Hah... this is kind of strange... I'm here using my lunch period to post this chapter... Geez, am I dedicated, or what?!? Anyway, thanks to all you good old reviewers, and a big hello and welcome to the newbies! Now here's a chapter that lives up to its title! Enjoy!!!

Chapter 21: Confrontation and Unexpected Question

"Gohan! GOHAN!!!" Videl tore through the streets toward the battlefield just outside the surrounding city gates. A man grabbed her wrist to stop her from running out into the battle.

"Whoa, hold it, Videl! You had better not go down there. It's much too dangerous." The man warned, trying to hold her back. Videl struggled to free herself.

"But this is very important, Kuririn-san! I have to speak to Gohan immediately!" Videl wrenched her wrist out of the short man's grasp and continued to run down the hill toward the battle. Kuririn quickly caught up to her and attempted to hold her back again.

"Stop! Please don't go any further! You'll get yourself killed!!!"

"Listen to me, Kuririn! Something's going on inside the village, and I think Bra and the baby are in danger! Plus both my children have gone missing!"

"Oh Kami, that is serious! Okay, you stay here by the gate, Videl. I'll go find Gohan myself!" Kuririn instantly flew off into the battle.

"Arigatô, Kuririn-san!!!" Videl called after him.

Pan was getting very tired. She had burned off all her excess ki, and now found herself trapped in the midst of battle. She witnessed soldiers from both armies attacking and being attacked. Many fell dead all around her. She tried her hardest not to scream when she witnessed one of her close neighbors get blasted out of the sky, and landed not ten feet from her, struggling to breathe. He extended a limp, bleeding hand in her direction, begging for help. Then his hand fell to the ground, and his breath ceased, his eyes still open. She tightly snapped her eyes shut, and ran the other way. The horror of that pale face stained crimson with blood... These soldiers were heartless... And she was just as bad as any of them. She had killed many enemy soldiers. Though enemies, they were still Saiyans with friends and families that would soon receive the tragic news that their loved ones were not coming home.

Pan tore through the hills, trying to find a way out. She wanted nothing more now than to get back to her serene little house and return to the comfort of her mother and brother's company. She had to find someone... anyone...

Pan suddenly rammed into someone. She automatically jumped back a couple feet and extended her shooting hand, poised to fire, but...

"Whoa, easy there, Pan! Put that dangerous little weapon of yours down!" Trunks waved his hands frantically, trying to stop her from blasting a couple holes through him.

"Trunks!!!" Pan cried, and rushed into his arms. He firmly wrapped his arms around her shoulders to try to comfort her. His shirt and pants had several rips and tears, and his jean jacket was nowhere to be found.

"Pan, I know I've asked this many times, but I have to again... WHAT IN THE NAME OF KAMI ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?"

Pan grinned at him, and did not answer. She didn't care that she was in trouble. She was just happy to have found someone who could get her out of here.

"Just take me home, Trunks..." She smiled through hot tears. "Just get me out of this living hell..."

"This way, Gohan!" Kuririn urged his friend. Gohan soared at top speed toward his wife, who was waiting at the gates.

"What's the matter, Videl?" Gohan asked firmly.

"Something's wrong inside the village. Bra and I sensed two very high ki signals coming toward the house, and she told me to run for it!"

"It must be Vegeta..." Gohan muttered. "Kuririn, find my father, and send him to my house!"

"Right, Gohan!" Kuririn sped off into the valley once again.

"Hop on, Videl!" Gohan urged. Videl climbed onto his back, and the two took off toward the house.

"Pan and Zamuri have gone missing as well!" Videl yelled over the screaming wind.

(Great...) Gohan thought angrily. (I told those two to stay put! When will they learn?)

Nearing the house, Gohan began his descent. But he and Videl both noticed King Vegeta flying off toward the battle.

"Let's not worry about him right now!" Gohan shouted. "He doesn't appear to have any of the children!"

Shortly after, the two spotted Prince Vegeta carrying Bra and baby Goku. Gohan quickly dropped Videl off in the street, and flew up to meet him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gohan questioned, blocking his path.

"Get out of my way, street scum!" Vegeta sneered.

"Make me!" Gohan challenged.

"No, Gohan-san! Get away from here, quickly!" Bra warned from her brother's backside.

"You side with these commoners?!?" Vegeta scowled back at her.

"Enough! Put them both down, and let's settle this like Saiyans!" Gohan said determinedly.

"Why? I'm merely taking my brother and sister home. How should you have the right to interfere?"

