Pan's New Boyfriend

by IndigoSnake16

A sequel to Bra's New Boyfriend. Peace has returned to Earth, though it did not come without sacrifice. Pan, now struggling with the loss of a very close friend, realizes that it is quite difficult to find true happiness. Even as she and the Briefs attempt to find the dragon balls, Pan knows that there is a real possibility that she must learn to live without him.

9. Machi and Jr Reintroduction

"Finally!" Pan said as soon as the ringing stopped and she wasn't switched to voicemail, "I've been trying to call you for ages! Dad has been hounding me for days about Grandma—I told him that she's fine, but he's still really worried. I know she's with you, but I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him that specifically. Seriously though, have you kidnapped her? When are you going to let her go home?"

"Excuse me," Chi-Chi's voice said over the phone, "I was not kidnapped, if you want to know. I chose not to go back home and it's none of his business where I am."

"Grandma?" Pan asked surprised. "This is even better! Could you please just go back home?—Dad is really worried about you. Did you guys have an argument or something?"

"Honey, I don't really feel like discussing this right now. This is between me and him. I'll let him know that I'm fine so he can stop bothering you, okay?"

"Okay," Pan said after a long moment. "But I don't understand. What's going on?"

Pan was currently in Malachi's house with Bra. Dad had called her in the middle of the night and luckily, she'd been awake enough to answer him. It wasn't the strangest thing in the world for him to call her at this hour—he usually worked late into the night while everyone else had already gone to bed. Often times, he would become so laser focused on his work that it would be difficult to even drag him out of the lab for dinner. Pan was sitting on the side of the bed and her best friend was fast asleep on the other side, blissfully unaware of all the panic she was beginning to have.

Initially, she'd been fine with knowing that at least Grandma was safe if she was with Auden, but then as she thought about it, it didn't quite make sense that she'd be with him. Auden hated having strangers over. She hadn't wanted Dad to panic so she continued to reassure him until it came to a head that night and she promised that she'd make sure she'd bring Grandma back home safe and sound.

She heard someone in the background and Grandma speaking to that person.

"It's Pan on the phone," Pan heard Grandma say, "You want to speak to her?—yeah, I guess you're right, she did call you. Don't you dare start that cellphone business up with me again—I don't need one!"

Suddenly, Pan heard Auden's voice but much closer. "Hello, Pan. Did you need something?"

Pan sighed exasperatedly. He wasn't the least bit concerned about anything. She'd called him in the middle of the night after all. Shouldn't he assume that this was some kind of emergency? Then again, Auden was hardly the emotional type, she shouldn't have been surprised. It also seemed like neither of them had actually been asleep. Did anyone actually sleep at reasonable times these days?

"Auden, you should know better. I don't know what's going on anymore, but you can't keep Grandma at your place. I thought you didn't like strangers over there anyway."

"We came to a mutual agreement and she decided to stay here."

"Do you even understand what I'm talking about?" Pan said exasperatedly.

"Honestly, I don't. Chi-Chi is not a child and she is capable of making her own decisions. You and Gohan seem like smart people—I'm sure you know what that means."

She could hear clear irritation in his tone as if she was the one getting on his nerves. Pan couldn't believe it. The voice sounded like Auden, but he certainly wouldn't speak like that to her. She supposed he had a point though. "Well, maybe if she'd let him know beforehand, Dad wouldn't be so worried."

"On that point, you're probably right. Had I known; she could have called him on my phone. I have a feeling though, that this is a bit of a double standard."

"Could you please just tell her to come home?" Pan said desperately. She really didn't want Dad to call her about the same thing.

"It seems she doesn't want to. She'll call him and we can put this matter to rest."

"But why?" Pan asked confused, "Why are you making this difficult?"

"Pan, I will hang up this phone unless you actually have something of substance to talk about. It's late and I'm tired."

Pan was flabbergasted with his agitated tone. "Are you…okay, Auden?"

"Goodnight, Pan—

"W-Wait, I'm being serious," she said quickly. "You sound…different. Is everything okay?"

She could hear him sighing on the other end. "I appreciate your concern, I really do, though I'm a little surprised to hear it."

"What do you mean?"

"You've stopped responding to all of my texts, voicemails and missed calls. I think I got the hint loud and clear."

"Oh," Pan said smacking the palm of her hand on her forehead. "I'm so sorry. I got your messages and everything, but I've been so busy lately. It totally slipped my mind to respond to you. But, yeah, I'm doing fine. Everything's going great actually."

"That's great, but I wasn't particularly upset about that—well, maybe a little annoyed. Like I said, it's late. It hasn't been such a good night for me, and I'd like to get some sleep before another early start as I'm sure is the case for you too."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Auden. Maybe we should talk later."

"Perhaps," he said quickly. "It may not be worth repeating."

Pan suspected that he must have been dealing with nightmares and she knew it had to be tied to why he had to take all those pills. "We'll just see. In the meantime, you're right, I have an early start. 'Till next time and please make sure Grandma calls him—it'll give me peace of mind and I'll love you forever."

"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Auden said amused.

"Goodnight," Pan said.

"Goodnight."

It took Pan a moment to realize how odd it was that Grandma was at Auden's house voluntarily. Did they even know each other? Better yet, where was Grandma sleeping? What was happening? She couldn't for the life of her figure that out. She supposed that she'd found them washing the dishes together so they knew each other existed, but that was for such a short amount of time and she was sure that Grandma must have dragged him in to help her against his will. She shook her head slowly as she tried to understand.

The important part was that Grandma was safe and Dad would stop calling her. She'd been terrible with keeping in contact with Auden for days. She'd tell herself that she was going to reply back and then never actually get to it. Things weren't like they were before. She didn't get the same tension or giddiness at the sight of his text or the idea that he was still thinking about her. After it became established that they were merely friends, she found herself less interested in what he was doing from day to day. He worked 9-5 and then went home. How exciting could his texts be?

Besides, she'd been having a crazy few days with Bra having been dragged to bars and clubs all over town. Pan simply wasn't cut out for that lifestyle, but she had to admit that it had been fun hanging out with Bra like that and getting to know her again. They'd been the perfect couple, and everyone had seemed jealous of them or had simply joined in with their good vibes. She'd made a few new friends too—other lesbians who were probably way too left field for her taste, but they had been nice and fun to be around. Pan didn't quite think she was ready for a threesome or a foursome for that matter.

Bra was currently plastered and wouldn't be waking until tomorrow. Courtesy of her Saiyan blood, she would not be waking with a hangover and thus never suffer any consequences of overconsumption. Pan clicked off her phone and rejoined her under the covers. As odd as it had been being in Malachi's house, now she was getting used to it. She could feel a little closer to him which eased the pain of his loss somewhat. Every once in a while, she could picture him in places. If he could see her now, what would he think?

She'd only been sleeping lightly before though it had been peaceful, playing with Bra's silky strands of hair, running her hands through—something that Bra said she loved. She'd lost track of time doing this and had finally been interrupted with her phone. Now comfortable again on her side of the bed, tiredness set in and she fell asleep instantly.

Upon waking the next day, she found Bra all over her again. Her breasts were apparently Bra's pillow as her head was placed there and her legs entangled with hers. That's why she was so warm and cozy. Slowly, she detangled herself.

"Oommm…Pan, don't go right now," Bra said sleepily.

"I have to," Pan said as she paused. "Work, remember?"

"Forget about work," she said trying to nestle closer to her.

"I can't."

"I don't want you to work anymore. I hate wasting hours of the day waiting for you to come back."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Pan said as she continued in her endeavor though she could feel Bra pulling her back.

"Absence makes the heart grow cold and depressed."

Pan had to put in a little force to push away from her, but eventually she released herself from Bra's enticing grasp. "Well, you might be right about that."

"I know I am." Bra stretched out a little more on the bed and peered up at her with eyes that possessed quite a bit more clarity than Pan was expecting at the moment.

"Hm?" Pan asked. It was as if Bra was trying to tell her something just by looking.

"I love you, Pan."

Bra had told her this several times already, but each time, her heart would skip a beat. "Even in the morning?" she joked.

Bra giggled, smiling a bit more. "More so."

Pan bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Love you too."

Pan had brought over a number of her clothes to put in the closet alongside Bra's. It had gotten to a point that it felt almost painful to spend a night apart from her. On the flipside, she hardly spent much time at her own place which she was still paying rent for. There was a small part of her that was hesitant. Everything still felt so new. This had all started so unexpectantly and she wasn't sure if this would last even if Bra seemed genuine. She was different, but Pan knew from experience that people could only change so much. Pan had known her for a very long time. She knew that Bra had a penchant for loving people for a little while and leaving them abruptly without a care in the world. She'd even done it to Malachi once upon a time and he'd been severely hurt emotionally—he may not have ever truly recovered. She didn't want to go through that as well. That sort of pain was extraordinarily traumatic and despite how different Bra happened to be now, Pan wasn't sure if she understood that.

She'd spent night after night with Bra and Pan wasn't sure she ever wanted to return to her lonesome bed. Pan quickly got herself ready. After checking the time, she realized that she had made good time. Bra had gone back to sleep as was her habit. She wasn't really functional until the afternoons anyway and she hated breakfast with a passion. Pan, on the other hand, needed food on a constant basis. She still hadn't gotten up the nerves to cook in Malachi's kitchen so as she'd been doing for a while now, she sat down in a nearby restaurant to have her quality large breakfast.

She felt a little guilty about ignoring Auden's messages. At the time, it hadn't felt like such a huge deal, but in hindsight she knew that wasn't true. They'd been communicating with each other regularly and he'd made it clear that he enjoyed that. He'd sounded so different last night. Had she actually pissed him off? She couldn't stand to have anyone feel that way about her even if it was unintentional. Usually she would text him, but this time, as she waited for her food, she decided it was important enough to actually call. She couldn't remember if he'd be at work by now or still getting ready.

"Yes?" he answered after the second ring.

He'd never answered his phone like that before and she was completely caught off guard. "Is this Auden?"

"This is him," he said with a chuckle, clearly amused.

Pan paused for a moment longer and then responded. "Is everything alright with you?"

"I'm fine, Pan."

"I didn't mean to blow you off like that. I really was busy, but I promise I'll make it up to you—

"Pan, it's alright. Sometimes people grow apart. I enjoyed the time we spent together. I'm not really all that upset with you. You just caught me at a bad time last night."

It almost sounded as if they were breaking up, but were they ever truly together? "About that—did you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

She wondered if he would have done so if she hadn't blown him off for so long. "What are you doing right now?"

"Well, I was about to enjoy this far too decadent breakfast before I was interrupted."

"Oh, you're ordering out too."

"No, I just happen to personally know a five-star chef."

"Wait, you wouldn't be talking about Grandma, would you?"

"Who else?" he replied as if it was obvious.

The idea that he was sharing breakfast with Grandma at his place was jarring. It still didn't make sense and she was beginning to think she was missing something fundamental.

"Pan? You still there? Let's talk later. I don't have a lot of free time at the moment."

"Oh, right. Sorry for interrupting."

"We don't usually call each other though—you must have had something urgent to talk about."

"No, it was nothing like that. I'll just call you later then."

They hung up soon after, but it left her with far more questions than answers. She cut into her pancakes, but before she could place the food into her mouth a crazy thought stilled her hands. What if Auden liked Grandma? The fact that she was actually at his place for this long was so ludicrous that her mind hadn't even begun to acknowledge the implications. She hadn't even been able to stay at his place for more than a few hours before his nerves got the better of him. What in the world could be happening now? None of it was adding up. The more she thought of it, the more disgusted she became. She once again started on her food.

