I watched through the window, glaring at my so-called friend. He was admittedly good at playing the innocent one in this situation…if I didn’t hate him already, I might think he was innocent. But I didn’t hate him, I realized; I was still in love. No matter what horrible obstacles life insisted were thrown my way, I could never fall out of love with Trunks. No matter what he did to me. That what made me such an easy target.
I genuinely hoped that it wasn’t what I thought, because I would assuredly fall victim to whatever it was. Without a doubt. I was as good as heartbroken already.
I growled under my breath, turning back to face my distraught uncle. What did they think we thought, anyway? I just thought they were being rude. But apparently Goten thought otherwise.
“I can’t believe she’d do this to me,” he groaned, shaking his head in disgust and despair. “We’ve only been together a week…and she’s leaving me for him…the plan worked, after all…”
“What!?” I cried. “That’s not it! You idiot! There’s no way—”
“Proof?” he requested, glaring now at me.
I was slightly taken back by this request. My eyes averted from his glare and fixed themselves on the hardwood floor of this particular room. “I haven’t got any,” I admitted quietly. “But judging by the way Trunks was acting when we got here, there’s no chance of them getting back together ever. I wonder what they’re doing?”
“Probably trying to emotionally scar us for life,” Goten muttered resentfully. “She poisoned me on purpose! I can’t believe she’d do such a thing…she’s hopeless…”
“Goten, it was an accident,” I said, wincing at the mention of yesterday’s cooking experience. “She poisoned me, too, and herself. Plus, I think it was mostly my fault.”
“It’s just part of an act,” he clarified. “She’s faking her own poison and really trying to kill me. She knows that I eat too much, and I could easily consume a fatal amount of food poisoning before I realized it. She wants me dead! She was using me for the money…”
I laughed, I couldn’t help it. “What money?” I teased, poking him lightly on the arm. He glared at me, then turned away and folded his arms over his chest.
“I’m rich, for your information,” he stated smugly, folding his arms over his chest and looking a great deal like Vegeta. “Even richer than Trunks.”
“Right,” I chortled. “So am I, by the way. I’m even richer than Bulma.”
“Well…I might be exaggerating a little, but not that much! I really am rich.”
“By working odd jobs and collecting donations for the needy karate kid?”
“No!” he said bitterly. “I have a real job! I’m just off right now…I work evenings.”
I smiled. “Sure you do, Uncle.”
“No, really! I swear!”
“Mmm-hmm.”
He sighed, giving up on convincing me. “You’re hopeless,” he sighed after a while. I just laughed and poked him again. “Well, little one, what shall we do to preoccupy our time? Dwelling on the current situation would only bring unnecessary grief. We should…play a game or something.”
I laughed again. “Yeah, Uncle Goten! Let’s play a family game!” I said sarcastically.
“No, I’m serious,” he stated, the gleam in his eyes backing up his words. “I want to get my mind off of this until ‘she’ shows up. Just humor me, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’ll pay for this later. Right now, though, I’m gonna come up with something for us all to do.” There were several seconds of silence. “Um, any suggestions?”
“Nope,” he said flatly. “I’ve got nothing. I don’t even have a faithful Marron to run to…I’m so pathetic…”
“Goten!” I shouted angrily. “You’re not making this any better for anyone!” He blinked at me, falling silent and blatantly quivering his lip. I sighed and shook my head out of aggravation. “Maybe waiting in here is a bad idea. You want to maybe go out there and try to make conversation? Perhaps?”
He saddened. “I guess so…if you really wanted to…” Then he brightened again, his eyes lighting up with very characteristic naïve joy. “We can just go act like old times! Like it’s nothing and we completely forgot about the whole ‘fighting’ thing! Or using and hurting or whatever you’d like to call it.”
I considered this for a moment. It would be too weird to be deathly angry with them one minute, and happy and bubbly the next. “Unless we were drunk, of course,” I laughed aloud.
“Great idea, Pan!”
Panic rose in my heart. “What are you talking about?”
Goten smiled, ecstatic, and laughed at my stricken expression. “I’m not saying we go get drunk, dummy. What kind of parent would that make me?”
“But you’re not my parent…”
“Right now, I am,” he said pointedly. I closed my mouth and listened for a moment. “Your dad would kill Trunks if he knew about this. You can’t run to him like you normally would. So, since your Grandpa is also no longer with us, I’m all you have left. Don’t you feel special?”
I somehow found it in myself to smile. “Of course I feel special,” I told him. “Special enough to…I don’t know, be nice to you. Let’s just go, before I change my mind and decide this is stupid.”
“Okay,” he consented. He slowly and reluctantly rose from his comfortable position. He cast a quick glance out the window before turning back to me and smiling softly, holding out his hand for me to take. Lifting me gently off of the couch, he motioned for me to move ahead of him. A genetic cheesy grin covered his lips as he held his arm before him, gesturing toward the door. “Ladies first.”
