CHAPTER 28:
Welcome Home
"There it is! There it is!" Pan jumped twice and ran to the dashboard, pressing herself against the glass. "Wow, it's so beautiful! Haha! It's Mother Earth! We're home!!!"
Trunks leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up, relaxing. Licking his fingers, he carefully turned a page in the 'Newton' magazine he had been reading. It was an old issue, but it featured some interesting invention prototypes that Prime Inc., a rival corporation, had been working on. By this time, the technology might have been slightly outdated – a lot could change within a year – but Trunks had a few new ideas he could propose to the council to outdo his competitors.
"Come on, Trunks, aren't you going to celebrate? Be happy! Let's party!" Pan bounced over to him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, purposely trying to distract him away from his magazine.
"Pan, I've seen Earth. I have a lot of things I need to do before I get back. Like, for one, review a lot of my proposals to the board." Trunks gently pushed her backward a bit so he could bring the magazine to reading level again. "After being gone for a year, they're going to expect me to present some groundbreaking ideas, and I've been slacking lately."
Pan grabbed the magazine from his hands and held it upside-down, frowning at the pages. After Trunks tried to grab it back from her, she twisted away and stood up, holding the magazine close to her face. Blinking, she turned it right-side up, frowned, then turned it upside-down again.
Pan's eyebrows knotted, "This doesn't make any sense to me, no matter how I read it. How can you understand this stuff?"
Trunks reached for the magazine again, but dropped his hand when Pan thrust it away. Looking up with an eyebrow raised, he mused, "Maybe if you study for your university entry exams, you might be able to read a bit of it, too."
Pan scoffed and dropped the magazine back onto Trunks' lap. "You already know what I have to say about that."
Trunks smiled and re-opened his magazine, "I know, I know."
The door to the room creaked open, causing Pan to blink at the intruder. "Hey guys!" Goku entered the room, stretching and rolling his shoulders a bit. "Did you see the Earth, Pan? You should come to the observation deck. It's really pretty."
"I know!" Pan squealed and ran to hug her grandfather. "I can't believe it! We're home! We're home!" She began hopping in circles, chanting 'We're home' while skipping with Goku, who appeared slightly confused.
Trunks chuckled and looked up from the article to glance at Goku, grinning, "That's all she's been saying for the past half hour."
"Yeah! It's so hard to imagine. Finally, we're back. I wonder how everyone is doing? I can't wait to see Chi Chi again!" Goku hopped along with Pan, going in circles behind Trunks' chair, laughing and singing.
The musical laughter and hopping went on for a good few minutes, with both Goku and Pan exclaiming their joy at being home and not being able to wait to see people. After the chanting became monotonous and just plain annoying, Trunks felt a vein throb in his temple and grimaced, turning around in his chair to bark at them, "Could you two please take your dancing to another room?! I really need to work here!"
Both of them stopped and blushed slightly. Goku grinned in slight embarrassment, "Oh okay, Trunks! We'll be quiet." The boy turned to Pan and his eyes lit up with an idea. "I know, Pan! Let's bake a cake to celebrate! Maybe two cakes! Or three! That sounds good."
"No cake." Trunks picked up a highlighter and bit the top off while he marked an important line in the text. "If yoo deshtroy the kitch'n now…" Trunks took the cap from his mouth and placed it back on the highlighter, "You're never going to hear the end of it from me. Got it, Goku?"
"But Pan will be–!"
"I said 'no'." Trunks turned in his chair to face them. "Besides, we don't have time for that, anyway. We're going to reach Earth within twenty minutes." He pointed a finger accusingly at them, "If anything, I'd suggest you all start packing the rest of your things, because I don't want to be held over any longer than we need to be."
Goku walked up and sat in his chair to the right of Trunks, dangling his legs. "So where are we gonna go first?"
"Well isn't it obvious?" Trunks looked up with a glint, smiling. "I think the dragonballs should be returned to where they came from: Dende's Lookout. Don't you agree?"
"Oh, sure, yeah… Yeah, if you say so…"
Trunks raised an eyebrow, "Where else did you think we'd go?"
Goku looked out the window at the planet, "Well… there is this really great place. They have these amazing hot dogs and I've been craving them for so long, I don't know if I can stand waiting anymore! Could we please… please please please stop and eat at Hammy's?"
Trunks hung his head down and sighed. "Goku… Honestly, is that all you can think about?"
"Pleeease?"
"No."
"Oh pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"We'll go after we deliver the balls."
"Oh PLEAAAASE!!!!"
Trunks groaned and covered his ears. "Aaahhh! Okay! OKAY! Just stop whining, Goku! We'll stop and eat at Hammy's before delivering the dragonballs, okay? Would that make you happy?!"
Pan laughed and sat in her seat, watching Trunks suffer in his chair. "That's so sweet of you, Trunks." She grinned, "For once, you're actually listening to Grandpa."
"Yeah, yeah…" Trunks folded the magazine on his lap and leaned forward to open a drawer in front of his chair.
"Ooohhh!!! I can't wait!" Goku rubbed his hands together with a grin plastered on his face. He smiled as he watched Trunks sort through some papers in the drawer and come across something near the bottom.
