Chapter 7: "Love knows no Boundaries"

As soon as Pan had closed her eyes in the dream, she woke up. At first she was a bit disoriented about where she was, because she somehow expected to wake up in another room. 'Wow, what was that? First that strange dream and now that? But it seemed so real. Could Trunks be right and my memory comes back?' Pan didn't know if she should be glad or scared of that. Somehow she really wanted to remember her old life, but on the other side she liked this life. 'I think I can still figure it out tomorrow.' She closed her eyes again and tried to sleep, but she unsuccessful. Too many thoughts were hunting her mind. After about half an hour of rolling from one side to another, she decided to do the same thing she did the last time, when she couldn't sleep. She took her blanket, climbed out of the window and sat down on the roof, the blanket wrapped around her body.

~*~

Trunks was on his way home from Giles. He knew he could easily fly home, but he walked. He had too many things to think about since he talked to the Watcher about the happenings of the night.

Giles just wanted to go to bed, when Trunks knocked at his door. Immediately thinking something bad had happened, he opened the door and let the young man inside. He offered him a seat and both sat down. "So Trunks, what has happened?"

"To be honest, I don't know."

"W-what?"

"When Pan and I fought some vampires, one was able to steal her bandana. She told me to take care of the others and followed the vamp. During my fight I always followed the track of her ki, looking if she was okay. I knew I shouldn't be worried about her following a vampire, but I had a bad feeling about it.  Because of that I hurried up and killed the vampires in quite a short time. Just at the moment I finished them off, I felt Pan's ki exploding…"

"What do you mean with 'exploding'?" the Watcher interrupted him.

"It skyrocked. It was suddenly much higher than I've ever expected it ever to be. It was suddenly at the level of a…" Trunks hesitated. He didn't want to say it. He didn't tell them about it, because he didn't want them to fear him. He wanted to keep it a secret.

"At the level of a what?"

The Saiyajin knew that he had to tell him about it, when he wanted him to know the power-level Pan was at. "It was at the level of a Super Saiyajin's ki."

"What is a Super Saiyajin?" Giles wanted to know. He was still calm, but Trunks didn't know if that would last, when he told him about his true strength.

"It's the ascended form of a Saiyajin. At this form he's much stronger than in his normal form. The power of a Super Saiyajin is released when a Saiyajin feels nothing but pure anger. With the time he learns how to control this anger and the nervousness he feels when he's a Super Saiyajin. But that's not all. There are also different stages of a Super Saiyajin. I do just know two stages, but I'm sure with enough training a Saiyajin could reach even higher levels."

"Are you able to  go to this Super Saiyajin stage?" Trunks nodded slowly. "And how far?"

"I'm able to reach the second level." Trunks carefully looked up and looked into Giles' eyes, hoping that he could see his reaction, but the Watcher remained calm.

"How strong is that?"

"You must know that I'm strong enough to destroy the planet, even in my normal form. But as a Super Saiyajin, I'm even more powerful. You must see it that way. When an opponent is way superior to a Saiyajin in normal form, he will be nothing compared to a Super Saiyajin. The same goes for the change to the second level."

Giles eyed him a moment and they sat in silence before he said something. "I understand. I knew you were strong, but I've never expected that you would possess such power. But tell me, what does that have to do with Pan?"

"As I already said, it felt like Pan possessed the power of a Super Saiyajin for a brief moment and I don't think that this is natural for a Slayer, or what do you think?"

"Y-you could be right. We have to keep an eye on her, just in case."

Trunks stopped thinking about that, when he stopped in front of the Summers' house. He immediately spotted Pan sitting on the roof. But this time she didn't seem to be sleeping. He watched her for a while and noticed that she was wrapped up in her blanket and that she was looking at the stars, before he decided to join her. He floated up to her, carefully not to scare the girl. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked gently.

She looked at him and smiled warmly. "Couldn't sleep. Weird dream."

"Oh…" For the next few minutes they sat next to each other and didn't talk. "Pan," Trunks asked finally, "what happened in the sewers?"

Pan seemed to think for a few seconds, before she answered, "To be honest, I don't remember. After I was locked in this chamber with I don't know how many vampires and they beat be to a bloody pulp, everything's blank until you woke me up. Why do you ask?"

That was exactly the question Trunks didn't want to hear after he and Giles agreed on not telling her about the short but drastic increase of her ki. "I'm-I'm just worried. But, may I ask you what your dream was about? Maybe it could help us to figure some things out."

Pan sighed and Trunks noticed the absent but somehow happy look in her eyes. "I know it will sound strange, but I talked to my grandfather. And that even though I don't remember how he looked like or what his name was, he appeared in my dream and I know that it was him."

"What were you two talking about?"