"Where are my children?" Gohan inquired.

"Hah! Your children? How should I know? It's now my fault if you simply can't keep track of the brats!" Vegeta smirked.

"Enough games. Where are they?!?" Gohan inquired more harshly this time.

"Honestly, I really don't know. Now if you'll just move aside..." Gohan continued to block the agitated prince. "You know, you really don't want to go doing that." Vegeta warned. Gohan simply glared.

Vegeta snarled, and lowered himself to the ground. He set Bra down, and handed her the baby.

"Gohan-san, please!" Bra begged. "Please, just leave! It's for the best, trust me!"

"You don't know who you're messing with!" Vegeta threatened. Gohan also lowered himself to the ground.

"Then I guess I'm about to find out!"

Videl sprinted toward the scene as fast as she could. She spotted Bra holding the baby, looking on in horror.

"Bra-chan! What's going on?" She shouted.

"Vegeta and Gohan-san are about to fight!" Bra informed her.

"They what?!?" She exclaimed. (Where's Goku when you need him...?)

Actually, Goku wasn't that far off. Kuririn had finally found him on the battlefield, and they were now both flying as fast as they could toward the village. Goku spotted King Vegeta flying off in the opposite direction.

"There he is!" Goku said to himself. He quickly changed directions, and flew up after Vegeta.

"Wait, Goku! The village is the other way!" Kuririn called.

"I know, Kuririn, but I have to talk to Vegeta! Maybe I can settle this whole matter! Go help Gohan and the others as much as you can!" Goku called to his best friend. Then he sped off leaving poor Kuririn in his dust. Vegeta was flying very fast, so Goku thought up an easier way to catch him. He placed two fingers on his forehead and concentrated hard on Vegeta's energy signal. Then he disappeared, and then reappeared again a split second later right in front of Vegeta.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Vegeta, let's talk." Goku said in his most serious voice.

"Fine, Kakarot. But I'm in a bit of a hurry at the moment, so let's make this brief." He smirked. Both Saiyans slowly lowered themselves to the ground. They landed in a large grassy field. The grass was beginning to turn brown in preparation for the fast approaching winter.

"I thought you had agreed not to attack us anymore." Goku began.

"You didn't hold up your end of the bargain, Kakarot!" Vegeta sneered.

"What are you talking about, Vegeta?!? I fought with you just like you asked for!"

"You did, and it was a most excellent battle. But there was one other request I had asked for that you did not honor! I asked for my infant son to be returned to me, and he never was! You kept him and raised him as your own! Therefore, I have all the authority in the universe to go back on my side of the deal!"

"Your son...?" Goku thought hard for a moment, and then slapped his forehead. "Oh, right! You mean the kid who was named after me!"

Vegeta grimaced. "Yes. And so I organized this attack so I could obtain my son once again."

"Well gosh, Vegeta. I mean, you could have just asked, and I would have given him right back to you. I guess it just sort of... slipped my mind." Goku scratched the back of his head.

"Hmph! It's not that simple, Kakarot. You see, another son of mine has also come here."

"Oh, you mean Trunks?"

"Yes, Kakarot." Vegeta sighed. He was getting quite fed up with all of his frequent interruptions and lack of understanding. "You see, I knew Trunks had come here by his own accord, and would not simply come back home without a fight. So I have ordered my troops to find him and bring him to me so I can deal with him myself!" Vegeta cackled.

(Oh no...) Goku thought. (Then Trunks is in danger. I have to warn him!) Thinking quickly, Goku searched for Trunks' energy. He sensed it moving hurriedly in Gohan's direction.

("Trunks, can you hear me? I need to talk to you right away!!!")

("Goku-san?") Trunks responded promptly. ("What's going on?")

("Your father has his whole army looking for you! Be very careful!")

("Right! Thanks, Goku-san! I'll stay alert.") Goku sighed with relief, said goodbye, and disconnected from the young boy's mind.

"Trunks, what's wrong?" Pan noticed Trunks staring blankly ahead, as if his mind were concentrated entirely on something else. After a minute, Trunks blinked out of his trance and faced her.

"Huh... What'd you say?"

"Oh, nothing..." Pan sighed. The two were flying side by side back to the village. Trunks was escorting her back to her house after he had found her tearing through the hills trying to escape the battle.

"Your grandfather just talked to me telepathically." Trunks informed her.

"Oh, so that's what had you so preoccupied." Pan uttered.

"He said my father has his whole army on the lookout for me."

"What?!? Why would he do that?" Pan asked, shocked.

