Another chapter – whoo-hoo! Hopefully you enjoy. :) Shoutout's to all my fans, but I especially want to note the ones who IM just to say hey, or talk to me about my work, it really makes my evenings. I'm so glad you guys are excited to speak to me! (and yes, Kristy, I'm totally normal and won't beat you with a broom for IM'ing me. lol. You're a cutie!) Thanks to everyone who review's, I love reading them. Hope everyone's new year is going great – I'm thinking about ya'll!

Trunks brushed a gentle hand through Pan's hair, his fingers trailing down the side of her face as her slow tears dripped down her cheeks. Her voice, ragged from her lengthy speech, continued her confession. Continued her plea for acceptance and understanding, even as she forgave his own actions.

"I just…need you, Trunks." And with her last burst of desperate desire she threw herself into his welcoming arms as the breeze made the ends of her hair dance against his shoulder.

"It's OK, Panny. It's OK." A reassuring hand patted and rubbed her back. He didn't give a care for the mascara stained tears that stained his white shirt, or the weight that was now in his lap.

She was here, with him. That's all that mattered. His life was perfect.

Even more than it had seemed before. He had a thriving company, money, riches, popularity with any company he chose…but he hadn't had her. She was all that mattered…

With a sharp gasp Pan awoke to a sunny London morning, her body rising to a sitting position.

Wide-eyed she looked around the room, and with confused surprise her hand found tears streaming down her cheeks.

~*

Capsule Corporations was currently stuck in a whirlwind of pandemonium. Papers were flying, phones were ringing, and through it all Trunks had a killer migraine.

And when Claire buzzed him, requesting to enter his office, he shouted, "What!?" before he even knew what he was doing. She entered timidly, looked at him warily, and with a sigh she asked if he would like some pain meds.

"No." He responded irritably, but she took no offense.

"Mr. Brief's…perhaps you should just take a break. Do you want to go home for the rest of the day? We'll be fine here—"

"You won't be fine here." He snapped. "But thanks anyway. It's crazy today, Claire." His explanation wasn't truly heard, for she was waiting for a chance to speak from the beginning.

"It's not going to change just because you're here." She pointed out, and, annoyed, he had to admit she was right. Not that he'd let her know that, of course. "I—" But she was interrupted by the entrance of Donny Evans, Bura's fiancé.

"Nearly-brother-in-law!" He greeted cheerfully. Trunks groaned inwardly, but didn't let his annoyance show. "How's it going?" His cheer was present, however the sing-song attitude was replaced with his usual, neutral, tone.

"Kind of busy." Trunks said quietly. "What are you here for?" Donny and Claire exchanged looks, and Trunks looked at them both in disbelief.

"Mr. Evans was hoping to have lunch with you today, however I said you were free to spend the rest of the afternoon with him instead." She and Donny exchanged another look, which clearly stated she had volunteered Donny for more than lunch to "help Trunks out". He rolled his eyes.

~*

Pan hadn't been able to shake that dream that left her, perplexing, crying. Why would it do that? She supposed she was PMS'ing, or something like that, because this attitude really just wasn't Pan.

She spread out the newspaper on the table before her in the quaint coffeeshop she had come to treat like a second home.

She sipped a double-shot espresso as she scanned the recent world news—several Capsule Corporations and Vixen Entertainment articles included, naturally—and a blackberry scone was getting crumbly and stale on a small plate next to her coffee.

She would be endlessly content if this were to be the rest of her life. If she could stay suspended like this for eternity.

Live would be so much simpler if the only choices you had to made were tall or grande, double shot or decaf, blueberry scone or chocolate chip coffee cake.

Drama would be limited to spilt coffee, worries would only contain cold drinks or a slightly unpleasant waitress. The news would only be what was on the front page, and your company would be intelligent artist-types who would speak fluently about interesting topics or coffee types, if they talked at all.

Pan sighed. It would be the life…at least for her.

She turned the page of the newspaper and felt disdain surge. Trunks face was looking at her, and in bolt, italic letters were the words, "Vixen stock still soaring." She crumpled the newspaper and tossed it into the trash.

~*

Trunks' vote was outnumbered by Claire and Donny's, and he supposed it wouldn't be too harmful to spend the afternoon with his sister's fiancé.

And so he found himself eating lunch with a male model.

And so he found himself looking very carefully at Donny while the blonde looked at his menu.

He was gorgeous? He carefully examined his facial structure, his features…and he had to admit he was a good looking guy. But, no, his features weren't breathtaking, as Bura had described them…were they? He wasn't the best judge, he had to admit, as he usually didn't look at guys that way…

"Yo', you know what you want yet?" He blinked at looked at Donny—well, looked at him differently.

