Chapter 13

Okay! Sorry about the delay on the last chapter. To make up for it, I am adding this chapter as a token of my gratitude. I want to thank all of you for reviewing! 120 reviews is a lot! ^.^ Okay, before I ramble on like I did in the last chapter, I am going to go straight into the story. Oh, and KONBANWA means GOOD EVENING for all of you that don't know!

“blah” speech

~blah~ telepathic speech (b/t bonded Saiyans)

::blah:: thoughts

(blah) A/N... miniature authors note

Characters:

Trunks: Prince of Saiyans, saved Pan from dying, likes hand to hand combat, but sometimes uses a sword, highest level attained is SS2, half Saiyan

Pan: slave of Lord Sencres Narden, sentenced to death by Kiara for supposed treason but survived thanks to Trunks, fights with sword, highest level attained is SS, 1/4 Saiyan

Bra: Princess of Saiyans, fights hand to hand, highest level attained is SS (Vegeta made her learn martial arts in case anything happened), half Saiyan

Goten: Trunks' body guard, elite, fights hand to hand, only elite in the army who can transform to SS (taught by Trunks so they could spar, only Trunks knows this), full Saiyan

Kiara: Trunks' fiancé, hates Pan, fights with many weapons, highest level attained is-- wait a minute! I'm not going to spoil that! Full Saiyan

Marron: Pan's best friend, fights with daggers, almost a Super Saiyan, full Saiyan

Videl: Pan’s mother, very strong fighter, prefers hand to hand combat, human, taught Pan how to fight, Human

Gohan: Not shown in this fic very often, father of Pan, taken from his family when Pan was very young, super saiyan, half Saiyan

Lord Narden: wealthy land owner, owner of Pan, full saiyan

Vegeta: King of Saiyans, fights hand to hand, very powerful, highest level attained is SS3

Bulma: Queen of Saiyans ,even though she is human, she can still fight well (Vegeta forced her to take lessons so that she could defend herself if anything ever happened to him and he couldn't protect her a/n: how sweet!), fights with her staff

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

Kiara, spun around, trying to fake a scared look as she clung to Trunks. “Isn’t it horrible, dear? That traitor is still alive!”

Trunks shook Kiara off is arm. “Don’t waste your breath, Kiara, I know who she is.”

Vegeta stormed forward. "What the hell is this! She's supposed to be dead! That little wench tried to kill you, brat! Why is she still alive?!"

Pan was furious. "I am NOT a wench! And I did NOT try to kill Trunks! Why would I try to kill the only person who never abused me?!" she said screamed.

Vegeta was taken aback by this girl's ability to be afraid of nothing, including himself, the King of the Saiyan race! He was quite impressed, though. The only person who talked back to him like that was Bulma and his two brats. Of course, he wasn't about to let everyone in this room know that he was going to step down from a fight that easily. "Watch your tongue, wench. You don't know who you are talking to. I could wipe you out in seconds if I wanted to." Trunks wasn't in the best mood. This was not going the way he planned.

Pan snarled. "I'd like to see you try..." she mumbled.

Bra tugged on Pan's dress. "Uh, Pan... I think you should, uh, not aggravate my dad..."

"You see, your majesty! It's not enough that she tries to kill your only son, but she talks back to you as well! She deserves to die!!" Kiara said maliciously.

Trunks' eyes widened. "No! She will not be killed!" he shouted.

The room grew quiet as everyone turned to face Trunks. Vegeta growled. "And why the hell not?!"

Kiara growled as Trunks pushed her away and walked over to Pan, clasping her hand. "Because she has done nothing wrong, that's why."

Kiara ran over and pulled Trunks away from Pan. "No, Trunks-kun, stay away from her! She's a dangerous little wench, and could trick you, just like she did in class!" she said, pretending to be concerned for Trunks' welfare.

Trunks pulled away from her. "I'm sorry Kiara, but you're wrong. I can take care of myself."

Kiara pretended to look hurt by his words. "Trunks... I was just concerned that she would do the same thing to you that she did a couple days ago..."

