Watch DBGT this Saturday night 10:00pm (Nov. 6th)! It's IMPORTANT to my story.

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CHAPTER 22:

Torn Emotions

Fresh rotisseried chickens dangled on poles like shish kabobs glazed with honeyed sauce. Warm turkey carvings decorated with cranberry jelly and coated with mashed potatoes covered each plate, with sides of fresh carrots and green beans, marinated in a homemade vinaigrette. A cornucopia of exotic foods iced the table – venison and Cornish hen, stuffed with breads and herbs. Curried lamb and perfectly-roasted delicacies emitted mouth-watering aromas of pumpkin spices and cinnamon . Sides of crepes and hummus and fruits and vegetables trimmed the plates with reds and greens, framed by deep fried chicken wings and pepperoni pizzas. Spaghetti rained like hair from mounds of pasta, brought out with various sauces – meat sauce, cheese sauce, cream, tomato, carbonara, puttanesca, pesto – all in large colorful bowls arrayed in a circle around garlic breads and chips with dipping sauces of creamed spinach and artichoke hearts. Steamed fish glazed with lemon pepper were served alongside white wines.

Beside the buffet, on an adjacent table, pink pastries and cakes beckoned, sided by crème bruleés and îles flottantes. Baked apple pies and turnovers steamed from being fresh out of the oven. Chocolate caramel brownies lined with ice creams and cookies puddings, torts and tarts, peppermints and chocolates and candies...

Someone was coming into the room – light purple hair, vague face, hard to make out. Everything was so blurry except for the food, but it could have been, it maybe was Trunks. It had to be Trunks. He was walking over to the tables. He was sitting down. He began to eat. He gathered things onto his plate and began to feast as if he were a bottomless pit.

"No wait, save some for me!"

The world became warped. Almost all the food was gone now. Trunks was still eating, everything was still so blurry.

Anguish, fear, betrayal, hunger. More than anything, hunger. Those were the feelings right now. Sadness.

All that food... and Trunks was eating every last bit of it. At least, it could have been Trunks, but the person began to blur into a similar creature with a purple head.

Frieza finished off the last of the crumbs. He laughed diabolically and patted his stomach as he stood up and left the room.

It was gone! Every last bit of that smorgasbord was gone! GONE!

"Nooooooo!" Goku flailed his arms out and fell off the table, landing on the kitchen floor with a booming thud that shook the whole room.

He lay there a few minutes, sprawled on the ground, his eyes wide open in disbelief. That was the most horrible nightmare ever...

He sniffled slightly and sat up, rubbing his head where it smacked the ground. He looked around and saw that the kitchen was dimly lit and the microwave clock said that quite a few hours had passed since he fell asleep.

As he stood up, he let out a slight moan as his back cracked. It was so sore from sleeping on that hard table. He had really spoiled himself by sleeping in a bed for so long. He remembered the days when he was just a boy, hunting for dragonballs with Bulma. She always made him sleep on the floor. Knowing her, Goku wouldn't be surprised if Vegeta ever had to endure the same treatment.

It made him smile slightly, thinking of how the "Prince of all Saiyans" might be reduced to sleeping on the floor. Bulma really had a way of persuading people to do things like that. He wondered what Bulma was up to nowadays. He missed his best friend. He'd be sure to stop by after they would return home. And, after visiting Chi Chi, of course. He could really go for some of her home-made noodles right about now.

He sighed and blinked, making his way over to the kitchen light slowly, careful not to trip on anything. After clicking on the light, he squinted and heard a low growl. He frowned and brought his hands to pat his stomach, saying aloud to no one in particular, "I'm hungry..."

He immediately thought of going to ask Pan or Trunks to make him something, but then remembered the night before, and opted against it. Lately, they both had been getting upset about cooking for him.

Goku's eyes lit up as a brilliant thought came to him. Maybe he could attempt to cook something for a change! He laughed and thought of how happy they would be to get breakfast in bed. Now, the big decision was what he could make.

He walked over to the table and sat down in his usual chair, leaning elbows onto the surface and propping his head in his hands. His eyes rolled up as he pondered what he actually was good at making: fish. For breakfast.

Hmm.... Pancakes and fish? Waffles and fish? Cereal, milk and fish?

It was so hard for him to choose. He felt like banging his head on the table to knock some ideas into him.

Eggs, fish and bacon?!

