Hmm... not much to say. This chapter explains the incident that Pan regrets... along with some other stuff. So.. um... yeah... on with my other annoying author crap.
Special Thanks to Reviews From:
Brandon B
Firebeauty
Daydreamer
~Symbols~
-...- thoughts
~*~ scene or setting change
(A/N:..) Author's Notes
Disclaimer: There's some original characters in this one, 4 that I mention... no 5 actually, but only 1 that'll make much of a difference. I know you can tell which ones are mine and which ones belong to the great Akira Toriyama.
Chapter 3
Trunks moaned and turned over on his side, trying to open his eyes to look at his alarm clock, but only found that the sunlight cascading into his room through the nearby window blinded him and caused an overly severe pain. Among other things, his head hurt terribly, as if someone had dropped an anvil on it like in those cheesy cartoons, but only repeatedly. He turned back over on his back, letting out another agonizing groan, wondering exactly what the hell he had done to himself the night before. Summoning up his courage, he sat up in his bed and pried open his eyes, forcing them to be temporarily blinded. Once he began to focus, he was greeted by long legs in orange colored clothing at the foot of his bed, with one long arm at the person's left side. He turned his gaze upward to see the face of Son Gohan standing before him, his halo glowing even more so than he'd seen in the last few days, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked as though he was angry at first, but then again, it could have been that he was amused. He might have even been saddened or disappointed. It was hard to tell.
"Have fun getting hammered last night?" Gohan's tone was a little harsh at first, but then it softened and his expression seemed to confirm that he was amused by something. Probably because Trunks was in obvious pain for his foolish mistake.
"I got drunk last night?" Trunks asked, somewhat confused for a second. And then it dawned on him. He'd taken Pan to a bar, by special request, and he had indeed drank himself stupid while there. He was so drunk that he literally stumbled his way home, rather than walked, and soon after he passed out. But he didn't remember much more to the night than that. "Oh yeah.... I remember now.... and damn did I get drunk last night. I feel like I'm going to die."
He held his head in his hands as an evil smile spread across Gohan's face. "I hope that'll teach you a lesson!" He was shouting because he knew that it would make his hangover worse, and sure enough, he was right. Trunks began to sink his head lower as he covered his ears and winced.
"Alright," Trunks almost whined. "Just stop shouting, please. It hurts bad enough." Then he turned his head up and looked at him questioningly. "Why didn't you just stop me from doing it? You are like my guardian angel, aren't you?"
Gohan sighed. He wished he could have, but it wasn't that easy. "I can't exactly make you do anything that you don't want to do. Believe me, I did try countless times to convince you not to, but you wanted to go, and I couldn't exactly tell you that you couldn't. You are your own person, you are perfectly capable of making your decisions, and, regrettably, my opinion doesn't really matter. It makes me wonder why exactly am I down here." But deep inside, he knew why. He wanted to come down and try to get his best friend and his only daughter together. He sensed a long time ago that something more would come of the friendship that Trunks and Pan had, but he knew that the age difference would stand in the way of them admitting what they really felt. He felt that he could help, that it would be easy to simply convince Trunks, who he'd known all his life and was closest to, to admit what he felt. Goku had made a special request to the Kais, seeing how much it meant to his son, and he was granted time on Earth to fulfill his plan. But it proved to be harder than he thought. Over the years, Trunks had matured enough and gained enough intelligence that it was harder for Gohan to manipulate him into doing what he wanted like he used to when Trunks was a kid. He was far from a kid now, and far too liberated in his thinking for Gohan's liking.
"Interesting," Trunks said as he mulled over what Gohan just told him. So, he couldn't make him go after Pan. That was a relief to him. Now he could put all those strange feelings behind him without Gohan trying to make him believe in them, given that information. But of course he knew Gohan would never make him do anything though... or would he if he had the chance?
Trunks snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a low moan from across his room, a female-sounding moan. He moved Gohan out of his panorama and he saw Pan slumped over in his chair stretching as she stirred. She appeared to have the same reactions to the morning as he had, the failed attempt at opening the eyes without being blinded, the terrible headache, then the successful attempt at opening her eyes, and her gaze immediately fell on Trunks when they began to focus.
She gave a small smile as she muttered, "Hey.."
"Hey.." he muttered in the same fashion. "What are you doing here?"
She smirked, now fully awake, as she walked over to his bed. "What's the matter, Trunks?" She stretched out on his bed before him, positioning herself in a sexy, model-like pose. "Not used to having a beautiful woman in your room anymore, eh?" She laughed as his eyes widened at the pose she was in. It intrigued him to say the least, and those Master Roshi-like feelings began to resurface again.
He shook his head, as if to get rid of them, and Gohan laughed at the obvious inner-turmoil that he was putting himself through. -Why does he have to be so stubborn? What's wrong with just admitting it? Must be the Vegeta genes in him...-
"You know what I mean," Trunks said with a half smile. It was funny, just a few weeks ago she was Pan-chan, his best friend... almost his little sister... and now she was Pan... a beautiful young woman with a lively spirit and a heart of gold. It was indeed funny how life worked...
"Well," she said as she laid down on her back, focusing on the ceiling as a sudden wave of panic struck her. She hoped and prayed that he didn't remember what she'd done on the way into the house... the things she'd said.... and then the action that finally ended the night, right before he passed out. "You passed out in front of the house and I carried you in. I was planning on leaving through the window, but I didn't make it as you can see."
They both exchanged a smile as Gohan smiled to himself. It was obvious that they were good friends. They had an easiness that only friends could share, an easiness that he didn't even share with Trunks. They would make a fine match... if they would stop lying to themselves and give in to what their hearts were telling them.
Pan sat up then and looked Trunks square in the eye. She wanted to know how much he remembered about last night. She knew that she'd never forget it, despite the fact that she was drunk. It was a night to remember... and an unforgettable walk home. "Just exactly what do you remember from last night?"
Trunks scratched his head as he thought. "All I remember is... we played some drinking game, I think... and I got really drunk, obviously.... we walked home.... then I passed out."
Pan felt relief wash over her and she silently screamed her thanks to whoever must like her in the Other World. Someone must, because her request that he not remember what she regretted was fulfilled. She looked down at her shoes then, disgustedly. "You also through up on my shoes."
Trunks laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, much to Gohan's amusement. He'd definitely been around too many Sons. "I did? Sorry about that. I'll buy you some new ones."
"Of course you will," Pan said with a smile. "Did you think I'd just let you ruin my new shoes without getting you to pay up?" He smiled back as she rose to her feet, ready to leave out the window. "Better go before my mom goes into hysterics. See ya, Trunks-kun." She waved as he called out a, "Bye Pan-chan" before she made her exit.
He turned to Gohan when he heard him laugh again. He cocked his head to side, getting out of his bed and heading to the door when he smelled food, wondering what on Earth was so funny. "What are you laughing at?"
"The look on your face..." Gohan said in between chuckles, as he held his stomach with his one arm and doubled over in laughter.
Trunks looked confused at first, then it hit him and he blushed. He was referring to Trunks' reaction to Pan's wannabe-model pose. "Shut up!" he said as he left his room, leaving his deceased friend crying on the ground, still laughing hysterically.
He got up and wiped the tears off of his face. Heading down the hall to the kitchen, he was silently thinking of new ways to torture his lavender-haired buddy, and possibly steal some of his food without him noticing. After all, spirits need food too.
The night before...
