Revelation
by Pan no Ojousan
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Pan didn’t go home that night. She flew around aimlessly until around two in the morning, at which point she became too tired to keep her eyes open. Crying always seemed to make her tired. She rose up through the sky, knowing where she was headed but not intentionally going there. If there was someone she could run to—and they would actually help her—it was Piccolo. True; when it came to matters of the heart, Piccolo was not much help. But he would listen. That was all she needed right then. She could see her destination above, just over the next layer of clouds. Kami’s lookout, which now belonged to Dende, was the home of her Namekian friend. She hovered beneath it for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Piccolo probably sensed her approaching already. It was pointless to turn back now. By the feel of her Ki, the Namek could tell she was upset. He could also see it in her face when she landed in front of him. Her eyes were red; freshly dried tears still left their mark on her cheeks. He said nothing, just waiting for her to speak. Pan stared at Piccolo, drawing a blank as to what to say. She searched for the right words to use. Giving up shortly after, she just collapsed onto him and clung to him tightly. He’d never been hugged before, and it obviously startled him, but he didn’t want to hurt her even more by pushing her away. She just clung to him and wept for several minutes. "Piccolo, I don’t know what to do," she said, finally pulling away. She laughed at his startled expression. "I’m sorry about that, by the way." "It’s okay." She ran her hands through her hair nervously. The story was long, but she eventually managed to tell him the whole thing: her desire to become a Super Saiyan, her father’s idea to train with Gotenks, and the way it backfired on her horribly. "The worst part is," she said upon conclusion, "I didn’t even talk to Bra! She was home, I just know it. But I couldn’t bear to go in there and talk to Bra, and on my way out I knew he’d be there, just waiting to say something to deny it. That’s what I didn’t want!" Piccolo tried to sympathize, but it was hard for him since he’d never felt any of this. "What exactly were you afraid of? Seeing Trunks or—" "I don’t know what I was afraid of," she admitted, cutting him off. "I was afraid to see him because I didn’t want to talk to him. For one, I was afraid that it was true and that he actually loves me. I don’t know how to handle that! I just don’t!" She paused, letting her tears clear from her eyes before she went on. "The other thing I was afraid of was if he would deny it. I mean, I’ve loved Trunks since I was, like, twelve. It all started as a stupid crush but then, as I got a little older, I realized that it was real. If he denied it and said that he didn’t care about me at all…I think it would crush me." "I think I’m beginning to understand this now," he said thoughtfully. Pan laughed. "Thanks, Piccolo-sama," she said. "I knew that even if you couldn’t help me out, you’d at least make me laugh." Piccolo looked slightly hurt, but he didn’t reply to the comment. "Just explain your fears a little more. I think I might be able to help you." Pan gaped, amazed. Piccolo had never helped anyone in romance problems before. Maybe he was just offering her false hope to cling to, but it worked. "I’m afraid to talk to Trunks, period," she began. "I’m afraid of what he’ll say to me. I know that he’ll bring this up the next time I see him, and I want to be sure of what I feel by then. There are a few things that he might say, and I’m afraid of all of them. First, he might tell me that he loves me. I’d love that, really; I’d love to finally be able to tell him how I feel without fearing rejection. I may as well do it that way, anyway, because our friendship is probably ruined by this, no matter what…" "Don’t talk like that," Piccolo said as though it were an order. "You can’t have a friendship destroyed just by telling somebody how you truly feel. I mean, look at Trunks and Goten: If what you say happened the way it did, then Goten would have felt the same way when he was part of Gotenks. Once they separated, though, he got his own mind back, his own judgement. At which point, he knew that it was Trunks who caused him to feel it." Piccolo took a breath, surprising himself with his amount of insight in the situation. "Even though feeling that way for you scared and probably disgusted Goten, he’s