Breaking Through - Chapter 3

"Out of the Pan, and into the fire…"

Okay, here goes the next chapter in the story. Hopefully you guys will be a little bit less peeved off about the time it took me to get this chapter out :) It took me a MONTH!!! I didn't think I was THAT busy ^_^(). Ahh well, here you go…

PREVIOUSLY

He turned away and started packing up his things. Bra sighed and headed towards the front of the queue. She waved at the bouncer, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before being quickly let in. Trunks looked at the watch on his wrist, he'd give them five minutes before going in after them. Or would he? Trunks could not get the image of Pan out of his head, and it was ruining his plans. There was no way he could follow through with his plan now. Bra would completely take it the wrong way. Trunks sighed.

*What do I do now?*

Trunks ran a hand through his hair and rolled his neck around.

*Ahhh screw it, Pan's my best friend and most loyal confidant. If Bra wants to think something else is going on, let her think it. I don't care*.

Trunks smirked and grabbed his now encapsulated belongings. He strode up to the bouncer and shook him by the hand. The bouncer grinned. Three celebrities in the club at once, boy was this going to be good for business. He opened the door and Trunks strode towards the lights and smoke.

*Here we go.*

AND NOW….

Trunks took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he made his way in towards the darkness. He had never really been into the clubbing scene, and as someone blew smoke into his face, he remembered why. He scrunched up his nose and tried to get rid of the stench that was invading his nostrils. His father often commented on humans and their 'damned foolish social practices', and for once he found himself agreeing. The music was pounding with the bass turned all the way up. Trunks smiled. Now that was the only way to enjoy music. He made his way through the crowds, ignoring the stares and comments, as he continued to search for his sister and best friend. Bra would be easy to locate. She had a habit of making herself the center of attention wherever she traveled, besides, she was taller than most and had bright blue hair. How could he miss her? Pan on the other hand would be much harder to locate; she was short, and had black hair, which did not make it easy to find her in a near pitch-black room. He positioned himself near the bar and scanned the crowds for a familiar face. After searching for what seemed like forever, he spotted Pan's head poking out from the center of the room. Trunks grinned and started to walk towards the young demi-saiyan, but stopped when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He spun around to come face to face with a tall and well-built tank of a man.

"Excuse me, but are you Mr Trunks Briefs?"

Trunks looked at the man suspiciously. He had a horrible feeling about this…

The man smiled shyly and held out a banknote and a pen.

"Would you be a sweetie and sign this for me?"

Trunks paled but placed a fake smile on his face. He hesitantly took the pen and the banknote and bent towards the bar. He turned around just in time to see the man's eyes travel from his posterior, back to his face. Trunks sighed, why did this always happen to him? It was like someone was trying to give him a hint.

*I am NOT GAY DENDE*

He hoped the Namekian guardian was listening to him that time. Trunks looked back to the man and smiled apprehensively.

"Uh, what did you want me to write?"

The man gave a wide grin, and Trunks mentally slapped himself. Like a moth to the flame.

"Well, you could put your number on it if you like! Or I could give you mine. I guess I'd better introduce myself first. Hi my names Jarrad."

He stuck out his hand in Trunks' direction. Trunks sighed and shook his hand firmly. It was time to pull out the big guns, time to lie through his teeth and hope that it wasn't gonna come back and bite him in the aforementioned rear end. He draped an arm around the man's shoulders and turned him around to face the dance-floor.

"Nice to meet you Jarrad. Now, you seem like a nice guy and all, but you see THAT girl over there".

He pointed to Pan dancing amongst a group of guys.

"Well you see, she's my date for tonight, and I don't really think she'd be too happy with me if I ditched her, do you?"

The man blushed and shook his head. Trunks flashed the guy his 'can-I-have-a-day-off-Mom' smile and dropped his arm from the man's shoulders.

"Glad to see you understand then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some making up to do."

He winked and walked quickly away from the now desolate-looking man. As soon as he had turned around, he took a deep breath and sighed in relief. Not only had he gotten himself out of a VERY embarrassing situation, he'd avoided having to sign the guys damn banknote. However, upon realizing what he had just gotten himself into, Trunks' elation quickly disappeared. Now he was going to have to make it look like Pan was his date.  Things could not get any worse. He made his way slowly toward the center of the dance-floor where it appeared a circle had been formed around a few dancers.