He groaned when no good ideas could come to him. He'd just have to experiment with different mixtures of ingredients to find out what might actually taste good with fish.

He opened the cupboards and the refrigerator and spent several minutes taking out everything they had. He laid all the ingredients on the countertops, on the microwave, the stove, the kitchen table, and anywhere else there was room for the food, leaving the cutting board available for experimentation.

When all the hundreds of ingredients were laid out in front of him, stacked on top of each other, arranged in categorical piles, he grinned broadly and wrapped an apron around his body. With his heart racing, he realized with glistening eyes that this was going to be one of the toughest battles he'd ever experience.

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Everything seemed so right. He was so relaxed, feeling as if he had attained some sort of nirvana, his life just seeming so perfect, so calm and assured, so warm. He wasn't even quite aware of where he was, still in a dazed state, half dreaming and half waking. It felt so good, whatever it was that he was believing himself to feel. He wasn't even sure what was supposed to feel this nice. Everything just seemed so hazy, his memory failing him as he couldn't quite place where he was, or where he was supposed to be.

He didn't want to move, but somehow he vaguely sensed himself shifting slightly. Or maybe it wasn't him. If not him, then what could have moved? "Ahh..." He took a deep breath and felt a tingling feeling somewhat return to his body. Another deep breath followed and he shifted again. This time it was he who shifted, for certain. "Mmnn..." He yawned and moved his head slightly with the intake of air. Something brushed his nose, tickling it slightly, and he instinctively tried to rub it against his pillow to relieve the itching feeling. The pillow however, tickled him even more, and he dug himself deeper, to a wall of some sort. It was soft, but it felt good, and it was warm.

He yawned again, and stretched his limbs, feeling sensations returning. His arms were around something, but... not a pillow. What was it? Ahh...? Oh yeah...

He let out a breath and opened his eyes slightly, trying to regain control of his mental coordination. The memory of the night before began coming back to him. He was holding Pan, and he had buried his face into her neck. It all seemed to come together.

He took another breath, and released it, noticing the trail of steam. He was still so groggy from having overslept. Well, it might have been that he overslept, but then again, it could have been only a short time since he fell asleep. There was no way to judge time when in space without a watch.

As if on cue, his watch began emitting short high-pitched beeps in a steady rhythmic tempo. They weren't very loud, but considering the silence of the room, they seemed to be piercingly annoying. They managed to jolt Trunks fully awake and restore all of his alertness at once.

It suddenly hit him that he was holding Pan in a rather intimate and embarrassing way, with both his arms wrapped around her, as if protecting her from something, as he had buried his nose in her hair. What was worse was that her own arms were wrapped around him, her right hand touching his neck while her left was somehow wrapped around his back. Any attempt on his part to untangle himself from her, without waking her, was virtually impossible. He didn't even want to know how he and she got into this position. He was definitely glad he stayed in his clothes last night, or else this would have been very awkward if he were wearing only his underwear.

The beeping continued and Trunks didn't know what to do in order to turn it off. Just great! Waking up like this, having an alarm go off right next to Pan's ear, and Trunks was somehow trying to come up with a plan of escape. He really could see no way out of this one. This was the last time he'd ever sleep next to her. If he ever had to do endure this again, he'd just die from embarrassment.

Pan began to stir, tightening her grip on him slightly, then released her hold lazily as she yawned into his forehead. She groaned a little bit and tried to pull away, but stopped when she found she couldn't. Something, as in poor Trunks, was holding her in place. She took a breath and groaned again, her head tilted away from him this time. "Turn it off, Papa. I don't want to go to school..." She moaned and brought her head back, tightening her hold on Trunks. "It's the weekend... I swear it... no... no school."

Trunks slowly and gently raised his left hand from around her waist, bringing it out from under the covers so he could get a better look at the urgent message that decided to pop up. His eyes were still adjusting to waking, and he squinted so he could get a better look at the LCD screen.

Really?! Trunks' eyes widened as he suddenly sat up straight to get a better look at his watch, completely forgetting how Pan was a tangled mess around him. She flopped back as the covers came shooting off her and screamed in shock as the freezing cold air hit her entire body all at once.

She instinctively kicked out while flailing her arms, sending Trunks sprawling out of the bed, taking all the blankets with him in the process as he shouted in surprise. "What do you think you're doing, Pan?!"