still Trunks’ friend. So if Trunks knows how you feel, maybe he’ll be able to confess the way he does." "Wow, Piccolo-sama," Pan commented. "That was pretty deep." "Thank you." "So, you’re saying I should just go tell him how I feel?" "No! I never said that!" Piccolo cried, panicked. "My point is, don’t ask me for advice in these matters. You’d be better off talking to your mother, or maybe Yamcha." Pan snorted. "Yeah, I’ll ask Yamcha for advice. Maybe he can teach me how to break up with people…" Piccolo smirked. "Okay, then ask your mother. Maybe even your father." "Okay. Thank you, Piccolo-sama," she said, preparing to leave again. She turned and glanced back at her friend. "Would you mind, though, if I slept for a while? It’s three thirty in the morning, and I’m really tired…" "Sure, kid. There are a few rooms over there. Take your pick." (_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯) "And he did all that?" Bra said into the phone. "Wow…" "Yeah, and that’s not the worst part," Goten told her from the other end. They’d been talking since eleven, for around five hours now. "It was so…convincing. Scary, almost. I mean, when you fuse with someone, your minds become one. Everything about the two of you turns into one solid personality. In Gotenks’ case, he has both of our bad attitudes. Sometimes, one of our thoughts will prevail over the other. Usually it’s the one who’s more strong-minded. But in a case like this…I don’t know, Bra. It was just weird, that’s all." "What happened to you?" she asked him, lowering her voice. Someone was wandering the halls outside her room. "How do you remember that stuff if his mind was stronger?" "I still remember everything that happens," he said. "I mean, for a while I was totally taken over by those feelings. Like I was totally obsessed with Pan. Then, when I regained my senses sometime in the middle of our fight, I was able to fight it off and make him remember that I was in there, too, and I didn’t like thinking of my niece that way." "Sounds disturbing," she whispered. "Hold on, I might have to call you back. Someone’s coming to my room and…hold on…" Bra turned as someone knocked lightly on her door. She shoved the phone under her pillow, trying to look inconspicuous. "Who is it?" "Your mother," Bulma said from the other side. "Can I come in?" "Ummm…" Bra glanced around frantically, trying to think or a reason why she couldn’t. "What do you want?" "For one thing, I want the phone back—" Bra cringed. Busted. "—and I’d also like to discuss something with you and whoever you’re talking to." "Okay." She picked up the receiver again as Bulma entered the room. "Goten, my mom wants to talk to me. No, don’t hang up! She wants to talk to you, too." "Goten?" Bulma repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Weren’t you talking to him at midnight?" "Yeah. We’re talking about Trunks." "Good. That’s what I wanted to talk about." "Bra, your family’s pretty weird," Goten laughed. "Gathering in the middle of the night to talk about someone with someone on the phone when you should be getting grounded for still talking to me." "Goten, you confuse me," Bra told him. "I’ll call you back, okay? Thanks. Yeah, love you too. Bye." Bulma raised the other eyebrow. "‘Love you, too?’ Whoa, I had no idea…" "No, Mom, we’re just friends," Bra explained as she hung up. "‘Love you’ means ‘love you like a brother.’" "Oh, okay. Makes sense, I guess." She eyed her daughter carefully. "So, what did Goten say about Trunks? He’s been acting really distant all evening, and he’s still awake right now. I just went to check." "Mother! Keep your voice down, then!" Bra hissed. Until that point, they’d been talking like it was broad daylight. "Goten said that today, he and Trunks fused again and formed Gotenks." Bulma gasped in surprise. "And I was right there, too, when the gravity room exploded! Why didn’t I think of that before?" "I don’t know. But Goten said that Gotenks was really attracted to Pan because of Trunks, and he said it was really disgusting for him because she’s his niece. When they separated, he flipped on Trunks for making him feel like that." "Which explains why he came in all bloody," Bulma concluded. "Right," Bra said. "Then, apparently, Pan figured it out while they were fighting and she took off, saying she never wanted to see Trunks again." "She didn’t mean it," Bulma said immediately. "There’s no way…I mean, he’s like her brother, practically!" "And my sister," Bra confirmed. "If she never wants