Pan tried to keep her ki suppressed. "Stop lying, Kiara! Trunks, you know I would never do that to you!!"

Trunks walked over to her and smiled at her. "I know you wouldn't, Pan."

Bulma looked at her son. She had never seen him fuss over anyone but himself before, let alone another woman. ~ Vegeta... do you see how they are looking at each other? Do you think...~

~ Of course I think that, woman! ~

~ Vegeta! Do you think that she's the reason he wanted to break the engagement? The only legal way you can do that is if the man or woman is in love with someone else... ~

~ Yes! I know! This can be bad... for Trunks, that is...~

~ Why? ~

~ Because that girl has an extremely low ki. You know the law. The only way he can break the engagement and marry that girl is if she beats his fiancé in combat. ~

~ Oh no...~

Bulma stood up and walked forward. "Since Kiara is here, I think it is only necessary that we address the situation at hand." She said, nodding towards Kiara.

Kiara ran towards Bulma. "Your Majesty! You can't allow her to manipulate him! Please!" she said, trying to get the Queen on her side.

"Kiara, not that situation. A different one." Kiara looked confused, but backed down. "I am talking about the engagement between you and Trunks."

Kiara's eyes widened. ::No! That little bitch probably got to him! No matter, I will beat her in combat!::

"Trunks spoke of breaking the engagement. Trunks, you know that the only way you may break the engagement between you and Kiara is if you address that you are in love with someone else. You know how it goes from there." She said calmly.

Trunks nodded. "I do love someone else." He stated quietly. "I love..."

Kiara glared daggers at Pan, who was so shocked that she didn't notice the eyes boring into her back. ::He loves someone else... I knew it was too good to be true. He was playing me all along...:: She choked back tears which tried to appear in her obsidian eyes.

"...Pan." he said, turning towards her, smiling softly.

Pan blinked as she slowly shifted her gaze towards Trunks. Did she really hear what she thought she heard? She dug into his blue eyes, searching for the truth, not knowing if she could trust his words. His eyes shone with happiness, not regret. His smile was joyful, as it had always been. Staring into the depths of the abyss in his ocean blue eyes, she saw that his words were true. "Trunks...?" she whispered quietly.

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest. "What a touching moment, but I'm afraid you can't just jump together that quickly, brat."

Trunks nodded, and Kiara ground her teeth, walking towards Pan. "Yes, it is not over, yet." She said, about to reach for her dagger but paused. ::I can't kill her now, not with witnesses. I'll kill her after this little meeting...::

Pan turned to face Kiara. "Your Majesty, " she began, never taking her eyes away from Kiara as she glared hatefully at her. "When do we battle?" She knew the law well enough to know that they had to fight. ::I always wanted to kill that bitch. And of course, the battle is over Trunks, how ironic.::

Vegeta swished his cape as he walked back towards the throne and sat upon it. "Tomorrow, at noon. Litron!" he called.

A man rushed up to the King and bowed, pulling out a notebook. "yes, Your Highness?"

"Inform the people of the battle which is to take place tomorrow. Lady Narden Kiara and Sla-- Lady Son Pan are to fight to the death, concerning the engagement of the Prince." He said, flatly. Litron bowed and exited. Turning to the five other people in the room, he said, "Now go and prepare! I have had enough excitement for the day." He said, walking out through the back door to his room.

Bulma smiled and walked up to Trunks as the others began to depart. "Trunks, I hope she wins, for the sake of your well being." He said softly.

"Nani? Why?" he asked.

"There haven't been any signs of serious bonding, has there?" she asked nervously.

"No, not serious..." he said quietly. "Mother, if that happens, I might have to step into the battle..."

"No, Trunks. You can't, you know that. I hope it doesn't happen, because your heart would be torn apart if she died. You know how strong Saiyan bonds are... At least it won't kill you, since you haven't completed the bond, but you would be very miserable for an amount of time. Trunks, if the mental portion forms completely, then you will have to convince her forfeit, and you will have to marry Kiara. You realize this, right?" she said, putting and comforting hand on her son's shoulder.

