Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Change Of Heart ❯ A Dress Fit For A Queen ( Chapter 16 )

Videl knocked on Pan's door, a steaming mug of soup in one hand, and several magazines in the other. A drowsy Pan called back, and Videl slipped into the room. Music played from the computer's stereo, and a lava lamp bubbled endlessly on her nightstand.

Pan looked up as her mother walked to her bed, and coughed into a hand. Videl sat the mug of chicken noodle soup down and plopped onto the bed.

"You feeling any better?" She prompted, and Pan shook her head and coughed again. "Well, here's some hot soup for you." Pan looked at the magazines warily and raised a brow. "Oh, these?" Her mother said innocently, then a grin spread across her lips. She hopped closer to Pan. "I thought, even though you're sick, we could start looking for ideas for a dress for Trunks' party. I know we need to go shopping once you're better, but I thought we might as well look for some inspiration. Oh, I remember when I went shopping for a dress for my prom…" Videl continued, lost in thought, while Pan groaned, leaning back on her pillows.

Two days later, Pan was-to her disappointment-feeling much better, and she and her mother were browsing through "Patina's", the latest place to buy formals-at least that was what Bura had informed them.

Videl turned her nose up at the ridiculously low necklines and high slits, remarking that the most modest dress in the store had been provocative in her day-which Pan was sure she was wrong; Chi-Chi's was worse than the one Videl pointed out.

Pan instead turned up her nose at the thought of wearing one. Being strapped into a heavy gown with poky beads and high shoes was neither her idea of a comfortable outfit, nor an ideal choice of dress for an entire evening.

Videl had convinced her to try some on though, and Pan was in the dressing room trying to get her dress on while the Top40 played in the background. She finally managed to get a dark blue one on, and she zipped it up as she stumbled out of the dressing room.

She stood still as her mother looked it over, circling like a vulture, one hand on a hip while she bit her thumbnail on the other hand. She shook her head and stuffed Pan back into the dressing room, telling her to try on "the purple one!".

Her mother examined that one too, only to tell her to try the green one. The green one was looked over, only for Videl to announce to Pan they needed to look in the store some more.

Half an hour later they had tried on two more dresses, and they still weren't anywhere near what they were looking for. The owner came over timidly, asking if they needed help, to which Videl plopped onto the couch with a hand over her forehead with a nod.

"Do you have an idea of what you are looking for?" She asked them, and they both half nodded, half shook their heads. "Hmmm." She said, picking up a stack of magazines. "Please sit down dear." The woman said, patting the seat next to her.

She spread open the largest book in the stack and started flipping through pages. Pan looked anxiously as dresses flipped by, only to be confused when the woman turned to a list in the back.

"Do you know what color you'd like?" The woman asked, and Pan shook her head, feeling more unprepared by the second. "Hmmm." The woman said, looking Pan over. "You'd look spectacular in white, dear." She said quietly, as if she was seeing Pan in a white dress in her mind, and she was in awe. Pan looked at her mother, as if to ask her if white was ok, and Videl nodded. The woman smiled and flipped to several places, taking some bookmarks from a stack on the coffee table.

She slipped them into different places with practice, then smiled and motioned for the two women to scoot closer. After a ton of "no's", "nah's", and "not really's", they hadn't found anything that they liked, save for one that was a possible "ok".

Then Pan saw it. It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. She reached out her hand onto the book and the woman stopped in surprise. She smiled as she saw what dress had sent Pan into a whirlwind of daydreaming, and shook her head like a fine artist would at a masterpiece.

"Luemiér Rivannon." She said softly. "I had the pleasure to go to a show of his once-just once-but it was breathtaking. This dress was his finale, and it received a standing ovation." She tapped the page with a fingernail. "Seeing this dress in real life is more spectacular than any picture they could develop." Pan's awe was then shot down and disappointment swept into her soul.

"And how much is it?" She asked warily, and the owner shook her head-though the smile was still clear.

"Above your price-range, dear." She said, shutting the book and moving to the next. Pan got frustrated by her vague and imprecise reply, and opened the book again, scanning for the dress that's page was lost when the binding closed.

"How much?" Pan prodded again, flipping the pages quickly. Videl shook her head, and the lady licked her lips and opened her mouth.