to see Trunks again, that means she’s never coming here again. But I really think she’ll be back." "Me, too," her mother agreed. "My poor baby. You think I should go talk to him?" "No! If anyone, it should be me. I know the least about this, or so he thinks." Bulma thought this over. "Good point. Why don’t you go over and talk to him, and I’ll wait here for you to get back." "All right. But first I have to call Goten back," she said, picking up the phone again. "He can fill you in while I’m talking to Trunks." She impatiently tapped her desk until someone picked up. "Hello?" Bra froze. "Uh, ChiChi-san? I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you up!" "It’s okay, Bra, honey," ChiChi replied, yawning. "You want to talk to Goten some more?" "Hai," she said, feeling extremely guilty. "I’m really sorry, ChiChi-san." There was a muffling of the phone until finally Goten was on the other side. "What’s up?" "You, mister, have to tell my mother about what happened," Bra said sternly. "Make sure to keep her quiet. I’m about to go talk to Trunks." "Just give me the phone!" Bulma hissed, eager to hear about the happenings in her kids’ lives. "…Yeah. Okay, here she is. Later." Bra handed the phone to her mother, then tiptoed out of her room to talk to Trunks. She pressed gently on his door, pushing it opened slightly. "Trunks? Are you awake?" she whispered. "Yeah," he muttered. "If this is about what happened today, save your breath. I’m not talking about it." "That’s not it at all," she lied. Bra was a very convincing liar, luckily. "I sensed you were still up and I thought maybe I could help you get to sleep." Trunks gave his sister a questioning stare, but finally agreed. "I don’t know what you’re planning, but it’s not gonna work. I’ll humor you, though." "Thanks," she smiled, sitting on the floor near his bed. "What’s troubling you, Trunks? Remember, this is Bra-chan you’re talking to. I love you more than anything in the world, and I’ll do my very best to help you." He smiled faintly, glancing at her in the dark. "You talked to Goten, didn’t you?" "Me? No! Never! It’s 4:15 AM!" "Mom’s talking to him right now, huh?" Bra’s face fell. "I hate you. Let’s just guess my plan exactly and not even humor me like you said you would." "Fine," Trunks laughed. "I’ll tell you what happened. But you can’t tell Pan. Ever. Got it?" "Yeah," Bra said, this time honestly. She knew that Pan would find out eventually, anyway. "Okay. Here’s what happened: Pan came to see if Gotenks could train her. I said no, but she and Goten both whined and complained, and I finally consented. I mean, it was Gotenks, not Tru…uh, well, I can’t think of a name that would work using me first. Anyway, I figured that Goten must be the base. Maybe he’d be the one whose mind would stay on top. I was really wrong, though." He stopped and glanced at his sister again. "I think you probably know the rest, from talking to Goten." "So you did feel that way about her? Before the fusion?" Trunks didn’t quite know how to respond to that, and hesitated a bit too long for Bra’s liking. "You did! Wow, you are in love with her, aren’t you?" "I didn’t say that!" he cried, turning red. Thankfully, she couldn’t see him in the dark. "Trunks, you realize that she’s fourteen years younger than you," Bra said seriously. "Yeah, I know." "And she has dreams and goals for the future that she’d like to reach someday. Actually, I don’t see how you couldn’t fit right into that. She wants to either fight or work at Capsule Corp." "Really? That’s easy." "Yeah, I know." Bra paused, wondering how she could tell this to Pan without breaking her promise to her brother. "Now don’t you feel better now that you’ve gotten that off your chest?" "Uh, I guess so…" Bra smiled. "There! Now you can sleep! Don’t you just love me to pieces?" "Of course, Bra-chan," Trunks said sarcastically. "Now run along and tell Pan what you promised you wouldn’t tell her, okay?" Bra fell silent. I can’t do that, she realized. I promised him I wouldn’t. I’m his little sister. I have to live up to that. Without a word, she went back to her room, where Bulma was still on the phone. "He wouldn’t tell me anything," she said before her mother had a chance to ask. "Aww! Man, and this was sounding good, too!" Bulma complained. "…Yeah, Goten. That’s what she said. I’ll have her call her back tomorrow. Mm-hmm. She loves you, too. Buh-bye." (_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯) Pan flew toward her house, lost in thought. Daddy