Author's Note:

Wow.

It's been a really, really long time.

I'm sure most of you—if any of the originals are still out there—would agree.

Looking back on the old chapters, I cringe at my writing—I hope my new style isn't too different from what you were used to. I may, in the distant future, go back and revamp them.

But who knows. Putting out this chapter is a landmark, for sure.

I think the actual ending to this fanfiction will be coming in the next months; I roughed out a chart of where this is going, so… no writer's block for me. For those of you who waited… I hope it's what you thought it would be.

There's so much for me to say right here that I know I'll forget things, so… yeah. I'll try to be brief.

Sorry for the years of waiting.

Sorry for typos… my typing is more careless these days.

I tried to keep the Pan/Trunks banter just the same as it used to be… so I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Well, you've waited long enough! Here's the real Chapter 34 (if you count my chapters, I missed a number. Wasn't too bright, back then).

Chapter 34

Nightmares

As soon as Trunks guided her back through the mahogany doors, Pan's legs buckled out from beneath her, a surprised yelp slipping through her lips. Only by the grace of the Gods did Trunks catch her, the two of them tottering in the Fate of balance before he rooted his feet to the ground.

"Happy now?" The prince grumbled to her. Silly girl—what had she been thinking? Oh, that's right.

She hadn't been.

"Very," she responded in her own cheeky manner, a tired swish of her tail accompanying it. She wasn't about to tell him how nervous she had been, nor how close she had come to falling down those marbled steps and looking like a complete fool. She was quite sure he knew without her broadcasting it.

Glancing to the saiyan prince, Pan took a quick scan of his features, noticing what she had otherwise missed in the confusion when she awoke. Seeing it now, she didn't know how she could have in the first place—it was hard for her to miss. There, misted in the corner of those ice-blue eyes of his, was guilt.

For her?

"What are you looking at?"

Trunks's words brought her out of her daze with a blink, and the young woman gave a shrug as she lied. "Dazed out." Kind of truthful, right? The crowd that had just chanted her name seemed to fade away, in lieu of her newfound information.

Everything made sense, now—like why he was helping her, and why the hold under her knees and shoulders was so light… apologetic, almost. Why he had been in her room; why his jabs weren't as caustic (and spoiled, might she add) as usual.

"You shouldn't have gotten up in the first place."
"You of all people should know I do a lot of things I 'shouldn't have'." Pan couldn't help the slight giggle when he sighed, but it silenced quickly—broken ribs weren't fond of laughter. When his eyes flicked back to her at the silence, she saw it again.

"Just let me get you back to the infirmary in one piece."
But for the life of her, Pan didn't know what to say to him. What could she say? She couldn't think of a single thing that she could tell him that would ease an emotion such as that. 'It's not your fault' were words that would lose their impact before they even left her mouth, let alone the fact that he wouldn't believe them.

Pan fell silent as Trunks carried her through the palace, lost in her own thoughts. The fact that the Prince of all Saiyans was carrying her was one in particular that she still couldn't grasp. The public adored her—she, a commoner, a female at that, had saved the lives of him, and their king. She had been accused of assassinations and then redeemed; she had been tortured, and now adored.

It was certainly too much for a tired, aching mind to handle, she decided, so for the moment her only defense was to shut it out.

oooooooooo

It didn't take long for Trunks to reach the infirmary, guards shifting to get out of his way. Walking into the room that was designated as hers, Trunks set the saiyan down gently on the mattress, noting that the sheets had already been changed in their absence. His cargo was treated gingerly—Pan hadn't stayed awake for the entirety of the trip, and the last thing he wanted to do was wake her. She needed to recover; every ounce of sleep and rest was priceless.

The Prince's eyes softened when he looked to the features of her face. The visage was pale, but the color and life that he had come to associate with her were beginning in their slow return. It was humorous how calm she looked at the moment, her dark eyes closed with a light touch—he knew she could be a goddamn fireball, when she wanted.

Hesitating for a moment, Trunks then brought the covers over her form, letting the white-washed sheets settle softly on her. She'd sleep well, now—better, perhaps, now that she knew her name was cleared, and that her king and himself were alive and walking.

He had gone through his own personal hell—that he was sure of. But he wasn't about to classify what it was that she had gone through.

Get some rest, you stubborn woman. With a soft pat to her wrist, Trunks turned and exited the room, guards flanking him as he left.

oooooooooo

Days passed in a whirlwind. There was so much for Trunks to wrap his head around that the prince left the issue of 'natural' alone. A gruff apology had been made to his mother, and though it didn't completely patch things up, it left both members feeling better.

There were doctor visits and paper work and issues and meetings and who knew what else, but no one questioned when the prince made time to go down and check on Son Pan. Even Vegeta had been caught in the girl's presence once or twice. Neither of the two would admit it, but both were utterly indebt to the young woman that had been so battered on the behalf of their safety. They had questions to ask, but it seemed that they always caught Son Pan whilst she was asleep.

No one could blame her in that she wouldn't speak to most of the guards.

It had been one of 'those' days when Trunks had found his way into Pan's room in the Infirmary late at night, the prince seated on a chair next to her bedside. Her even breathing was soothing when he day had been everything but, and with his head tilted back and eyes focused on the ceiling, the young man began to relax.

What a day.

In the quiet of the room, Pan was the only thing for a saiyan's keen senses to pay attention to. So when her breathing picked up, the male lifted his head and turned to peer at her, eyes glancing to the computers to make sure everything was alright. With that confirmed he glanced back to the tense features on her face, and slowly his brow drew up in realization.

A nightmare.

He didn't know why he did it—hell, he didn't even know that he did it in the first place—but his hand reached out, and of it's own accord landed on the back of Pan's hand. A callused thumb soothed the skin there, Trunks not even wanting to guess what her nightmares could be about.

The male sat there for a few minutes, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand and wrist. When he finally snapped to his senses and realized what he was doing, the prince retracted his hand quickly, blue eyes sweeping the area to make sure no one had saw. What the hell had that been all about? Checking for doctors he peered out the door—good.

"Trunks?"

The man was so on edge he practically jumped out of his seat, the man whirling to face the young woman that was now sitting up in her bed, staring at him questioningly. "…Hey Pan."

…Real smooth.

When did she wake up, anyway?

"…What were you doing?" she asked him—not cautiously; more curiosity then anything else. He could see that by the way she held her wrist, she had felt something.

Damnit.

"I…" Trunks racked his brain for a good excuse, because even he didn't know the answer. He wasn't going soft, that was for damn sure. He just felt… bad for her, yeah. That sounded a little better in his head, at least.

"You what?"

Trunks opened his mouth to answer, but he didn't have a chance to say anything else before their world, and everyone else's in the palace, was thrown into pitch black darkness.

And this stunt was all too familiar to the Saiyan prince.

Author's Note: So do you enjoy it? These last couple of chapters are going to be pretty fast-paced… so hang in for the ride.

Review, please! I need to know if all of my reader's didn't fall off the face of the earth. XD And if you guys like how I write. It's... different. XD

As always, thank you guys so much!