*Oh good, at least that means that I can slip out and tell Pan about the situation before- Oh bollocks!*

In the middle of the ring were Pan and Bra dancing together. No-one else. Just the two of them and a group of men ogling nearby and making catcalls. Trunks slapped a hand over his face. He must have done something pretty nasty to annoy the green guardian for this to be happening. He looked back over his shoulder to see Jarrad talking excitedly to a group of what appeared to be reporters. He groaned. Which should be sacrificed? His public reputation, or Pan's respect? Jarrad caught his glance and waved. Trunks quickly spun back around. To be away from that? Pan's respect any day. He took a deep breath and slowly made his way closer to the dancing girls. The music playing still had a lot of bass, and he thanked Dende for simple mercies. This he may be able to bluff his way through, as long as he could get Pan in on the act. He shoved his way through the tight-knit circle until he broke through. Bra caught his eye and glanced at him suspiciously. Trunks shot her a helpless look before gesturing to Pan.

"Hey little sis, do you mind if I have my date back?"

Bra grinned evilly, and grabbed both of Pan's shoulders and gave her a light shake to get her attention.

"Oi, Your 'date' wants to dance with you."

Bra slid off to dance with one of the eager guys around her. Before Pan had a chance frown, Trunks had placed himself only 3cm away from her body. He leant down a rubbed a hand over her shoulder, bringing his mouth close to her ear.

"Please just go along, I got myself into…trouble."

Pan rolled her eyes but snaked an arm around his back, hiding the smirk on her face by leaning her neck to the side and closing her eyes.

"What did you do THIS time?"

They both started moving to the music, breaking away from one another as the tempo built up. Trunks stepped behind Pan and placed both hands on her waist.

"Lied through my ass to get away from a fan."

Pan laughed and pulled Trunks towards the edge of the floor.

"And this was the best you could come up with?"

Trunks chuckled. He had to admit; this was by far the most ludicrous half-baked plan he had ever come up with. Thank Kami that Pan was so reliable. They both grinned at one another. The fun was broken however, as a nearby dancer crashed into Trunks as he passed by, emptying the contents of his drink on both him and his 'date'. Trunks' hair was sopping, and the side of Pan's top was darkened by the amber fluid in the glass. Everything went quiet, as the two famous celebrities stood stock-still, blinking in surprise. The man who spilt the drink smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops."

Pan snapped out of her stupor and anger flashed in her eyes. A vein appeared down the front of her forehead and Trunks could feel her KI spike as she walked menacingly up to her 'attacker'. 

"WHOOPS?"

She stopped as Trunks grabbed her arm, slowly shaking his head.

"Not now, you don't need this."

He tugged on her arm and pulled her slowly towards the door. He glanced over and locked eyes with his sister. She nodded and gave him a dramatic sigh before turning back to her dancing partners.

"Okay, who's next?"

The corner of Trunks' mouth lifted as he continued to make his way through the still 'too quiet' crowd, with a pissed-off demi Saiyan in tow. As soon as they had exited the building, and made it to a dark alleyway Pan took off into the sky. Trunks powered up and flew after her.

"Pan? PAN!!! Wait up!!"

There was no response; Pan continued to fly into the night sky. Trunks sighed and powered up, blasting quickly towards the female demi-Saiyan. He performed a barrel roll so he was flying stomach-up. He grinned as he slowly increased his speed and flew underneath Pan. She looked down and couldn't help but smile. He had his arms behind his head, and looked like he was floating leisurely on a pool instead of 3000 feet above the ground.

"Why were you ignoring me?"

Trunks stuck his bottom lip out and gave her big puppy dog eyes. Pan laughed and dropped out of the sky and onto Trunks' prone stomach, adjusting herself to sit cross-legged.

"I wasn't ignoring you… I just wanted to get out of these clothes."

Trunks smirked and ran a hand up Pans arm.