Pan smiled as she blew out all 18 candles of her birthday cake, and then looked over at her mother, Bulma, and Trunks happily. All four of them had become one family instead of two after Pan was born. It had always been a tradition to celebrate Pan's birthday at Bulma's, just the four of them, and then to have a special memorial-like service in order to remember Gohan and all of their friends who had died because of the Androids (excluding Goku of course, who died of that heart virus, and Chichi), all of whom Pan had never met, but still felt sorry for because of the sad look in everyone else's eyes, especially Bulma, who had known them all. Pan always wondered how she kept her sanity after that, but perhaps, she forced herself to for Trunks' sake.
It seemed weird to Trunks as they bowed their heads and Bulma asked him to say something nice in memory of Gohan, with Gohan standing right next to him, grinning from ear to ear. But nevertheless, he did it, and Gohan looked pleased with the portrait he'd painted of a good friend, noble fighter, and a possibly good father if he'd been given the chance. Videl had to dab her eyes afterward, thinking of her dead husband, and Gohan wished that he could be there again and ease her pain, that a miracle would happen and the Dragonballs would magically appear so that he could be wished back and be able to protect Videl again. He wiped away his own tears just watching her. (A/N: Corny, eh? Yes, I know. But I needed to add something in there and that's what came to mind.)
But anyway, enough with the sad stuff. Pan then proceeded to open her gifts as everyone in the room began to be filled with joy again, and was surprised when not one of them were from Trunks. There were assortments of baggy shirts and jeans, training clothes, bandannas, even a few dresses that Bulma had snuck in, much to Pan's disappointment, but nothing from Trunks.
"I don't get a present from you, Trunks-kun?" She looked sad as she asked, almost like a child again and Trunks couldn't help but feel sad as he looked at her.
"Of course you do, Pan-chan," Trunks said, smiling to reassure her. "Just a different kind of present."
She raised an eyebrow then, more confused than intrigued. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He sat down in the chair next to her as their mothers chatted about something, Videl absentmindedly folding and organizing Pan's new clothes. He smiled warmly at Pan, and the room suddenly felt like it was 500 degrees in Pan's point of view. "How would you like to go somewhere with me tonight? Anywhere you want. That's my present to you."
She smirked as she pondered his proposition. -A night alone with Trunks. Wouldn't miss it for the world.- "Sure, Trunks. Sounds good to me." She got out of her chair and told her mother that she was leaving as they walked out of the house and down the street, with Gohan close behind, curious as to where they were going.
"Where exactly do you wanna go, Pan-chan?" He asked her as they walked.
"Hmm..." She stopped and thought about it, and then smiled when it came to her. "A bar." Trunks and Gohan's eyes widened with surprise and they both repeated what she'd said as if they didn't hear her correctly. "Yes, a bar," She said again, proudly. She felt like an adult and she wanted to be treated like one. No better way than going to a bar, right?
"Are you sure Pan-chan?" Trunks asked as they began to walk again.
"Yep," She said, flashing the Son grin that he'd come to love on her. "I'm sure."
Gohan nudged Trunks in the side to get his attention. "You can't take my little girl to a bar. Are you crazy?"
"She's perfectly able to make her own decisions," Trunks said, forgetting that Gohan wasn't visible in Pan's view. "And it's not like she's underage." (A/N: My wonderful friend, Autumn, told me that the drinking age is 18 in Japan. If it's not, then it is in this fic. I figured drinking is something that she knows about, so why not trust her? *smiles evilly* Just kidding, Autumn!)
Pan raised an eyebrow at Trunks, who appeared to be talking to an imaginary person at his right. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh... I... uh....," He stuttered as he groped for the right words to explain his odd-looking behavior. "I was.... thinking out loud... yeah, that's it."
Pan narrowed her eyes at him, not really convinced, but it did make sense, so she just dismissed it and continued walking as Trunks ignored Gohan's pleas for him to reconsider and make her change her mind. "I know she'll think you're lunatic if you talk to me, but at least pretend to listen." Trunks set his gaze in front of him as he walked silently, trying hard to not to pay attention to him, only making him angry. "Fine, don't listen to me then." With that, he flew off back in the direction of the house, probably to go check on Bulma and Videl, as he had been doing whenever he wasn't probing Trunks to tell Pan that he loves her.
~*~
They stopped in front of a little bar Trunks had mentioned earlier, "Larry's Bar", and Pan chuckled as she read what was below the name of the bar: "The Only Place That Survived The Androids, Thanks To Trunks Briefs". His picture was right below it, taken right after they were defeated. He appeared to look really surprised, either by the fact that they'd finally been beaten, or by the fact that they were so interested in snapping a photo of him.
"You must be a celebrity here," Pan said as they walked into the bar. He was a well known person everywhere, and they were even mobbed by a couple of teenage girls on the way over, but she suspected he was even more liked here, seeing as how the owner seemed to "worship" him for his bar being the only thing that wasn't destroyed by the Androids.
Trunks laughed. "You could say that."
The owner came up to them then, a short, pudgy man with barely any hair on his head, and immediately showed Trunks to his "usual table" and offered him everything from drinks to food to his daughter and Trunks laughed at his kindness. In the end, he just ordered a couple of bottles of tequila brought over to him, which he put on his tab.
"A couple of bottles?" Pan questioned, looking at him in awe. "Why so much?"
Trunks shrugged as they were brought over to him almost as quickly as he had asked and began pouring some in a glass for Pan. "I don't know. No reason."
But Pan wasn't convinced of that either. He didn't even use a glass, he just downed the bottles like in those movies where the man lost his wife, his girlfriend, his job, his everything, and drowns in his sorrow by getting drunk off his ass.
Pan just stared at her glass as she watched him in awe, opening the second bottle. She wondered what was wrong, but didn't ask him. She figured if it was bad enough not to tell her, it was better left at that, since he would most likely tell her sooner or later. He always did. Feeling better, she took a sip of the liquid in front of her as a guy approached their table with a lady under his arm.
The guy was about Trunks' height, and he had brown eyes and brown hair, cut in the same way as Trunks'. The girl had long, dark pink hair with light purple eyes and a smile as she glanced at Trunks and Pan.
"Hey, Trunks," the guy said as he extended his arm. "Nice to see you again."
Trunks smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to see you too, Nick." Nick was an old friend, or rather an occasional acquaintance, of Trunks'. He liked Nick, but he would never allow himself to get close to anyone except Pan, not after Gohan. He always felt that if he got too close to someone, they would leave him like Gohan did, even now after the Androids were long gone. He just couldn't let himself go through that pain again. But somehow, with Pan, it was different. Somehow, he knew she would never leave him, with him there to protect her. Always. "Why don't you have a seat?"
Nick and his lady friend sat down as Trunks introduced them to Pan. "This is my girlfriend, Magenta." (A/N: Get it... Magenta? Pink hair... Magenta. I'm so clever.) Nick pointed to the pink-haired girl next to him and smiled at her.
Pan was silent as the group began to talk and she hardly even drank the drink in front of her. She was battling the feelings that she thought she'd put aside a long time ago, the feelings that had suddenly escaped from their place in the back of her mind, the feelings that told her she wanted Trunks to be more than just her friend. But she knew that wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen. Trunks was way too old for her, and too much of a friend to screw it all up with their relationship if it never worked. And she had convinced herself a long time ago that he would always think of her as "little Panny-chan" instead of just "Pan". She would always be a child in his eyes, not the woman that she was now. So why did she suddenly believe otherwise in her heart? Why did she want to suddenly confess everything to him? Why now? Why tonight?
"I know!" Magenta exclaimed. "Let's play, 'I Never'!" A few more people had joined the scene without Pan even noticing, and some of them were asking what the hell 'I Never' was. "It's a drinking game. We go around the table and each person has to say something that they've never done, and if you have, you have to take a drink. Make sense?"
Everyone nodded and even Pan seemed intrigued as she snapped out her trance-like state. Trunks was beginning to get tipsy and would agree to anything at that point, and most of the group looked as though they'd do anything even if sober.
