CHAPTER 21:
Pulse | Part 2
For several moments, it was mayhem for them all.
Pan couldn't stop herself from panicking in a stream of babbling cries. She couldn't stop the spin of her ship, and she was lost in her fear, "I can't stop this thing it's not working I'm gonna die help me I can't stop it I'm spinning out help me I'm gonna die I can't stop–"
Her hair was sticking straight up from all the centripetal motion of her ship, and she was dizzy and disoriented. Her cries drowned out Trunks' shouts over the intercom as he tried to instruct the team how to steady their ships.
Goku shouted from his intercom, unable to control the steadiness of his voice, "AYY-AAY-AAAY-can't controWOOL-WOOL-WOOL the ship!"
"-shhk- Stop, guys!" Trunks shouted over the intercom, "Stop trying to drive your ships!"
None of Trunks' words made sense to Pan. She tried everything she could to try to steer her wheel, but all of her motions just seemed to make everything worse. "I'm gonna die help me I can't stop this thing it's not responding I can't do it I'm gonna die I can't stop–"
"-shhk- I mean it! Stop trying to drive!"
"WhAH-AH-AH-at do you meYEE-YEE-YEE-ean?!" Goku shouted.
"-shhk- Can you sense the rice cooker, Goku?"
There was a momentary pause, and Goku replied, "YAAY-YAAY-YAAes."
"You know what to do, then." Trunks could be heard clacking away at his controls, "Save the kid."
There was a breath as Goku considered Trunks' suggestion in his spinning ship, and then shouted back, "OH-WOH-WOAHKAY!"
There was a -POP- of static in the intercom system, and then silence.
Pan's vision whirled with lines where the stars were, and the bright hellscape that covered an entire horizon line. In the mayhem, Pan panted with unsteady breaths, and hoped all of it would be over soon.
And then after a moment, Goku's voice resonated on the intercom, "Oh… that worked!"
"Get me out of here!" Pan screamed into the intercom, feeling sick and terrified as her eyes welled with fearful tears. "Come get me!"
"-shhk- Pan!" Trunks' voice rang through her speakers, "I'm coming to you. You need to stabilize your yaw! And I'll fix your axis!"
"What?!" Pan cried out as she still pun, "I have no idea what you just said!"
Trunks just shouted, "Turn left!"
Pan pulled her wheel as hard as she could to the left as she felt a -THADUNK!-
Trunks' ship barreled into her side, glancing it with enough force that it slowed her spin, enough that Pan was able to regain her control.
Slowly, but surely, Pan's ship stopped its spin, and stabilized.
All of the streaks were gone. All the stars shone as singular points of serenity.
For a moment, she and Trunks lingered in space, alone with their ships and the stars, and the giant hellscape at their backs.
But for that moment, Pan didn't notice the fiery star. Instead, her mind was tuned into her heartbeat, and a strong feeling in her gut that was hard for her to understand. It was like a heat that burned coolly - a fire that was hungry yet comforting. She hadn't felt something like this before. She didn't know how to explain the feeling to herself.
She hardly had time to process any of what she felt, before Trunks' voice over the intercom yanked her out of her thoughts.
"-shhk- We need to start driving, now!" Trunks' voice urged, "-shhk- Pull the thrusters forward to max power, and shut off your cabin lights. We need all our energy going to our engines. Ready?"
"Ready." Pan pulled the engine bar and pressed several buttons, ready to directly follow Trunks' commands.
"-shhk- Okay… BLAST IT!"
Pan diverted every ounce of power that she could into her engines. The whole little ship shook and vibrated with its power as it thrust forward in space. The size of her rocket blast was reminiscent of a strong ki wave, revved up to its maximum power level.
For a long half minute, Pan struggled to gain speed, but no matter how hard the ship struggled with as much power as it could muster, the coordinates showed she was losing ground.
"What's going on?!" Pan screamed over the intercom, "Why aren't we moving?!"
Trunks yelled over the intercom, "Shit! Our ships aren't powerful enough!"
Pan shrieked, realizing their dilemma, "Oh no! I'm losing ground! I'm getting pulled in!"
"-shhk- Put everything into your thrusters!"
"I am!" Pan shrieked, "It's not working! What do we do?!
There was a heartbeat of silence as Trunk's breaths quickened over the intercom. And when he spoke, his voice was ignited by a primal urgency, "We need to abandon ship."
"What!"
"We have to fly," Trunks' voice was stern and calculated. "Change into your spacesuit, Pan. I'm going to get us out of here."
Pan hesitated, realizing their dilemma, "Then there'll be nothing between us and that star!"
"-shhk- Don't worry, Pan, I won't let you get sucked in."
Something about Trunks' tone of voice sounded confident and comforting to her.
She didn't know what his plan could be, but Pan trusted him. For him to suggest something like this, Trunks surely had a plan in mind.
Pan unbuckled herself, and then pressed her watch, which -POPPED- her into her spacesuit. Pan checked her suit's inner monitor readings to confirm they were active and her air supply was sealed before she opened the top of her ship.
The air whooshed out, and in zero gravity, Pan held onto her wheel as her legs began to float upward, and she dangled from her grip.
Trunks met her in space, fully suited with a glass dome helmet that matched hers. The brightness of the star's reflection on him made him appear like a brightly-lit angel that appeared to reach out to her.
"We're going to make it out of here," Trunks reassured her.
Trunks took her right hand. She could feel the pressure of his touch through her glove, and she held on tight.
Despite their terrifying situation, there was something about holding Trunks' hand that made Pan feel like she was safe…
But then she saw a flash of white light to her rear right, and realized what it was.
"Oh gods!" Pan shouted as she turned her head to view the explosion, "Trunks, look!"
They both locked their eyes on the passenger cruise ship that they had just escaped. It erupted in violent explosions, and clouds of smoke as the chromosphere of the star obliterated the vessel.
There was no sound in space. The massive explosions were silent.
The fireball eruptions were so hot, they burned blue before all of the shrapnel and ship fragments instantaneously vaporized in the star's heat.
"Oh no!" Pan panicked as she realized they had just been on that ship moments before, "Oh no! OH NO!"
