Disclaimer: DB/DBZ/DBGT belong to Toriyama and other rich Japanese guys, not me.

A Brief Moment in Time

Chapter 4: Different Kinds of Dates

In route to Sirrus 4. March 17th…

Vegeta slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a strange room. Disoriented, he tried to quickly sit up. Pain exploded through him. His entirebody ached and it was obvious that he had taken battle wounds. Gritting his teeth, Vegeta forced himself to slow his breathing and to blot out the pain. As the pain resided, Vegeta slowly looked around, taking in the details of the room. It was a small clean bedroom. There was little much else to say about it. There was a dresser and a nightstand. A full body mirror stood in one corner near the doorway.

It took a moment for Vegeta to realize where he was and also recollect the events from the previous day. As he remembered Bojack's treachery, his anger began to boil and he attempted a SSJ transformation. Nothing happened. His hand suddenly shot to the collar around his neck and he tried to rip it off. Of course the moment he attempted to do that he felt a jolt of pain run down his spine. It was so great that he couldn't help but let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor clutching his neck. Minutes passed as he struggled to regain control of his nervous system. Slowly, he turned himself around and pushed himself up onto his knees. He could barely keep himself up, and his breath came out heavy, and ragged.

"Vegeta, are you alright?" he heard a soft feminine voice. He looked up to see Bulma standing over him with a look of concern. Slowly she bent down to help him up.

"Don't touch me woman. I don't want your filthy paws on me," he snapped. He did not want her help at all. She had, long ago, used him and then chose another. She had dismissed him as if he were a common dog and he would never be indebted to her again.

Bulma's hand snapped back at the malice in his voice. She had expected some form of rebuke, but his tone was so filled with loathing that she was taken aback. The concerned look on her face did not, however, drop. A single glance at him and she could see that he was hurting and not only physically. She knew how proud he was of his physical prowess and that to be seen-by anyone-crawling and crippled would be a serious blow to him emotionally. For a moment she thought that it would be perhaps best to let him be, but that moment passed as quickly as it game. In the end, she was Bulma and she did what the other dimensions Bulma would have done in her place--ignore his comment.

"Did you not here me? Stupid woman get away from me," he shouted as he tried to push her away from him. Unfortunately, the pain had sapped all his strength and he collapsed onto the floor.

Bulma immediately grabbed him and using all her strength hauled him into a sitting position. She resumed her examination of the collar. It was made out of some metal she could not identify. She could however tell how it was causing Vegeta pain.

"Vegeta, you can't mess with this collar. It's imbedded into your spine here. Every time you try to take it off, or even move it it's going to cause you tremendous pain. Even if you do rip it off, you'll end up paralyzing yourself," she told him.

"I figured that out myself. Now get away from me. I don't desire your help. Your very presence turns my stomach," he spat. Her presence did turn his stomach. He could smell her scent and remember her soft touch. The nights together, the time they had spent together. Yet, it was all tainted. For the memory of the scent of Yamcha's seed on her was too much for him to bear. Every memory of her had been fouled and polluted for him, and it was that which made him sick. He had once treasured those memories. He had very few memories that were pleasurable, and they had been unique in that he had someone to share them with. Now they were suppressed along with the years he had spent with Freeza.

His sharp words finally caused Bulma to lose her temper. "Well shit Vegeta, if I bother you so much then I'll make myself scarce. I see that after twenty years you are still a fucking asshole." With that said she turned and stalked out the room. She did not realize the impact of her words on Vegeta.

Vegeta was stunned. It was not only the words that she had said but also the picture of the woman on the nightstand. He knew the raven-haired girl and her family. Worse, he had in his own way trusted that family. Her words came back to him "after twenty years you are still a fucking asshole." It was not the insult that had shocked him but rather the time she had given. The last time he had seen her was thirty years ago. He knew that Bulma was a precise person. She would never accidentally make such an error. In addition he was now on a ship of a member of the Son family. He could not help but think that perhaps the Son family could be plotting against him. How else could she have been the one to pick him up? How did they just coincidently get on Son Pan's ship? Of all the major political players in the empire only Goten could have known of his one great weakness. Paranoia began to set in and he began to think of ways he could find out the truth. He would know if she intended to betray him again and if she did, this time he would not hesitate to kill her, even if it meant killing a part of himself. He would find out before they reached their destination.

