I WILL WAIT FOR YOU
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama. I do not make any money off writing or posting this.
Authors Notes: Thank you to Mirai Pan for explaining to me how the ROSAT works. I've never actually seen any episodes where the room is used so I was only going on what I'd heard. Anyway, obviously the fact that opening the room more than twice makes the entire universe collapse messes up my plan a bit. I'm inclined to ask you to pretend that's just not true. I know it seems a little ridiculous, but there's not really any other way to remedy it without changing the entire plot. I could have Pan disappear for a year in between her time in the ROSAT, but that would draaaaaag the story out far too long.
***
Trunks sat on the ground resting his head on his hands. He had woken up early this morning unable to sleep. Finally his dreams were being realised. Pan had already endured seven days in the Room of Spirit and Time. He watched the door expectantly, ready to pounce on Pan the moment she emerged. Last time he'd seen her she had seemed somewhat distant, but he had assumed she was just adjusting to her new lifestyle. He constantly tried to keep in mind that for her time would be dragging on.
"Trunks?" Pan called out. She knew it was him, but her mind refused to believe it. It had been so long and her mind had played this scene over and over, only Trunks wasn't there and she had wasted so many years of her life. The heat tended to play with her mind, then the cold. The unstable conditions simply added to her anxiety. Despite Trunks's comforting word Pan still wondered how long Trunks would hold up for.
Trunks abruptly spun around realising that he'd become side tracked. "Pan!" He ran up and wrapped his arms around her nestling his head on her shoulder. To his surprise she hugged him back equally as enthusiastically and rested her head on his chest.
Moments later they still stood there in that same position. Trunks sensed that Pan didn't want to break the embrace any time soon and he was only too happy to comply. Pan raised her head and looked up into Trunks's eyes and his suspicions were confirmed, there were tears in her eyes. Fortunately they were glistening with pure joy. "How are you, Pan?" Trunks asked, wanting to hear her voice again.
"Wonderful," she croaked without a hint of sarcasm. Seeing Trunks made her realise how much in love they really were. All those nights spent in remorse seemed so pointless now.
Trunks noticed that Pans hair had grown a lot longer since last time – she obviously hadn't been cutting it as frequently. He grabbed a handful and indicated towards it, "What's with the hair?"
"I've been training, cutting my hair isn't the highest of priorities."
"I didn't know you were taking the training so seriously."
"Trunks, I'm throwing away years of my life. I think that I should get something out of that time other than age."
Suddenly Trunks felt very awkward and the two loosened their grasp on one another, neither sure of what to do or say next.
Pan cursed herself for her words, she hadn't meant to make Trunks feel guilty. After all, she was the one who had decided to take this on. In the silence she reminded herself to control her tongue with an iron fist from now on. She didn't have long with Trunks and she didn't want to waste that time feeling terrible.
Trunks noticed Pan's silence and realised how much Pan must have been through in the last year. She looked so different to him now. It wasn't just the hair, her face had been touched by the subtle lines of remorse and worry. That just made him happier though, he knew that Pan was maturing and soon she would be old enough for them to be together without being scorned by society. "Pan."
"Yeah."
"Do you want to stick around for a while? Just a couple of hours. I miss you."
"Yeah, me too, but I can't. I don't want to waste time out here. Once I've almost caught up to you then we can have all the time in the world together."
"Its only a few hours, Pan. It'd be good for you."
"For who?"
"Okay, for us."
"But Trunks..."
"Come on, I know you want to."
"Well, maybe just for an hour, but we'd better go somewhere secluded. I don't want anyone showing up and asking awkward questions."
"I wasn't planning on it. I've got a spot picked out and it'll be just you and me. Just remember to keep your ki way down. I really don't want to have to explain you to Gohan."
"He's not that scary you know."
"To you." Trunks replied smearing mock fear across his face.
Pan giggled Trunks's expression. It felt so good to hear his voice again and experience that unusual feeling that always occurred when Trunks was around. Once she'd managed to straighten her face Pan took Trunks by the arm and started to walk off. "Where are we going then?"
Trunks smirked and scooped Pan up into his arms and turned around. He nodded south and said, "Over there."
"Trunks, where is there."
"You'll see." With that Trunks gently lifted into the sky intending to carry Pan to their destination.
Pan however had other ideas and she launched herself from his arms and called out over her shoulder, "Race you."
