Chapter 2- Fighting our Demons
Written by NeoQBirdie
Beta-read by Pareathe
A/N: First of all I'm really sorry for how long I dragged this out. It's been about a year since I posted the first chapter, and I'd actually forgotten about it. This chapter has been written for about 7 or 8 months, so I give you full permission to plot my demise for not updating. Thanks for the reviews though, and on that note, This chapter is dedicated to Reviewer guardian_of_the_sea whose cursing reminded me I needed to post this. Thanks a bunch, and a thousand apologies. I hope the dedication will bribe you into saying many nice things about me next review. (Also, I know I said I'd have lemon in this chapter, but it didn't really fit, so it's coming, don't get grumpy. I wouldn't leave you hanging, lemons are my favorite parts!) (^^;)
Disclaimer: I think we all know I don't own shit. On with the fic!
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I was hiding on the floor in my closet. My arms were securely wrapped around my legs, and I was shaking badly. I really didn't want to be alone, but my encounter with Trunks scared me to death. I was no match for him. He could easily snap me in half if he wanted to, even with all my training.
I had panicked when I got home. I just hadn't known what to do. Thoughts and feelings were racing through me, and I couldn't think at all. Vegeta had been in the GR, but I had known better than to disturb his workout. I had flown straight to my room. Still, being in there with the window locked wasn't enough. I had wanted another wall between Trunks and myself.
Hence, the closet. I didn't mind it at all; in fact, I liked the comfort of being in an enclosed space. I would have been able to calm down, but my mind kept shouting that Trunks was going to kill me. He had never physically threatened me before.
It hurt. It pained me more than any of the tangible wounds I had. As much as I was aware of Trunks' intentions from what happened to Paresu, that still didn't prepare me for our encounter. A part of me saw him as the Trunks with whom I had gone on the Grand Tour. The Trunks I had been hopelessly in love with as a child. I had adored him. I guess it was still hard for me to acknowledge his more lascivious intentions. Still, my brain knew better. Trunks was evil now. I couldn't trust him like I used to, and I hadn't been able to for a while.
There was a knock at the door to my closet.
I immediately froze. My heart started racing, and my breathing began to come in short gasps. Oh Kami, he had found me! There was a huge adrenaline surge in my body. "Gaki!" I heard a gruff voice call.
My senses instantly stilled and became regular. Vegeta was here. Everything would be better. Ouji-sensei would protect me.
"You had better be changing into your gi in there! You've already wasted half the morning's training! And you won't go back to the park, it takes up too much training time!"
I smiled a little. There was a touch of concern in his voice. Vegeta wasn't stupid. He had most likely kept careful tabs on me while I was accosted by Trunks in the park. Asking me not to go back was his way of making sure I was safe from his son. I smiled some more. Training was my favorite thing to do, and I desperately wanted to be near Vegeta-sama. He could protect me from anything.
~~~~~~~~
I sighed happily. I was sitting on my balcony railing outside my room stargazing. Tonight it was marvelously clear, and I could see thousands of stars. I loved looking at them, and often wondered if my parents were still out there somewhere. I know it's silly but I thought maybe if I stared long enough I'd be able to see where they were.
I had trained with Vegeta all day today and it felt wonderful. Sparring always took my mind off of whatever I was thinking, and this time was no exception. I didn't think anything could be better than watching the Saiya- jin no Ouji train. His moves were fluid, and seemed effortless even under the heavy strain of gravity he used. I hadn't showered yet, mainly because I still smelled a bit like Vegeta-sama. For some reason I hated washing it away. I felt blissfully relaxed from the calisthenics. Trunks and his problems seemed so far away. I think that was definitely a benefit to training with Vegeta. He made me forget about the stress in my life. When I was with him, nothing could touch me. He was the most powerful person alive, and he made me feel safe.
I heard the door open and felt Bra step out onto my balcony. She had a cautious edge to her ki, but I could also sense the stirrings of fear in her. Most likely it was from being out in the open, where Trunks could easily attack.
"Ano... Pan? Are you busy?" she asked lightly. "Not at all. What's up? I haven't seen you around too much lately." It was true. Bra kept to herself a lot now that Goten wasn't around and Trunks was ... unsafe. I was one of her few friends, but I'd been training so much lately that I hadn't had too much time for small talk. I should spend more time with her. She looked really thin and pale. I bet she was staying in her room way too much.