The same day Star System Praxis Prime – a two day hop from Sirrus 4…

"Now this is more like it!" said Pan as she tossed her bag into the large suite cabin of the luxury liner that she, Trunks and Buu had managed to book. Even with the enormous amount of funds that Pan had procured at the Bazaar, they had been unable to get on a ship from Imperial Capitol to Sirrus four. However, they had been able to book a shuttle to the Praxis system, which was only a two-day journey from Sirrus 4. There they had transferred to a Luxury liner that was taking its wealthy passengers on a cruise of the systems near the border of the Empire. One of those systems just happened to be Sirrus 4 and they were about to depart in twenty minutes. Apparently the news of the battle there had not reached the public and traffic routes had not been closed.

The cabin was definitely one reserved for the wealthy. Large was an understatement. The living area was the size of a small one-bedroom apartment and there were two adjacent bedrooms-each the size of a small apartment on Chikyuu. One of which was a master bedroom. Pan, not surprisingly, had declared that room hers. Trunks and Buu were now sharing the other room.

In addition to two bedrooms and a large living area, the cabin also boasted a kitchenette where meals could be prepared and also an immense bathroom with a Jacuzzi. There was also a balcony in which they could step out onto that led to an overlook of the main deck and to a spectacular view of space through a transparent canopy.

"Yeah, this sure beats that cramped shuttle we took here," said Trunks as he too looked over the room a bit uncomfortably. It really was spacious and he wasn't use to it. While Capsule Corps in his time had been large, it was mostly abandoned. Most of the time he and his mother had confined themselves to a small portion of the building that had not been destroyed. In all his life, Trunks certainly had never seen such luxury, in fact luxury itself was strange to him. His world was not one that supported such a lifestyle.

The room they had for the last day on the shuttle had been more like a closet. There had been only two bunks and he had slept on the floor. Worse, though perhaps it wasn't that bad, the cramped room had forced Pan and Trunks together for an extended period of time. During that time Trunks had become even more aware of Pan's sexuality. He couldn't get her out of his head any more. For him it was a strange experience. He'd met beautiful human women before and he'd always been able to control his carnal instincts. However, something about Pan was appealing to his Saiyan side and that was much harder to keep tame. Could Pan be a Saiyan? Is that why she's affecting me like this?

"Trunks?" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She stood there smirking at him for some reason. He realized that he had been staring at her like a love struck puppy for an unknown amount of time.

"Pan, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" he blurted out blushing furiously. In fact, he didn't even realize he had said it until it was too late. Smooth Trunks… way to complicate things.

Pan was taken aback for a moment. Sure she had caught him checking her out, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She hadn't thought he was that inexperienced around women, but maybe he was. For some reason that made him all the more attractive to her.When she heard him asking her to dinner, a surge of elation shot through her and she felt as if she were flying. She even glanced down to make sure that her ki was properly reduced and to make sure that she had not accidently started flying in front of him. It only took her a minute to realize that she was actually getting giddy over this guy. Even though she had no intention of turning him down, she was not about to let him know that. Moreover, there was no way she was going to get giddy over a guy, especially a guy she barely knew. He was gorgeous but lots of guys were gorgeous. Not as gorgeous as this guy, whispered a small voice. She couldn't help but feel her face begin to heat up and as it did, she started to get angry.

"Oh… sorry Pan, I didn't mean to offend you," he said when he saw her eyes begin to narrow. He didn't mean to upset her and so he was spinning damage control now. He hoped that he hadn't scared her off. "I just thought it was nice if we could go out and see some of the ship. If you don't want to its ok with me."

"No, no. Trunks. I'd love to go to dinner with you and it'd be even better if we could take a walk around the ship," she replied hurriedly. No way you're getting out of this pretty boy, she thought to herself and nearly giggled. Again, she chastised herself. I am going to act like a woman and not some silly school girl. I am so not one of those little brainless girls that phoo and haww over guys.She needed some breathing room she decided. "Let me take a shower and get changed alright?" she asked.

"Sure thing. I'll take a look at what restaurants and stuff this ship has. I have to change myself."

"Alright… We'll head out in an hour or two ok?"

