Part III:

"So, what happened after that?" The old man brought his cup to his lips, hiding his grimace behind a swing of his drink.

"I couldn't tell you. All that matters is that he admitted to cheating on me a few weeks later." Pan held her head, wincing at the pure haughtiness of his actions. "I didn't know what to do, I was devastated…"

"…So you just picked up and left without saying goodbye." His snowy eyebrows furrowed dourly. "What about your family, your friends?"

"I needed to move on… to start over." Pan expression grew bitter, tempting to swallow her emotions, an insatiable hump of anger and heartbreak lodged deep in her throat. "But I really don't expect you to understand." She stared into the old man eyes, unreadable behind his glasses, but for a moment his face constricted in its natural wrinkles and was set in a scowl she thought look all too familiar.

"I'm so sorry."

Pan contemplated the face before her a moment. "It's okay, you didn't know."

Turning to the window again, the storm finally settled; an unsaid invitation to the young girl. She sighed, staring into the icy storefront as the storm left piles of snow drifts in its wake. She, once again, grieving on her journey home, reminding herself that it was getting late and she needed to prepare her dinner.

"So the storm has let up... I guess that means you'll be on your way."

Pan nodded sheepishly, sitting in silence with the old man, realizing for the first time she didn't even know his name. "I'm glad we were able to have this talk, mister…"

"Burke," The old man said. "Trevor Burke."

"Son Pan." She answered in an almost spontaneous chuckle, shaking his hand gingerly. She stood, shouldering her bag before retrieving her mitts and hat from out of her coat pockets. "Thanks again. It was sweet of you to keep me company… maybe one day we'll run into each other again."

Trevor smiled. "I'm sure we will."

"Pan, please!" The young saiyajin heard Trunks' voice chase after her from behind as she ran out into the streets, blinded by anger and grief.

"Get away from me!"

Thunder rolled from the distance as rain soaked her to the bone. She ran until her chest ached and her muscles throbbed with exhaustion, desperate to put as much distance as she could between herself and her suffering.

"Leave me alone!" She said with some measure of malice, despite how she lacked the strength to even keep up her pace so she eventually slowed. "You bastard, stay away from me!" Her tears started anew when he saw him, collapsing against him when he reached out and took her by the arms.

"Pan, please." His voice was ragged, eyes berating his sadness and heartbreak.

Pan struggled against his grip. "How could you? How could you do this to me?" She rained her tiny fists against his chest, unable to see him behind the clout of tears and rain. She thought her heart would burst in her anguish.

"Please, let me explain." He told her helplessly. "I still love you."

"Bullshit!" She snapped. "You don't do that to people you love!" She wrenched from his grip, but Trunks held fast, taking her by her wrists, determined to keep her in his power.

"Pan," He pleaded.

She stiffened instinctively at her name, forcefully keeping his eyes closed until he touched her cheek, upturning her large and powerfully sad eyes toward him. He put a hand behind her head, resting her forehead against his own. They stood like that for a moment, the rain beating down on their backs, until Pan pushed at his shoulders, stumbling away in a combination of anger and disgust.

"I can't do this." She shook her head. "This can't go on."

"Pan," Trunks looked back at her plaintively. "What are you saying?"

"We're through!"

It was a long and arduous journey home and Pan hurried the last mile home as she struggled against the heavy snowdrifts and icy winds.

The conversation with Trevor Burke weighted on her conscience the entire walk, she was startled by his inquisitive nature and couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before. Pan never really opened up to strangers, an anti-social behavior she had developed over the last year, yet she spoke to this man with ease, despite the fact they had only just met. Now, she couldn't help but now assess her life for what it is, the old man begging the question to whether or not she had made the right choice.

Ultimately she had been a coward, unable to face her problems and move on. She had to run away and start anew, as if that would change anything. She wouldn't be able to trust another man again, and instead of trying to work their way though their problem, she had given up on him and their relationship.

She rounded the last corner before home thankfully as the wind picked up chilling her to the bone. All she wanted to do was climb into her bed and sleep for a week. She could see her little house up ahead and hurried even more, anything to get out of this miserable cold. She slowed as she approached the arch shaped entry alcove to her apartment and squinted through the snow and the dark, realizing someone stood by the doorway. She cursed mentally, wondering if it was Ludwig, her landlord, harassing her for payments on her rent, even though she had promised him faithfully she would give him his money by the end of the week.

She edged closer, rooting in her pocket to find her house key, her face settling into her customary scowl when she dealt with the irksome superintendent. "Look, Ludwig I said I'd have your money--"

"'Bout time you got home." Trunks Briefs smiled. It was starting to get cold out here."