Disclaimer: Do I have to write that every time? Okay, I don't own Dragonball Z, I just borrow the characters.
A/N: Okay, thank you again soooo much for the reviews! I guess that with this chapter I'll hit the 300 reviews mark.
I see that many of you are asking, when Pan is finally revealing herself… Well, it will take a bit longer until they, or at least Trunks, find out, who she is. And let's say, it's about the same time Takeo will appear on the screen. I hope you're all in for a small surprise. Maybe you can mail me and tell me your suspicion of who Takeo is and I can see if you're right or wrong. But don't expect me to answer… I still want to hold the tension… *fg*
Jenny (aka ChibiChibi): *turns to Videl17* Can you please take care of Trunks a little longer, so that he won't bother me at my writing? But please treat him right, otherwise my two bodyguards *motions to Goku and Vegeta standing next to her* will take care of you. Right, dad? *looks at Goku, who is stuffing his face with some cake and seems uninterested* DAD!
Goku: *looks up and grins sheepishly* Oops… yeah, right… Give Trunks enough food. Jenny still needs him. *turns his attention back to the cake*
Vegeta: *rolls with his eyes* Listen woman, you might be the mate of Kakarotto's first brat, but when you do anything to my brat or turns him against Kakarotto's second brat's twin sister, I'll blast you into the next dimension.
Jenny (aka ChibiChibi): *smirks a smirk that would make a certain Saiyajin Prince proud* You heard what Vegeta said. Better you listen, or otherwise… *the smirk suddenly turns into a grin* But enough of that. Now let's start with the story.
Chapter 11: Bad habit
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The following morning as Pan was woken up by her alarm clock, she wasn't disturbed by it at all, because that just meant that there was a new day and that she would see Trunks again. She turned around and looked at the big teddy bear, who was sitting on a chair next to her bed. Winning this cuddly toy for her was the sweetest thing that he could ever do to make her happy. Stretching, she got out of her bed and almost dancing with anticipation for the day at work, she went into the kitchen and made herself a huge breakfast. After wolfing down a few bowls of cereal, some pancakes and after drinking a large glass of orange juice she went into the bathroom. About half an hour later, she left the building and walked the ten minutes to the office building of Capsule Corporation.
~*~
At the same time at Capsule Corporation main building, on the other side of the city, a certain young President was running down the stairs, holding his briefcase in his hand. "Hi mom!" he said, as he rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a sandwich and an apple. "Bye mom! I'll eat something at the office!" And with that he was gone.
Bulma looked out of the window, seeing her son taking off into the air, and sighed. But it was a happy sigh. She would have never seen the day coming that her son would be happy to go to work. But the last two weeks had changed him completely. He was really looking forward to get to the office, just to see Pia again. He even seemed to have given up this bad habit of sneaking out of the office. She guessed that Bra was right and Trunks had really fallen for that woman. She didn't care anymore what the others had said. Her son was for the first time in his life truly in love and she wouldn't do anything to make him unhappy.
~*~
Shortly before Pan went into the office building, she stopped at a small kiosk to buy the newspapers, as another magazine caught her eye. On the first side was a big photo of her and Trunks holding hands and smiling at each other. It must've been taken at the fair, because in her arm Pan was holding the teddy bear. The headlines were: 'Did the Prince finally find his Princess?'. She quickly paid for it and leafed to the middle of it, where the actual report was. While she was reading it, she continued her way to the office.
'Did the Prince finally find his Princess? Or is this just another flirt for the handsome President and at the same time most wanted bachelor of the world? We all know that Trunks Briefs is known for heartbreaks of any kind. The longest more serious relationship he had with a woman lasted three months, before he dumped her. But will this woman suffer the same fate as all the other women or will it be different this time? Maybe Trunks Briefs has decided that it was time for him with his 37 years to settle down and start a family. He truly looked like he was deeply in love, as he and his new girlfriend were on the fair last Sunday. Maybe you all want to know now, who this mysterious woman is. No one we asked wanted to give us a name, but we found out that she's 23 years old and that she's the new assistant of the famous President. So, we can just hope for the new couple that this office romance will be more than just a simple flirt and that Trunks Briefs won't be so stupid and let this beautiful young woman go.'
