Ok, I will try not to take two months to update again. I'm not making any promises though. I only have this fic to worry about as of today, but that might change in the near future. I have many ideas for new fics and an idea to restore an old one to life. And in case you haven't noticed, this is a really long chapter. Microsoft Works says it's 23 pages, so be happy. That's the longest chapter I've ever posted. And also, I tried to update on my fic's birthday, the 10th, but it wasn't working. One year and a few days ago "Hope" was born. So help wish it a happy late birthday by giving me a nice review. Like these people below.
Special Thanks To Reviews From:
Jezika
AnimeFreak-TrunksPan-luver4evr- I think I sent you an email, but in case I didn't or in case you didn't receive it, yes, Pan is Mirai. Except I tend to use the English dubbed crap. Makes it a lot easier.
Nitte iz
Brandon B
pan86
Kobe-Mac- By the way, Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA!
Patrick
Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep putting up one of these? If I do, I guess I will. I own nothing because I'm not important enough to own something as great as DBZ. I do own Xavier, who endures a lot of torture in this chapter.
Chapter 13
The guest room at the Son home was very neatly designed. The walls were a pale blue color to match the bed set of the same shade. The carpeting was plain white, simple yet suited for the room. There was a dresser lining the wall opposite the door, so when you walked in, it was the first thing you saw. There was a window to the right of it, which provided a nice view of the mountains in the distance and the many trees blowing in the gentle wind. If you stood at the door, the bed would be against the left wall, facing the desk which was against the opposite wall. There was a small closet in the room as well, on the wall next to the bed, which now contained Trunks and Pan's only outfit which they'd been wearing all week, due to the fact that they hadn't actually been able to pack for this trip through time.
But Pan wasn't thinking about that as she sat at the desk at 3 that morning. She was totally mesmerized by the only picture that sat at the desk. It was a group picture, almost like the one she saw in her mother's shoe box that night months ago, which seemed like lifetimes ago, and in reality it was. There was Piccolo in the picture, Krillin and his family, the Briefs and of course the Sons, all smiling at Capsule Corp. for what looked like a celebration of some sort. Just the way they all smiled, looking so happy and carefree, like nothing in their lives had ever changed, had ever damaged their souls, had ever even threatened their happy little lives at all, made Pan keep her eyes on them. She was sort of dissecting them with her eyes, trying to find the hidden meaning, the reason why they were so happy and joyful. It seemed so unreal to her. They were people who's lived were endangered on countless occasions, yet they somehow found it in there hearts to be optimistic enough to still have fun. And through all this dissecting, all this confusion which took hold of her mind and concentration, Pan actually felt herself feeling a small pinch of jealousy.
But, why shouldn't she? These people seemed to have everything. They had family. They had friends. Sure, she had those things, but her reality was a far cry from theirs. She could count her family and friends on one hand, but there were over a dozen people in this picture. They could still be happy, get together for old time's sake and have a good time. In Pan's world, the only real celebration was on Trunks and Pan's birthdays, but even they turned into a sad moment, a moment to remember everyone they'd lost and everyone Pan had never even met because of the tyrannous Androids. These people seemed to be so much more confident, so much more sure of themselves and in the fact that life could get back to normal after the many tragedies. For Pan and Trunks and the Videl and Bulma of their time, nothing returned to its normal course of action after the Androids. They lost everything, their friends, their family, and even their hope. These people had Dragonballs to aid them after a war; Trunks had none to turn to when the Androids were finally gone. Trunks, Pan, Bulma, and Videl lived a life of constant fear, during and after the Androids' cast a shadow on the Earth. First they were in constant fear of their lives; now they are in constant fear that their lives will be endangered again, that their small circle of comfort will get pulled apart again and one of them will join the others in the Other World. It was a constant battle to try to be happy again, because the fact that so many people that meant so much to them weren't there to be happy with them. They felt as though it still wasn't right to be too joyous. So for them, life could never be truly normal again; it changed too drastically. But for the people of the past, the smiling people in the picture, all they had to do was wish, and everything was in its rightful place until the next humongous power tried to establish dominance.
Pan had every right to be jealous. These people had it so much easier than she did. They didn't have to grow up afraid to turn the corner everyday. They didn't have to grow up and learn that your father was killed on the exact day you were born, and feel guilty because it seems like he died so you could have a place in the world. They didn't have one friend in the whole world who traveled back to their time in order to protect them from the same haunting curse. But Pan did. And it wasn't fair.
She hated this feeling, this feeling of envy. She always thought it an evil feeling. But it was true. She longed to be so carefree, so happy, so confident. And right now, enjoying the company of the smiling people in the picture, living in their peaceful time of no worries and fears, she could be like them. She could be happy. Confident. Carefree. There was nothing to fear here. And she liked that.
She sighed as she traced the faces in the picture. The problem with their world was that it was false, she realized. They really weren't as happy as they looked. It was an illusion created so that they didn't feel as bad as they knew they should. An illusion to impair their sight, so that they didn't have to see the truth. The truth sometimes really does hurt.
She knew that had to be the case. Especially for Gohan. She could tell by the way he reacted to some of the questions she asked him about the Cell Games that he was guilty about the outcome of the fight. Sure, he'd defeated Cell, but his father also died then because he got carried away with his newfound power. And to make matters worse, he refused to come when they tried to wish him back with their magical problem-solvers, the Dragonballs. The amount of guilt he felt had to be massive.
And she could relate. She often found herself feeling guilty of her father, the future Gohan's, death. Of course she couldn't have stopped it, she knew, for she wasn't even born yet, but the fact remained that he died hours before she was born. That seemed just a little too coincidental to her. It was like he died to make room for her, and that made her wish it was the other way around. Though the rational Pan knew she had nothing to do with his death, the irrational Pan held on to the belief that he was a sacrifice so that she would exist. And more often than not, the irrational Pan took hold of the controls.
She turned around then and looked at Trunks' sleeping form. His lavender hair was tousled everywhere, and his mouth was curved upward into a lop-sided grin, so she assumed he was sleeping peacefully for a change. The blanket was halfway draped over him, halfway on the floor, and she smiled at how much he looked like a little kid. Somehow thinking about him made everything better again. Just knowing he was there brought her comfort and reassurance she didn't know she needed. She felt almost 100 percent better knowing that even in his sleep, he was there for her.
She was about to get up and was startled when Trunks suddenly frowned and started to thrash around in the bed, mumbling incoherently and growing louder and louder by the second. So much for a peaceful sleep.
She went through this for the past few nights, waking him up when he had one of his nightmares and trying to sooth him. But this time she was already up, and proceeded to wake him by holding his flailing arms down and trying to shake him out of his slumber.
"Trunks," She said, quietly so as not to wake up anyone else, but loud enough for Trunks to hear. "Wake up... Wake up."
He awoke with a start, and was staring at Pan for second, somewhat in a daze. Finally he seemed to have registered who she was in his mind and immediately sat up and held her in a tight embrace. She rubbed his back and held onto him just as tightly, whispering words of comfort to sooth his disturbed state of mind.
"Oh Kami, Panny," He said breathlessly. "It was so horrible..."
"What happened?" Pan asked as he let go of her so he could look into her eyes.
"Well.." He started as he ran a shaky hand through his hair. "It started out peaceful.... we were just sitting there in a field.... and then..." She grabbed his hand, sensing that he needed some support. "And then some... thing... came out of nowhere and he... it..." He broke off and held onto Pan again, the memory of the dream still too vivid and traumatizing to reveal the end of it.
"It's ok now," Pan said to him soothingly as she rocked him back and forth like a child. "It was just a dream."
"But it's more than that," He replied, his face in her long hair. "The dreams are so real... And they get weirder every night... And even more real... And something always happens to you and I can never stop it. It's driving me crazy."
"I know. But it's ok now. It was just a dream."
"You don't think they mean anything?" He was looking at her straight in the eye now, with a pleading, child-like look in his blue ones. "Don't you think it's weird that they all have the same ending? You don't think my mind is trying to tell me something?"
"No, not necessarily. Not all dreams are literal and make sense. It could be whatever you put on that disgusting sandwich you had before you went to sleep that's making you freak out."
"For six days straight?"
Pan shrugged. "I guess you got me there... Just don't let these dreams worry you, Trunks-kun. They're just dreams. Nothing more. See, I'm still here aren't I?" He nodded, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Then you have nothing to worry about."
"I guess I'll take your word for it," Trunks replied as he pulled Pan into his lap. "They're just so real... These nights with barely any sleep are really starting to take their toll. I walk around Capsule like a walking mass of nerves." He sighed again as he ran his fingers through Pan's black hair. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Pan-chan."
"You didn't," She replied as she closed her eyes, enjoying the soothing effect of Trunks' fingers in her hair. "I was already up."
"Why? Couldn't sleep?"
She nodded against his chest. "I guess you can say that. I've just been thinking a lot."
"About?"
Pan shifted her position so that she was facing him again. "It probably sounds stupid, but I was looking at the picture over there," She pointed to the frame sitting on the desk. "And I just got the weirdest feeling... I was jealous of them."
Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of what?"
She got up and walked over to the desk to grab the picture. She took her seat on the bed and then showed it to him. "Look at how damn happy they are. Like everything is just fine even though Cell and all these other morons keep coming to threaten their existence. How can they be so damn happy after all the damage that shit causes? I mean, Goku's not even there because of Cell. How can Chichi and Gohan look so damn content there? It all doesn't make any fucking sense. Mom and Bulma still aren't ok and it's been years since the damn Androids were defeated. It just... It just makes no sense..."
Trunks was holding her then, cradling her in his arms. "I know what you mean Pan. I know exactly what you mean. It does seem unreal, and it is. But they also have very different situations than we do. We don't have any Dragonballs to turn to, but they do, so obviously things aren't going to change that much."
"I know," She sighed. "I just can't help but envy them. I wish I wasn't so afraid of you leaving me for a second like these people are. It must be nice to have no worries."
"I don't think they're all that carefree. Just a lot better at hiding it. But don't let that bother you Panny. Life isn't so bad at home, is it?"
"No," She was quick to say. "In fact, you make it much more tolerable." She sat up and smiled at him as he kissed her forehead. "You know, no matter what the situation is, you always manage to make me feel better."
