A/N: I bugged my muse for 2 days straight, and I got this! How cool is that? I hope you like it as much as I do.

Special thanks to LauraNeatO for her quick-editing of this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own DragonballZ/GT

Chapter 3

Trunks woke late that afternoon. The sun was low on the horizon as he slowly opened his eyes. Where am I? I fell asleep against the tree… He felt soft bedding beneath him, and saw the familiar items that comprised his room. Did my parents bring me inside? He wondered to himself.

As the haze from his nap slowly evaporated, he realized that he wasn't the only one sleeping on his huge bed. A small hand was on his chest, and he saw the familiar form of Pan curled up next to him. Trunks was perplexed.

Why on earth did they put her in the same room with me, let alone on the same bed? Trunks had had titanic fights with his mom over girls in the past. Not that there were many, but even during sleepovers when he was younger, his mom was adamant that boys and girls didn't mix.

"Don't give me that, Trunks!" His mom had shouted. "She's not going in your room, and that's final! You can do your homework out here!"

The girl had been a study partner and Trunks hadn't found her all that attractive, but his mom hadn't relented. Only Pan or Bra were allowed in his room, and for Pan, that had been years ago when he babysat her for Gohan and Videl. That was such an easy job, Trunks thought wryly. Pan was so mellow as a kid. Who would have thought that she'd grow up to be so feisty, he thought with a grin.

That mellowness seemed restricted to her sleep now, Trunks noted. She's adorable like that, He thought as he watched her chest rise and fall with slow, even breaths. She, like her grandfather Goku, was a very sound sleeper. He was almost tempted to wake her up with some kind of prank, but he simply couldn't justify interrupting her obvious contentment.

When he tried to get up, her arm tightened around his middle. Well, apparently she always has an opinion, even when she's sleeping, he thought with wry humor. Now how am I supposed to get out of that?

He silently sighed. This wasn't really a new problem. Pan had often done this when she was a kid. They'd have naptime, she'd insist on sleeping next to him, and she'd latch on to him with everything she had. Oh, well. I guess I could try the usual method for solving this, but she might get the wrong idea since she's so much older, now.

Trunks agonized over the morality of the situation, but a small part of him secretly cheered at the idea. Screw it. I'm going to do it.

He gave up trying to get away from the impish dark haired girl and gathered her into his arms instead. She instinctively snuggled into his embrace, still very much asleep. As unfamiliar as the sensations were, Trunks decided that he liked them.

About twenty minutes later, Pan began to stir. Trunks had lightly dozed in the interim, but came awake as she started to stretch and mumble. He pondered the best way to deal with how he had taken advantage of the situation, and decided to let her have a few minutes to compose herself and get disentangled from him. This really isn't my fault, but I can't help feeling guilty for doing that, He thought to himself.

As Trunks feigned sleep, Pan shifted a bit in his arms. He heard a sharp intake of breath, and then a sigh afterward. Surprisingly, she didn't try to get disentangled immediately. If anything, she seemed to relax into his embrace. Trunks didn't know what to make of it, and with his eyes closed, he couldn't see her expression.

He should have known something was up. She was every bit as bad a prankster as he was. As he focused on slow, even breathing, her hands glided to his sides and she began mercilessly tickling him.

Trunks burst out with helpless laughter as he tried to squirm away from her hands. She followed him as he rolled, and suddenly she was on top of him. As Trunks opened his eyes, he saw an impish grin on her face, but he'd managed to grab both of her hands with his. He breathed out in relief.

"Ha!" Pan chirped triumphantly. "I got you good! And you're still right where I want you!"

Trunks looked up at her with an evil grin. "Really…" the lavender haired Saiyan remarked. "I'd say that you're right where I want you. You have three seconds to surrender."

Pan looked at him as if he were crazy. "Me? Surrender?! Uh-uh!"

Trunks gave her that evil grin again. "One."

Pan still had a puzzled look on her face as she felt a draft. She also felt her weight shift, but when she looked down, Trunks was still there.

"Two."

This time Pan was sure she felt it. Her weight was shifted again, and now she heard a shower somewhere close. She was getting nervous.

"Three."

Pan blinked as the call of three came out. When her eyes were opening again, she saw the world blur by, and her sense of movement caught up with her. She felt an extreme sense of shift, and then suddenly a shocking sensation.

"TRUNKS!" She screamed as the water poured over her head and down her body, rapidly absorbed by her fighting uniform. Then the shock wore off, and she felt the full sensation of the cold shower.

"AHHH!" She screamed. "Make it stop!"