Was Grandma forcing herself onto him? She couldn't imagine it being the other way around. Did they both mutually…? It was disturbing on multiple levels. She couldn't imagine Grandma with anyone other than Grandpa and she definitely wasn't into dating. Did she even know what dating was? But more than that, Auden could not have spent more than a few moments with her at her parents' place and he'd been roped into doing the dishes. How could it go from that to her spending now over a couple days at his place? Even more insidious was the thought that Auden had dumped her for her own Grandma. As patient as she was with him, suddenly he's taken interest in someone entirely different and Grandma was not known for her patience—she was loud and obnoxious at the best of times. Auden couldn't possibly get along with such a personality or even remotely be attracted to it.

A more rational side of her noted that they were around the same age. They both experienced parenthood. Come to think of it, they liked keeping things nauseatingly clean—Pan had certainly noticed how orderly Auden liked to keep things. Grandma could only dream of keeping the house in that condition—she often became fussy when people didn't put things back and she was forever cleaning some part of the house. They both liked cooking—Auden probably couldn't hold a candle to Grandma but as a single parent, it's likely that he made food on a daily basis. Before she could think of any other similarities, she took a long swig from her tall cup of cranberry juice.

They were incompatible. End of story. It was ridiculous to be even entertaining the idea that nothing was wrong with this picture. Hadn't Grandma gotten into a fight with Dad and that's why she had taken off in the first place? That's what her Dad had implied. Clearly Auden had felt sorry for her and was forced to let her stay when she refused to go back home. What if Auden was suffering right now in silence? Maybe that's why he'd been so upset when she called. She could imagine Grandma taking advantage of Auden with her demanding nature. How could she have been so blind? She needed to do something quickly. Who knew how much of Grandma he could withstand? He'd be going to work today as usual, so she had some time to go and rectify the situation. She'd try to leave a little early today and then make a beeline to Auden's place. She simply couldn't let this continue!

If only she'd kept in contact with him. Maybe he'd feel comfortable enough to divulge about what was really bothering him. Guilt began to settle in as she quickly finished off her breakfast. What if Auden had actually wanted to be more than just friends with her, but he'd been too shy to say it because she was being too needy or pushy? Had she been misreading the signs again? Honestly, she couldn't be sure. The only way she'd have clarity would be rehashing the same conversation she'd already had with him. Each of those times had been on the phone. It might be better to see him in person. She was better at reading people when she could see their expressions. Though Auden was difficult to read on the best of days, she still had to try or else be plagued with these concerning questions.

All of this was likely just a misunderstanding that she wasn't fully aware of yet. Grandma was just mad, and all she had to do was talk it out with Dad and everything would go back to normal—at least normal for that part of her life. Since Malachi's passing, nothing felt "normal" anymore and each day was a struggle convincing herself each day that she should keep pushing forward with life rather than giving up altogether. Bra had made it somewhat easier. It was hard not to cling desperately onto her affection. Pan was sure that Bra was doing the same.

She was already missing Bra's presence. Working with animals had been something she enjoyed doing and gave up a good portion of her day to do so, but these days, the world was gray. Apparently, only Bra could bring color back to it. Having a nice, filling breakfast was also helpful emotionally. She'd made the mistake of missing out on it and she'd barely made it through the day finding it increasingly difficult to stop herself from curling up into a ball in a dark corner.

With a sigh, she paid her bill and drove off to another long day of pet care.

---

Lunch break couldn't come soon enough. She had two simultaneous emergency operations to deal with right before that and it set her break back an hour. While it wasn't anything that was out of the norm, it had certainly set the tone for the day. Her personal life was put to the backburner as she placed her full concentration on work. Then it all came tumbling back as she finally had some free time. She hadn't bothered bringing something from home, so she'd have to decide which food place to order from. An idea came to her as she strolled out of the front entrance of the clinic. What if she could join Auden for lunch like they'd done before? She looked at her watch and realized that he would likely be on his way to that now. Or maybe he was late as well, one could never tell. They'd often coordinate these things beforehand. He didn't like deviating from his set schedule either, so it was risky calling him for something spur of the moment. She did it anyway.

"Hello?" he asked after the fifth ring. She must have caught him at a bad time.

"Hey," she said with a smile in her voice. "I was just wondering if you wanted to do lunch together."

"It's been a while since we've done that, huh?" he said thoughtfully.

"Yeah—

"Unfortunately, I've already lunch."

"Wait, you went earlier today? Must not have been a busy day for you."

"I'm not at work. I had a couple of appointments scheduled today. I'm on my way to the last one at the moment."

"Oh…Well, maybe tomorrow?"

"Hm, probably not. Maybe some time in the future though."

"You know, Auden, it almost seems like you're actively trying to avoid me."

"It's just not a good time. With present company, it might be a bit awkward," he finally admitted.

"You mean with Grandma? I know her better than you and we've had lunch together plenty of times. Is she with you right now?"

"No—

"Alright, then this is the perfect time to ask—has she been harassing you? I know she can be a bit much and I don't want you to feel like you have to do everything she says, okay?"

"It's not like that," he said with some confusion, "If you want to talk to her, she's at my place. I think. Well, she could have gotten bored and decided to attempt walking somewhere—but she's fine. Also, I'm fine. I hope that answers your concerns."

"I'm being serious here," Pan continued. "I know it's not in your nature to bother or upset people and I know how she can be sometimes. If you need me to take her off your hands, just let me know. I completely understand."

"Pan, I'm not sure what you're getting at. I think you might be under the wrong impression. It's not like this is some kind of hostage situation."

"But…I know you don't like having strangers at your place."

"Usually," he said with a sigh.

"So that's why I'm worried."

"There's nothing to be worried about. I promise you. This has to be the third time you've called asking if I'm alright. I'm wonderful. Everything is perfect. No one is coercing me to do anything."

"Perfect?" Pan asked hearing the word leap out at her. "I guess I just don't understand."

She was waiting for him to explain further as he paused before responding.

"How would you like it if I began to agonize over every single relationship you had in your life and demand details over the phone?"

"Auden—it's different and you know it."

"Oh? Is it because you're less susceptible to being hurt in a relationship?"

Pan sighed exasperatedly at this. Now suddenly he was deciding to be less than forthcoming about things.

"Are you going to answer that question or just keep breathing into my ear?"

"You know the answer."

"Though I hate bringing up old news, let's not pretend that you didn't break down in tears over me clarifying what I thought was obvious about our relationship. You wanted more from me than what I was willing to give. We were on two different pages. And yet, I haven't felt the need to hassle you about how you're spending your time or with who."

Even bringing up that embarrassing episode was making her tear up a little in shame. She'd been so stupid and allowed her emotions to take over. It was so naïve! Admittedly, it didn't make her quite the authority on relationships that she sometimes saw herself as. "That wasn't my best moment."

"I'm still sorry about that. I only bring it up to let you know that despite that, I would respect any decision you make in your life. I know you're very capable of making good decisions without having someone analyzing them to death. I was hoping you could afford me that same respect."

"Alright," she said after a moment. "I hear you loud and clear. You want me to butt out of your business. I just want to let you know that I'm always here for you. You can tell me anything and I won't judge."

"I know. I haven't forgotten that."

"Well, then, I guess we'll just have to catch up later."

"I'm sure we will at some point."

It was extremely vague, but that was all she could get him to commit to. They were still friends at the very least. It was odd though. Being just friends with him without the possibility of taking things further somehow made her interest lessen. If she was being honest with herself, that was the entire reason why she'd even gone down that road with him in the first place. She had been lonely and desperate. She wondered if she would have given him the time of day had that not been the case.

Her phone started vibrating again. She picked it up quickly when she saw it was Bra. "Hey, girl."

"So? Are you free for lunch now?"

"You caught me at the perfect time."

"Then get over here already! We'll go to that bar down the street."

"You know I can't drink on the job."

"I would never dream of having you do that—you know the bar sells more than just alcohol right? I love their wings. I've been craving that since this morning, but I was too lazy to leave the house."

"I'll come rescue you then."

They hung up soon after with something to look forward to. She hadn't even decided on what place to go, but Bra was always decisive when it came to what to eat. Must be nice always craving something specific each day. Pan's palate wasn't quite so convenient or forthcoming. She couldn't think of anything she hated eating.

It didn't take long for her to join up with Bra and eventually arrive at the beforementioned bar. By the time they'd gotten there, Pan was hungry enough to want to order the entire menu. If it weren't for the time constraints, she might have ended up doing it. Pan ordered three orders of the dozen chicken wings. On first bite, she was absolutely in heaven. This was perfect. Why hadn't she heard of this place before?

"See?" Bra said observing her on the other side of the table, "The best wings."

Bra also had a pint of draft beer as well that she was currently "sipping" from or more like chugging. Pan had to suffice with a glass of Root Beer.

"You always know where to go."

"Well, that's the benefit of going to every single eatery in existence in this city."

"You should be a food critic. Make a blog or something about West City."

"Oh, please. Tons of people already do it and I wouldn't have the patience."

"But coming from you, someone who's already somewhat famous, it might be different."

"Hmm," Bra said thoughtfully, "I guess."

Pan continued her steady consumption of the first plate of wings basking in the tender and juicy meat slathered in a flavorful barbeque sauce. She could tell the wings were grilled rather than baked or deep fried. It took her a moment to notice a subtle shift in mood from Bra. Pan was ever weary about Bra's generally good mood as of late. There was still a lot of pain under the surface and she was likely distracting herself from wallowing in it. Anytime she wanted to talk, Pan always made time for her. Usually, it would happen in the dead of night after all was quiet and she was left to her own thoughts. Pan wondered how Bra had fared on her own that morning. Had it been excruciating? Had she been too flippant about needing to go to work despite Bra all but begging her to stay?

Bra had finished her beer and was looking across the room at the other patrons having quiet conversations amongst themselves. She'd barely tasted her food. It was obvious that something was weighing on her mind. Pan waited patiently for her to finally speak on it. After halfway finishing the second order of chicken wings, Bra broke the silence.

"Hey, so what are you doing after work?"

"Coming back to check on you. I kind of unofficially live there at this point, right?"

"Pretty much. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any plans. What do you think about going back home—well, back to my home…"

"With Machi and Jr.?" Pan asked instinctively sensing where this was going.

"Yeah. Back to my children. I've been putting off dealing with them, but now I really miss them, and I know I'm being a terrible parent right now."

"I think you did the right thing distancing yourself like you did. You were in no condition to take care of them and you probably would have done a lot more harm than good if you'd forced things. I mean, not a lot of people have the luxury of taking a vacation from their kids, but you do, and I think that was for the best."

"You can't really think that. You don't have to sugarcoat everything with me. I'm not that fragile. At least…not right now."

"I'm being one hundred percent honest with you, Bra. I think you did right."

"And do you think it's a good idea to go back now?"

"Only you can know that. I think you're doing a lot better than before. You're more like yourself."

"That's the problem though. I don't want to be like myself. I want to be better than that. Myself really wouldn't have time messing around with kids, but I know I can't just avoid them."

"I think you're different now, but the only way we can figure out how much so, is by actually seeing how you do with the kids."

"Yeah, I thought that too. That's why I have to do this. I want you to be with me."

"Of course. It's a bit spur of the moment though. Have you let anyone know that you're coming?"

Bra shook her head no sheepishly.

"Bra!"

"I know! I just keep losing my nerves whenever I pick up the phone to call."

"I'm sure they'll understand. They're waiting for you I'm sure."