"Alright," she said. "I'll start. I never....... smoked weed before."
Almost everyone took a sip of their drinks, except Pan, Nick, and Magenta. Pan looked questioningly at Trunks, and he just said that he was dared to try it once. It was his turn then. "Uh.... I never..." A devious smile crossed his face as he thought of a way to embarrass Pan. "I never wore underwear on my head and sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'." (A/N: I have no idea where the hell that came from... just smile and nod like you know what's going on, ok? Ok.)
Pan glared at Trunks while everyone else looked puzzled as to why anyone would ever do that. Pan reluctantly took a sip of her drink and everyone stared at her, then burst into fits of laughter. Pan was intent on redeeming herself, "I was 3 years old! Leave me alone!"
The game went on normally as everyone calmed down and Pan thought of a way to get revenge on Trunks. She smiled when it was her turn, eagerly awaiting the uproar of laughter that was sure to come when she exposed one of Trunks' secrets. "I never... wet my bed when I was 15."
Trunks looked like he was about to kill her as he brought the drink up his lips and sipped it, causing snickers from the rest of the group, except for another guy, a nervous looking one who never seemed to stop shaking and kept looking over his shoulder, who also took a sip of his drink. He looked like a paranoid drug dealer, and the guy who was with him looked confused, but didn't bother to ask the obviously fearful stoner, who'd legally changed his name to Kron (A/N: Kron... as in chronic... as in weed. I'm so tight with my names!) what brought on that incident.
(A/N: Ok, I know you're probably wondering what the hell that had to do with anything, and I'm wondering myself, but I needed something else to put in there, so... yeah.... Basically, I needed to take up some room. Ok? Ok.)
The game then took on a new purpose: for Trunks and Pan to continue to get revenge on each other. He pulled out every one of her secrets or embarrassing moments, as she did his. The group then began to visibly disappear and Trunks became more than a little drunk. Pan was drunk too, but still had enough sense to think clearly, unlike Trunks, who's language was so slurred he sounded like Mike Tyson.
"I never thought 'carpe diem' was food!" Pan shouted, causing Trunks to growl and take a drink.
"Well, I never thought that I was gay," Trunks said, only it was slurred a great deal.
Pan smirked and took a drink. She was still smart enough, despite her drunkenness, to realize that Trunks' intentional insult didn't work very well. "No, but I always thought you were gay."
Trunks looked confused, then realized that his revenge tactic didn't come out right. He was about to retort when Nick interrupted him.
"We're leaving, Trunks," Nick said as he got up from the table, Magenta under his arm. Nick was a little scared and shocked at this point, and had no desire to know anymore hidden secrets or embarrassing moments of his lavender-haired associate. He learned more than he ever intended to about him, to say the least. "I'll... see you later." He said the last part reluctantly, given the new and unwanted information he'd received. Tonight was definitely a very amusing, eventful, and very frightening night.
~*~
"You know what, Pan?" Trunks said, the newly developed slur deepening as Pan dragged him out of the bar and down the street. "You are the bestest friend I ever had."
Pan smiled in spite of herself. She tried not believe what Trunks said when he was drunk, but for some reason she found that he meant that statement. She knew how he got when he was drunk, and nothing he said could be reliable. He told her every bizarre thing you could ever imagine, and it used to amuse as well as entertain her when she was younger, but sometimes what he said was so strange it was scary.
"Thanks, Trunks-kun," She replied, her own voice slightly slurred as she struggled to walk down the street, guide Trunks, see what was ahead of her through her blurred vision, and not collide with other pedestrians. - This has got to be harder than beating the Androids.-
After what seemed like hours she finally reached Capsule Corp. She loosened her grip on Trunks and allowed him to regain his composure as they stood in front of the house, and she felt her insides turn to mush as she looked into his eyes. It was always his eyes that did it for her, his eyes that always told her when he was lying or telling the truth, his eyes that always told her that he was sincere when he made a promise, his eyes that told her when he was happy, sad, angry, whatever. He had that look that told you that everything would be ok, that as long as you stuck by him nothing would go wrong. And it was his eyes that she was most attracted to. Even when he was drunk she felt a closeness to him, now even more so for some unfathomable (A/N: That's a funny sounding word, isn't it?) reason.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to hear Trunks' complaints of his stomach problems, thinking that it was just the usual nonsense he spat out when he was intoxicated. But, she soon found out how right he was about the next thing he said.
"I think I'm going to throw up," Trunks said miserably as he held his stomach.
And sure enough he thought right. He leaned over and retched all over Pan's new shoes that she'd gotten for her birthday only hours before. That pulled her back to reality.
"Oh shit!" Pan screamed in repugnance (A/N: Hehehe, another funny word.) as Trunks finished his little... um... "barf moment".
"Sorry... Pan-chan," he said softly still holding his stomach. "I'll...buy you some... new ones."
Pan shook her head in despair as she looked at her shoes, then looked back up to the producer of the vile substance that her shoes were covered in. She met up with his eyes again, and found that she had a growing desire to kiss him. She didn't want to live with her feelings another minute all of a sudden. She didn't want to be a coward and hide the fact that she had a crush on him. She hated the feeling, but she couldn't ignore the craving that she felt. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking, or maybe it was just temporary insanity. She didn't know, nor did she care. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to back down.
"We better go home," Trunks said, after he spewed vomit once again, in a nearby bush. Then he looked up at a sign that read: CAPSULE CORPORATION and he grinned. "Oh! I am home!"
"Trunks," Pan said softly, almost like a whisper.
"Yeah?" Trunks said, squinting, hoping that he could see just one of her instead of three.
"Trunks... I..." She stuttered. She didn't know where to begin, but in the end she just decided to blurt it out as it came. "Trunks, I have a crush on you. I always have, for as long as I can remember. I don't know why I'm telling you now, you're obviously not sober and you probably don't have a clue as to what I'm saying, but I'm tired of hiding it. I really like you, Trunks... I might even... love you..." Then without warning, she kissed him. Sure, his breath reeked of alcohol and he had just been vomiting, but she didn't care. All she cared about at the moment was her lavender-haired crush.
But when she pulled away and noticed the look in the eyes that she loved so much, she instantly regretted it. She regretted everything, the confession and most importantly, the kiss. She couldn't believe she'd just kissed a drunk half-Saiyan who had just got done ruining her new shoes. Not only had she kissed him, but she'd practically went soap opera on him and "proclaimed her undying love" for him. The whole idea suddenly made her sick.
Trunks' eyes told it all. He was shocked at first, then flattered, and then confused. If it wasn't confusion in his eyes, it was fright. Pan was sure of that. She knew him too well. But the only thing she cared about at that moment was that if he remembered in the morning, she'd never live it down.
Trunks didn't say a word to her as he attempted to stick his key in the door, but found it to be more difficult than it should be. Pan was silent too, not even making a move to retreat to her own house. She was too shocked and confused and deep in thought once again. And once again an unexpected action from Trunks tore her out of her thoughts. He passed out and landed on top of her.
- Under any other circumstances- Pan thought as she struggled to get on her feet. - I would greatly enjoy Trunks on top of me, I'm sure. But now is not so pleasant.-
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she got up and carried a very hammered Trunks into the house and to his bed. And soon, after feeling a mixture of remorse and excitement, she blacked out and landed in a chair.
Back to the Present...
Trunks sighed as he sat down on the ground, his back leaned against a tree in front of the house, and tried to concentrate on meditating, but found it increasingly hard when he was trying to cope with his brand new feelings for Pan and trying to shut Gohan up at the same time. He'd never been so unhappy and so confused in his whole life, and he was beginning to wonder if the emotional drain he felt was even more severe than the drain he felt when Gohan died.
