Rise and Shine
By Duran the Gladiator
Chapter 11: Come to terms with everything
"Tora, you and Pan will work together. I take it she has prepared you well enough?"
"You can rest assured, doctor Briefs, she's taken care of me…", he said with a mental wink to his love. Pan blushed – Tora had such an ambiguous thing in front of her employer. Fortunately for her, the doctor didn't see their sign language.
"Tora, you can sit here, opposite to Pan. Pan, just put him in charge of responding to the outgoing orders, so you can concentrate on managing the incoming ones." He motioned to an empty desk, and Tora saw that he indeed sat opposite to Pan. "All the lines are indicated. You're on line 5, Pan's on line 6."
"Doctor, may I ask why the office is this small? I mean, this IS the HQ of Capsule Corp."
"Well, we have small offices all across the world. Better to have ten thousand offices that work right then only one hundred that aren't functioning properly. This is the HQ, yes, but not of the whole network. You see, we have district HQs that covers all the offices and labs and factories of one area, that's a hundred offices and about ten labs and factories per district HQ. All the district HQs are covered by this one, the main HQ. And, also the district HQ for South City. Well, I'd like to explain further," the older man said as he took a quick glance at his watch, "but it's time you two started working."
Work pretty much consisted of answering phone calls and typing letters to confirm orders that had been placed. He had to mail every order that was placed to one of the five factories – Pan had explained which factory made what when she saw he was in obvious need of explanation. He was very satisfied of his work, and sent an occasional mental kiss to Pan when she sent him one. Suddenly, Bulma entered the office.
"Hello Pan, hey Tora… is Gary in?"
"Doctor Briefs? He's in his office, I'll let him know you're here…", said Tora as he picked up the receiver and pushed a button. After having told the doctor, he nodded in her direction. "Go on in, Bulma."
"Thank you… Say, you two seemed to enjoy yourselves at the party yesterday.", Bulma said to Pan, winking. Pan blushed and Tora hid himself behind his computer again.
"You too. Well, I don't remember you looking crossed, anyway.", replied Pan, a bit surprised because Bulma knew. \My thoughts were elsewhere…/, she said to Tora.
\Damn right they were! And damn lucky for me, too/, he answered. Bulma had gone, and they went to work again, occasionally glancing at each other.
"It's weird, isn't it?", said Gary in comment to Bulma's amazement to the obvious bond between Pan and Tora. "Well, as long as they do their work properly, I don't see any problems…"
"I bet Gohan went haywire.", whispered Bulma, very much sunk in thought. "Anyway, I came here to ask you about the stoleaway Gohan and Goten found. Where is she anyway?"
"She's in the rejuvenation tank in the lab. She's had the best doctors of South City take care of her, and Goten has checked up on her every day – he was the one that saved her by his quick thinking."
"He did? Ah, I'll thank him for that as soon as I've seen her." She relaxed a bit. "So, how've things been, dad? I still can't believe I've been gone for so long! Goku barely seems to have aged, but Chi's hair turned grey… and Mom!"
"Yes… a lot has changed. After you left, your mom aged very quickly, and so did I – on the outside, mind you! Oh, and if you didn't guess, the little kid that was running around last night is Terence, Gohan's son."
"Gohan's son?! Wow, hasn't he been the active Saiyan…" She was disturbed by a phone call. When she opened the cell phone, Goku's face appeared.
"Goku! Yes, you can tell me… Goten saved that girl, I know… Huh? Pan… uh-huh… I know already… wait a minute, you're not insinuating… Okay, okay, I'll keep it in mind… yes, thanks for letting me know. Oh?… tell Chichi I'd be delighted! Yes, of course… plus I'd like to talk to everyone a bit more. Tomorrow evening? Sure… Bye!"
"I take it it was bad news?", asked doctor Briefs. Bulma nodded and sighed as she put her phone away.
"That was Goku. Apparently, he has reason to believe that Goten's bonding to the maid because he saved her. Well, that, and Chichi's invited me to dinner now she has the chance to. …That's one of the things I missed most. The casual dinners, the nice conversations… I remember Gohan bringing Videl once, when they were just friends. Poor girl was no match for the Saiyan appetite… Anyway, I'd better be going, now hadn't I?"