"I know that too, but I still feel really guilty. I just run away and then on some day that's convenient, I just declare that I'm ready to pick up my responsibilities again like everything's okay."

"I have a feeling that you're punishing yourself more than anyone else. Your parents are the least judgmental people I've ever met. They'll accept you—and it's not like they ever denounced you in the first place."

Bra sighed at this.

"How about this? I'll call them and let them know that you want to come home."

"No, I'll do it. It's the least I can do. I just have to build up the nerves."

Pan looked at her for a moment and saw that she was determined. "Alright then," she said returning to her food. "I'll leave it to you."

From her peripherals she could already see a smile returning to her face and that set her at ease. After a moment, Bra too began on her food again. It was probably getting cold anyway. Bra cleaned off her plate well before Pan and the waiter took her dishware away. Then without any provocation, she climbed out of her seat and plopped down next to her.

"You should have ordered more if you wanted more," Pan declared, sliding her plate away from her and scooting over a little.

Bra giggled. "That's not why I sat here."

Pan looked at her questioningly. Bra advanced on her and Pan quickly understood what she wanted to do. Pan's lips, still sticky from the barbeque were being cleaned off by Bra. She was so surprised, that she scarcely knew how to react.

"Ummm, it tastes better on chicken though," Bra said playfully as she paused.

Since she was being so irresistible at the moment and so very close, for a brief moment, Pan forgot about her food and decided to sate her other appetite which she hadn't paid much attention to that day until now. Pan engaged her a bit more forcefully this time much to Bra's delight as she was able to let out a laugh when Pan pulled her closer and soon they were simply making out in the booth. Bra was so close now that she was able to place her leg over Pan's. Bra pulled back a little so that she could breathe, but then she was reinvigorated again. They continued like this for some time exploring each other's lips and mouth—cleaning off all the food debris eventually. Pan hadn't even noticed when her food was taken away and she was only mildly annoyed by the time she actually looked.

Pan pulled back for the last time. "I gotta' go."

"You always gotta' go. Why do you have to keep working? I'll take care of you." Bra had leaned in on the last sentence and spoke quietly into her ear. Her chin rested on her shoulder and Pan wrapped an arm gently around her.

"Sorry," Pan said after a while equally as quietly.

Pan didn't think she'd ever be comfortable letting someone else take care of her and even now, she still had a few reservations about their relationship.

"Hmph," Bra said lightly with a hint of despondency.

Pan moved a little to let Bra know that she was being serious and finally they both proceeded to climbing out the booth. It took Pan a moment to notice how quiet the room had become and that various lusty eyes were turning away to pretend to be focusing on other things. They were drawing far too much attention. Almost at the snap of a finger, the air became filled with quiet conversation. Bra had a bold smile on her face and the guy who had briefly been their waiter was confident enough to wink and grin at them. Pan gave him a quick wave though her face was turning red with embarrassment. Of course, Bra was always the instigator of PDA and Pan almost always followed along. She was glad to be out of the now tense atmosphere.

"You love embarrassing me in public," Pan said as they walked the short distance to her car.

"Oh, shut-up, like you don't secretly love the attention."

"I don't!"

"Um-hm, sure."

Pan couldn't convince her otherwise and, truthfully, it wasn't really a hill she was willing to die on. Besides, there might be a grain of truth hidden in there. Bra almost always brought out sides to her that she would much rather keep subdued. Pan had grown up in a very conservative family and manners had been drilled into her on a daily basis. It had long since infused with her own personality. It was nice sometimes to step outside that façade. For a brief moment, it felt freeing.

Lunch had ended too soon, and she was diving headlong back into work. The rest of the day went smoother than the first, but this was mainly because of the good mood she was in since making out with Bra. She had several difficult patients that day and she had to deal with a few annoyingly negligent owners. And yet, by the end of the day, a smile could still easily appear on her face. The real hard part of the day would be taking Bra back home. Before that—because she was sure Bra was dreading the moment she came home to take her—she wanted to check on Auden.

She'd called Auden a few times that day already and he'd been closemouthed about whatever was happening with him. Being the good friend she was, she couldn't just let that slide. She would pay him a visit in person—and it would be a surprise visit. Generally, she didn't like surprising people like that, but this felt like a dire situation and she wanted to set everything straight as soon as possible. The thought of Auden unnecessarily suffering because of her own grandmother was almost too much to bear. They were both nice people, but Grandma had a penchant for doing whatever she pleased, and Auden was extremely nonconfrontational. It was a recipe for disaster. Anyone could deduce what was happening.

It was a bit of drive to get to Auden's place. He was practically on the other side of town and close to his workplace. She parked quickly as her anticipation grew. After climbing up a flight of stairs, she was soon standing in front of his door. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to knock. Right before her knuckles hit the door, she stopped herself. What if the door was already unlocked? That would indicate immediately if something was wrong. She discretely turned the metal knob and heard a tiny clink—it was locked.

"Fine," she said under her breath and finally knocked.

She waited a little expecting Auden. When the door creaked open a little, she was presented with Grandma instead.

"Pan?" her grandma said opening the door a little wider. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Pan said with surprise. "You're answering his door now?"

"Well, he's not here, honey. He's a little late, in fact, but you know how those doctor's appointments go—they always keep you waiting. Since you're here, why don't you come in?"

"Sure, but I won't be staying long. I just wanted to check up on things."

Grandma laughed at this as she turned. "How nice of you. I'd be concerned too if I were in your shoes. That man takes a million and one pills and he's always here alone—a recipe for disaster if you ask me. Although, I think he's managed quite well."

"Level with me, Grandma," Pan said closing the door behind her, "What's the real reason you're here? Is it something between you and Dad?"

"Oh, give it a rest, child. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I'm fine and I can protect myself if need be."

"That didn't remotely answer my question."

"Well, that's my answer, honey," she said wearily as she sat down on the nearby couch.

The place was still immaculate, and nothing was out of place, but something was different. There was a bit more color perhaps. His living room which they were occupying right now, looked less like a museum and more like a place someone might use. Was there a new lamp in here that hadn't been there before?

"Any other burning questions for me?" her grandma asked.

Pan frowned at her. She was doing it too then as if this arrangement was all a big secret. "I just want to make sure you're not taking advantage."

"Is that right," she answered amused. "Do you really think I'd do that? I know your dad is very concerned about my whereabouts, but at this point it's none of his business how I choose to spend my time. Did he send you out again so you can go and report back to him?"

"It's not like that."

"Then how is it like?"

Pan shook her head in irritation. "Listen, I know Auden pretty well. He doesn't just let people stay here. He barely wanted to invite me over and when I was forced to barge in because he was nonresponsive—he had one of those panic attacks—

"I've heard about Auden and his issues from Bulma. You don't have to give me a play by play. Everyone's told me to be careful, that he's delicate, that anything could set him off, but I really haven't seen that since I've been here. And I was completely ready to tread lightly. I think he's improved, and I think I've been able to help him do that."

"Those are some bold claims," Pan said unconsciously folding her arms defensively. "How exactly have you 'helped' him?"

Her grandma wore an amused expression. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a little jealous."

Pan looked at her shocked. "I'm not. You don't know him like I do. I'm glad nothing terrible has happened so far, but there's always chance things could go downhill rapidly."

"There's a chance for everybody, isn't there?" her grandma said back quizzically. "All we need is one bad day to have everything unravel. Do you know how many people I have to 'tread lightly' around so I don't hurt their feelings or egos? Yes, your dad is one of those people. And Goku lost his mind a long time ago. He won't even come back to visit me and it's difficult for me to say that he doesn't care, it's just that he hasn't decided to do it. That's insane. And when he turns into that yellow haired delinquent, I don't really know him anymore. Auden is far more sane than that with normal human issues that can be worked on, but more than that, he's willing to admit that he does have issues and actively works on them. What about you, Pan? Are you ever going to ask yourself why you thought it was a good idea to check up on a friend you haven't spoken to in some time? Or are you just going to tell yourself that you're doing this to 'help' someone?"

"Grandma…I had no idea you felt that way…" Pan found herself at a loss of words. In fact, it was a lot to take in all at once. "I'm sorry."

"Honey, you have nothing to be sorry about."

"No," Pan began slowly. "If I'm being honest with myself, I came here because I thought it was crazy that you weren't at home anymore. You're always there and I couldn't imagine it being any different. I thought something was going on. I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around the fact that Auden would be fine with you being here. I still don't really know why that's the case, but from all the evidence I've gathered, that's just how it is."

"I don't know, Pan, maybe something is going on, maybe it's not. I'm comfortable here for the time being. I don't know when I'm coming back home. I don't know if I want to."

"Can I ask you why?" Pan asked suddenly shy. She knew she might be asking a question that was too personal.

"I told you. I feel more comfortable here."

Pan looked at her, opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She wasn't sure how to structure her next question.

"You want to know more, right?" Grandma said with a knowing look.

"Are you guys…" Pan could hardly get the question out. "…dating?"

Grandma looked at her with creased eyebrows. "You kids—always trying to put a label on things. I don't think I'd call it that, but I guess… 'technically'."

"But he's nothing like Grandpa," Pan blurted out, "And he's ace, he has a normal job, he's super into technology—

"I noticed," Grandma said with a laugh. "They're not the worst traits I've ever heard."

Grandma seemed to be fine with those things she'd listed. What exactly did that mean? Pan didn't think it was her place to grill her on what exactly about Auden she liked or how this somehow made staying here more 'comfortable', but that didn't mean that she didn't desperately want to know. Perhaps seeing them interact together would have answered those questions, but she didn't have time to wait for Auden's arrival considering her plans with Bra.

"Alright, Grandma, I have to go. I'm a little late to something."

"Alright, then, honey. Don't be a stranger."

"Oh, I won't. I have to keep an eye out on you kids."

Grandma laughed at this genuinely entertained by the notion. She left soon after. Pan hadn't told anyone what she and Bra had been doing for the past few days. It would have been a little embarrassing and perhaps she was the pot calling the kettle black. Viewing it in that light, Auden might have been embarrassed as well or just didn't have a convenient label to put on the situation and that's why they weren't exactly being forthcoming with information. If her conversation with her grandmother was any indication, it was just complicated. Pan supposed she could say the same about herself. It was too soon to define things. All of this could just be some sort of coping mechanism with Malachi's loss. Their relationship was definitely helping with the pain of loss that was always just under the surface. At any time, those emotions could boil over and she could just be crying at the most random times. She could simply have the wrong thoughts or see the wrong things. Pan had successfully kept her emotions in check for the most part, but it was an uphill battle. She wondered if taking Bra back to the Briefs household would trigger anything.

Bra was solemn as she climbed into the car. She hadn't taken anything with her, so it didn't quite feel like she was moving from one place to the other.

"Did you let them know?" Pan asked.

"Yes," she said simply as she stared out the car window.

"I bet they were really excited."

"They were. I told them not to do anything drastic. They can get carried away sometimes."

"So I've heard. They'd have some huge homecoming party for you all planned out in a few seconds."

"Yeah," Bra said with a grin. "Overkill. I'm sure Bunny couldn't help but make something a little special."

"I'm sure Machi and Jr. can't wait to see you again."

"Yeah…if they even remember me," she said quietly.

"You can always make new memories."

"That's true."