"I suspect he wants me to come back to the castle with him." Trunks faced forward again.

"What will you do?" Pan asked after a few minutes of silence. "Will you hide, or face him?"

"I guess I'll have to face my father. If I don't, this conflict will just continue."

Pan greatly admired Trunks for his courage. She was amazed that he seemed unafraid of everything. Even in the face of danger, he stood firm and confident. It was only when Trunks turned to look at her again did she realize she had been staring at his face. She quickly turned her head down, blushing slightly. Noticing her reddening cheeks, Trunks smiled faintly.

The two were approaching the house now. It was almost directly below them, coming into view.

"Look, Pan! It looks like some kind of fight has started down there!"

"Wha... Who's fighting?" Pan asked, looking where Trunks pointed.

"I can't really see them clearly from up here yet. Let's get a closer look!"

"Right!" Pan followed him straight down toward the two figures battling on the ground.

Zamuri had run all the way to the city gates looking for his sister, where he met up with Paris.

"Zamuri-chan, what are you doing here?" She asked gently.

"I was about to ask you the same question." Zamuri replied.

"I'm worried for all those brave men out there, and I felt I just had to do something to help. So I'm here delivering water to the soldiers." She pointed to a nearby hover cart filled with gallons of water. "All those men out there are protecting their home and families..."

"You're worried about Uncle Goten, aren't you?"

Paris blushed, and nodded.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's really strong and knows how to take care of himself." Zamuri assured her.

"You're right..."

Zamuri noticed the enemy's forces were drawing gradually closer to the gates. How much longer could they be held back? Just then, he heard a faint yelling from behind him growing closer.

"Gohan! GOHAN!!!" Zamuri whirled around to see his mother was running in his direction.

"Oh no..." He muttered. Then he sprinted off to hide in the only place he could find; the water cart. He could hear his mother frantically talking to Kuririn. Then Kuririn had flown off toward the battleground. Before Zamuri could peek over the cart side to see what was going on, a few jugs of water fell on top of him.

"Okay Paris, the cart's full again!" He heard someone call. He saw Paris climb into the cart right beside him, apparently taking no notice of him. He felt the cart start to vibrate, lift off the ground, and begin to move. Zamuri struggled to remove the water jugs that had been thrown on top of him. When Paris noticed something moving in the cart, she yelped in surprise.

"Relax, Paris. It's just me." Zamuri sighed, removing the last heavy jug from atop his stomach.

"Zamuri-chan? Why were you hiding under those jugs?"

"It wasn't intentional, I assure you. Someone just threw them on top of me." He looked around. The cart was moving fairly quickly toward the combat zone. "Wait a minute, where are we going?!?"

"I told you, I'm delivering water to the soldiers." Paris informed him. "So why did you get into the cart in the first place?"

"I was hiding from my mother."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in deep trouble if she finds me."

"Oh..."

The cart slowed, and Paris quickly jumped out with a jug of water in hand.

"Just stay in the cart, Zamuri-chan!" She ordered. Zamuri nodded, and watched her run off. She stopped in front of a couple nearby wounded soldiers helping each other along, and gave them both a long drink. Zamuri watched with interest. He looked around through the smoking pasture, watching ally and enemy soldiers give everything they had for their kingdoms. Zamuri suddenly become aware of a couple of enemy fighters starting to notice Paris. One of them swiftly shot a ki blast in her direction, attempting to kill her.

"Paris, look out!!!" Zamuri shouted. Paris turned, and screamed. Zamuri covered his eyes.

Out of nowhere, another ki blast made contact with the first, knocking it off its path. Paris looked around to try and identify the creator of the second blast. The enemy soldier also frantically looked around, but saw no one but a scared young woman and a small boy in a cart. Confused, the soldier charged recklessly in Paris' direction. Paris turned and started to run, but her pursuer was too fast. To save time, he tried to shoot her down once again. Paris could hear the blast being charged behind her, and tried to run faster. Then she heard the ki blast leave its owner's hand. She tripped, and landed on her hands in the dirt. She shut her eyes tightly.

(This is it...)

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, and she felt her body being lifted off the ground. Paris heard the explosion from the blast, but it seemed so far away now. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

It was Goten.

The young man held her in his arms and looked down at her, a soft smile on his face. His gentle black eyes sparkled in the midmorning light.

"Paris, will you marry me?"

Tears formed in the young woman's eyes. She blushed and smiled. Then she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly.

"I will... I will... I will..." She whispered over and over again in his ear.