"In our currency it would range about seventeen thousand." The woman said, and Pan just realized the hint of a french accent. Pan's jaw dropped, and a longing for seventeen thousand dollars was instantaneous.

Videl caught sight of her watch and said they had to leave, but it was all in a blur to Pan, who in the back of her mind still saw that white dress on page 42.

They left the dress shop and headed towards the mall where Videl and Pan were scheduled to meet Bulma and Bura to have lunch, shop, and look around for dresses there together. Pan's idea of fun was not this, but Bulma and Bura had insisted for a "feeling better pick-me-up" as Bulma had said.

They pulled into the new mall that thankfully-due to the weekday afternoon-wasn't crowded.

Bulma and Bura were waiting in the entrance, and they both greeted them with smiles and one-sided hugs.

"So how was Patina's?" Bura asked excitedly, taking Pan by the arm and walking a bit in front of their mothers. "Did you see any glorious dresses? I'm going tomorrow to see if they might have anything I'll like." Pan nodded, glad she had moved away from the question. Bura stopped and looked around. "Want to go to the shoe store?" She asked.

And hour later Bulma and Videl were walking down the string of third-floor shops with ice-cream in their hands.

"So, did you find anything in Patina's?" Bulma asked, copying her daughters same question. Videl swallowed another spoonful of Babe-iful Banana ice-cream, and looked at the window display of a shop they passed.

"Well, not really." Bulma tilted her head to the side and drew up a corner of her mouth, thinking, and took a big hunk of her Ghoulish Grape ice-cream for a bite.

"Nothing at all that she liked?" Videl tossed her empty cup into a trashcan and folded her arms with a sigh. Bulma raised an eyebrow and took another bite.

"We found something, not something we can afford." She said. "It's kind of funny, but it made me feel so awful. She found this dress that was simply gorgeous, and she absolutely toppled over for it. She was getting all excited, but it's a designer dress, and far out of our price-range. She was crushed, she really was." Bulma took her napkin and dabbed her mouth before crumpling it up and putting it into her empty dish.

"How much?" She asked, trying to think of a possible figure. "About five thousand?" Videl shook her head. "Seventy-five hundred?" She questioned again, and once more Videl shook her head.

"It's seventeen-thousand." She said quietly, and Bulma drew her thoughtful smirk tighter. "Definitely something we can't afford, especially after the car-"

"Who's the designer?" Bulma asked curiously, cutting in as Videl drew her sentence out. "Lamare? Townsend? Korr?" Videl shook her head, something that she was doing much as of late.

"A Lumiér Rivannon." Bulma nodded.

"His work is beautiful." She said. "I've been to one of his shows," She smiled and added quickly, "a birthday present."

They saw the girls from a distance and waved them over, telling them it was time to go.

A little bit later Videl and Pan were driving home, beat from the days adventures. Pan was more quiet than usual, and Videl tried to think of something that could draw her out into conversation.

"Who are you thinking about for your date? Have you even asked someone yet?" Videl asked, and Pan's head snapped up quickly.

"I have to bring a date?" She questioned, a dread in the back of her thoughts. Videl nodded, and Pan shook her head. "I haven't thought of anyone then, I guess."

"How about that Larkin Scott?" She smiled. "He's a great young man, why don't you ask him?" Pan sunk into her seat.

"I don't-"

"You have to bring someone." Videl stated quickly. "You can't go alone period, even whatever I say doesn't matter here. Larkin's a good boy, Pan."

And so Larkin Scott was her date for Trunks' party, the party that was only two days away.

Videl was wrestling Gohan into a bowtie when a knock came at the door. Pan scurried down to answer it, her fathers pleading echoing behind her.

"But the party isn't until tomorrow night!" She heard him whine. She shook her head and smiled, opening the door. Trunks was standing on the porch, hands in his pockets, and his back to the door. She leaned into the frame, and he turned around.

"Hey." He said good-naturedly, straightening his back and lifting his shoulders into better posture.

"Come on in," She said, stepping back and opening the door wider. "Stranger." She emphasized the last word and smiled. He laughed and followed her in.

Videl was still tying on Gohan tie, and to an onlooker it seemed she was attempting to strangle him, which maybe perhaps she was. She bit her lip in concentration, at least he wasn't complaining anymore.

