A/N:                Well, I won't say anymore that I'm sorry for the long time between the updates, but I'm sure you'll kill me, when I tell you that today I got the idea for a fourth fic… It's the sequel to the DBZ/BtVS fic "There will always be hope" and will most likely be called "There will always be hope – The dark Prince". I won't tell you anything else about this fic, just that I already have the main ideas and some scenes in my mind, which I will put on paper as soon as I revised the first part of that fic… But now, thanks for the reviews and enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 7: Hopes

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~Trunks~

It is Friday, meaning that another week has almost passed. Most of the people on this planet will most likely be happy that the week is finally over for them. Now they have two days to relax, two days they can spend with the ones they love… I hate Fridays. Usually I would have been one of them, but in the last weeks I've come to dread them. As I already said, it means that another week was about to end, another week without any news of Pan, but it does also mean that there will be two days ahead of me without anything to do. In those two days I will have again time to think about Pan – Believe me, I don't look forward to it - and fall into depression, until the Monday comes again, where I can keep my mind off her by working harder than I've ever worked before.

I've now been waiting two months for her to come back or to call me. But none of this has happened. I'm slowly getting frustrated and start to ask myself if this whole conference-thing really had been a good idea. What if I scared her with this, or maybe even made her angry for telling the whole world our story? And to be honest, I wouldn't even blame her. This thought came into my mind after everything was over and I start to regret that I've ever held this conference…

But maybe she hasn't seen it? Yeah, Trunks… Try to tell yourself that! Even if she hadn't seen the conference, she would've surely heard about it. There had been a huge article in almost every magazine or newspaper I could think of and the conference itself had been shown in more than enough TV shows, so that nearly everyone on this planet should know this story by now. So I just take it that she hasn't forgiven me and won't come back of her own accord.

What shall I do now? I can't search the whole world for her – that is impossible. She could be everywhere! Not even the best detective in the world would be able to find her. I know that because I already consulted the best and they all told me the same… It's really depressing when I come to think of it. But I understand them. I'm sure that Pan won't use her own name – she's too smart for that. She has most likely already found a way to change it again, be it to Pia Shen or another name. I know that, when Pan doesn't want to be found, she won't be found. She has always been like that and it won't change. It's as easy as that and I have to accept it.

The only thing I can do now is trying to be patient and hope that she will come back someday. No, I haven't given her up, yet – not that I think that I ever really will – if there is a chance for me to find her and to bring her back, I will take it. Until then I will bury myself in my work, trying to keep myself occupied, so that I won't become broody, just like I did the last two months. I'm even flirting with the idea of locking myself in the gravity room with my father the weekends, so that I don't have to think about what I've lost then.

Please Pan, if you don't want to talk to me, give at least your parents somehow a message and tell them that you're okay. They're also worried about you – just for other reasons than I am.

~*~

"This jerk…" Pan muttered under her breath, when she walked through the halls of a big building in the middle of LA. She had been yet at another job interview and yet got another rejection. This time it had been at a school as school secretary. Everything had gone fine, even though Pan hadn't liked the way the principal had been staring at her like she was just a piece of fresh meat, until they came to talk about her apartment – or better the lack thereof – and, of course, her pregnancy. From that moment on the interview went like every other interview, be it for a job or an apartment. "I'm sorry Miss Shen," she said in a faked, stuck up sounding voice, "but under the given circumstances it is impossible for me to give you this job. I know it is hard for a young woman like you to live in the city and to find a place to work, but you must understand that I can't hire someone, who will leave again six months later… blah blah blah…" Who had ever said that she would leave once her baby was born? Definitely not Pan!

She grunted, when she pushed the door of the school's main entrance open, and immediately had the feeling that she was running against a wall. Inside of the school it had been pleasantly cool, thanks to the air conditioning system, but now on the street she was greeted by the extremely hot and sultry summer's air. For about two weeks now LA, or rather whole California, had been haunted by a terrible heat wave and it didn't seem like it would end soon. Usually those temperatures wouldn't bother Pan that much, being part-Saiyajin and all, but this time she wasn't responding too well on them. Well, maybe this was somehow connected to her pregnancy…

Pan took a quick glance at her wristwatch and hurried down the street to the next metro station, where she could enjoy again the cool air-conditioned air. If she really hurried, she could still get her train back to the campus. Once being there she would take a long cold shower, washing away all the negative vibes that she'd been getting all day. Thank Dende it's Friday – that means that she could completely relax the next two days. On the weekends she didn't want to worry about finding a job or an apartment – she left that to the other five days of the week.