Gripping Trunks' hand tightly through her glove, Pan felt her heart about to explode from her chest. In her rising panic, her mind was pummeled with a stream of visions - of what could have been, if they had not escaped in time.
Pan realized Trunks was right. He had been on edge and was a super big jerk trying to force his way, blaming time management. But… but… he had been right.
They truly had only been moments away from death.
Pan didn't understand until this moment just how close they came to burning alive…
And now, as Pan and Trunks were connected only by their hands as they struggled to gain ground against the star's gravity, a new grave realization began to dawn within Pan.
If she and Trunks couldn't make it closer enough to the ship… she and Trunks might still burn alive…
She was in danger.
Trunks was in real danger…
Pan felt a torrent of power swirl in her core, like a rising pressure that pushed at her mental gates.
As if sensing Pan's inner turbulence from silence, Trunks pulled her to him with both hands, and spoke calmly over the intercom. "It'll be okay. Just balance your energy."
Something about his voice felt cool and collected. She couldn't understand how he managed to stay calm. But somehow… Trunks' voice made her want to believe that if she just held on tight, he'd be by her side forever.
Trunks held Pan against his spacesuit chest as he assured her, "Just stay focused, and hold on, okay?"
"Okay," Pan nodded into Trunks, wanting to feel safe with him. But as her mind swirled with the magnitude of their danger, she fought a torrent of emotions as her eyes began to sting.
She could feel unwelcome tears begin to stream down her cheeks, itching her skin with her fear, and she couldn't wipe any of them away through her spacesuit.
She couldn't do anything at all, except push her ki to its limits as she listened to the calming lull of Trunks' voice as they both flew for their lives.
"Focus your energy into your feet… like a rocket," Trunks soothingly said behind her, "Don't give up."
"I…" Pan could feel her pulse rise, and a flood of fear coursed through her, as she felt sick with anguish, "I feel like we're slipping!"
"-shhk- We're not slipping."
She sniffed and inhaled sharply, focusing her power into her feet. No matter what Trunks said, she could feel her energy burning lower. "I'm holding us back, Trunks." She cried louder as she realized her weakness, "I'm holding you back."
"You're not holding me back. Just keep flying. It's hard to see that we're gaining ground, but we are. You just need to keep pushing."
Goku's voice suddenly blasted over the intercom, "Yeah, Pan, push harder! You can do it!"
In Pan's panicked and emotional state, his words were meaningless to her. They only served to remind her of her limits.
She knew she was the weakest on the team. She wasn't able to match Trunks' energy output, even before his transformation. Trunks was going to have to protect double the load once her energy ran out.
Holding Trunks tightly as they pushed her ki from their feet, Pan closed her eyes and kept seeing flashes of memories. In each mental image, she saw smiles, and heard words of love, encouragement, and support.
Pan pictured her Papa and Mama with their loving arms; her Grandma and her delicious meals; her Uncle Goten with his latest games. She also reminisced about all of her loved ones among the Briefs and other family friends.
In a strange way, time seemed to slow for her as she recalled those she loved, and who she might never see again.
And as she pictured those she loved from her past… in a strange way, she also pictured her future.
She pictured the life that she could have lived.
She had never tried to truly picture it before. Her future felt hazy and immaterial, like colorful quantum particles as she navigated through a mental fog, trying to discover what she was seeking, and to know what she truly wanted.
As the fog of her future cleared, as Pan considered the life she could have lived, while fighting the star's gravitational pull in a harrowing escape from death, she ironically pictured a serene moment of watching the sunset as a hand held hers. In her pleasant daydream, a voice brought her joy, ringing like bells as Trunks smiled like sunshine.
In the future she could have had, she saw herself laughing with Trunks. In her daydream, she saw him looking at her with beautiful eyes, filled with his classic haughty, mischievous glint.
She always thought that part about him was a character flaw, but she realized now just how unfair she had been to him. She never truly understood him before. She had never tried.
In the life she could have had with Trunks, she saw herself pulling him closer. And as she pulled his hand, he seemed to somehow be farther away. In her dream, his hand let her go. And in her panicked mental fog, she only saw him slipping … falling and vanishing as she desperately reached for him.
She held his hand tightly, through their spacesuit. She thought of what it meant that she had him by her side, like this.
She thought of what it would mean if they died today…
They would die because she wasn't strong enough to protect Trunks.
-zzzZzzzZzz-
The moment Pan had that thought, the grief she felt buzzed inside her like a shock wave.
The more she thought that Trunks' life was truly in danger, the more she trembled; the more her nerves began to vibrate with a need for more power.
"Don't give up, Pan," Trunks' voice ran through the intercom, "I'm still right next to you."
Pan tried to calm herself, remembering that the fight wasn't over yet. Trunks was still with her. His words still soothed her.
Suddenly, she felt Trunks shift his grasp on her. Through her spacesuit, she sensed him adjusting his hold to turn her, so he could grab her from behind.
Feeling his body shift behind her, Pan could feel Trunks adjust his arms under her own to hug her back tightly against his chest.
She noted how he was holding her as he supported her. It felt a little bit like… a hero was saving her…
She wasn't sure what this moment meant to Trunks… but within her heart, she felt a throb of… something special…
Earlier, Pan did not forget that Trunks had said he could have kissed her. And now… it felt like he was saving her life. There had been many times like this before, but this time, it felt… different.
"Just keep focusing your power into your feet. Let's keep a balance and work together to rocket our power as a team, okay?"
"Yeah…"
"You ready on Five?"
Pan's hope swelled. She found solace in Trunks' confidence level. From his comforting voice, Pan felt like he helped her unlock a whole new well of energy.
"Yeah!" Pan smiled a bit, searching the void ahead of them for any sight of their spaceship.
"-shhk- Okay. Let's get out of here. Team Pan blast-off in Five - Four -"
Pan smiled a bit to herself as she noted Trunks' wording for their team name. She thought of his haughty eyes again, and how Trunks was not afraid to play along with her little games. She didn't always agree with what he found funny… but that didn't change how he had the most beautiful smile when his eyes were filled with light.
The moment Trunks' voice hit, "Three," Pan could viscerally feel a pulse of energy within Trunks' arms.
Trunks' power surged to nuclear levels.
