Rise and Shine
By Duran the Gladiator
Chapter 12: You can't run away… (or can you?)
"That man? Who are you talking about, Bra?", said Bulma, very confused and overly happy at the same time.
"The man with the spiky black hair, who caught my stone! He's the one that'll save me!" She blinked. "Where am I? Where has the ship taken me to?!"
"You're on Earth, my dear," interrupted doctor Briefs, "and I am your grandfather, your mother's father… Goten brought you here when he landed."
"Goten? Is he the man who caught my stone?"
"I don't know, dear, but the poor boy has been worried about you. He sat here every day! …Now, dad, can you put her up for the night? I'll come and pick her up tomorrow…"
"No, where is he? I need to speak to him NOW!", shouted Bra, now almost in a state of hysteria.
"Now, now, dear, that's no way to talk to your mother… Here, this'll calm you. You need your rest, Bra…", said doctor Briefs as he gave her a drink. She gulped it down in one smooth motion, but then fell into her grandfather's arms – obviously tranquillised.
"Dad, why'd you do that?!", shouted Bulma as she followed him inside of Capsule Corp.
"She isn't in a state to be reasonable right now. Goku said he thought Goten was bonding to her, right? Well, she obviously is. She won't be very reasonable for a while… the bond might still be fragile enough to be suppressed, if not broken, by the right treatment. I'll give her something to contain her emotions… yes…", he mumbled as he laid the sleeping child down on one of the guest beds and tucked her in. "She'll be as meek as a lamb!"
"I hope so, because Goku's probably going to insist on me bringing her with me tomorrow, and I'll bet you Goten's there as well. I don't want her bonding to a man that's so much older then her!"
"Will be taken care of, dear…", said the doctor as his daughter left. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl: she couldn't help it either. Reluctantly, he prepared one of the IV's for her. "Sorry, Bra, dear…", he whispered as he punctured her skin with the needle.
The next morning, Pan found herself waking up in Tora's arms. He pretended not to be awake when he felt her move, but she easily caught him opening one eye.
"Good morning, dear…", he whispered in her ear as she sat up and he followed suit.
"And a very good morning to you too!", she answered, kissing him. The kiss quickly would have led to other things, if they weren't interrupted by her cell phone. She reluctantly let go of him and answered it. A very stressed out Goten appeared on screen.
"Hey Panny… sorry to disturb you and Tora, but…"
"Hey, how'd you know?!", she said, surprised. Either her uncle had become a mind reader, either he'd seen them leave the night before and put two and two together.
"Your ki's flared so much last night, I figured… well, I figured. Anyway, I've just gotten a phone call from Gramps. He says he thinks I'm bonding to that girl I found in the spaceship! Not only that, he's told Bulma the same thing… What'll she think I did?! I mean, that girl is only sixteen or so!"
"Whoa, calm down. I've gotta be at Capsule Corp. in an hour, so I don't have much time to talk. Why don't we have lunch? You can tell me everything then, 'kay?"
"Okay, sure thing… speaking of work, I've gotta get going too. Missy gave me the day off yesterday, but today it's work work work in the training centre."
"See you at noon, at the usual place!" Pan put down the phone and got up to get dressed. Tora did too, but not before having taken a quick dip into the cold lake. She chuckled as his hair stuck to his forehead and completely covered his eyes.
"Why do I get the feeling you like seeing me do that?", he commented as she grinned when he got dressed.
"Because I do, perhaps? Now, let's go. We still have to get changed!"
Goten sat at the table where he and Pan were used to have lunch, in a place that was right between Capsule Corp and the Son and Daniels Training Centre for Saiyans and Demi-Saiyans, which was most of the time referred to as the "Son and Daniels" or just as the "training centre". He sighed and fidgeted with his limestone pendant again while waiting for his niece, loving the feeling of the electricity surging through him. He had drifted off in thoughts enough not to notice Pan arriving, followed by Tora.
"Hey Goten! Are you still among the living?" She chuckled as he blinked in surprise. "Hope you don't mind if I brought Tora with me… after all, he needs food fit for a Saiyan too."
"Hey, he's your guy, so I won't argue. Thank god you mated a guy who has a healthy appetite!!", he said mockingly, which was answered with a playful push.