He smiled back. "I feel the same way about you." He laughed lightly then and shook his head. "It's funny... I always remembered you running to me when you had a nightmare and me with the more difficult problems."
Pan grinned. "Yeah, I guess we do have the roles reversed." She kissed him again, full on the lips, making him grin like an idiot afterwards. She laughed at his goofy expression, and just before he was about pin her down and land a kiss of his own, he looked at the closet and frowned. "What?"
"I guess we probably should find some new clothes," He grinned mischievously. "Or maybe we don't need to wear any clothes at all."
Pan blushed in spite of herself and lowered her eyes from his gaze. "I don't think the faculty would appreciate it if I showed up tomorrow wearing nothing but a bandanna and a smile."
"No, but I think that'll look good on you," Trunks grinned at her embarrassment. "You're turning a nice shade of red."
"What do you expect? It's not like I'm an old pro at this sex stuff like you are."
Trunks laughed. "Believe it or not, I guess I do tend to get embarrassed by sex talk even at 32."
Pan raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"When I'm talking to my mother about it."
Pan shuddered visibly, and made a sickening face that was amusing to Trunks. "How horrible... I feel for you. Why were you talking about sex?"
"Well a few days ago, I was telling her about how we got together and how crazy our mothers are about us getting married, though we oppose it. And she basically told me that us sleeping together doesn't qualify as marriage, and neither does the bond."
"So she's for this marriage thing too, eh?" Pan made a weird face. "I don't get it. We're married by Saiyan terms... what's the point in the whole human marriage crap?"
Trunks shrugged. "I don't know... But then again, what are we so afraid of? Would it be that much different if we made it legal?"
Pan looked down, with an unsure, possibly frightened look in her eyes. "I guess not... But I do know why I'm afraid."
"Why's that?"
Pan turned away from him and stretched herself out on the bed, keeping her gaze on the ceiling fan above. "I'm afraid if we try to do something permanent like that it'll blow up in my face. That I'll have tried too much and you'll leave me again."
Trunks looked horrified and appalled at the suggestion. "Pan, I love you. Why would I ever leave you?"
Pan shrugged again. "I just have this nagging feeling that this is all some perfect dream, and I'll wake up finding myself alone."
Trunks nodded and stared off into the distance. "Yeah... I feel that way too."
~*~
English class was normally one of Pan's favorite subjects. In her time, it was the subject she excelled in the most. But here in the past, at Orange Star High School, it was one of the more boring subjects she'd ever seen. She already knew most of the stuff that the teacher taught, so it wasn't a challenge to it or even a point. And the teacher made it even more unbearable, with his annoying, monotone voice and irrational assignments. She found herself doing a mountain of homework in a class she could pass in her sleep.
"Pan Son."
Pan's head shot up from it's resting place on her desk upon hearing her name come out of the boring teacher's mouth. "What?"
The teacher, an old man who looked like he seriously needed to retire, frowned at her. "Please address me properly."
Pan sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Mr. Dumbass?"
Her comment spawned laughter in the classroom and the teacher almost growled at her. "It is pronounced, Doo-Moss."
"Whatever. I apologize. Now what did you say my name for?"
The teacher still wasn't approving of her attitude but decided to cut to the chase. "I wanted to let you know who your partner will be for the project that is due a week from today."
Pan raised an eyebrow. "What project are you talking about?"
The teacher sighed loudly and looked up at the ceiling, questioning himself on why he decided to go into teaching for the fifth time that day (which was significant considering it was first period). "The project I just assigned today. You will have to construct some type of model to help teach the class about some of the symbolism in the book we just read. I assume you've finished it..."
"Oh yeah, of course." She used the book the other night to prop open the window in her room.
"So," Mr. Dumass grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and looked it over. "Your partner is.... Miss Satan."
Pan nodded and cast a look at Videl over Gohan's shoulder. She was half out of it too, obviously just as bored with English as she was. Pan mentally noted that this was a good time to try to get to know more about Videl and lure her into Gohan's arms. She grinned. Her plan seemed to be unfolding by the second.
~*~
The time machine touched down on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the flow of time. Dust moved slowly through the gentle breeze as Videl and Xavier stepped out onto the ground. The sun was bright and intense, so Videl had to use her hand as a shade as she surveyed her surroundings. There were eagles calling out in the distance and little sign of life anywhere. It looked like a classic desert scene in a typical western flick.
This was far from Videl and Xavier's first journey. They'd been through countless places in time and always came out with not a bit of hope in finding Trunks and Pan. They were both beyond frustrated and very irritable, but still trying their damnedest to find them.
"Where the hell are we?" Xavier asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hell if I know..." Videl replied as she took her walkie-talkie out of her pocket. She held the button down and radioed Bulma. "Bulma, you there?"
A few moments of silence and then, "Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?"
"I have no clue," Videl replied, looking around again. "There appears to be no life around here... we're in a desert of some sort. Or some kind of deserted place with lots of mountains."
"What year is it?"
Videl looked over at Xavier who looked at the small screen in the time machine displaying the year. He used his own walkie-talkie to answer Bulma's question. "It says the year can not be defined... How can that be?"
"You must have gone too far back in time. I don't think Trunks and Pan could be there. Why don't you just hop back in the time machine and go somewhere else?"
"No, we're going to check it out," Videl told her. "I don't want to take any chances."
"Suit yourself. Radio me if you find them."
"No problem."
Videl put the walkie-talkie back into her pocket as Xavier put the time machine into a capsule. He took a few steps forward so that he was standing next to her.
"So what are we going to do?" He asked. "Should we just start walking around?"
"I guess so," Videl replied, squinting her eyes in the bright sunlight.
They began to walk through the dirt and dust as the sun beat down on them. It was so hot that they were sweating after five minutes of walking.
"Do you sense anything?" Xavier asked.
"Nope," Videl replied. "Nothing. In fact, I don't sense any kind of life here whatsoever... Wait... I take it back," Videl stopped, causing Xavier to do the same. "I do sense something... it's too weak to be Pan or Trunks though... And there's five of them... No six... Seven... Eight people... or things."
The eight "things" she was speaking of slowly became visible. They were eight women to be exact. Eight, tall, burly women wrapped in animal skins from head to toe. One was carrying a club, and they all looked very... what's the word... manly.
"Intruders..." The one with the club mumbled as they came face to face with Videl and Xavier.
"Umm... hi," Videl extended her hand and smiled, but no one made an effort to be friendly. "Ok... can you tell us where we are... perhaps?"
The eight manly women stared at her for awhile, before one of them spoke. "The Land Of Innumerable Women."
Videl was surprised to hear that they actually sounded intelligent. They sure didn't look like it. "Ok... what year is it?"
"Year?" The one with the club asked, looking blankly at Videl. "What does that mean?"
Videl shook her head. "Never mind." She turned to Xavier. "Let's go. Pan and Trunks aren't here, I can already tell."
"How can you tell?" Xavier asked as they started to walk away from the women.
"Because these are the strongest kis I've felt in the whole dimension."
"Wait, dark-haired woman!" The woman with the club called.
Videl turned around. "Yeah?"
"Is that a... man with you?"
Videl looked at Xavier and couldn't help but smile. "I guess you can call him that."
"Men are not permitted on The Land Of Innumerable Women. All men are destroyed."
Xavier swallowed. "May I ask why?"
One of the other women smiled evilly. "Because men are evil... They all must be destroyed."
Videl couldn't help but laugh as Xavier grew more and more nervous. The women appeared to be advancing on him slowly. "Get serious. Men aren't evil."
"Oh but they are... and they all must be destroyed."
Just then, one of them leapt on Xavier and held him down, as another one pulled some rope out of nowhere and started to tie him up.
"Hey!" Videl exclaimed as she finally registered what they were doing. "Let him go!"
"No," The woman with the club said as she watched the other women tie Xavier up. "He is evil."
"But he's not evil!" Videl shouted. "He's barely even a man!"
"Videl!" Xavier exclaimed as he continued to struggle with the women. "Could you help or something?"
Videl grabbed the club out of the woman's hand and began to beat the women who were tying up Xavier. But the one who originally had the club grabbed it out of Videl's hand and hit her so hard with it she lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"Oh shit!" Xavier shouted. "Videl! Wake up! Wake..."
Xavier was interrupted when he too was hit over the head with the ferocious club. The woman with the club shook her head and ordered her women to tie up Videl too.
"Foolish woman..."
~*~
"So Pan... how do you want to do this thing?"
Pan stood looking at Videl as she sat at the desk in the quaint little guest room in the Son home. They decided to start getting to work on their project as soon as possible, considering neither one of them had a clue as to what they were doing. And Pan also wanted to get to know Videl as soon as possible so she could try and steer Videl to the desired path. She knew her days in this time were numbered, so she had to work quickly.
"I have no clue... in fact, I don't even have a clue as to what the book is even about."
Videl smiled. "Neither do I. All I know is it's about some old guy in Cuba and a big fish. How much symbolism can be in that book?"
Pan shrugged as she surveyed the cover of the book. "Looks pretty stupid to me... I thought Ernest Hemingway was supposed to be some great writer. Why would he write about a fish?" (A/N: If you don't know, they're talking about The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I read it in school and had to do a speech on the symbolism, and I found the book to be quite annoying and pointless. But that's just my opinion.)
"Well maybe we should read the book and figure out why before we even think about making a project."
"Good point."
Videl opened up her copy of the book and started to read the first page. Pan just stared at her as she leaned against the wall, mentally noting that the Videl of her time hadn't changed much from this one. Her mother had aged gracefully, and Pan smiled to herself as she let her mind wander.
"Pan?"
"Hmm?" Pan looked up quickly when she heard Videl say her name. She didn't even notice that she'd been staring at her feet.
"You ok?" Videl gave her the warm, compassionate look Pan immediately recognized. Some things never changed, no matter what time period they took place in.
"Oh... yeah..." Pan looked almost embarrassed. "Sorry... I guess I was just thinking..."
"Can I ask what about?" Videl said as she shut her book.
Pan sat on top of the desk next to Videl. "I was thinking about how much I miss my mom."