"Oh were you now? If I had've known that's what you had planned for tonight I would've pulled you out the door much quicker."

Pan laughed and slapped his arm away.

"You need to get your mind out of the gutter Mister."

Trunks grinned wider, and shut his eyes, as they flew in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. They were high enough up now so that there was no city noise, nothing to interrupt their thoughts. Trunks opened his eyes when he felt a small vibration on his chest. Pan was shivering, and she had her arms wrapped around her body. Without saying anything, Trunks spun her around, and pulled her back towards his chest so she was lying with her back pressed up against his front. He raised his KI, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sighed contently and covered his hand with hers. Pan stared up at the night sky, and the spattering of stars overhead. She wondered how many of those stars she had passed by all those years ago. How many planets and cultures she had missed out on, in the hunt for the Dragonballs. They had all sacrificed so much on that journey, and for what?

"You miss it don't you?"

Pan jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. She hadn't expected him to say anything. It was so peaceful up there, it was nice just to enjoy it once in a while.

"Mmmmhmmmm"

Trunks grinned into the night sky.

"I miss the peacefulness, the quiet and the beauty of it all. There was so much that we missed out on because of the damned Dragonballs."

Trunks couldn't help but notice the revulsion in her voice when she mentioned the legendary orange orbs. It wasn't surprising that she hated them. They had caused more problems than they were worth, and because of them, Pan lost one of the most important things to her. Her Grandfather. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. He had spent just as much time with Goku on that ship, and he missed the noble fighter as much as anyone.

"Just think, if it weren't for the Dragonballs, you never would have had the chance to spend so much time with Goku and I. We definitely wouldn't be best friends."

Pan gave him a sad smile, it may have fooled anyone else, but Trunks could see the sadness lying behind her eyes. It still hurt her deeply.

"No?"

Trunks grinned.

"No. Older guys don't make friends with younger girls."

Pan frowned, she strained her neck to look him in the eyes.

"Then why did you become friends with me?"

Trunks rolled and dropped the unsuspecting girl out of the air. Pan grunted in surprise before stopping herself and blasting after him. When she caught up, she punched him hard on the shoulder. Trunks laughed as he rubbed the spot.

"Because I got to know you.  Besides, you're more like a guy."

Pan stopped in mid air, forcing Trunks to as well. He turned to see her floating in the one spot, a mix between a scowl and a frown on her face.

"Wow Trunks, you go from complimenting me to insulting me in the one sentence. Thank you very much."

Trunks edged towards the petite girl, shaking his head furiously.

"No. You misunderstand me. Nearly all of the girls I know have hidden agenda's, they don't care about the things I like. You enjoy physical activity, and you tell it like it is. I like that about you. But in those respects you're more like a guy, you'd prefer to beat someone up if you had a problem with them rather than backstab and connive. Kami knows that's gonna get you into trouble in the near future"

Pan relaxed visibly, she couldn't help but feel proud that her generally criticized traits were now being praised. She hung her head, slightly embarrassed that she had over-reacted in such a huge way.

"Ummm….sorry for flying off the handle."

Trunks laughed and flew back over to where she was and gave her a one armed hug.

"No sweat. You've had one hell of a day by anyone's standards. Tell you what, tomorrow morning come by Capsule Corps at about 8. I'm gonna take you out to celebrate my way."

Pan looked up at the tall demi-Saiyan skeptically. She had enough of celebrating, all she wanted to do was sit back and relax for a couple of days.

"Trunks-"

He clamped a hand down over her mouth.

"Uh uh, you're not gonna squirm your way out of this. Trust me, you'll enjoy it."

Pan yanked Trunks' hand away from her mouth and laughed.

"You know that sounds really perverted Trunks. Anyone else would take that completely the wrong way."

He let go of her and flew in the direction of CC, turning around and grinning at her before blasting into the sky.  

"Yeah, well you're not just anyone, are you?"

Pan laughed as she slowly lowered herself towards the ground. Somehow, Trunks had managed to fly her to her Parents house. Was that his plan or not? She wasn't entirely sure with him. The lights were all on and music could be heard playing from the lounge room. Pan frowned and looked at her watch. 1.00am. What were her parents doing up at one o clock in the morning? Surely they weren't waiting for her? They didn't even know that she was going to be coming home tonight. As she touched down, a cold grip tightened on her stomach.