His energy erupted as a stream of aura particles. She could feel his energy buzz against her spacesuit with a low -hummm- as energy danced around her suit, almost as brightly as flares from the star.
Trunks had transformed into a Super Saiyan.
Pan had been around Super Saiyans her whole life. But this time, as Trunks was holding her, it all felt very different.
She had never been held by a Super Saiyan this way. Trunks was securing her against his body, and she felt like she was vibrating as an extension of his heat and light. Until this moment, she had no idea what it looked like to be at the center of the power.
His aura buzzed against her spacesuit as a low -hummm- as yellow aura particles danced brightly around them both.
Something about Trunks' power felt alluring and inviting. She longed for the power, almost as if the power gave her purpose.
She wanted more of it.
She was within the hottest, brightest part of his power, and within Trunks' depths, his power felt like a blanket of light.
His power comforted her. It felt good. It felt strong.
His power was… intoxicating.
"Three… two…"
A feeling burned inside her, but she didn't understand it. Whatever it was, she kept wanting more of it - to feel it even more powerfully, and more deeply.
And as Trunks reached the end of the countdown, Pan gathered her power by her feet more… and more… as she prepared for her biggest energy burst yet.
"One… Go!"
Together, they rocketed their feet with a blast that was enormous. With their power combined, the energy that emitted from their feet was as large as a solar flare.
"Woaaa-wa-wa-wa-wa!" Pan was violently rocking in ki-turbulence as she and Trunks fought the pull of the star's gravity. Her microphone rattled against her helmet as a strong -rrkrrrkrrkrrkrrkrrk- vibration as she tried to get out words, "Wooaa-wa-wa-wa-wa!"
"Focus your energy!" Goku voiced over the intercom, "Just think of it like a dance."
Pan vibrated with the power and tried to keep however calm she could with her racing heart, "Tha-a-ats easy for y-you to say-ay-ay!"
As Pan tried to focus her energy and balance her power, Trunks shouted through the intercom, pushing her forward, "P-p-pour everything you h-h-have! D-d-don't hold back!"
Pan fought the star's pull with all of her energy. The more she focused on her balance, the more she reached into the deepest parts of her reserve.
And the more she burned, the more she felt more and more sore.
As they turbulently continued to rocket forward, Pan's body was beginning to scream in tension. Her muscles were working on overdrive.
"You can do it!" Goku shouted over the intercom, "Just keep pushing harder!"
"W-w-what do you m-m-mean?!" Pan jabbered over the intercom. "I'm pushing as h-h-hard as I c-c-can!"
"Just get angry!" Goku insisted.
Pan was flabbergasted, "Angry?!"
Pan was overwhelmed with emotions far beyond anger. She could only feel her desperate urge to save Trunks' life.
The anger that she felt was for herself. She didn't realize how she had put Trunks in such danger. She was angry that he might die because of her.
She knew her Grandpa's words held weight. If she just embraced her anger for herself, then maybe she could find her strength. Maybe then, she could turn into a Super Saiyan, too…
But despite her anger, Pan was running out of energy. She felt like she was still unable to help Trunks overcome the star's pull.
All of her energy use was tapping her reserves. She might have gained marginal ground, but she knew that her energy couldn't hold up. Even with Trunks as a full-fledged Super Saiyan, they could only go so far, struggling to overcome its gravitational force while being so close to the corona.
Trunks and she struggled against the star, Pan could feel her energy output get fainter. Her body was unable to keep up with the power that she needed.
As each moment passed, Pan felt a tightening in her chest, as she realized they were again falling closer to the star.
Their spaceship was just so far away … Pan could barely even see it. She wasn't even sure if she was looking at it. She couldn't focus any of her thoughts on anything other than pouring all of her energy into their escape flight.
She felt her body starting to shut down. She felt her consciousness starting to waver.
Her entire body began to scream that it was exhausted. She was fighting a current, and she couldn't overcome it.
She heard her Grandpa's voice again, encouraging her, but she couldn't understand his words.
She had lost too much energy. She had overexerted herself beyond her limits.
Within Trunks' arms, she could feel her energy begin to sputter. It ran so low that she was no longer able to support him in his flight anymore.
"Come onnnn," Trunks pushed harder, raising his ki output, and strained himself to his limit.
Pan could see white sparks among the ki begin to form in his desperate attempt to propel them toward their ship. Something about the sparks felt like they were on another level…
It kept sparking, but Trunks couldn't hold it. He struggled, and roared as his energy flickered, "Aaahhh!"
Pan could sense how Trunks was sourcing his energy from his gut, and pulling it from his soul. She could tell he was digging into the depths of his life force. She could feel the pull of his power, as her own ki felt spirited away with his, as he drained his well dry.
Pan didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't want to say anything to address their fate, because then it might discourage him. But she also knew that she was out of energy. And Trunks was running out, too.
She looked out to space, and knew it was her grave.
As Trunks continued to hold her back against his chest, his voice calmed.
And suddenly, they weren't fighting anymore. Trunks was flying, but he seemed… strangely complacent.
His voice came over the intercom, sounding reminiscent as he spoke slowly, "Pan… did you know… that when a Saiyan turns thirteen, there's normally a ceremonial reading to honor the coming of age."
"What…" Pan didn't understand where Trunks was going with his speech, but something about it made her gut clench with worry.
"There used to be a tradition for a father to tell advice to a son… kind of like an inherited will…"
Pan was confused. What were these words? Why was he saying them?
"Maybe…" Trunks swallowed with wet eyes, "... Maybe I can pass my own advice to you. I'm sorry I couldn't do more..."
"What…" Pan's breath caught in her thought, "W-what are you saying?!"
Trunks' voice sounded cracked as he continued, "We don't have time, Pan." He looked her in the eyes with a serious expression as he shed a tear, "If there's one thing I want you to remember, … it's that…"
"What…" Pan's eyes welled with tears.
"It's that… F = ma."
"What?!" Pan blinked, not sure if she was more incredulous or appalled.
"It's the fundamental basics of physics, Pan. It's a defining rule of the universe - the same as how every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
Pan couldn't understand what was happening. She felt desperate as she tried to turn her head to Trunks, "Why would you even want to teach me that?"