"How could you do this to me?! It's FREEZING in here!" Pan lunged out for the blankets and ended up toppling over him, landing on the floor and ripping the sheets in half.

They both lay on the floor, stunned for a brief moment, before Trunks widened his eyes, "Look what you did! You destroyed the blankets!"

"What I did?! YOU were the one who tore them off the bed!"

"You kicked me! What else was I supposed to do?!"

Pan threw down her half of the blankets, standing angrily, "I don't know! Maybe, apologize for freezing me to death?" She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

Trunks narrowed his eyes, "I can't believe you, Pan." He opened his mouth again, about to say 'You're so obnoxious sometimes,' but thought better of it. He didn't want to start a war with her this late in the game. He sucked it up and growled, "I'm sorry." He really didn't mean it, though.

"Now what am I supposed to do?" Pan shivered and glowered at him.

"Go put on your ten billion layers of sweaters. That might help. Oh, and your jacket, too. I brought those back in." As Trunks pointed to the jackets, he realized that he had begun to shiver as well. It seemed a lot colder than freezing at the moment. He might have accidentally set the dial too low for the room. In his temper, he had almost completely forgotten the freezing temperature of the room. Both the memory of him holding her so closely just minutes ago had still been making him red hot from blushing. Pan had most likely took his red face for anger, though. Maybe it was best that they ended such a 'romantic' moment the tragic way they did. He hoped, more than anything, that she was not aware of their sleeping position by the time she woke up.

A noise jolted him from his thoughts. It occurred to him that his watch was still beeping. He grabbed the remains of the blankets and sat down in the bed, wrapping them around himself as he brought his watch up to look at the message again. With his right hand, he pressed the side button on the watch that would silence the alarm. He wasn't sure how to interpret the alarm. On one hand, it saved him from certain embarrassment from Pan waking up to find herself in his arms, and on the other hand, it got him in deep trouble with the girl, and he most likely would not hear the end of it for several days, as she was known for holding stupid and trivial grudges.

"So what was that alarm about, anyway?" Pan was in the process of putting on her sweaters, buffing herself out to look wide in the process.

He smirked slightly as he tightened the blankets around him. "It's my birthday."

"Oh." Pan paused with a yellow sweater over her head to look at him. "Happy Birthday." She donned the sweater and pointed at him, "But it was not worth ripping the blankets to announce it to me."

"What?!" Trunks frowned, "Pardon my memory, Pan, but I believe I remember you ripping the blankets."

"Stop putting all the blame on me!"

"Augh!!!!" Trunks stood up, the now many-blankets swirling with him. "That's it. I'm going to find Goku. You're just going to drive me nuts."

"FINE! Go, then! See if I care."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

Trunks stormed toward the door, but was met with a forceful tug on his blanket coat in mid-stride. He stopped and turned to glare at Pan, who suddenly looked incredibly guilty.

"You're... not really going to leave me, are you?"

"Honestly, Pan, it's not like I can go far. I'm going to the lounge."

"Wait..." Pan looked down at her feet, and bringing her arms around herself to keep warm. "I..."

Trunks sighed and rolled his eyes, not in the mood for a stupid apology. "Pan, listen to me, and I'm only going to say this once." He looked at her and shook his head, "Sometimes you can act like a real brat." He pointed to her and gave her a watchful look, "And that's constructive criticism, mind you. Otherwise, I wouldn't be saying this to your face." Pan looked up, her eyebrows knotted as if preparing for him to throw another insult. "I know one day you're going to grow up, and if you keep that bratty trait all of your life, you're going to continue to drive away all those boyfriends of yours. And you will drive me away, too. Don't expect to keep best friends long if you can't appreciate things they do for you."

"How could you say that, Trunks? Of course I appreciate you..."

He waved her comment away as if it were some fly, "I'm going to find Goku."

She reached out and grabbed his blanket coat again, "Wait, please, listen to me." When she saw that he wasn't moving, she looked up with pleading eyes. "I want to make it up to you. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"No, really, Trunks. Let me have those blankets. I'll mend them back together. I'll spend all day doing it, if I have to. Let me fix them..."

"You? Sew?" Trunks' eyebrows went up in slight disbelief. "Have you ever sewn anything before?"

"No... but I can do it. It's not too hard to figure out."

