Chapter 1:The Return
Pan stood in front of her mother silently fuming. Pan almost growled as she saw the 'clothing' her mother was trying to force her to wear. She yanked the fabric from her mother's hands hoping that it would rip from the tug, but she was not lucky enough for that so instead she stepped into the bathroom to change. She stepped back out of the restroom wearing a black skirt that barely came to mid-thigh and a sheer silver top over a black tank. The heeled boots her mother held out were firmly denied and her mother conceded to that instead watching as her daughter pulled on her favorite pair of sneakers.
"Mom, I look like a stripper," Pan commented tugging at her waist length hair out of habit.
"You do not! Bulma, Bra, and I picked this out for you, it's okay sometimes to show some skin Pan," Videl replied smirking down at her daughter who cringed at the image of her mother 'showing some skin'.
"It's just a welcome back party for Trunks. It's not even that big of a deal mom!" Pan complained glaring at her mother.
"Oh hush Pan, you'll be so beautiful you'll give Trunks a heart attack," Videl replied clapping her hands together and dragging her out of the room while Pan complained the whole time that she didn't care what Trunks thought.
When they made it down the stairs Pan's last hope of her overprotective father coming to her aid was dashed as he just accepted her clothes and remained quiet. Pan could tell that he didn't like the outfit, but from the large grin on her mother's face she had found some way to keep him quiet. Pan sighed, uncomfortably tugging on the edge of her skirt, and resigned herself to what she was wearing. She grabbed her coat from the hook and took off into the night sky flying towards Capsule Corps.
"Pan, slow down!" Videl called out when she noticed how fast her daughter was flying.
"Fine," Pan responded and since she was feeling a bit rebellious she slowed down to a crawl allowing her parents to pass her easily as she sunk further and further behind.
"Pan enough," Gohan called out and Pan immediately started flying at a normal speed not wanting to deal with the consequences of angering both her mother and father.
They were nearing C.C. when Pan began to reminisce about the last time she was Trunks. It had been three years earlier when Trunks had been telling her that he was going to leave. Pan had just turned fifteen and had a 'crush' on the then twenty-four year old Trunks. She had sat crying while he tried to comfort her.
"Panny, there are so many reasons I have to go. You'll be all grown up when I come back and then you'll understand," Trunks had said
~*~ Flashback ~*~
"Trunks, I still don't understand why you have to leave," Pan replied jerking away from him to stand. She couldn't help the childish stomp of her foot when he simply shrugged in response.
He sighed deeply running a hand through his hair before replying, "I want to see the world, Panny."
"That's bullshit and you know it. You could see the world in a day and return. That's not a valid reason and you know it!" Pan shouted angrily.
"Language!" Trunks replied sharply, before sighing once more. He turned his attention towards his feet and then turned his gaze up towards Pan once again, "No, it's not the true reason I'm leaving, but it's the only one I can give. It's for the best and if you trust me you'll accept that."
Trunks reached out and grabbed Pan's arm as she tried to storm away swinging her around and pulling her close against him in a tight embrace. He buried his face into her hair while one of his hands absently twirled the end of her shoulder length black hair. Pan had shown up that night without her bandana something she rarely did. Pan giggled as Trunks moved his mouth close to her ear as he moved to speak.
"I have a request. I want you to grow your hair out while I'm gone. I know you think it's too hard to manage, but I want you to try, Panny," Trunks asked softly.
Pan who felt that she couldn't tell Trunks no nodded in agreement.
Trunks smiled brightly and hugged her tightly once more before letting her go.
~*~ End Flashback ~*~
Three years later Pan had kept her promise and grown out her hair although the longer it got the harder it was becoming not to take a pair of scissors to it. Her hair had grown fairly quickly and now her straight black hair touched her waist. Pan reached behind her to tug the end of it nervously as she landed outside of Capsule Corp along with her parents.
Pan walked the short distance to the door and watched as her father reached out to ring the doorbell. The door opened to reveal a smiling Bulma who ushered them inside. Pan immediately walked towards the couch where Vegeta was sitting quietly. She gave a quick but sarcastic bow to him before plopping down on the seat next to him.