“Oh, Goten, you’re so gentleman-like today,” I snickered, starting toward the door. “What’s wrong? We didn’t poison you that badly, did we?”
“Yep, you did,” he said, laughing good-naturedly. We paused in the doorway, my hand placed gently on the knob. Did we really want to do this? Yes, we had to. Just to clear everything up…destroy all hatred for this one simple moment. So that later, we could look back on the day we were torn apart and remember the laughs. I sure hoped that was the way things would turn out, because I didn’t want to completely resent this moment for the rest of my life.
I turned it very slightly and slowly until I heard the click that signaled that the door was open. I held my breath as I pushed it, ever so gently, to see the pair looking surprised in our direction. Wiping the nervous look off my face and replacing it with a warm smile, I gave a small wave and stepped out into the yard. The sky wasn’t so blue anymore, now covered with a thin layer of white that spread across its entirety. Darker clouds loomed in the distance, but a safe amount away. It wouldn’t rain until well after we were through here, maybe around eleven. Apparently, Goten and I had just interrupted some kind of conversation, because they were facing each other with the exception of their eyes.
“Pan,” Marron said in surprise, her eyes darting between us. “Goten. Hi. What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, you know,” I said nonchalantly, making my way over to their table. “Just trying to lighten the mood a little bit. What’s new, you guys?”
Trunks sighed. “Pan, you know we can’t tell you yet,” he said reasonably. “Don’t even try. You’ll understand soon enough.”
“I know,” I said, nodding my head so hard that I thought it’d fall off. “I just figured, why be bitter enemies now? We still have a whole, say, five minutes to be friends. What good would it be to waste it?”
A small smile graced his lips, though his eyes still clearly displayed the regret he’d built up inside. “Sure. But, you know, just because we have something to tell you doesn’t mean we’re not going to be friends later.”
“Sure it does,” I contradicted. “I have a strange feeling that I know about what you’re going to say, I just don’t know the whole thing. And that feeling is telling me that I’ll end up unhappy. So, drop the charade and we can just chill. For the three minutes we have remaining.”
“It was five a second ago,” Goten snickered.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. Who cares, anyway?”
“I do,” Marron said quietly. We all turned to her in surprise. Huh? “See…I don’t want everyone to be resentful later. Pan, you’re right, we do know more about a certain situation than you do. I don’t want us to only have five minutes left…I want us to have forever.”
I smiled partway. Maybe you can handle this, I suggested to myself. She’s sorry. He’s sorry. Just forgive and forget, right? And if they’re telling me what I hope they’re telling me, I should be fairly happy for the rest of my life. Right?
I cast a careful glance toward Trunks, noting his worried expression. He was sorry, right? For whatever was going on, he was sorry. He couldn’t be guilty of anything rash…he wasn’t hitting on me the whole time we were here, and he seemed like he didn’t want to come at all. So that cleared him. Right?
Right, I thought. Confirming all this, mentally, was a lot easier than talking about it. Maybe I should just leave now, in the mindset that I was in. Not mad at anyone. But no, then I’d just be running away from my problems. If this was bad…I should look into it. No matter how much I didn’t want to, I had to; be true to my firm belief in facing your fears, and maybe have Trunks reassure me that what we had was real. Not a lie.
That part might be hard, I realized as I sunk down onto the grass, pulling my knees to my chest and hugging them, leaning my head sideways against the left. My hair spilled over and onto my face, getting into my eyes…not that I was thinking about it, anyway. This whole week had been spent ready for Trunks to break my heart. Now it might actually be about to happen, and I was still telling myself that he loved me. But he looked so sorry and regretful…how could I doubt him again?
Stupid, stupid girl. I sighed heavily, trying once again to clear my mind. This attempt at making conversation wasn’t going well. Goten was also lounging on the grass…I think he was falling asleep. Marron and Trunks were both watching the sky to the west, where the mystery woman was supposedly going to come from. I turned my head to the other side, now resting in on my right knee as I enjoyed the view of the valley. I stepped into this thinking I knew what was going on. Now the whole thing was spinning wildly out of my control. Plowing straight into nothingness, and just trying to test me on whether or not I could hold on until we reached the light again. I chided myself again for being such a fool. So deaf to the warnings shouted at me. How many people had tried to save me from heartbreak? Bra, Marron, Goten, and my parents. But now Marron was teetering on the edge of ‘friend’ and beginning to cross over to ‘foe’.
This would all be a lot easier if Trunks was on my side…But then, that was the whole problem to begin with.
I really wanted Grandpa with me right about then. He would probably be just as confused as I…but that would make it a little easier. At least I could rest assured that he could kill anyone I was upset with when this was over. He probably wouldn’t, but he could, and that was what I wanted. Knowing the strongest man on earth was on my side.