"Pan..." He sighed, thinking she was making a bigger deal of this than it should be. "I'll handle the blankets. Really, don't worry about it."

"But, Trunks, I want to do it. I'll even do all your chores today, as a birthday present. And I'll do anything else you ask. Let me make it up to you."

He groaned and put his hand to his forehead, leaning back on the wall. He had grown immune to the brown-nosing treatment a long time ago. He tended to suffer from it rather frequently when at the office. Especially from young secretaries who couldn't help but throw in a flirtatious comment, dreaming of the day he'd ask them for their phone number. The last thing he needed was Pan pulling a puppy-dog face and trying to win his favor back by doing things for him, but he really was not in the mood to fight about it.

"Fine, you know what, take the blankets." He dropped all the blankets to the floor and walked as calmly as he could to where his overcoat was. What a horrible start to his birthday. What was he thinking last night, when he decided to forgive and forget the Pan whom he disliked for so long during the beginning of the trip? She hadn't changed at all; he did. And the fact that he had felt such adoration for her proved to him how much he had changed.

He was glad she came on the trip. She saved his life several times, and he had already concluded that he no longer wished that Goten had come instead of her. But, Kami, why couldn't she just act a little more mature? He turned to her, sporting his new coat. "Okay, now I'm going to find Goku."

"Can I come too?"

"Pan, this is a spaceship, for Kami's sake. Of course you can come along. You even may come along if you like. What do you expect I'll do? Tie you to a subway rail and leave you for the Great Saiyaman to rescue?"

She looked down again, sniffling a bit, "Don't.... d-don't be mad at me, Trunks. I'm s-s-sorry..."

"Oh no..." She was beginning to cry again. He hated when she cried, especially when it was over him. It was like a trump card she could play to win any battle against him. He always felt like such a schmuck afterwards. "Pan... Pan don't..." He sighed and lightly embraced her, careful not to hold her tight enough lest it could be considered a hug. "Pan, I'm sorry, too. Come on, don't cry. Come on..." He brought his right hand to gently lift her chin to look at him. He gave a sad smile, but made it as encouraging as he could at the moment. "You're still my best girl."

She sniffled and smiled brightly, hugging him tightly. "I didn't think you'd let a couple of blankets come between us..."

Trunks scoffed and shook his head, grinning, "We've had worse happen to us lately." He chuckled and stressed, "A lot worse."

"Speaking of bad things happening... where is Grandpa, anyway?" Pan looked to her usual bunk and saw the sheets were missing, too. Both beds were completely stripped clean of blankets. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."

"Oh don't worry about him. He's probably up to leveling his video game character up so he can beat your Mr. Satan guy."

"But Trunks... he didn't come in and harass us for sleeping together. He took my bed sheets last night and left. Something fishy is going on." She looked around, startled by yet another thing, "And where's Giru?"

"He probably left to find Goku. That 'bot only needs a few hours of charging up before he's ready to start bleeping again." He smiled and looked down at her, "We may have bored him away."

Pan smiled and broke their casual embrace. She picked up the sheets and threw them onto the bed. "It's too bad he missed quite a show."

Trunks made his way to the door and opened it slightly, feeling all the heat, if one could consider the freezing temperature 'heat,' being sucked from the room. It was terribly cold out in the hallway. But that wasn't all.

Trunks, being the closest to the door, was the first to smell it. At a first whiff, it might have been considered appetizing, the smell of garlics and spices in the air. But as it sunk into his nostrils, the odor turned rancid. It smelled so bad, he found his body trying to hold back a gag. "What the hell is that smell?!"

"What smell?" Pan looked up from donning another layer of clothing

Trunks opened the door, letting all the cold air in, including the odor. "This smell!" He watched as Pan's eyes grew wide and her face turned green.

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Trunks was determined to rid the ship of that smell, no matter at what cost. Goku was most definitely behind this one. There was no other explanation. He marched out of the bedroom and through the hall with Pan trailing behind. He made his way to the kitchen and threw open the doors with a loud slamming bang!

The next moment passed in what seemed like slow motion. There was Trunks, standing in front of Pan, looking in shock at Goku in a little baker's hat, who was covered, from head to toe in brown and red and green globs of food. Trails of innards and raw meats were everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor. Gelatin squares were smashed and rubbed into every tile crack. A dozen chopped vegetables lay in funeral piles across the floor, discarded as if trash, littering the entire kitchen wall-to-wall. Giru sat on the table, his legs crossed, watching the chef in action.