Videl nodded. A look passed over her face that Pan had never seen on this version of Videl. It was a look of sympathy and compassion, but there was something hidden in her eyes that only Pan could see. It was the same look of pain her mother wore every now and then. "I'm sorry... I know how bad that must feel."
Pan sensed it was a sensitive subject for her, but she couldn't resist. "You never talk about your mom. What's she like?"
Videl kept her eyes on the book, subconsciously tracing the cover with the fingers on her left hand, and tapping the surface of the desk with the other, a gesture Pan also noticed. Her mother always did that when she was trying to think of a good answer to a question without actually telling the whole truth. A way to protect Pan's feelings or her own. Pan expected that with this Videl, it was the latter reason.
"Well..." Videl started, then gave up and stopped with the tapping, but kept her head down. "She's dead. She's been dead for 7 years."
"Oh..." Pan said. She knew how it felt to lose a parent, though she'd never known the parent that she lost. "I'm sorry."
Videl nodded. "It's ok. It's just hard to talk about sometimes. But somehow..." She looked up at Pan and smiled. "Somehow I get the feeling I can trust you."
Pan smiled back. "I'm glad. I'd like to become your friend while I'm here... even if it is for a few more days."
Videl smiled too. She felt something she'd only felt with Gohan. She felt a friendship slowly starting to build a strong bond. "I'd like that too."
"So tell me about your mom," Pan said as she jumped off the desk and sat on the bed. "Or is that too painful?" She looked at Videl sympathetically as she turned around to face her.
Videl shook her head. "No... I think I can do it... My mom was... there's really no words to describe her. She was really caring, and loving... like all moms but... there was something special about her. She could always make you laugh even if you were just crying... And she and my dad always had so many fights because their both so stubborn... She was a fighter too, but she was never as good at it as she would've liked to be. She didn't take it as seriously as my dad. She was pretty strong though... Just not strong enough to beat... whoever killed her."
It was silent for a moment as Videl looked down again. It was obvious to Pan that she was trying to keep from crying. It reminded her of the old days when she was little and she used to ask her mother where her daddy was. Poor Videl. This had to be hard to retell. But she was glad she was telling her the story. It showed how much Videl trusted her already.
"She was killed?" Pan spoke softly, breaking the eerie silence. "No one ever found out who did it?"
Videl shook her head, still looking down. "Nope."
"Damn... I'm really sorry."
Videl looked up and wiped away the two tears that leaked to the surface. Surprisingly, she smiled. "Thanks. For your sympathy, and for letting me tell it. I don't think I've ever told anyone that story.... well... except for Gohan."
Pan's eyebrows rose at that. "Really? You trust Gohan that much?"
Videl grinned, a grin even Pan wasn't sure she knew the meaning of. "Yeah... I guess I do."
Pan laughed. "You sure don't show it very well."
"I know," Videl replied, still smiling. "I am a bitch to him most of the time... But it's only because he pisses me off sometimes..."
"Why's that?"
"Well for one, he's stronger than I am. I've been able to beat every girl and guy at school since I was in kindergarten, and then Gohan shows up and I can't do shit to him. And then there's the fact that he's so goddamn nice... It's sick... And he's so damn... what's the word?"
"Cute?" Pan asked with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah... No! No! That's not what I meant!" Videl was flailing her arms about wildly as her cheeks slowly changed to red.
"Yes it is!" Pan said teasingly, then added in a sing-song voice. "You think Gohan's cute!"
"Shhh!" Videl told her, looking at the closed door. "I don't want anyone to hear."
"So you do think Gohan's cute?"
Videl sighed loudly. "Alright... I guess I do... But so what! It doesn't mean anything."
"It means you like him more than you thought you did. Right?"
Videl looked to be deep in thought as she tapped her finger on the wooden chair. "I don't know.... It's weird. Every other guy I've ever met totally repulsed me... but for some odd reason, Gohan's different. It's driving me crazy. I find myself talking about everything with him after my flying lessons... I just don't get it."
Pan tried to hold back her glee, but the huge smile on her face just wouldn't minimize. Luckily, Videl didn't seem to notice. "Well apparently you're falling for who you thought to be your worst enemy."
Videl gave Pan an angry look. "Well thank you, Miss Know-It-All." She sighed again and her voice softened. "When did you know you were love with Trunks?"
Pan's face went from excited, to a warm look of tenderness at the mention of Trunks. "I guess I knew when I was... oh... 8 years old." They both laughed. "I don't know... I guess I've sort of always known.... it just didn't hit me until he got this annoying girlfriend that kept him attached to her 24/7. He was never like that with his other girlfriends... In fact, I think he spent more time with me than them. Always. And then she came along... Well let's just say she and I had a little.... territorial battle here and there, which caused my relationship with Trunks to sour. To make a long story short, somehow we worked things out and she now she's long gone. Trunks is mine, and now that's all that matters. We're living happily ever after." She smiled at Videl, who was also smiling. "I wouldn't trade any of it for the world."
"How'd you know... I mean..." Videl looked almost embarrassed to ask the question. "How'd you know that Trunks was the one for you... I mean, what made you so sure that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him?"
Surprisingly to Pan, she couldn't answer right away. There was so much she wanted to say, but couldn't form the words into intelligible sentences. "Well... There's really no answer to that question. It was just something I knew. I knew him since the day I was born, practically worshipped him as a child, looked up to him and then admired him from afar. Then that admiration turned into unrequited love. And when I finally figured out that he loved me too, it was only natural for me to want to spend the rest of my life with him. Does that makes any sense?"
Videl shrugged. "I guess so..."
Pan smiled and ruffled Videl's hair. "Don't worry... when you're in love, it'll hit you like a ton of bricks."
"You really think I'm going to find love?"
"Of course. There's love for everybody. And I sense a great romance in your immediate future."
Videl raised an eyebrow. "Oh really..."
"Yes. Give me your palm." Videl extended her hand reluctantly. Pan traced over the lines of her palm, pretending to know what she was doing. "Oh yes... I was right. A great romance is on the way... with a tall, dark, handsome man your age. And I see you two getting married and of course having a child. A little girl with your stubbornness and fighting spirit. Oh and your in-laws... Let's just say they're not people you're going to want to hang around often."
Videl laughed at the image she got from Pan's story. "How can you tell all that from my palm?"
Pan grinned mysteriously. "I just have a sixth sense... That's all."
~*~
When the future (or present, depending on how you look at it) Videl opened her eyes, she found herself in what looked to be some strange coliseum. She looked down and found that she was tied to some sort of pole, and Xavier, who was slowly opening his eyes, was tied to an identical one next to her. In the millions of rows of seats in the coliseum were many eager-looking, manly women, and in the middle of the coliseum was the same woman with the club, only now she wasn't armed.
Videl turned to Xavier, who was just as confused as she was. "Where the fuck are we?"
"I have no clue," He replied. "But I'm suddenly aware that women can be freakishly strong."
Videl rolled her eyes. "How are we going to get out of this?"
"How am I supposed to know? I mean, I'm barely a man and everything..."
"Oh stop whining and think."
"I think the big bitch that had the club is about to say something."
Videl looked down at the ground and watched as the woman simply brought up a hand, and the audience was silent. The "big bitch that had the club" as Xavier put it, cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Good evening, fellow women," She called out to the crowd. "I'm glad you could all gather here today for the show."
"What show?" Videl and Xavier asked.
"I am happy to announce that we have found another man to feel the wrath of..." The woman smiled evilly. "The Creature."
"What the fuck is 'The Creature'?" Xavier asked, and Videl shushed him as the woman began to say more.
"We also have captured a fellow woman, but a man-worshipping woman. She too will feel the wrath of The Creature." The manly woman looked up at Videl and Xavier and waved mockingly. "Thank you for your stay at The Land Of Innumerable Women, but you're about to seal your doom." She raised an arm and with a shout, called out to the thing called "The Creature" to come out. A gate was raised on the side farthest from Videl and Xavier, and out of it came the biggest... thing they'd ever seen.
"What the fuck is that?" Xavier asked.
"The Creature," Videl replied.
And what a creature it was. It had to be almost as big as the humongous coliseum, with huge horns and fangs that dripped with disgusting saliva. It had huge yellow eyes with cat-like pupils, long arms and legs and a loud, intimidating roar. It was truly a sight to see, and a sight that almost made Xavier wet his pants.
"Oh shit, Videl!" He screamed. "That thing is going to eat us!"
"No shit, Xavier!" Videl shouted back. "Just shut up so I can think of a way to get us out of this."
The Creature began to walk forward ever so slowly as Xavier mumbled pleas to Kami to let him survive this and apologies for everything he'd ever done wrong.
"Would you shut up!" Videl screamed at him. "I got an idea."
He stopped mumbling and looked at her. "Really? What?"
She didn't answer. She shifted her position a little so that her palm was resting on the rope that bound her to the pole. In one quick motion she incinerated the rope with a ki blast, which made her fall down, but she quickly caught herself using her ki.
"Hurry up, Videl!" Xavier called. "The Creature is coming closer!"
Videl floated up to Xavier and ki blasted the rope that held him there and then caught him in her arms as he began to fall from the pole. She wasted no time in getting away, she flew at top speed out of the coliseum and as far away as she could go.
"That was close!" Videl called as she continued to fly.
"Um... I hate to break this to you," Xavier said, sounding somewhat panicked as he looked over Videl's shoulder. "But I wouldn't get too excited just yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... apparently this thing has sprouted wings."
"What?"
Videl turned around, and sure enough, The Creature was flying after them, slightly slower than Videl was. Her mouth dropped as she saw it, and Xavier pointed down to the ground where a mob of angry, manly women were running and screaming up at them in some sort of foreign language.
"Now what do we do?" Xavier asked.
"Hold on! I'm going to try and land."
"You're what?"
Videl started to pick up speed just enough to take her yards ahead of the monster that was chasing them. Slowly she lowered herself so that she could land and be far enough away from the angry women. As soon as she hit the ground, she and Xavier began to run like chickens with their heads cut off.
"This is exactly why I'm gay!" Xavier shouted. The Creature was also running behind the angry women who were catching up to them. "You women are fucking crazy!"