She couldn't see Trunks beyond the blazing light of the star behind them. But she could somehow picture his exact expression when he spoke with a hint of melancholy in his tone.
"Because maybe you'll forgive me for what I have to do."
"What…" Pan's eyes went wide as she started to suspect what Trunks was planning.
"The gravitational pull is directly proportional to our increased mass. But if I can give you the same force as what we're trying to escape… your force will outdo the star's gravitational force and acceleration."
Pan tensed in her panic, "I have no idea what you just said!"
"I'm saying…" Trunks held her tighter, "I can save your life."
"No…" Pan began to realize what he was doing.
Trunks loosened his grip to hold Pan out in front of him. He adjusted his grip so he held her with his left hand. And in his right hand, behind her, he began to charge a ki blast.
Pan could feel the ki blast charging, as its close radiation aura warmed her skin through her spacesuit.
"What are you doing?!" Pan's eyes welled with fresh tears, "NO!"
"I'm sorry, Pan," Trunks' voice was slow and grave, "I don't think you'll be able to save me this time around."
"No!" Pan cried, knowing his danger. "NO!"
"I wish I could have had more time with you. I'm grateful for the time that we got."
"No, Trunks!" Pan's emotions ran wild as she tried to flail in his hand, "Don't do this! NO!"
Goku's voice came from over the intercom, "What's happening?"
Trunks continued, "I'm sorry I wasn't better to you. I truly didn't understand how lucky I was until it was too late."
"NO!" Pan screamed, feeling all of her emotions swirl into a tumultuous storm as a pulse ran through her, "NOOOOO!"
It was futile. She grabbed at Trunks' hands around her chest, but she knew her grip through her space suit would never withstand the force of his blast. Pan was one blast away from propelling toward spaceship with the same force that was about to thrust him, straight backward, to fall into the star.
"NOOOOOO!"
Trunks intended to sacrifice himself to save her.
"Trunks!" Goku's voice rang through the intercom, "What are you doing?"
Realizing that he was about to die, Pan screamed with every fiber of her being, as she was overwhelmed by a rage.
She reached into her very bones, to her deepest life force, in her desperate last stand for power.
She had to save Trunks with every fiber of her life.
She needed to fight for them. She was going to lose him.
"Live, for me."
"Trunks!" Goku called to object over the intercom.
Pan could only scream for their lives.
"NOOOOOO!"
Trunks released his blast against her back, and poured so much of his energy into the energy wave that his hair flickered with the drain of power.
As Pan screamed, a shock of energy silently burst from her center.
-zzzzZAP-
And as quickly as Trunks released it, the attack was gone.
His energy… had been absorbed by the lightning as his ki wave fizzled and vaporized into black and purple bolts of energy.
It was exactly like the time on the moon, Kikarroo, when Trunks had attacked the curtained lightning gate that had eaten his energy.
Incredulous, Trunks' eyes went wide as his hair reverted to its blue-toned purple.
In the same moment that Trunks lost his power, Pan tearfully and desperately reached for a power that could save him. She was fueled by a singular purpose - to save what she loved.
Trunks had been about to give up.
She hadn't had enough time with him, yet. Their story wasn't through.
She would save him with every fiber of her being, and every ounce of energy within her soul. And any other fate or entity that said otherwise - prophecy or god - would be damned to get in her way.
Trunks was hers. And she refused to lose him.
Just the thought of losing him triggered her anger.
In her rage, a spark burst around Pan, flaring into a massive bright aura of black and purple lightning that was edged with a white glow. The bolts around Pan zapped around her like a metal rod in a glass electric globe. Zaps came from everywhere, snapping in the silence of space as it surrounded them in a sparking glow.
-zzzZZzzt-
With wide eyes, Trunks loosened his grip in surprise.
In that moment, Pan grabbed his left hand and spun to face him.
She looked into Trunks' eyes as sparks raged around them. His wet eyes sparkled like the stars.
The hellscape burned brightly behind him, bathing him in a fiery backlight as they descended in their fall toward the flames.
She had known Trunks all her life, and yet only in this last, eternal moment, she felt she finally saw Trunks for who he was. In his last moments of life, Pan was able to see his true character, and where his heart truly lay.
For that singular moment, Pan saw a man with a beautiful soul. His strikingly handsome face was framed with hair that reminded her of the deepest oceans and eyes that resembled warm skies, and a look that spoke of family, virtue and home.
She saw a good man in him.
She could see Trunks' mouth started to move, as if he were talking to her… but no sound was coming through.
Goku's voice buzzed through a static cloud over the radio, as only one word made it through, "-zz-.. insti-nct..-zz…!"
And then the radio fizzled, and went dead.
And in that moment, as they descended toward the star, and the energy sparked around them, all Pan could see were Trunks' eyes, and the message that his expression told her.
His hand went to hers as his eyes welled. It was clear that Trunks thought they were both about to die, and he was resigned to his fate. She could read from his lips that he he was apologizing to her… that he was so sorry… that he failed her.
But Pan was not going to lose him.
Not today.
"I'm going to save you, Trunks." Pan spoke in an almost haunted tone as she felt the bolts course through her.
Pan grabbed both wrists of Trunks' spacesuit as felt the inside her scream with purpose. A primal, desperate power within her slammed against her mental gates, and demanded to be released.
She didn't know what to expect… but she knew she had to save Trunks.
She closed her eyes, and prayed to King Kai, and her Grandpa, and to all the gods as she released her tension, and decided to trust her instincts.
Within her core, Pan felt an immense power swell inside her - a familiar sensation, which she had never been able to cling to. But in her calm resolution and surrender to her instincts, it rose like a rising pool of limitless energy.
She felt alive with power as purple sparks zapped around her. She trusted in the power.
The well within her was full, to the brim. She felt the power was leaking through. All of her cells felt immersed and bathed with light.
With her eyes closed, she gave her energy a gentle push.
With tidal force, the pressure of an entire ocean of power blew out of a blowhole, shooting from her feet as a massive lightning storm of power.
-ZZZZOOOOOOOM-
A lightning storm erupted beneath Pan's feet, sparking outward, like a massive comet.
Both of them jolted forward, away from the star, at a breakneck speed as their heads snapped back in whiplash.
And in that moment, as Pan thrust them forward and toward their ship, Pan felt like she was cloaked by power as she was propelled through space and time. Everything seemed to flash as the stars became jagged bolts in her vision.
The energy boomed and cracked around them as it thrust them like a wind at their back, pushing them away from the gravitational pull. The intensity of Pan's comet-like blast flashed a purple electric aura against the black vastness of space.
With the power of a thousand suns, and keeping her eyes closed with focus, Pan propelled both of them forward, shooting at record speed toward the spaceship.
-FWOOOOO-
As they shot through space, Trunks started to squirm against Pan's hug.
She opened her eyes to see he was flailing and trying to scream something at her through his glass helmet, trying to get her attention.
She couldn't hear him; the radio was still not working.
Instead, she heard her own breaths and pounding heartbeat over her spacesuit that vibrated with the energy she had been exerting through her feet.
Trunks tried to mouth his words clearly, "Mee-ah-iiiiin yeeuuu"
"Mee-ahin eu?" Pan tried to understand. The M could have been a P.
Pee-ain yeu? Or maybe it was a B? Bee-ain yeu?
Trunks was trying to gesture somewhere.
She realized his words. Behind you.
She tried to turn her head, but the glaring light of the star impeded her vision. She squinted, but it was painful to look in that direction.
Turning her head back, to look beyond Trunks, Pan realized that their spaceship with her Grandpa was otherwise nowhere in sight.
Realization dawned on her, and she looked back to Trunks with widening eyes.
Somehow, during her fever-like trance, Pan had rocketed them so fast that they had already passed their spaceship, and they were now accelerating out to the great expanse of space.
Pan immediately released her power.
The second the lightning vanished, Pan felt there was a void in her aura that sucked out the last of her energy.
She panted, "Hahh… Hahh…" Pan could only hear her voice rasp as she breathed heavily in her suit.
As the electric static vanished, the radio started sputtering back to life.
"... -ccelerat-... -shhk-!-...- Fuc-!" Trunks was yelling curses as he flailed again, "... e oversho- it!"
His voice never sounded so beautiful and perfect. Pan felt like she could choke.
"..n't you kn… same forc…no resistan… ake you accelerate! If we… -n't turn ar…nd we'll be goi… t to space…!"
She heard his words, but she wasn't listening. His lips moved, and she heard his voice. Whatever he was saying didn't matter. It paled to the overwhelming swell of joy, and terror, and sadness, and elation, all swirling within Pan's heart.
He was breathing. He was alive…
She still had Trunks. He was right here with her. He was still in her arms, and he was okay…
Pan could feel a sob of relief begin to overwhelm her.
She didn't care that Trunks could hear her cry. She felt her chest heave, and she opened her mouth to call out his name, just to hear it, and know that he could hear it too. He was alive.
She still had him. She still had…
"...My Trunks-kun…" Pan hitched as she felt a tear run down her right cheek as she breathed. She didn't know why she added the honorific suffix to his name. It just… felt more intimate, and like it also spoke to her family's roots.
She didn't want to call him any other nickname. She was just grateful to still have her Trunks.
Trunks stopped talking, and the radio fell silent again for a moment as his expression slowly shifted into a look of wonder.
It was a little funny… Now that Pan was paying attention to what Trunks had to say, he had gone silent and introspective.
He was such a handful, Pan didn't even know what to do with him sometimes. It made her want to laugh a little bit, but at the same time, at the thought of having more time with him, Pan could feel her other whirlpool of emotions swell up again.
Trunks held her a little more tightly as his eyes continued to hold her gaze.
They just breathed for a moment as they drifted among the stars. After what felt like a dance in the heavens, Trunks' eyes softened, and his mouth turned up a little bit as he subtly smiled.
And then… Trunks said her name in the most beautiful tone she'd ever heard.
"...My Pan-chan…"
His tone was like bells. She hitched her breath, wanting to hear more. She wanted to hear Trunks say her name, just like that, again.
Suddenly, an energy blinked in her vision, and space warped behind her.
Pan was caught in surprise and hiccupped as there was a silent -POP- in space. And then, suddenly Goku was beside them, appearing in his spacesuit.
"Ya haaa!" Goku shouted as he appeared.
It took a split second for them both to realize he was there. He appeared so suddenly, out of nowhere, that it was as if he had been there the whole time.
Startled and taken aback, Trunks shouted, "G-G–!"
"–GRANDPA?!" Pan's eyes bugged out in surprise, suddenly more embarrassed than elated that he was there.
Goku grinned confidently and reached out to grab both Trunks' and Pan's arms.
"Got ya!" Goku beamed.
"Goku…" Trunks' voice was filled with relief as he grabbed Goku's arm with his free left arm, still being hugged by Pan with his right.
"I was wondering what happened. The radio kicked out, and then I tried to adjust the frequencies, uhhh, and I sorta lost you guys!" Goku laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, my bad."
"Grandpa…" It suddenly sunk in that Goku was there to save them. Pan felt filled to the brim with love and adoration for her Grandpa. He was their hero.
"How did you guys get all the way out here, anyway?" Goku looked around, "It's like you're halfway to the next planet."
"What…?" Trunks looked out ahead, and Pan followed his gaze to notice one of the bright stars actually seemed a little bigger now, and a little more blue-tinted than others.
Pan didn't understand. Somehow, they had traveled millions of miles in a short time.
"WHAT?!" Trunks' shout over the intercom almost blew out her speakers. "How is this possible?!"
Goku looked thoughtful for a moment, "I mean, you guys were going pretty fast…"
"Not that fast!" Trunks exclaimed incredulously, "That's faster than our ship!"
"Speaking of which!" Goku held his grip on them more tightly, "We gotta get back to the ship. The kid is still there."
Trunks just stared at Pan, wearing an agape look of wonder and awe on his face.
Pan didn't know what to say to Trunks, or what expression she should project in response. She was just as confused as Trunks, and she felt her answers were out of reach.
She didn't know what had happened. But she knew her Grandpa was there…
And now that Goku was here, Trunks was safe.
In the end, Pan learned, that's all that truly mattered to her… knowing that Trunks was safe.