Trunks stood open-mouthed, wide-eyed, gaping in a deep and traumatic shock.

Goku turned to face the two with a wide grin on his face. "Oh wow, you guys are just in time! I made a special treat for you. I decided to call it the 'Blisheemcheese'."

Trunks found his breath caught in his throat. He only managed to make choking sounds as he felt the world begin to spin.

Goku continued, unfazed. "It consists of bagels, smoked fish – specially cooked by me – and cream cheese."

"Wh....wha.." Trunks bent over, his left arm clutching his stomach as his right tried to lean himself on the doorframe, keeping his balance, however unsteady it was at the moment. "Wh..." His tongue found it so hard to make the words, "What... what did you DO?!"

Goku frowned, "Are you asking about my other creations? I also made the turkamalami paté, chickambrocizza salad, and my favorite so far: the sushi sandwich."

"You... you ruined my kitchen!!!" He couldn't breathe. His grasp on the door faltered and he found himself losing his balance. Faintly, he realized that Pan was holding him up, but he had lost control of his legs. He still felt like he was suffocating, even though he was gasping for air.

"Oh, if you're talking about the smell, it's from all the fish I cut up. It'll air out in a bit."

"You... FOOL, Goku!!! We can't air this place out! We're in SPACE!!!" He felt his balance return and his arms flew up, "I spent two hours cleaning this kitchen last night, cleaning up after you!!! What the hell is this?!" Trunks suddenly lost all the balance he had gained, dropping to his knees, his hands on the ground in front of him, trying to prop himself up. The whole ship was reeling. Everything was so thick, the air, the smell, his body... He couldn't find the breaths he needed to sustain himself. Everything was going black.

Giru began to scream out "Danger! Danger!" Goku shouted something muffled.

In his desperate attempt to breathe, he felt hands on his shoulder, Pan's distant voice, "Trunks? Trunks are you okay? Trunks answer me!"

He tried to get his voice to work, to make a sound, any sound, even a whimper. He felt like he was dying, being torn in half by something in his lungs, painfully piercing him every time he tried to intake a breath. He wanted to call out to Pan. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her, to find something real to grasp in his life. Everything was spiraling away from him so fast...

"Trunks?! Trunks stop it! Trunks, snap out of it! Grandpa, what's going on?!"

"Get away from him, Pan!"

"No! I won't let this happen to him!!!" Pan knelt before Trunks and took his shoulders in her arms, looking at his face. His eyes were wild, searching, seeing something beyond his vision. "Trunks, look at me." She saw he was struggling to breathe, and tried to summon as much courage a she could to bring her hand to brush his cheek. His skin singed her flesh like a blazing fire.

He was burning up with a fever, beyond anything she had ever felt. "Trunks, just keep breathing." She got on her knees and wrapped him in a tight hug, holding him as close to her as she could, as if protecting him from something, and not even sure what it was.

She held him tightly as his breathing began to slow, as his eyes closed against her neck. It seemed like forever and eternity had passed, with her holding him on the floor, the cold air of hallway creeping in through the kitchen door, Goku standing, unsure of what do to, conflicting emotions raging inside him.

"Is it..." Pan hesitated, "Is it over?"

Goku's eyes narrowed. "Pan, get away from him. Now, Pan!"

Pan felt Trunks begin to laugh into her... no, it was more like a malicious cackle that rumbled from his core. She pulled back a bit to look at him, and his eyes were closed as he threw his head back and roared as if it were a sick comedy hour. "Trunks...?"

Trunks brought his face back to look at her. His normal blue cerulean eyes seemed to be glazed over, filled with hatred and madness. "How touching," his voice was cold and scratchy, "Would this make you my whore?" He laughed diabolically, and shoved her away from him. "Don't expect any pay, sweetheart. You're the ugliest rat I've ever seen."

Pan's eyes went wide as she landed on the floor. She rolled out of her position and stood quickly, getting into a fighting pose, her face red with fury. "You care to say that again, asshole?!"

"It's not even worth repeating to a dog like you. I should just put an end to your misery. Goodbye, rat. Consider this a lesson for touching me." Trunks brought his hands before him and began to charge up a red ki blast.