He'd never get over that, no matter how happy life seemed to get. The Androids made him grow up quick, and made him fearful of everything and everyone when they got too close. Whenever he thought he liked anyone enough for them to be a good friend, or when he thought he was falling in love with a girl he'd been dating, he'd do something stupid to screw it all up so that if something ever happened to them, he wouldn't feel as devastated about it as he had with Gohan. It took a lot for Trunks to even trust someone enough to even talk to them more than a couple of times, except for women of course.
Pan was the only exception. At first, he felt a little obligated to protect her, as a final good deed that he could do for his departed friend. But as she grew up and he began to train her, she grew on him, and they became good friends, despite the age difference. He felt he could always confide in her, and she felt the same way about him.
It was almost as if Gohan died to make room for her, and to give him a new friend, like there was an expiration date to friendships. But it didn't appear to be that way with Pan, and he hoped it never would be. He hoped that their friendship would last forever, and more importantly, that these new feelings wouldn't ruin it.
"Look, Gohan," Trunks said, getting really irritated with his ramblings. "I don't want to hear about how me and Pan's kids would look if we had any. I don't care about what a cute couple we'd make. I don't even care about how much it would mean to you if we got together, at the moment. All I care about right now is meditating, and if you screw that up again and break my concentration, I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" Gohan was getting irritated himself. He was tired of staying on Earth, without being able to talk to anyone besides Trunks. It was getting increasingly frustrating to convince him, and this deceased Son was far from happy. "You'll do what, Trunks? Kill me? Send me to the next dimension? I got news for you, Trunks. I've been there and back."
His tone surprised Trunks. He hadn't expected him to react that way. He expected him to be the same cheerful, nonchalant Gohan. "Ok, so there's not much I can do to you. Why's it so important that you get us together anyway?"
"Because," Gohan said as he leaned against the tree Trunks was sitting in front of. "I know you need convincing, otherwise you would just ignore your feelings and not act on it. You'll never know what you had... you might even come to regret ignoring your feelings."
"What makes you think you could convince me?"
"I've never failed before. Ever since you were a kid I could always convince you of anything I wanted. Whenever you had a nightmare, only I could convince you that the monster wasn't real. Whenever you were afraid that you'd never become a Super Saiyan I always convinced you that you would in time. I figured nothing has changed."
Trunks smiled as memories of him and Gohan clouded his mind. It was true, there was no denying it. He just didn't want it to be true. Trunks was even seconds away from admitting to Gohan what he really felt for Pan, until he told him that information. Gohan still had his touch.
"Let me ask you this, Trunks," Gohan said as he sat down next to Trunks. "Why is this so hard for you to admit? Why can't you just admit it to me at least?"
Trunks sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I feel. It's weird. One day she was my friend who happened to be a girl, and the next day she's an actual woman."
Gohan laughed. "Most girls do turn into to women, Trunks. Then again, some guys do too..."
Trunks laughed and suddenly felt better than he had in a long time. -Leave it to Gohan to make me feel better.- He then tried to meditate again, but after about 5 minutes, he was interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
Trunks opened one eye when he heard an unfamiliar, female voice, then the other. In front of him was a short woman with fiery red hair, the crayon shade of red. She had big, anime-style, blue eyes and a beautiful smile, and suddenly Pan was the farthest from his mind as he stood up.
"You're Trunks Briefs, aren't you?" She asked.
"Yes, I am." He replied, smiling.
Gohan recognized the look in his eyes and panicked. "Oh shit..."
"So your mother is Bulma Briefs?" She asked, making sure she had the right person.
"Yes." - How many other Briefs' can there be around here?-
She smiled again and extended her hand. "My name is Pyra Flame (A/N: I hope you get where that name came from.). I'm applying for the lab assistant job."
Trunks narrowed his eyes, confused for a moment, then he remembered. His mother had put an ad in the paper for an assistant, after months of complaining about needing the extra help, and so far she'd been the only to respond. Then he wondered if she was just dumb or she didn't notice the huge the sign that plainly read, Capsule Corporation in front of the house. "Oh, ok. I'll take you right in to see my mom."
Gohan groaned and smacked himself as Trunks and Pyra disappeared into the house. If Gohan still knew Trunks like he thought he did, that look could only mean one thing: his trip to Earth might just be in vain.
A couple hours later...
"Thanks for the tour, Trunks," Pyra said as Trunks walked her out. "You've been really kind to me today."
"No problem," Trunks said, smiling. He had grown to like her over the past few hours that they were together, and even gathered some information about her, like that she was 28 and she had 2 brothers... the usual bullshit and unimportant information gained from small talk. "It was my pleasure."
"Since I'm working here now," She smiled. "I'll get to see a lot more of you then.... I hope."
Trunks' eyes widened at how forward she was. "I hope so too."
"Damn it!" Gohan screamed, having been a witness to what was going on. "Don't you want to be with my Pan-chan! Don't you want to have my grandchildren! Oh Kami.. I sound like my mother..."
Trunks ignored him, as usual, and continued, "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"
"Is that a company policy?" Pyra teased. "To go out with the lab assistants?"
Trunks grinned. "No, not exactly."
Pyra rubbed her chin, as if trying to think it over, but in all reality she had long since made up her mind about Trunks Briefs. She'd grown to like him over the past few hours and would be more than happy to go out with him, among other things she'd like to do with him. After all, this was the man who single-handedly saved the entire world from the Androids, not to mention his mother owned Capsule Corporation. She just didn't want to seem too eager to date him.
She pulled a pen out of her pocket, grabbed his hand, and scribbled down her name and number. "Call me later." She turned around and waved as she walked toward her house.
Trunks waved back and smiled. For the first time in weeks he felt sure of something. He was sure that Pyra was just what he needed, someone to take his mind off of this thing with Pan, a sort of stress reliever. He didn't care what Gohan said about regretting it if he turned his back on his feelings for her, he figured Gohan was just wrong for once.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gohan started his verbal assault once again. "Didn't I just tell you that you could regret not going after my daughter for the rest of your life? And now you make a date with some tramp? What the fuck are you on? Did you do something more than just drink last night?"
Trunks glared at him, but didn't reply until he was sure Pyra was out of earshot, and when he did, his voice was so calm and soft that Gohan could barely hear him, even with his advanced Saiyan hearing. "I don't want to hear your bullshit right now, Gohan."
He turned and walked away from him, leaving Gohan to scream and curse in anger and frustration. He never wanted to spend so much time on Earth, not if the only thing he could do was talk to Trunks and watch people do things. He hated that Trunks was so stubborn and he knew he was probably using her as a distraction.
He sighed and screamed again before going into the house, feeling an all new feeling of rage and despair, as was his daughter, Pan, who had just witnessed the entire scene between Trunks and Pyra, and was on the verge of tears.
*~*~*~*~*
Ooh, look at that. Chapter 3! This wasn't as long as the other one, but almost. I hope you enjoyed it, and if anyone has any ideas about what should happen, let me in know in your reviews. And let me know what my faults are. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure the night at the bar will really make a difference in the storyline, it just came to me one day and my ideas don't go away unless I post them, so I figured why not write it in there? And, of course, I gotta do some self-advertisement: My other two fics are "The Utterly Impossible" and "A Prince's Past". Please check them out. Oh and see that little button on the left hand side of the bottom of this window? Yeah, that one! Click on it!
Next Chapter: Ok, let's see. Trunks + Pyra = 2 angry Sons. Pan's going nuts, Gohan's going nuts, Trunks is getting ass. (No, there isn't a lemon or anything like that.) Anyway, Pan reflects on what her feelings for Trunks really mean, and oh, what's this? Dinner at Bulma's? Pyra and Pan in the same room? Dun Dun Dun! The shit's definitely going to hit the fan!
