AN: Okay! I'm back. Sorry. I've been working on my one-shots a lot lately and I'll be done with this fic soon. I don't know how long but soon. I'm going to finish my one-shoters and this story as well as my other Trunks and Pan fic. Check it out if you're bored or have time. It's a fluffy little piece called "Your Sad Smile." It was random but I was on a muse-high and I wanted to do something new. Oh well. ((shrugs))

Disclaimer: All rights reserved.

Trunks: Y'know what? I've been gone for a while. Has anyone noticed?

A-chan: No. Don't really care either. I think they want the fic, not you.

Trunks: But I'm in the fic! I'm in this chapter!

A-chan: You're also an asshole but I only say that when you're not around. ((grins)

Trunks: ((mumbles)) Fine... You're a jerk... ((mumbles more)

A-chan: Awesome. Now that the pouter has finished, on with the fic!
SxSxSx

Chapter 19: Championship (Part C)

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'Ok, Panny. Just breathe...' thought the ebony-haired girl, who had taken a deep breath in order to keep her heart from stopping. The moment she had waited for, had lived to see since she was a child, was now served to her on a silver platter and her dream to be the best was only moments away, if she could steal the victory. However, who she was facing was the real reason that stole her breath away.

The pressure that had mounted from the beginning was now thick in the air and in her heart. The heaviness she had easily pushed off her shoulders once before was now trying to break the strong will she was famous for. Her friend sat beside her calmly, while another lay in a hospital bed within the nearby building. Both had fought so hard to get here, but she had fought hardest and had fallen the most. Everything rode on one win, but she couldn't bring herself to care about the competition. She was more worried about what was on the line.

As she stared across the arena, charcoal eyes settled on a very familiar face. Short lavender hair, styled into a bowl-cut, with sea-blue eyes that contrasted well with his light skin. Where a smile was usually found was now a firm line, determination radiating from his very core. The more she noticed it, the more she wanted to waver.

But Son Pan was never a quitter and never had she settled for less than what she was capable of. Her pride was what kept her from running back to him but it was her heart that had trapped her in this mess from the beginning. Her long journey was now coming in a complete circle. Her life had changed once, in a matter of months. Now, her entire future was riding on a fight she was half-heartedly going into. She couldn't help it as the question crossed her thoughts.

How do you finish something you never meant to start?

Both challnger's approached the ring, their steady walks never stumbled or hesitated. Proud, overbearing steps were taken and Pan could feel her heart waver again. It had been crushed not too long ago and the knowledge that it may break again caused an echo of the past to course through her veins. And, once again, her determination was restored. The stubbornness of her family began to kick in and she couldn't help but smirk at the challenge. She was finally the challenger and not the student. Not the sparring partner, but the rival.

The annoucer's words blurred in her ears. She lost herself as she let Trunks' eyes bore into her. Pan returned the stare, the thrill and burning of a challenge in her eyes. The cold look he gave was nothing compared to hers. She was still paying for his mistake. She wouldn't lose so easily, not when he was trying to win back what he was so ready to give up once before.

Her stance spread out and her hands went up in defense when the call sounded. The thick air constricted between her and Trunks as his eyes narrowed. His smooth stance, which she had gotten to know very well, wasn't very foreign and vice versa. He read her as well as she could read him but no doubt touched her. She was going to end their chase, whether he was ready or not.

In a split second, hands and feet met in a trvial test of will. This was beyond physical means as the roars of the crowd died on deaf ears and her heart beat wildly against her chest. At one time, she used to spar for the fleeting moments that passed between them when they brushed against each other. The gasps from their contact used to catch in her throat and the feeling of nirvana touched her lightly whenever they met.

Now though there was no reaction but the thumping of her rushing blood in her head. This wasn't one of those happy-go-lucky bouts where he would playfully let her win or where he would call it a tie. For the first time between them, the outcome of their fight was undecided and all options weren't his to control. He couldn't string her along like a practice match. He couldn't lead her to what she needed to work on. For once, the answers were hers and only hers.