Goku appeared in front of Trunks and laid a blow that smacked him into the kitchen wall, cracking it as the bathroom tiles had been damaged some weeks ago. "I knew you'd come out again, sooner or later, Baby! Your fight is with me!"

Trunks stood on his feet and roared in laughter again, pointing at Goku as if he were a clown. "You're an idiot, little boy, but I am flattered that you have mistaken me for the great Lord Baby." When he brought his eyes back to look at Goku, there were dark flames in his eyes. "Considering you are Saiyan filth, I would commend you for having enough smarts in that peanut in your monkey head, to conclude that all great things in this universe boil down to Lord Baby."

Pan's eyes narrowed, "Lord Baby?!"

"Shut up, slut. I'm not talking to you." Trunks' cold stare pierced something in her heart, causing her to feel chills of despair.

"SLUT?!" Her hair began to lift as if through an invisible wind. "That does it. I'm going to knock some sense into you, you manwhore!" She readied her fists for the kill.

Goku turned, waving his hands for her to stop. "Pan, this isn't Trunks! Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's saying."

Trunks took Goku's distraction as an opportunity to belt him across the head, crashing the Saiyan into the kitchen table, throwing masses of food in every direction as he lost consciousness.

As Pan was in the process of opening her mouth to call out to her grandpa, Trunks suddenly phased before her face, a readied blue ball of ki merely inches from her face. "T-T-Trunks?!!!"

"Die, bitch!"

He released the ball and exploded away the entire wall of the kitchen leading to the hallway. Debris and smoke forced its way into every room of the ship. The blast caused several items in the rooms to catch fire. Everything in the way of it was incinerated upon impact. Pan flew back through the broken wall, landing on her right arm, which snapped as it twisted under weight. Her entire front was singed, blackened by his blast, bleeding profusely through the layers of sweaters from the third degree burns.

The only thing she could sense was pain. All of her nerves were shot, burned away. She felt like she was paralyzed, watching the angel of death strip her from life, one painful moment at a time. She was on her back, looking upward, and saw Trunks reappear for the final time before her with a readied ki blast.

She looked straight in his eyes, accepting her fate. His wild eyes were strained, frantic, desperate. He hovered before her with a blast that left him shaking and sweating even through the extreme cold of the ship. His breathing was ragged, his muscles were tensed, his mouth open and his eyebrows quivering as if trying to overcome mental battle that was happening inside him.

Something else caught her eyes... It was so hard to see through the blue ki ball, but an area of it seemed purple, as if there were some red light being emitted behind it... But that would be impossible... she and Trunks had only heard of their rings going white. What could this mean? Why was he hesitating? "Trunks..." She coughed and spit out some blood as she felt her consciousness slipping. "Please..." She closed her eyes tightly, "Fight it... Fight it....Trunks..."

What she couldn't see was Trunks opening and closing his mouth, saying the one name that he couldn't get out of his mind. It was repeating in his head, echoing thousands of times over, two words: Save Pan. But he hated her! He had to kill her because she represented weakness on his part and Lord Baby would never forgive him. He had to kill her. He was going to kill her. It was just so easy. Even a snap of her neck would finish her off right now. Save Pan... Save Pan.....Save her... SAVE HER!

"Get.... Get out of my head!!" Trunks' blast dissipated as he fell to his knees beside the girl, holding his head, covering his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. "Get out of my head!!!" Save Pan.... Pan... Pan... "GET OUT!!!" Trunks moaned and brought his head to the floor, in a somewhat fetal position, holding his head and sobbing, his shoulders shaking with his tears. He felt sick, he felt weak. He had to live up to Lord Baby. He had to do this. What was wrong with this body?! Why was it not responding? And why did that blast to the girl knock so much life out of him?

Because... Trunks knew why. Pan... Pan was not the enemy. He was the enemy. He was hurting her. "Pan..." Save Pan... Save her! Save Pan... He couldn't think with all the voices in his head. His entire left hand burned with such an enormous heat, it could have baked everything in the hall within minutes. He couldn't look down to see why it burned. He couldn't look back to see if Goku was okay. All he could think about was Pan. He had to save her! He had to save her from himself.

"Pan... Pan!!" He crawled to her side, his body trembling, from shock, or from the cold, or from the fear that she might be critically wounded. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He must have been just a little boy, but he was unable to hold his tears back. He choked on them, he drowned in them.... He could barely see through them. They made his vision a blur, and the ship a burning mass of rubble.