Trunks pulled out a case with a sigh and opened it, looking inside.
"What's that?" Pan leaned over to see what Trunks had in his hands.
"Something I'm going to need to wear if I go out in public." Trunks held up his dark rimmed glasses and donned them with a small smirk.
"Oh no! Not those!" Pan tried to grab them from his face, but he turned his head around, smiling. "You look awful in those. I thought you got rid of them."
"I look awful, huh?" Trunks chuckled, "Thanks for the compliment."
Pan frowned, "Why do you always insist on wearing them? We both know that they aren't exactly the trendiest glasses." She leaned back in her chair, pondering aloud, "Why not wear glasses with thin rims, or no rims, or… I don't know. Something a little more fashion appealing?"
Trunks looked at her oddly, "Since when do you care about fashion?"
Pan rolled her eyes with disgust. "I don't. But you look terrible. Why do you always try to cover up your good looks?"
"Huh?" Trunks' eyebrows went up a bit as he peered quizzically at her through his glasses. "My good looks?"
Goku chuckled in his seat. "Oh you two are just so cute together!"
Trunks whipped his head around and glared at the boy, "What did I say about those kinds of comments, Goku?"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Goku raised his hands apologetically and slid out of his seat. "I'll go pack now." He winked and began to walk out of the room, "You two lovebirds can have your privacy."
After watching Goku leave, Trunks sighed and threw the magazine onto the dashboard. Removing his glasses, he lowered them and cleaned the glass with the edge of his shirt. He looked over to Pan while shaking his head, "You know what's funny, Pan?"
Pan tore her vision away from the planet in front of them and looked at him, "What?"
"An entire year has come and gone. We've experienced so many things, learned so many lessons, had so much time to ponder our lives and where we want to take them…" He placed the frames on his nose again, and pushed them toward his eyes. "And I'd like to say we all grew in a way, changing slightly for the better. That is," he frowned, "except Goku." He shook his head, "That boy will never ever change."
Pan smiled, "Yeah, I love my Grandpa…"
"A trip around the entire galaxy, for so long… and yet we're back to square one. The minute we left Earth, he was complaining about food, and now we're coming home and the only real thing on his mind is Hammy's, wherever that is." Trunks chuckled, "I just can't believe it. I just can't believe someone could be like that."
"Well, you know Grandpa…"
"Not even the day we happened to leave this planet… Goku had been pressing us on each other. Can you believe that? And he actually quit for some time, and now he's back to doing it again." Trunks chortled cautiously, "It's like we've… gone in a complete circle, about to repeat everything all over again!"
Pan adjusted her bandana on her head, "What do you mean?"
"Wouldn't it be funny…?" Trunks played with the rims of his glasses, looking out toward the Earth while smirking hesitantly. "Wouldn't it be funny if… someone made another wish on those dragonballs and we… were sent out to space again?"
Pan frowned, "No?"
Trunks laughed nervously, "Heheheh… Well… It would be… ironic, don't you think? I think it'd be… funny…. Heh…"
Trunks suddenly stopped smiling and looked down at his hands, taking a breath.
Pan leaned forward, "Trunks, are you okay?"
Trunks looked to the side, breathing deeply, and brought his hand to his collar, trying to loosen it a bit for some air. "I'm fine…" Taking another deep breath, he hesitantly smiled toward Pan, but felt the smile fade as a sick feeling threatened to come over him.
He swallowed and leaned back, trying to relax. "Pan…" he paused, taking a breath, "Remember when you asked me if I ever got a bad feeling about things, and then you said… you had a bad feeling… coming home, I mean?"
"Yeah…?"
Trunks felt his forehead and tried to focus his thoughts, "I think…" He frowned slightly, and closed his eyes. "I think I'm getting one of those bad feelings."
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After parking the ship in a glade, Trunks, Pan and Goku managed to keep their kis hidden as they exited the woods and came to a clearing in a park. It was bright mid-day, and several children were playing Frisbee with their pets.
Dusting any remnants of the branches and dirt away from him, Trunks turned to Goku, "Where is this place again?"
"It's in this park." Goku clapped happily, "And they make the best hamburgers and hot dogs ever! I haven't eaten here in so long!"
They walked for a long time through the grassy fields, passing by a great number of children and young adults enjoying their free time lying in the sun.
As they walked in the general direction of Goku's navigation through the park, Pan sighed, "Where is this place? How long is it going to take us to get there? I don't get why we can't just fly there." She turned to Trunks, "And why are we keeping our kis hidden, again?"
"Don't worry. It can't be that much farther. And, I don't want anyone knowing we're back yet." Trunks smirked, "I wanted it to be a surprise."
She pouted, "But it would be a surprise. Once everyone would sense us, it'll surprise everyone into coming to see us, and then we'll have a big reunion party right here in the park…"
"There it is!" Goku pointed to a small hot dog stand with several white picnic tables surrounding it, shaded by green umbrellas. Several couples occupied the area around the stand, but nothing glamorous stood out about the place.