"Well, umm, I was wondering if you'd heard from Marron lately." This was obviously not what she came to talk about. Any time we got a letter from Marron, it was addressed to Bra. I didn't have time for reading or writing letters, and Marron knew that. Bra was also much closer to her than I was. Marron had left Japan after Paresu died and decided to go off on a trip to see the world, although the better reason was that she had broken up with Trunks a few years before, and was deathly afraid he would come after her next. I didn't blame her for wanting to get away from here. Things certainly weren't getting any better. Last I heard she was in Bermuda. At least she had taken Yamucha with her for protection. Trunks wasn't the only wacko in the world.
"The last postcard she sent came a month ago. You know she always sends that stuff to you."
"Wakarimasu. I was just wondering I guess." She paused for a minute and leaned on the balcony railing next to me. "Do you miss your parents?" she asked after a bit.
The answer came easy enough.
"Everyday," I said plainly. "But I still hope they'll come back, and I'll see them again. No matter how much time goes by, I don't think I'll ever stop hoping they might come back."
"I miss Okaasan," Bra choked through her tear-filled eyes. "And Marron, and Paresu," she was really crying now. I moved to hug her as she kept shaking. "And Trunks! I miss Trunks, Pan... The way he used to be. Kami, what's happened to us? What happened to the happy times we used to have?" She couldn't stop sobbing.
"I don't know, Bra," I whispered. I had to be strong. Someone needed to be rational or the tears wouldn't stop falling until three in the morning. I knew from experience. "I miss everyone too, Bra. We just need to stick by our friends and everything will be okay. We'll pull through. We always have. Now how about a midnight snack? Kami Bra, you look like you haven't eaten in years," I giggled and pulled her back inside.
She gave me a little smile as I dragged her down to the kitchen. "Now sit here and I'll make you a snack!"
Half an hour later the 'snack' was ready. I presented a variety of foods to choose from, thank Dende I had inherited Obaasan's cooking skills. It didn't faze me at all when Vegeta appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. A true Saiya-jin always had time for food.
"Konban wa Vegeta-sama," I greeted. "Konban wa," he growled back, but he smirked at my food choices and dug in.
"Itadakimasu!" Bra and I chimed together. Vegeta grunted, and continued eating. We didn't talk too much while we ate, it just wasn't something we did during a meal, but after I cleared the dishes, I got a surprising compliment.
"You cook well, Gaki," Vegeta said impassively but mildly contented.
"Hai, she makes the best meals, 'tousama." "Arigato gozaimasu. I'm glad you both liked it," I chirped happily, bowing a little.
~~~~~~
I spent the next few days training in the gravity room with Vegeta, trying to raise my power level. I desperately wanted to be able to defend myself against Trunks whenever I had to, but it almost seemed impossible. He could transform to level three in the blink of an eye, but I was struggling on the edge of ascending to level one. I was determined to try though. My goal was to become a super saiya-jin and defeat Trunks. Idly, I wondered what it was that Bra had wanted to tell me on the balcony that night. I didn't think it was that she missed everyone, because I already knew that. I had a sinking feeling that she was keeping something from me. There was something about the way she was hesitating at the beginning of the conversation that just made me think she had something else to say. My mind had wandered quite far away when a hard punch to my face quickly brought me back to reality. My sensei wasn't too pleased. "Concentrate, Gaki!" he hissed at me, "Fall asleep while training again and I'll give you more than just a black eye!" "S-sumimasen, sensei," I stuttered. I could tell he was pissed off that I was daydreaming during one of his lessons. I would bet a million zenni that had never happened before. Although I did stop to wonder what he meant by 'more than just a black eye'. It kind of sounded promising. I blinked in astonishment. Where had that idea come from? He kicked my sternum violently, and I had no more time for thoughts. My blood lust was escalating, and I was overcome with the desire knock him to the floor. My saiya-jin blood demanded vengeance for the beating I was receiving. I lashed out at him in a fury of kicks and punches. He blocked them all easily, and berated me again for not concentrating. Then we began to spar in earnest. We were moving faster than the human eye could detect, but it would have been easy for anyone with ki sensing abilities to read our battle. The only part of the spar any normal person would have been able to see was the humiliating number of times I was sent flying into a wall. Four hours later I