Just a reminder, the name of Pan's parent's company is called Son Corp. That was mentioned briefly in Life Through the Looking Glass. It was in chapter four in case you want to go and look that back up. I just wanted to remind you because it is once again mentioned briefly here.

Chapter 7: The Cause of Past Mistakes

Why do secrets bring pain? After all, the point of a secret is so that no one will find out. The whole point is to erase it from existence so that it will be as if it never was. Perhaps it can be forgotten. But it is not so easy to forget what so easily brings pain. It creeps up on you late at night, sometimes during the day, and you are never quite sure what to do when it is there. Sometimes it is staring you straight in the face and all you want to do is cry. But you cannot cry. That would be a signal to everyone around you that there was something wrong. And even if they truly do not care what becomes of you, they will ask, and eventually you will crack. Eventually you will tell and eventually everyone will know. This is the burden of keeping a secret. In the end, it will only be thought of as a secret even if everyone knows. No one will bring up the subject only to make you feel comfortable. But it will always be in the front of everyone's mind, making it no longer your burden alone.

-From the Diary of Son, Pan

Parents. Either you loved them or you hated them. Sure there was a middle ground, but you never knew where to stand when asked if you loved your parents. The answer is almost always yes, but the love for family truly does show that there is a thin line between love and hate. Pan knew she was currently on the side of hate, and after today, she wasn't sure she would ever move back to the side of love ever again. She expected this, of course, but that does not mean she was fully prepared for the onsite her parents had prepared for her. They gave her no sympathy as they continued to throw ideas out for the wedding. At this point in time there was still no set date, time, or place that the wedding would take place. She didn't even want to think about the reception at the moment. Trunks had been right; it was just another publicity stunt her parents had wanted to pull. And they had their hands in it deep.

From the time her parents had walked into the house to now, nothing had stopped. They had only been home for two hours and already Pan had wanted to escape. Perhaps to Trunks' home. But she knew her parents would not let her make that excuse anymore. In the beginning they would let her go see him whenever she wanted, just so she could be come further 'acquainted' with her husband-to-be. But now that it was quite obvious they wanted to be together, she they would no longer allow her that excuse to leave the situations everyone knew she did not want to be in. She had tried to be gone by the time that they had returned from their business trip, but it was thanks to Goten for catching her while she was trying to fly out of her bedroom window.

"Mom," Pan began to complain-again, "don't you think it's only right if Trunks and Bulma are here for this? After all, he's the one getting married too."

"I'm only trying to get a rough idea of what is a good time. But if you really want to do something, why don't you go through the catalogue the designers sent by. You need to choose a wedding dress, and soon."

"Who ever said I wanted to do something? I just want to get out of here," Pan rolled her eyes as she picked up one of the many catalogues that were laying about her parent's study. Aside from the many magazines she had been looking at, designers from all over the world had graciously sent her one of their catalogues. Many even sent drawings of dresses they had specifically designed for her. A few had even sent Trunks designs for a few new tuxes. They had both rolled their eyes at this. It was one way to gain publicity.

This was going to be bigger than a royal wedding. Everyone could see that. In one day, the two largest companies in the entire world would monopolize the planet. Many were going to be going out of business, and that was one thing Pan did not want. Luckily though, there would be many more jobs available. She didn't want to think of the politics behind this. Many were trying to sue Capsule Corp. as well as Son Corp. The lawyers were very busy and both companies even had to higher extra lawyers. It appears that the many people suing did not want to have a group settlement. Unfortunately, it was not illegal for two people to get married. And so, they were having a fun time battling it out in court.

"Carina, you will stay where you are and do as your mother says," her father stated as he sat at his desk, looking over the guest list. He had to make sure that no one was missing. Videl has already gone over the list and added a few names. As Gohan continued to add a few, he also had to go through his address book to remember all of the names that needed to be put down. All of his business partners and potential business partners would be invited, and he knew that most of them would be there. Videl had already gone through hers. Already there were over five hundred people on their list. This was not even counting the Brief's list. And Pan had yet to add her friends. Even though that would not be anywhere near as many, he knew that many of the people on the list would bring their husband, wife, and even a few sons and daughters.

Pan only grumbled as she flipped through the catalogue. At this stage in the process, she was no longer bookmarking the ones she liked, but tearing them out to put into a large book that was currently beginning to get bigger by the minute. She scowled as she noticed the prices. She hated wearing expensive things. Why not just send that money to someone who actually needed it? And in the end, she still hated dresses, but she would give in for one day. She had done it before, but never in front of so many people. Nervousness began creeping up on her day by day. At first she had been angry with her parents, and then thankful to them. Now she wasn't sure what she wanted. Of course she wanted to marry Trunks, but was she ready for it? She was only eighteen. Her parents had said that she would be getting married on her eighteenth birthday, but she was fortunate enough to convince them to push it back until after graduation.

The study was silent for a while; Pan had made it through three catalogues before she began to lose her focus. It was then that there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Gohan said without looking up. Pan did, anything to take her attention away from her current activity, and was happy to see Goten step into the room.

"Pan has a visitor," Goten said with a smile. That smile gave everything away to Pan. She knew who it was. She looked to her parents, and they too knew who had come to visit her.

"You may go, Carina," Gohan sighed, "but if you are going out, don't stay out too late." Pan leapt with joy, leaving behind everything she was in the middle of without looking back. "But do tell him that we will be meeting with him and his mother tomorrow to set the final dates."

"I will," Pan called over her shoulder. Goten smiled as he left the room and closed the door behind him, giving his brother and sister-in-law some peace and quiet.