Special Thanks to Reviews From:
Brandon B
Firebeauty
Daydreamer
~Symbols~
-...- thoughts
~*~ scene or setting change
(A/N:..) Author's Notes
Disclaimer: There's some original characters in this one, 4 that I mention... no 5 actually, but only 1 that'll make much of a difference. I know you can tell which ones are mine and which ones belong to the great Akira Toriyama.
Chapter 3
Trunks moaned and turned over on his side, trying to open his eyes to look at his alarm clock, but only found that the sunlight cascading into his room through the nearby window blinded him and caused an overly severe pain. Among other things, his head hurt terribly, as if someone had dropped an anvil on it like in those cheesy cartoons, but only repeatedly. He turned back over on his back, letting out another agonizing groan, wondering exactly what the hell he had done to himself the night before. Summoning up his courage, he sat up in his bed and pried open his eyes, forcing them to be temporarily blinded. Once he began to focus, he was greeted by long legs in orange colored clothing at the foot of his bed, with one long arm at the person's left side. He turned his gaze upward to see the face of Son Gohan standing before him, his halo glowing even more so than he'd seen in the last few days, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked as though he was angry at first, but then again, it could have been that he was amused. He might have even been saddened or disappointed. It was hard to tell.
"Have fun getting hammered last night?" Gohan's tone was a little harsh at first, but then it softened and his expression seemed to confirm that he was amused by something. Probably because Trunks was in obvious pain for his foolish mistake.
"I got drunk last night?" Trunks asked, somewhat confused for a second. And then it dawned on him. He'd taken Pan to a bar, by special request, and he had indeed drank himself stupid while there. He was so drunk that he literally stumbled his way home, rather than walked, and soon after he passed out. But he didn't remember much more to the night than that. "Oh yeah.... I remember now.... and damn did I get drunk last night. I feel like I'm going to die."
He held his head in his hands as an evil smile spread across Gohan's face. "I hope that'll teach you a lesson!" He was shouting because he knew that it would make his hangover worse, and sure enough, he was right. Trunks began to sink his head lower as he covered his ears and winced.
"Alright," Trunks almost whined. "Just stop shouting, please. It hurts bad enough." Then he turned his head up and looked at him questioningly. "Why didn't you just stop me from doing it? You are like my guardian angel, aren't you?"
Gohan sighed. He wished he could have, but it wasn't that easy. "I can't exactly make you do anything that you don't want to do. Believe me, I did try countless times to convince you not to, but you wanted to go, and I couldn't exactly tell you that you couldn't. You are your own person, you are perfectly capable of making your decisions, and, regrettably, my opinion doesn't really matter. It makes me wonder why exactly am I down here." But deep inside, he knew why. He wanted to come down and try to get his best friend and his only daughter together. He sensed a long time ago that something more would come of the friendship that Trunks and Pan had, but he knew that the age difference would stand in the way of them admitting what they really felt. He felt that he could help, that it would be easy to simply convince Trunks, who he'd known all his life and was closest to, to admit what he felt. Goku had made a special request to the Kais, seeing how much it meant to his son, and he was granted time on Earth to fulfill his plan. But it proved to be harder than he thought. Over the years, Trunks had matured enough and gained enough intelligence that it was harder for Gohan to manipulate him into doing what he wanted like he used to when Trunks was a kid. He was far from a kid now, and far too liberated in his thinking for Gohan's liking.
"Interesting," Trunks said as he mulled over what Gohan just told him. So, he couldn't make him go after Pan. That was a relief to him. Now he could put all those strange feelings behind him without Gohan trying to make him believe in them, given that information. But of course he knew Gohan would never make him do anything though... or would he if he had the chance?
Trunks snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a low moan from across his room, a female-sounding moan. He moved Gohan out of his panorama and he saw Pan slumped over in his chair stretching as she stirred. She appeared to have the same reactions to the morning as he had, the failed attempt at opening the eyes without being blinded, the terrible headache, then the successful attempt at opening her eyes, and her gaze immediately fell on Trunks when they began to focus.
She gave a small smile as she muttered, "Hey.."
"Hey.." he muttered in the same fashion. "What are you doing here?"
She smirked, now fully awake, as she walked over to his bed. "What's the matter, Trunks?" She stretched out on his bed before him, positioning herself in a sexy, model-like pose. "Not used to having a beautiful woman in your room anymore, eh?" She laughed as his eyes widened at the pose she was in. It intrigued him to say the least, and those Master Roshi-like feelings began to resurface again.
He shook his head, as if to get rid of them, and Gohan laughed at the obvious inner-turmoil that he was putting himself through. -Why does he have to be so stubborn? What's wrong with just admitting it? Must be the Vegeta genes in him...-
"You know what I mean," Trunks said with a half smile. It was funny, just a few weeks ago she was Pan-chan, his best friend... almost his little sister... and now she was Pan... a beautiful young woman with a lively spirit and a heart of gold. It was indeed funny how life worked...
"Well," she said as she laid down on her back, focusing on the ceiling as a sudden wave of panic struck her. She hoped and prayed that he didn't remember what she'd done on the way into the house... the things she'd said.... and then the action that finally ended the night, right before he passed out. "You passed out in front of the house and I carried you in. I was planning on leaving through the window, but I didn't make it as you can see."
They both exchanged a smile as Gohan smiled to himself. It was obvious that they were good friends. They had an easiness that only friends could share, an easiness that he didn't even share with Trunks. They would make a fine match... if they would stop lying to themselves and give in to what their hearts were telling them.
Pan sat up then and looked Trunks square in the eye. She wanted to know how much he remembered about last night. She knew that she'd never forget it, despite the fact that she was drunk. It was a night to remember... and an unforgettable walk home. "Just exactly what do you remember from last night?"
Trunks scratched his head as he thought. "All I remember is... we played some drinking game, I think... and I got really drunk, obviously.... we walked home.... then I passed out."
Pan felt relief wash over her and she silently screamed her thanks to whoever must like her in the Other World. Someone must, because her request that he not remember what she regretted was fulfilled. She looked down at her shoes then, disgustedly. "You also through up on my shoes."
Trunks laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, much to Gohan's amusement. He'd definitely been around too many Sons. "I did? Sorry about that. I'll buy you some new ones."
"Of course you will," Pan said with a smile. "Did you think I'd just let you ruin my new shoes without getting you to pay up?" He smiled back as she rose to her feet, ready to leave out the window. "Better go before my mom goes into hysterics. See ya, Trunks-kun." She waved as he called out a, "Bye Pan-chan" before she made her exit.
He turned to Gohan when he heard him laugh again. He cocked his head to side, getting out of his bed and heading to the door when he smelled food, wondering what on Earth was so funny. "What are you laughing at?"
"The look on your face..." Gohan said in between chuckles, as he held his stomach with his one arm and doubled over in laughter.
Trunks looked confused at first, then it hit him and he blushed. He was referring to Trunks' reaction to Pan's wannabe-model pose. "Shut up!" he said as he left his room, leaving his deceased friend crying on the ground, still laughing hysterically.
He got up and wiped the tears off of his face. Heading down the hall to the kitchen, he was silently thinking of new ways to torture his lavender-haired buddy, and possibly steal some of his food without him noticing. After all, spirits need food too.
The night before...
Pan smiled as she blew out all 18 candles of her birthday cake, and then looked over at her mother, Bulma, and Trunks happily. All four of them had become one family instead of two after Pan was born. It had always been a tradition to celebrate Pan's birthday at Bulma's, just the four of them, and then to have a special memorial-like service in order to remember Gohan and all of their friends who had died because of the Androids (excluding Goku of course, who died of that heart virus, and Chichi), all of whom Pan had never met, but still felt sorry for because of the sad look in everyone else's eyes, especially Bulma, who had known them all. Pan always wondered how she kept her sanity after that, but perhaps, she forced herself to for Trunks' sake.