was gasping for breath and covered in a thin layer of sweat. He had me pinned down to the floor and was smirking in a fit of masculine domination. I dreadfully wanted to smack the look off his face, but he was hardly even winded from our skirmish, whereas I had precious little strength left. "You need to work on your endurance, Onna." His words tickled my psyche, and my brain stopped working. He had called me woman. Not child, not brat, but woman. I lay there on the floor for a long time, not realizing he had left while saying those words. Something must have been wrong with me today. My head wouldn't stop assigning double-entendres to everything he said. I was probably just having some weird hormonal imbalance or something. There was no special reason he called me 'Onna', I mean I turned twenty-two last week. Of course he couldn't refer to me as child for the rest of my life. Walking to the showers I could already tell he was long gone. That didn't stop me from stepping into his stall and taking in a deep breath of the area. The walls radiated his undeniably male scent. I felt like I was surrounded by him. Something was most definitely off with me today. Why had I chosen his shower? The water on the floor was still luke-warm and felt nice as I peeled off my spandex. I smiled and turned the hot water on full blast. It felt heavenly. I decided the best thing to do was to put all thoughts of Vegeta out of my head and concentrate on washing. I didn't mind the soap stinging my various cuts and bruises as I meticulously ran the washcloth over my skin. I felt clean and safe and happy. Finally dry and dressed, I found myself walking back to the main building headed towards Bra's room. I had barely seen her since she had come out to talk to me three days ago, and I was worried. Hopefully I would be able to get her to open up a little more; she, being the closest person to Trunks besides Bulma, seemed to be depressed as of late, especially since Vegeta and I were training nearly all the time. I knew it wasn't good for her to bottle herself up. I had done almost the same thing when my parents disappeared. I didn't want to eat or train or talk to anyone. I had just wanted to lie in bed and welcome the end of existence. If Vegeta hadn't dragged me back into the GR, I'd probably still be doing the same thing. I found myself in front of her door. I took in a big gulp of air before knocking lightly. I wasn't the best at conversation. She didn't respond, so I knocked again, louder.
Silence.
What should I do now? I couldn't let myself walk away. Slowly, I opened the door, and stepped in.
Her room looked the same as it had before Bulma passed away. The same wall treatments, the same decor, it looked exactly how I remembered it. Something felt strange about that. I started to feel guilty about not even going into her room once since Bulma's death. Looking around the room again, I realized she wasn't there. That was odd. She rarely left.
I closed my eyes and mentally searched the area. Vegeta was in the kitchen, most likely exhausting our supplies, but Bra wasn't anywhere on the grounds. Where could she be???
I walked downstairs and grabbed my jacket. Maybe she had gone for a walk or something. As I jogged outside, I felt anger seep through me. Bra knew better than to go for a walk. She couldn't protect herself at all. What if Trunks found her?
My anger became dread as I got to our street. Kami, what if Trunks had kidnapped her?! I raised my ki again to search the city for her. It was difficult trying to find anyone at all; there were so many people! I started to panic more. I couldn't feel her! My best friend was missing, and I had no idea where she was. As my thoughts jumbled at possible reasons she'd have for leaving the compound, I kept raising my ki looking for her.
Where was she?!?!
Suddenly I froze. I blanched as a dark ki ran through my consciousness. Oh no oh no oh no not Trunks, not now... As I glanced around me, I realized I was in an abandoned playground, or at least it appeared that way. It didn't look like the good part of town either. The equipment was embedded in cheap concrete, and most of it looked rusted and unused. I must not have been paying attention to where I was going.
Dammit! I could feel Trunks' power radiating from behind me. My mind screamed at me not to turn around, to just fly home as fast as possible, but I couldn't move. I was too afraid.
I felt hands on my shoulders. Trunks' hands. He yanked me around viciously. He was laughing in that way of his that made my blood run cold.
"Hello Pan-chan," Trunks spat at me sarcastically. "If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was call," he snickered.
I freaked as I realized my frantic searching for Bra had led Trunks right to me. I was so stupid to raise my ki like that! I squirmed and tried to get out of his grasp. He was way too strong though. His hands bit down into my arms harder, and I cried out in pain.