"Getting ready a bit early?" Trunks asked with a grin when Videl finished. Gohan gave a weak smile as she untied the silk bowtie and put over the back of a nearby chair, remarking that it fit.

"Nah," Gohan said, and he seemed to want to rub his throat. "just making sure everything fits ok." He stared warily at his suit, and Trunks sympathized with him, knowing all to well what it was like; he had been fitted for his tux yesterday, and the whole immediate had gathered around this morning to see how it looked and fit.

"Do you want some lunch, Trunks?" Videl asked, putting Gohan's things away in a hanging bag and a box. She put these both in the corner of the room. Trunks shook his head. "Are you sure?" She prodded, but he shook his head again. "Ok. Pan, you alright?" Pan nodded with a smile, and Videl disappeared into the kitchen.

"Well, that's all done, so I better go do some work." Gohan said before going down the hall. Trunks turned to Pan, and a somewhat awkward silence ensued until they both started talking at once.

"Sorry, you go ahead." Trunks said, but Pan said it wasn't important, and told him to go ahead. "Uh, my mom wanted me to pick you up and bring you over to Capsule Corps. She said she wanted to give you something or show you something, or something like that. Are you busy?"

Pan insisted she wasn't, but she was disappointed that he had not come over for himself. Even if he had come over to talk to her dad.

She told her mother where she was going, and the two of them set outside to his car. He hadn't brought the bike, another disappointment, but she stifled it before it even threatened to show and got into the car.

Familiar music played, the song they had listened to the day he had taken her to the mall, but she didn't sing along this time. She could see him mouth some of the words, and she took notice of when he slid his tongue over the bottom of his front teeth.

He had always done that, she remembered, always when he was thinking or concentrating. She thought that she probably knew every single habit of his, more than any girl he would ever meet could. He turned into the Capsule Corps. buildings just outside of town and slid his ID card into the slot to open the gate, then tossed it into the dashboard cup.

He parked in front of their house, and the usual ding-ding started when they opened the doors. He slid his hands into his pockets as they walked up to the door, and a chilly fall breeze started.

Her mother was picking up her dress today, and she hoped she could call home before she left to tell her to pick up some kind of coat or jacket or whatever would work with it. She had chosen to get the only dress that passed into the "ok" stage, and hopefully it would look presentable on her.

Trunks opened the door for her and she stepped into the big hallway. Some slightly winding stairs were to her right and the door into the kitchen and breakfast nook were about twenty feet ahead on the left. The living room was ahead and slightly to the left, and just beside that on the right was a hallway leading to the labs, offices, and so forth. Right at the beginning of the hall to the right were the stairs that were more used than the ones by the front door to get upstairs, and there were stairs to the left going down. She looked around, and it was too empty and quiet for normal things to be going on. There was always music coming from somewhere, computers beeping, TV's on, cooking in the kitchen. No matter what it was, noise was always present, and this silence was too eerie for her to be comfortable.

Trunks called his mother, and Bulma appeared coming up from the lower labs and medical area. She saw Pan and smiled, then called for Bura to come down. Pan turned to see Trunks had left for his room, and Bura bumbled down the stairs excitedly. She grinned from ear to ear, then Bulma pulled Pan into the living room, Bura at their heels.

Bulma stepped over to a dress bag and held the zipper, then looked at Pan.

"I have a little surprise for you." She said mischievously, then unzipped the bag.

The dress Pan had seen and dreamed about yesterday at the formal shop was hanging in the Capsule Corps. living room, more splendid than any picture, just as the owner of the shop had said.

It had a huge tulle skirt, with little bits of shimmery white glitter in it, like pixie dust. The bodice was dipped in a curve, with a v-shaped off-the-shoulder neckline. There were flourishes of ivy in white thread all over the bodice, and the sleeve off the shoulder was about an inch long. It looked like a gown made for a princess, and Pan couldn't stop smiling.

"Oh, Bulma, I can't let you get this for me." She said, reality setting in. But Bulma shook her head. "But how'd you get it?" Pan asked again, and Bulma grinned.

"When your mother told me the designer I could hardly keep myself from smiling. He's a personal friend of mine, and so you picked the perfect dress, girly."

Pan touched the skirt and the bodice, realizing then that she just might-just might-be the belle of the ball.