But, he could see Pan. Through her, he could see his world clearly. He had... to save her. As he lifted her gently, to cradle her in his arms, he noticed her right arm had been twisted at an awkward angle, hanging loosely from her. Blood coated her clothing, her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open, emitting small, but steady, clouds of steam. She was still breathing. He had to get her a senzu bean. He had to find them right now! But, he couldn't leave her.

He picked her up and held her against his chest, burying his face into her neck, smelling her hair for the second time that day... thinking himself to be a fool for ever arguing with her earlier about those stupid blankets. The issue should have never happened in the first place. From now on... if he were to wake up next to her, holding her like that, he would enjoy the scent of her hair... because of the fact that she'd be alive... and he could enjoy her company... and she'd be there, protected by him. Save Pan... He would protect her with his life.

He would never let what just happened ever happen again. He'd find some way to stop it, whatever it was. He couldn't remember how it started, or what triggered it, but seeing how he hurt her... how he almost killed her... He felt sick. What kind of best friend was he, anyway? He'd be surprised if she ever forgave him.

He'd be surprised if he ever forgave himself.

He carried her to the launching bay, where he kept the extra supply of senzu beans. After laying her gently on the ground, he stood up and rummaged through the bags, stopping when he found one small brown bag, still half full, with plenty of beans for Pan to heal on.

He leaned down and as delicately as his shaking hands could move, he slid the bean through her mouth and closed her jaw, praying to all the kais that she would heal fast. He watched as she chewed weakly, emitting a barely audible moan. He was afraid to touch her. He wanted to hold her as she healed, to feel her nuzzle herself into his chest again, so real and warm. He was just sorry that he hurt her. After she would heal, he would check on Goku. He didn't remember what exactly he did to Goku, but he vaguely remember some kind of attack that he made. How could he ever apologize enough to them?

"Don't move or else I'll shoot!"

Trunks wanted to turn around to Goku's voice, but instead, stayed still. He could hear a readied ki blast behind him, and no doubt, Goku would have put a great deal of power into the attack.

"I see you found the senzu beans for Pan. However, I don't believe I can trust you."

Trunks closed his eyes and sighed. If he were in Goku's shoes, he would most probably feel the same way right about now. "Goku, I'm not your enemy."

"Turn around and face me when you say that!"

Trunks stood up slowly, raising his arms, and turned to face Goku. It was worse than a ki blast in his hands. He had a fully prepared Kamehameha ready for release, aimed straight at Trunks. If he made one wrong move, he would most certainly die.

Trunks looked to Goku, trying to keep a straight face, and repeated in a steady voice, "I'm not your enemy."

Goku came closer a few steps and peered at him. "Are you... the real Trunks?"

"As real as my mother and father made me."

"And they are?"

Trunks felt himself sweating under this interrogation. "Uh... Bulma and Vegeta?"

"Alright," Goku's wave blast vanished as he relaxed, "You passed the test."

It took a moment for what just happened to sink into Trunks' head. "That was the test? My parents' names?!" His mouth fell open, "Wow, Goku, don't you think that was a little too simple?"

"Simple for you. But I don't know if Pan would be able to remember them right now. You really hurt her back there."

"You saw me hurt her, and you didn't do anything about it?!"

"No. But I saw the wall was gone, and there's a rather large pool of blood on the floor. I made an educated guess that it wasn't yours." Goku looked toward his granddaughter. "Besides," he returned his skeptical gaze to Trunks, "I think I would have just gotten in the way, even if I did watch it."

Trunks kneeled beside Pan, whose color had returned slightly, even though the cold was draining a lot of her energy. "Do you..." He closed his eyes, "Do you hate me, Goku?"

"No." Goku looked up and put a finger to his chin, "But I am a little upset that you ruined my breakfast I prepared for you guys. It took a lot of effort for me to come up with that idea."

"Oh NO!" Trunks stood up and put his hands to his head. "The kitchen.... It's .... It's..."

"It's gone, because of you." Goku grinned. "But no worries, all my frozen foods are still intact! We have more than enough to last us the journey home!"

Through all the misery that he had gone through, Trunks still managed to break a smile. "Wow, Goku, I never thought I'd ever say this... but thanks, for using your stomach, back on Planet Ladrone."

Goku laughed, "Don't worry about it. It's my specialty."