It seemed weird to Trunks as they bowed their heads and Bulma asked him to say something nice in memory of Gohan, with Gohan standing right next to him, grinning from ear to ear. But nevertheless, he did it, and Gohan looked pleased with the portrait he'd painted of a good friend, noble fighter, and a possibly good father if he'd been given the chance. Videl had to dab her eyes afterward, thinking of her dead husband, and Gohan wished that he could be there again and ease her pain, that a miracle would happen and the Dragonballs would magically appear so that he could be wished back and be able to protect Videl again. He wiped away his own tears just watching her. (A/N: Corny, eh? Yes, I know. But I needed to add something in there and that's what came to mind.)
But anyway, enough with the sad stuff. Pan then proceeded to open her gifts as everyone in the room began to be filled with joy again, and was surprised when not one of them were from Trunks. There were assortments of baggy shirts and jeans, training clothes, bandannas, even a few dresses that Bulma had snuck in, much to Pan's disappointment, but nothing from Trunks.
"I don't get a present from you, Trunks-kun?" She looked sad as she asked, almost like a child again and Trunks couldn't help but feel sad as he looked at her.
"Of course you do, Pan-chan," Trunks said, smiling to reassure her. "Just a different kind of present."
She raised an eyebrow then, more confused than intrigued. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He sat down in the chair next to her as their mothers chatted about something, Videl absentmindedly folding and organizing Pan's new clothes. He smiled warmly at Pan, and the room suddenly felt like it was 500 degrees in Pan's point of view. "How would you like to go somewhere with me tonight? Anywhere you want. That's my present to you."
She smirked as she pondered his proposition. -A night alone with Trunks. Wouldn't miss it for the world.- "Sure, Trunks. Sounds good to me." She got out of her chair and told her mother that she was leaving as they walked out of the house and down the street, with Gohan close behind, curious as to where they were going.
"Where exactly do you wanna go, Pan-chan?" He asked her as they walked.
"Hmm..." She stopped and thought about it, and then smiled when it came to her. "A bar." Trunks and Gohan's eyes widened with surprise and they both repeated what she'd said as if they didn't hear her correctly. "Yes, a bar," She said again, proudly. She felt like an adult and she wanted to be treated like one. No better way than going to a bar, right?
"Are you sure Pan-chan?" Trunks asked as they began to walk again.
"Yep," She said, flashing the Son grin that he'd come to love on her. "I'm sure."
Gohan nudged Trunks in the side to get his attention. "You can't take my little girl to a bar. Are you crazy?"
"She's perfectly able to make her own decisions," Trunks said, forgetting that Gohan wasn't visible in Pan's view. "And it's not like she's underage." (A/N: My wonderful friend, Autumn, told me that the drinking age is 18 in Japan. If it's not, then it is in this fic. I figured drinking is something that she knows about, so why not trust her? *smiles evilly* Just kidding, Autumn!)
Pan raised an eyebrow at Trunks, who appeared to be talking to an imaginary person at his right. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh... I... uh....," He stuttered as he groped for the right words to explain his odd-looking behavior. "I was.... thinking out loud... yeah, that's it."
Pan narrowed her eyes at him, not really convinced, but it did make sense, so she just dismissed it and continued walking as Trunks ignored Gohan's pleas for him to reconsider and make her change her mind. "I know she'll think you're lunatic if you talk to me, but at least pretend to listen." Trunks set his gaze in front of him as he walked silently, trying hard to not to pay attention to him, only making him angry. "Fine, don't listen to me then." With that, he flew off back in the direction of the house, probably to go check on Bulma and Videl, as he had been doing whenever he wasn't probing Trunks to tell Pan that he loves her.
~*~
They stopped in front of a little bar Trunks had mentioned earlier, "Larry's Bar", and Pan chuckled as she read what was below the name of the bar: "The Only Place That Survived The Androids, Thanks To Trunks Briefs". His picture was right below it, taken right after they were defeated. He appeared to look really surprised, either by the fact that they'd finally been beaten, or by the fact that they were so interested in snapping a photo of him.
"You must be a celebrity here," Pan said as they walked into the bar. He was a well known person everywhere, and they were even mobbed by a couple of teenage girls on the way over, but she suspected he was even more liked here, seeing as how the owner seemed to "worship" him for his bar being the only thing that wasn't destroyed by the Androids.
Trunks laughed. "You could say that."
The owner came up to them then, a short, pudgy man with barely any hair on his head, and immediately showed Trunks to his "usual table" and offered him everything from drinks to food to his daughter and Trunks laughed at his kindness. In the end, he just ordered a couple of bottles of tequila brought over to him, which he put on his tab.
"A couple of bottles?" Pan questioned, looking at him in awe. "Why so much?"
Trunks shrugged as they were brought over to him almost as quickly as he had asked and began pouring some in a glass for Pan. "I don't know. No reason."
But Pan wasn't convinced of that either. He didn't even use a glass, he just downed the bottles like in those movies where the man lost his wife, his girlfriend, his job, his everything, and drowns in his sorrow by getting drunk off his ass.
Pan just stared at her glass as she watched him in awe, opening the second bottle. She wondered what was wrong, but didn't ask him. She figured if it was bad enough not to tell her, it was better left at that, since he would most likely tell her sooner or later. He always did. Feeling better, she took a sip of the liquid in front of her as a guy approached their table with a lady under his arm.
The guy was about Trunks' height, and he had brown eyes and brown hair, cut in the same way as Trunks'. The girl had long, dark pink hair with light purple eyes and a smile as she glanced at Trunks and Pan.
"Hey, Trunks," the guy said as he extended his arm. "Nice to see you again."
Trunks smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to see you too, Nick." Nick was an old friend, or rather an occasional acquaintance, of Trunks'. He liked Nick, but he would never allow himself to get close to anyone except Pan, not after Gohan. He always felt that if he got too close to someone, they would leave him like Gohan did, even now after the Androids were long gone. He just couldn't let himself go through that pain again. But somehow, with Pan, it was different. Somehow, he knew she would never leave him, with him there to protect her. Always. "Why don't you have a seat?"
Nick and his lady friend sat down as Trunks introduced them to Pan. "This is my girlfriend, Magenta." (A/N: Get it... Magenta? Pink hair... Magenta. I'm so clever.) Nick pointed to the pink-haired girl next to him and smiled at her.
Pan was silent as the group began to talk and she hardly even drank the drink in front of her. She was battling the feelings that she thought she'd put aside a long time ago, the feelings that had suddenly escaped from their place in the back of her mind, the feelings that told her she wanted Trunks to be more than just her friend. But she knew that wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen. Trunks was way too old for her, and too much of a friend to screw it all up with their relationship if it never worked. And she had convinced herself a long time ago that he would always think of her as "little Panny-chan" instead of just "Pan". She would always be a child in his eyes, not the woman that she was now. So why did she suddenly believe otherwise in her heart? Why did she want to suddenly confess everything to him? Why now? Why tonight?
"I know!" Magenta exclaimed. "Let's play, 'I Never'!" A few more people had joined the scene without Pan even noticing, and some of them were asking what the hell 'I Never' was. "It's a drinking game. We go around the table and each person has to say something that they've never done, and if you have, you have to take a drink. Make sense?"
Everyone nodded and even Pan seemed intrigued as she snapped out her trance-like state. Trunks was beginning to get tipsy and would agree to anything at that point, and most of the group looked as though they'd do anything even if sober.
"Alright," she said. "I'll start. I never....... smoked weed before."