won’t like this at all. I think the reason he’s so reluctant to ever let me stay over Bra’s is because Trunks is there. He wouldn’t appreciate it if Trunks was in love with me. She smiled, just thinking about it. What if he did? Then could they be…together, maybe? Pan had never even considered it. He’d always seemed unreachable to her, but now things were changing. All because of that stupid fusion, Gotenks. She thought maybe she owed him something. Too bad I’ll never see that freak again. Trunks will never fuse, ever again. Mom will understand, though, she thought, back on her original topic. She knows how I feel, sort of. I can talk to her first, then maybe go talk to Trunks and let her talk to Daddy for me. I’m afraid of his reaction if I’m the one to tell him. She bit her lip as she flew on, considering the possible reactions. He might accept it. It’s possible…but highly unlikely. As she descended from the sky, she could see her parents out in the yard, awaiting her arrival. Great, she thought. Daddy must not have sensed me or something… "Pan!" Videl cried, shielding her eyes against the rising sun. "Thank Dende you’re okay!" "Mom?" she said distantly as she landed in front of them. "You didn’t, uh, tell Dad what happened, did you?" Her father eyed her suspiciously. "Pan, darling," he said, sounding a little nervous. "I have a question for you. I don’t want you to be afraid to answer this truthfully, because no matter what the answer is, we both still love you." Videl nodded in agreement, taking her husband’s hand. "W-what?" she asked, cocking her head slightly. Then she changed her mind, deciding she didn’t want to know. "Can this question wait a few minutes, Daddy? I need to talk to Mom for a minute. It’s a ‘girls’ thing," she explained, hoping it would keep him away. "I guess so," he said uneasily. Videl gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, then let him go so that she could talk to her daughter. "What’s wrong?" she asked as soon as Gohan was out of earshot. "Did you talk to Goten? What did he say?" "That’s not it, Mom," Pan murmured, tears once again welling up in her eyes. It seemed as though she couldn’t speak a word about this without bawling her eyes out. Once again, she told the entire story, including every little detail she could think of. Right down to her hopes and fears and everything in between. She told her mother about crying to Piccolo and the lame advice he’d supplied her with. And her fears about her father’s reaction. "Oh, my poor baby," Videl said, cradling her daughter in her arms. "I’m so sorry this happened to you. Is there anything I can do…?" Pan’s eyes lit up, and the tears that had stained them instantly vanished. "You could tell Daddy for me!" she cried. "I don’t want to be the one to tell him because I think he…uh, already doesn’t want me around Trunks." "You’ve got that right," Videl muttered. "Go, right now, before he comes to ask you what he was going to ask you. But when he does ask you, be honest. It’s very important." "What is he…nevermind," Pan said quickly. "Thanks, Mom. You have no idea how much I appreciate this." "I have a faint clue," she countered, smiling. "Now hurry up, he’s coming!" With that, Pan took off again and sped toward Capsule Corp. (_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯-_-¯) Trunks sat outside, under a tree. A mysterious tree that he only noticed when he was upset. It was weird, because he didn’t even see it when he was happy. It was just there for him to complain to, kind of like Pan usually was. But now he didn’t even know where she was. She obviously wished to remain hidden, because he couldn’t sense her Ki at all. Maybe she really didn’t want to see him again. At the time, he didn’t believe it. She was like a little sister to him; she was always there. Now, though, it seemed she was serious. He could hardly imagine life without her. He glanced up, sensing a slight flare. He didn’t know from whom, or where, but he felt a spike in ki. Maybe she’s coming, he thought hopefully. He scanned the skies, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that might be her. There were birds, and a plane over in the distance. No Pan, though. Sighing, he gave up. She obviously didn’t want to see him. There it was again…the Ki rose, then sharply fell. Was it a sign? Trunks searched the sky again. He slowly smiled, identifying who he was looking for. "Pan…" She flew toward him as quickly as she could, mentally coaching herself. She had resolved not