Okay... prepare yourself for the chapter you've all been anxiously awaiting... THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET!!! This is by far the best one so far, because you find out SO much!!! But just be ready for prolonged staring between characters... I, uh... I couldn't think of anything else... Thanks again to all you glorious people who reviewed!!! Glomps reviewers ARIGATÔ!!!!

Chapter 10: Connections

Only two days left, and just as Pan had expected, there was a dark bruise on her right cheek that morning. Bra was now on her side, but Trunks had yet to return. Pan was afraid he would not be back in time for the ceremony. There was another matter she had promised someone else she would attend to. And that was the matter of Paris.

Not feeling like taking the high risk of meeting the king in his bedroom with no hair gel at this early hour, Pan decided to take the back way into the servant's quarters. This was a series of small rooms in the castle that she was told never to enter, for it would not be fit for anyone of her high status.

Ignoring this because of her real social status, Pan entered the small white door under the main grand staircase. The floor and walls were made of gray marble, and the halls lined with fluorescent lights. There were various maids dressed in their sky blue and white uniforms walking around the network of hallways. Most stared at Pan, and then quickly continued with their own business. Pan tried to find her way around the maze of marble hallways, but having no luck, asked a passing maid for directions.

"Uh... excuse me, but could you tell me where I could find a nursery maid named Paris?"

The young blond maid stopped in her tracks, and bowed deeply. "Why milady, go down this hallway here, and take the second passage to your left. Go up the stairs and take a right at the top."

"Thank you very much." Pan started down the hallway the maid was pointing to.

"Um... not that it's any of my business, milady. But why might I ask are you in here?"

Pan turned and smiled. "You were right; it isn't any of your business. Carry on." Pan lazily waved her off, and the maid bowed again, and left. Pan made her way down the hallway, turned left, climbed the narrow marble staircase, and turned right at the top, where she came to a white door. Slowly, she opened it.

Pan came upon a light blue room that she somehow recognized (for she had spent most of her time here until she was three). There was a large crib in the corner, and the floor was littered with baby toys and blankets. There was a white couch on one end of the room, and a changing table on the other. The room smelled strongly of baby powder.

Asleep in his crib was the nameless baby prince. Also asleep on the white couch was the young brunette maid dressed in her usual light blue dress and white apron. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight bun, probably so the baby wouldn't pull on it.

"Excuse me... wake up..." Pan began to lightly tap her, hoping that Paris wouldn't be as hard to wake as Goku.

As expected, she stirred right away. When she awoke to see who had disturbed her sleep, Paris immediately stood up, and bowed respectfully.

"I'm so sorry, milady! Please forgive me for dozing off like that! I promise it will never happen again! It's just that the baby hasn't been sleeping well at night since his mother passed away and..." Pan held up her hand to silence her.

"I have not come to punish you, Paris." The young maid breathed a sigh of relief. "Actually, I bring news from the outside."

"The outside? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, milady."

"And please, don't call me milady. I think you know I'm adopted."

"Oh... so you know..." Paris looked sheepishly at the floor, as if the whole ordeal was her fault.

"Yes, but that is not the reason I am here. I... I have met an old friend of yours... Goten." There was a moment of silence where Paris let the last word sink in.

"...Go... ten...?" She collapsed back down on the couch behind her and stared at the floor again. "I haven't seen him in ten years... I didn't think he would remember me..."

"Well he does remember you. In fact, he has been thinking of you just about every day."

Paris looked back at Pan. "You have seen him? But... how could you have... Oh, I can't even imagine how he would look now, after ten whole years!" Paris smiled, clasped her hands together, and gazed up at the princess.

"He wants to see you again, Paris."

"Oh, and I would do anything to see him again as well!"

"Well, I can help you with that." Pan sat next to Paris on the couch, and looked into her eyes with a certain unbreakable concentration. "What would you say if I told you I would help you get out of here, and see Goten again?"

Paris tried to stifle a small laugh. "I would say you were crazy. Oh, but no offense, milady! While I would love to see Goten again, there is a baby here to attend to. And on top of that, the naming ceremony is in two days. As the official caretaker of the baby, I have certain inevitable duties in the ceremony. I must be present for the whole ceremony."

"We wouldn't go during the ceremony. We could go today; even right now if you like!"

The baby started to stir and whine. Paris looked from the baby to Pan, and then rose to tend to him. "I just couldn't, Princess Pan. The baby needs me."

"Well, what if I brought him to you, then?"

"Oh, no! Please, I don't want to put you or Goten in any danger. Can you imagine what Master Vegeta would do to you both if you are discovered?"

For once, Pan agreed not to do anything rash. Scenes of Prince Vegeta murdering those poor guards flashed through her mind again. His father would no doubt be even worse.

But she had promised Goten...

"I should probably get going then, Paris."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for everything, Princess Pan." Paris smiled as Pan headed out the way she had come in.