"Um—"

"Do I have snot hanging out of my nose or something?"

"Sorry, I just—" But Donny just laughed.

"It's fine. You were looking at me and thinking about the whole male model thing, weren't you?" Trunks tried to not look so shocked. "Not to sound weird, but guys do it all the time." He sighed, shutting his menu, and turning devastatingly serious.

"Trunks," He began in a much lower tone. "I have to address the real reason I brought you here. I don't know…" He cleared his throat and took a breath. "I don't know how to say this, and I—I don't want to hurt Bura. But the truth can't be hidden.

Trunks, millions of scenario's, situations, confessions, denials—everything was swarming through his head as Donny continued.

"But, Trunks, I have to be honest. I'm…I'm gay, Trunks, and it's you who I really love."

~*

Pan came home to an empty house. The cat's yowled in the kitchen, begging for food, and when she entered the kitchen the sound almost blew her away. Five cats—Lynda had gotten even more since her last residence—yapped and pawed at her as she set her bag and empty espresso grande cup down on the island.

She dumped the dry cat food—she thought distantly about how Lynda rarely used the dry food and only as a substitute if she ran out of the other—into their separate dishes and then put it back in its cupboard down by her feet.

By the time she had fish sticks and left over chinese food into the microwave the phone rang, and she picked up the cordless.

"Pan?" Her mother's pleasant voice made Pan smile as she greeted her mother in return. Videl began a casual conversation, speaking of life at home, questioning Pan's life when appropriate. But Pan sensed an underlying topic her mother wanted to address, and she called her out on it.

"What did you really call for, mom?" Pan asked realistically, taking her munchies into the sitting room next to the kitchen and curling up in an armchair.

"I wanted to talk to you." Pan rolled her eyes.

"I know, but about what?" She heard her mother sigh, and Videl didn't pull any more punches.

"All right, Pan." She began. "I have to be honest." Pan, though her mother couldn't see her, made a gesture of impatience. "I was looking through your article, and Trunks' article, watching the tape and all that.

"And Pan, I have to ask you. Would you re-consider going through with marrying Trunks?"

~*

"You're joking, right?" Trunks asked, eyes not moving from Donny's. Donny smiled.

"Yeah, I am." Trunks sighed in relief. "Lighten up, dude! Seriously. What's got your boxers in a knot so bad today?" Trunks, still recovering from the joke, shrugged. "Well, whatever does, I know how to lighten your mood today." Trunks looked at him in annoyed disbelief. "Yeah, I do. After lunch, I'm taking you for a surprise."

"Will my dad approve?" Trunks shot at him in a girlish voice, and Donny snorted. "I guess I'll just have to be held in unbearable suspense while I eat. Life is so hard."

An hour later Trunks and Donny were sitting in Donny's limo, totally laid back as the chauffeur carried them to this mysterious destination.

"Do you take Bura on these romantic drives?" Trunks teased, and Donny chuckled. "Or does it not impress her beyond all reason?"

"She's used to limo's." Was all Donny said, and Trunks raised his brow. "I mean, she's been rich her whole life, hasn't she? I'm nothing extravagant compared to that. I mean, I wasn't even in the major big time until Bura got me connections anyway."

"She did?"

"Yeah, she got me in contact with some upper-class agents and such. Hey, that brings me to something I want to talk to you about in a way. Your dad isn't, well, I just think it would be better to address this to you.

"I know you guys have a lot of money, that you're generous and all of that…but Trunks, I don't want any of your money. Your family's money, all that. I don't mean this rude, or prideful…but I suppose there is a high level of pride in this. It's just, I want to provide for Bura. I love her, I want to take care of her. I don't care if modeling fails, if everything fails; I'll work fast food to take care of her. Promise me you'll let me do this?"

Trunks sat in silence for several moments, the serious conversation taking every ounce of his thoughts, his concentration.

He was glad. Happy. Excited that Bura's guy was like this. That though he was a male model—Trunks had been wary of his occupation and therefore himself in general—he was serious. He knew what he wanted, had goals…wanted to take care of his little sister.

"OK." Trunks agreed happily, and Donny's serious expression spread into a smile.

It was then that they pulled into an arcade's parking lot.

Donny wasn't a bad guy. Trunks realized with a grin. It seemed to him that they were going to get along a lot better than he had imagined.

~*

Silence followed Videl's question. Pan was too shocked to form any response for several moments. And, when she did, the only thing she could bring forth from her lips was, "Mom?"

She heard her mother sigh on the other line, could hear…almost…disappointment? Videl seemed to take a breath, as if she was about to speak, and Pan waited patiently.