Trunks couldn't help but smile as he chased after Pan, surprised by her incredible speed. She has been training hard, he thought to himself. She's become very strong. "Wait a minute," Trunks whispered stopping in the middle of the sky. "Pan," he called out, "Your power is up way too high."
Pan looked back, suddenly realising what she'd done. The moment had caught her up and she'd not been thinking straight. Concentrating she pushed her power down and let herself fall to the ground. Trunks did the same, landing several feet away from her.
*
Gohan was standing before the class trying to explain the finer points of why students must never flush lithium down the toilet. It had been a long day and having half the school flooded didn't make it any easier. Then in the pit of his stomach he could suddenly feel his daughter. Her ki was so high and so close. He seemed to pause for a second before yelling out, "Read pages 213 to 247." Then he ran out the door, oblivious to one student calling out, "Son san, it only goes up to page 178."
Gohan was unable to ignore the fact that Pan's ki was very close to Trunks's and that she was at a level that had to be pushing her limits. To Gohan that was enough proof to blast Trunks into the next dimension. Ever since Pan had disappeared Trunks had been acting strangely. Gohan wasn't entirely sure what Trunks was up to, but he certainly intended to find out.
*
Trunks quickly flew to Pan. "Get back to the Room, now."
"But Trunks, he'll kill you."
"He's not that scary you know." Trunks replied, repeating Pan's exact words from just before.
Pan knew that there was nothing she could do. Her presence would only make the situation more volatile. She gave Trunks a hurried peck on the cheek, then hesitated before taking his head in her hands and locking her lips on his in a passionate kiss. At least it would have been passionate if Trunks had not been stunned into a stupor. Pan laughed at his blank expression and whispered in his ear, "Wait for me."
Trunks continued to try and understand what had just happened.
*
Pan looked out over the world and wondered how well Trunks was doing. All she could do was hope her father wouldn't kill him. She knew he was better than that though, he was a really nice person once you got past his over-protectiveness. Trunks probably never would. She thought of Trunks's fearful reaction when Gohan was mentioned and then the kiss. It wasn't exactly his best work, but considering the circumstances it was perfect. All Pan needed was the small reminder, it had been so long and it would be so long. With the new memories freshly painted in her mind she stepped back into the Room smiling.
*
"TRUNKS!" Gohan roared approaching the area he last felt his and Pan's ki.
Trunks flew up to meet Gohan. "Gohan, whats u-" Gohans steady fist interrupted Trunks's greeting and sent him flying back.
"WHERE IS SHE!" Gohan yelled about a heartbeat away from Super Saiyan.
"Gohan, calm down. Tell me what's wrong." Trunks wasn't really sure how he should be playing this. He might have been able to come up with a decent story if his last few brain cells hadn't been killed by Pan's hasty goodbye. He knew that he couldn't deny that Pan had been there. Her ki was so strong Gohan would have felt it a hundred miles away.
"Where is Pan?" Gohan asked, suddenly relaxing. His voice was so calm it sent shivers down Trunks's spine. Although Gohan didn't appear to be taking aggressive action his eyes silently warned of destruction.
"Gohan, listen. Pan was here. She came to tell me that she'd be gone for a while and just wanted me to tell you that she was alright." Trunks managed not to stumble over his words, but he wondered how convincing he sounded. It was the first thing that had come into his head, other than Pan of course. She'd obviously made it to the room, but would he make it to meet her.
Gohan stared at Trunks with an intensity rivalling Vegeta's stare. Trunks suddenly felt so transparent, as if Gohan could see straight into the depths of his being. He cringed waiting for the final blow, the fault in his logic that he'd only just realised.
"Trunks, why was Pan's ki so high, and why did it disap-" Gohan was now the one thrust into silence. Trunks and Gohan broke their deathly gazes to turn towards the sky. In an instant the tense feeling dropped and became one of confusion and fear. A strange sense of being had shifted into their consciousness and it was strong. Gohan regained his composure a second before Trunks and shot him daggers, reminding him that this would be taken up the instant they knew they were safe. Then he took off in the direction of the foreign ki. Trunks stood for a second, not sure which he was more stunned by. In the space of ten minutes Pan had shocked him with her kiss, Gohan had scared him out of his mind, Trunks had completely lost any sense of grace or lying skills, a power strong enough to destroy the planet a hundred times over had suddenly appeared and then Gohan had scared him out of his mind again. Seconds later Trunks flew after Gohan, deciding to try and give Pan a planet to come back to.
***
As usual, please review. I'm interested to know how I'm doing with this whole romance thing.