"Shut up and throw the capsule that has the time machine in it!" Videl shouted.
Xavier did as he was told and threw the capsule a few feet ahead of them. "You go on ahead and get into the time machine and type a course."
"What about you?" Videl asked, noticing that Xavier had stopped.
"Just go!" He called back. Videl did as she was told and immediately jumped into the time machine as Xavier closed his eyes and started to concentrate. He knew they were inching closer and closer to him, but he drowned out their voices.
"What the hell is he doing?" Videl mumbled to herself as she pushed in a course.
Soon, she got her answer. A raging fire burst out of nowhere and engulfed the women as well as the demonic "Creature". Xavier grinned almost sadistically as he ran to the time machine that was slowly raising itself off the ground. He jumped inside just in time, and continued to grin as he watched the land below them go down in the flames.
"Good thinking," Videl said.
"Thanks," Xavier had never been so happy in his life. He looked at the control panel and noticed the year they were going to. "We're going home?"
Videl looked at him like he was crazy. "Hell yeah, we're going home! I'm not taking another chance of ending up in the same situation as today. Pan and Trunks will just have to get their own way home."
Xavier wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed with relief. "Thank Kami... I'm really too old for this..."
~*~
After Pan and Videl talked some more, they went outside with Gohan for another one of Videl's flying lessons. For some odd reason, Videl wasn't catching on at all. She'd been having the lessons for over a week, and nothing seemed to change in her progress. Gohan wondered what was wrong, but Pan suspected that she didn't progress on purpose.
Once again Pan found herself sitting on a rock watching them. She loved to watch the way they acted with each other, especially now since she knew they both were trying so hard to fight their feelings for each other. She figured if she got to know both of them well enough, she could somehow use her powers of persuasion to get them together. Trunks always told her that manipulation was her middle name.
"Alright, Videl, you know the drill," Gohan told her. "Concentrate..."
Videl nodded as she closed her eyes, trying to empty her mind. Gohan's words were barely audible, but she heard him say something about focusing and staying calm. She didn't know how long she had been concentrating when she felt a sudden whoosh of wind and... was she rising off the ground? She looked down and sure enough, she was floating a few feet above the ground.
"Wow!" She exclaimed. "I did it!"
"Go, Videl!" Pan shouted with a smile on her face.
"Good job, Videl!" Gohan said as she lowered herself to the ground. "I knew you could do it."
"It only took me a week..." Videl mumbled.
"So. It doesn't matter how long it took you. What matters is that you can do it."
They smiled at each other and stared for a while, and then suddenly they both turned away, each with a bright pink blush creeping to the surface.
"Awww..." Pan said dreamily as she watched them. "They're so cute."
"But not as cute as you."
Pan turned around and grinned as Trunks sat down behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I thought you were going to be at Capsule for a few more hours."
"So did I. But I got sent home early since I was falling asleep on the job."
"Oh, you poor baby. Maybe you should go on home and get some sleep."
Trunks smiled. She was already getting used to living in this time. She called it "home". Maybe that wasn't such a good thing. "No, I don't want to sleep right now. I need to spend time with my Panny-chan."
Pan grinned as he started kissing her neck. "Alright... If you say so."
She was still smiling as she waved goodbye to Videl, who was getting into her jet copter. She watched her take off and saw the questioning look on Gohan's face as he looked up at her.
"Trunks?" Pan almost moaned his name as he continued to kiss her neck.
"Hmm?"
"I think I need to talk to Gohan alone."
He stopped kissing her and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. But when he saw the look on Gohan's face, he nodded. "Ok," He said as he stood up, bringing Pan along with him. "I'll see you later." He kissed her before he took off in the air towards the house.
Pan floated down to the ground in front of Gohan and smiled the Son grin. "Hey, Gohan."
"Hi... So how's your plan coming along?"
He looked so eager and excited that Pan hated to tell him the truth. "Well... I don't know. I can't really tell right now, Gohan."
Gohan went from an excited child, to a disappointed one. "Oh..."
"But don't worry. I'm sure I'll be able to get you guys together before I leave."
Gohan sat down in the grass and sighed. "But you don't know when you're leaving is the problem. You could leave tomorrow... or today..."
She sat down beside him and said, apologetically, "I know... I'm sorry... I guess I shouldn't have promised you I'd get you two together..."
"That's not the only reason why I don't want you to leave anytime soon..."
"Oh?" Pan looked a little confused. "What's your other reason?"
He seemed to hesitate for a second. "It's just... I was hoping to get to know you better... To be friends with you..."
Pan smiled. "Yeah, I was hoping so too. I really like living in this time."
"Really? Why's that?"
Pan stretched her legs out in front of her. "I guess because there's nothing to worry about here. I grew up constantly afraid that there was an Android waiting for me around the corner. All I had was my mom, Trunks, and Bulma." She smiled. "And my friend, Xavier. And now that the Androids are gone, I'm still worried that something else is going to come along and threaten to take them away from me... Here, there's nothing to worry about."
Gohan looked almost shocked at her conclusion. "You don't think I wonder about the same things? You don't think that I'm afraid that I'm going to have to fight something again and lose someone else I care about?"
"Well..."
"I know it may not seem like it, but trust me, I do. I'm just good at hiding it. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one."
"So if you're so worried, why don't you train more often?" He gave her a surprised, confused look, and she gave him a small smile. "I guess I sort of assumed you didn't... I expected the one who defeated Cell to be a lot stronger."
"Well you're good at assuming. I don't train as much. I guess part of the reason lies with my mother. She's so damn protective of me and doesn't want me to go down the same path as my dad. She thinks my studies should come first. And another reason is... I just don't want to. I like to fight, but only because I'm part Saiyan. I think I like being normal a lot more."
"But you're never going to be normal, Gohan. You're half alien."
"I know... I guess I just like to pretend... I do that a lot..."
There was silence between the two teens as Pan reflected on what he just said. She could relate, there were some moments when she wished she was normal too. But then there were moments when she took pride in the Saiyan part of her. She suspected Gohan did too, from time to time. And she really felt sorry for him too. She could tell by the way he talked that he was very much afraid of losing someone else, and that he felt guilty for his father's death. Her earlier assumptions were correct.
"So what happened to your father?" Gohan asked.
"What?" She looked at him surprise. That question had definitely come out of nowhere.
"Well you said all you had in life was your mom, Trunks, Bulma, and your friend, Xavier. I was wondering what happened to your dad."
"Oh..." She wanted to say, "He died, but now I get to know the past version of him," but she didn't. Instead she said, "He died before I was born."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
Pan nodded. "It's ok. I mean, it's not like I knew him or anything... The part the really sucks is the fact that he died the day I was born. A few hours before. I don't exactly have too many happy birthdays."
"Damn... that really must suck."
She nodded again and sighed. "For some reason, I really miss my mom today."
"Today has been bad for me too. Seems like everything reminds me of my dad."
There was another moment of silence before Pan jumped up. "Come on, let's stop with all the sad stuff. Let's go home so we can eat before Goten and Trunks get to it."
Gohan smiled. "Good idea."
They both bolted into the air and flew as fast as they could go. And though their parents and loved ones were still on their minds, they pushed them aside to welcome a new image that was almost as important to them: food.
~*~
After the meal and more moments of fun between the Sons and their two visitors from the future, Trunks and Pan found themselves in their room. Pan was sitting on the bed as Trunks stretched on the floor in front of her.
"So what did you and Gohan talk about?" Trunks asked her. "You seemed upset."
Pan looked at him funny. "Where'd you get that from?"
"The bond. I felt you get a little upset, then happier."
Pan rolled her eyes. "This bond thing is starting to get on my nerves. First I hear your voice in my head in the most inopportune times, then you know everything I'm feeling when I'm feeling it. I can't hide shit from you, can I?"
"Not a chance," He said as he knelt in front of her and kissed her. "So what was going on?" He said is with a hint of vehemence in his voice that made her smile. He was always so protective of her.
"Nothing," She replied. "We were just talking about how much I miss my mom and how much he misses his dad. And how we both wish we had more time to get to know each other. How is the rebuilding of that... thing going, by the way?"
Trunks shrugged. "I couldn't do shit today. I was so damn tired. These nightmares are really driving me crazy. So we're getting nowhere."
Pan nodded. She was both relieved, and sad to hear the news. She hated to leave this time, but she also hated being away from her time and everything that was familiar to her. It made her feel guilty for wanting to stay as long as possible, but she couldn't help it. She had so much fun here.
"I know what you're thinking, Pan," Trunks said, sounding a little concerned.
"What am I thinking then?" Pan asked as she got up and walked over to the window.
"You're getting too attached to this time. You don't want to leave."
"I'm not getting too attached to this time," She kept her eyes on the view outside the window. "I do like living here, but I want to see my mom just as much as you want to see yours."
Trunks walked over to her and stood behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I know you, Pan. Deep down inside, you're going to hate it when we have to leave."
"So?" She said defensively as she whipped around to face him. "What's wrong with that?"
"I just don't want to see you get too attached to the past versions of your parents, that's all. You don't belong here, Panny. Remember that."
"I know I don't belong here, Trunks," She said, almost bitterly as she pushed herself passed him, back to her spot on the bed. "You don't have to remind me of it."
"Just remember what I said anyway, Pan." He walked over to her and knelt down, gently turning her face to his. "Ok?"
Pan nodded. "Ok."
He kissed her softly on the lips and smiled. "I love you, Pan."
"I love you too, Trunks."
Soon they were in bed, and Trunks was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. But Pan had more trouble falling asleep, for Trunks' words echoed in her head all night. And for whatever reason, she found that her pillow was damp when she woke up. It gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach that stayed with her all day.
*~*~*~*
Ok, so review, my dear readers. Tell me what you think. What you liked. What you didn't like. Whatever. Just tell me something. And always be aware that you can give me your email address and I will send you an email when the next chapter comes out. And also be aware that my bio contains a good indicator on when to expect the next chapter, too. I think that's about it. Farewell!