Already looking forward to and dreaming of the cold water running down her overheated body, she didn't see the small hole in the pavement, which she promptly caught with her food. Just as expected she sprained her ankle, lost her balance and fell. And if the whole situation wasn't already bad enough, the bun in which she held her hair loosened during the fall, letting her long black hair flying. She landed with a loud thud, what of course no one around her seemed to notice, ignoring her completely.

Groaning, she got up again and leaned with her right shoulder at a shop window, rubbing her now shoe-free ankle. Luckily her left high-heeled shoe, which was still lying in the hole, wasn't broken. Just her red skirt and white blouse were a bit dirty, but nothing she couldn't wash. Her hair was a mess now and Pan was almost sure that she looked like a scarecrow. In a swift motion she tried to wipe some strands of black hair out of her face, which proved to be quite difficult, due to the fact that it remained sticking on her of sweat glistening face.

Carefully she slipped the shoe back on her foot and set it on the ground, slowly resting more and more weight on her ankle until she stood again straight. It didn't hurt that much and the pain would definitely subside completely within the next few minutes… Something like this shouldn't have happened in the first place, but with Pan having been occupied with her thoughts everything was possible.

Sure, she wouldn't get to the metro in time anymore. So what now? She took a look into the shop window to see how big the damage was and frowned. Going anywhere like this wasn't possible. Not with the dirty clothes and the hair being a pure mess. "Damn it," she cursed. Her hair had never looked like this when it still had been short. Of course, she liked, maybe even loved, the long hair, but shorter hair was just a lot more practical… Suddenly she spotted pictures of young women with all length and kinds of hairstyles, but one especially caught her eye. It was a picture of a young professional looking woman in a business suit – and her hair was going down to her shoulders. Pan got a thoughtful look on her face. Maybe with shorter hair she would make a more serious impression on her could-be-bosses. She had another hour or so time until the next train left to her destination and she was – obviously – standing in front of a hairdresser's shop. Well, she thought shrugging, why not? – and entered the shop.

When she, her hair now again tied up into a bun, stepped about two hours later into the room she and Angela were sharing, her friend was already sitting on the bed, waiting for her with a huge smile on her face. "Hey Pan," she greeted her. "How was the interview and where have you been so long?" When she saw how Pan's clothes looked like, she turned up her nose. "And what the hell have you done to your clothes?"

Clearly exhausted Pan plopped down on the bed next to her and let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Miss Shen, but," Pan mocked the principal of the school one more time, showing Angela how exactly the interview went, before she continued, "Well, I sprained my ankle and fell directly in front of a hairdresser's shop." Saying this she opened the bun, letting the now again shoulder-length hair falling out of it. "And suddenly decided that I needed a haircut."

"Oh my god, Pan!" Angela said surprised.

"Yeah, I know… Bad day…" she said somewhat depressed.

"No, your hair. It is adorable!"

Pan looked at her surprised and let a few strands gliding through her fingers. "Yeah, I think this really isn't too bad. I could get used to this again… It's another step of getting a new life… I think I look now more grown-up."

"Yep, you do," Angela told her enthusiastically. "With this new hair nothing can go wrong anymore. You'll find a job, a place to live and everything else you need to be happy. By the way, we're invited to dinner tomorrow."

"We are?" Pan asked confused.

"Yep, I talked to my grandparents today and they invited us. You must know, they possess a small house in the outskirts of LA and are looking for a roomer, who'll also help them a bit in the household. I told them about you and now they want to meet you. Well, what do you say?"

Pan could clearly hear the excitement in her voice, but was at the moment way too shocked to show the same. "You did what? What did you tell them?"

"Don't worry, Pan… I didn't tell them too much… Just that you and your boyfriend broke up recently and that you left home and are now looking for a place to live. I've also told them about the baby – I hope you didn't mind," Angela informed her best friend. "Come on Pan, see it as a chance… They are really nice and they'd rather rent the room to someone they, or a person they trust, know. And they really want to get to know you! So, what do you think?"

Pan thought for a moment… This was a chance, her chance. Well, it wouldn't hurt to get to know Angela's grandparents. "Okay," she finally agreed. "We'll go to your grandparents tomorrow and I'll see if this could work for me…"

"Oh Pan!" Angela squealed and threw her arms around her friend's neck. "Of course will this work out for you! You'll love my grandparents, I'm sure of that! Like they'll love you…"

"Are you really sure?" Pan wanted to know, her voice showing a hint of uncertainty.

"Of course…" Angela let go of Pan and cocked her head to one side. "And Pan, I really love the hair." At this both girls burst out laughing and fell back on the bed.

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Mmh… What can I say? Please review? Nah, you'll do it anyway won't ya? Oh yeah, before I forget… Do you have any idea where I can get the Lyrics of the song "The Darkside" or "See the day" by Hypetraxx? I guess you've never heard about them before, but maybe you could help me though… That would be really nice!

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi