Rise and Shine
By Duran the Gladiator
Chapter 10: Temper vs. love
Gohan came in, his face almost scarlet. The maid, too scared of him to close the door, was nowhere to be found. Goku went to his eldest son, but stopped as he saw nothing but cold hate in his eyes.
"Goku, is she here?", he asked.
"Who? Who are you looking for, Gohan?"
"Pan, and that "protégé" whom she loves so much", said Gohan, spitting out the words. Goku started to worry, so he mentally said to Chichi to let her mask her ki too.
\Chi, dear, he's out of his mind… who knows what he'll do!/ She nodded to the others as she, too, lowered her power very slowly.
"Look, Gohan, I'm not letting you leave before you explain. Fully! And tell me why this or that makes you angry."
"She… and that no-good bastard Tora… were dancing at the party yesterday… and the way they danced, predicted… they mated… and I recognised that… he must have made Pan mate, must have forced her… and she was too stupid to resist… I'm gonna kill them, kill them BOTH!", shouted Gohan, only able to mutter loose parts of phrases at a time. Goku now started to fear for his own life, would he find out that they were there. He braced. Suddenly, Chichi's voice resounded in his head.
\Goku, dear, they want to come out and talk to Gohan. Pan says she can convince him she wasn't forced to anything, and I find her proof rather… convincing… Can she? I mean, she has you and Tora to protect her/
\Sure… but I'm not sure me and Tora would be able to hold him off long/
Gohan was surprised when he saw Pan and Tora emerge from the kitchen, but his temper got the best of him, and he charged at them.
"Stop!", yelled Pan, her voice very commanding, and Gohan compelled, as surprised as he was. "I want you to listen to what we have to say, and to see what I have to show you, before you judge. Tell us what you have against our mating."
"You've met six days ago!", screamed Gohan, very mad again.
"That's true to you, but not to us two. Remember we were gone day before yesterday? We were in the Chamber of Spirit and Time. We've met six days ago, but know each other for over a year. Any other objections?"
"You're eighteen, goddammit!"
"No, I'm nineteen and Tora is twenty. And even if I was, I'd be my own person. Besides, when you let me live on my own, you knew I would mate sooner or later."
"You were used by him, don't you see? He just wanted to have you and knew what the combination of the full moon and alcohol would do to your mind."
"Now, I didn't know about that, and neither did Tora. We were both affected and, yes, we mated in a state of nearly animalistic lust. But…" Gohan could easily see her hesitation and neared her.
"What, you little bitch? Out of words?" This was answered by Tora, with a punch to the stomach that left Gohan dazed. Now Tora was the one who was filled with rage.
"NO ONE talks that way about Pan! Not even, and especially not, her father!"
"So what? You just mated her to be sure you could stay here…", said Gohan, getting up from the floor. Pan nodded to Tora, and the both of them bared their shoulders. Gohan was stupefied. The both of them were not marked once, but twice.
"Dad, why would we have bonded twice if we didn't truly love each other? We're together forever now: you know there's only one way to break this bond. Are you prepared to kill me? Are you prepared to be the reason for me to kill myself? Are you prepared to face gramps and grandma, mom and Terence, Goten, Seventeen, all the others? …Or are you prepared to give in and let us be happy?!"
"I… I have no other choice…", he muttered. Suddenly, Videl came in.
"I sensed him coming here, he must have caught my thoughts when I hoped you were safe." Videl hugged her daughter and Tora, smiling happily, then turned to Gohan. "You're an idiot, Gohan Son, and you know it! Don't you remember fighting my father? It'll always have the same result: fathers end up having to give up their daughters, mothers end up being more tolerant. Now you go back home and learn to live with it. Pan… we'll talk later, okay?"
"'Kay. Tora… What do you say we go over to Capsule Corp. and get Seventeen and Fern out of there for a healthy meal?"
"Sounds good! Thanks for the delicious breakfast, Goku, Chichi. We must be going now, or we're late for lunch. Oh, and Chichi… is it okay with you if we come back on Saturday? You cook a mean meal!"
"You'll become a Son yet!", said Chichi as she waved them off. Gohan looked up to his mother, who had a look of authority on her face. "As for you, Gohan Son, we're having a talk about mating and over-reacting – especially over-reacting – right now!"
Seventeen was happy he was treated to lunch by his friend again. She had danced with him at the party, but Tora seemed to be the one who got lucky, judging by their holding hands.
"Hey Tora," said Fern all of a sudden, "was that a glimpse of a mark I saw there? …Oh, do tell, did you make her happy?" Tora blushed, but Pan reassured him mentally.