Dad would have to do for now…
“There she is!” Marron said softly. I lifted my head toward the whitened sky, noting the jet making its way to the ridge we were on, drying the tears that I’d subconsciously cried. It was a very small jet, just enough to fit one person. Even from this far away, I could see the Capsule logo printed clearly on the side. Only one person in the world had this model of Capsule jet.
Only Bra.
How could it be her? I wondered as she drew nearer. What did she have to do with this? Probably more than I wanted to think about. She probably was in on this from the beginning…what if they all were? Just setting out to make my life miserable, I supposed. Maybe even Goten’s.
I slowly stood up as the jet slowed to a halt a small way in front of us. Goten remained on the ground, but he was just as attentive to this as I was. It had undoubtedly donned on him, too. The tinted, metallic-looking dome slowly opened, and the small woman in shiny, silver pilot’s gear popped out. The smile on her face was broader than I’d ever seen it before. She quickly pulled her silver-tinted sunglasses from her face, untangling it from her blue hair that bounced down around her shoulders the second it was free. Her eyes shone with the utmost excitement.
“That was incredible!” she squealed, throwing the sunglasses to the ground and running over to crush me in a huge hug. “Pan, you have got to teach me to fly! That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life!”
“Bra!” I gasped from lack of air. “Throat…hurt…air…need…”
“Oh!” she cried, immediately letting go. “Sorry about that. Flying is incredible! You have to teach me. Right now, come on. Let’s go. What do I do first?”
I glared at her in a this-is-not-a-joke manner, and the glitter in her eyes dulled to a serious gleam. “You know damn well why you’re here, and I want it explained to me now. Who starts?”
“I’ll start,” Marron volunteered. Bra consented and sunk to the ground beside Goten, smiling and giving him a small and half-hearted wave. Now the victim of my sharp glare, the blonde took a deep breath and glanced around…eyeing each of us carefully, searching for any sign of anticipation. Trunks just sat numbly, staring into the blank space between himself and the sky, waiting until this painful process was over. I could tell he didn’t want any part of it, and that he knew he didn’t have a choice. Poor Trunks. Bra sat on the ground, biting her lip nervously and staring expectantly at her friend…our friend, for now.
Goten and I shared the homicidal glare at Marron, making her squirm in guilt and slight fear. She was undoubtedly dreading what was to come next. She didn’t seem to want the words to leave her mouth, but they did. And the explanation began.
“On Sunday night,” she said carefully, glancing from me to Goten and then back to Trunks, only to start this process all over. “I got a phone call from Goten. He was laughing about something…I didn’t know what. So I asked him. And he said that you just called, telling him about some plan that Bra told you about regarding me and Trunks’ breakup and him seeking revenge or something like that. He described this weird ‘plan’ as some way to hurt him through you and that was somehow supposed to make us break up. I don’t know…I didn’t understand it then, and I don’t now.”
I looked to Trunks as she spoke, wondering why this wasn’t coming as a shock to him. He looked like he expected it, still staring into emptiness and wincing at the words. He didn’t want to have to think of this, either. But why…?
“I thought it was stupid. I thought he’d never do a thing like that, and judging by the way Goten was laughing at it, I was under the impression that he also knew it was untrue. But, low and behold, he thought it was real. I found out the next day when he asked me to go wait for you at the mall. I was planning on telling you then that it wasn’t real…that everything was just a silly assumption and that I never thought you’d fall for something so dumb…but a thought crossed my mind. I curse myself for it, now, because it would have saved a lot of grief on everyone’s behalf. But I thought it would be kind of interesting to see how this played out. And when you were so nervous about it…I couldn’t help but fall to my curiosity. I didn’t tell you it was a lie. I let you ride on the belief that he was the enemy here, because I wanted to see how it would unfold. Little did I know…about all this…but anyway, back to the point of the story.”
“Which I would like to resume,” Bra cut in. She drew everyone’s attention to herself (with the exception of Trunks) and smiled brightly, though she knew perfectly well that what she was saying may very well tear me apart. I was already feeling slightly used…and we weren’t even off Monday yet. “I, for one, thought it was true. The plot and shit. I really thought Trunks was evil, evil, evil!”
“Aw, shut up and just tell the story,” her brother groaned, slumping onto the table.
Bra snickered, but she regained her focus before I lost my temper. “I thought he was being a selfish bastard and messing with my friend’s heart. So I went through his stuff, trying to find proof. Which I did, and very nicely I might add. But as it turns out, it was proof for the wrong motive. Being the dumbass idiot that I usually am, I showed it all to Pan right away, and she didn’t seem fazed by it too much. She was absolutely convinced that he was in love with her. And I was like, ‘Mmm-hmm, yeah, right Panny. Keep on believing…’ But then when I finally saw the extent of her feelings…I started feeling kind of bad myself. I didn’t know for sure about anything. I only had my theories. So, one day…Thursday…I finally lost it. I broke down and told him everything, while you were asleep in the guest room. I had him brought to my office at around four forty-five and started explaining everything to him. Needless to say, he was pissed that you were doing this. And he wasn’t planning anything against you at all. But, um, before I could get to the good explanation part…you woke up and ‘summoned’ him. And he was still pissed.”
