I WILL WAIT FOR YOU

If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life. – Oscar Wilde

Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 10: Trust

For that instant Pan felt Trunks' absence stronger than she had in days. She could feel the full force of the uncertainty that had been skipping about her head. More than anything for that moment she wanted Trunks there; someone to lean on. The tide of loneliness with the speed it had come and she quickly regained her composure, hoping that none of the sweeping emotions had crossed her face. She smiled sweetly, much the same way she always did when trying to explain that she already had a boyfriend and didn't really want a drink. The training she had undergone to perfect her fitness, flexibility and skill often left gaps in her technique though, and gaps that only experience could fill. She had always been grateful that she hadn't been involved in numerous epic battles, but now she was feeling those flaws in her experience acutely.

The owner of the stall quickly grabbed all the tokens that Mowg offered casually and started pushing the pair away. Their welcome had been overstayed and he bore no qualms about showing it. After all, he had the best thebal's in the entire market.

Pan watched Mowg's eyes wander off to other markets and scouted out an escape route. She hated to leave Mowg, especially in such a hurry. He seemed so sweet, but something wasn't quite right with the entire situation. That little episode at the fruit stall had seemed so out of character she almost wondered if she had been reading her own nervousness into his actions. In the few moments since it had passed her memory had been tainted and she could no longer accurately replay the events in her head. Subjective reality certainly kicked in at the most frustrating times, she thought angrily.

Then ran.

Inevitably the people in the market blocked her way at every turn. It would have amazed her how all laws of probability were crashing into her in the form of the population of the entire market, all moving in the exact opposite direction to her if only she had not been concentrating so hard on not making a scene. The plan was to just disappear into the crowd at high speed, get back to her ship, find some Dragonballs and collapse into Trunks' arms and live happily ever after.

It seems that plans are destined to only ever be plans though, rarely fulfilled to even the smallest extent. Mowg started running after her. "Pan! Pan!" he called. The fact that he could be heard over the dull roar of the market indicated he was already too close. He had experience moving through places like this. All Pan had to do was make it out of the market and she could fly off unnoticed and laugh guiltily at leaving such a kind person behind.

Plans are however destined to only ever be plans. Pan felt a slightly sticky hand close around her taut upper arm and was surprised by the strength in the grip. She shook it off with relative ease though and carried on at a slower pace, resigned to his determination.

"What's the problem, Pan?"

"Nothing, I just really have to get going."

"Without saying goodbye."

"I'm in a hurry."

"For what?"

"I have something really important to do."

"Oh, OK." Mowg looked hurt. It surprised Pan that in the short amount of time they had spent together he had developed a fairly strong emotional connection. It would, however, not have surprised her in the least if this was his usual style.

Obviously he had expected her to apologise or offer further explanation because when she continued walking and remained silent he kept pace and started again. "Look, Pan, I've obviously offended you or something. I'm not that good with current Earth customs, so whatever it is I'm sorry. But I really am interested; we don't get many people from Earth out here. Can I just get you something to eat, offer you a comfortable bed for a night and you can get back to whatever it is that's so important tomorrow. It's going to be dark in a few hours anyway."

Pan tried very hard to ignore the logic of his words, not to mention the pull of the thought of a decent meal. Fighting never left a lot of time for cooking lessons.

"Come on," he implored, "I promise I'll be good."

The grin he offered with those words looked so innocent, Pan could barely remember being frightened of such a creature. She noticed that Mannix had taken up their trail once more. If that thing could trust him, then surely she could too.

It never occurred to her that it was the overwhelming loneliness that actually caused her to accept the offer.

It was only another day before Trunks was back on his feet and assisting with the recovery operation. He had spent his first few hours on his feet searching through the wounded and dead looking for Pan. He couldn't sense her while it was disconcerting it comforted him in that she was not likely to be among this group. It meant she was still out there somewhere, hopefully looking for him with the same ardour.

He had asked around, but nobody really seemed to know what had taken place. Nuclear war, earthquake and alien invasion were all mentioned. The latter caused a few sniggers, but Trunks cringed when he heard it, knowing it was the most likely explanation.