"Let go, Trunks! Stay away from me!" My voice sounded less confident than I had hoped, and soon I found myself sobbing. "Leave me alone, bakayarou!" Kami, I hated Trunks. He made me feel so helpless and submissive.
He backhanded me across the face sadistically, rapidly smashing me to the concrete.
"What did I tell you about respecting me?" he screamed, and I saw my blood on his hand. I raised my fingers to my cheek and felt blood there. It stung badly. "Apparently you weren't listening, whore!"
With that, he drew back his leg and kicked me hard in the gut. I tried to block it, but it didn't help much. My stomach throbbed and I thought one of my ribs was broken. I swallowed back my tears and tried to get up. I had to defend myself. As I struggled up, I fell into my fighting stance. Trunks seemed somewhat amused.
"You think you can take me on, whore?" he laughed as he threw a punch at me. I blocked and tried to counter, but he was faster and used his other hand to punch my side. I could feel more ribs cracking as his fist hit. I screamed and drew back, and I desperately tried to remember the things Vegeta had taught me. This definitely wasn't going well. Trunks had begun to advance on me again. I choked as I felt him charge up a ki blast and aim it at me. As he threw it, I forced my body to react, raising my arms and deflecting the blast. I coughed up some blood, and the strain on my body increased until the ki blast hit the jungle gym next to me, throwing a piece of debris at my leg full force. I cringed and felt the sting of tears at the back of my eyes.
Why couldn't I hurt him? I could last all day in the GR with Vegeta, so why couldn't I touch Trunks? It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair anymore. Bulma, my parents, Trunks, Paresu, all of it was unfair!
"Go to HELL, Trunks!!" I screamed. I began to back away and charge my ki.
"Kame..." I began and felt the power flow through me. "... Ha... Me..."
Trunks was getting ready to dodge. I didn't know where he was going to move, but I had to try to hit him.
"... HA!" I screamed and let my blast loose. He jumped up at the last second, and I tried to follow him with my wave.
Fuck! It wasn't hitting him! This was so frustrating! I felt the tears start to fall again. Why was I so weak? Why the fuck was I crying again? I was supposed to be a warrior!
I was about to let the blast go when I saw Trunks smash into my Kamehameha. Looking up hysterically, I spotted Vegeta in the sky. The look in his eyes said he was ready to kill. I had never seen Vegeta look that way before. In utter shock, I stopped my ki blast and let Trunks fall to the ground. Vegeta was angry. I could feel it coming off of him in palpable waves. And Trunks was about to be at the biting end of that anger. Vegeta touched down and picked Trunks up by his collar. He then proceeded to punch Trunks across the face and body faster than light. Trunks' blood pooled liberally across the concrete. Vegeta threw him through the wall of the brick apartment building next door. I could hear the people inside screaming and vomiting at the sight of Trunks. His numerous wounds were large and open, his flesh was burnt from my Kamehameha and smelled vile, and he appeared to be in a state of total catatonia.
It was then that my senses picked up Bra's ki signature. She was flying toward Capsule Corp. Wait... Flying? Bra didn't know how to fly. Distracted from Trunks, I lifted off and flew towards her. Vegeta seemed puzzled at my departure for a moment, but sensing Bra, he left the humans to deal with his unconscious son.
She wasn't flying too fast, so we caught up with her quickly. As shocked as I was at actually seeing her in the air, I held my tongue and waited for her to realize we were there. It didn't take too long, and she soon stopped in front of us. I was livid.
"Bra, where the fuck were you?!! I thought you'd been kidnapped by Trunks! I panicked when you weren't in the house!" I was tired, and in pain, but I could handle it. I had to know what happened to her. "Can we talk at home?" she sounded breathless. "I don't. have enough stamina to. stay floating here," she answered slowly. Then, after Vegeta took hold of her, grumbling a bit about having passengers, she composed herself enough to ask, "What happened to you?"
"I ran into Trunks while I was looking for you," I said a bit heatedly. Vegeta, sensing I was going to launch into another loud tirade, cut me off gruffly, "We'll discuss this at home."
~~~~~~~
A million thanks to my beta, Pareathe.
Next chapter: ~ Bra explains her whereabouts... to an extent.
~ Some actual Pan - Vegeta action! Will it be a kiss, or something more?
~ An unexpected person lands on Earth, and brings a dark force along. (ooo, dark forces..) Sounds like fun, huh?