"Yes, kaa-san, I do." He said, taking her hand lightly off his shoulder. "I am going to bed now." He said. "Konbanwa, kaa-san." He said, kissing his mother lightly on the cheek before turning to leave.

"I hope she wins, Trunks. I hope she wins." She said quietly.

~*~

Pan and Bra walked down the hallways, Goten following silently. "Don't worry, Pan, you will beat Kiara, I know it!" she said, trying to cheer her friend up.

"Not now, Bra." She said as she quickened her pace.

Bra sighed deeply. "Come on. There's got to be something to cheer you up..." she said. Smirking, she added, "Pan, he did say he loved you, didn't he? Now if that doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will!" Bra was satisfied as a blush crept over her features. "I knew it!" she stated triumphantly. Goten sighed and shook his head.

Pan smiled as she walked to Bra's quarters. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Pan? I have some things to do." she said.

Pan returned the smile. "Sure thing. Ja ne, Bra-chan."

"Ja, Pan-chan." She said as she closed the door to finish some business.

As soon as she closed the door, Pan's features turned cold and serious. Spinning around, she headed in the opposite direction. Goten followed. "Lady Pan, is--"

"Pan." She said sternly as she continued in the direction of the training room.

"Uh, Pan, isn't your room that way?" he asked curiously.

"Hai." She answered coolly. "Your point?"

"Um... I figured that you might want to get some rest for the battle tomorrow and--"

"I don't need rest. Besides, there's a long period of time until night falls, if you haven't noticed." She said flatly as she entered the training room, which happened to be deserted at the time. Heading towards the center of the training facility, she powered up. "Goten, come here." She said.

Goten walked into the gravity room. "You can transform into a super saiyan, can you not?" she said, continuing to power up.

"Hai." He replied, wondering why she had asked that.

"Computer, turn up gravity to 200." Immediately, Goten began to feel a pull on him as the gravity increased. "Transform, then." She said sternly.

"Okay." He didn't waste time with the transformation as his hair turned gold and his eyes turn aqua within seconds. Smirking, he flexed his muscles, as if to show off his powers to her. After all, he was the strongest on Vegeta-sei who wasn't royalty. He was surprised when Pan didn't show any signs of astonishment.

"Good. I need a sparring partner, and you wouldn't be a challenge unless you were a super saiyan." She said plainly.

Goten was confused. ::Why does she just brush it off like this power is nothing?:: Pan walked out of the gravity chamber, Goten staring after her, even more confused than before. "Huh?" He waited there, trying to figure out what had happened.

In a matter of minutes, Pan had returned, dressed in a white gi. Seeing Goten's expression, she said, "What? It's not like I was going to spar in a dress."

"We're sparring?" asked Goten, confused.

"Duh." She said, facing him.

Goten began to laugh. "Me? Spar with you? But I'd hurt you! I'm a super saiyan, silly!" he said, finding it humerous.

Pan frowned, blasting super saiyan. Goten's mouth dropped, he was speechless. Pan looked at him expectantly. "What? Never seen a girl transform super before?" She knew the answer to that question was no, but said, "Come on! Throw a punch, baka, unless you want me to hit you first."

Goten didn't move. "I... I..."

Pan sighed. "Fine then, your choice." She stated, phasing out. The last thing he saw was a boot in his face before he flew into the wall of the gravity room. Before continuing the match, she said, "Computer, upgrade gravity to 400."

The gravity pulled down on her immensely, making it hard for the both of them to stay in the air as they exchanged blows. Beads of sweat slipped down her face, and dropped to the floor as she pushed herself to her limits. ::I'm going to beat Kiara, even if it kills me.::

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

Bwahahahahaha! (I love doing that!) See! They're really going to duke it out! I'm loving this! I promise that there will be a bunch of action in the next chapter, so stay updated! Come on! When have I ever lied to you? (don't answer that) R&R!