No wonder, my mind laughed. Bra confessed before I had the chance to. That was why he was so bitter toward me that afternoon…after being so sweet all day, he found out about the plan. And he hated me for it. No wonder.
“But afterward, I told him,” she concluded. “And that was why he didn’t hate you for the rest of eternity like he said he would. But then, when you came the next day planning to confess anyway, I started to panic. I wanted to stall you long enough so that I could warn him to act surprised…but when he came, and he said you were supposed to come here, I froze up. After I told him all of it, he was actually doing it. I felt like killing him!”
Marron cleared her throat again, my eyes darting to meet hers. “Um…I had something to do with that,” she admitted meekly.
“I know,” Bra nodded. “Trunks told me afterward.”
The blonde shot him a glare, which he gladly accepted and returned a sheepish smile. “See, Pan came here yesterday afternoon. She was going to confess to him. So, naturally, I panicked. I was thinking…maybe I should take this all into my own hands. So I called him and told him to bring her here and not to tell anyone it was my idea. I said it was because of the food poisoning…which was probably a good thing it happened, else I’d have not had an excuse to get the two of you here.”
“Then, later, after all was said and done, I thought you were trying to frame me or something,” Trunks added, the first he’d spoken in a while.
“Well…in a way,” she smiled. “But mostly, just to finally tell Pan about this. I didn’t think you knew…so I was going to have everything spill out at once. Because I thought it might be interesting to see her reaction.”
I froze at those words. Interesting to see my reaction? This was some sort of test? Marron, the one person who I thought never capable of hurting me, had just set up the most awful and emotionally draining experience of my life. Just to satisfy her curious nature. I couldn’t believe this…not at all…
“Then after Trunks told me everything, I told him not to tell you because I wanted to see what Marron was up to,” Bra concluded. “But he almost did, anyway. I guess he thought you’d get hurt or something.”
My heart turned to stone. I fixed my glare on Bra, just as those last words left her mouth. She was smiling, but when she noticed me her smile faded.
“Pan?” she asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“He thought I’d get hurt, huh?” I repeated, anger and ki rising. My fists were clenched very tightly, and I could feel a muscle under my eye twitching…the same one that always twitched in Grandma’s face right before she whipped out the frying pan. “And it never once occurred to you that I’d get hurt?”
Her tone crossed to worry. “I guess…I thought you’d laugh it off or something. I only wanted to know what was so important that Marron had to put this all together…”
“And you used me to see it!” I shouted, unable to control my rage any longer. “There I was, worried sick about whether or not my heart was going to be crushed while you and Marron were parading around, seeing what you could do with my happiness…testing it to the limits and stretching it to see how far it could go without snapping. I was scared to death! Now I find out that there was never any real reason to worry…and you and you,” I growled, pointing respectively to the two involved, “decide it would be a nice surprise if we dropped this on me when I was the most vulnerable. Thanks a lot, you two. For all the shit you’ve caused.”
Marron paled. “Pan, it’s not—”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” I snapped. She did, rocking back slightly with my sudden flare. “I didn’t ask for a damn explanation, now, did I? I’ve heard your sorry excuse for it, and it sounds a lot like you only wanted to see how much I could suffer without breaking down. Well, this is it. Here’s your answer. I’m pissed now, thanks to you guys. I’ll be back home, if anyone needs me.”
With that being the last word spoken, and me not caring to wait for a response, I tore into the air. My ki blazed around me, showing a fairly organized dancing light show before my eyes. I didn’t need to be able to see, anyway…I knew my way well. And it wasn’t like I would be able to see…tears blurred my vision; tears of anger and frustration and disbelief.
How could they? Wasn’t I important? How could those people I thought cared about me mess with my emotions so much? A thousand questions clouded my mind, and I didn’t have an answer to a single one of them. All I could think about was the pain they’d caused, and their ignorance to my anger.
They would be pissed at me if I’d set up something like this…why couldn’t they see the logic in my reaction? Bra, even, had a huge amount to do with this. More than I wanted to believe. She’d told him everything, and learned the truth, and hadn’t even told me. How could she? How could she!? How could any of them have done this and not felt the slightest twinge of guilt in the process?
My balcony was once again beckoning me toward it. I was there already, my speed increased dramatically by my anger. I shot through the doors and landed in the living room, kicking at the pile of rubble I used to call my end table. Splintered wood soon covered the area…more of a mess for me to clean up later. “Damn it!” I screamed, at the top of my lungs. I stormed to my room and flopped down onto the bed, not even caring that it wasn’t currently my favorite room in the world. It was still disorganized from Trunks’ stay in it…which I didn’t like to think about at the moment. But it was the most comforting place I had.