Trunks smiled wider and felt like he wanted to make this all up to Goku somehow. And, he knew one thing he could do that would earn the kid's favor in a heartbeat. "Goku...I... I want to give you something. I originally was not going to return this to you, but... considering the circumstances... you might like another reason to smile."

"Oh?"

Trunks reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out an item he had been storing there for some time, having forgotten about it. He tossed it to Goku, who caught it with ease to look at it with wondering eyes. Trunks nodded his head. "The film."

"The film?!" Goku's eyes went wide with delight. "Oh wow! WOW! Thanks, Trunks! But...." He looked around, "Where is the camera?"

"Giru is the camera, remember? I got the film from Giru some time ago."

"Oh this is great! And to think, I have an entire extra empty roll I had been saving to use!" Goku tossed the film up and caught it happily. "Oh yeah, and Trunks, I forgot to tell you. Not that this reminds me or anything, but I've been meaning to tell you: the thermostat is broken."

Trunks smiled, "It will be for a few more hours, Goku. I wanted to get us adjusted to the temperature of the planet we're going to be landing on soon." Trunks looked down to Pan again, who was sleeping peacefully. That worried him more than her being awake and in pain, though. In –100, she could easily catch hypothermia and die in her sleep. He'd have to wrap her in the blankets and raise the bedroom temperature a bit. That was one of the many things he needed to do before landing on the next planet. "Goku... you don't have to do this, but if you find yourself getting bored at all, you're most welcome to help me clean up this place." Trunks managed a slight smile before picking Pan up and securing his hold by tossing her up a few inches so he could adjust his grip under her.

He heard her moan something and leaned down to listen as she said, "Trunks..." under her breath.

"Yeah, Pan?" He smiled encouragingly toward he girl.

"You...you came back..."

"Shh, it was just a bad dream, Pan. Go back to sleep."

Trunks watched her close her eyes and drift off to dreams. He looked up to see Goku with his arms crossed and face completely serious as he watched Trunks holding Pan so closely. He had an inkling as to what Goku was thinking, and he felt daring enough to challenge him. "So, Goku, don't you have any comment to say about us right now?"

Goku chuckled, "I could, but I've learned that you get upset when I state the obvious." He walked over to look at Pan and ran a hand through her hair. "Besides, you two would be better as friends right now, anyway. When I comment about how you two would work well together, I mean a few years down the road. You'll find your own ways by then."

Trunks smiled toward the boy as he held Pan closer to him. "You know what, Goku, I think you're finally growing up."

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Your homework:

WATCH THE EPISODE AIRING TOMORROW (DBGT: Saturday Night, Nov. 6th, 10:00pm on Cartoon Network), IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO MY PLOT!!!! I will be making a big deal of it when it comes along in my story. It will act as a large catalyst to when Trunks and Goten come along on the trip.

The episode is entitled "Saying Goodbye." It deals with Goku having to make a heart-wrenching decision regarding Pan. Very good episode, one of my favorites, and try to picture what Trunks' own thoughts might be during the battle, especially wearing the ring. This is homework. You must do this. For the sake of my story and all future fan-fictions, watch that episode!!!

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Note:

This chapter was incredibly difficult for me to write. I have three different versions of it, and two of them are written to the endings. I originally had a really sucky and corny plot, that was predictable and trite, and so I redid it for an 'alternate' approach. Instead of Pan snapping Trunks out of his rampage, Trunks, himself, finds a way to overcome it. I felt the Trunks version was much better, so I continued with it. If you ever want to hear Pan's method, drop me an email or a review with your email address, but be forewarned, it's bad enough for me to actually rewrite 2,000 words!

I was going to have this scene come a little later in the story, like, right before coming back to Earth, but then I realized that there were two reasons why it would be good placing it here. 1) because I've set up the Baby reign on Earth, and 2) because Goku did something that severely would piss off anyone who would have worked as hard as Trunks did the night before to clean up after the kid.

According to the way I have organized the plot, you won't be seeing another ring glowing for a while, and for the rest of the story, it will happen only twice. I felt that writing in Trunks' view during the scene of him overcoming Baby's egg was also a good predecessor to what will happen during the Shadow Dragon Saga so you guys will be able to understand the catalyst a lot better (watch the episode, I'm not kidding around!!!)

That's about it. Watch the episode. : )

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-11/5/04-