Trunks nodded his agreement before he realized something. "What about Buu, is he going to be ok by himself?"

Pan just laughed and pointed over at Buu who was sitting and watching TV. There was some kind of muffin men dancing around and singing a hideous song. "He'll be ok. He can take care of himself. I'll let him know we'll be going out."

"Ok. Meet you in a bit," he said grinning like a small boy that just consumed some of his favorite candy. Trunks couldn't believe he was going out on a date. In fact, he realized that this would actually be his first real date ever. In his timeline dates weren't exactly a common thing. Devastated cities, killer androids, acid rain, and nuclear pollution kind of made his world a place where people stayed inside. These things also put a hamper on dating. Also he had gone back in time when he was only sixteen years old. He was physically four years older now, but in reality he was only two. This was the first time he had really had the opportunity to ask a girl out and he wanted to treat her right. Picking up a yellow book that seemed to list all the liner's services he began to plot carefully. It would be an interesting evening indeed.

Some time after Trunks had begun his preparations for his date with her, Pan exited the shower. There's nothing like a long hot shower, she thought to herself. Wrapping herself in one of the luxury liner's comfortable robes, she walked out of the bathroom into the main living area to see what Trunks was up to. When she entered the common area, she saw only Buu quietly playing a video game by himself.

"Trunks?" she called out. She wanted to know what arrangements he had made while she had been in the shower. However, nothing except silence responded to her inquiry.

"Buu have you seen Trunks?" she asked.

"Nooo… He say he go out. He leave note for Pan. There," answered Buu. He gestured to the kitchen counter to show Pan that the note had been left somewhere in that vicinity.

"Thanks Buu," she said as she walked over to the counter. She immediately found the note and quickly picked it up. It read, "Pan. Went out to make a few arrangements. Will be back to pick you up for dinner and a show. Be ready at six sharp." It was signed, Trunks.

Pan smiled to herself. It was obvious that Trunks was up to something. She walked back to her room swiftly and took a look at her herself in the mirror. Suddenly she frowned. If he's taking me out to dinner that means I'm going to have to dress up, she thought. She really hated dressing up. Yet, it was something she had to do quite often and something that she had learned to do quite well. After all, she was the neice of the Duke de Sirrus. However, much she disliked dressing up,she realized that this might be a chance to get one up on Trunks. He'd only met Pan in her current guise of an adventurer and more than likely thought of her only as a rough and tumble kind of girl. She knew he had mysteries and if she were to assume her formal persona then perhaps she could shock some of his little secrets out of him.

Alright Trunks, you want to surprise me? Well I'll give you a little shocker myself. Smirking to herself, she went to her travel bag and pulled out her capsule container. It didn't take her long to find the one she wanted. She pulled a gray capsule out and pressed the button and tossed onto the bed. With a poof, a suit bag appeared.

Carefully, Pan unzipped the bag from left to right and then opened it. The first item of clothing was obviously a uniform of some kind. It was embroidered and decorated with a few medals. On each end of the collar was a silver eye inlaid with a blood red ruby. Taking the uniform out, she carefully folded it and put it to the side. Behind it were a number of dresses that she had been given to her by her mother and a few by her uncle. Grumbling she looked from the uniform to the dresses and back. Again, she frowned as indecision to dress up or not took her again.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and weighed the consequences. As much as she wanted to go out with Trunks, she had a job, and that job required her to uncover information and then to deal with threats in theImperium. For this reason, she travelled mostly by herself and undercover. Not many people would associate the plainly dressed and unglamorous woman that she was now with the high profile neice, and more importanly heir, of the Duke de Sirrus. Her rough and tumble attitude combined with her gruff mannerisms were absolutely the opposite of the elegant and graceful Lady Son Pan of the Imperial court.

The problem lay now with Trunks. She was captivated by him for some bizzare reason. Certainly he was ridiculously good looking. Trunks was gifted with beautiful hair that most women would kill for along with the adonis like body and gorgeous face. Just thinking about him made her shiver.Yet, there was something else about him. She didn't know him that well; they had never really talked.What was it about him that pulled at her? She'd grown up around gorgeous men with god-likebodies.The imperial court was filled with beautiful people. And then there was the Emperor who was prime A+ specimen of male. She'd spent weeks locked up with him and she'd never even once had the feelings that she was having now...and worse, she knew that the pull was going to get stronger as she got to know Trunks better.Would she lose control? Would she compromise the safety of her uncle and Vegeta by pursuing this relationship? Especially if Trunks was some kind of agent. After all, what were the chances of there being TWO Trunks Briefs in the world.