"I asked him what has happened in the sewers, but he said that he couldn't tell me yet. But he assured me that my family and my friends are looking for me and that I will eventually remember who I am and that I didn't jump from that roof."

"That's great!" Trunks burst out. "I mean, that you'll find out who you are and … you know what I mean."

Pan looked at him, smiling sadly. "Yeah, this would be great, but I'm not sure, if I want it."

"What?" Now, Trunks was confused. Pan just told him that she will eventually remember everything and now she didn't want it anymore.

"I-I'm…." Pan took a deep breath. "I'm afraid Trunks. Afraid of what will come if I remember everything. I mean… I like this life… Slaying is fun, I like it. I love fighting evil. What if I have to leave, or that my parents won't accept the whole Slayer-thing…"

"Don't think about that Pan. When your parents really love you, than they won't say anything against the slaying. They will accept it. I'm sure that they're just happy to have you back…" Trunks tried to comfort her.

"But, that's not all. Trunks, what if I had a boyfriend in my former life? Someone who I really loved with all my heart? I know that I will eventually hurt him."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know that I couldn't feel love for him anymore," Pan admitted.

"What make you think that? I'm sure as soon as you get your memory back that you would again be able to love your boyfriend of whom we don't even know if he exists."

Trunks heard that Pan swallowed hard and he could almost hear her mind cracking about what she would say next. "I- I fell in love someone else."

It was almost breaking Trunks' heart, when she spoke out those words. 'Whom could she fall in love with? It must be someone she got to know here. She spent a lot of time with Spike in the last weeks. Could he be the one?' The Saiyajin didn't know what to do. He loved Pan and he did since he first saw her. 'How could there be someone who doesn't love her? She's everything. She's perfect. I've never met someone like her before.'

"He likes you…" she suddenly said, tearing him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" 'Who likes me? The man she loves? Spike? What does she mean?'

"Grandpa. He told me that you're a nice guy and that he likes you. That's why he told me to talk to you."

'Oh, oh. Here it comes. Now she tells me who's the lucky one.' In his mind Trunks screamed that he didn't want to hear it. He couldn't bear it. He didn't think one moment that she could love him.

"Trunks, you're the one." Pan looked now directly in his eyes. "I love you, and no one else." She looked at him, waiting for an answer. Inside she already prepared herself for a rejection, but it never came. "Trunks? Have you heard me?"

"Oh sorry, but I've imagined that you just said you love me," he told her dumbfounded.

"You didn't imagine that. I love you Trunks. And I understand when you don't feel the same for me. I know that you will eventually leave to your own dimension and I won't…"

"I love you, too, Pan."

"W-what?" Pan asked him confused, now questioning herself if she heard right. "Can you please repeat that?"

But Trunks didn't do that. He simply leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss began soft and gently but soon became harder and more passionate. When they pulled apart a few minutes later, both were out of breath and trembling. Trunks put his arm around Pan and pulled her closer, so that her head rested on her shoulder.

Pan sighed. That felt so good. She had never felt safer in her life, okay, in the life she did remember. She snuggled deeper in his embrace and inhaled his scent. 'I wished this moment could last forever…' she thought contently.

"It will last forever Pan, it will. I will never leave you."

Startled, Pan almost jumped up. She didn't expect Trunks to answer on her thought. "Uhm, Trunks… How could you hear that? I'm sure that I didn't say it aloud."

Trunks smirked. His father was right. In the time Trunks spent in the Room of Spirit and Time with Vegeta, he once asked him, why he stayed with his mother. So, Vegeta told him about the Saiyajin bond. That was one of the rare moments father and son actually talked to each other and even though Vegeta didn't say it, Trunks knew that this bond represented deep love and respect for the partner. When a bond was formed between two people, they will stay together till eternity.

When Pan saw Trunks smirking, it immediately seemed to her as if she had seen this before. It was so familiar. But she quickly shook the thought off. She couldn't have seen it before. Trunks came from another dimension and she was the Slayer in this dimension, so it was impossible. "Hey, what are you smirking at?" she finally asked.

'Nothing. We just formed a bond. That means you will be stuck with me forever and we can communicate mentally.'

Pan was confused. She had heard Trunks' voice, but his mouth didn't move.

'Pan, it's true. It's a Saiyajin thing.'

'And you will stay with me forever? What is with your home?'

'First, I don't know if we will ever find a way for me to go home. Second, if we find a way, I'll just go there, tell my mother what's up and come back to you, but I also have to kill Cell and he will appear in about 2 two years.'

"Trunks, tell me about you. I want to know everything about your life, and I promise, as soon as I get my memory back, I will tell you everything about me," Pan told him yawning.

"No, not now," he said laughing. "You should go to bed." With that he easily picked her up and laid her down on her bed.