"Okay guys, here we go," Goku nodded to them both, and then looked ahead to concentrate with unfocused eyes.
And then he closed his eyes…
And Trunks and Pan held their breath.
… And then nothing.
As they now collectively continued to hurdle through space, Goku opened his eyes and gave a sheepish grin, "Oh, oops."
There was pause, and Trunks replied over the intercom, "-shhk- What do you mean 'Oops'?!"'
"Hehe…" Goku's cheeks tinted a bit through his helmet, "I forgot I can't instant transmit that direction."
"What?!" Pan and Trunks both reacted at once.
"But don't worry! I'll still get us back." Goku flashed a confident grin. "Trunks, you just hold onto Pan, and Pan you hold onto me. Got it?"
"Uhh," Trunks adjusted to hold onto Pan around her waist, "Like this?"
Pan wasn't sure how to best hold onto her Grandpa, so she moved both her and Trunks to also hold Goku around his waist.
They dangled a bit in space, holding on to each other as a chain. Once they were all in place, Goku adjusted their angle so that Pan and Trunks faced the depths of space, with their backs to the bright light as Goku faced the star ahead.
"Right! Okay guys, don't forget to grab it!"
Pan and Trunks were both confused at once, "Grab what?!"
Goku never gave them a response as he cupped his hands together, and brought them to his lower right side.
"Kaaaaaa… meeeee…"
Soundlessly, a bright blue energy ball began to spin between Goku's palms as he prepared his signature move.
"Grab what?" Trunks repeated in question.
"Haaaaa…meeee…"
"Wait, Goku!" Trunks seemed to realize what Goku meant, "I can't see the shi–!"
"–HAAAAAAAA!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
Goku's massive Kamehameha wave blasted them toward their ship with an immense force.
Trunks and Pan screamed for their lives, holding on to Goku as all hurdled back toward the ship, squished like pancakes in their momentum.
–––––––
Of course they completely missed the ship.
–––––––
It took several rounds of Kamehamehas before they actually made it back.
Somewhere in the process of saving them, Goku got it in his head to "test his limits" by using his own energy to return them to the ship, as some kind of "personal challenge," despite how Trunks objected about monitoring their oxygen levels. Trunks' rising stress only seemed to fuel Goku's desire to showcase his strength.
Ultimately, their rescue came down to a demonstration of Goku's Saiyan pride. And, to validate his strength, Goku opted to not use instant transmission, viewing it as "cheating" in his self-imposed challenge.
But, eventually, they did make it back.
And they all somehow had returned to their ship alive, and well.
When Trunks grabbed a hold of the hatch, and after Pan also latched onto the ship's landing gear, Goku confirmed that they were okay, and then finally instant-transmitted himself back on board.
In his excitement to finally get back on board, he completely left Trunks and Pan outside the ship.
–––––––
It didn't take too much to figure out their way back inside. Trunks had done a few maintenance checks while in space, so he had gotten fairly nimble with his spacesuit while punching in the ship's password, setting the correct air lock settings, and turning the crank to manually open up the hatch.
After they re-entered the ship, and the hatch closed under their feet, it finally hit both Trunks and Pan that they had survived, and that they were safe.
As air streamed back into the sealed loading area, Trunks and Pan just watched each other as they breathed heavily in their spacesuits, with racing hearts. Their breaths made mist against their helmet glass.
As the winds died down around them, and the pressure equalized, Trunks never took his eyes off Pan as he pressed his suit bracelet, and -POPPED- his spacesuit back within the watch.
Trunks breathed heavily, his gaze fixed on Pan as she changed back into her red shirt and jeans.
Their hair was damp with sweat; their cheeks glistened with the memory of recent emotions.
A tense moment passed, in which Trunks looked strongly and wide-eyed at Pan.
In that same moment, Pan watched his blue eyes and felt herself lose herself in their watery depths.
And then everything hit Pan at once - all the memories of what she had just felt, and all the terrifying close calls to their lives.
Her eyes lost focus as her body began to shake from fear.
She had never felt that scared in her life. Nothing had ever terrified her as much as what had just happened, and how terrified she was to have everything almost taken from her.
They were so close to dying. She was so close to losing Trunks.
If she hadn't been there… If she had stayed behind and just let him go off and make his reckless choices… she would have lost him.
She just might save his life…
Just thinking about how much danger made her heartbeat pulse with adrenaline. She felt tears well up in her eyes.
Pan suddenly felt the drain on her body. She felt weak to her knees, and kneeled to the ground as her countenance completely shattered.
She curled, and trembled, and began to sob uncontrollably.
"Pan…" Trunks' voice was strangely compassionate. She wasn't used to hearing this tone. It scared her. It was the tone he used when he thought he was going to die.
Trunks knelt to be at her eye level, and projected a supportive smile, "We're okay."
"You said…" Pan spoke to the ground with wet eyes, unable to meet his gaze, "...You…"
Her emotions were everywhere. She didn't know what to do with them, as she remembered what Trunks said earlier, and the look on his face at the time.
Pan looked up to Trunks, with freshly dampened cheeks, as she started again, "You said… you wished you had more time with me."
Trunks paused, as his eyes searched her expression.
"I did," he said.
"Th-that…" Pan sniffed as her trembling grew stronger. She broke out into another sob, as she cried, "... w-was the nicest th-thing you ever said to me."
Trunks' eyes widened slightly as he swallowed.
Trunks wore an expression that Pan had never seen before, on anyone.
There wasn't a word for his expression. He looked shocked, and hurt… and at the same time, remorseful, and guilty. And above all that, he looked hopeful, but broken. There wasn't a word for it that Pan ever knew.
"Have I…" Trunks swallowed again, as if trying to find his voice, "... really never said anything nicer to you?"
Pan looked in his eyes, searching. But as she saw the blue depths bearing into her soul, she looked down and away, feeling strangely shy.
"I guess… I don't know. But…" Pan raised her right arm to wipe her cheek, and then looked down at her hand, "... I know I'll remember that forever… that… you wished for more time with me."
Trunks kept watching her eyes, with that strange expression.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes again, and then looked up to Trunks with a forlorn and slightly teasing smile. "What are you gonna do, now that we have more time?"