With each blow one used, the other countered gracefully with precision that screamed skill. Their dance was even more beautiful than the ones before because there was something even more great at risk. The deadly game they played only lead them down another. They were trapped in a maze of thickets, some paths leading to dead ends, while others hinted towards the answer. But, no matter where they swerved and dodged, both were lost, not only in their puzzle, but in each other as well.

They brushed past each other like two minerals, neither hurt but neither gaining ground. Instead, they were entranced in the web that had woven around them too tightly and strangled their bodies. The thread binding them was much like the fight they were in. Although it hurt to move and take each breath, the restriction made it even more urgent to struggle and break the tie. No matter how much they were cut and skewered, they fought more viciously with everything within them.

As Pan stared into the eyes that had once meant the world to her, she couldn't help but cringe mentally at what she saw. The emotionless depths that had once looked at her with such vigorous favor. They brought the world crashing down on her when she realized that the heartlessness of reality touched her. He wasn't playing this because he wanted her back but to save his name. He wanted to keep his reputation under his own control. He didn't want her.

And that only powered her to fight against her limits.

Her defensive stance was gone as she took the offensive, never losing flow from one pace to another. Her desire had spiked upward and she let her body lose itself in the rhythm. She fought because she wanted to be the best. She fought because she didn't want to be owned. She fought to protect her friends from falling all over again. But, most of all, she fought to stop her heart from taking over again.

She wouldn't take chances. She had lost too many times to end up with nothing.

She let herself believe that she could love and he could return the feelings. There was something inside of her that wanted her to believe he would see the woman she was, instead of the child she used to be. She could only hope for so much, but even wanting something so impossible was hard to cope with day after day. In the end, she had only hurt herself and had paid the price alone. The torturous thoughts of loneliness would no longer make her succumb to late nights of introspect and what could have been. She would not return to the stage where she believed she couldn't live without him. She had come too far for that.

She couldn't help but note the ironic sybolism of the battle, where her internal struggle melted into reality. He fought to gain back the pupil he lost and win the rights to her future when, at one time, she was so willing to let him have it all. He was fighting for a useless heart she had proclaimed dead not long ago, where scars were still shallow in the unmarred flesh of her soul. Their parts were switched now. She had once believed that the heart would tell all and reveal the good.

Now she was her mind, fighting the battle with reason and logic. There was nothing but heartache waiting again, so she fought with the even more power, keeping that possibility in mind. She had been wrong once before, her heart had been wrong, and another grave mistake would make her lose herself completely to him. Pan Son refused to fall in love again. If she ever did, then she'd only be caught in this frenzy of a circle. Instead, she wouldn't fall in love at all. The only way to never be hurt by love is to never get caught by its charms.

Why couldn't he just accept her refusal like she had done his?

He said he made a mistake. He said he was sorry. In the toil of their meeting they forged a cruel bet that could make or break everyone who touched it. She had agreed on his terms for no good reason other than to prove her stubborness and stay away. The choice wasn't a very good one but it was a rationale all the same.

Ebony eyes locked with the hard, crystal orbs of her opponent. The thrill and passion of fighting and its game were obvious in his eyes, and she noted it as another reason she could never hate him. His honest passion for something so simple touched her and everyone who saw him, but that didn't mean she would sit and let him have the win. If he could prove it to her, make her realize his intent and what good it would do, then and only then would she accept defeat gracefully.

Caught in her thoughts, she tripped over herself with humiliating gracelessness and was soon caught in a choking bind. One arm slung around her neck and gripped her throat like a vice. His elbow was implanted on her shoulder to push her against his arm. When she opened her mouth for oxygen, he merely tightened his hold, giving her a lightheadedness that was none too foreign. Trapped in his grasp, she let out a strangled gasp and she whispered, "Why?"

A confused glace was shot her way but he answered. "What do you mean 'why'? We're in the middle of a fight. This is what we're supposed to do."

"No..." she replied irritably as her voice cracked beneath the pressure of his hold, "Why are you doing this...? Why are you making... this stupid bet? I... I thought you were happy... without me..."