"Okay, spill it", she said once they ate.
"Well, Goku called me this morning. He said that he saw reason to believe I'm bonding to the maid from Vegeta. He had called Bulma already… and now I'm just so damn ashamed of even having cared!"
"Well, don't be. Actually, I called Goku because Seventeen mentioned you saving her life. Yeah, but suppose you are bonding to that girl… what then? I mean, just sitting with her, being concerned is nothing serious, but what of it now that she's awake? You're lucky you don't have the full moon to put you in any kind of frenzy. But what if you're bonding to her and Bulma takes her back to Vegeta? You know you're going to die if it's true! I'm sure Gramps said it to Bulma to make sure neither of you dies anywhere in the process."
"Oh… hadn't looked at it that way…", said Goten as he downed his drink and got up. "Well, I've gotta go. The teenage class is scheduled for this afternoon…" He sighed. "I hope they don't try to seduce me again. You know, last time, one of the girls nearly jumped me then and there!"
"Well, what can I say, you must look sexy levitating!", said Pan, making Tora chuckle. She waved him off as he took off into the sky (not that rare an occurrence since a good half of the population is Saiyan or demi-Saiyan – DtG) and went back to Capsule Corp. with Tora.
Bra had awoken with a strange feeling in her head, as if she was still asleep. She saw a strangely familiar man come inside, holding the hand of a girl with the same shade of dark hair as that man – Goten – had had. She went to them and stopped them.
"What is your name, mister? And yours, miss?", she asked, curious as to who they were.
"Well, I'm Pan, and this is Tora, my boyfriend. Who are you?", answered Pan, taken a bit aback by the girl's question.
"I'm Princess Bra. You look a bit familiar, mister Tora. I don't really know how, but you look a bit like… my grandfather…", she stammered as another wave of drowsiness hit her.
"Oh, you must be the stoleaway Goten was always watching!", said Tora.
"Goten?!" Something in Bra's mind clicked, but she was cast back into numbness by the drug's effect. "Uhh… I was brought here by a ship of yours, said grandfather, so it can be true... Well, I'll go back to bed. Bye, mister Tora, miss Pan!" She quickly ran back into the house area, just in time – her grandfather came around the corner.
"Say, doc, is the stoleaway really your granddaughter?!", asked Tora
"Yes… princess of Vegeta, she is. Why do you ask?"
"Just out of curiosity… she really looks like her mother…"
"Yes…", the doctor pondered before realising they should have started work a while ago. "Now that's cleared up, you can go to your desks and start working… Oh, and don't forget your grandmother's dinner this evening, Pan! Tora can come as well, she said. …Get to work, you two slackers!", he shouted – with a broad smile – as the two didn't move to their jobs fast enough. He himself then went to check up on his granddaughter. To prepare her for the dinner with a whole load of tranqs…
Chichi was more than happy to use the big dining room again. She had gotten Gohan a bit more enthusiastic for the idea of becoming a grandfather – Videl had needed no warming-up to it. Goten had been silent and very rarely seen outside of Capsule Corp the last few days. Pan and Tora had been working for two days now, and they were always together – Goku had told her in strict confidence that the children's ki would soon become sensed by Tora, and he had advised his wife to give Pan an extra large portion of everything. Krillin and Eighteen were in a very animated discussion, and their daughter Marron was sitting next to Goten, babbling away while he didn't listen. Seventeen was sitting at the table with a charming girl next to him he introduced to the company as "Stephanie". Then, Bulma walked in, her daughter by her side, obviously half asleep.
"Hi everybody, hope I'm not late!", she said as she sat down next to Tora. She started a conversation with Eighteen across the table. Goten had his attention drawn by the petite girl in front of him.
"Hey! I don't think we've been properly introduced…", he started, but he was cut off by her.
"You're Goten?!", she said, incredulous.
"Yes, I am, why?"
"I've got to ask you some things after dinner…", she said, the effects of the drug lessened.
AN: I know, I'm late. I'll start on the next chapter tomorrow evening!! In the meanwhile, what will the interaction between a sixteen-year-old girl and a man of twenty-three result in? I have a few ideas (among which the Chamber of Spirit and Time…) but am always open to suggestions. Next chapter: a dinner, a discovery, and… something no one will ever suspect! Cheerios!