Written by NeoQBirdie
Beta-read by Pareathe
A/N: First of all I'm really sorry for how long I dragged this out. It's been about a year since I posted the first chapter, and I'd actually forgotten about it. This chapter has been written for about 7 or 8 months, so I give you full permission to plot my demise for not updating. Thanks for the reviews though, and on that note, This chapter is dedicated to Reviewer guardian_of_the_sea whose cursing reminded me I needed to post this. Thanks a bunch, and a thousand apologies. I hope the dedication will bribe you into saying many nice things about me next review. (Also, I know I said I'd have lemon in this chapter, but it didn't really fit, so it's coming, don't get grumpy. I wouldn't leave you hanging, lemons are my favorite parts!) (^^;)
Disclaimer: I think we all know I don't own shit. On with the fic!
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I was hiding on the floor in my closet. My arms were securely wrapped around my legs, and I was shaking badly. I really didn't want to be alone, but my encounter with Trunks scared me to death. I was no match for him. He could easily snap me in half if he wanted to, even with all my training.
I had panicked when I got home. I just hadn't known what to do. Thoughts and feelings were racing through me, and I couldn't think at all. Vegeta had been in the GR, but I had known better than to disturb his workout. I had flown straight to my room. Still, being in there with the window locked wasn't enough. I had wanted another wall between Trunks and myself.
Hence, the closet. I didn't mind it at all; in fact, I liked the comfort of being in an enclosed space. I would have been able to calm down, but my mind kept shouting that Trunks was going to kill me. He had never physically threatened me before.
It hurt. It pained me more than any of the tangible wounds I had. As much as I was aware of Trunks' intentions from what happened to Paresu, that still didn't prepare me for our encounter. A part of me saw him as the Trunks with whom I had gone on the Grand Tour. The Trunks I had been hopelessly in love with as a child. I had adored him. I guess it was still hard for me to acknowledge his more lascivious intentions. Still, my brain knew better. Trunks was evil now. I couldn't trust him like I used to, and I hadn't been able to for a while.
There was a knock at the door to my closet.
I immediately froze. My heart started racing, and my breathing began to come in short gasps. Oh Kami, he had found me! There was a huge adrenaline surge in my body. "Gaki!" I heard a gruff voice call.
My senses instantly stilled and became regular. Vegeta was here. Everything would be better. Ouji-sensei would protect me.
"You had better be changing into your gi in there! You've already wasted half the morning's training! And you won't go back to the park, it takes up too much training time!"
I smiled a little. There was a touch of concern in his voice. Vegeta wasn't stupid. He had most likely kept careful tabs on me while I was accosted by Trunks in the park. Asking me not to go back was his way of making sure I was safe from his son. I smiled some more. Training was my favorite thing to do, and I desperately wanted to be near Vegeta-sama. He could protect me from anything.
~~~~~~~~
I sighed happily. I was sitting on my balcony railing outside my room stargazing. Tonight it was marvelously clear, and I could see thousands of stars. I loved looking at them, and often wondered if my parents were still out there somewhere. I know it's silly but I thought maybe if I stared long enough I'd be able to see where they were.
I had trained with Vegeta all day today and it felt wonderful. Sparring always took my mind off of whatever I was thinking, and this time was no exception. I didn't think anything could be better than watching the Saiya- jin no Ouji train. His moves were fluid, and seemed effortless even under the heavy strain of gravity he used. I hadn't showered yet, mainly because I still smelled a bit like Vegeta-sama. For some reason I hated washing it away. I felt blissfully relaxed from the calisthenics. Trunks and his problems seemed so far away. I think that was definitely a benefit to training with Vegeta. He made me forget about the stress in my life. When I was with him, nothing could touch me. He was the most powerful person alive, and he made me feel safe.
I heard the door open and felt Bra step out onto my balcony. She had a cautious edge to her ki, but I could also sense the stirrings of fear in her. Most likely it was from being out in the open, where Trunks could easily attack.
"Ano... Pan? Are you busy?" she asked lightly. "Not at all. What's up? I haven't seen you around too much lately." It was true. Bra kept to herself a lot now that Goten wasn't around and Trunks was ... unsafe. I was one of her few friends, but I'd been training so much lately that I hadn't had too much time for small talk. I should spend more time with her. She looked really thin and pale. I bet she was staying in her room way too much.
