Life Revival

Chapter Three

By Panny

The next day Trunks woke up with one thing on his mind. That girl he had met was different from any of the other survivors. She had a hardness above any others and at the same time there was a strong will and compassion that burned in her eyes. As he got out of bed he wondered if the previous day had happened at all. It was such an odd thing to have happened and he had behaved so strangely then.

Making his way down the hall he bumped into his mother who smiled at him. "You're up early." She said. "You were out for a while yesterday, mind if I ask what you were doing?"

"I'm not sure." Trunks replied honestly, still debating the credibility of his memory. Bulma looked at him quizzically then sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to understand you again son."

Trunks continued on past his mother and outside. Walking down the street he went back to the building he had been shown to the day before. Knocking on the door he was surprised to find it unlocked, allowing it to swing open. Stepping inside he found the main hall empty. He could hear a small clattering in a nearby room so he decided to check it out.

Walking into what he found to be a kitchen Trunks found several girls preparing a large breakfast. They all stared at him in surprise, not expecting a man to be there and especially not so early. "C-can I help you?" one of them asked, a red headed girl wearing an apron. "Yeah," he answered. "I was here yesterday and I was looking for one of the girls who work here." A few of the girls smiled at him while one of the older women started to leave. "I'll go get Gladice." She said, leaving the room.

Trunks looked around the small kitchen that the girls shared. He reasoned that they must cook and eat in shifts since the room was too small for the number of women there. He couldn't dwell on the thought for long though as Gladice came into the room with the other woman behind her.

"Oh, it's you." She greeted. "It's nice to see you again though I must wonder what brings you here."

"Uh…" Trunks scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Actually I was looking for Pan. I know she works inside and all but I really wanted to talk to her. I'll pay you again like I did yesterday."

"Nonsense." Gladice smiled. "Remember, I owe you Hun. I let Pan keep the money from yesterday too, so don't give it another thought... Pan's actually sleeping right now, but you can stick around here as long as you like. We were just about to eat so feel free to join us."

Trunks was about to turn down the offer, starting to feel uncomfortable, but his stomach reminded him that he had left without eating that morning. "That'd be great."

~~~

A small while later Trunks had finished his breakfast and went into the main room of the building. He noticed the section of the ceiling that had fallen the previous day that the women had haphazardly covered with plywood. With nothing else to do, Trunks pulled a desk over to stand on and started to pull the wood down. A few girls walking through started yelling at him, demanding to know what he was doing.

"Jeez, girls, please calm down. I'm just trying to fix it."

"We don't need your help!" One of them yelled. "We fixed it up just fine yesterday."

"But, it's going to fall down in a matter of days like this."

"You're just saying that so you can see up into the rooms up there you pervert!"

"Girls!" An elderly woman entered to room and immediately the younger ones ran over to her. "Lady, he's destroying our home!"

"Alright." The elder woman answered. "Young man. What is it you're doing here?"

"Well." Trunks said, stepping down. "I just noticed the wood here and I knew it wouldn't last long so I thought I'd fix it while I was here."

"And why are you here?"

"Umm… I'm waiting for someone and Gladice said it would okay if I waited in here."

"I see. So you're the one Gladice was talking about. Girls, we have a guest so mind your manners."

"Yes Lady."

The girls left, leaving Trunks and the other woman alone. "My name is Naoko." She told him. "But the younger girls here all refer to me by Lady. I must ask you who it is you're waiting for."

"Pan."

"Oh, so then your reason for being here is beyond that of strictly business?"

"Yeah. I didn't have any intention to... you know, but I did want to see her."

"Alright. Let her sleep awhile longer, in the mean time I'll send some girls in to get you any supplies you need to patch up that hole."

Half an hour later, Trunks had fixed the whole in the ceiling to the best of his abilities with the materials at hand. He was just washing himself up when Gladice told him Pan was up. Waiting near the houses entrance he surprised her when she came down to find no one there but him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.

"Well when you said I knew where to find you, I assumed that was an invitation to come visit." He said, smiling. Pan stared at him for a minute, seemingly lost in thought, then she smiled at him. "That's fine." She said. "Umm… I don't have much work to do until lunch so I can go out for a little bit if that's what you wanted."

Trunks nodded so Pan went back up to her room. She returned a few minutes later in jean shorts and a red t-shirt. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it off her neck in the summers heat.

Walking outside Trunks took in a breath of fresh air, enjoying the fact that it smelled more of flowers and grass than ashes and carnage. As they walked Trunks realized he had nothing to say at all to the girl. He had questioned her strength and soon found that topic to be closed off, both because of her pain behind it and her desire to have him killed, whether she knew it or not. It would be nice to have someone to spar with, someone that might actually put up some sort of a defense but if he ever even thought to it might give away his identity. He continued thinking, trying to come up with another subject. Fortunately she saved him from overworking his mind.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Huh?" Trunks looked at her oddly, caught off guard by the question.

"You make me answer all these questions and all the while I don't even know your name!"

Trunks lowered his head and apologized. "Jeez, I'm sorry. I never even thought about that." He debated for a moment if he should give her a fake name since she might recognize his real one but knowing that he already had to keep a big secret from her he didn't want them to pile up. "My name is Trunks. Other than that there isn't much to know."

"I think there is. Like how in the hell you're so strong."

"Uh... like I said. I grew up around strong people so it kinda rubbed off."

"Just how strong are you? I want to know. Fight me."

"What? No way! You'd beat me in a second!" Trunks lied, feeling a pinch in his stomach. "What does it matter anyway huh? I didn't call you out here because of your strength." Another lie… sort of.

"Oh? They why did you show up today?"

Trunks suddenly found himself with no answer. Finding out about who she was certainly had some affect on his coming but there was more of a reason for his interest in her and it bugged him to not know what it was. "No reason." He shrugged, changing direction. "You should probably get back, it's almost noon."

Pan cocked her eyebrow at Trunks but followed him anyway. He was such a strange man... or boy... Just how old was he anyway? "Hey!… Trunks! How old are you?"

"Hmm? I'm-" Damn. She was only seventeen, quite a difference of age. Telling the truth might mess things up. "I'm nineteen." She nodded in acceptance and caught up with him. Arriving back home she went in without a word though he barely noticed. His mind was too full of other ideas that he wasn't even aware of where he was anymore until he found himself walking into his mother and he realized he was home. "Sorry." He apologized, walking quickly to his room. Shaking his head he sat down on his bed and leaned back to think.