Trunks stared at her a moment as her words drifted by him. The look he gave her spoke to a thousand thoughts and calculations that sparkled behind his azure eyes.
After a long breath, his expression softened, and he raised his lips to a reminiscent grin.
"Well… first…" Trunks stood up straight and held his left hand out to her. "I'm going to start telling you nicer things."
Pan took his hand with her right, and then, almost like choreography, Trunks pulled her up with a confident tug.
-tkk-
Pan landed her neatly on her feet, in a smooth motion that was almost like a dance, as he slid his right hand to her lower side, and edged it up her back, lifting her toward him.
As Pan struggled to comprehend his motions, Trunks extended their hands, and in that moment, she realized they were now standing almost chest to chest.
He had her in a ballroom dance pose.
Trunks leaned his head forward, and with his right hand, he pulled her lower back up to lift her slightly.
He closed his eyes, and brought his lips to her forehead.
In a gust of adrenaline, Pan felt her emotions soar and spread like wildfire. Heat coursed up her spine, and her entire body felt aflame with excitement and jubilance.
It felt like his lips lingered on her forehead forever and a day. And it felt incredible to her. She felt tingles ignite up and down her spine like a thousand sparks of joy.
Trunks' soft lips pulled away from her forehead, and she found herself gazing up at him.
He was so close. He was still holding her like a dance. The way that the overhead lights hit his hair, it glistened with sunset purple highlights.
Her heart skipped a beat when she looked in his eyes. She wasn't sure what she was seeing. She wasn't sure if it was real.
His eyes were soft and humble.
She could see his truth behind his solemn gaze as he smiled softly.
His eyes sparkled like the rain in sunlight as he looked straight into the depths of her orbs.
"Thank you, Pan."
His voice was musical and magical.
His smile was breathtaking. Pan could feel her heart flutter in her chest, like dragonflies taking flight.
She found herself smiling at him. She didn't remember when she began to smile. For some reason, she felt like she had lost track of time. She wasn't sure anymore how fast time was supposed to go.
But she wanted to keep diving into his oceanic eyes. She wanted to feel more of those lips and his mesmerizing smile. She wanted more.
Pan found herself looking between his eyes and his smile, not sure where her eyes should lie - on his gaze, or on his lips. Both were equally as beautiful, and close, and real.
She kept finding herself realizing again, and again how Trunks was alive. He was still here.
His right hand was against her back as she was pressed against him.
It was like they were dancing, and he had just kissed her forehead. His soft smile was so close.
She wanted him to kiss her forehead again. She wanted to feel his warm lips against her. He made her feel special, and seen.
Pan didn't know what she was feeling. She had never felt anything like this before - wanting so much more of something that she already had.
Trunks' smile brightened as he brought his left hand up to stroke one of her stray bangs back. "I don't know how you did it, but…" he smiled like sunlight, "I couldn't have done that without you."
Pan felt her cheeks flush a bit as her heart skipped a beat, and her smile widened.
This feeling she had… was warm. She felt acknowledged. She felt seen.
She saw his eyes run through a myriad of expressions as his eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
She could tell that each twitch was a new thought as he immersed himself in whatever daydream or calculation he had behind his blue, glistening eyes. She could see him navigating his own whirlwind of emotions, which she also knew he'd probably never truly voice to her.
Trunks didn't say it, but Pan knew he was proud of her.
He was still holding her. And like her, he was still trying to find his own words.
But just from this, she knew he appreciated her. He wasn't telling her in words… He was telling her by how he held her.
"Hey!" Goku's voice pierced through their spell as he called down to the loading area, "You guys still down there?"
–––––––
You guys still down there?
Goku's voice resounded in his head, and Trunks was pulled out of his stupor.
Realizing he had been staring, and daydreaming, Trunks inhaled sharply, and felt all of his energy suddenly shift into a bashful countenance.
His cheeks flushed as he let go of Pan and stepped back a bit. He looked down and to the right part of the floor as he scratched behind his neck nervously. He mostly felt a warm, gentle awkwardness inside.
"Yeah," Trunks answered Goku with a reminiscent tone, and then brought his gaze to Pan's onyx eyes again. His awkward smile softened as he then spoke slowly, and with layers of meaning, "...We're still here."
He couldn't take his eyes off of Pan's dark pools of onyx and gray. The colors swirled in his mind as a galaxy glittered with stars.
He felt caught in her orbit, spiraling into her own gravitational well. And the closer he got, the more a heat within him rose.
He realized this was something he wanted. He wanted to be as close to her star as he could be, and to melt into her, and be one with her energy.
He wanted to feel like he could trust her to embrace and accept him as close as he could be.
He wanted to always look into her eyes; he wanted her eyes to always look at him. He just wanted to feel seen, and loved, and he wanted to be loved by Pan.
He could have looked into her eyes forever.
"The boy's out cold," Goku called down to them, "He's been shaking, too. I don't know what's wrong."
At the thought of the boy, Trunks again came out of his daze. He broke his eyes away from Pan's to look up at Goku, and fully acknowledge his presence.
In that moment, Trunks remembered their mission, and how it wasn't done yet. Somehow, he had forgotten that. He had gotten distracted by his feelings. He didn't understand what he had felt.
Pan had saved his life. And suddenly, that made her look different to him in some way. He couldn't place it. But her power - whatever that had been - it was… incredible. He wanted to reach out and touch it again. He wanted to understand what it was that made Pan such an incredible creature in his life.
She saved his life.
She was… his hero.
Something about that thought made his body viscerally pulse, as if it were on the brink of an awakening.
Pan blushed a bit, and broke their gaze as she looked down to her feet, "I guess… we should go check on the boy…?"
Trunks just watched her with a faroff gaze. "Yeah."
"I guess…" Pan continued as her eyes searched the floor, "...the boy's family was probably killed on that ship…"
Trunks felt an urgent mental pull as his thoughts refocused to the metallic object he found on the docking bay floor. The new thought quickly became a distraction, as Trunks' gaze unfocused with a newfound realization.
He distractedly checked inside his pocket to feel the mangled metal, and remembered his strange, dubious feelings about it.
"Do you think he's an orphan?" Pan wondered aloud, bringing her eyes back to Trunks'.