"Well, umm, I was wondering if you'd heard from Marron lately." This was obviously not what she came to talk about. Any time we got a letter from Marron, it was addressed to Bra. I didn't have time for reading or writing letters, and Marron knew that. Bra was also much closer to her than I was. Marron had left Japan after Paresu died and decided to go off on a trip to see the world, although the better reason was that she had broken up with Trunks a few years before, and was deathly afraid he would come after her next. I didn't blame her for wanting to get away from here. Things certainly weren't getting any better. Last I heard she was in Bermuda. At least she had taken Yamucha with her for protection. Trunks wasn't the only wacko in the world.
"The last postcard she sent came a month ago. You know she always sends that stuff to you."
"Wakarimasu. I was just wondering I guess." She paused for a minute and leaned on the balcony railing next to me. "Do you miss your parents?" she asked after a bit.
The answer came easy enough.
"Everyday," I said plainly. "But I still hope they'll come back, and I'll see them again. No matter how much time goes by, I don't think I'll ever stop hoping they might come back."
"I miss Okaasan," Bra choked through her tear-filled eyes. "And Marron, and Paresu," she was really crying now. I moved to hug her as she kept shaking. "And Trunks! I miss Trunks, Pan... The way he used to be. Kami, what's happened to us? What happened to the happy times we used to have?" She couldn't stop sobbing.
"I don't know, Bra," I whispered. I had to be strong. Someone needed to be rational or the tears wouldn't stop falling until three in the morning. I knew from experience. "I miss everyone too, Bra. We just need to stick by our friends and everything will be okay. We'll pull through. We always have. Now how about a midnight snack? Kami Bra, you look like you haven't eaten in years," I giggled and pulled her back inside.
She gave me a little smile as I dragged her down to the kitchen. "Now sit here and I'll make you a snack!"
Half an hour later the 'snack' was ready. I presented a variety of foods to choose from, thank Dende I had inherited Obaasan's cooking skills. It didn't faze me at all when Vegeta appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later. A true Saiya-jin always had time for food.
"Konban wa Vegeta-sama," I greeted. "Konban wa," he growled back, but he smirked at my food choices and dug in.
"Itadakimasu!" Bra and I chimed together. Vegeta grunted, and continued eating. We didn't talk too much while we ate, it just wasn't something we did during a meal, but after I cleared the dishes, I got a surprising compliment.
"You cook well, Gaki," Vegeta said impassively but mildly contented.
"Hai, she makes the best meals, 'tousama." "Arigato gozaimasu. I'm glad you both liked it," I chirped happily, bowing a little.
~~~~~~
I spent the next few days training in the gravity room with Vegeta, trying to raise my power level. I desperately wanted to be able to defend myself against Trunks whenever I had to, but it almost seemed impossible. He could transform to level three in the blink of an eye, but I was struggling on the edge of ascending to level one. I was determined to try though. My goal was to become a super saiya-jin and defeat Trunks. Idly, I wondered what it was that Bra had wanted to tell me on the balcony that night. I didn't think it was that she missed everyone, because I already knew that. I had a sinking feeling that she was keeping something from me. There was something about the way she was hesitating at the beginning of the conversation that just made me think she had something else to say. My mind had wandered quite far away when a hard punch to my face quickly brought me back to reality. My sensei wasn't too pleased. "Concentrate, Gaki!" he hissed at me, "Fall asleep while training again and I'll give you more than just a black eye!" "S-sumimasen, sensei," I stuttered. I could tell he was pissed off that I was daydreaming during one of his lessons. I would bet a million zenni that had never happened before. Although I did stop to wonder what he meant by 'more than just a black eye'. It kind of sounded promising. I blinked in astonishment. Where had that idea come from? He kicked my sternum violently, and I had no more time for thoughts. My blood lust was escalating, and I was overcome with the desire knock him to the floor. My saiya-jin blood demanded vengeance for the beating I was receiving. I lashed out at him in a fury of kicks and punches. He blocked them all easily, and berated me again for not concentrating. Then we began to spar in earnest. We were moving faster than the human eye could detect, but it would have been easy for anyone with ki sensing abilities to read our battle. The only part of the spar any normal person would have been able to see was the humiliating number of times I was sent flying into a wall. Four hours later