"Sure… oh, before I forget to tell you, Eighteen asked if you would like to go to the beach tomorrow. She said she'd call you."
"I'll think about it. Don't have much else to do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to help Mom cook a bit. Our new Saiyan handyman has the characteristic appetite and she can't manage alone…"
"Bye!", said the elderly man as his daughter walked out of his office. He settled back and shook his head, silently wishing he was able to have seen her during those twenty years…
Tora was never happier to go home. His head hurt from the constant thinking, and his stomach pleaded to be filled. He thought of the gigantic meal he was going to prepare – or have prepared, if Pan was up to it – to compensate for all that brain work.
\Planning on feeding yourself to death, cute stuff?/, sounded Pan's voice in his head. They walked to the parking lot, holding hands, she decapsulised her car and got in, followed by Tora. She sped home – she wasn't really set on a light meal either, she realised, and dismissed it as her Saiyan side. \Oh, a good meal never killed anyone, so why not, I guess… after all, we need energy for later on…/
\Ooh, and what'll be my dessert? I hope it's ice cream, or you – or better yet, ice cream and you!/, spoke Tora in her head. She smiled and embraced him.
"I wanted to do this all day…", she sighed as Tora stroked her back tenderly. "Though mental conversation is a good alternative. Don't think I didn't see what you were thinking of when you were working on that last order…" She got loose from him and started on dinner, swishing her tail. Tora grinned as she ran through what little food there was left in the fridges: he had quickly put the left breakfast away when they had entered – and aired the house, it has stank like hell. Fifteen minutes later, they were both eating. Tora ate very fast and finished after only five minutes. Pan ate a bit slower and took ten minutes.
"So, what to do now? …Isn't that a bit early?", she said amusedly as she caught Tora's thoughts. "Want to go camping? I hear the lakeside is beautiful at sunrise… and we can go skinny-dipping!", she said. Tora got the idea and nodded very eagerly.
"What are we still waiting for? Let's pack!!"
Meanwhile, in the laboratory, Goten was staring at the regeneration tank in which the girl lay silently. He had felt very responsible for her well-being ever since he had put her inside the tank. Fear of her dying when he was away did trouble him in his dreams, and he found himself longing to sit in that chair staring at the bubbling liquid inside the tank… Around his neck, he wore a chain on which a piece of limestone hung, from the rock he had found on planet Vegeta. He touched it every other minute, feeling something near electric surge through him. He sighed and rose from his seat, his stomach grumbling again. A quick flash of Pan's ki showed him she had passed the lab very fast, and judging by the following flash, Tora was with her.
"She's the perfect match for that guy, it seems. He's a free man, with no limits, and totally unconventional, while she's a nice girl with a whole lot of attitude… Ah, she's lucky with him… I wish I had someone to be lucky with." He was about to leave and go grab a snack when the regeneration machine bleeped loudly. A computerised voice warned him:
"Patient awakening."
Goten grabbed his phone and called the doctor, warning him of it. A few moments later, the doctor and Bulma rushed inside.
"When did the machine bleep?"
"Just a few minutes ago… I guess I'll go now. She's awake, my task is done…"
"Yes, thanks Goten… Now, let's see…" Goten took one quick peek at the machine as the doctor pushed buttons and the machine bleeped in response. Then he went outside, sighing as he got into his car and drove off.
Meanwhile, on the inside, the machine opened. The doctor got the oxygen mask off of the girl's face. She coughed as she took in her first breath of the earth's air.
"It's her… it's Bra! Bra, dear, why did you run away?" She sobbed as she embraced her daughter. Bra, however, didn't seem to pay attention to it, as she looked around and asked her mother and the doctor in a hoarse voice:
"Where is he? Where is that man?!"
AN: What a cliffhanger! Again, another chapter and a promise well kept. Next weekend, I'll have another chapter. What'll happen to Bra and Goten? And what about the age difference? Find out soon (I hope). As always, comments and questions in a review. Thanks to all those that keep on reading my story, and toodles!