The pillow was soaked within seconds, my tears dampening it immediately. But still, I didn’t care. I just lay on my side, staring at the clock. Yes, I had two of them; one for the living room, and one for the bedroom. The one in the living room was destroyed…so this was the only one I had left. I silently cursed it for being sunny outside. The annoying sound of birds chirping rang through my window. Why, for once, couldn’t it just rain? Thunderstorm, maybe, would be the more appropriate term. I wanted the weather to match my foul mood, just once. Then I could be happy again.
What I really needed was a good spar. This entire time, I’d been stressing over Trunks. Now I found out that I should have been stressing over my best friends. Some friends they were.
I felt the bed sink softly, as though someone was lying down next to me. I let this go for a few seconds, realization not even hitting me. Then it donned on me; there was someone next to me. I cried out in surprise, shooting to a sitting position and glancing next to me, met with a chuckling clump of black hair.
“Relax, Panny,” Goten chortled. “It’s just me, your fellow victim. I came to cry with you.”
“Shut up,” I growled at my uncle, lying back down…only this time, I faced him. He was on one half of my beautifully large bed, while I managed to expand my petite form to take up the other. “You don’t have anything to cry about. Besides, you don’t cry.”
He smiled distantly. “Sure I do,” he countered. “Just subtly. Okay, fine, I came to hear you cry. I am your fellow victim, you know.”
“I know,” I whimpered. “But you weren’t twisted and used as much as I was…by the people you thought were your friends.”
“They are your friends,” he insisted. “They just forgot that you had normal, human weaknesses. They forgot that you’re just as vulnerable to this sort of thing as they are. Don’t hate them for too long, okay?”
I didn’t respond to that…I didn’t feel I had to. There was no doubt in my mind that I would find it in myself to forgive my friends…after all, the worst hadn’t happened. Trunks didn’t hate me. In fact, he was in love with me.
“Oh, Kami,” I breathed, feeling that chill run through me. Trunks actually was in love with me. It wasn’t a lie…the whole thing…it was all real. True, I’d only kissed him once…once that mattered…but that was only because I was afraid. Afraid of falling into a set trap, though I already had…falling deeper, maybe. Now I knew it was real. No trap, no nothing. The whole thing—from the encounter in the supermarket to the breakdown of ten minutes ago—it was all real.
Goten’s smile took on a mischievous air. He knew what I had just figured out. And he seemed completely prepared for it. “You have a perfect excuse, you know,” he said quietly, and my head snapped around to stare at him. “Your car’s still over there, if I understand correctly. Why don’t you go and get it back?”
“Yeah,” I murmured, my lips forming a slight smile. “You set this up, too, didn’t you?”
“Of course not,” he snorted, eyes wandering to the blanket. “I just…well, I didn’t end up miserable. You did. I kind of wanted to make it up to you. I mean…you know…you’d do the same for me, huh?”
My smile changed its tone to gratitude. “Yeah. Thanks, Uncle.”
We just stared at each other for a long moment, waiting for the other to say something, or move; or maybe do nothing at all. I couldn’t believe how all that had worked out. Maybe I could just talk to Trunks about it for a long, long time…he could make everything okay again, right? He was just as much as victim as I was.
How ironic, I laughed at myself. I’d spent the entire time siding with the enemy, against the other poor person who, for a time, considered himself against me. But…he wasn’t. He was on my side. Right?
Yeah. Right.
“Better go,” he said gently. “It’s almost noon, you know.”
“No it’s not,” I said, still not moving. “It’s only, like, ten.”
“So what?” he sighed. “You leave, I sleep. Okay?”
“Okay,” I smiled, pushing myself up again. “You better be gone by the time I get back. Did they all go home?”
“Yep. Thought they should give you some time to cool off. Everyone should be there…but you’ll have to talk to Bra, you know.”
I cringed. Yes, I’d forgive her, but right now? Within the next hour? No, she didn’t deserve it. Especially while I was still resentful. But she had my capsule car, and I wanted it back. So I had to talk to her. It was inevitable. So I mustered up a simple response, “Okay,” and left the room.
I left from the balcony, as I’d become accustomed to doing over time. My poor balcony was being used as a front door again, but there was nothing I could do while I didn’t have a car. I needed some way to get in and out of my apartment without it becoming blatantly obvious that I could fly.
Flying lessons, I remembered. I was supposed to teach Bra; she’d asked me that morning. Oh yeah. I’d have to arrange something about that so that she knew I was on the verge of forgiveness…I didn’t hate her as badly as I let on.
The wind rushed past me once again, as it had a few moments earlier. No, it wasn’t just a few moments…it was more like half an hour, though it didn’t seem that way. I guess time flies when you’re enraged for what seems like a short amount of time. Oh, well. Not like time mattered. But a glance at the sky quickly changed my mind. I really did need to consider time; the sky was still dark, and getting darker. I could still see the sunlight, filtered through the clouds, but I didn’t have much time to spare. It could rain any moment now.