By the end of the day he had formulated a plan though, he only hoped that it would be realised by the next day. While he knew he could offer a lot to the rescue efforts here, his loyalties lay elsewhere, with the woman he had promised his future to. The rest of the world would have to wait.

Mowg took Pan in the direction of her ship to allay her fears slightly, sensing she was still ill at ease. When they reached the waterfront they had met on he invited her to sit and relax. "My camp is just in those bushes," he told her, pointing towards a seemingly endless cluster of trees. "I'll go and get something for us to eat and get a fire going. Shortly the Ritche's will start lighting up."

Pan did not enquire what Ritche's were, but offered a genuine smile and dropped down to the soft sand. Emotional fatigue had certainly done a number on her today.

Mowg returned within moments carrying armfuls of equipment. He dumped it a few metres from her position and quickly offered her a bowl of fruit that he had purchased earlier that day along with several other roots and berries she had seen him gather along the journey. She nervously picked at the offering as she helped him get the fire going.

Pan began to feel ashamed when she saw Mowg cook. He could do more over an open fire than she could in a fully equipped kitchen. He did not show any outward signs of contempt for her lack of input into the meal though and they settled down to polite conversation, which quickly led to his investigations into the history of the area.

The topic did not interest Pan, but the thrill of caring human company washed through her in waves, warming all the corners of her heart that had been cooled by her trip. Certain places couldn't be reached by memories of Trunks and her family alone. Of course, the fire that Mowg had blazing and the food in her stomach contributed to the warmth.

Then Pan found out what Riche's were. Darting through the water were silver streams of light, it took her a minute to translate the light to some kind of aquatic life in her head. Mowg smiled. "Bet you don't have that on Earth."

Pan shook her head. "We have fireflies though."

"Yeah?" he asked, obviously wanting further information.

"They're small insects that light up at night, a lot like that I guess, only the light is a lot more yellow."

Mowg let his hand advance slowly towards Pan's. She did not notice until his warm fingertips made contact though. She quickly moved her hand and shuffled a little further away from Mowg.

"Sorry." He sounded genuine.

"It's OK," Pan replied, wondering why it had not bothered her as much as it would normally.

Still, she did not realise just how lonely she was.

The awkward silence did not drag out for long though. Mowg produced another root from seemingly nowhere and held it out to her. "Desert."

"Thanks." Pan bit into it. It was very sweet and she did not waste much time in devouring the entire thing, enjoying the sensation of her stomach filling again. The meal had not been enough for a Saiyan, but she had eaten more than her fair share and did not like to ask for more.

By now Pan was feeling very tired though - she kept yawning and apologising. Finally Mowg gave up and told her to get some sleep and that the sand really was the most comfortable bed one could hope for. He pulled a blanket from his pile of equipment and draped it over her, his hands lingering for maybe a second too long. Pan barely noticed, but snuggled a little further down into the sand - it still retained some of the sun's warmth. It was nice not to be alone while sleeping again.

Pan awoke what seemed like only hours later with a burning glow on her face. The fire had long ago extinguished. Mowg was gone.

Even though she had spent a great deal of effort to lose the young fellow, Pan felt a twang of loss at his disappearance.

A thought of Trunks' smile on a morning like this as she began to stir quickly dispelled the loneliness. Her reason for the mission renewed and her strength and energy returned after the sleep (albeit shorter than she would have liked) she trampled back to her ship and boarded.

Within moments she was back in space, watching the countdown to arrival tick over 2 days. 'Give it another day to find the Dragonballs, that's 3 days until I see Trunks again' she thought. Still tired she settled back down to sleep with a much larger smile on her face.

It felt like her entire life had consisted of waking up lately and all she wanted to do was sleep. Something had woken her up though. With a jolt her eyes ran to the controls wondering exactly what could have gone wrong. The controls however blinked away, oblivious to any untoward influence. Pan noted by the countdown that she had been asleep for another six hours.

"Must've been tired," she muttered to herself.

"Yeah, tival's can do that to you," came from behind her.

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