I was gasping for breath and covered in a thin layer of sweat. He had me pinned down to the floor and was smirking in a fit of masculine domination. I dreadfully wanted to smack the look off his face, but he was hardly even winded from our skirmish, whereas I had precious little strength left. "You need to work on your endurance, Onna." His words tickled my psyche, and my brain stopped working. He had called me woman. Not child, not brat, but woman. I lay there on the floor for a long time, not realizing he had left while saying those words. Something must have been wrong with me today. My head wouldn't stop assigning double-entendres to everything he said. I was probably just having some weird hormonal imbalance or something. There was no special reason he called me 'Onna', I mean I turned twenty-two last week. Of course he couldn't refer to me as child for the rest of my life. Walking to the showers I could already tell he was long gone. That didn't stop me from stepping into his stall and taking in a deep breath of the area. The walls radiated his undeniably male scent. I felt like I was surrounded by him. Something was most definitely off with me today. Why had I chosen his shower? The water on the floor was still luke-warm and felt nice as I peeled off my spandex. I smiled and turned the hot water on full blast. It felt heavenly. I decided the best thing to do was to put all thoughts of Vegeta out of my head and concentrate on washing. I didn't mind the soap stinging my various cuts and bruises as I meticulously ran the washcloth over my skin. I felt clean and safe and happy. Finally dry and dressed, I found myself walking back to the main building headed towards Bra's room. I had barely seen her since she had come out to talk to me three days ago, and I was worried. Hopefully I would be able to get her to open up a little more; she, being the closest person to Trunks besides Bulma, seemed to be depressed as of late, especially since Vegeta and I were training nearly all the time. I knew it wasn't good for her to bottle herself up. I had done almost the same thing when my parents disappeared. I didn't want to eat or train or talk to anyone. I had just wanted to lie in bed and welcome the end of existence. If Vegeta hadn't dragged me back into the GR, I'd probably still be doing the same thing. I found myself in front of her door. I took in a big gulp of air before knocking lightly. I wasn't the best at conversation. She didn't respond, so I knocked again, louder.
Silence.
What should I do now? I couldn't let myself walk away. Slowly, I opened the door, and stepped in.
Her room looked the same as it had before Bulma passed away. The same wall treatments, the same decor, it looked exactly how I remembered it. Something felt strange about that. I started to feel guilty about not even going into her room once since Bulma's death. Looking around the room again, I realized she wasn't there. That was odd. She rarely left.
I closed my eyes and mentally searched the area. Vegeta was in the kitchen, most likely exhausting our supplies, but Bra wasn't anywhere on the grounds. Where could she be???
I walked downstairs and grabbed my jacket. Maybe she had gone for a walk or something. As I jogged outside, I felt anger seep through me. Bra knew better than to go for a walk. She couldn't protect herself at all. What if Trunks found her?
My anger became dread as I got to our street. Kami, what if Trunks had kidnapped her?! I raised my ki again to search the city for her. It was difficult trying to find anyone at all; there were so many people! I started to panic more. I couldn't feel her! My best friend was missing, and I had no idea where she was. As my thoughts jumbled at possible reasons she'd have for leaving the compound, I kept raising my ki looking for her.
Where was she?!?!
Suddenly I froze. I blanched as a dark ki ran through my consciousness. Oh no oh no oh no not Trunks, not now... As I glanced around me, I realized I was in an abandoned playground, or at least it appeared that way. It didn't look like the good part of town either. The equipment was embedded in cheap concrete, and most of it looked rusted and unused. I must not have been paying attention to where I was going.
Dammit! I could feel Trunks' power radiating from behind me. My mind screamed at me not to turn around, to just fly home as fast as possible, but I couldn't move. I was too afraid.
I felt hands on my shoulders. Trunks' hands. He yanked me around viciously. He was laughing in that way of his that made my blood run cold.
"Hello Pan-chan," Trunks spat at me sarcastically. "If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was call," he snickered.
I freaked as I realized my frantic searching for Bra had led Trunks right to me. I was so stupid to raise my ki like that! I squirmed and tried to get out of his grasp. He was way too strong though. His hands bit down into my arms harder, and I cried out in pain.