Trunks politely turned the indicator to warm, and then hot water. As he walked out of the bathroom to his bedroom, a smile was on his face and he was humming tunelessly. Revenge is sweet, He thought to himself.

Trunks walked down the hall, and lightly knocked on his sister's door. "Hey Bra, are you home?"

"Yeah! Just a minute!" He heard some bustling, as if she were clearing the way to her door. The noises continued for a moment, and then the door opened. "Hi Trunks!" Bra said brightly. She was wearing a non-descript white tee-shirt and not much else.

Trunks blushed. "I'm sorry, Bra. I interrupted you trying on your dress, didn't I?"

Bra smiled at him. "It's ok, Trunks. What did you need?"

"Pan's here, and she needs something to change into once she's done with her shower. You have sweats and a tee-shirt in her size?"

Bra smirked at him. "Oh, so that's what all that racket was about. Give me a minute."

Trunks smiled at her intuition. "Thanks, Bra. Oh, FYI, I'm pretty sure Marron's around here somewhere. I think she wanted to hang out with you."

Bra brightened. "Cool! Not that I don't like you, bro, but you don't have good taste in clothing. I'll have to show her my new dress and the other stuff I got." She paused. "I'll get what you need for Pan. I think Mom's thinking about a party tonight. You might want to be ready to get dressed up, and make sure Pan has something nice to wear."

Trunks groaned audibly, much to his sister's amusement. "It's not that bad, Trunks. Mom throws good parties, and at least she doesn't invite strangers and company people. Gohan and Videl usually come, and maybe Goten will too." Her eyes got a sinister glint in them at the mention of Goten.

Trunks had to laugh. "Bra, are you going to play with him, again?"

Bra smiled a covert smile. "Don't tell him, k? He's fun to play with."

Trunks covered his mouth and stifled his laughter. "And spoil the fun of watching him turn all sorts of colors?"

Bra had a bad habit of leading Goten on when she was bored. Trunks had to admit that his sister could be absolutely alluring when she felt like it. More than one guy had felt the sting of rejection from her. She liked taking players down a notch, and Goten had felt her sting more than once.

Trunks had the feeling that Bra would make an awesome wife, but she demanded a lot in her potential mates. Vegeta's example had made quite an impression on both of them. Neither were ready to settle for anything other than the best.

Bra beamed at him, and winked. "You won't be disappointed…unless you have other things on your mind tonight," she said slyly, and promptly ran back in her room.

Moments later, she had an orange tank top, a black undershirt, sweatpants in the same color and some panties. Trunks blushed at the last item. Bra's laughter was like a set of chimes. "You'd think someone your age could deal with that, big brother," she said with a slightly mocking smile.

Trunks laughed, a bit mortified by his embarrassment. "Thanks, Bra. If I see Marron, I'll send her over." As Trunks headed back, Bra shook her head and went back into her room.

"Trunks Vegeta Briefs! That was totally uncalled for!" Pan screamed from the shower when Trunks entered.

Trunks smirked at his accomplishment. "I have some clothes for you to change into, and two fresh towels. Take your time. I have to go talk to my dad."

"He's not here, dimwit!" Pan said smugly. "Look at the note on your mirror!"

As Trunks was leaving, he heard the shower door open.

:Splat!:

He felt a wet article of clothing hit him in the back. He turned back to see the grinning face of Pan, while the rest of her was hiding behind the frosted glass of the shower door. He couldn't see details, but her pale skin and lithe form were clearly visible. He couldn't let her get a clear win like that. He quickly decided that embarrassment was the proper answer, this time.

Trunks made sure she noticed what he was looking at and whistled in appreciation. She turned bright red and slammed the shower door. "TRUNKS!" She shrieked at him.

Mission accomplished, again. He smirked, shaking his head as he left the room.

Trunks walked over to his mirror, wondering when Pan had the opportunity to read the note on it.

Trunks, The note started in Bulma's neat handwriting. Your father and I have some things to take care of. We'll be gone until later. We offered Marron the room next door. She was as tired as you and Pan were. See you at about 7!

Hmm. Bra is probably right. I bet mom went out to shop and set up catering for a party. Trunks shrugged. The timing couldn't be better. Marron and I will have to leave soon, Trunks thought to himself. This will be the perfect time to make the announcement, and say our goodbyes.

The prototype time machine could hold three passengers. Trunks hadn't decided on a third person, and wasn't sure one was needed. At least we don't have the problem the other Trunks had. Jump fuel wasn't an issue. Marron's team had built the new time machine with a fusion drive. Water existed everywhere, and hence, they could cross over as many times as they wanted.

Trunks flopped on his bed, letting himself fall backward, gracelessly. He frowned at the ceiling. I've painted myself into a corner, again, He thought with distaste. I hate when I lie, and get caught.

