Bulla had trouble looking up. Her head was hung low all day, and the strain was even worse as she tried to keep herself looking up. Once they arrived at the Ruimi Orphanage, they were introduced to a lovely young woman with a bright smile. Although she told them her name, Bulla couldn't quite remember it.
She had taken the first shower, and was now drying her hair off with a separate towel, allowing Pan to go second and take as much time as she wanted. As an act of kindness, Bulla picked up the jacket that Gohan had given to her best friend, and put it into the empty clothes hamper in the corner next to their empty closet. She walked back over and picked up her relaxed-fit black jeans.
Out of the pocket, a card fell and hit the ground quickly. Bulla dropped the pants and got down on one knee, picking it up and feeling the weight behind it. As she opened it, tears streamed down her face.
The card was blank and white, but attached to it were two silver-chained earrings with amber orbs. "What...are these...?" She asked herself as she stood up, her friend's jeans in one hand and the earrings in the other. "Pan never wears earrings." Not wanting Pan to think she was snooping around, she left the card on the night stand and put the jeans in the hamper with Gohan's jacket. Several minutes passed before Pan came in, wrapped in a towel and drying her hair.
The two promptly got dressed in the pajamas that the caretaker provided. "Hey Bulla, are you alright?" Pan asked as she slid into her white-striped blue pajamas.
"Yeah," Bulla responded, putting her arm into her black night-sky pajamas shirt, "I guess I'm just surprised. After all these years, I had no idea that you wore earrings."
"Earrings? What are you talking about?" Pan asked her as her friend gestured to the card on the night stand. Pan looked down and took the card, opening it and seeing exactly what Bulla was talking about. "I've never seen these before. Where did you find them?"
"They were in your pockets. I was picking up your clothes and they fell out." She explained, crawling into the top bunk.
Several minutes passed, and Pan found herself entranced by the earrings. Although she claimed she had never seen them before, something told her that that wasn't entirely true. "Pan!"
"Huh!? What?" She said, snapping out of her trance.
"Are you okay? You were just sitting there staring at them. I said your name like five times." Bulla told her.
Pan's eyes returned to the earrings. "Oh, I'm sorry. There's just something familiar about them, that's all."
"We've both had a long day, Pan. Why don't you get some rest?" Bulla told her, staring at the ceiling. With no response to justify an end to the conversation, she rolled over and looked over the edge of her bed. "Pan?"
Looking down, she could see that pan was looking in the mirror that stood between the two bunks. "Do these look good on me?" She asked.
"I don't think we should be focused on looking good right now." She said as she rolled back to look at her ceiling.
"I appreciate the pajamas that Ms. Iwase gave us, but I wish we had some other clothes to try out. Do you think I should ask?" Pan asked her friend.
"Ms. Iwase? Oh! The caretaker!" She said, now reminded of the woman's name. "Didn't she say she would drop by after the other orphan get out of school and dry the clothes for us?" Bulla reminded her, beginning the dwell on the word that left her mouth. Orphans. That's what we are now, right...? She rolled over and began to silently sob into her pillow.
"Bulla? Are you alright?" Pan asked, floating up to the edge of Bulla's bed.
"I'm fine." She said, doing her best to hide her tears. "I'm going to get some sleep, if that's alright."
"Oh, it's only 2:00, though. Are you sure you don't want to wait until our clothes are finished?"
"I'm sure. I'm just tired, Pan. I really want to get some sleep." Bulla explained to her.
"Well, alright. I'll let the others know to be quiet when they come in. Sleep well, alright?" Pan told her friend, earning nothing more than a knod from the back of Bulla's head.
Several dozens of minutes passed, and just before she drifted into sleep, she could faintly hear Pan shushing different people.
I wonder...if this is my life now...