"When I look in the mirror
and the only one there is me
every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be.
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me.

My feet,
my thighs,
my lips,
my eyes,
I'm lovin' what I see.

I'm not the average girl from your video,
and I ain't built like a super model.
But I've learned to love myself unconditionally
because I am a queen.

I'm not the average girl from your video,
my worth is not determined by the price of my clothes.
No matter what I'm wearing-
I will always be,"
Son Pan.

-India Arie

---

prolouge.

I ran down the hall, sweat above my lip, and dripping from my nose. It was a hell of a summer day, and the heat was killing me. But I was over the Breif's place, training, and I had worn Vegeta down a while ago.

I think it was the heat, but he decided to ditch me and join Bulma san in the pool. I was still making my way through the hall's of their home, making my towards Trunks bedroom. He had
moved out a while back, but he came back every other weekend or so to be with his family and catch up on some work he'd held back on during the week.

He run's his own business now, a branch off on Capsule Co. in the electronics department. But it's all his, and Bulma has no say about anything. I guess thats what he likes about it. That, plus he has always been a computer freak.

I'm thirteen now, and I've always told him that once I got out of school I was going to come work for him and turn his company upside down. Take over everything, modernize it all, so it wouldn't be so boring towards the younger generations. But he just laughed at me.

I was at his door, still sweating from the outside heat, but I knocked anyway, hoping he'd train with me for a little while.

I heard his heavy footsteps from inside his room as he approached the door, then stuck his head out the cracked frame and looked down at me, giving a tired smile. His hair was a mess, and from the way he was standing from behind the door he probably wasn't fully dressed. Only a button up shirt and boxers.

"Hey Panny, what's up?"

I looked up at him with a pouty pleading face.

"Will you come train with me?"

he laughed.

"In this weather? Pan, it's hot as hell out there, and i've got alot of work to do..."

I pouted more.

"But you're always working! You barely come visit with us and since you've been here you haven't spent any time with me!"

He gave a tired sigh and looked back at his desk regrettfully, then back at me and smiled.

"Alright, Alright, that face has won me over again."

"Yay!"

I jumped passed the half opened door and gave him a big hug, and then he put me back down as he pushed me out with an embarrassed expression telling me he had to get dressed first.

------------------

He threw a punch towards my face, but I blocked, and kicked in his stomach.

He mocked pain and threw out a gurnt, as he fell to his knees.

"Whew, I'm afraid you've gotten a little too strong for me!"

I laughed at him as he lay there in the grass, holding his stomach and rocking back and forth.

"Oh you're such a baby! I might as well not have asked you to train." and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You know I'm tired Pan, I just wanna play." He pulled me to the ground and started tickling me, and I was thrown into a fit of laughter as he laughed along with me.

"Say you give up!"

"Never! You're gonna make me pee!"

"Then give up!"

"Alright Alright! I give up! Get off!"

I shoved him away as I stood up and he still lay in the grass laughing at me.

"Jerk."

I was still scowling at him when this woman walked up behin him. She was tall, taller then me, but not him, slim, with long warm brown hair, and honey brown eyes. She looked about his age, and very fresh and poised in the way she walked.

She nipped her heeled toe at Trunk's shoulder to get his attention as her shadow covered his figure.

"Taking a break?" she smiled.

He smiled too and stood up.

"Oh yea" He laughed as he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"I figured I would, and take some time to hang out with Pan a little bit." He gestured towards me. "This is Goten's neice, I think i've mentioned her before, Son Pan."

She stepped closer to me, smiling and offered her hand, nodding towards Trunks.

"Yea you have. Hello Pan, it's nice to meet you, I'm Manda."

I just shook her hand dumbly, still alittle dazed.

"Hi."

Maybe it was impolite, but it was all that I could think to say.

"Hmm..."

She looked up at the sun still beaming down that evening.

"Aren't you hot out here?" she mildly questioned me.

All I did was shrug and reply blankly.

"Not really."

She gently shrugged her shoulders and softly laughed.

"I guess it's because I've been in air-condontioning all day."

"Oh yea, Trunks?" she was digging through her light brown shoulder bag.

"I almost forgot why I stopped by" she pulled out a sheet of paper, but I couldn't read what it said.

"Ellie called today and told me that she wanted to you send the files that you're working on to this fax, instead of Floyd's." she said as she handed him the sheet and he eyed it over for a minute.

"Oh really? I wonder why that is?"

"Oh she didn't really say, something about Floyd being out, so no use in sending it to him."

"Oh alright" Trunks nodded still looking at the papers, then raising his eyes towards Manda.

"Me and Pan where about to go in for something to eat, did you want to join us?" His eyes on me asking for approval, but I still stood blankly staring at the the two, then just shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh no, actually I have to get going, I still have a few errands to run, I'm just gonna say a quick hello to your mum, and then i'll see you later tonight, alright?" she asked as she placed her arm around his neck and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"Alright hun, see you later."

She looked back at me and smiled as she walked away.

"Bye Pan, it's been nice meeting you." and waved good bye.

And me and Trunks just stood there in sort of akward silence, until he looked at me and took my hand as headed toawrds the house, to what I assumed, get something to eat.

--------------

Later that night Trunks and me were sitting together out on the hammock in his yard, a torch set before us and we were roasting marshmellows in silence, until he had to go and break the bliss.

"I'm gonna marry her." he said flat out, no warning or anything.

"She's pretty." I stated blanky.

"She is." he smirked, eyeing my face.

"But that's not why I'm marrying her." he laughed.

"It's not?" I asked still seeming uninterested.

"No." he paused in thought. "She's nice, we get along, she's a great cook...

"And she's richer than me!" he started laughing.

"Oh you goddamn jerk!" I shoved his shoulder so that he almost lost his balance, but he caught himself before he fell off the hammock.

"What?! I won't have to work anymore!"

"You are such a shallow pig! How the hell can you marry someone for that!?!?" I was yelling at him at this point.

"Panny, calm down." He said waving his hands in defense. "You know I wouldn't do that. I really do love her, and I hope that you can see why. She's a great person. -

Besides, what would I do if I didn't have my work?" he smugly asked, hoping to redeem himself.

"Your wife." I simply stated, raising my eyebrows, and his at the same time, but he just laughed.

-----

That was probably the last time I saw Trunks until I was in my late years of highschool. We said that we would always talk, but life tends to get in the way alot of those times. And I never blamed him. We just didn't have the time to be friends anymore.