Great. That would make today perfect, wouldn’t it? Just have it pour down on me while I’m on my way to talk to my current worst enemy, so I can show up looking pitifully soaked. Just…marvelous.
Luckily for me, I made it to Capsule before it started raining. There wasn’t any thunder or any sign of an approaching downpour except the constantly graying sky. I was fairly thankful for that, entering the house without even waiting for someone to get the door.
“BRA!” I shouted, loudly and angrily. I sensed her ki flare, and felt it approaching. Alone. Meaning minus Trunks. My heart immediately sank. Where was he? Where could he possibly be? After a quick scan, I realized he was nowhere near the surrounding area…or else he had a very good way to mask his ki. I assumed the former, feeling my ki rise in anger and frustration.
After a few moments, she came. She hovered for a moment in the doorway before smiling cautiously, her eyes glittering with curiosity. “Hi, Pan,” she said softly. “Listen, I’m sorry about before…”
“I know,” I said, my voice just as low. “But I don’t want to talk about it right now. I don’t think I’m over it.”
She nodded, withdrawing from the subject.
“I only wanted to know if you could give me my car. It’s in a capsule in my clothes that were in your room…I left it here Thursday.”
“Oh,” she murmured slowly. “I’ll go get that. Just wait here, okay?”
There was a slight panic in her voice that she tried to hide as she spoke, and she didn’t give me time to realize it before she fled from the area, back to where she came from. What was she so afraid of? Probably worried about my reaction when she told me Trunks wasn’t here. How was I going to react? Should I pretend not to care? He was the reason I came here, not my car.
Though it would be really nice to have it back. I missed my poor baby car.
She was back before long, tossing my capsule to me. I caught it with ease, smiling and briefly closing my eyes in the small reunion. My car was back where it belonged, in my hands. I could care less about the clothes. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said carefully, drawing me out of my small celebration, “but my brother’s not home right now…said he had something to do. You’re not…”
She didn’t have to finish; my ki answered it for her. Yes, I was angry. “But that’s okay,” I said aloud. “What I have to say isn’t important enough for that, anyway. I’m still angry with you, too. What gave you the right to use me like that? I thought I was on your side…”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I just thought…well, I already knew what Trunks was up to: nothing. So I figured, as long as you weren’t hurt in the end, it would be okay.”
“But I was hurt,” I murmured sadly. “I was hurt by your using me and Marron’s manipulating me…she told me exactly what not to do when I asked her…probably because she just knew I’d do it. And I did. She told me not to look him in the eyes, and I did. She said I didn’t have a chance of resisting him, and she was right again. Was that…” I trailed off, forcing my mouth closed upon realizing that she was the enemy right now.
“Pan?” she asked feebly.
I shook my head, mostly out of frustration, gripping the capsule tight in my hand. “I have to go. Goten’s sleeping in my house and I want to kick him out so I can call my dad.”
“No!” she cried desperately, so suddenly and hastily that I jerked in shock. “I mean, don’t bother poor Goten. He had no sleep last night…with Marron there, worrying him and everything…just let the poor boy get his rest.”
I cast her a sideways glance. Bra was definitely losing her mind here. “Right,” I said slowly. Even though I was only looking for an excuse to leave in the first place; I couldn’t care less if Goten slept in my living room for a year straight. That was my darling uncle, I’d let him crash wherever he wanted. “I’ll do that.”
She gave a small nod, and backed up slightly, indicating that I could leave. I watched her eyes involuntarily flick to the door, and I followed the gaze, although there was nothing to be seen. “Why don’t you go, then?” she said, breaking me from my silent inquisition.
“Oh. Okay,” I said quietly, moving over to and closely inspecting the door. There was nothing hugely wrong with it. Why did she look at it then?
Oh, well, I thought, opening it carefully, expecting it to fall apart or something. But it didn’t. On the other side, I was met with a slight drizzle falling from a much darker sky. I wasn’t aware that rain could stir up so quickly. But then again, I did have my suspicions earlier; I knew this would happen. At least it’s not raining hard, I considered as I walked toward the parking lot, where I could safely uncapsulate my car without ruining any lawn in the process.
Giving the button atop the capsule a slight tap, I tossed the item to the ground to avoid being squashed by what was inside. My beautiful car soon cleared from the smoke. I smiled at it, admiring the last thing (aside from Goten) that I had to run to.
The rain started falling a little harder, creating a audible tab from the leather. Wait a second—my car’s wonderful leather interior was being soaked. This was bad.
“My car!” I shrieked, tearing the door open and fumbling with the keys. I tried desperately to jam them into the ignition, even as the rain fell harder still. “No, no, no…come on, car…don’t let this happen…” It took a few minutes, but I finally got the car to start. I pushed the ‘top’ button frantically, trying to get it to rise and protect my beautiful leather. It was useless, though; by that time, the leather was soaked. There was a nice sized puddle on the floor. I couldn’t be more frustrated, no matter what situation would have presented itself in my face.