*Grandpa's birthday. How could I? After all he's tried to do for me.*

Pan took off at a dead sprint towards the house. How was she going to survive this one? As she got closer and closer to the house she could distinctly hear the mixed chatter of a large number of people. A large number of drunk people by the sound of things. Pan slowed as she noticed a few bodies sprawled out on the grass, either passed out or laughing and talking to the closest object in the vicinity. One woman was having a deep and meaningful with a small shrub. Pan side-stepped and dodged some flying limbs before she reached the house.

*When the children are out, the parents will play*

Inside was nearly as chaotic, bodies running about, dancing and collapsed. Pan scanned the lounge room, boy she was glad she would be out early in the morning. It would take years to clean up the mess in that room alone. She could see a number of empty and discarded champagne and wine bottles littered throughout the house. How could so few people drink so much? It was positively mind-boggling. She tried to locate her parent's KIs, which was quite easy considering the condition of the other guests on their property. She suspected that many of them were about to slip into alcohol-induced comas. Oh well, not her problem. She headed up towards her parents room, which she knew would be one of a few rooms that would not be open to their guests. Like herself, Videl and Gohan were very particular when it came to their privacy. She knocked on the door, and slowly opened it after hearing her mother's tired greeting. In her father's armchair sat her grandfather, slumped over and quite thoroughly inebriated. Her parents were standing guard over him, keeping him company when he woke up and mumbled incoherently before falling back to sleep. When her mother spied her, she walked over with a smile on her face.

"Congratulations Pan-chan. We're so proud of you."

However she stopped before hugging her to take in her tomboy daughter's new appearance.

"Pan! What on earth………………are you drunk?"

Pan laughed and closed the distance between herself and her mother, feigning shock and hurt.

"No Mom, but I could ask you the same question! What's with all the people?"

Pan walked up and hugged Gohan, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sitting herself near her Grandfather. Videl gave her only daughter a tired smile before gesturing to Hercule.

"Your Grandpa here decided that our place would be a better place for a celebratory birthday party than his own. He said it had something to do with not wanting to attract attention. We've been up all night trying to prevent people getting lost out in the forest or falling in the river and drowning. I tell you now, drunk people and water don't mix. I'm not sure whether most of the people outside have collapsed from alcohol or from your father. You see he has this theory. Give them a tap before they get too drunk, and you have less cleaning up to do in the morning."

Pan grinned and glanced over at Gohan who was turning a nice shade of red.

"I knew he had an evil streak in there somewhere. Mine can't have come completely from you Mom."

Gohan laughed as Videl gave her daughter a calculating glare.

"Ohh, I think you're doing fine on your own. So what brings you by dear?"

Pan looked shocked. She didn't know what to expect from her parents tonight, but this definitely was not on the list. She had just naturally assumed that they would be disappointed with her, but obviously not.

"Grandpa's birthday of course."

"……………"

"What?"

Gohan and Videl both looked at one another with doubtful expressions on their faces. Pan knew they weren't taking the bait, there were just too many inconsistencies in her story. Clue number one: daughter comes home in leather pants and tank top smelling of smoke and booze. Clue two: Upon arriving home, daughter casually, and in retrospect stupidly, asks why people are getting drunk at her Grandfathers party. Clue three: Daughter keeps glancing guiltily over to her grandfather sitting in the chair with his hand clasped around her pendant. Gohan walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.      

"Do we really have to explain?"

Pan sighed and hung her head, rubbing her hand over her face in frustration.

"No. I just didn't want you to be disappointed with me. It completely slipped my mind, and you would not believe the day I've had-"

Videl came and sat down on the other side of her daughter.

"You don't need to explain, he understands. He told us about the present you gave him. Kami knows it was the only thing he talked about all night."

Pan glanced at her Grandfather, his hand still clutching at the pendant intermittently, as if reminding himself that it was still there. She couldn't help but grin. Her present had obviously struck quite a chord with him. No matter how trying her Grandfather could sometimes be, she couldn't help but love him for all that he had done for her, or at least tried to do for her. Gohan smiled and pulled Pan towards the door.