She couldn't see him look down at her but the slight touch of his head against hers was enough to inform her of their contact. Realizing how close they were didn't help in any way either, as she noticed his prolonged silence. He searched for the words to explain such an ironic turn of events. How could he tell her why he was fighting for something he had given up with nonchalance once before? What explanation could he offer to her in exchange for her understanding?

"Because..." he began, trying to let the words flow like they usually could do. However he was at a loss for such colorful sentences. If he told her his intention then it would insinuate the thought that they could have something beyond their apprenticeship. On the other hand, if he didn't tell her then she would find one way or another to dodge him, even if he won this match. She was bold enough to keep her distance but still 'remain his student.' All he wanted was her to be close and he had only begun to realize it the moment she left. Or better yet, he refused to realize it until she left.

"I made one stupid mistake, Pan," he continued in a low whisper. Pressing his face into her hair and feeling the blood rush to her face as her temperature rose. "I won't make the some on twice, especially if it concerns you. Losing you again would be suicide."

"You hated me," she responded, "and you said there would never be anything between us. I believed you... Why did you have to come back? It would have been easier if you just stayed away. We both could have been happy."

"No, we wouldn't have," he countered and his grip loosened only the slightest, "Whatever we would have had would be fake, a semblance of happiness. I don't want to wonder and ask where would I be if I had gone after you, if I had stopped you from leaving. I've thought about it before, Pan, and I've accepted the fact that you may have moved on. But I'm not about to ponder the rest of my life if I could have one shot at something real, something beyond physical attraction. That's why I'm here trying to prove it to you."

His words stung because she knew those feelings. It was reliving the nightmare all over again. She had always thought and dwelled upon the past, mostly about Trunks himself. He was playing on a guess and she could feel the irony in the situation. But, knowing this, she couldn't help but be relieved that she wasn't the only one who was driven by pure instinct. His reason wasn't a very good one but hers hadn't been either. On a selfish whim, they both acted and now their game was finally ending. The only problem was that there was no clear winner and that left too many possibilities.

I won't let you win this battle so easily, Trunks. You have to earn it.

And in that second, Pan set her resolve.

Her elbow went to his gut and he wheezed out a breath as his arms dropped. She bounded away and took a look at Trunks when he recovered from the blow. The unmistakable fire was in his eyes again and the need to reclaim his lead was now shown. Her anticipating smirk let him know she was ready and this trivial cycle would end, once and for all.

Clashing blows bit at each other and the match continued. This was the feeling she had missed so much, this exhilerating emotion that was felt only when a challenge arrived. He took that away from her as well because she could no longer enjoy this sensation after he left. For the first time in many months she could complete herself in battle and understand why she had lost this excitement. How could one man change everything she represented? Easy. She was still falling for him, even as she climbed her way to the top of this bottomless cavern.

He struck almost violently at her but remained cool in the situation and fought with the skill that many were in awe of. He was strong and charismatic, drawing in everyone who spotted him, including her. She felt the excitment bubble in her as the finale was unravelling before them. As she met the middle of the ring, her senses lost him. In a panic, she searched for him with narrowed eyes and perfectly coordinated movements.

However, she missed him until he kicked her to the ground.

He had come out of nowhere and took her down with a well-placed kick to the head. She could barely see with her fuzzy vision and the pounding of her head was loud in her ears. She looked around for him again, seeing the triumphant gleam in his eye. Her pride screamed and yelled at her to stand, to finish what she had claimed to do. She had to win and never let him back in her life. The harsh reality that he had left her was still raw in her mind and the chance he would do it again was not unlikely.

But as she saw him approach her, she smiled gratefully as he picked her up. The count of ten had ended mere moments ago and he was declared the winner. Though, surprisingly to her, the annoyance didn't come. Instead, she looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and whispered with finality:

"I let you win..."

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AN: Wow... I'm almost done with my first fic. I only have the epilogue to do and... I can't believe it's almost over. I wanna thank everyone who has reviewed once or twice. For my long-time reviewers, thank you for your support always. I'll post as soon as I can. I love you guys!

Well, till the last chapter!

Much love,

Adobo-chan