Pan left it at that waiting for Bra to say something more. When she was quiet, Pan deduced that she probably wasn't in a talkative mood. She could feel an anxious energy coming from her as she tapped her feet at irregular intervals or tapped her fingers on the armrest. It was completely understandable. Even if she really wanted to go back home, it still made sense. She just didn't know what to expect and as far as Pan knew, she wasn't the most attentive mother. She'd told her before in what feels like a lifetime ago even before she'd met Malachi that she'd make a horrible mother and that she'd never consider having kids unless she knew she had someone she could throw all the responsibilities on. That person had been Malachi and he was no longer here to shoulder the responsibility. What was more depressing was that, by all accounts, he'd been quite enthusiastic about the prospects.

But this was all just temporary, right? Soon all would be right in the world once the planet was located. Then this could all just be a distant memory. They'd give Malachi a piece of their minds for not taking better care of himself. Bra would stop being so reckless and Pan could go back to secretly pining over him—well, perhaps she couldn't do that last part since she'd stupidly admitted to it. Everything had been so in the moment, and it was difficult to do things according to what might happen in the future.

Even if he came back though, it wouldn't be easy. He couldn't do the same thing he'd been doing. The whole world knew he was dead. Unless they were willing to make another wish in which everyone forgot about that, he would have to be someone else. Malachi had a secret addiction to prescription pain relievers and sedatives. They would have to actually deal with that or be doomed to repeat the same incident. It could be that other conditions led to him seeking other forms of 'help' because he felt desperate enough, but this was all just speculation. Another concern she'd had recently, though she'd never voice it was that they didn't actually know what he would look like upon return. They really only had one childhood image of him before he'd been adopted by Quint and it was a low quality picture in a black and white local newspaper mentioning that he'd won a talent show—he looked vastly different there, completely different. It became clear in Pan's mind that his appearance must have been altered significantly since that time. Quint would certainly be the type to do such a thing—after all, he groomed Malachi from his mangy beginnings into a star that no one would ever associate with poverty and abandonment. Though Malachi might have hinted at that, he wasn't exactly candid about the extent. They'd fallen for the Malachi with the fair skin, deep dark eyes, and pin-straight hair. What if when he was revived, he turned out to be something other than expected? How did regeneration even work? Were you restored to the last known previous version of yourself or was it based on one's DNA rather than appearance?

There were simply too many question marks around Malachi and she and Bra had long since come up with a list of questions they'd ask him to put an end to all the mystery. After all, if they were successful in bringing him back, wouldn't he be in their debt and more willing to answer questions? At the very least, they hoped he'd be grateful. But there was always a chance that he wouldn't be. There was always a chance that he truly was suicidal and bringing him back would be a nuisance and waste of time.

No, she had to believe everything would be alright with just a single wish. A long-lasting happiness would ensue. She had to believe that or else struggling through each grim and dreary day would become impossible. Her thoughts paused as she felt her tear ducts beginning to fill. Now was not the time. As she usually did, she thrust her despairing thoughts aside and focused on the here and now.

Pan had no idea where to park the car as usual, but luckily Bra had been there to direct her to the garage closest to the main house. The residence seemed like a small city. There was no way they used every square inch of the place. She remembered as a child when she used to visit more often that Bra would claim that they hired maids every so often to clean out the unused areas and that lawn care people came on a regular basis.

A few minutes later, they were at the front door and Bra had a key. She didn't even hesitate to use it as Pan thought she would. They simply strolled through the luxurious foyer tastefully decorated in blue and white as she remembered and moved to where they heard voices in the family room nearby on their left. An arched entryway led them into quite an expansive room with very comfortable sofas and couches with a ridiculously large flat screen currently turned off, centered on the back wall.

It was late in the evening now and they all seemed to be there. Pan noted the grandparents, Trunks and his now wife Terri, Bulma, and even Vegeta who was not hiding out in a corner as he usually did. Then again, it had been a while since Pan had talked to him properly. The Son and Brief family lived such separate lives that it was difficult to keep up with what they were doing and how they were. Pan and Bra received an almost simultaneous greeting from them as soon as they walked in as if it had been some kind of surprise party. Pan immediately noticed that Jensen was missing as well as Machi and Jr. Bra had a very good-looking family and soon she was getting hugged by everyone. Bra went to the grandparents first probably as a courtesy and Bulma approached her at this time with a very welcoming smile on her face. Her mother only wished to exude this much friendliness. Pan recalled times as a child that it had been easier to tell Bulma things and then have Bulma explain things to her mother.

"I'm glad you're here," Bulma said when she was within earshot. She gave her a quick hug. "I know you had a huge part in her deciding to come back."

"Oh, no," Pan said not wanting to steal Bra's shine, "This was her decision."

"Say what you will," she said with a grin, "But I know Bra—making big decisions like these isn't really her style."

Pan noticed Bra move from the grandparents to Vegeta who openly embraced her, an act that caught her off guard. He wasn't quite as aloof as she remembered, and she wondered how far that went. Could she theoretically approach Vegeta and get a hug too? Maybe it wasn't the best time to push her luck. The one he gave Bra seemed to last for some time—he was saying something to her. Pan's hearing picked up on his low, rumbling voice: "I've missed you," Vegeta said in a tone that Pan registered as very sincere. "Yeah, I know," Bra said in equally quiet tones. This conversation seeming too intimate, she turned her attention back to Bulma and now Trunks and Terri who had approached. Pan congratulated them on their marriage. They're wedding must have been a quiet affair which was strange. Pan couldn't believe that Bulma wouldn't have gone all out. She'd have to ask about that later. Terri was practically sparkling. The bright lights overhead enhanced her red hair's natural sheen and she wore a short kimono dress that revealed shapely legs. Wasn't she a prolific author as well? She was beautiful and brilliant. Small wonder why Trunks would be attracted to such a person.

"Alright, everyone, dinner is about to be served!" Bunny announced as she walked towards the kitchen. Clearly, she'd been waiting on something to finish up or she just decided to keep everyone waiting until now.

Pan could already smell where the food was coming from. She could never tell who cooked better, her grandmother or Bra's grandmother. At the moment, it was Bunny, considering the feast she was going to be putting out on the dining table. There were four Saiyans to contend with—it would have been pretty difficult to gauge just how much they could put down.

A decent sized dining room table seated them all comfortably. Pan sat next to Bra and then beside her Bulma. On the other side was Vegeta, Dr. Brief, Bunny, Trunks and Terri. Bunny was already busy setting the food out and Pan was presented with an astonishing spread of food. She couldn't imagine eating so well, so late. Now that it was in front of her, though, she wasn't really complaining. She'd pictured things going a bit differently, but she supposed this was fine as well.

Pan noted that the atmosphere was a bit subdued and it seemed as if they were all holding their breaths for something. People made their plates at their leisure. There was no formal order to anything. And though she was used to seeing at least Vegeta and Trunks easily demolishing plates, for some reason, they were being far more conscientious. Well, perhaps, it made more sense for Trunks as he generally displayed restraint on special occasions. Seeing this, she decided to do the same—not that she was in the habit of stuffing her face silly, but when no one was looking…

It was a very civilized table—her grandma would hardly believe her if she told her. She'd always gotten the impression from her own mom that the Briefs weren't exactly known for their manners and on many occasions, Pan had seen evidence of that.

"So, Dad, I heard you were working for Tien," Bra said breaking the quietness of the meal.

"I'm working with Tien—not for," he clarified. Pan could hear Bulma snorting at this beside her.

"Right," Bra said teasingly. It was likely only Bra could get away with that tone without things quickly turning sour. "So how has that been?"

His food was forgotten for a while as he genuinely gave her question some thought. "It's been enlightening. His training style is far different from mine—there's more emphasis on technique rather than the brutality. It's more humane and allows people who otherwise would have been intimidated to learn something worthwhile."

"You mean beating the shit out of people isn't the best way to train?" Trunks said with humor so subtle that Pan wasn't entirely sure it was there. Terri shoved him in the ribs.

"Well, you could handle it more than most, couldn't you? Besides, I was far more restrained with you than my father ever was with me," Vegeta said looking squarely at Trunks who eventually looked away.

Pan could only imagine what Vegeta meant by that. She had no inkling of what Saiyan culture was like back on their planet or if there were any added layers when it came to royalty, but the way Vegeta was described as being back then, it was likely far more harsh than what was healthy. It would have been an interesting conversation to have with Vegeta—to learn something about her heritage, but she never knew him well enough for that and it never seemed like the right time. Especially not now.

"Tien has his own staff who keeps the dojo running, but he's the only trainer there," Vegeta continued. "It's apparently difficult to find decently knowledgeable martial artists in that area. I don't exactly have any official ranks, but he knows me."

"Maybe I might go check it out," Pan said before she could stop herself. It's not like she needed more training…but being trained by Vegeta seemed like a gold standard. She'd missed out on her grandfather and her father couldn't be bothered anymore.

"You'd fit in—you should drag Bra along as well."

Pan found her cheeks becoming a little rosy not expecting his response. She glanced over at Bra who shook her head and rolled her eyes. Yeah, the idea of Bra fighting did seem a bit farfetched.

"So you've gotten so bored that you've stooped down to human standards of fighting," Trunks said. Again, Pan wasn't exactly sure if this was sarcasm or not.

Vegeta observed Trunks silently which was a lot more chilling than just arguing back immediately. "Humans seem capable enough at using ki and there are many established fighting styles among them," he said turning back to Bra, "One would have to be braindead to not see any potential there."

"Somehow, I still feel sorry for those students if they have you as a teacher," Bra said, "But then Tien seems kind of scary too. You wouldn't catch me dead there and no one, not even Pan, can drag me there."

"We'll see about that…" Pan said teasing, though, in reality she had no plans of doing anything on that front. She was not in the habit of dragging friends off to torture sessions.

Bra turned to her brother who had almost finished off his first plate. "And how's CC—have you managed to burn it all to the ground yet?"

"It's in the works," he said casually.

Pan almost choked on the food she was chewing.

"I'm sure after I left, you guys were scrambling to find a decent replacement," Bra said with a grin.

"Replacement?" he said with a good-natured laugh, but he didn't expound on this.

"Is Auden still doing alright?" Pan asked since they were talking about Bra's time at CC.

It took Trunks a moment to register who she was even talking about. "Oh, Bra's boss?" he said after a while. "I haven't heard any bad news. The departments he oversees are probably the most smoothly ran ones in the company—I hardly have to step in for anything, no complaints. I usually just let them run themselves."

"Really, Trunks?" Bulma said speaking up. "No oversight?"

"Of course, not to that extreme," he said back. "But you know what I mean. Past the usual reporting, I'm pretty hands off. Why ruin such a good thing? Whatever he's doing over there—whatever culture they have going seems to create a good working environment. I have so many people wanting to transfer there; there's just no more space for people."

"Even so, it's always good to keep an eye on things."

"Don't worry, I'm not completely out of the loop."

Pan saw Bra looking over at her mother curiously. "Auden's been working there a long time, right Mom?" Bra asked.

Bulma nodded. "He's very loyal and a very good worker. But you have to keep an eye on him. He sees the world a little differently from us."

"What are you going on about?" Trunks said wearily. "I haven't seen any signs to be worried about."

"His worldview, I mean. I've gotten into arguments with him plenty of times about it. He's a socialist. He thinks capitalism as an institution should be completely dismantled and he's always trying to implement those ideals whenever you give him even a little bit of power in the company. I don't have to tell you how that could cut into our bottom line."

Trunks snorted at this. "You even know what socialism means or what version of it he's promoting?"

"I'm being serious. You have to keep an eye on him. We all know that socialism isn't a good thing to identify with," Bulma insisted.