"Honey go back to your apartment, I don't think you'll get much sleep around here tonight. We've got everything covered here, and when he wakes up, we'll tell him you dropped by."

Pan looked guiltily back at her parents.

"Are you guys sure? I mean I could help-"

Videl shook her head and all but pushed her daughter out of the door.

"NO! Go home, get some rest, you're going to have a BIG day tomorrow."

Pan frowned as the door shut behind her, that was definitely strange. Usually her parents were overjoyed to have her back home, although considering the circumstances she couldn't help but agree with their decision. They had enough to deal with in the morning, and she would have reporters hassling her all day long tomorrow. She made her way down the stairs and out into the night sky once again. To land at her not-so-humble abode. It was going to be a BIIIIG day tomorrow - in more ways than one.

@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@_@

Pan shot through the skies the next morning. Her KI had sky-rocketed, and anyone in the immediate distance would be able to feel the pull of her energy. Her hair whipped around her face and she subconsciously clenched and unclenched both fists. In the near distance, Capsule Corps appeared, and as Pan approached it, her KI started to rise ever so slightly. Surrounding the grounds were streets full of reporting crews and journalists. Damn vultures just couldn't leave anyone alone. She gained some altitude, hiding herself in the clouds. There was now only one way to get into Capsule Corps unnoticed. Slowly she built up her energy, powering up as much as possible without damaging any nearby property. She charged a small KI ball in her hand and scanned some nearby parkland, her plan would work providing no-one was too close. She opened her eyes and smiled, not a single soul was present. She drew her hand back and threw the ball at a nearby tree, it erupted in brilliant red flames, drawing the attention of all the reporters on the ground. Pan grinned and shot down towards Capsule Corps as fast as she could go. No one should be able to see her, but it was better to be safe than sorry. As soon as she made a touch-down, she sprinted inside, and slammed the door behind her. Pan slid down against the door, drawing deep breaths in and out. She was interrupted when she heard someone groan, she looked up and saw Bra slumped at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.

"Paaan! Did you really have to slam the door so loudly?"

The normally bubbly girl looked awful, she had large bags under her eyes, and by the pained expression on her face, she had one hell of a headache. Pan stood up and walked straight past the distressed girl, heading instead towards the stairs.

"Is your brother up in his room?"

Bra frowned but nodded. Something had to be wrong for the girl to refer to Trunks as 'your brother'. By the sounds of things, the purple-haired wonder was in for an ass-kicking. Pan headed straight up the stairs, the same determined scowl adorned her face. When she reached Trunks room she barged straight in, no knocking or even checking to see he was up.

"Trunks!!! Get your lazy bum out of bed and have a look at THIS!!"

The demi-Saiyan was so startled by the rude awakening that he fell out of bed, landing awkwardly on the floor. He grabbed his head and sat up, a scowl on his face, and water in his eyes.

"PAN!! What's the big idea? You scared me half to death,"

He glanced over at the alarm clock on his bedside table

"Its 6.45, on a Saturday morning. Didn't I tell you to be here at eight?"

Pan ignored his question and opened her bag, pulling out a wad of newspaper pages and magazines. She threw them on his bed and pointed out the window.

"I've been getting calls since five o clock this morning asking for interviews. Those rats out there published all these today. Everyone is going to see these. I'm never going to live down the embarrassment."

Trunks rolled his eyes and picked up one of the many articles littering his room.

"C'mon Pan, I know that they're a pain but they're not all that-"

He stopped as soon as he glanced down at the article. He sat down on his bed and quickly scan read the article. The further he got, the whiter he became. This was definitely not good. He looked back up at Pan, her face twisted in anguish.

"Holy Shit."

…..To Be Continued?

Okay, there's another chappy up. I think this one is better than the last, I was quite disappointed with how that turned out. Hopefully this one makes up for it. What's in the articles that's got both Pan and Trunks upset? Will it affect their plans, or will it only strengthen Trunks' resolve? Read and Review. Any comments gratefully accepted.