It was literally pouring by now, the rain pounding mercilessly off of the pavement beside me. I finally pulled myself in and yanked the door shut, sitting for a moment, listening to the beating of the rainfall. The engine was humming along with it, making a sort of song from the madness. My dashboard was glowing orange, the little seat belt light flashing abruptly. I ignored it.
He wasn’t here, he wasn’t coming. Just accept it, Pan, I told myself, gripping the wheel with one hand. The other still hovered lightly on the handle of the door. I didn’t want to drive away. It kind of meant, to me, that I was giving up. But I wasn’t giving up, right?
I should stay and wait for him. He’d do that for me; he’d stay and wait for me. He would. And, by leaving, it kind of meant I wasn’t willing to do the same. That wasn’t true, though…I’d gone through so much self-provoked emotional trauma this week, trying desperately to prove that he wasn’t trying to hurt me; and I was right. That had to count for something. If I didn’t want to wait here, I shouldn’t have to, and it shouldn’t prove anything if I didn’t.
It didn’t prove anything, right? Right.
I pressed lightly on the pedal, backing slowly away from the curb I was parked against. No, I hadn’t done the best job in throwing the capsule. I was practically on the grass, anyway. Might as well have thrown it next to the house.
My eyes passed for a moment over the mirrors, looking back to make sure I wasn’t going to hit anything, and then I shifted the gear out of reverse and prepared to turn around in the four parking spots I was already taking up. But out of the corner of my eye…
Yes, everything just had to happen while I was already feeling insecure. There he was, over by the house, watching me. I didn’t see him before, and he hadn’t seen me. My recent and sudden movement had drawn his attention. So what, right? I should be happy I finally caught him! What’s the big deal?
I was terrified. I came here, confident with what I wanted to say. And now, I wasn’t certain anymore. I was afraid, and I didn’t want to talk to him right now. Not right now…I could still pretend I didn’t see him…just drive, and everything would be fine. So I did; the car moved forward, slowly at first, but I soon panicked anyway and moved faster.
“Pan!”
I slammed on the brakes, immediately hating myself for doing so. Now it was obvious: I’d heard him, I knew he was there. There was no running away now. I cursed myself a thousand times for leaving the windows down. But there was nothing I could do…so I only looked back in the mirror, and he was coming toward me…slowly, taking his time, and getting completely drenched in the process. It was abnormally dark, even for a storm, and only around ten forty-five…not even noon yet.
I hated myself still, waiting for him to get here. He sure was taking his time, just barely halfway to me. No, I didn’t want to talk to him, but that didn’t mean I wanted to wait forever when I knew I had to. I only wanted him to hurry up and get here so that I could get this over with. And I hated myself more, for losing my nerve the second the situation was deemed real.
There wasn’t much I could do now but wait…and pray that I’d regain my wit before it was too late. What did I want to say again…? I racked my brain. This was bad, very bad. I wanted to apologize? No, that wasn’t it. Maybe I wanted to thank him for something. No…what was it?
No, I remembered now. I wanted to talk to him…about today…and about this week…and make absolutely certain that this was something I could handle. That maybe I wasn’t in a trap, and he didn’t just do this to satisfy his sister’s curiosity. Of course he didn’t; what was I thinking? He’d never do anything just for her.
Maybe he did it for Marron, too.
But he hated her this morning; what was the logical explanation? What the hell…?
“Pan,” he said quietly, drawing my attention to him. He was now in the window, head sheltered by the roof of my car, the rain dripping from his nose, chin, and hair. I tried my best to smile, even when distracted by this very…wet…scene presented to me. It was difficult, to say the very, very least.
I struggled to smile, but it was failing miserably. “Hi, Trunks,” I breathed, nervous, afraid, and trying desperately not to let my eyes wander from his. “What are you doing here? Bra said you were ‘out.’”
He seemed to have no trouble smiling. “Yeah, I was. I’ll be leaving again, soon, so I thought…maybe I should clear something up before I left. Mind if I maybe come in?”
“Oh…” I pondered this for a moment, considering about everything I’d have do deal with if he came into this car. But it would be the friendly thing to do…so I had no choice, really. “Sure. But don’t blame me if anything bad results from it.”
“I won’t,” he promised, pulling out of the window and opening the door. The rain was subsiding now, anyway, so I should have just let him stand there. I should have. But I didn’t. He climbed in next to me and pulled the door shut, taking a moment to breathe and curse the rain.
I, too, needed a moment to collect myself. This was difficult enough as it is…why did it have to rain, too? “So…what do you have to clear up?”
He turned from the window, slightly surprised. “Oh, something…” He struggled for a moment with his pocket, producing a wad of soggy paper and smiling weakly. “It kind of got ruined in the rain.”