Almost everyone took a sip of their drinks, except Pan, Nick, and Magenta. Pan looked questioningly at Trunks, and he just said that he was dared to try it once. It was his turn then. "Uh.... I never..." A devious smile crossed his face as he thought of a way to embarrass Pan. "I never wore underwear on my head and sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'." (A/N: I have no idea where the hell that came from... just smile and nod like you know what's going on, ok? Ok.)
Pan glared at Trunks while everyone else looked puzzled as to why anyone would ever do that. Pan reluctantly took a sip of her drink and everyone stared at her, then burst into fits of laughter. Pan was intent on redeeming herself, "I was 3 years old! Leave me alone!"
The game went on normally as everyone calmed down and Pan thought of a way to get revenge on Trunks. She smiled when it was her turn, eagerly awaiting the uproar of laughter that was sure to come when she exposed one of Trunks' secrets. "I never... wet my bed when I was 15."
Trunks looked like he was about to kill her as he brought the drink up his lips and sipped it, causing snickers from the rest of the group, except for another guy, a nervous looking one who never seemed to stop shaking and kept looking over his shoulder, who also took a sip of his drink. He looked like a paranoid drug dealer, and the guy who was with him looked confused, but didn't bother to ask the obviously fearful stoner, who'd legally changed his name to Kron (A/N: Kron... as in chronic... as in weed. I'm so tight with my names!) what brought on that incident.
(A/N: Ok, I know you're probably wondering what the hell that had to do with anything, and I'm wondering myself, but I needed something else to put in there, so... yeah.... Basically, I needed to take up some room. Ok? Ok.)
The game then took on a new purpose: for Trunks and Pan to continue to get revenge on each other. He pulled out every one of her secrets or embarrassing moments, as she did his. The group then began to visibly disappear and Trunks became more than a little drunk. Pan was drunk too, but still had enough sense to think clearly, unlike Trunks, who's language was so slurred he sounded like Mike Tyson.
"I never thought 'carpe diem' was food!" Pan shouted, causing Trunks to growl and take a drink.
"Well, I never thought that I was gay," Trunks said, only it was slurred a great deal.
Pan smirked and took a drink. She was still smart enough, despite her drunkenness, to realize that Trunks' intentional insult didn't work very well. "No, but I always thought you were gay."
Trunks looked confused, then realized that his revenge tactic didn't come out right. He was about to retort when Nick interrupted him.
"We're leaving, Trunks," Nick said as he got up from the table, Magenta under his arm. Nick was a little scared and shocked at this point, and had no desire to know anymore hidden secrets or embarrassing moments of his lavender-haired associate. He learned more than he ever intended to about him, to say the least. "I'll... see you later." He said the last part reluctantly, given the new and unwanted information he'd received. Tonight was definitely a very amusing, eventful, and very frightening night.
~*~
"You know what, Pan?" Trunks said, the newly developed slur deepening as Pan dragged him out of the bar and down the street. "You are the bestest friend I ever had."
Pan smiled in spite of herself. She tried not believe what Trunks said when he was drunk, but for some reason she found that he meant that statement. She knew how he got when he was drunk, and nothing he said could be reliable. He told her every bizarre thing you could ever imagine, and it used to amuse as well as entertain her when she was younger, but sometimes what he said was so strange it was scary.
"Thanks, Trunks-kun," She replied, her own voice slightly slurred as she struggled to walk down the street, guide Trunks, see what was ahead of her through her blurred vision, and not collide with other pedestrians. - This has got to be harder than beating the Androids.-
After what seemed like hours she finally reached Capsule Corp. She loosened her grip on Trunks and allowed him to regain his composure as they stood in front of the house, and she felt her insides turn to mush as she looked into his eyes. It was always his eyes that did it for her, his eyes that always told her when he was lying or telling the truth, his eyes that always told her that he was sincere when he made a promise, his eyes that told her when he was happy, sad, angry, whatever. He had that look that told you that everything would be ok, that as long as you stuck by him nothing would go wrong. And it was his eyes that she was most attracted to. Even when he was drunk she felt a closeness to him, now even more so for some unfathomable (A/N: That's a funny sounding word, isn't it?) reason.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to hear Trunks' complaints of his stomach problems, thinking that it was just the usual nonsense he spat out when he was intoxicated. But, she soon found out how right he was about the next thing he said.
"I think I'm going to throw up," Trunks said miserably as he held his stomach.
And sure enough he thought right. He leaned over and retched all over Pan's new shoes that she'd gotten for her birthday only hours before. That pulled her back to reality.
"Oh shit!" Pan screamed in repugnance (A/N: Hehehe, another funny word.) as Trunks finished his little... um... "barf moment".
"Sorry... Pan-chan," he said softly still holding his stomach. "I'll...buy you some... new ones."
Pan shook her head in despair as she looked at her shoes, then looked back up to the producer of the vile substance that her shoes were covered in. She met up with his eyes again, and found that she had a growing desire to kiss him. She didn't want to live with her feelings another minute all of a sudden. She didn't want to be a coward and hide the fact that she had a crush on him. She hated the feeling, but she couldn't ignore the craving that she felt. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking, or maybe it was just temporary insanity. She didn't know, nor did she care. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to back down.
"We better go home," Trunks said, after he spewed vomit once again, in a nearby bush. Then he looked up at a sign that read: CAPSULE CORPORATION and he grinned. "Oh! I am home!"
"Trunks," Pan said softly, almost like a whisper.
"Yeah?" Trunks said, squinting, hoping that he could see just one of her instead of three.
"Trunks... I..." She stuttered. She didn't know where to begin, but in the end she just decided to blurt it out as it came. "Trunks, I have a crush on you. I always have, for as long as I can remember. I don't know why I'm telling you now, you're obviously not sober and you probably don't have a clue as to what I'm saying, but I'm tired of hiding it. I really like you, Trunks... I might even... love you..." Then without warning, she kissed him. Sure, his breath reeked of alcohol and he had just been vomiting, but she didn't care. All she cared about at the moment was her lavender-haired crush.
But when she pulled away and noticed the look in the eyes that she loved so much, she instantly regretted it. She regretted everything, the confession and most importantly, the kiss. She couldn't believe she'd just kissed a drunk half-Saiyan who had just got done ruining her new shoes. Not only had she kissed him, but she'd practically went soap opera on him and "proclaimed her undying love" for him. The whole idea suddenly made her sick.
Trunks' eyes told it all. He was shocked at first, then flattered, and then confused. If it wasn't confusion in his eyes, it was fright. Pan was sure of that. She knew him too well. But the only thing she cared about at that moment was that if he remembered in the morning, she'd never live it down.
Trunks didn't say a word to her as he attempted to stick his key in the door, but found it to be more difficult than it should be. Pan was silent too, not even making a move to retreat to her own house. She was too shocked and confused and deep in thought once again. And once again an unexpected action from Trunks tore her out of her thoughts. He passed out and landed on top of her.
- Under any other circumstances- Pan thought as she struggled to get on her feet. - I would greatly enjoy Trunks on top of me, I'm sure. But now is not so pleasant.-
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she got up and carried a very hammered Trunks into the house and to his bed. And soon, after feeling a mixture of remorse and excitement, she blacked out and landed in a chair.
Back to the Present...
Trunks sighed as he sat down on the ground, his back leaned against a tree in front of the house, and tried to concentrate on meditating, but found it increasingly hard when he was trying to cope with his brand new feelings for Pan and trying to shut Gohan up at the same time. He'd never been so unhappy and so confused in his whole life, and he was beginning to wonder if the emotional drain he felt was even more severe than the drain he felt when Gohan died.