Next Chapter: In the past, Videl further excels in her flying techniques, and also lets Gohan and Pan know about the upcoming World Tournament. This excites Pan immensely, but when she goes to tell Trunks about it, he's not exactly thrilled. Also, Goten and his comrade, little Trunks, overhear a certain adult action between a certain couple that is sure to provide laughter and embarrassment. In the present, or future, Videl, Xavier, and Bulma try to get used to the absence of Pan and Trunks.
Special Thanks To Reviews From:
Jezika
AnimeFreak-TrunksPan-luver4evr- I think I sent you an email, but in case I didn't or in case you didn't receive it, yes, Pan is Mirai. Except I tend to use the English dubbed crap. Makes it a lot easier.
Nitte iz
Brandon B
pan86
Kobe-Mac- By the way, Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA!
Patrick
Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep putting up one of these? If I do, I guess I will. I own nothing because I'm not important enough to own something as great as DBZ. I do own Xavier, who endures a lot of torture in this chapter.
Chapter 13
The guest room at the Son home was very neatly designed. The walls were a pale blue color to match the bed set of the same shade. The carpeting was plain white, simple yet suited for the room. There was a dresser lining the wall opposite the door, so when you walked in, it was the first thing you saw. There was a window to the right of it, which provided a nice view of the mountains in the distance and the many trees blowing in the gentle wind. If you stood at the door, the bed would be against the left wall, facing the desk which was against the opposite wall. There was a small closet in the room as well, on the wall next to the bed, which now contained Trunks and Pan's only outfit which they'd been wearing all week, due to the fact that they hadn't actually been able to pack for this trip through time.
But Pan wasn't thinking about that as she sat at the desk at 3 that morning. She was totally mesmerized by the only picture that sat at the desk. It was a group picture, almost like the one she saw in her mother's shoe box that night months ago, which seemed like lifetimes ago, and in reality it was. There was Piccolo in the picture, Krillin and his family, the Briefs and of course the Sons, all smiling at Capsule Corp. for what looked like a celebration of some sort. Just the way they all smiled, looking so happy and carefree, like nothing in their lives had ever changed, had ever damaged their souls, had ever even threatened their happy little lives at all, made Pan keep her eyes on them. She was sort of dissecting them with her eyes, trying to find the hidden meaning, the reason why they were so happy and joyful. It seemed so unreal to her. They were people who's lived were endangered on countless occasions, yet they somehow found it in there hearts to be optimistic enough to still have fun. And through all this dissecting, all this confusion which took hold of her mind and concentration, Pan actually felt herself feeling a small pinch of jealousy.
But, why shouldn't she? These people seemed to have everything. They had family. They had friends. Sure, she had those things, but her reality was a far cry from theirs. She could count her family and friends on one hand, but there were over a dozen people in this picture. They could still be happy, get together for old time's sake and have a good time. In Pan's world, the only real celebration was on Trunks and Pan's birthdays, but even they turned into a sad moment, a moment to remember everyone they'd lost and everyone Pan had never even met because of the tyrannous Androids. These people seemed to be so much more confident, so much more sure of themselves and in the fact that life could get back to normal after the many tragedies. For Pan and Trunks and the Videl and Bulma of their time, nothing returned to its normal course of action after the Androids. They lost everything, their friends, their family, and even their hope. These people had Dragonballs to aid them after a war; Trunks had none to turn to when the Androids were finally gone. Trunks, Pan, Bulma, and Videl lived a life of constant fear, during and after the Androids' cast a shadow on the Earth. First they were in constant fear of their lives; now they are in constant fear that their lives will be endangered again, that their small circle of comfort will get pulled apart again and one of them will join the others in the Other World. It was a constant battle to try to be happy again, because the fact that so many people that meant so much to them weren't there to be happy with them. They felt as though it still wasn't right to be too joyous. So for them, life could never be truly normal again; it changed too drastically. But for the people of the past, the smiling people in the picture, all they had to do was wish, and everything was in its rightful place until the next humongous power tried to establish dominance.
Pan had every right to be jealous. These people had it so much easier than she did. They didn't have to grow up afraid to turn the corner everyday. They didn't have to grow up and learn that your father was killed on the exact day you were born, and feel guilty because it seems like he died so you could have a place in the world. They didn't have one friend in the whole world who traveled back to their time in order to protect them from the same haunting curse. But Pan did. And it wasn't fair.
She hated this feeling, this feeling of envy. She always thought it an evil feeling. But it was true. She longed to be so carefree, so happy, so confident. And right now, enjoying the company of the smiling people in the picture, living in their peaceful time of no worries and fears, she could be like them. She could be happy. Confident. Carefree. There was nothing to fear here. And she liked that.
She sighed as she traced the faces in the picture. The problem with their world was that it was false, she realized. They really weren't as happy as they looked. It was an illusion created so that they didn't feel as bad as they knew they should. An illusion to impair their sight, so that they didn't have to see the truth. The truth sometimes really does hurt.
She knew that had to be the case. Especially for Gohan. She could tell by the way he reacted to some of the questions she asked him about the Cell Games that he was guilty about the outcome of the fight. Sure, he'd defeated Cell, but his father also died then because he got carried away with his newfound power. And to make matters worse, he refused to come when they tried to wish him back with their magical problem-solvers, the Dragonballs. The amount of guilt he felt had to be massive.
And she could relate. She often found herself feeling guilty of her father, the future Gohan's, death. Of course she couldn't have stopped it, she knew, for she wasn't even born yet, but the fact remained that he died hours before she was born. That seemed just a little too coincidental to her. It was like he died to make room for her, and that made her wish it was the other way around. Though the rational Pan knew she had nothing to do with his death, the irrational Pan held on to the belief that he was a sacrifice so that she would exist. And more often than not, the irrational Pan took hold of the controls.
She turned around then and looked at Trunks' sleeping form. His lavender hair was tousled everywhere, and his mouth was curved upward into a lop-sided grin, so she assumed he was sleeping peacefully for a change. The blanket was halfway draped over him, halfway on the floor, and she smiled at how much he looked like a little kid. Somehow thinking about him made everything better again. Just knowing he was there brought her comfort and reassurance she didn't know she needed. She felt almost 100 percent better knowing that even in his sleep, he was there for her.
She was about to get up and was startled when Trunks suddenly frowned and started to thrash around in the bed, mumbling incoherently and growing louder and louder by the second. So much for a peaceful sleep.
She went through this for the past few nights, waking him up when he had one of his nightmares and trying to sooth him. But this time she was already up, and proceeded to wake him by holding his flailing arms down and trying to shake him out of his slumber.
"Trunks," She said, quietly so as not to wake up anyone else, but loud enough for Trunks to hear. "Wake up... Wake up."
He awoke with a start, and was staring at Pan for second, somewhat in a daze. Finally he seemed to have registered who she was in his mind and immediately sat up and held her in a tight embrace. She rubbed his back and held onto him just as tightly, whispering words of comfort to sooth his disturbed state of mind.
"Oh Kami, Panny," He said breathlessly. "It was so horrible..."
"What happened?" Pan asked as he let go of her so he could look into her eyes.
"Well.." He started as he ran a shaky hand through his hair. "It started out peaceful.... we were just sitting there in a field.... and then..." She grabbed his hand, sensing that he needed some support. "And then some... thing... came out of nowhere and he... it..." He broke off and held onto Pan again, the memory of the dream still too vivid and traumatizing to reveal the end of it.
"It's ok now," Pan said to him soothingly as she rocked him back and forth like a child. "It was just a dream."
"But it's more than that," He replied, his face in her long hair. "The dreams are so real... And they get weirder every night... And even more real... And something always happens to you and I can never stop it. It's driving me crazy."
"I know. But it's ok now. It was just a dream."
"You don't think they mean anything?" He was looking at her straight in the eye now, with a pleading, child-like look in his blue ones. "Don't you think it's weird that they all have the same ending? You don't think my mind is trying to tell me something?"
"No, not necessarily. Not all dreams are literal and make sense. It could be whatever you put on that disgusting sandwich you had before you went to sleep that's making you freak out."
"For six days straight?"
Pan shrugged. "I guess you got me there... Just don't let these dreams worry you, Trunks-kun. They're just dreams. Nothing more. See, I'm still here aren't I?" He nodded, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Then you have nothing to worry about."
"I guess I'll take your word for it," Trunks replied as he pulled Pan into his lap. "They're just so real... These nights with barely any sleep are really starting to take their toll. I walk around Capsule like a walking mass of nerves." He sighed again as he ran his fingers through Pan's black hair. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Pan-chan."
"You didn't," She replied as she closed her eyes, enjoying the soothing effect of Trunks' fingers in her hair. "I was already up."
"Why? Couldn't sleep?"
She nodded against his chest. "I guess you can say that. I've just been thinking a lot."
"About?"
Pan shifted her position so that she was facing him again. "It probably sounds stupid, but I was looking at the picture over there," She pointed to the frame sitting on the desk. "And I just got the weirdest feeling... I was jealous of them."
Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of what?"
She got up and walked over to the desk to grab the picture. She took her seat on the bed and then showed it to him. "Look at how damn happy they are. Like everything is just fine even though Cell and all these other morons keep coming to threaten their existence. How can they be so damn happy after all the damage that shit causes? I mean, Goku's not even there because of Cell. How can Chichi and Gohan look so damn content there? It all doesn't make any fucking sense. Mom and Bulma still aren't ok and it's been years since the damn Androids were defeated. It just... It just makes no sense..."
Trunks was holding her then, cradling her in his arms. "I know what you mean Pan. I know exactly what you mean. It does seem unreal, and it is. But they also have very different situations than we do. We don't have any Dragonballs to turn to, but they do, so obviously things aren't going to change that much."
"I know," She sighed. "I just can't help but envy them. I wish I wasn't so afraid of you leaving me for a second like these people are. It must be nice to have no worries."
"I don't think they're all that carefree. Just a lot better at hiding it. But don't let that bother you Panny. Life isn't so bad at home, is it?"
"No," She was quick to say. "In fact, you make it much more tolerable." She sat up and smiled at him as he kissed her forehead. "You know, no matter what the situation is, you always manage to make me feel better."
He smiled back. "I feel the same way about you." He laughed lightly then and shook his head. "It's funny... I always remembered you running to me when you had a nightmare and me with the more difficult problems."