He had no idea why Babidi hadn't shown up in the other Trunks' timeline by the time the time machine was finished, but he had lied to Marron earlier today about the problem of Buu. He knew that Buu was a very real threat, and that the demented little wizard Babidi was unlikely to skip his appointment with the innocent looking ball that was buried deep within the earth.

Nightmarish visions swirled in his head of the pink monster turning entire cities of people into chocolate and then destroying all of the buildings, or blowing them up in nuclear sized blasts because he happened to be passing by. He and Goten had borne witness to Buu killing Dabura, the Demon King, by turning him into a cookie and eating him, after beating him senseless as if it were as easy as 1, 2, 3.

His past had come back to haunt him. All of his failures rose up to mock him, like the super ghosts that he and Goten had thought up.

Hahahaha! The insane laughter of the super ghosts seemed to echo in his head, and one of them pulled it's eyelid down and smirked at him. You thought you were pretty clever, didn't you, you little Saiyan rat! The ghost spat as it changed into the rodent-like form of Babidi. The ghost changed again, this time into the obscene form of Bebi. I had your number the whole time, you little bastard!Bebi's voice mocked him. You weren't even worth my contempt. You were just another tool.

The laughter continued, and so did the taunts. The worst part was that they were all true. Trunks was chilled to the bone. I did my best every time, and it still wasn't enough.

Goten and I almost died when we faced Buu the first time. I was sure that we'd win, because Buu's power was so much less than ours. Later, I fouled us up again in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber by holding back our Super-Saiyan 3 transformation, and by scaring Piccolo enough that he destroyed the way out so that Buu would be trapped. Then I fouled up AGAIN that day by wasting time taunting Buu when our fusion time limit was almost up. And just to spit in everyone's face one more time, I fouled up one more time and took Buu's bait. Gohan almost died because I wouldn't say no to Buu's taunts.

I wasn't any better when I got older. Goku had to do most of the fighting on our search for the dragonballs, and even though I had read all of the data files on Bebi, I still let him slip through our fingers when we had him dead to rights on the Machine Planet. He infested me on the medical planet, and even though I expelled him, I should have let them scan me and remove all traces of him. Instead, we went back to earth, gave the dragonballs to people who weren't acting themselves, and I was already enslaved without even knowing it.

Years later, I let Android 17 slip though my fingers, too. He was no match for me, but instead of destroying him before he could do any harm, I simply reacted to what he did, and let him get away to fuse with the artificial android 17. Krillin died, and Marron almost did because of that mistake.

Trunks was drowning in a sea of despair. What right do I have to try to help the people in the other dimension? More often than not, I've simply made things worse.

More than that, what if my influence is what's knocked Goten so far off course? He was everyone's hopes and dreams when he was younger. He was like Goku, reborn smarter and even stronger than the legendary Saiyan. What if my arrogance and uncaring attitude when I was younger changed him into what he is today?

The super ghosts continued laughing at him. The failed son of the Prince of the Saiyans, they said. The arrogant fool who had ignored the death of almost the entire human race. The blind fool, they taunted him. The blind fool, born of a blind fool. Born of a race of blind fools. They tittered. The Saiyan race that is so proud of their hollow accomplishments…they cause only death…

"Trunks…?" Pan's voice interrupted his waking nightmare. She cringed as she looked into his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

Trunks shook his head, but he couldn't shake the torment from his mind or heart. "I don't want to talk about it," he said with fear and anguish in his heart. He bit his lip, and tried to keep the tears away. "You should probably go someplace else. I'm not good company right now."

Pan dropped the brush that she was holding, and sat on the bed next to him. "I'm not going anywhere," she said softly. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she said very softly, compellingly.

Trunks' eyes began to tear. "Pan, I'm a failure. My father was right about me all along." He choked at that admission. Vegeta's unforgiving words had always been ice cold daggers in his heart. Almost as far back as he'd heard those words from the cold person that was his father, he'd done his best to fight those words or ignore them. Never in his mind had they been true, even though they came from the person he almost worshipped.

Pan laid down next to him. "You aren't a failure, you know," she said softly. "More people than you know owe their lives to you. Grandpa Goku and I are just two of them." She gently touched his face. "What brought this on?"

Trunks bit his lip. He didn't want to tell her, but she also deserved to know. "Marron was successful with mom's project. We can go to the world of the time-traveling Trunks."

He felt Pan stiffen next to him. "I still don't see what this has to do with you being a failure," she said, her voice a bit strained.