to cry in front of him. It just wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t know what he was going to say to her, but she had what she was going to say pretty well planned out. It was all a matter of building up the courage to actually say it. She suppressed her ki even more as she dropped from the sky and landed before him. His eyes pierced through her emotional wall, and she felt the tears start. No, no, no! I can’t do this right now, she chided herself. "Pan," he said, sounding almost relieved. Her eyes briefly closed as she tried to suppress her tears again, then she looked at him. "I wasn’t sure if you were coming back…" "Neither was I," she admitted. "I talked to my mom, and she convinced me to come here." "Remind me to thank her later." He stood up and walked toward her, stopping a few paces away. "I…uh, I’m sorry about yesterday." "Yeah," she said numbly. Baka, baka, baka! Tell him something! That’s what you came here for, isn’t it? Hurry up, before he has a chance to deny everything! "Look, Trunks…I, um, I talked to Piccolo." He stared blankly. Talked to Piccolo? What the hell? Why does that matter? She could see that he was lost. "He told me that I should be…completely honest with you," she said, breathing again. She was scared to death. "Actually, I don’t know why I’m following his advice, because he said himself that it was probably wrong. I guess I’m desperate or something…" She’s gone completely off-subject. This can’t possibly be good. Trunks took a deep breath, preparing to interrupt her, but she continued before he could. "If I’m gonna be honest with you," she said, talking a long pause, "I…need you to be honest with me, too, okay?" "Okay," he said nervously. There was another long silence. Pan started giggling all of a sudden. "In being honest, I’ll let you know that I’m scared to death right now." "Really?" he asked, surprised. "Of what?" "A lot of things," she said, sinking down to sit on the grass. "Being honest is hard! I mean, I have to worry about how to say what I’m trying to say. It’s easy to mess up a word and have the whole thing backfire on you." "I know what you mean," he admitted, sitting down beside her. He watched her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. Meanwhile, Pan was completely lost in thought. "I never thought I’d be here right now, saying what I’m about to say. It’s almost like a dream come true, in a freakishly weird sort of way. I’m really sorry about how it all came up, though. With Gotenks and all. But I was thinking I owe him an apology. Maybe later you and Goten could…" She trailed off, realizing that she’d been speaking out loud. "Whoa, I’m really sorry about that. I swear, I thought I was just thinking the whole thing." Trunks laughed. "You’re so young, Pan-chan," he told her. She frowned. "In a good way, I mean," he added quickly. There’s that thing about having the truth backfire on you…"Why do you have to apologize to Gotenks?" "Because I got mad at him when he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong," she said softly, staring at the ground. "Now, though, I know what it was. I gave him a hard time about it, and I feel bad now. I want to tell him I’m sorry." "That’s nice of you." "Yeah." She smiled faintly. "Maybe you could tell him for me. I mean, the other half of him. I think Goten’s afraid to face me for a while." "He and Bra were talking about us last night," Trunks informed her. "On the phone, along with my mother." "What!?" she shrieked. "That’s horrible! Not anything bad, I hope." "Not really. Just trying to guess what was going to be the outcome of this little situation. You’d be better off not asking," he said when she started to speak. He thought about the previous night’s conversation with his sister. "Bra didn’t call you or anything, did she?" "No," Pan said, shaking her head. "I was at Kami’s Lookout all night, and I was only at home for about an hour this morning. My mom shooed me away because Daddy had something important to ask me. I guess she thought I wouldn’t be able to handle whatever it was at the time. But she didn’t tell me about any phone call." She studied his face carefully, trying to figure out what he was going to tell her. Something was on his mind, she could tell, but what was it? Just tell him already. Kami, Pan, you’re such a baby! "What were we talking about again?" he asked, staring into her eyes. He knew damn well what they’d been talking about, he just didn’t want to be the one to bring it up again. "I…uh, I