"One man in a huge company who happens to be a socialist should pose no danger to us. I'm sure he knows this. I know it. You don't for some reason. Dismantling an established economic system requires that you convince everyone that they should be on your side, and somehow cut through all the bureaucracy and corruption. He has to operate in a capitalist society just like the rest of us and he definitely doesn't have the power to change that. Unless you think he's planning on starting some sort of uprising—and he definitely doesn't seem like the person to do that."

"You're way too trusting."

Trunks was already partaking in more food and took a moment to respond. "Someone who makes sure those under him are happy and creates a work environment that increases efficiency and builds strong relationships among them and is willing to cut into his own salary to do so, is not someone to worry about. In fact, it might be a good idea to incorporate that model into the rest of the company as much as possible. Bottom line, his ideas are working quite well. I've taken a hands-off approach just to see if that's really the case. He does what he can in the system that's already in place and there's been no evidence of foul play."

"So CC will be some sort of socialist project?" Bulma gawked.

"Let me tell you this—CC was not a pretty place when I first took your position," Trunks began. Pan glanced over at Bulma who looked as if she'd been caught red handed. "There was a culture there that incentivized those who rose above the rest by any means necessary. It was very cutthroat, and it took me years to even begin to change that. It took a lot of meetings, a lot of figuring out how things really ran below the surface, how people really felt about working at the company, and whether any of that was necessary. Amongst all of that was the Research, Development, and Maintenance division that was far less affected by the usual company culture. I figured out why that was the case after speaking with all the managers, supervisors and even the employees who they presided over. Making Auden the director and retiring the old one that used to be there was a no-brainer. I didn't give him a lot of rules to follow, in fact, I cut back on some of them and told him apart from that you can do as you see fit. I've done that with a few divisions now just to see how that would play out. Trust was in short supply and I decided that that was the best way to demonstrate it. Overall, the work environments have improved, but none more than RD&M division. So, Mom, you can say what you will about the labels that people choose to use—I, on the other hand, will look at the data and use what actually works."

Bulma was looking at him thoughtfully now. "I suppose if it's been working, then it does make sense to promote those sorts of ideas. It just makes me uneasy. I know he means well, but he's incredibly naïve. I also trust that you don't come to these decisions lightly. Dad and I ran the company a certain way and you're deciding that that needs to change. Who am I to stand in the way of progress?"

Trunks wore a frown as she was speaking, and it was very reminiscent of Vegeta. Seems they both could don intimidating masks with ease. Though Pan was almost finished with her first plate, she didn't think it was appropriate to grab for more food as they spoke so intently to one another. Was this how dinners were always like with the Briefs? It wasn't quite the relaxed affair that she'd thought initially.

"You wanted the company to be that way?" Trunks said sharply. "Not only were there illegal activities happening within the company, but outside of it too. In far too many instances, people's lives were in danger. I've had employees come to me begging me not to fire certain people due to death threats and extortions. I've had—" He paused as his mouth became hard. "—certain employees end their own lives due to the stress they couldn't contend with at work. I don't know what kind of 'environment' you like to see in the company, but I can't go along with that."

Bulma looked away when he said this. "I wasn't aware of all that happening, but competition is conducive with innovation. The company didn't get to where it is today by coddling people all the time."

"Competition is conducive to making sure that there will always be losers and therefore those who are punished for not making it despite putting forth their best efforts. Life is too short to be promoting that sort of thing in any way."

"Now you sound like Auden," Bulma said with pursed lips.

"If that's the case, then so be it."

"Children," Bunny spoke up brightly, "Let's not talk about boring business things at the table," she finished in a singsong voice. Something told Pan that this tone was actually more sinister than what she suspected because Bulma and Trunks both looked sheepish.

Finally, Pan felt bold enough to place a few more food items on her plate. Vegeta and Bra had already done so more than twice.

"Now, I heard that you and Pan are seeing each other," Bunny said speaking directly to Bra with her usual cheery tones. "What a beautiful development!"

Pan was immediately red-faced, but Bra seemed unfazed as a warm smile came to her face—it wasn't one that Pan saw very often. "Yeah, actually me and Pan are dating and have been for a while now."

Pan looked over at Bra when she placed a hand in hers and squeezed it. Was it really so official that they were now announcing this to the family? When had things become this serious? "Ah, y-yeah. For a while," Pan said caught off guard and not entirely sure what to say in the situation. She didn't want to just abandon her in front of everyone, but what about Malachi? Was that not a huge elephant in the room?

"Well, I'm glad you weren't in that house all by yourself this whole time," Bulma said to Bra.

Everyone else seemed equally unperturbed. She couldn't quite read Vegeta's expression, but she wasn't sensing any animosity. Terri and the grandparents were all smiles and Trunks was busy filling his plate up again as if nothing of concern had even occurred. Other topics were broached as Bulma asked Pan about how she was doing and how work at the clinic was going. Bunny politely asked Terri about any future projects she had in mind and things went along from there. At the very end of dinner, Machi and Jr. were finally brought up as if they'd been dancing around the topic all day.

They'd both been put to bed already—8pm being the latest Bunny allowed them to be up. She talked gleefully about their personalities and what they generally got up to in a normal day. Bra was all ears peppering her grandmother with a million questions. It was a good sign, and everyone knew it. There was a collective, but subtle sigh of relief from all of them. It was only after this exchange that Vegeta excused himself saying that he was tired. He didn't actually look tired. Pan suspected that he was simply retreating from all the socializing. He'd never seemed like someone who thrived in overly sociable settings. If it was true that he was some sort of prince, she wondered if he would have even fared well in such a highly political role.

"Can I go see them," Bra asked Bunny, drawing Pan out of her musings.

"Of course!" Bunny said happily.

Bra had already finished with her current plate and was eager to go upstairs to see the sleeping one and two-year-old. Bunny climbed out of her seat intending to lead the way though Pan suspected it was also to supervise. When Bra followed in suit, Pan began to do the same.

"No, no, it's alright—you don't have to follow. Finish your food," Bra said placing a hand on Pan's shoulder showing rare concern. Perhaps rare wasn't the right word anymore. Lately, Pan noticed that Bra was more observant and outwardly empathetic. Pan wasn't sure if this would a permanent fixture in her personality, but it was nice to see every now and again.

"Okay, then. I'll be down here," Pan replied not wanting to start a fuss.

Honestly, it wasn't a must that she had to see them that night. Pan knew that she'd be seeing them plenty in due time and it was quite likely that she would become instantly attached.

"Think I'll call it a night today," Bulma said after Bunny and Bra left, "It's been a long one."

"Yeah, I heard you've been working day and night on that radar trying to locate New Namek," Pan commented as she watched her push the chair back.

"Well, I'm actually done with that project. After Auden helped me with the program, there really wasn't much else left to do besides wait for the results. I have a few pet projects I've been working on though and I kind of got carried away. If it weren't for the late dinner today, I probably would have continued subsisting off of coffee," she said with a laugh.

"Wow, I had no idea we were that close to getting to the dragon balls," Pan said surprised.

"I haven't exactly been keeping people up to date," she admitted. "But yeah, I'd say a few more months and I think I'll have the coordinates for New Namek."

"All this trouble just because Dende doesn't want to help," Pan said shaking her head.

"Let's just say I've lost a lot of respect for him. But I suppose he's been different ever since those dragon balls were taken away. He blames us for that, you know."

"Maybe he's right to blame us," Pan said thoughtfully.

"He is. That doesn't mean I have to like it. But it's worse when he doesn't even want to admit it out loud. Anyway…" Bulma said climbing to her feet now.

"Oh wait, I wanted to ask you. Have you decided who's traveling to New Namek?"

"Not yet, but I have a very short list of people," she said with a grin.

"You know I love space travel," Pan said hoping she would get the hint.

"I know," she said with a wider grin. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"Alright, sweetie, good night. You can stay here if you like. My home is always open to the Sons."

Pan gave her thanks again before she made her way out of the dining room. Soon after, Dr. Briefs left as well after giving her another warm welcome to the residence and that he'd likely be in his lab if she had any questions. Now all that remained at the table were Trunks and Terri who sat across from her. Terri had long since finished, but Trunks seemed in the same boat as her and he didn't seem the least perturbed.

"It's a lot more peaceful without all the noisy, opinionated people, isn't it?" Trunks said aloud. He'd been looking at Terri who shook her head in embarrassment, but his eyes were soon on Pan as if trying to watch her reaction, pausing in his eating.

"Not the nicest thing to say about your family," Pan pointed out despite knowing that he was aware of that.

They'd known each other better in the past, but they had long since grown apart as he'd become more and more involved with the family business. In the beginning, she hadn't made it easy for him, forever bugging him about going out on another space traveling adventure and constantly showing up at headquarters just embarrass him, being the bratty little girl she was. One time, she'd actually made him angry and not in a friendly, forget-about-it-tomorrow sort of way. She'd egged him on until their little argument exploded into a physical altercation in which Pan had been gleeful about after throwing the first few punches. Then, she couldn't remember ever talking to him in any substantive way after that fateful event. She'd been too scared to contact him and he never attempted to do so. It probably hadn't been intentional—he was just busy. He always seemed to be busy and she didn't want to interject herself into his life again, so she simply left it at that. This was probably the most words he'd said to her in quite some time.

"Most people don't think I'm all that nice," he replied casually as if this was obvious.

Pan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't have to pretend anymore—it's just me and your wife here," she said glancing over at Terri who gave her a grateful look.

"After having to get rid of over half the employees at CC including tenured, long-standing ones as well as those in high positions and then having to restructure the entire company because everyone and everything seemed to be several decades behind, people don't like me very much and I'm reminded of that every time I step through the door. There's really no nice way to lay people off in mass or send people into early retirement."

"That sounds really stressful and judging from what your mom said today, she probably wasn't all that happy about that. I remember you differently. As annoying as I could be at times you were probably one of the most patient, nicest people I knew outside of my dad. We used to go on all those fun adventures…"

"It feels like that happened a lifetime ago," Trunks replied. "At the time, it just felt like another day—it's funny how time lapsing can make those things seem rosier than they really were."

"We like to call that nostalgia," Pan said with a chuckle, "I don't know if you've heard of that before."

"Yeah, well, it's not the most accurate way to evaluate a person and it would be equally silly of me to think you're the same person from back then."

"I'm sorry," Pan said, blurting out the phrase. She couldn't stop thinking about the last time they'd spoken at length all those years ago.

He looked at her confused. "About what exactly?"

"About that time we fought."

"We fought a lot of times."

Pan glanced over at Terri who hadn't said much since they started talking, but she was keenly interested in listening and didn't even begin to hide that fact. She had finished eating some time ago and watched curiously. "When you were at work, remember?" she said trying to jog his memory. "I kinda forgot what we were arguing about, but you got really angry—"

"This is perfect. I should really find more convenient excuses to visit," he said cutting across her explanation. He'd already continued partaking in the food on his plate, still taking the time to actually chew rather than just swallowing things down like a vacuum.

"Are you even listening?" Pan said with a frown

"I am. I think I know what you're talking about," he said as if it wasn't a big deal. "I also just want to let everyone here know that I'll be making my way through the rest of the food left on the table—I couldn't possibly let poor Bunny deal with so much leftover."

"Um, who do you think you're talking to? That was my plan from the very beginning," Pan said barely holding back a smile, "So you'll have me to contend with."

"I will not be goaded into some sort of eating competition with you," he said on a more serious note. "I'm not really in the mood for ramming food down my throat—I just want to enjoy everything. There's enough here for both of us."