Pan grinned. "Yeah, I guess we do have the roles reversed." She kissed him again, full on the lips, making him grin like an idiot afterwards. She laughed at his goofy expression, and just before he was about pin her down and land a kiss of his own, he looked at the closet and frowned. "What?"
"I guess we probably should find some new clothes," He grinned mischievously. "Or maybe we don't need to wear any clothes at all."
Pan blushed in spite of herself and lowered her eyes from his gaze. "I don't think the faculty would appreciate it if I showed up tomorrow wearing nothing but a bandanna and a smile."
"No, but I think that'll look good on you," Trunks grinned at her embarrassment. "You're turning a nice shade of red."
"What do you expect? It's not like I'm an old pro at this sex stuff like you are."
Trunks laughed. "Believe it or not, I guess I do tend to get embarrassed by sex talk even at 32."
Pan raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"When I'm talking to my mother about it."
Pan shuddered visibly, and made a sickening face that was amusing to Trunks. "How horrible... I feel for you. Why were you talking about sex?"
"Well a few days ago, I was telling her about how we got together and how crazy our mothers are about us getting married, though we oppose it. And she basically told me that us sleeping together doesn't qualify as marriage, and neither does the bond."
"So she's for this marriage thing too, eh?" Pan made a weird face. "I don't get it. We're married by Saiyan terms... what's the point in the whole human marriage crap?"
Trunks shrugged. "I don't know... But then again, what are we so afraid of? Would it be that much different if we made it legal?"
Pan looked down, with an unsure, possibly frightened look in her eyes. "I guess not... But I do know why I'm afraid."
"Why's that?"
Pan turned away from him and stretched herself out on the bed, keeping her gaze on the ceiling fan above. "I'm afraid if we try to do something permanent like that it'll blow up in my face. That I'll have tried too much and you'll leave me again."
Trunks looked horrified and appalled at the suggestion. "Pan, I love you. Why would I ever leave you?"
Pan shrugged again. "I just have this nagging feeling that this is all some perfect dream, and I'll wake up finding myself alone."
Trunks nodded and stared off into the distance. "Yeah... I feel that way too."
~*~
English class was normally one of Pan's favorite subjects. In her time, it was the subject she excelled in the most. But here in the past, at Orange Star High School, it was one of the more boring subjects she'd ever seen. She already knew most of the stuff that the teacher taught, so it wasn't a challenge to it or even a point. And the teacher made it even more unbearable, with his annoying, monotone voice and irrational assignments. She found herself doing a mountain of homework in a class she could pass in her sleep.
"Pan Son."
Pan's head shot up from it's resting place on her desk upon hearing her name come out of the boring teacher's mouth. "What?"
The teacher, an old man who looked like he seriously needed to retire, frowned at her. "Please address me properly."
Pan sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Mr. Dumbass?"
Her comment spawned laughter in the classroom and the teacher almost growled at her. "It is pronounced, Doo-Moss."
"Whatever. I apologize. Now what did you say my name for?"
The teacher still wasn't approving of her attitude but decided to cut to the chase. "I wanted to let you know who your partner will be for the project that is due a week from today."
Pan raised an eyebrow. "What project are you talking about?"
The teacher sighed loudly and looked up at the ceiling, questioning himself on why he decided to go into teaching for the fifth time that day (which was significant considering it was first period). "The project I just assigned today. You will have to construct some type of model to help teach the class about some of the symbolism in the book we just read. I assume you've finished it..."
"Oh yeah, of course." She used the book the other night to prop open the window in her room.
"So," Mr. Dumass grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and looked it over. "Your partner is.... Miss Satan."
Pan nodded and cast a look at Videl over Gohan's shoulder. She was half out of it too, obviously just as bored with English as she was. Pan mentally noted that this was a good time to try to get to know more about Videl and lure her into Gohan's arms. She grinned. Her plan seemed to be unfolding by the second.
~*~
The time machine touched down on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the flow of time. Dust moved slowly through the gentle breeze as Videl and Xavier stepped out onto the ground. The sun was bright and intense, so Videl had to use her hand as a shade as she surveyed her surroundings. There were eagles calling out in the distance and little sign of life anywhere. It looked like a classic desert scene in a typical western flick.
This was far from Videl and Xavier's first journey. They'd been through countless places in time and always came out with not a bit of hope in finding Trunks and Pan. They were both beyond frustrated and very irritable, but still trying their damnedest to find them.
"Where the hell are we?" Xavier asked after a few moments of silence.
"Hell if I know..." Videl replied as she took her walkie-talkie out of her pocket. She held the button down and radioed Bulma. "Bulma, you there?"
A few moments of silence and then, "Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?"
"I have no clue," Videl replied, looking around again. "There appears to be no life around here... we're in a desert of some sort. Or some kind of deserted place with lots of mountains."
"What year is it?"
Videl looked over at Xavier who looked at the small screen in the time machine displaying the year. He used his own walkie-talkie to answer Bulma's question. "It says the year can not be defined... How can that be?"
"You must have gone too far back in time. I don't think Trunks and Pan could be there. Why don't you just hop back in the time machine and go somewhere else?"
"No, we're going to check it out," Videl told her. "I don't want to take any chances."
"Suit yourself. Radio me if you find them."
"No problem."
Videl put the walkie-talkie back into her pocket as Xavier put the time machine into a capsule. He took a few steps forward so that he was standing next to her.
"So what are we going to do?" He asked. "Should we just start walking around?"
"I guess so," Videl replied, squinting her eyes in the bright sunlight.
They began to walk through the dirt and dust as the sun beat down on them. It was so hot that they were sweating after five minutes of walking.
"Do you sense anything?" Xavier asked.
"Nope," Videl replied. "Nothing. In fact, I don't sense any kind of life here whatsoever... Wait... I take it back," Videl stopped, causing Xavier to do the same. "I do sense something... it's too weak to be Pan or Trunks though... And there's five of them... No six... Seven... Eight people... or things."
The eight "things" she was speaking of slowly became visible. They were eight women to be exact. Eight, tall, burly women wrapped in animal skins from head to toe. One was carrying a club, and they all looked very... what's the word... manly.
"Intruders..." The one with the club mumbled as they came face to face with Videl and Xavier.
"Umm... hi," Videl extended her hand and smiled, but no one made an effort to be friendly. "Ok... can you tell us where we are... perhaps?"
The eight manly women stared at her for awhile, before one of them spoke. "The Land Of Innumerable Women."
Videl was surprised to hear that they actually sounded intelligent. They sure didn't look like it. "Ok... what year is it?"
"Year?" The one with the club asked, looking blankly at Videl. "What does that mean?"
Videl shook her head. "Never mind." She turned to Xavier. "Let's go. Pan and Trunks aren't here, I can already tell."
"How can you tell?" Xavier asked as they started to walk away from the women.
"Because these are the strongest kis I've felt in the whole dimension."
"Wait, dark-haired woman!" The woman with the club called.
Videl turned around. "Yeah?"
"Is that a... man with you?"
Videl looked at Xavier and couldn't help but smile. "I guess you can call him that."
"Men are not permitted on The Land Of Innumerable Women. All men are destroyed."
Xavier swallowed. "May I ask why?"
One of the other women smiled evilly. "Because men are evil... They all must be destroyed."
Videl couldn't help but laugh as Xavier grew more and more nervous. The women appeared to be advancing on him slowly. "Get serious. Men aren't evil."
"Oh but they are... and they all must be destroyed."
Just then, one of them leapt on Xavier and held him down, as another one pulled some rope out of nowhere and started to tie him up.
"Hey!" Videl exclaimed as she finally registered what they were doing. "Let him go!"
"No," The woman with the club said as she watched the other women tie Xavier up. "He is evil."
"But he's not evil!" Videl shouted. "He's barely even a man!"
"Videl!" Xavier exclaimed as he continued to struggle with the women. "Could you help or something?"
Videl grabbed the club out of the woman's hand and began to beat the women who were tying up Xavier. But the one who originally had the club grabbed it out of Videl's hand and hit her so hard with it she lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"Oh shit!" Xavier shouted. "Videl! Wake up! Wake..."
Xavier was interrupted when he too was hit over the head with the ferocious club. The woman with the club shook her head and ordered her women to tie up Videl too.
"Foolish woman..."
~*~
"So Pan... how do you want to do this thing?"
Pan stood looking at Videl as she sat at the desk in the quaint little guest room in the Son home. They decided to start getting to work on their project as soon as possible, considering neither one of them had a clue as to what they were doing. And Pan also wanted to get to know Videl as soon as possible so she could try and steer Videl to the desired path. She knew her days in this time were numbered, so she had to work quickly.
"I have no clue... in fact, I don't even have a clue as to what the book is even about."
Videl smiled. "Neither do I. All I know is it's about some old guy in Cuba and a big fish. How much symbolism can be in that book?"
Pan shrugged as she surveyed the cover of the book. "Looks pretty stupid to me... I thought Ernest Hemingway was supposed to be some great writer. Why would he write about a fish?" (A/N: If you don't know, they're talking about The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I read it in school and had to do a speech on the symbolism, and I found the book to be quite annoying and pointless. But that's just my opinion.)
"Well maybe we should read the book and figure out why before we even think about making a project."
"Good point."
Videl opened up her copy of the book and started to read the first page. Pan just stared at her as she leaned against the wall, mentally noting that the Videl of her time hadn't changed much from this one. Her mother had aged gracefully, and Pan smiled to herself as she let her mind wander.
"Pan?"
"Hmm?" Pan looked up quickly when she heard Videl say her name. She didn't even notice that she'd been staring at her feet.
"You ok?" Videl gave her the warm, compassionate look Pan immediately recognized. Some things never changed, no matter what time period they took place in.
"Oh... yeah..." Pan looked almost embarrassed. "Sorry... I guess I was just thinking..."
"Can I ask what about?" Videl said as she shut her book.
Pan sat on top of the desk next to Videl. "I was thinking about how much I miss my mom."
Videl nodded. A look passed over her face that Pan had never seen on this version of Videl. It was a look of sympathy and compassion, but there was something hidden in her eyes that only Pan could see. It was the same look of pain her mother wore every now and then. "I'm sorry... I know how bad that must feel."