He'd never get over that, no matter how happy life seemed to get. The Androids made him grow up quick, and made him fearful of everything and everyone when they got too close. Whenever he thought he liked anyone enough for them to be a good friend, or when he thought he was falling in love with a girl he'd been dating, he'd do something stupid to screw it all up so that if something ever happened to them, he wouldn't feel as devastated about it as he had with Gohan. It took a lot for Trunks to even trust someone enough to even talk to them more than a couple of times, except for women of course.
Pan was the only exception. At first, he felt a little obligated to protect her, as a final good deed that he could do for his departed friend. But as she grew up and he began to train her, she grew on him, and they became good friends, despite the age difference. He felt he could always confide in her, and she felt the same way about him.
It was almost as if Gohan died to make room for her, and to give him a new friend, like there was an expiration date to friendships. But it didn't appear to be that way with Pan, and he hoped it never would be. He hoped that their friendship would last forever, and more importantly, that these new feelings wouldn't ruin it.
"Look, Gohan," Trunks said, getting really irritated with his ramblings. "I don't want to hear about how me and Pan's kids would look if we had any. I don't care about what a cute couple we'd make. I don't even care about how much it would mean to you if we got together, at the moment. All I care about right now is meditating, and if you screw that up again and break my concentration, I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" Gohan was getting irritated himself. He was tired of staying on Earth, without being able to talk to anyone besides Trunks. It was getting increasingly frustrating to convince him, and this deceased Son was far from happy. "You'll do what, Trunks? Kill me? Send me to the next dimension? I got news for you, Trunks. I've been there and back."
His tone surprised Trunks. He hadn't expected him to react that way. He expected him to be the same cheerful, nonchalant Gohan. "Ok, so there's not much I can do to you. Why's it so important that you get us together anyway?"
"Because," Gohan said as he leaned against the tree Trunks was sitting in front of. "I know you need convincing, otherwise you would just ignore your feelings and not act on it. You'll never know what you had... you might even come to regret ignoring your feelings."
"What makes you think you could convince me?"
"I've never failed before. Ever since you were a kid I could always convince you of anything I wanted. Whenever you had a nightmare, only I could convince you that the monster wasn't real. Whenever you were afraid that you'd never become a Super Saiyan I always convinced you that you would in time. I figured nothing has changed."
Trunks smiled as memories of him and Gohan clouded his mind. It was true, there was no denying it. He just didn't want it to be true. Trunks was even seconds away from admitting to Gohan what he really felt for Pan, until he told him that information. Gohan still had his touch.
"Let me ask you this, Trunks," Gohan said as he sat down next to Trunks. "Why is this so hard for you to admit? Why can't you just admit it to me at least?"
Trunks sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I feel. It's weird. One day she was my friend who happened to be a girl, and the next day she's an actual woman."
Gohan laughed. "Most girls do turn into to women, Trunks. Then again, some guys do too..."
Trunks laughed and suddenly felt better than he had in a long time. -Leave it to Gohan to make me feel better.- He then tried to meditate again, but after about 5 minutes, he was interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
Trunks opened one eye when he heard an unfamiliar, female voice, then the other. In front of him was a short woman with fiery red hair, the crayon shade of red. She had big, anime-style, blue eyes and a beautiful smile, and suddenly Pan was the farthest from his mind as he stood up.
"You're Trunks Briefs, aren't you?" She asked.
"Yes, I am." He replied, smiling.
Gohan recognized the look in his eyes and panicked. "Oh shit..."
"So your mother is Bulma Briefs?" She asked, making sure she had the right person.
"Yes." - How many other Briefs' can there be around here?-
She smiled again and extended her hand. "My name is Pyra Flame (A/N: I hope you get where that name came from.). I'm applying for the lab assistant job."
Trunks narrowed his eyes, confused for a moment, then he remembered. His mother had put an ad in the paper for an assistant, after months of complaining about needing the extra help, and so far she'd been the only to respond. Then he wondered if she was just dumb or she didn't notice the huge the sign that plainly read, Capsule Corporation in front of the house. "Oh, ok. I'll take you right in to see my mom."
Gohan groaned and smacked himself as Trunks and Pyra disappeared into the house. If Gohan still knew Trunks like he thought he did, that look could only mean one thing: his trip to Earth might just be in vain.
A couple hours later...
"Thanks for the tour, Trunks," Pyra said as Trunks walked her out. "You've been really kind to me today."
"No problem," Trunks said, smiling. He had grown to like her over the past few hours that they were together, and even gathered some information about her, like that she was 28 and she had 2 brothers... the usual bullshit and unimportant information gained from small talk. "It was my pleasure."
"Since I'm working here now," She smiled. "I'll get to see a lot more of you then.... I hope."
Trunks' eyes widened at how forward she was. "I hope so too."
"Damn it!" Gohan screamed, having been a witness to what was going on. "Don't you want to be with my Pan-chan! Don't you want to have my grandchildren! Oh Kami.. I sound like my mother..."
Trunks ignored him, as usual, and continued, "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"
"Is that a company policy?" Pyra teased. "To go out with the lab assistants?"
Trunks grinned. "No, not exactly."
Pyra rubbed her chin, as if trying to think it over, but in all reality she had long since made up her mind about Trunks Briefs. She'd grown to like him over the past few hours and would be more than happy to go out with him, among other things she'd like to do with him. After all, this was the man who single-handedly saved the entire world from the Androids, not to mention his mother owned Capsule Corporation. She just didn't want to seem too eager to date him.
She pulled a pen out of her pocket, grabbed his hand, and scribbled down her name and number. "Call me later." She turned around and waved as she walked toward her house.
Trunks waved back and smiled. For the first time in weeks he felt sure of something. He was sure that Pyra was just what he needed, someone to take his mind off of this thing with Pan, a sort of stress reliever. He didn't care what Gohan said about regretting it if he turned his back on his feelings for her, he figured Gohan was just wrong for once.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gohan started his verbal assault once again. "Didn't I just tell you that you could regret not going after my daughter for the rest of your life? And now you make a date with some tramp? What the fuck are you on? Did you do something more than just drink last night?"
Trunks glared at him, but didn't reply until he was sure Pyra was out of earshot, and when he did, his voice was so calm and soft that Gohan could barely hear him, even with his advanced Saiyan hearing. "I don't want to hear your bullshit right now, Gohan."
He turned and walked away from him, leaving Gohan to scream and curse in anger and frustration. He never wanted to spend so much time on Earth, not if the only thing he could do was talk to Trunks and watch people do things. He hated that Trunks was so stubborn and he knew he was probably using her as a distraction.
He sighed and screamed again before going into the house, feeling an all new feeling of rage and despair, as was his daughter, Pan, who had just witnessed the entire scene between Trunks and Pyra, and was on the verge of tears.
*~*~*~*~*
Ooh, look at that. Chapter 3! This wasn't as long as the other one, but almost. I hope you enjoyed it, and if anyone has any ideas about what should happen, let me in know in your reviews. And let me know what my faults are. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure the night at the bar will really make a difference in the storyline, it just came to me one day and my ideas don't go away unless I post them, so I figured why not write it in there? And, of course, I gotta do some self-advertisement: My other two fics are "The Utterly Impossible" and "A Prince's Past". Please check them out. Oh and see that little button on the left hand side of the bottom of this window? Yeah, that one! Click on it!
Next Chapter: Ok, let's see. Trunks + Pyra = 2 angry Sons. Pan's going nuts, Gohan's going nuts, Trunks is getting ass. (No, there isn't a lemon or anything like that.) Anyway, Pan reflects on what her feelings for Trunks really mean, and oh, what's this? Dinner at Bulma's? Pyra and Pan in the same room? Dun Dun Dun! The shit's definitely going to hit the fan!