"Well, to be honest, it's not really all that satisfying cramming things down," she admitted, secretly relieved that she didn't have to do that right now. Her competitive side often said things before her more rational side. "But Grandpa sure loved doing it. And your dad too. It must be a Saiyan thing."

"I wouldn't say it's a 'Saiyan' thing. I've never seen my father actually enjoy eating and it always looked like a very serious affair. Whenever Goku happened to be around, it would turn into a competition, but other than that, it seemed more of a grudging activity he was forced to deal with on a daily basis."

"How can you tell?"

"Oh, subtle and not so subtle tells. He'll skip meals if he's focused on something else and if he doesn't think anyone's watching, he'll take forever trying to clean off one plate. I think it's more that he doesn't like being hungry rather than actually liking to eat."

"So that's why he was able to leave so early after barely finishing a few plates. I thought that was strange."

"He was really trying to be on his best behavior today," Trunks said with a snort, "And I was testing to see how thin I could stretch his patience before it broke."

"I knew it," Terri said interjecting with a frown. "What was even the point?"

Trunks shrugged. "I was just curious. He really hasn't changed all that much, but he surprised me. As you can see, we all managed to get through a pleasant family dinner without any explosions going off."

"This was all supposed to be about Bra's homecoming, you know," Pan reminded Trunks. "That's why we were all on our best behavior today."

Trunks finished chewing what was in his mouth before he responded. He already looked annoyed. "We're always rolling out the red carpet for that girl. The only reason she's even in this situation is because she's been spoiled and coddled to death and she's used to the world revolving around her. And here we are continuing to indulge that. If she wants to take responsibility for her actions, it shouldn't involve some sort of celebration or reward. I was just here for the food."

"Really, Trunks? I didn't think you thought so lowly of your own sister."

"Pointing out her flaws doesn't mean I think 'lowly' of her. No one wants to say it out loud. I've told her that plenty of times before. She knows that she'll always get her way. She knows that she has everyone especially Dad wrapped around her finger, so it really doesn't matter what I say or think."

"I think she's changed," Pan said back.

Trunks didn't even dignify this with a response as he continued on the food clearly enjoying that more than the topic at hand. Pan supposed that there was also the added layer of nostalgia that was probably making everything taste even better. She got the impression that Trunks rarely bothered with visiting. She wondered just how much he disliked his own family and if somewhere along the way it had turned into hate.

"I hadn't been angry at you," Trunks said after a while. Pan looked at him confused. "That fight you were talking about—I wasn't angry at you. I just used that moment as an outlet. I'd been shadowing Mom for some time, learning the intricate details of her position. Even though she tried to paint a rosy picture of the job and everyone wore their forced smiles while she showed me around every square inch of the business, it was so transparent that even someone as inexperienced as me could see that all was not right. I'd studied a wide range of topics in school, one, because business was the driest and most narrowminded subject I'd ever taken, two, because I thought I needed to learn more than just business to actually make a difference, and three because I liked meeting all these interesting people from other majors. I learned about politics, philosophy, mathematics and innumerable sociology topics. Those things brought the world and the society that we lived in into focus. I'd been so sheltered living within the comfortable confines of Mom's wealth, that it was quite a bit to take in all at once. I knew Mom had been serious about me inheriting her prestigious position at CC and by the time it actually came time for me to begin learning her position, I wasn't even sure that I deserved her title over all the other people who had already worked at the company for decades. I saw a side to Mom that I hadn't known was there. The way she saw the world and consequentially, how she ran her company was insane. She had all this power, all this economic power, could set the tone for the world market, had reaches to almost every other city in the world, and pretty much controls policymakers worldwide. Yet she chose to wield that power like a sledgehammer rather than with careful consideration of all the people who would be affected.

"Disgust doesn't even begin to describe how I felt about that even in myself for thinking I could swoop in and save the day and being complicit in the nepotism that allowed me to step over people that may have been far more worthy. And I took all that on you that day. I was hoping you'd just see it as another playful spar but seeing as you're bringing it up again after all these years—I suppose you saw it differently. You never needed to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. We were just at different points in our lives. I thought it was a good thing that you decided to keep your distance. It was probably better that way. I'm sorry for making you feel like you had anything to do with how I reacted."

Pan took a moment to digest everything. "I had no idea all that was happening at the time. And here I was thinking it was because of me being bratty. Never once did I even begin to think it was anything else."

"It's only natural. I wasn't exactly forthcoming."

"Sure, but I guess it was something I needed to work on."

There was another pause in dialogue as Pan and Trunks further indulged their seemingly insatiable appetites. Terri could only look on in silent astonishment. Though Pan was sure Terri must have been used to this sort of thing, she supposed for humans it would always be jarring. Then again, Pan wouldn't be surprised if Trunks would dial down his habits around other humans in order to fit in a little better. She did it herself at her own job. With such a prestigious position and having so many eyes on him, perhaps it was better not to rock the boat.

"For the record so there's no misunderstanding," Trunks began after clearing off another plate. "I only want the best for my sister. Thinking outside of yourself is incredibly difficult to do, but it becomes impossible if you're surrounded by people that enable your worst habits."

"Are you critiquing me?" Pan asked with food on her fork.

"Depends. Are you enabling her?"

It was such a straightforward question that Pan was caught off guard. "I don't…think so."

Trunks looked at her with a grin—the first one she'd seen in a long time. "Then I'm not talking about you," he said in teasing tones.

Pan shook her head at this with a snort. It was likely the most tacit approval she was going to get from Trunks about her and Bra. "It's surprising how well everyone took the fact that me and Bra were seeing each other."

"Yeah, well, I lost a bet because of you."

"What was that?" Pan said in faux offensive tones.

Trunks could barely keep a straight face. "No, it's just more surprising that you think a family comprised of actual aliens and half aliens would be at all thrown off by a relationship between two close friends."

"You have a point," Pan said thoughtfully. "I just…imagine my family would not have been so nonchalant."

"I suppose it's not about who you are, but about how you were raised. I imagine your family must have so much more structure than ours—at least, that's how Goten described it. He always said he hated it, but it would be nice to at least pretend that there's order in this chaotic world."

"Goten definitely hated it. I remember he couldn't wait to leave the house when he was old enough."

"Yeah, I know. We both couldn't wait to leave the house when we were old enough. We lived together for a while until he got into a very serious relationship with Valese and things got a little weird."

She waited for him to expound on the "weird" part, but he left it at that. They were making good work of the remaining food on the table and there were now plenty of emptied serving dishes. Pan wondered if she should be joining Bra instead of conversing with Trunks, but she felt it would be rude just to leave and, to be honest, she was also gleefully enjoying the feast that she was eating at a relaxed pace.

"Your grandmother is so cute—it's like she's stopped aging altogether! I can't imagine ever having the energy to make all of this," Terri said interrupting the light clinking of utensils on plates. She'd also taken a little more into her plate likely out of boredom.

"That's one way to describe her," Trunks said with a sigh.

"Ugh, don't tell me you have a problem with her too?" Terri asked distressed.

He gave her a look that caused another reaction from her.

"Really?"

He took a long swig from the glass of water nearby. "I don't think you two want to sit around and listen to me bitch about my family all night."

Pan successfully stopped herself before expressing her curiosity though she had to comment. "I didn't realize there was so much tea to spill."

"No, I want to know what you don't like about that sweet lady," Terri said in argumentative tones, "She's been nothing but nice and courteous to me. There's not a mean bone in her body!"

"It's not that serious," Trunks said dismissively. "Hardly worth discussing."

Terri looked at him with perched lips. "So she's perfectly fine, right?"

"For someone who's married to the man who started the world conglomerate known as CC, she certainly doesn't have a lot of opinions about it. She seems forever trapped in her own little world, completely uninterested in anything without. Sometimes it's unbearable to observe. If you talk politics with her or business, she shuts down. In fact, she thinks it's 'boring' and she seemed more interested in bringing up the more mundane topic of Bra and Pan dating."

"That did come out of the clear blue," Pan said. "I wonder who she 'heard' it from that we were dating."

"She probably had no idea and decided to test the water and you two just fell right for it."

"Not everyone has to enjoy talking business," Terri said back. "It can get pretty boring."

"Sure. Everyone's entitled to their likes and dislikes. It still bothers me."

"Maybe she does have an opinion," Pan began, "And she just doesn't want to reveal them."

"We're all just speculating," Trunks pointed out. "All I can comment on is what I've experienced."

"That wasn't so bad," Terri said after a moment. "I thought you were going to tell me some deep dark secret about her."

"Oh, I'm sure there are some, but I'm not privy to them," Trunks said ominously with a grin.

She smacked his shoulder playfully. "Stop."

Pan suspected that there were definitely deep, dark secrets about his father that he knew about, but she didn't feel comfortable asking. Besides, he was getting weary talking about other family members. There was one question she'd been meaning to ask him…

"I'm a little miffed you didn't invite me to your wedding," Pan said, trying to get them to indulge her with the details.

"It wasn't a big deal," Terri admitted upfront. "We just decided on a small, private ceremony just to get it over with. It was way less hassle. Coordinating with my family who likes traveling all the time would have been a nightmare."

"But it's your wedding! A once in a lifetime experience—well, at least for the first time with the same person."

"Please, ceremony for the sake of ceremony is nothing more than fanfare. I was never keen on it, but if Terri wanted it, I would have went through with it," he said glancing over at Terri with a knowing look.

"Ugh! You two are impossible! Not a celebratory bone in your bodies."

"It wasn't a good time either," Terri said further.

Trunks expounded. "Let me just be blunt. No one was in the mood to celebrate anything after Malachi's passing. It's all been extremely dreary pretty much everywhere. His music gets played all the time and no one can stop bringing it up. I've only just visited here today, but no one's actually in a good mood. I can sense that. Back then, I didn't see the point of dragging people out to some strange human ritual that neither of us were excited about in the first place especially in that sort of environment."

Pan was saddened by the news. She felt the need to apologize, but what would she be apologizing for and who would she be helping in the process? "Well, we should be wishing him back soon so…"

"That won't fix very much," Trunks said. "I'm sure you already knew that though."

"It would fix some things though, right?"

Trunks shook his head. "I don't know, honestly. All this mourning has already taken its toll on everyone here. The idea that they can bounce back from that so easily is difficult to believe. I've never seen my father invest in someone's wellbeing as quickly as Malachi's—his sudden loss would have been more painful than he's letting on. Seeing my father work with Tien like he is now; I never thought I'd see the day. I wonder if my family can make it another few months like this."

"I didn't realize it was getting so bad."

"His death wasn't at the hands of the latest threat to Earth—it was a culmination of circumstances that can't be so easily swept under the rug. I can't imagine Malachi would be unchanged by all that. No one really knows if his death was accidental or intentional. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't just leave things as they are now instead of manipulating events in our own favor like we always do. Wasn't that the lesson we were supposed to learn from Omega Shenron? Isn't that what Dende is trying to teach us in his own way? We used the dragon balls frivolously, unable to accept the consequences of our actions. Earth and its people have been destroyed. We've failed many times. Why do we deserve do-overs and not all the other civilizations lost to time? Are we not all just delaying the inevitable?"

His words were beginning to open a deep, dark pit in the back of her mind. Would she even be alive now to discuss these matters were it not for the dragon balls? Why did she and everyone else deserve to live when so many others didn't? Were Earthlings so much better than Saiyans? Earthlings were capable of destruction just as much as Saiyans, but they simply lacked the means to do it at a much larger scale individually. Peaceful, wasn't quite the word she'd use to describe Earth. Why in the world had Earth received all these chances when, by and large, none of them had even asked for it or even had known that their planet was in danger in the first place? Ignorance was usually rewarded with dire consequences, but they'd saved their planet because this was their home. This was what they were used to, and they didn't want that to change. Maybe that was one of the reasons Vegeta was communicating with more humans despite his generally selfish tendencies—he wanted to spread more awareness to the populace.