"But you will tell me tomorrow!" Pan demanded after Trunks pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Okay! But now, goodnight." He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead, but Pan wasn't satisfied with that and pulled him down again at his collar, kissing him on his lips.

"Goodnight."

~*~

"What the hell? How did I get here?" Vegeta asked no one in particular, when he suddenly found himself at a lake in a forest. Vegeta recognized it vaguely. It was near the house of Kakarotto's brat number one.

"Hey Vegeta!" a cheerful voice called out.

Vegeta spun around just to see Goku sitting at the lake. "Kakarotto! What are you doing in my dream? And what am I doing here?"

Goku sighed. "I brought you here, because I need to talk with you."

"Then I guess this isn't a normal dream, because I would never dream of talking with you," Vegeta said as unfriendly as possible, even though he was somehow - well, happy is not the right word, maybe – pleased to see his archrival.

"You're right. Shenlong gave me the permission to visit you, that means everyone, in their dreams if absolutely necessary and in this case it is."

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta asked annoyed.

"Pan."

"Pan? Where is she? Is she alive?" Vegeta wanted to know, a hint of worry in his voice.

Goku raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Vegeta, are you worried about her?"

"Of course not! It's just… annoying how she's now the center of everything… Pan here, Pan there. The woman is almost always in her lab together with your brat so that they could find a way to find out where she is. My brat is miserable, as is Bra. I'm somehow glad that my brat didn't bond with your grandbrat, because they both would be almost dead by now. Even though I had to admit that I silently hoped that they would form a bond, because the spawn of a third class Saiyajin is better than some human or half-android female." That was the closest thing of approval that would come out of Vegeta's mouth and Goku had to suppress a huge grin. "But now, what's up with her? Why are you talking to me and not with your brat?"

"Pan is fine, but she has lost her memory. She doesn't remember her former life, but she's okay. She likes the life she has now."

"And what does her life look like?"

"She slays demons and vampires."

That caused Vegeta to laugh. "Truly a Saiyajin, always fighting."

"Yeah…" Goku said grinning. "But that's not all. The people there think that she is the new Slayer, a girl chosen to fight the forces of darkness or something like that, after the old one had died and even some kind of Council said that she's the new Slayer. Obviously a lie, but I don't know yet why they lied to them."

"Humans…" Vegeta snorted. "But where is she now? I bet the others will be glad to hear where she is."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. We have to wait until she gets her memory back. That's also the reason I tell you about it. Gohan would immediately do anything to bring her back. But I will give Bulma a hint when it's about time. Tell her just to build a machine you can travel through dimensions with, so that it is ready. And then when you're there, go to a shop called Magic Box. She often hangs out there... By the way Vegeta, do you really think she would be the right one for Trunks?" Goku asked him, his grinning growing brighter.

"What are you talking about? I think that does not belong here right now!"

"Not? Because I know that she will be your future-daughter-in-law."

"What?"

"You must know, there was some kind of accident in the other dimension that caused to open portals in many other worlds and timelines… And guess what, not just Pan flew through such a portal, but Mirai Trunks did too. They've met and eventually fell in love, even though no one of them knows about her heritage. I guess that she will remember everything as soon as the bond between them is completed." He looked at Vegeta who stared at the other Saiyajin in shock. "Vegeta?"

Vegeta's lips curled into a smirk. "Alright Kakarotto. I'll tell Bulma to invent a machine like that. I hope I can convince her and your overprotective brat."

"Good. I have to go then. And please, don't tell anyone about our encounter, okay?" Vegeta nodded at him and Goku prepared to leave. "Bye Vegeta!" With that Goku disappeared.

~*~

Quentin Travers sat as usually in his office. With him were Mr. Yasuo and the young Watcher Stevenson.

"Stevenson, as you know I will give her into your hands as soon as she's ready," Travers told him.

"I know, but I'm not sure if I could handle her. I mean, I've heard that the Council had many problems with her and that you even had to fire Mr. …"

"Don't worry about that. She's like new. She would never think of disobeying us. She's one of us. Besides, she doesn't remember anything and as long as we have the books with the prophecies they won't find out about her."

At that moment there was a light knock at the door and a twenty-years old woman stepped in. Her long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail and her blue eyes were gazing through the room. "Oh, I've thought you were alone, Mr. Travers," the blond woman said.

"Why do you want to see me alone? There's nothing you couldn't share with any of us," Travers assured her.

"Okay… So, when can I finally go to Sunnydale? I've been training for almost three months now and I think that I'm more than ready to take care of that Key and the others."

"No, you're not ready to go yet. Usually we would have sent you by now, but we've heard that they have become stronger than any of us expected. You have to train more to be able to beat them," Quentin told her and silenced her with his hand before she could complain. "You can go now… Buffy."