As she emerged from under the grand staircase, she suddenly thought of Zamuri-chan. It had been five long days since she had been with him, and that had ended when Trunks had found her, and taken her back. She recalled the day she had met him. She had remembered feeling there was something about him that was familiar... and then that raid had started, and she had lost track of her thoughts. She suddenly thought of Gohan-san. She thought of how he had told her they had lost a child to a raid about fourteen years ago. That was around the same time she herself had been taken in by Trunks... There was something weird about that... Gohan-san had also said Zamuri had been five months old during the raid... And Pan had been five months old when she had been adopted...

Things were getting way too weird. All these facts couldn't possibly be just a coincidence.

Then as she reached the very top stair on the grand staircase, everything seemed to fall into place at once...

"That's it!" Pan suddenly screamed to no one. She had to... she remembered what Trunks had said about sneaking out while he was gone, but she felt this was much too important to be neglected. Pan had to know right now.

Less than ten minutes later, she found herself out in the cool moonlight, on top of the white stone wall, expecting the pile of crates to be there as usual... but to her surprise, the crates were completely gone.

(Someone must have moved them somewhere else. No matter; I don't need them anymore.) Pan powered up a bit, and used her ki to slowly lower herself to the ground. She powered down, and ran all the way to the old alleyway and knocked on the green door. Gohan answered a few seconds later.

"Pan-chan? I thought you were told not to come here."

"I know I'm not, but I just had to... wait a minute... How did you know I was told not to come here?" Pan suddenly understood why. As she looked at Gohan, someone behind him caught her eye. Sitting in a wooden chair by the fireplace was a young man dressed in a black muscle shirt with a blue jean jacket and black baggy pants. Strapped across his back was that all-too-familiar silver sword. He had untidy lavender hair, and his shimmering blue eyes were staring straight at her, as if right through her and deep into her soul. His face expressed utter shock, and a bit of disgust.

"Pan! What on Vegeta-sei are you doing here?!?" Trunks stood up, and walked briskly toward her.

"Trunks, I think I should ask you the same question!"

"You know I told you to stay in the castle while I was gone! Why did you disobey me? Answer me!" Trunks grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her in the house. Gohan closed the door behind her. Trunks shoved Pan into the chair he had been sitting in, and started pacing around the chair, still awaiting her answer.

"I came because... I felt something. Something happened to me a few minutes ago, and I felt I would find my answer here."

"What do you mean you felt something?" Trunks stopped pacing, and pulled up another chair, and sat down across from her.

"I can't explain it. But can I at least ask the question I came here to ask?" Trunks hesitated, and then silently nodded. Pan turned to Gohan, who had sat in another chair, next to Videl. Pan noticed Zamuri sitting on his bed behind them. She couldn't ask this in front of him. What if Gohan-san and Videl-san didn't want him to know just yet? "Um... maybe I should ask you this outside, Gohan-san." Gohan looked a little confused, and then stood up and led her out to the alley. Trunks followed.

"So, what did you need to ask me?" Gohan asked as he closed the green door behind them.

"I was wondering... about the child you lost fourteen years ago... was it a girl?"

"Yes. But what does this have to do with..."

"And is Zamuri, by any slim chance, a twin?" Gohan stood still for a moment. He couldn't speak. A feeling of understanding swept through him.

"Then you are..." He stuttered. Pan nodded.

The two stood silently for a good ten minutes, staring at one another, father and daughter. However, Trunks seemed to be calmer than the other two. Finally, he spoke up.

"Well done, Pan. You surprised me with how much you've learned about yourself in such a short period of time; I expected it to take much longer." Pan whirled around and stared at Trunks. His chin pointed down, his eyes closed, and arms folded. A small smirk had found its way onto his face.

"What? What do you mean you expected it to take longer?"

"I have been keeping more secrets than you think, Pan. It has been unimaginably hard for me. I just wanted to tell you everything, but Okaa-san made me promise not to say anything until the time was right. I believe that time is now." He opened his eyes again, and looked up at the clear starry sky.

Pan suddenly felt furious at him. More secrets? More lies? This was not the Trunks she knew. "So spill it then..."