don’t really know how to say this," she stammered. "Something about being a freakish dream come true?" he pressed. "Trunks…" She closed her eyes, feeling the tears start again. "What I meant…um, I…Well, when I talked to Piccolo, I told him that I was afraid to talk to you again." "Afraid?" he repeated, surprised. "Why?" Pan took another deep breath. "Well, um…I might as well start at the beginning, huh? A long time ago, when I was twelve…I had a little, um…a crush on you…" Trunks mentally sighed. Of course. A long time ago. I should have figured. "Trunks?" she asked, concerned when his gaze no longer penetrated her soul. "Are you listening?" "Of course," he said, shaking his head. "I’m sorry, go on." "No, I was stupid to listen to Piccolo," she muttered angrily. "The truth was a dumb idea. I should have just…just…I don’t know…" "No, Pan, it’s not a bad idea. Please, continue." "Okay…" She took another breath. This would be easier now that she’d passed the ‘crush’ part. "That crush I used to have…um, it’s different now, Trunks…I, uh, I…" She closed her eyes to avoid his piercing stare. "What I’m trying to say is…I, uh, I think…no, I know that since then, I’ve…I’ve fallen in love with you. He just stared at her, she could feel it. He was probably completely taken back and afraid to respond. What the hell did you say that for? she yelled at herself. Don’t you remember anything Bra taught you? Guys fear the word ‘love’! I’ve blown it! "Pan…" "Damn it, I knew it!" she shrieked. "Why the hell did I listen to Piccolo!? Honesty is stupid. It was a dumb idea. I’m so sorry, Trunks. I’m sorry for everything I did, and I’m especially sorry for being honest. Damn Nameks just don’t know when to shut up!" "No, Pan," he said, grabbing her hands to calm her down. "It’s okay, really. I’m sorry that I’m being so rude about this, but I—" "LET ME GO!" she screamed, completely losing it. Her Ki spiked enormously. "I have something to settle with Picc—" "Pan! Your dad’s gonna come after you if you don’t cool it right now!" he yelled. He held her wrists as she calmed herself. "Well, now I have all of five seconds to tell you this," he said, smiling faintly, "but if it makes you feel any better, I love you, too." "You…you do?" she asked, in shock. He nodded grimly, looking past her. "Here comes your dad." In an instant, Gohan was there, Super Saiyan and all. Trunks instantly released Pan and backed away. "What is going on here?" he asked, too calmly. "Daddy, I swear," Pan said quickly, "nothing’s going on. I just got a little upset, that’s all. Everything’s okay now, I promise." Gohan’s eyes moved from his daughter to Trunks. "What the hell did you do to her?" "I didn’t do anything, Gohan-sama," he said nervously, looking to Pan for support. "He didn’t, Dad," she said, trying to help. "I swear! And I wouldn’t lie about something like this." Gohan glared at the frightened half-Saiyan. He stayed, frozen in the same position as his eyes moved to his daughter once again. "Pan, you’re coming with me. I have to talk to you. Trunks, stay here, and don’t plan on seeing my daughter again anytime soon." Pan’s face fell. This is what I get for confessing my love!? "Daddy, that’s not fair. He didn’t do anything to me, he just said something that Goten did that made me angry, that’s all, I—" "Pan, if I wanted your explanation, I’d have asked for it," her father said sharply. She instantly shut her mouth, feeling herself choke up. "Now you start on your way home. I’ll follow in a minute." "Daddy…please…" "Go." She looked at Trunks, helpless sorrow in her eyes. Feeling defeated, she took off for home, just as her father told her to. Gohan turned his gaze to Trunks, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. "Gohan, I swear I didn’t do anything," he stuttered. "Just like she said, I told her that—" "What did Goten say?" Gohan asked. He sounded way too calm, the kind of calm that you hear from someone who’s about to kill you. Trunks took a deep breath, trying to make something up quickly. "Something that she didn’t want me to repeat to anyone else," he said slowly. "Uh, it was really damaging to her social life. Please don’t tell her I told you that." "She’ll understand," he said coldly. "Thank you, Trunks. I’ll make certain that you stay a safe distance away from my daughter for a long, long time." With that, he took off into the sky, making his way home once more. Trunks watched him for a second, then turned and raced to his house. He had to make a phone call, and fast. |