"Let go, Trunks! Stay away from me!" My voice sounded less confident than I had hoped, and soon I found myself sobbing. "Leave me alone, bakayarou!" Kami, I hated Trunks. He made me feel so helpless and submissive.
He backhanded me across the face sadistically, rapidly smashing me to the concrete.
"What did I tell you about respecting me?" he screamed, and I saw my blood on his hand. I raised my fingers to my cheek and felt blood there. It stung badly. "Apparently you weren't listening, whore!"
With that, he drew back his leg and kicked me hard in the gut. I tried to block it, but it didn't help much. My stomach throbbed and I thought one of my ribs was broken. I swallowed back my tears and tried to get up. I had to defend myself. As I struggled up, I fell into my fighting stance. Trunks seemed somewhat amused.
"You think you can take me on, whore?" he laughed as he threw a punch at me. I blocked and tried to counter, but he was faster and used his other hand to punch my side. I could feel more ribs cracking as his fist hit. I screamed and drew back, and I desperately tried to remember the things Vegeta had taught me. This definitely wasn't going well. Trunks had begun to advance on me again. I choked as I felt him charge up a ki blast and aim it at me. As he threw it, I forced my body to react, raising my arms and deflecting the blast. I coughed up some blood, and the strain on my body increased until the ki blast hit the jungle gym next to me, throwing a piece of debris at my leg full force. I cringed and felt the sting of tears at the back of my eyes.
Why couldn't I hurt him? I could last all day in the GR with Vegeta, so why couldn't I touch Trunks? It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair anymore. Bulma, my parents, Trunks, Paresu, all of it was unfair!
"Go to HELL, Trunks!!" I screamed. I began to back away and charge my ki.
"Kame..." I began and felt the power flow through me. "... Ha... Me..."
Trunks was getting ready to dodge. I didn't know where he was going to move, but I had to try to hit him.
"... HA!" I screamed and let my blast loose. He jumped up at the last second, and I tried to follow him with my wave.
Fuck! It wasn't hitting him! This was so frustrating! I felt the tears start to fall again. Why was I so weak? Why the fuck was I crying again? I was supposed to be a warrior!
I was about to let the blast go when I saw Trunks smash into my Kamehameha. Looking up hysterically, I spotted Vegeta in the sky. The look in his eyes said he was ready to kill. I had never seen Vegeta look that way before. In utter shock, I stopped my ki blast and let Trunks fall to the ground. Vegeta was angry. I could feel it coming off of him in palpable waves. And Trunks was about to be at the biting end of that anger. Vegeta touched down and picked Trunks up by his collar. He then proceeded to punch Trunks across the face and body faster than light. Trunks' blood pooled liberally across the concrete. Vegeta threw him through the wall of the brick apartment building next door. I could hear the people inside screaming and vomiting at the sight of Trunks. His numerous wounds were large and open, his flesh was burnt from my Kamehameha and smelled vile, and he appeared to be in a state of total catatonia.
It was then that my senses picked up Bra's ki signature. She was flying toward Capsule Corp. Wait... Flying? Bra didn't know how to fly. Distracted from Trunks, I lifted off and flew towards her. Vegeta seemed puzzled at my departure for a moment, but sensing Bra, he left the humans to deal with his unconscious son.
She wasn't flying too fast, so we caught up with her quickly. As shocked as I was at actually seeing her in the air, I held my tongue and waited for her to realize we were there. It didn't take too long, and she soon stopped in front of us. I was livid.
"Bra, where the fuck were you?!! I thought you'd been kidnapped by Trunks! I panicked when you weren't in the house!" I was tired, and in pain, but I could handle it. I had to know what happened to her. "Can we talk at home?" she sounded breathless. "I don't. have enough stamina to. stay floating here," she answered slowly. Then, after Vegeta took hold of her, grumbling a bit about having passengers, she composed herself enough to ask, "What happened to you?"
"I ran into Trunks while I was looking for you," I said a bit heatedly. Vegeta, sensing I was going to launch into another loud tirade, cut me off gruffly, "We'll discuss this at home."
~~~~~~~
A million thanks to my beta, Pareathe.
Next chapter: ~ Bra explains her whereabouts... to an extent.
~ Some actual Pan - Vegeta action! Will it be a kiss, or something more?
~ An unexpected person lands on Earth, and brings a dark force along. (ooo, dark forces..) Sounds like fun, huh?