\You have a very straightforward friend… Go on, they'll find out sooner or later…/ Tora hesitantly showed them the marks, as did Pan. Seventeen made a disappointed face.
"Oh, and I always thought I would be the lucky one… but hey, if he's half as suited for you as I am, he'll make sure you're happy. So, how did Gohan take it? Gone ballistic, I bet."
"Not far from the truth. He was angry to the point he wanted to kill us both." Seventeen grinned.
"He didn't get too far in killing you. Goku saved the day?"
"Nope, Videl and Chichi did. I'm lucky my mom and grandmother are humans. They think rationally. Goten does too, sometimes. He takes after Chichi…"
"Speaking of Goten, he had been in the lab every single day!", said Seventeen. "Why, you ask? It's the little stoleaway maid. He's checking on her every day."
"Say, didn't he…?", asked Tora.
"He… oh dear!" She took out her cell phone and dialled Goku's number. "Hello gramps. Did you know about Goten? …Yes, the stoleaway. He saved her life, remember?… Yes he did. I'm just warning you. He's checking on her every day. You think…? Okay. But you warn her. Bye!" She turned back to her friends. "How is the stoleaway girl anyway? I haven't heard of her ever since Gohan told gramps…"
"She's recovering slowly. Poor girl was very tired, stressed, and seriously underfed. Bulma hasn't seen her yet… Goten!", shouted the android as he saw the prince pull. "Hey man, how is that girl of yours?"
"Hey Juunana… Pan! Tora! What are you doing here?"
"Well, we're here to get our friends out of the Corporation for a while before we all become mindless slaves to Dr. Briefs again… How IS that maid of yours anyway?"
"She's not my maid… Anyway, Doc Briefs said she should awake soon. Oh, by the way, Gohan's temper flared this morning. A lot. I got the feeling you two were the reason of it." Goten looked his niece over, and noticed she was holding Tora's hand. He smiled: he had guessed they would get together sooner or later.
"Well, uh…", Tora started. He was cut off by Fern, who had guessed his friend was too shy to say it out loud.
"They mated last night and Gohan found out somehow."
"Oh…", said Goten, not in the least surprised. Pan and Tora looked at him questioning. "What? It was obvious where you two were going last night! That, plus I was the one who asked the DJ to play that song….", he added with a very evil grin.
"Goten Son! You are so evil!", said Pan with a very angry look on her face. Goten sweat dropped, but Pan smiled at him genuinely. "Thanks for that! Now, what would you like to eat?"
Meanwhile, Gohan was being taught about Saiyan bonds by his mother. Still very edgy because of all the excessive adrenaline in his veins, he listened half-heartedly to his mother – until she mentioned what could have happened.
"Gohan, if you had killed Pan, Tora would have killed you and committed suicide after that. If you had killed Pan, she would have done the same. If you would have forbidden her to see him before, the both of them would have died. They still can die if they're away from each other…"
"Is that why you never forbade me to see Videl?", he asked, very much confused. He realised what he had nearly done.
"Yes, it is. You know that Saiyans bond when a guy saves a girl, or vice versa?" Gohan nodded, hearing Videl's voice in his head again, telling him how he had saved her life, like she had told him that morning. "Well, after they have bonded, they may not be separated. The bond that's formed will make their hearts slow down until they stop beating if the couple is far apart. The further away from each other, the faster they die. Videl became sick too after her father locked her away from you. Well, Pan would have as well. Now, once a Saiyan couple mates, the bond becomes stronger. There's nothing stronger than the link between mated Saiyans. You know that, if I had died in that operating room, your father would have killed himself? He had the knife laying on his nightstand…"
"Mom, is that true?!", asked Gohan, seriously disturbed by the idea.
"Yes… Anyway, the mating also means, well, making the girl pregnant. And since Pan and Tora mated twice…"
"Twins?!", shouted Gohan.
"Now Gohan, don't over-react…", warned Chichi.
"Oh… This will take a lot of 'getting used to'… I'm going to be a grandfather, great…", sighed Gohan, a bit sarcastical.
AN: Hey… Sorry, I'm actually very busy for school (senior year – university in the prospect) so I think I'm going to make a new promise. I solemnly swear to update every weekend from now on. Oh, \…/ is mental communication. You faithful T/P readers know that mated Saiyans have that ability. Oh, and I promise that it'll become very rushed soon… not that I like the prospect of rushing the story a bit. But we have a well-prepared G/B coming up, and there's still the unsolved mystery I created in the prologue… -grins evilly- See you soon! Any comments may be dropped in a review. Thanks to all those trusting readers that review my every chapter… Greetings from the busy world of stressing out –sigh-