"Sorry," Trunks said after a moment when she didn't respond immediately. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, no, I was just thinking. It puts things more into perspective. All this time, I've been just waiting for us to get on with making the wish, but for some reason, the waiting has been difficult, and I didn't understand why. I think it's, like you said, because it was different. It's not like it happened in the midst of battle. It was far more mundane. I don't know if any of us was prepared for that."

"Well, let's hope things will work out anyway," Trunks said on a lighter note, "That's what we like do around here anyway."

After all that, just hoping seemed like a stale solution to a very multi-faceted issue. Was there even a solution in the first place? When would things get back to normal? When would they all be happy again? Maybe that goal was unattainable. Maybe she'd have to change what she meant by being "happy" again. Perhaps satisfied would be something more practical. For now, there was food that still needed her attention. She filled her plate once again just like Trunks did a few moments before and dug in. They were almost finished, and it was getting late. Though their pace had been leisurely so far, they both seemed to notice the lateness of the hour and subtly increased their speed. It didn't take them too much longer to clear off the table. By then, even Pan had had her fill as she sat back in her chair.

"Well," Trunks said standing up, "It's been an interesting evening. By the way, Pan, if you ever need someone to talk to, you have my number."

"Um, y-yeah," Pan said realizing he must not have changed his number since she first added it to her phone years ago. "I'll do that."

"I'm being serious," Trunks said looking at her without a hint of teasing. "I know things haven't been easy for you and I'm not the best with keeping up with people. So, please don't hesitate. I was never upset with you."

"Alright," Pan said in the face of such earnestness. "Don't be a stranger yourself."

"I'll try," he said with a chuckle.

With this, they parted ways with Terri waving and giving the last goodbye before Pan was in the dining room by herself. Using her senses, she figured out that Bra and Bunny were still near each other possibly conversing. Dr. Brief was much further possibly in his lab and Bulma's energy was so relaxed that Pan assumed she was likely asleep. Vegeta was elsewhere in the main house. That piqued her interest a little, but it was probably better to make her way to Bra. The idea of randomly striking up a conversation with Bra's still intimidating father was enough to make her abort the entire notion. What would she say to him? What sort of awkward conversation would ensue? Maybe later. Maybe much, much later. Maybe never. It didn't really matter that much anyway.

By the time Pan climbed the steps, she could feel both Bra and Bunny moving away from each other. She hoped she hadn't missed anything important. Walking down the wide main hall, Pan ran into Bra. Immediately upon seeing her, Bra ran over and hugged her as if they'd been apart for ages.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked concerned while returning the embrace with similar fervor.

"I've missed you is all. And I was a little scared."

"Scared?"

"She was telling me all about them—what they liked to eat, what they like to do, their likes and dislikes, when they started walking—well, it's only Jr. even though he's younger. How playful and courteous Machi is. How quiet and observant Jr. is. It was so much to take in. I was quietly freaking out, but they were so cute to look at!"

"It's alright," Pan said in calming tones. "Just take one step at a time. No one's telling you to be perfect on your first try and we're all going to be here to help. I have no idea how to take care of children, but I'm willing to help in any way I can."

Bra continued told hold her quietly. "Thank you," she said barely above a whisper. "Please tell me you're staying the night with me."

"Oh—I—y-yes, I am."

"You better not leave me," Bra said releasing her and standing up straight.

"I'm not leaving you," Pan said definitively, "But I do still need to go to work."

Bra sighed exasperatedly. "It's always work with you. You must really love it."

"It's something that adults do," Pan said sardonically, "Can't help it."

Bra shrugged and then took up her hand. "C'mon, better make the best of the time I have with you."

Bra was already dragging her away and Pan didn't have the will to resist her. Truthfully, she really didn't want to. The idea of snuggling up with someone who cared about her and who she cared about didn't seem like a terrible way to spend the night.

They went into Bra's old room and for a time, they splayed out comfortably on top of her gargantuan bed. It certainly brought back memories of childhood. They'd spent long weekends here together along with Marron painting nails, playing video games, talking boys, and getting into trouble on the internet. Nostalgia truly was a strange, comforting feeling—bittersweet in many ways knowing that those times were gone and would never return. Now, was their reality.

"I didn't bring any change of clothes," Pan said.

"Just grab something out of the drawer over there," Bra said with a yawn.

With a grumble, Pan climbed out of the sinfully comfortable bed and pulled herself over to the drawers that seemed miles away. Not caring if present company saw her naked, she nonchalantly stripped off her clothes and grabbed the first things she placed her hands on. Pan ended up in mix-matched pajamas, but it didn't bother her in the least. Bra might have a heart attack though. It was probably too dark to see…

"Really, Pan?" Bra said immediately from across the room. Seems she still had sharp eyesight even in the dead of night.

"Oh, give me a break," Pan said wearily. She defiantly left her clothes exactly as they were and eventually jumped atop the bed again.

Pan crawled over to Bra with a mischievous look on her face. She looked so cute gazing up at her curiously. Generally, she was not one to start anything, but she missed her lips for some reason, and she could always count on Bra to be in the mood for that sort of thing. Once Pan started engaging her, Bra caught on quick enough.

"Just kissing," Pan said after a mouthful.

"That's fine," she said quickly as she pulled her back.

They began once again and Pan lost track of the time.

"You know you can always count on me, right?" Bra said when they parted again.

Pan nodded.

"Say it."

"Yes."

"You can trust me," Bra said softly.

Pan kissed her gently this time. "I know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force you to commit in front of everyone like that. I know you don't like rushing things. I can always—"

"No, it's alright," Pan said brushing away her worry. "It surprised me a little, yeah, but I think I do feel that way. It's just…"

"What is it?"

"What about Malachi?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I have you."

Bra's voice sounded so reassuring that Pan was lulled into a more relaxed mood. How could she be so unconcerned about that? What exactly would Malachi think about this? Then again, did it really matter at this point?

Soon, they were climbing under the covers, exhaustion getting the better of them both. They easily moved into their more favored position with Pan lying on her back and Bra placing her head on her stomach and curling against her. Bra's arm came across her protectively and Pan placed one of her arms over her shoulder and back. Pan could feel the tickle of Bra's exhales through the thin material of the pajamas and as it slowly deepened. Absently, she ran a gentle hand down her blue hair with closed eyes. She listened a while to Bra's unhurried breaths. Whatever worries Bra claimed to have, they seemed to be long gone for now. It took only a few more moments for Pan to drop off as well.

---

Pan woke up to Bra scrambling off of her and a few moments later, she realized that one of the toddlers were crying. The screeching noises was enough to give her a full-on headache and it was still the early morning. All she was thinking was that it was now cold where Bra used to be. They'd gotten further entangled, obviously, by the morning and the covers were almost completely off of her. With a groan, she pulled the rest off and followed Pan into the toddlers' room. Though both Jr. and Machi had their own rooms, it seemed they were placed in a different one that Pan supposed was the nursery out of convenience. It would likely be pretty trying walking back and forth between two different rooms. Bra was already holding Machi up with a disgusted face and Pan couldn't blame her as the sharp smell of excrement came to her nose. Unruly auburn hair framed the toddler's teary face.

"Machi soils herself a lot," Bra said, "That's what Bunny told me. So I'll see about changing her." She was already taking her over to what Pan decided was the changing station that seemed equipped with everything one would need to change diapers.

While Bra dealt with that, Pan's curiosity led her over to Jr. who was just waking up with a very cute, little yawn, stretching about in his well-furnished crib. When she peered down to look at him clearly, she was immediately in love.

"Oh my god, Bra, it's tiny Vegeta!"

"Yeah, I know, he's really cute and worrisome," Bra said loudly over Machi's squeals.

"Can I pick him up?" Pan wondered if that was a dumb question, but it was too late to take it back.

"You can try!"

Jr. seemed not to even notice her yet, but she got his attention quickly when she lifted him into her arms. Then he was just looking up at her curiously and eventually grabbing whatever convenient nearby fabric he could.

"Could you go brush his teeth and stuff?" Bra asked.

"Sure, okay."

Pan wasn't sure what "and stuff" meant, but she was sure she'd figure out. Maybe she had to change his clothes? Really, she just wanted to because at this point Jr. was akin to a life-sized doll. She walked over to the closet and opened it with her free arm. Of course, the closet was full of cute baby clothes of almost every imaginable color.

"What do you think about pink?" Pan said barely able to contain a giggle.

Jr. only made a few tiny baby noises towards her as if they were actually communicating—he didn't seem upset about it.

"Pink?"

More baby noises.

"Shirt?"

"Shirt," Jr. repeated, recognizing that word and startling her with his clarity.

Pan pulled the little pink shirt from the closet. "Pink shirt."

"Shirt!" Jr. repeated, now reaching his arms out to the new and interesting garment.

"Well, it's decided then. Pink shirt."

Pan also pulled out some jean bottoms hoping these would fit—she had no idea—and quickly vacated the nursery before Bra made some objection. She was supposed to be "brushing his teeth and stuff" anyway. In the nearest bathroom, she set him on the toilet with it's top closed and hung the clothes on the rack holding wash cloths. Then she set about looking for a brush and toothpaste. Conveniently, she found one with the words "Vegeta Jr." written on it in gold, incursive print—a small, blue toothbrush. "Geez, they really bought custom made toothbrushes? Of course." She glanced over at Jr. who already seemed bored as he'd sat down on the stool and watched his dangling feet kicking back and forth. He was humming some tune she couldn't quite place.

"Okay, Vegeta Jr., are you ready for me to brush your teeth."

Jr. looked up at her with a frown. "No."

"No?" Pan repeated unperturbed, "Don't you want to have clean teeth?"

"No."

"Hm, we'll see if you'll keep saying that once your teeth is rotting out of your skull."

"No."

"Open your mouth."

Jr. simply kept looking at her defiantly and she stepped closer with toothbrush in hand now holding a tiny bit of toothpaste—there was no way he had very many teeth to brush at this age.

"Open your mouth," she said more sternly.

This time, he grudgingly did so. She was surprised that worked. At least she didn't have to wrestle with him the whole time.

"Good," Pan said in relieved tones. "Just keep your mouth open, okay?"

She quickly went to work brushing the few front teeth that he had. Actually, there was more there than she'd been anticipating, but she was no expert as far as that went.

"Oh, wait…" she said to herself looking around for small cups. She found an unused stack of them near clean white washcloths and used to fill up with water. Pan had no idea if she was doing this right when she told him to gargle it—it became clear that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"See? Like this." She took a sip of the water and swished it dramatically with her mouth so that it was obvious and then spit it into the sink. She did it again two more times with Jr. watching intently. "Now, your turn." Pan grabbed him and placed him on top of the counter near the sink. When she looked around, she found a convenient stool for him to use with tiger patterns on it and finally placed him there. She filled the cup again and gave it back to him. "Gargle."

He attempted at the very least, but he took too much of the water and it ended up getting everywhere much to Pan's amusement—on the mirror, on his pajamas, and on the sink and counter. When he turned to look at her with a smile that suggested he thought he'd accomplished something, it almost melted her heart.

"That was perfect, but let's aim for just the sink next time," Pan said grabbing a washcloth to clean his face off.