"Majin Buu exists there," Trunks said, forcing the words out. His eyes blurred with tears. "Goten and I fought him when we were kids. There was no one else left. Buu had beaten my dad, Gohan, the Supreme Kai, even Goku. We knew there was no one else who could do it, but I was arrogant and stupid. I blew our chances of winning at every turn. A lot of people died because of me, including Marron, my mom and your mom."

Pan tensed up even more. "That's not how I heard it. Everyone says that you bought time that they needed. My dad had time to go through the ceremony at the Planet of the Kais because of what you and Goten did." Pan's voice was reassuring.

Trunks sobbed. Pan looked stricken at his condition. "Pan, go ask Piccolo for his side of the story, if you want to know the real truth," Trunks said in a shaky voice. "He knows that I'm the one who messed everything up. Goten wanted Majin Buu's blood after the demon killed his mom. I convinced him that it would be more exciting to finish Buu off at the moment he was sure that he had us. I think it appealed to Goten's anger to piss Buu off and then blow him away at his moment of triumph."

"We never got the chance. While I was pretending that I had nothing left to throw at Buu, Piccolo destroyed the door to the time chamber. He was certain that the earth was doomed."

"Buu couldn't be caged that easily. With one wail of absolute rage, he ripped a hole in the dimensions, and off he went. I could have used our trump card at that point. Maybe it would have gotten us killed, since we had less than five minutes left of the fusion."

"Nevertheless, I should have used it right after our resting hour was up. Instead, I waited until Piccolo gave up hope of ever escaping, and then I still showed off about the fact that we were third level Super-Saiyans."

"When we got out, it was too late. All of the people at the Lookout were gone, and Buu was rubbing his belly." Trunks paused to sob again. "If we'd gotten out in the first hour, it would have only been ten seconds in the real world. We could have stopped him, and everyone would have escaped."

Pan seemed shocked, but she heard the Demi-Saiyan out. "Shhh…" she said quietly. "You were only seven. You had no real concept of what was going on…"

Trunks wiped his tears away, but the anguished expression didn't go away. "Pan, I was no less stupid with Bebi. I could have killed you…that whole mess was my fault. I knew that we should have chased him down and killed him, but instead I insisted on us going back to finding the dragonballs!"

Pan got up and looked him in the eyes. "Trunks. Stop it!" She said with authority. "You're second guessing everything! We wouldn't have even known about Bebi if it weren't for you, and General Rildo would have been the end of us if not for you and Giro."

"You were the only one who gave Giro a chance, and he's saved us more times than I can count. Grandpa Goku trusted you, and he didn't do that with just anyone."

"And your dad was an ass. My dad says that Vegeta has gotten us in more trouble than anyone he knows. Vegeta is my acarya now, but my dad said that the way he used to be, you never knew if he was going to bail you out from the worst trouble imaginable or if he was going to try and kill you."

Suddenly, Pan was sobbing, too. "My dad said that the whole thing with Majin Buu was Vegeta and the Supreme Kai's fault." She took a moment to wipe her eyes. "You never should have had to do any of what you did. You and Goten were forced to be what no kid should ever have to be- the only hope anyone had."

"Goku had to bail this world out from Piccolo, twice, from what my dad told me. He was just a kid!" Pan continued relentlessly. "Kami screwed up, and a kid had to save the world. Before that, Master Mutaito had to sacrifice his life to stop King Piccolo."

"My dad had to save everyone from Cell. He was 11 years old! Where was the Supreme Kai?! Where was anyone else, for that matter? Vegeta attacked the Trunks from the future so that he could test his power against Cell's perfect form. He handed the universe to Cell for the cost of possible entertainment."

"So Damn You, Trunks! Don't you even THINK about listening to him talk about failure! HE'S the failure. He lives in my Grandpa's shadow only because he didn't kill Cell when he had the chance. He could have been the hero. He threw it all away because of his pride."

Pan's look of disgust said it all, and the super-ghosts in his mind shut up. I can't believe that so many people had to shoulder so many burdens, including me. He silently forgave himself for his mistakes in the past. That's all they were. Mistakes. He'd tried his best, and done what he thought he had to. That was a long time ago. Hopefully, I've learned what I needed to. It's time to bury the ghosts that have been haunting me.

Trunks looked over at Pan. He had a new respect for her, a respect greater than he had ever felt for anyone before this. Gratitude to her filled him to the deepest recesses of his being. He cried again, but this time it was happy tears of release.

"Pan…" Trunks said, his voice still shaking with sobs, "I don't know how to thank you for this…you've set me free."

As he had hoped, the gratitude and sincerity came through. Pan embraced him, laying across his chest. "Welcome back to the world of the living," she said softly.