Scowling Pan looked at the other pictures. There were also pictures with Trunks and her kissing. She quickly shut the magazine and went into the office building, stomping past whispering women. As she heard one of them saying that Trunks should dump Pia, because of the age difference and then should take her as his new girlfriend, Pan turned her head and a growl emitted from her throat, scaring them. No one dared to take her mate from her! Satisfied with her work, she continued her way to Trunks' office. Upstairs she noticed that the secretary wasn't there, yet and somehow was happy about it. The last thing she needed this morning was her accusing glare.
~*~
Trunks had just climbed through his window to the office and sat down on the chair, as the door was thrown open. "Hey Pia!" he greeted her cheerfully and just wanted to get up to kiss her, as she threw the magazine on his table.
"Here. Read," she demanded shortly.
Trunks swallowed hard. "O-okay." He first looked at the cover and then began to read. And suddenly he began to laugh.
Pan scowled. "This is not funny."
"Calm down, Pia…" Trunks hugged her gently. "Don't take what they write too seriously. They just needed a new sensation for today and well, they found us. Don't worry, in a few days everyone will forget about it, because they found someone else to annoy."
"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.
Trunks nodded. "Remember Pia that I love you. You are the first woman I've ever felt those feelings for. I would never lie to you." He gently kissed her. "Hey, what about taking the day off? I don't think there will be much work today. So, what do you think?"
"But I-I don't want to be fired… I mean I can't just take a day off…"
"Oh yes, you can. Remember? I own this firm. The only one that could try to kill me, if she finds out, is my mother. But you don't need to be afraid of her. Her wish to get some grandchildren is just too big than to fire you. And my wish to be with you somewhere else than in this office is much bigger," Trunks told her.
Oh no, he wouldn't… would he? Pan thought. "What are you planning, Trunks Briefs?" Pan asked suspiciously.
Trunks got a capsule out of his desk and went to his private bathroom. "Just wait till I get back." A few minutes later, he emerged out of the bathroom, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. Then he went to the window and opened it.
"What are you doing?" Pan asked, even though she already knew what he wanted to do.
"I'm planning to sneak out, so that no one notices that we're gone. And someone will, if we leave the normal way."
"But we're on the highest floor and you're planning to get out of the window?"
Trunks walked up to her and picked her up. "Pia, please close your eyes and trust me. I would never do anything that could hurt you. Do you trust me?"
"I trust you." Pan kissed him and closed her eyes, knowing what would happen.
Trunks smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it with her eyes closed. "Then let's go!" He walked to the window, started to levitate a little and then flew through it. He looked down at the young woman in his arms, who still had her eyes squeezed shut. "You may open your eyes now, but don't get scared."
Pan, who had already felt the wind in her face, knew of course that they were flying. But Pia couldn't know that and so she had to act, as if she was surprised by his ability to fly. She opened her eyes and looked around. As her eyes wandered to the far away ground, she screamed and tightened her grip around his neck.
Trunks laughed. "I told you not to get scared!"
"But we… we're…" Pan stuttered.
"Flying?" Trunks continued her sentence. "Pia, this is just one of many things that I have to tell you. But that later. Now try to enjoy the flight until I find a nice place for us to land and then I'll tell you everything."
Pan nodded, slightly surprised, and buried her head in his chest. Did Trunks really want to tell her everything? Was he really that serious with her?
They flew in silence until they had left the city and reached a small forest with a green clearing. Trunks landed there and gently sat her down. They both sat down in the grass and Pan noticed that Trunks was somehow nervous. It seemed as if he really wanted to tell her everything about his life. "So, and what did you want to tell me?" she broke the silence, finally wanting to know if she was right.
"Well," Trunks began hesitating, "there are some things in my life just really close friends and family know about…"
With that, Trunks really began to tell her everything. Everything about the Saiyajins, about the different battles, including the Cell Games, the Dragonballs and so on. Pan occasionally dropped in a 'really?' or 'what?' or 'wow', while Trunks was talking. But otherwise she tried to avoid his eyes. She was ashamed. Ashamed that Trunks trusted her so much that he told her his secret, a secret she already knew. Ashamed that she kept the truth from him.
His story took the whole morning and a bit of the afternoon and after he was finished talking, they just sat next to each other in silence. Trunks thought that Pia maybe needed some time to digest the truth about his life and that it was better to not say something for a while.
But for Pan this silence was unbearable. It gave her too much time to think. To think about her life. The life she was living was nothing but a lie. Pia Shen was a lie. Nothing of this was real. Pia Shen was the beautiful, confident woman she always wanted to be. While Pan Son was still the small girl inside of her. The tomboy who rather wanted to fight than play with dolls. She really wanted to be Pia Shen. Trunks loved Pia, but would he be able to love Pan? Would this dream of a life she had now be over, when she revealed herself? But did she really want to reveal herself?
Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts she looked up at Trunks, noticing that he was staring at the sky. "Trunks? Don't you think we should go back?"
Trunks looked at her confused. "Why?" he asked simply.
"See, I really feel bad about sneaking out. I don't want you to get trouble."
"Pia," Trunks said softly. "I already told you that the only trouble I'll probably get is from my mother. And she's already used to that 'bad habit' as she calls it. But if you really want to go back, I don't mind."
They got up and Trunks took her in his arms, taking off into the sky again.
They just needed a few minutes, until they reached the office building. Trunks flew again through the window and landed softly on the carpet of his office. Both straightened their clothes until they suddenly heard someone clearing her throat. Startled, they looked up, just to see Bulma standing in the office. Her hands were resting on her hips and a scowl was plastered on her face. She was obviously angry. "Trunks Vegeta Briefs! What were you thinking about sneaking out again? I thought that would now finally stop with Pia as your assistant, but I've never thought that you would talk her into going with you!"
Pan and Trunks winced at her screeching voice, their sensitive ears hurting. "Mom, I can explain everything…" Trunks tried to say, but was interrupted by his mother.
"I hope so. Pia, you can go home. I have to have a talk with my son," Bulma said, not taking her angry eyes of him.
"O-okay…" Pan mumbled. She quickly kissed Trunks, wished him good luck and left the office. As soon as the door was closed behind her, she could hear Bulma's voice again, rambling something about 'never growing up', 'being responsible' and so on. She somehow felt bad for Trunks, but it was his own fault. She didn't want to sneak out, well, she wanted to, but she had learned at early age that work was more important than fun.
But it still bothered her that Trunks trusted her that much. She shook her head again, as she was on her way home. No, she didn't want to think about that right now. She'll just have to wait and see how things developed. But she had to talk to someone. Expanding her senses, she could sense that Bulma and Trunks were still in the office, Bra was somewhere else and that Vegeta was alone at Capsule Corporation. This was the perfect chance to talk to him without getting noticed. And maybe he even sparred with her.
After disappearing in a dark alley, she powered up and took off into the sky, faster than for a human eye possible to see, just to land about a minute later in front of the gravity room. She could feel Vegeta inside, so he didn't have the ki-shield up. She pushed a button at the door and waited until the gravity was back to normal. She then opened the door and stepped inside, just to find Vegeta staring at her.
"I should've known that it was you, since I couldn't feel anyone out there," he grunted.
"Hello to you too, Vegeta. I just thought that, since you're all alone here, we maybe could spar and talk a bit," Pan said smirking. A 'hmph' of Vegeta told her that he had agreed and went to the locker room to change into Bra's battle armor.
They sparred for about one hour and just stopped, because they could feel Trunks and Bulma's ki moving away from the office. "So, and what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, after Pan had changed again into her 'office-clothes'.
"This afternoon Trunks told me everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything," Pan told him, the worry evident in her voice.
Vegeta nodded, understanding her worries. "When was the first time, you two really got close? The first time you felt those feelings flowing through you?" he suddenly wanted to know.
"Two weeks ago," she answered, "Why do you ask?"
"There was a full moon…" the Prince mumbled. "Brat, you have to tell him within the next two weeks."
"Huh?" Pan asked confused.
"In two weeks there'll be the next full moon and now that you've accepted each other as your mates, nothing will stop you from mating."
"Vegeta, I-I don't understand."
"Listen brat," Vegeta said sternly. "Bra told me that as you and Trunks met at the club, you nearly 'had sex on the dance floor' - I think that was the term she used. But at that moment, you hadn't even acknowledged the feelings for the other. But now you do and in two weeks, at full moon, your instincts will tell the both of you to mate. That means that you have to tell him about you soon."
At that moment, the two kis arrived at the main building. "They're here," Pan said nervously.
"Then go. But do what I say and tell him. I don't know what the consequences will be, if you don't," Vegeta gave her as last advice.
Pan opened the door of the gravity room and stepped outside. "I'll try Vegeta. But you have no idea how hard it is," she told him, before she blasted off into the sky, unnoticed by the two other inhabitants of the building.
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Okay, here you got the next chapter…
I don't think that I have to tell you guys to review, do I?
Eternally yours
ChibiChibi