Pan sensed it was a sensitive subject for her, but she couldn't resist. "You never talk about your mom. What's she like?"
Videl kept her eyes on the book, subconsciously tracing the cover with the fingers on her left hand, and tapping the surface of the desk with the other, a gesture Pan also noticed. Her mother always did that when she was trying to think of a good answer to a question without actually telling the whole truth. A way to protect Pan's feelings or her own. Pan expected that with this Videl, it was the latter reason.
"Well..." Videl started, then gave up and stopped with the tapping, but kept her head down. "She's dead. She's been dead for 7 years."
"Oh..." Pan said. She knew how it felt to lose a parent, though she'd never known the parent that she lost. "I'm sorry."
Videl nodded. "It's ok. It's just hard to talk about sometimes. But somehow..." She looked up at Pan and smiled. "Somehow I get the feeling I can trust you."
Pan smiled back. "I'm glad. I'd like to become your friend while I'm here... even if it is for a few more days."
Videl smiled too. She felt something she'd only felt with Gohan. She felt a friendship slowly starting to build a strong bond. "I'd like that too."
"So tell me about your mom," Pan said as she jumped off the desk and sat on the bed. "Or is that too painful?" She looked at Videl sympathetically as she turned around to face her.
Videl shook her head. "No... I think I can do it... My mom was... there's really no words to describe her. She was really caring, and loving... like all moms but... there was something special about her. She could always make you laugh even if you were just crying... And she and my dad always had so many fights because their both so stubborn... She was a fighter too, but she was never as good at it as she would've liked to be. She didn't take it as seriously as my dad. She was pretty strong though... Just not strong enough to beat... whoever killed her."
It was silent for a moment as Videl looked down again. It was obvious to Pan that she was trying to keep from crying. It reminded her of the old days when she was little and she used to ask her mother where her daddy was. Poor Videl. This had to be hard to retell. But she was glad she was telling her the story. It showed how much Videl trusted her already.
"She was killed?" Pan spoke softly, breaking the eerie silence. "No one ever found out who did it?"
Videl shook her head, still looking down. "Nope."
"Damn... I'm really sorry."
Videl looked up and wiped away the two tears that leaked to the surface. Surprisingly, she smiled. "Thanks. For your sympathy, and for letting me tell it. I don't think I've ever told anyone that story.... well... except for Gohan."
Pan's eyebrows rose at that. "Really? You trust Gohan that much?"
Videl grinned, a grin even Pan wasn't sure she knew the meaning of. "Yeah... I guess I do."
Pan laughed. "You sure don't show it very well."
"I know," Videl replied, still smiling. "I am a bitch to him most of the time... But it's only because he pisses me off sometimes..."
"Why's that?"
"Well for one, he's stronger than I am. I've been able to beat every girl and guy at school since I was in kindergarten, and then Gohan shows up and I can't do shit to him. And then there's the fact that he's so goddamn nice... It's sick... And he's so damn... what's the word?"
"Cute?" Pan asked with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah... No! No! That's not what I meant!" Videl was flailing her arms about wildly as her cheeks slowly changed to red.
"Yes it is!" Pan said teasingly, then added in a sing-song voice. "You think Gohan's cute!"
"Shhh!" Videl told her, looking at the closed door. "I don't want anyone to hear."
"So you do think Gohan's cute?"
Videl sighed loudly. "Alright... I guess I do... But so what! It doesn't mean anything."
"It means you like him more than you thought you did. Right?"
Videl looked to be deep in thought as she tapped her finger on the wooden chair. "I don't know.... It's weird. Every other guy I've ever met totally repulsed me... but for some odd reason, Gohan's different. It's driving me crazy. I find myself talking about everything with him after my flying lessons... I just don't get it."
Pan tried to hold back her glee, but the huge smile on her face just wouldn't minimize. Luckily, Videl didn't seem to notice. "Well apparently you're falling for who you thought to be your worst enemy."
Videl gave Pan an angry look. "Well thank you, Miss Know-It-All." She sighed again and her voice softened. "When did you know you were love with Trunks?"
Pan's face went from excited, to a warm look of tenderness at the mention of Trunks. "I guess I knew when I was... oh... 8 years old." They both laughed. "I don't know... I guess I've sort of always known.... it just didn't hit me until he got this annoying girlfriend that kept him attached to her 24/7. He was never like that with his other girlfriends... In fact, I think he spent more time with me than them. Always. And then she came along... Well let's just say she and I had a little.... territorial battle here and there, which caused my relationship with Trunks to sour. To make a long story short, somehow we worked things out and she now she's long gone. Trunks is mine, and now that's all that matters. We're living happily ever after." She smiled at Videl, who was also smiling. "I wouldn't trade any of it for the world."
"How'd you know... I mean..." Videl looked almost embarrassed to ask the question. "How'd you know that Trunks was the one for you... I mean, what made you so sure that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him?"
Surprisingly to Pan, she couldn't answer right away. There was so much she wanted to say, but couldn't form the words into intelligible sentences. "Well... There's really no answer to that question. It was just something I knew. I knew him since the day I was born, practically worshipped him as a child, looked up to him and then admired him from afar. Then that admiration turned into unrequited love. And when I finally figured out that he loved me too, it was only natural for me to want to spend the rest of my life with him. Does that makes any sense?"
Videl shrugged. "I guess so..."
Pan smiled and ruffled Videl's hair. "Don't worry... when you're in love, it'll hit you like a ton of bricks."
"You really think I'm going to find love?"
"Of course. There's love for everybody. And I sense a great romance in your immediate future."
Videl raised an eyebrow. "Oh really..."
"Yes. Give me your palm." Videl extended her hand reluctantly. Pan traced over the lines of her palm, pretending to know what she was doing. "Oh yes... I was right. A great romance is on the way... with a tall, dark, handsome man your age. And I see you two getting married and of course having a child. A little girl with your stubbornness and fighting spirit. Oh and your in-laws... Let's just say they're not people you're going to want to hang around often."
Videl laughed at the image she got from Pan's story. "How can you tell all that from my palm?"
Pan grinned mysteriously. "I just have a sixth sense... That's all."
~*~
When the future (or present, depending on how you look at it) Videl opened her eyes, she found herself in what looked to be some strange coliseum. She looked down and found that she was tied to some sort of pole, and Xavier, who was slowly opening his eyes, was tied to an identical one next to her. In the millions of rows of seats in the coliseum were many eager-looking, manly women, and in the middle of the coliseum was the same woman with the club, only now she wasn't armed.
Videl turned to Xavier, who was just as confused as she was. "Where the fuck are we?"
"I have no clue," He replied. "But I'm suddenly aware that women can be freakishly strong."
Videl rolled her eyes. "How are we going to get out of this?"
"How am I supposed to know? I mean, I'm barely a man and everything..."
"Oh stop whining and think."
"I think the big bitch that had the club is about to say something."
Videl looked down at the ground and watched as the woman simply brought up a hand, and the audience was silent. The "big bitch that had the club" as Xavier put it, cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Good evening, fellow women," She called out to the crowd. "I'm glad you could all gather here today for the show."
"What show?" Videl and Xavier asked.
"I am happy to announce that we have found another man to feel the wrath of..." The woman smiled evilly. "The Creature."
"What the fuck is 'The Creature'?" Xavier asked, and Videl shushed him as the woman began to say more.
"We also have captured a fellow woman, but a man-worshipping woman. She too will feel the wrath of The Creature." The manly woman looked up at Videl and Xavier and waved mockingly. "Thank you for your stay at The Land Of Innumerable Women, but you're about to seal your doom." She raised an arm and with a shout, called out to the thing called "The Creature" to come out. A gate was raised on the side farthest from Videl and Xavier, and out of it came the biggest... thing they'd ever seen.
"What the fuck is that?" Xavier asked.
"The Creature," Videl replied.
And what a creature it was. It had to be almost as big as the humongous coliseum, with huge horns and fangs that dripped with disgusting saliva. It had huge yellow eyes with cat-like pupils, long arms and legs and a loud, intimidating roar. It was truly a sight to see, and a sight that almost made Xavier wet his pants.
"Oh shit, Videl!" He screamed. "That thing is going to eat us!"
"No shit, Xavier!" Videl shouted back. "Just shut up so I can think of a way to get us out of this."
The Creature began to walk forward ever so slowly as Xavier mumbled pleas to Kami to let him survive this and apologies for everything he'd ever done wrong.
"Would you shut up!" Videl screamed at him. "I got an idea."
He stopped mumbling and looked at her. "Really? What?"
She didn't answer. She shifted her position a little so that her palm was resting on the rope that bound her to the pole. In one quick motion she incinerated the rope with a ki blast, which made her fall down, but she quickly caught herself using her ki.
"Hurry up, Videl!" Xavier called. "The Creature is coming closer!"
Videl floated up to Xavier and ki blasted the rope that held him there and then caught him in her arms as he began to fall from the pole. She wasted no time in getting away, she flew at top speed out of the coliseum and as far away as she could go.
"That was close!" Videl called as she continued to fly.
"Um... I hate to break this to you," Xavier said, sounding somewhat panicked as he looked over Videl's shoulder. "But I wouldn't get too excited just yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... apparently this thing has sprouted wings."
"What?"
Videl turned around, and sure enough, The Creature was flying after them, slightly slower than Videl was. Her mouth dropped as she saw it, and Xavier pointed down to the ground where a mob of angry, manly women were running and screaming up at them in some sort of foreign language.
"Now what do we do?" Xavier asked.
"Hold on! I'm going to try and land."
"You're what?"
Videl started to pick up speed just enough to take her yards ahead of the monster that was chasing them. Slowly she lowered herself so that she could land and be far enough away from the angry women. As soon as she hit the ground, she and Xavier began to run like chickens with their heads cut off.
"This is exactly why I'm gay!" Xavier shouted. The Creature was also running behind the angry women who were catching up to them. "You women are fucking crazy!"
"Shut up and throw the capsule that has the time machine in it!" Videl shouted.
Xavier did as he was told and threw the capsule a few feet ahead of them. "You go on ahead and get into the time machine and type a course."
"What about you?" Videl asked, noticing that Xavier had stopped.