"What?" Trunks looked perplexed, "You made us stall giving the dragonballs back to Dende so we could eat at a shack?!" He brought his head to his hands, shaking his head miserably, "Goku… You are even beyond a lost cause…"
Goku chirped a happy, "Thank you!" before bounding away toward the hot dog stand, leaving Trunks and Pan to walk slowly and remorsefully toward his direction.
As they were nearing the stand, Pan tugged on Trunks' sleeve, and gestured for him to lean down to hear something. When he did, she whispered, with a worried glance at the people in the park, "Do you notice anything strange about the people here?"
"Huh?" Trunks blinked and looked around to the children playing Frisbee and flying kites, running around in play. "What is wrong?"
Pan bit her lip, frowning, and gestured for Trunks to lean over again. She hesitantly whispered, "Nobody…" she paused to look at the couples at the picnic tables again, "Nobody is smiling."
"Huh?!" Trunks looked at the children again, hearing laughter and conversation. "What are you talking about?" On a second glance, however, he saw exactly what she was talking about. Everyone had a strange expression on their face, as if they were sneering or insulting each other as they snickered on the field.
Pan tugged on his sleeve again, "Don't you think it's a little weird?"
"I… I don't know…?" Trunks adjusted his glasses for a moment and shrugged. He looked at her with a touch of concern on his face, "Maybe that's just how people are like around here?"
"Hey you guys!" Goku returned to them bearing three hot dogs in each hand. "I got you guystwo each, just in case you are hungry."
Pan made a face and stuck out her tongue. "No thanks, Grandpa, but thanks anyway."
Goku turned to Trunks, "How about you?"
Trunks frowned and clutched his stomach, aware that the sick queasy sensation he had been experiencing for some time was still very much present. With the feeling that some ominous threat were lurking on the horizon, he had lost his appetite. He shook his head politely, "No thank you."
"Wow, you two are sure missing out!" Goku then began to stuff his face with entire hot dogs at a time.
As Goku was eating, Pan prodded Trunks and whispered, "They're looking at us!"
"Who?" Trunks looked up and saw that everyone at the picnic tables were making casual glances over to them, and the children were stealing quick looks as if trying not to be suspicious.
Pan was right. Something was definitely wrong here.
Trunks cleared his throat scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh, Goku? I think we should head out now." This park was making him feel more uncomfortable every second.
Goku frowned while chewing, "Bup I wamted to get shecondsh!"
"We can…" Trunks swallowed, feeling the intensity of the park rising more and more, "We can come back later, Goku. Really. Let's just go…"
Pan's backpack started to suddenly vibrate, "-grrhh grrhh!-"
Pan reached over to unhook her backpack, but Trunks stopped her with a serious face, "Don't bring him out." He glanced over to Goku, "He will attract too much attention."
Goku swallowed and blinked, "What's going on?"
Something heavy began to fall on the park. A cloud covered the sun for a brief moment, and when it cleared, Trunks noticed that everyone had their eyes on them. And they weren't looking away.
Trunks tried to act casual, even though something was tearing him up inside, "Let's walk. Now."
Pan's backpack began to rumble, "Dnghh! Dnghh!"
Trunks coughed and faked a smile through gritted teeth, "Act casual."
Pan looked down and said in a low voice, "This is really creepy…"
Goku frowned, knotting his brow. He repeated, "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Trunks tried to avoid looking at the people in the park as they made their way across the grass, "But something is not right." He took a deep breath, feeling sweat appear on his forehead, "Don't look back, Goku, but they are following us."
They quickened their pace across the grass, and felt everyone else quicken theirs as well.
Trunks glanced behind him and felt his heart racing. "Okay, screw the surprise on the planet. Let's just get out of here!"
"Okay guys, then hold on!" Goku grabbed Trunks and Pan and in a blur of speed that neither had experienced in some time, they found the world fly by faster than the eye could see, and they then found themselves in front of the ship.
Trunks blinked and looked around. "Wow, that was fast!"
Goku stretched a bit and smiled, "It's nice to be out of a cramped ship. I need to start running more." Goku smiled, "Would either of you two care to work out or spar with me tonight?"
Trunks took Pan's backpack and unpacked the remote, setting Giru free in the process. Clicking it, he turned to Goku with a stoic face. "First, let's drop off the dragonballs; next, we'll figure out what's going on here, and then I'll think of sparring with you. How does that sound?"
"Like fun!" Goku clapped and smiled before climbing the ladder to the ship.
Trunks looked to Pan with a concerned expression.
They didn't even need words to express what each was feeling. What happened back there was odd and very uncharacteristic of a park with joyous people and innocent children. Everyone was acting strange, and nobody was smiling. Laughs were snickers, smiles were scowls… Everyone had a sort of distorted grin…
It triggered something in Trunks' memory, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. The source of it… What it reminded him of.
It was on the edge of his tongue…. In the corner of his mind…
Trunks shook his head. He'd worry about that later. First, they had to deliver the dragonballs. Then, he'd ask his family what had happened to the park, to see if they had any idea what was going on.
He couldn't help but think that this was a very odd welcome home…
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-11/28/04-
