet and winked at him.
"My name is Pan, what's your name?"

She was scaring Trunks a little, he eyed her apprehensively.
"Trunks." He replied, uncertainly.

"I didn't ask you what kind of underwear you wore, I asked you what your NAME was boy!" She protested impatiently.

"My name, is Trunks." He said in a patient tone.

"Who would name their kid after underwear?! Go figure!" She immediately dismissed the matter.

Now was the time for being creative, unfortunately, that had never been one of Trunks's many talents.
"I umm... was going to the coffee shop on Main, can I buy you some coffee to apologize for knocking you over?" He smiled nervously, sweat on his brow.

"Trunks, if you wanted to take me out on a date, all you had to do was ask." She smugly replied, grinning at him.

Trunks turned beet red.
"Right. Shall we go then?"

"Sure! Let's go!" She squealed in excitement as she started running down the sidewalk, dragging Trunks behind her.

After sprinting a few blocks, they finally reached it, the little bell dinged as they opened the door.
They headed up to the counter and Trunks hesitantly asked, "Two Coffees please?"

A scowling woman who looked like she didn't want to be there gestured at the board behind her that must have had 50 different kinds of coffee.
"Oh Kami…" Trunks muttered, as he eyed the choices.

"Two Mocha Lattes please." Pan requested in her very rare, polite tone.

"My pleasure." The worker muttered, her voice oozing with sarcasm.

A few moments later, they had their Lattes and were sitting down at a little table by a window.
"So, tell me about yourself!" Pan commanded, taking a sip of her hot beverage.

Before answering, Trunks took a moment to study her. She had dark black hair, kinda like Gohan's… Her eyes were dark as well. She wore an orange bandana, a red shirt with yellow trim, grayish-blue flood pants, purple boots, dark gloves, and had a blue backpack she had sat on the seat next to her. She looked to be way younger than him, and seemed friendly enough.
"My parents are both dead… My Dad died when I was little, my mom just died yesterday… I don't have any siblings and I don't have many friends…"

"Well that's depressing!" Pan commented.

"Hey, it's called life…" Trunks mumbled.

"My name is Pan Son. My mother died when our house caught on fire when I was very small. They doused it out, but she suffocated. I don't know who my father is. My mother could have been raped for all I know… Anyways, my Grandfather Hercule raised me. He died just recently. The stadium he was fighting in was blown up. He was quite wealthy, he is the strongest man in the world, you know… So I used part of the money he left me in his will to purchase Saturo Manor. It's in really bad shape, but I think with a little hard work, I can make it just as beautiful as when my Mother lived there. Grandpa Hercule lived in Satan City, so I haven't been here for a long time. I don't know anyone. It gets quite boring after awhile, so I just hang out here with ol' iron fist there." She gestured at the woman behind the counter still glaring at them. If looks could kill, they would have been dead and buried by now.
"The realator looked like I was nuts when I signed the paper… I don't know why… It's a little beat up, but it's still a perfectly nice place!"


"It just hasn't been occupied for awhile… People around here are pretty superstitious…" Trunks left out the part of the people who had once lived in that very house and their demise. Not to mention that the spirits androids' victims dwelled there.

"Well, I'm glad it's not haunted or something! It's nice to be here!" She beamed at him.

"Welcome, I guess. I never get out, and I've lived here my whole life. My mom never liked it with the androids running a muck and all."

Just then, a black-haired man entered, his girlfriend trailing behind him. The boy noticed the couple sitting by the window and clasping a hand over his girlfriend's mouth, he dragged her back outside again.
"GOHAN! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Shira screamed at him once they were safely outside.

"Sorry babe, but look who's over there?" Gohan pointed to the lavender haired boy and the dark-haired girl.

Pressing her face against the window, Shira gazed in.
"Hey! Isn't that Trunks over there? And look Gohan, he's got a girlfriend, now isn't that cute?!" She commented in a mushy tone.

"It's just so weird… That girl looks familiar… Do I know her?" Gohan muttered, staring at the raven-haired girl.

"You better not… She can't be older than 14! You're what, 30?" The 28-year-old chided her boyfriend.

"Relax Shira-chan…" Gohan said in a nervous tone, sweatdropping.

"I'm not cheating on you… Everybody knows you're the best-looking girl around, ne?"

"Good… You know there are plenty of boys who would be delighted to take a pretty girl like me out for coffee! So why aren't we going in?!"

"Please Shira-chan… Give me a few minutes…"

I know that girl… But how…?

** "Gohan-kun…" A woman lying in a hospital bed said softly, beckoning him over to her side.

"Gohan-kun… I'd like to introduce you to your new daughter… Her name is Pan…" His wife said quietly, holding out the dark-haired baby for him to hold. **

"Videl…?" He murmured.

"But, that can't be her… Pan died in the fire… Along with Videl-chan…"

"That's it Gohan! If you're not going to take this relationship seriously, I'm going out with Sharpner! Later!" The brunette walked off, leaving Gohan alone and defeated. He somehow knew something was up here and hightailed it away, pondering the girl's identity.

Could she be Pan? Is my daughter still living and dating my best friend?

A/N: Weird… Oh well… I'll revise the last chapter as soon as possible… Arigatou! Ja ne! ^_^

~Trunks_Gal~