His eyes were looking beyond her, as he also absentmindedly thought out loud, "I don't know."
Now that he had a moment to breathe, his thoughts remained trained on the metal in his pocket.
It was the same size… and same mass as… as…
… but it couldn't be…
"It's so weird that all the bodies were gone from the ship," Pan looked up to where Goku had been, and then pushed ki through her feet to elevate her, so she could hover. "I wonder whatever happened to his family…"
Trunks felt a strange, awkward feeling in the pit of his stomach as he continued to wonder about the metal object.
Pan hovered upward, toward the living room, as Trunks stood as the base of the loading area. "I hope on the next planet, we can help him reunite with family."
Trunks watched her levitate upward, and vanish beyond the round hatch.
His mind was spinning. His doubts were flaring. All of his thoughts seemed to merge into the same, cycling repetition of wonder….
He wondered… what happened to the boy's family…
He wondered… if everyone was killed…
Then… if the metal object had been a capsule…
And all the bodies were missing…
Trunks tried to hold back his thoughts, but they started to swirl, and he could feel a spiral he wasn't sure how to hold back.
What if…
…. the metal object had been a capsule…
What if…
… all of the dead bodies… were…
He touched the mangled metal object in his pocket, and his emotions whirled again, but this time in a much darker, grave and mortified tone.
"Are you coming?" Pan called down to him.
Trunks realized Pan had been waiting for him at the top.
Trunks shook his head, as if shaking off his doubt.
No, it was impossible. There was no way it could be a capsule.
Besides… there was nothing he could do about it right now, and even his own doubts made no sense.
The only way it could have been a capsule is if his family had been there. But if his family had been there, they surely would have known about Trunks' ship's approach because they'd likely have their own Dragon Radar.
It just didn't make sense, and Trunks' mind was again swirling with questions.
Was this a coincidence? Was there a message to this? Did some other alien civilization invent their own form of capsule technology?
As Trunks rose to join Pan in the living room, his head was still spinning with unanswered questions. All of those thoughts vanished to the background by the time they walked to the bedroom, and Trunks finally got a good look at the enigmatic boy they rescued.
In the bedroom, Goku was sitting on the hammock, watching over the young green-haired boy, who was sleeping on top of the light gray covers of the bottom bunk bed.
"How's he doing?" Trunks looked at the boy's sleeping form, "Has he shown any signs of waking?"
"Not really," Goku shrugged, "His ki signature has been kinda off, too."
Trunks was puzzled. "His ki is off?"
Goku shrugged again, "It's weird - it feels a lot like the static from the ship. I don't think I've ever met a race yet that has this kind of ki. It explains why I couldn't really sense him on board."
"Either that, or he's sick," Pan declared. "Either way, I'm going to go get some water for him, for when he wakes up."
"Good idea," Goku said as he watched the boy.
After Pan left the room, Trunks remained alone with Goku, with his eyes trained on the boy.
The more Trunks looked at the boy, the more something felt strangely… odd. There was something strangely familiar about him, but he couldn't place what.
As Trunks watched the boy, Goku continued to swing a bit, kicking his legs in thought as he sat on the hammock.
And then, Goku's eyes trailed to look at Trunks, and he paused, blinking a moment as if he just remembered a thought.
"Oh!" Goku suddenly declared, "Yeah!" He reached into his inner gi pocket by his left chest, "I found your bandana on that pipe that got me."
"Huh?" Trunks was startled by Goku's words, and couldn't recall what moment he was talking about, "What? Pipe?"
"Yeah, your bandana," Goku said again, and pulled a square cut blue fabric out from his left chest.
"Bandana…?" Trunks was truly confused. He didn't recall ever getting snagged by a pipe while on the ship.
But, to his surprise, Trunks looked down to Goku's right hand, and saw a very familiar color of blue in his hand, as it was offered to him.
Trunks awkwardly accepted it, acknowledging it as his bandana, "Thanks."
Then, as Trunks reached behind him to stuff it in his back pocket, he realized there was fabric already there.
Strange…
Now very confused, Trunks pulled out the blue bandana that he remembered putting into his pocket.
He held both fabrics up, with a vacant expression.
Goku saw the bandanas and jumped out of his hammock in shock, landing with a -plip-.
"Woah!" Goku stood wide-legged in surprise as he looked between the two, "Are those the same thing?!"
Trunks was bewildered. "How could this be? They look exactly the same…"
Trunks held both bandanas down so Goku could get a better look.
Together, they scrutinized the cloths, both at a loss for words or explanation.
Trunks kept feeling a memory creep back from the recesses of his mind… remembering the dream…
… and what looked like a capsule…
Trunks' imagination began to wander… and started to get dangerously close to a truth.
… What if it wasn't his family…?
Something in his gut screamed to him that he shouldn't think of it further. But another part of his soul screamed that he should keep going. He should keep pushing the thought…
… What if –
"– Wait no. Look. Here." Goku got excited as he pointed to the corner of the bandana from the ship.
Trunks was pulled back from his thoughts as he looked to where Goku was pointing.
The bandana that Goku found had a marking on it.
"See, that has a symbol on it," Goku pointed to what looked like a tiny smudge. Upon closer inspection, Trunks could see that it was a tiny black heart that was embroidered into the corner.
Goku's bandana had a black heart on it.
Trunks' bandana did not have anything on it.
It was not the same bandana, after all.
Trunks was flooded with relief, and released a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.
He didn't realize just how much he needed evidence to prove his wild imagination wrong. But that was all it was - his imagination.
Goku sat back down on the hammock, and rocked a bit as he mused aloud, "There's been lots of weird coincidences today, huh?"
"Yeah…" Trunks looked at the boy in the bed, and thought again about the prophecy.
He thought about Pan's unexplained burst of power that somehow propelled them past the ship, and out of the star's gravitational well entirely.
"I'm not so sure I believe much in coincidences anymore, Goku. But…" Trunks turned his face to Groku and grinned an awkward smile, "... on the other hand…"
Trunks held up both of the bandanas that looked so much alike, but were very much not the same bandana, "...I do enjoy a good dose of irony…"
–––––––
–––––––
–A: 5/23/24–
–F: 7/23/24–