He smelled like toothpaste now along with the scent of bubble bath she'd smelled on him this morning. Someone must have given him a bath last night. She supposed washing his face would suffice for now.

"Okay," Pan said after she was done fussing over his face with soap and water. His pajamas were still a bit wet, but they were going to be changed shortly. "It's time to change clothes," she announced. He seemed to understand what that meant as he instinctively looked over at the clothes she set aside. "Yes, those clothes."

She unzipped his onesie which he stepped out of expertly without being told. Then she placed him on the floor so that it wouldn't be so hard to balance. With the pants, she took them off the rack and held them down to his level so that he could step into them.

"No—me change clothes," Jr. said stubbornly as he tried to grab them from her grasp.

"Oh, alright, big boy. Let's see if you can manage to put them on yourself."

Actually, it seemed like he had the task down pat as he held the pants like she was holding it and then stepped into them—he seemed to have good balance. Then she gave him the cute pink shirt that she now noticed had a tiger face on the back. Clearly, the perfect shirt for Jr. It was a bit more of a difficult task as he found the proper placement of his hands but struggled trying to get it over his head. Pan resisted the urge to assist as it seemed like he was really determined to do it himself. She remembered always hating when her own mom kept helping her despite her protests. By the time he got it on, his hair was a little unkempt on the side which she fixed up easily.

"Oh—wow, your hair is really soft!" she said running her hand through his hair now just to feel the texture. "I thought it'd be tougher. I wonder why it sticks up like this then…" She played with it a little, pressing it down only for it to pop back up again—it was far too cute not to try it again a few more times. But then he was batting her hands away in irritation. "Alright, okay, sorry," Pan said sheepishly.

"Look at you all dressed up," Pan said straightening his shirt out a bit. "Are you hungry now? I bet you're hungry."

"Hungry," he agreed excitedly. It was probably the most excited she'd seen him.

"Okay, follow me then."

Pan remembered Bra had mentioned how Jr. could walk and described him as "quiet and observant". She supposed that description was apt considering she'd managed not to end up with a bawling toddler on her hands and the attempt to gargle water could have gone worse. She couldn't help but think that she'd gotten it a little easier with Jr. rather than having to deal with Machi. Pan didn't walk too fast as she knew someone with such short legs would find it hard to keep up. She couldn't stop herself from grinning as he waddled determinedly behind her. Once they got to the stairs though, she wasn't too keen on letting him go down quite so many at one time. They were much too steep for him. Pan took him into her arms without a second thought. She expected him to make a fuss, but he settled comfortably into her shoulder. After making it down the stairs though, he was already trying to wiggle out of her grasp.

"Okay, okay, big boy," she said setting him down.

He was back to waddling again much to her continued entertainment as she led the way. By the time Pan made it to the dining room, Bra and Machi were already there. Machi was already in her booster seat with her little apron on with a bright smile on her face. When she wasn't crying, Machi seemed like the happiest toddler in the world and she was giggling at Bra's antics as she made silly faces at her.

"Finally, Pan," Bra said upon seeing her. "Took you long enough! I thought you got lost or something."

"Well, Jr. insisted on walking here himself."

"After I got Machi changed, it was smooth sailing from there." She paused when she saw the shirt Jr. wore as he emerged from the hall. Then she laughed. "Really? A pink shirt? I think that was Machi's."

"Please, like girl clothes are different from boy clothes at this age," Pan said, "Besides, Jr. likes his pink shirt. Isn't that right, Jr.?" She scooped him into her arms now that he'd made it in the room. There was a booster seat already set out for Jr. which was right across from Machi. "You like your pink shirt, Jr." she cooed pointing at his shirt. "Don't you?"

He pointed at his shirt and then proclaimed, "Pink shirt mine!"

Bra was already rolling her eyes at this. "Well, he already has more fashion sense than Machi—she could care less what shirt she has on."

Pan set him easily in the booster seat and they were soon ready for breakfast to begin. She'd already lost track of time. When she looked on her phone, she let out a sigh or relief. It was still early, but she had an hour left before she needed to be at work. It was one of the few times she wasn't really looking forward to it. She just wanted to hang out with Machi and Jr. for the day or maybe a few days. Maybe a lifetime. She wanted to learn more about Jr. and be surrounded by Machi's apparent good mood. It did wonders for the general despondency she'd been in for a long time now.

"Alright, well, Bunny says to let them drink first and then feed them."

"Sounds backwards, but okay."

Bra shrugged. "It doesn't really matter to me, but I guess she already started them on a routine. We have some special cereal that Bunny prepared for them—just add milk. They, apparently, both really like it. I'll get that and you can get the formula. Jr. can drink from a cup, but Machi is still a little messy with that so use the sippy cup for now."

With game plan in mind, the two of them went to work. Pan didn't have too much work to do for the formula since Bunny had already made it last night and stored it in a small refrigerator set at the proper temperature. Something told her that part Saiyan babies were less finnicky about their formula than purely human ones. And looking at Jensen, who knew what sort of needs Jr. actually had. Would he grow up quickly like Jensen? He was already showing signs, but Machi still appeared a little older or at the very least, a little taller. Jensen had already been able to walk and talk within days of his conception according to Malachi. Perhaps this was something to ponder on later. For now, the two of them seemed normal enough.

Pan brought the drinks out to the two wiggling toddlers who'd been having some sort of conversation with each other, but it seemed to be in a baby language she couldn't quite understand. No one was crying at the very least. They quickly perked up with the new addition of food. She placed the short cup on Jr.'s table and the sippy cup on Machi's. Machi knew exactly what to do grabbing it easily with her hands—perhaps she wasn't too far away from using a regular cup after all. Jr. seemed a bit more careful, balancing the cup in his hands and tilting it slowly to his mouth—he was full concentration which looked adorable on one so young. Machi finished hers in the next minute now thumping the cup around on the table—it wasn't quite annoying enough for Pan to try and take it away especially since she seemed to be having such a great time doing that simple activity—as well as making baby noises along with it in tune.

Jr. finally got a mouthful and then he gleefully spit it out much to Machi's delight who was already giggling and clapping.

"Again, again!" Machi yelled excitedly.

"No—don't you dare," Pan said rushing over to the child.

He'd already gotten another mouthful drinking a lot quicker now as if reacting to her fast approach. At the same time she grabbed the cup away—which took a bit more force than she was anticipating—he spit the formula directly into her face with the same triumphant smile she'd seen in the bathroom earlier. It was still quite cute, but she was now soaking in baby spit and formula. Luckily, she hadn't changed clothes yet.

"Really, Jr.? Drink, don't spit!"

"Oh my god, what's happening?" Bra said in disbelief with cereal in hand. "Oh, no, he's all messy now!"

"It's okay, I'll change him later. Jr. just thought he was being clever," Pan said standing up straight now. She looked for a paper towel amidst all the laughter. Somehow being laughed at with cute little baby laughter wasn't all that stinging and were she not so upset, she might have joined in.

Bra already looked like she was stressing out and Machi was still proclaiming "Again! Again!" It was starting to turn into a dumpster fire. The cup was snatched out of her hand by an invisible force. Pan looked around and saw that no one was close enough to have done that. It took her a moment to realize that the cup was levitating in midair. Both Pan and Bra looked on stupefied by the display.

"Fire!" Jr. cried out and just like that the cup exploded sending flaming bits everywhere.

"Again, again!" Machi continued to exclaim clearly unfazed by it all and enjoying every bit of it.

"Oh, no you don't!" Pan yelled running over and yanking Jr. out of the seat and holding him like a football as she sprinted out of the dining room before things really started deteriorating. "I got him, just take care of Machi!" Pan called into the dining room.

"Okay," Bra called back in a trembling voice. She seemed on the verge of tears now. It couldn't be helped at the moment.

Pan was sure Machi would be much easier to manage since she seemed so agreeable. Hopefully, that might calm Bra down a little. She held up Jr. who was clearly still in good mood, kicking about happily. "Bad baby," Pan admonished.

"Bad baby?" he repeated as if it was foreign.

"Yes! Bad baby. You only spit in sink. You drink at table."

"Fire baby!" he said loudly.

"No—bad baby!" Pan argued back, but he didn't seem to be understanding completely.

"Ugh, all this racket in the morning," came a rough, annoyed voice from the direction of the stairs.

Pan was a little startled by Vegeta's presence. Not only had she not sensed him coming, but she hadn't heard him as well. "Oh, sorry," she said quickly.

Time was running short for her. She still had to get ready too and now she had to clean Jr. up again. Her work clothes were at Malachi's place, she didn't really have time for breakfast herself which would mean she'd be miserable until lunch, and she still needed to speed off to her jobsite and try not to mess up her hair and clothes in the process. Vegeta was looking at her now with a raised eyebrow likely noticing the mess covering her and Jr. If she wasn't mistaken, she could also see the beginnings of a smirk. Then a thought came to her mind born out of desperation.

"Here, could you take him?—I need to get to work."

To her surprise, he held his arms out without further ado. "Fine. Give him here."

Not wanting to spoil her good fortune, she handed the little troublemaker over to Vegeta and jetted up the stairs. Halfway up, she wished she'd paused a moment to fully appreciate the image of Vegeta holding a tinier, cuter version of himself—someone needed to take a picture of that to further immortalize that very precious moment. She'd have other chances, she supposed.

Everything else blurred by quickly. She took a quick shower changed into another one of Bra's outfits and flew off from the balcony in Bra's room into the skies. Today was going to be a hectic one. She had a few surgeries scheduled today and who knew how the other patients were recovering. Then she'd inevitably have to return to the Briefs residence. Secretly, she was looking forward to that, but for now, she didn't want to be late.

---

AN: No guys—I swear I'm not good at all this romance stuff, but here I am again. By the way, I'm still calling Bulma's mom Bunny despite learning not too long ago that her name is apparently Panchy. I think I just saw every other fanfiction referring to her as Bunny and I just went with it. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if anyone in the anime ever refers to her by name…

Everyone, a lot has happened since my last upload. I'm not in quarantine anymore (because America is stupid and is continuing to fumble its pandemic response) and I spent those two months doing everything except writing on this fanfiction. I'm someone who's already a partial hermit and I was in full hermit mode during that time—it was great. That aspect at least.

But the deep, festering wound that America and the world has been harboring is beginning to manifest in more obvious ways—I'm talking about the BLM movement. George Floyd's death was the tipping point. Another civil rights movement is underway, and it remains to be seen if it might create a lasting change in the world. Make no mistake, these times are becoming quite tumultuous all while during a major pandemic, one that has the uncanny ability of testing how resilient a country's economy is and how well it's government can take care of its people.

It's ironic how many themes in this story correlate to the real world. First of all, both of the main OCs in this story are black, if that wasn't obvious to you. Malachi is loosely based off of Michael Jackson and Auden is a purely made up character I made years ago in an unpublished original work of mine. Both are asexual (because why not) and both had to find their own way out of poverty. Simply being impoverished will give you a whole host of disadvantages and issues from physical to mental. Very few people can improve their circumstances. The exceptions to the rules are those who happen to have a marketable skill that they excel at over most others. Black people are disproportionately in the lower income brackets and I draw from my own experiences as most authors do when creating stories and characters from my very humble beginnings.

Not to mention, that I've been hinting at some global catastrophe that may or may not be occurring in the future. I wasn't expecting to also be living through an actual global pandemic, but I suppose I could use these experiences in my story as well.

Anyways, everyone, stay tuned for more updates. Rest assured, I have not forgotten about this story, I just haven't been in the mood to write. Hopefully, I'll have the next update in sooner than the last.