She walked quickly to the foyer where she knew he was waiting. And there he stood smiling at her as she came into view. She was dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, but to him, she was still the most gorgeous thing in the universe. He walked towards her, and when they met, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and she brought her arms around his neck. He gave her a small kiss in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" she had been confused. She was not expecting him.

"Am I not allowed to see my fiancé?" he asked with a small, playful pout on his lips.

"Of course you are, I just wasn't expecting you."

"Well, your parents are here," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," she said, not sure where this was going.

"I thought you needed rescuing." He smiled again as realization dawned on her. She kissed him again, her thank you to him, but instead of being short and sweet, he deepened the kiss. When they pulled apart, they were both panting for air.

"So," Pan said, "what are you go to be doing to rescue me?"

"I thought I'd take you out to dinner tonight. There's a new restaurant opening downtown and I have already made reservations."

"Oh really, and when were you doing to be informing me of these reservations?"

"Right now," he grinned.

"And what type, may I ask, of restaurant is this?"

"Casual," he said. He knew she didn't want anything fancy.

"And why did you make reservations for a casual restaurant?"

"So they would know in advance to make enough food to fill two young saiyans."

"Mhmm, and why did you not inform me of this earlier?" she continued to play along.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise," he continued to grin.

"I'll go get dressed," she smiled and hurried up the stairs to her room, leaving Trunks alone.

He had been to her home several times and knew the layout completely. He stood there waiting for her, looking around the room that he had seen many times before. He could have followed her up to her room, but for some reason, he had decided that he would stay where he was. It was not the first time that he had stayed, so nothing was unusual. He stood there waiting for a few minutes before he sensed someone else in the room. He looked around to find Goten standing there, looking at him. He didn't feel comfortable this time with him around. Usually, the two had become pretty good friends. But after he had caught him and Pan in her room, he did everything he could to avoid coming over here.

"How's your training coming," Goten asked. He sounded unlike himself, almost a little challenging.

"Good. I'm getting stronger everyday." Trunks said, not knowing where this was going.

"So am I," Goten said. This was definitely turning out to be a challenge. "Are you ready to spar me?"

"I don't mind trying," Trunks said, and in that instant he was thrown across the room. He was pinned against the wall by his neck, and Goten stood there, one arm around his throat and the other raised, ready to form a ki blast.

"If you even lay a hand on her, I swear, I will kill you," Goten spoke. This was more than a challenge. This was an all-out threat.

"She is my fiancé. Do you really think you can protect her forever?"

"No, but I will for as long as I can."

Trunks' face was beginning to change colors. He refused to hurt Goten. Not like this at least. This wasn't a spar and he refused to lower himself down to that level. "And what are you protecting her from?"

"From you." Goten was seething and Trunks had never seen him so serious.

"I would never hurt her," Trunks struggled to get out. Another few minutes of this, and he would pass out.

"You will be the repeated cause of past mistakes." Trunks was trying to figure out what it was that Goten was trying to say.

"I love her," he whispered.

"Then don't touch her." With that, he let go of Trunks and walked away.

Trunks slid down the wall until he reached the floor. After regaining his breath, he stood up and tried to fix himself. A moment later he heard Pan running down the stairs.

"Trunks, are you okay? What happened?" She had felt Goten's ki spike and was concerned. What had her uncle done to Trunks?

"I'm fine, don't worry about it?"

"What did Uncle Goten do to you?"

"Honestly, don't worry about it. Are you ready to go?" he asked, looking her over. She was no dressed in a pair of blue jeans and blue t-shirt.

"Yeah, let's get going," Pan said, dropping the subject for now. She would get it out of him later.

Well, another chapter done. Mind you, this is the longest chapter I have EVER written for any of my stories. I was going to add more, but I decided to leave the next part for the next chapter. It will involve the date between Trunks and Pan, as well as a few surprise guests. And they will be unwelcomed. It's gonna be fun. I probably won't be updating for at least another week. I've really been in the mood to write lately, but I have so much writing I have to do for this week, but I wrote another chapter instead. I know, it's gonna take some time for the next one. But hopefully it won't take too long.

Thank you for reading. Please review. Reviews make me happy. If I can get fifteen reviews, then I'll update next weekend. If I don't get fifteen, then I'll just wait until I can find time.

Thank you to those of you that did review the last chapter:

sonpan- Sorry, but the secret will not be revealed for some time. But I don't want it to be too obvious. If it were, then no one would read.

Tanya50801- Glad you loved it.

Kayuka- Don't worry, it won't mess them up. At least I don't think so. I think the secret will become a little clear in later chapters, but it will be a while before it comes out.

Blood-In-The-Stars- Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel bad for him too. I wish there was something I could do about that…wait a minute…lol, jk. Glad you liked it.

MuzicLover09- Yeah, Spring Break was great. I liked it. But now comes the end of the semester when everything is due. Ugh, I've got five portfolios due this week. It's gonna be a killer.

BlackOnyx83- I'm glad you liked it. I love new readers. They are so cool.

Suika07- Yay!!! Another new reader! I love this all. I think I know what the secret is also, but I'm not gonna tell. Well, I'll give you a hint. It's that thing with the thing that is inside the thing. Yeah, the thing with the hair. I think it has hair.

Phantasom- YES!!! You are right! You got it! lol, umm…you guys will find out…later…lol

ssjRaina- Thank you so much. I need luck. Instead of doing all of my work that is due this week, I decided to write this new chapter. I know I will be regretting it, but whatever.

Forgotten Beauty- I'm happy I updated as well. I hate falling behind on these chapters.