"Well, as you have just discovered, this is your real family. You and Zamuri are twins, and Gohan-san and Videl-san are your parents. But what you don't know is that I have known this all along. You see, when I was about eight, I was also curious about the outside world, until one night I snuck out and met a young boy about a year younger than me. He told me his name was Son Goten. I met his family and friends; they treated me very well. For the next year I snuck out every now and then to see them. No one ever found out. Gohan-san and Videl-san had two identical twins in that time, one boy and one girl. However, some fourteen years ago my father issued a large number of his troops to capture about 100 Saiyans to ship off to the mining planet. He was planning to use it as a secret military base, plus it built fear of him among the common people. I heard about the raid, and went to warn Gohan-san. But by the time I got there, the raid had already started. I was informed that Paris and her family were taken. I helped Gohan-san and his family escape into the woods, but some guards saw us, and followed. We hid in a cave, but they found us. There was a battle, which caused a rockslide. One of the rocks hit me on the head, and I blacked out. When I came to, Gohan-san told me one of his twins had been taken in the battle. I ran back to the castle, summoned a few of my bodyguards, and ran to the loading dock, where I was lucky to find the guards there were just loading the last ship. You were supposed to be taken on that ship, but I got there just in time. Since they had one too many passengers, they were about to drop you down a well when I came and said I would take you. On my way back to the castle, I saw Paris running for the woods. I called her back, and she told me she had escaped from captivity, but her parents hadn't made it. She said she would go back to the village later and see if she could live with Gohan-san or Goku-san, but I told her she couldn't go back to the village now because there were guards everywhere, and if she was caught, she would be taken to the mining planet anyway, if not killed on the spot. I helped her by getting her a job in the castle as a maid. And from there, I gave you to Okaa-san, and she convinced Otou-san to keep you. But not before they both made me swear you would never find out anything. So for the past fourteen years I have been lying to you every day. I have been calling you my sister, letting you believe you really were a princess. But I knew someday you would find out the truth. Some secrets are not meant to be kept hidden forever."

During this, Videl and Zamuri came out to see what was taking so long, and ended up listening to Trunks' story from behind him. Zamuri now knew he and Pan were twins. And he was taking it surprisingly well.

"I can't believe this! I have a twin sister! Oh Kami, I'm dreaming, I know it!" Zamuri embraced Pan very tightly, and jumped up and down, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Pan felt uneasy. She didn't have any problem whatsoever being related to these wonderful people. It was that Trunks had been lying to her. He had lied when he told her he had just assumed fate had brought them together, that day in the gazebo. Not only had he been lying to her, but she had been lying to herself every day, even after knowing she was adopted by continuing to call Trunks Onii-san, and Bra Onee-chan, and even Vegeta Onii-kun (when she felt like it).

Pan also felt uneasy because Zamuri now knew the truth. Would Gohan-san and Videl-san be angry? Pan looked at them. They were both gazing lovingly at her, remembering the five months before she had been taken. She had found them... This was what she had been dreaming about. The dreams of Zamuri running toward her rushed back into her memory. So this is what they meant. Her dreams were trying to tell her that Zamuri was her long lost brother. But as Pan thought about it, she wondered why the monstrous figures in her dreams had attacked Zamuri instead of her. After all, she was the one who had been taken away from them. She would have to ask Trunks about it later. Right now it seemed her real parents couldn't move because they were so stunned to see their daughter alive and right in front of them all this time.

Once Zamuri let go, Pan ran into her mother and father's arms, and began to cry. She had never been this emotional before. Ever since she had returned from her first journey outside the confining walls of the castle, she had become abnormally emotional. She cried much more easily now. Was it because she had witnessed the life of fear these wonderful people were forced to lead? Or were they tears of joy because she had new friends that could understand the pain she was going through?

(A/N: I know, it's getting really mushy... Hang in there!)

About an hour later, everyone seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. They had all gone back inside the house, Zamuri had gone to bed, and Pan was sitting in her mother's lap, which was the most wonderful and comforting feeling in the world. She held her mother's arms tightly against her chest, as if not ever wanting to let go. They were sitting on the rug in front of the fire, while her father and Trunks sat on chairs discussing something. But what they were discussing, Pan didn't care to know. She was falling asleep in her mother's arms, and only half conscious. It seemed like she had been sitting there only five minutes when a strong hand shook her shoulder gently.

"Pan, it's time to go home." Trunks said, dragging her to her feet.

"Not yet... We haven't been here that long..." Pan muttered eyes still half closed, barely able to stand.

"Pan, it's after midnight. We have to go now and hope Otou-san hasn't noticed our absence." Pan's black sparkling eyes fluttered open, as she sighed, gave her parents one last hug, and followed Trunks out the door.

Trunks picked Pan up, and began to fly toward the castle. As they soared through the cool moonlight, Pan remembered the dream she had wanted to ask him about.

"Trunks, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Pan. What is it?"

Pan started to explain all about her dream, and told him she had wondered why the dark shadows had grabbed Zamuri instead of her. "I think this dream is trying to tell you something, Pan."

"I know, Trunks. It was trying to tell me that Zamuri is my brother."

"No, I think there's a little more to it. Maybe your dream was predicting the future. Perhaps something is going to happen to Zamuri."

Pan recalled several dreams she had had before that had also come true... The dream of the white wall she couldn't climb had come true when she climbed the tree to get over the real white wall to get out of the castle. And the dream of Trunks jumping out of the window, then flying into the clouds... that had come true when Trunks came to her window that one night, saying he had to go somewhere quickly, then he really had jumped out of her window and flown into the sky.

"Yeah, maybe my dreams do predict the future..."