I laughed. “That’s okay. What are they?” I asked, gingerly taking the papers from his hand and trying to peel them apart.
“A bunch of stuff Bra said you guys read.”
“Oh…” I handed the wad back to him, having succeeded in only tearing a piece from the outermost page. “It’s ruined now. You don’t have to worry about me reading any more.”
“I’m not,” he said honestly, just staring at the paper in his hand. “I just wanted to tell you…something about them. But first, would you mind horribly if I were to kiss you?”
I smiled slightly, not knowing exactly how to respond to this. I had a strong feeling toward the response that I wanted to give, but that might not come so easily without serious consequences. “Why?” I asked after a moment.
“Because…I want to. And I don’t want you to hate me before I even talk.”
This probably wasn’t good…but I found it in myself to over look the danger factor, the heartbreak factor. It had been such a serious concern of mine all week, and now I didn’t even care. “Sure,” I shrugged. “Even though I have a strong feeling that I’ll regret this later.”
“Thank you, Pan,” he said solemnly, and I just had to laugh. Why couldn’t it just stay like this? Where I could laugh at him, even in a serious situation? I could laugh at him anytime, and he could at me even more. Why did that have to change?
He kissed me, very carefully, like I was going to suddenly run away or something. Although I hadn’t put the thought too far out of my mind…but anyway, I once again foolishly let myself get absorbed by it. I just didn’t want anything to change…it was like a sort of ‘last refuge’ situation. The one last thing that would be normal, though it was far from normal.
It was anything but normal, really. I never in a million years imagined that I’d be in my car, kissing Trunks, in the middle of a rainstorm while the rest of the earth’s population were completely unaware of this, namely Bra. Never in my life did I expect anything like this to ever, ever happen. I willed it to happen, but I didn’t think it would.
He pulled away, looking me over carefully and nervously, trying to gather the words to explain what he had to explain. I hushed him when he started to speak. “I don’t want to hear it,” I murmured. “I just want things to stay good. I don’t want to ruin it. Don’t tell me.”
“Pan, I have to tell you,” he said quietly. “It won’t…I won’t be completely honest with you until I do. So just let me, so I can feel better.”
I snorted contemptuously, despite myself. “What do you have to feel better about? I’m the victim here. You should be apologizing.”
“I will be,” he muttered, looking to the puddle on the floor. I groaned, angered and exasperated. That couldn’t be a good sign. “Look, this is important, so just listen, okay?”
“No,” I snorted again, crossing my arms over my chest, henceforth falling silent.
When I didn’t say anything more, he started talking again. “Bra told me you guys read something about…me using you…”
I snapped back to attention at this. He had something to tell me about this? “What?”
“Um…you know what? Maybe you’re right. We should just leave things alone and—”
“No, mister, you’re telling me now,” I said firmly. “Spill. Now.”
He took a deep breath, trying to look me in the eyes. “I kind of was. Now, wait, before you get all angry, just give me a minute to explain…”
I sighed, on the verge of leaving my car again. But no, it wasn’t worth it. I’d need it for work. “Fine. Tell me.”
He started to speak again, but a beeping from his watch interrupted him. He stared at it, startled, like he didn’t expect that to happen. “Oh, I have to go…”
“No!” I protested. “You’re staying here until I hear what you have to say!”
“No, Pan, it’ll take too long,” he said, moving to open the door. I quickly pushed the electronic ‘lock’ button. He glared at me when his attempt was unsuccessful. “Not funny, Pan. Let me out.”
“I will, when you tell me.”
“I can’t!” he said desperately. “I have a really important appointment to keep and if I don’t leave right now, the guy’s going to kill me! Financially…of course…not literally…”
I sighed. Much as I wanted to know, I couldn’t hold my knowledge of this little detail above Trunks’ and his family’s wealth. Though, in my opinion, they had more than enough to last a few more lifetimes. “Fine,” I said finally, unlocking the door, allowing the demi-Saiyan to make his escape from the car.
“I’ll tell you later,” he promised, closing the door and taking to the air. “I waited ‘till the last possible second, but…it wasn’t enough…sorry…later.”
I watched helplessly as he took off. Well, whatever. I’d just have to hunt him down later.
Right now, though, I had to push him out of my head…hard as that was. I had to get my precious car home, where it belonged. It was still raining gently, so I opted to drive. It wasn’t so far, anyway. Only across town.
I pulled the car out of the lot, going in the opposite direction of Trunks. No, I had to go home. Oncoming traffic would become my main problem for a while…just let him slip from my mind, that was all I needed. As difficult as it was.
No, it was impossible, I realized, stopping at a light. This was bad. I had a lot of thinking coming in the next few hours. And some Trunks stalking to do; if he wouldn’t tell me, maybe I’d just have to bother him enough. Or maybe just have him kiss me again and then go on his way, I thought with a smirk.
Chapter 11
One Simple Little Wish
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