"Just go!" He called back. Videl did as she was told and immediately jumped into the time machine as Xavier closed his eyes and started to concentrate. He knew they were inching closer and closer to him, but he drowned out their voices.
"What the hell is he doing?" Videl mumbled to herself as she pushed in a course.
Soon, she got her answer. A raging fire burst out of nowhere and engulfed the women as well as the demonic "Creature". Xavier grinned almost sadistically as he ran to the time machine that was slowly raising itself off the ground. He jumped inside just in time, and continued to grin as he watched the land below them go down in the flames.
"Good thinking," Videl said.
"Thanks," Xavier had never been so happy in his life. He looked at the control panel and noticed the year they were going to. "We're going home?"
Videl looked at him like he was crazy. "Hell yeah, we're going home! I'm not taking another chance of ending up in the same situation as today. Pan and Trunks will just have to get their own way home."
Xavier wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed with relief. "Thank Kami... I'm really too old for this..."
~*~
After Pan and Videl talked some more, they went outside with Gohan for another one of Videl's flying lessons. For some odd reason, Videl wasn't catching on at all. She'd been having the lessons for over a week, and nothing seemed to change in her progress. Gohan wondered what was wrong, but Pan suspected that she didn't progress on purpose.
Once again Pan found herself sitting on a rock watching them. She loved to watch the way they acted with each other, especially now since she knew they both were trying so hard to fight their feelings for each other. She figured if she got to know both of them well enough, she could somehow use her powers of persuasion to get them together. Trunks always told her that manipulation was her middle name.
"Alright, Videl, you know the drill," Gohan told her. "Concentrate..."
Videl nodded as she closed her eyes, trying to empty her mind. Gohan's words were barely audible, but she heard him say something about focusing and staying calm. She didn't know how long she had been concentrating when she felt a sudden whoosh of wind and... was she rising off the ground? She looked down and sure enough, she was floating a few feet above the ground.
"Wow!" She exclaimed. "I did it!"
"Go, Videl!" Pan shouted with a smile on her face.
"Good job, Videl!" Gohan said as she lowered herself to the ground. "I knew you could do it."
"It only took me a week..." Videl mumbled.
"So. It doesn't matter how long it took you. What matters is that you can do it."
They smiled at each other and stared for a while, and then suddenly they both turned away, each with a bright pink blush creeping to the surface.
"Awww..." Pan said dreamily as she watched them. "They're so cute."
"But not as cute as you."
Pan turned around and grinned as Trunks sat down behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I thought you were going to be at Capsule for a few more hours."
"So did I. But I got sent home early since I was falling asleep on the job."
"Oh, you poor baby. Maybe you should go on home and get some sleep."
Trunks smiled. She was already getting used to living in this time. She called it "home". Maybe that wasn't such a good thing. "No, I don't want to sleep right now. I need to spend time with my Panny-chan."
Pan grinned as he started kissing her neck. "Alright... If you say so."
She was still smiling as she waved goodbye to Videl, who was getting into her jet copter. She watched her take off and saw the questioning look on Gohan's face as he looked up at her.
"Trunks?" Pan almost moaned his name as he continued to kiss her neck.
"Hmm?"
"I think I need to talk to Gohan alone."
He stopped kissing her and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. But when he saw the look on Gohan's face, he nodded. "Ok," He said as he stood up, bringing Pan along with him. "I'll see you later." He kissed her before he took off in the air towards the house.
Pan floated down to the ground in front of Gohan and smiled the Son grin. "Hey, Gohan."
"Hi... So how's your plan coming along?"
He looked so eager and excited that Pan hated to tell him the truth. "Well... I don't know. I can't really tell right now, Gohan."
Gohan went from an excited child, to a disappointed one. "Oh..."
"But don't worry. I'm sure I'll be able to get you guys together before I leave."
Gohan sat down in the grass and sighed. "But you don't know when you're leaving is the problem. You could leave tomorrow... or today..."
She sat down beside him and said, apologetically, "I know... I'm sorry... I guess I shouldn't have promised you I'd get you two together..."
"That's not the only reason why I don't want you to leave anytime soon..."
"Oh?" Pan looked a little confused. "What's your other reason?"
He seemed to hesitate for a second. "It's just... I was hoping to get to know you better... To be friends with you..."
Pan smiled. "Yeah, I was hoping so too. I really like living in this time."
"Really? Why's that?"
Pan stretched her legs out in front of her. "I guess because there's nothing to worry about here. I grew up constantly afraid that there was an Android waiting for me around the corner. All I had was my mom, Trunks, and Bulma." She smiled. "And my friend, Xavier. And now that the Androids are gone, I'm still worried that something else is going to come along and threaten to take them away from me... Here, there's nothing to worry about."
Gohan looked almost shocked at her conclusion. "You don't think I wonder about the same things? You don't think that I'm afraid that I'm going to have to fight something again and lose someone else I care about?"
"Well..."
"I know it may not seem like it, but trust me, I do. I'm just good at hiding it. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one."
"So if you're so worried, why don't you train more often?" He gave her a surprised, confused look, and she gave him a small smile. "I guess I sort of assumed you didn't... I expected the one who defeated Cell to be a lot stronger."
"Well you're good at assuming. I don't train as much. I guess part of the reason lies with my mother. She's so damn protective of me and doesn't want me to go down the same path as my dad. She thinks my studies should come first. And another reason is... I just don't want to. I like to fight, but only because I'm part Saiyan. I think I like being normal a lot more."
"But you're never going to be normal, Gohan. You're half alien."
"I know... I guess I just like to pretend... I do that a lot..."
There was silence between the two teens as Pan reflected on what he just said. She could relate, there were some moments when she wished she was normal too. But then there were moments when she took pride in the Saiyan part of her. She suspected Gohan did too, from time to time. And she really felt sorry for him too. She could tell by the way he talked that he was very much afraid of losing someone else, and that he felt guilty for his father's death. Her earlier assumptions were correct.
"So what happened to your father?" Gohan asked.
"What?" She looked at him surprise. That question had definitely come out of nowhere.
"Well you said all you had in life was your mom, Trunks, Bulma, and your friend, Xavier. I was wondering what happened to your dad."
"Oh..." She wanted to say, "He died, but now I get to know the past version of him," but she didn't. Instead she said, "He died before I was born."
"Oh... I'm sorry."
Pan nodded. "It's ok. I mean, it's not like I knew him or anything... The part the really sucks is the fact that he died the day I was born. A few hours before. I don't exactly have too many happy birthdays."
"Damn... that really must suck."
She nodded again and sighed. "For some reason, I really miss my mom today."
"Today has been bad for me too. Seems like everything reminds me of my dad."
There was another moment of silence before Pan jumped up. "Come on, let's stop with all the sad stuff. Let's go home so we can eat before Goten and Trunks get to it."
Gohan smiled. "Good idea."
They both bolted into the air and flew as fast as they could go. And though their parents and loved ones were still on their minds, they pushed them aside to welcome a new image that was almost as important to them: food.
~*~
After the meal and more moments of fun between the Sons and their two visitors from the future, Trunks and Pan found themselves in their room. Pan was sitting on the bed as Trunks stretched on the floor in front of her.
"So what did you and Gohan talk about?" Trunks asked her. "You seemed upset."
Pan looked at him funny. "Where'd you get that from?"
"The bond. I felt you get a little upset, then happier."
Pan rolled her eyes. "This bond thing is starting to get on my nerves. First I hear your voice in my head in the most inopportune times, then you know everything I'm feeling when I'm feeling it. I can't hide shit from you, can I?"
"Not a chance," He said as he knelt in front of her and kissed her. "So what was going on?" He said is with a hint of vehemence in his voice that made her smile. He was always so protective of her.
"Nothing," She replied. "We were just talking about how much I miss my mom and how much he misses his dad. And how we both wish we had more time to get to know each other. How is the rebuilding of that... thing going, by the way?"
Trunks shrugged. "I couldn't do shit today. I was so damn tired. These nightmares are really driving me crazy. So we're getting nowhere."
Pan nodded. She was both relieved, and sad to hear the news. She hated to leave this time, but she also hated being away from her time and everything that was familiar to her. It made her feel guilty for wanting to stay as long as possible, but she couldn't help it. She had so much fun here.
"I know what you're thinking, Pan," Trunks said, sounding a little concerned.
"What am I thinking then?" Pan asked as she got up and walked over to the window.
"You're getting too attached to this time. You don't want to leave."
"I'm not getting too attached to this time," She kept her eyes on the view outside the window. "I do like living here, but I want to see my mom just as much as you want to see yours."
Trunks walked over to her and stood behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I know you, Pan. Deep down inside, you're going to hate it when we have to leave."
"So?" She said defensively as she whipped around to face him. "What's wrong with that?"
"I just don't want to see you get too attached to the past versions of your parents, that's all. You don't belong here, Panny. Remember that."
"I know I don't belong here, Trunks," She said, almost bitterly as she pushed herself passed him, back to her spot on the bed. "You don't have to remind me of it."
"Just remember what I said anyway, Pan." He walked over to her and knelt down, gently turning her face to his. "Ok?"
Pan nodded. "Ok."
He kissed her softly on the lips and smiled. "I love you, Pan."
"I love you too, Trunks."
Soon they were in bed, and Trunks was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. But Pan had more trouble falling asleep, for Trunks' words echoed in her head all night. And for whatever reason, she found that her pillow was damp when she woke up. It gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach that stayed with her all day.
*~*~*~*
Ok, so review, my dear readers. Tell me what you think. What you liked. What you didn't like. Whatever. Just tell me something. And always be aware that you can give me your email address and I will send you an email when the next chapter comes out. And also be aware that my bio contains a good indicator on when to expect the next chapter, too. I think that's about it. Farewell!
Next Chapter: In the past, Videl further excels in her flying techniques, and also lets Gohan and Pan know about the upcoming World Tournament. This excites Pan immensely, but when she goes to tell Trunks about it, he's not exactly thrilled. Also, Goten and his comrade, little Trunks, overhear a certain adult action between a certain couple that is sure to provide laughter and embarrassment. In the present, or future, Videl, Xavier, and Bulma try to get used to the absence of Pan and Trunks.