No one could really understand the relationship between Vegeta and Pan, but everyone knew that he was both supportive and protective of the young woman. Vegeta thought of Pan it seemed almost like another daughter and had stepped in to train her when she started looking for a harder battle than what her father would allow after Trunks left.
Bra noticed Pan still wearing her trench coat as she spoke to Pan's uncle Goten and excused herself to make her way over to her friend. She sat down next to Pan scrunching herself in between Pan and Vegeta, who grunted before scooting over slightly. Bra reached out to tug on her friend's jacket.
"So Pan, let me see the outfit!" Bra called out trying to tug on the coat harder.
"No way Bra, I look ridiculous. Our moms and you may have collaborated to force me into this, but that doesn't mean I have to show it off to everyone," Pan replied using a little bit of her energy to shock her friend and force her to let go.
The two continued to argue before Bra finally stood up in frustration and went to get herself something to drink. It had only been about thirty minutes since Pan had arrived and she was already feeling bored. It didn't help that she had also been feeling very uncomfortable and felt like there were butterflies in her stomach. Two minutes later she registered the approaching kai of her old friend. Two minutes after that Bulma shut the lights off and everyone lowered their kai at Goten's signal.
Pan remained stationary next to Vegeta who would turn his gaze between her and the door as if he was expecting something to happen. Pan turned to glare at the older man before crossing her arms in a pose that mimicked his own. The silence of the room was broken by Marron who announced that she was excited that her former crush had returned and that they might rekindle their flame, which caused everyone around her to laugh as if they knew something else.
The door opened slowly a minute later and Trunks slowly stepped into the darkened room letting his Saiyan eyes adjust to find the light switch. Before he made it to the lights they were flipped on and he was bombarded with shouts of surprise. Pan chose to remain quietly seated on the couch and Vegeta seemed to have made the same decision.
Vegeta stared at his son and then once more turned to look at the girl seated next to him for a moment more before he nodded his head. It seemed to Pan like he had just confirmed something, but she had no clue what it could possibly be. He slowly rose to his feet and moved towards Trunks. When he stood in front of his eldest child he stared at the boy. Three years hadn't change Trunks much except now his lavender hair was long and was tied back with a piece of fabric.
"Welcome back Brat," Vegeta said and placed a hand on his son's shoulder before leaving the room leaving everyone else speechless at Vegeta's 'emotional' welcome back.
A giggle from the couch caused the other's to snap back into action and eyes turned to focus on Pan who was turning red from trying to stop her laughter. Trunks felt a familiar tug in his stomach when he focused on her but he ignored it and instead turned his attention to his friends that were surrounding him.
"Goten!" Trunks called out reaching out to do a weird handshake thing with his best male friend. The two then embraced in a brotherly hug before beginning to talk animatedly about Trunks's trip.
Pan soon grew bored of the party and made her way up the stairs to the gravity room where she knew Vegeta would be. She entered the room and moved towards Vegeta who was sitting in a meditative state in the middle of the floor. She nudged Vegeta with her foot trying to bring him out of his meditation. Vegeta 'nudged' her back causing the petite girl to fall unceremoniously onto her side with a grunt.
"If you are looking for a spar with me you should have tied back your hair and worn something more suitable," Vegeta commented opening one eye.
"Blame your wife and daughter for my appearance," Pan replied leaving her mother out of the equation.
"If you want to spar like that then fine, but I will not be your partner," Vegeta replied again moving towards the door and drawing her attention to the figure standing there as she pulled herself up off the floor.
"What?" Pan tried to call after Vegeta but he left walking down the hall and so Pan was left alone with Trunks.
"If you really need a partner I'd be happy to oblige," Trunks replied while stepping into the room. He stripped off his leather jacket so all he was wearing was blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a blue t-shirt.
"Sure," Pan replied a vindictive grin spreading across her face since he had ignored her so long already.
She moved to the wall where she shed her jacket and giggled at the strange look that appeared on his face. She then moved across the room to crouch into a sparring position. Pan felt that if he was going to act as if he didn't know her then she was going to let her fighting abilities tell him just who she was.
As Pan got ready and was plotting Trunks's demise Trunks was only able to fully process one thought in his own head and that was, "Mine!"