"AGHHHHHHH," she vented out her frustration and flopped down onto the bed. What would uncle Goten or the Emperor do in a situation like this? she thought to herself. It took her only a moment for her to realize the answer and a feral like grin appeared on her beautiful face.There was no doubt that she would pursue this, if he were a spy then it was her job to expose him. If he were genuine then everything would be wonderful. She might as well play along and try to solve his mysteries. And on top of that, she realized, donning her court persona would open up more access for her to figure out what happened during the coup. The rich and powerful on this ship would no doubt have plenty of information and would be more than happy to gossip. She'd be able to get to mix business with pleasure tonight. Turning back to her dresses she looked over her options with a smile. Well Trunks Briefs, get ready to meet Son Pan-the real Son Pan tonight... not the tomboy or the lady but all of me.

Another Part of the Ship...

"No sir. I can't get you tickets to the showing of the Mama Mia tonight. You have to book these things in advance," said the weasel like alien to Trunks.

"Well… how about the Full Monty? Can I two tickets to that?" asked Trunks as he looked over the list of shows that were playing. He really had no idea what these shows were about. He'd never been to one, but he thought Pan might like something like this.

"Hmmm… Well I do have two left, but they are on reserve. They are fourth row slightly center left. I could give them to you but…"

"Here's five hundred keep the change," said Trunks deadpan. He knew what the game was about. It didn't matter to him though. He just wanted to get a ticket to a show that started shortly after dinner.

"Well… if you insist. Here are the tickets. I hope you have a wonderful time at the show sir," smirked the ticket salesman as he closed up shop.

Trunks hurriedly left the ticket booth and went to the restaurant that he was preparing to take Pan to. It was called Grande Europa and featured cuisine from Chikyuu. This was extremely rare in the galaxy as Chikyuu was a tiny remote planet. Yet, the cuisine was said to be excellent and he thought Pan would probably like something from home.

"May I help you?" said the alien Maitre Dee as he saw Trunks enter. Trunks was dressed in his usual Capsule Corps jacket, black shirt, and black pants.

"Yes. I called earlier for a reservation for two tonight and since I was near the area I thought come in and see if I can pick the table."

"Your full name?" said the Alien as he walked over and looked over his reservation book.

"Trunks Vegeta-Briefs," he said.

"Ah here. Yes, indeed. If you would come with me I'll show you our available tables. I'm doing you a favor now sir. We usually don't do this, but I can tell you have a big date tonight with someone special," said the Maitre Dee with a smile, "I'm sure you want everything to be perfect."

"I hope so," blushed Trunks. He wasn't exactly sure where these feelings for Pan came from. In fact he wasn't sure what these feelings were. He didn't know her enough to be in love with her. Yet, he felt this unnatural attraction to her. She has to be a Saiyan. Could more of them survived than Dad and Goku, he thought to himself. It was the only explanation he could come up with.

"It will be young one. Relax and be yourself," advised the Maitre Dee sincerely.

Trunks just laughed and thanked him. Looking over the room he saw a nice isolated table near a window with a view. He was about to say he wanted that table when the Maitre Dee beat him to it.

"I think this table will do nicely. What do you think?"

"Yeah… this will be perfect. Thanks a lot."

"Your very welcome. We'll be expecting you at six fifteen?"

"I certainly hope so," came Trunks response. He'd done a lot of preparation and was actually quite nervous about the upcoming date. Now all he needed were some clothes and some food. It wouldn't do any good to scare Pan with his abnormally large appetite.

Next Chapter: Pan and Trunks go on their date. Pan finds things out about Trunks that disturb her. Trunks finds things about Pan that frighten him. What? They are going to see the Full Monty? (The play, not the movie.) What about Vegeta and Bulma? Will Vegeta's paranoia cause pain for Bulma? You bet it will! What kind of pain? Will Vegeta or Trunks DO the FULL Monty for Bulma or Pan. Muhaha. You'll just have to wait and see.