"You loved him, Pan. Very much. I know. Don't you still love him? I find it hard to believe that everything would drop so suddenly—"

"But we cheated on—" Her mother's sigh interrupted her, and Pan's emotions were up and down, angry, sad, lonely, frustrated.

"I know what happened."

"Oh, you do?" Pan was suddenly too hot to trot. She was sarcastic now, sharp-tongued, and irritated. "You know that some random guy at the library set me on fire? That Trunks met a random waitress and went on a date with her? That he was dreamy-eyed about her…that I couldn't spend enough time with Jace? No one's out in the cold here, mom; we both made the same mistake.

"How could we get married if we both were looking at other people? Obviously we both were attracted to someone else, and acted upon it. He's not the one, mom. He can't be. I wouldn't be looking at other guys if he was. He wouldn't be looking at other girls if I was."

"I didn't ask about your mistakes, Pan. I didn't ask you to point out what was wrong.

"I asked you if you love him."

~*

After a day with future brother-in-law, male model Donny, Trunks had to admit he liked him. He approved.

While they both drank glass-bottled root beer in the back of Donny's limo, they talked about anything and everything. It was then that Donny brought up a question he'd been wanting to ask Trunks.

"What was it like seeing Pan? You know, when you went for the interview?" His breath stopped in his chest as he remembered the scene in Pan's hotel room. The confession. The pleading…the rejection.

He burst out with "Fine", hoping that any word, even one at random, that was said without a pause wouldn't divulge his dislike of the subject. Donny was still looking to him.

"She was still Pan." He joked, but even when he said those words he knew that wasn't even true. When she had walked onto the platform, her eyes wide and surprised, her body rigid in shock…she had been beautiful then. Dark and alert and those eyes that took up her whole, high-cheekboned face.

"Did it hurt?" Donny's question was out of the blue, totally casually, and terribly comfortable. Perhaps it was this that triggered Trunks' next words, actions.

He nodded tensely and said, "Yeah. It did." He wasn't sure why there was this sudden bearing of his soul. Didn't know why he had told Donny of all people. But when Donny nodded, sipping his drink a little, totally understanding, he knew it hadn't been a mistake.

"Did you want her back?" He then asked, the twinkling-star ceiling of the limo and minuscule bulbs near the floor casting the only light upon them.

"Yes." Was all he said, his expression giving away pain, reflection, disappointment.

"But it didn't happen." It wasn't a question, more a though, a pondering muse spoken aloud, but Trunks answered it anyway.

He spilled.

Spilled the entire story, from the frustrating wedding plans that he didn't really care about, to the last time he saw her, lying there on the bed, her expression cold and yet sad and hurt.

He had said, "She didn't even watch me leave, just saw it from the corner of her vision." When he was telling Donny the close of the story. Both bottles were empty now.

~*

"I asked you if you love him." Her mother's words were ringing in her ears, driving her mad, making her think harder than she wanted to.

"I don't know, mom." Was all she could muster herself to say, for it was the truth. "I just don't think this is how love works." She confessed.

"Love isn't rose-colored glasses and meadows full of flowers. I've been in love, am in love. Don't expect it to be a fairy tale full of knights and dragon-slaying." She knew it wasn't. But…was she perhaps in denial? This whole time had she expected Cinderella or Snow White, secretly thinking she knew better? It seemed to fit…but she couldn't think herself so silly. Pan wasn't a silly girl.

"Pan," Her mother continued. "Trunks and yourself had a magical romance. Here you were, plain Pan, I have to admit, not caring about popularity, your looks, all the usual things regular girls go through, all the while dreaming about this perfect guy.

"And then, there you are. He discovers you, and you help him to discover himself, and then you're all he can see. You had a fairy tale, complete with the ball at the end…well, almost.

"But then you started planning your wedding, both of you had disagreements surface not necessarily from the wedding, but you had them. Reality struck both of you, and both of you didn't know what to do with it."

"I've never had reality?" She returned sharply. "No, I just had my heart broken, went to London, struck rock-bottom…"

"Pan, please listen to me." Her mother said. "I'm just generalizing, but I'm right. Marriage is an adjustment. Your father and I almost had a fairy tale get-together of sorts. More likely a super-hero movie, but you know what I mean. I pulled the mask off of the 'Great Saiyaman', there was world terror with Buu, which he got me through. No matter what everyone says, we were both on a love high when we got married. Only then did we have to adjust. We had to comply to each other. We had settle too different colored Jello Jigglers into a bigger, different mold." Pan chuckled at the analogy.

"I'm going to hang up with you before we get into a larger conversation…but I want you to think of what I've said. I want you to consider. Please, Pan, if only just for me." And then Videl, for the first time in her life, hung up on her daughter.