Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Changing of the Seasons ❯ Chapter 5: Tortured Souls ( Chapter 5 )

*No fun disclaimer this time folks.*

[A/N: Okay, just freaking lynch me and get it over with. I'm never going to be on time with an update. But I'm trying my hardest! I hope you understand, and I hope this chapter makes up for it. Some interesting developments will be occurring soon enough! ~ L.O.P.-chan]

Changing of the Seasons

~ Chapter Five ~

by Loaf of Pan

I landed in front of the Capsule Corp, ahead of Goten by a few seconds. I whipped around with a grin and performed my patented Son Pan victory dance. He growled and ruffled my hair as he stomped into the dwelling. I pouted in anger and ran inside to follow. We slipped past the cleaning bots unnoticed, and stepped into the living room, finding what we both thought was probably the impossible.

Vegeta sat in the living room crying his eyes out. "Yuki-chan," he whimpered. "Can't you see that Hiro loves you?" His eyes didn't stray from the screen, as his hand reached out and touched the dusty glass. "How touching..." he sobbed.

Who would have thought Vegeta would ever be addicted to really bad daytime soaps? When you think about it, it was inevitable. All that emotion had to be released somehow. And what better way than through bad acting and seemingly endless subplots?

Goten was struggling with holding in his roars of laughter, and Vegeta still hadn't noticed we were there, so I decided to skip upstairs and see what Bra was up to. I stopped in front of her door, knocking before I turned the doorknob. This was in normal fashion, but for some strange reason the door was locked. I knocked a bit louder, hearing the vibrations resonate through the hallway. There was still no response. "Bra! Open the door, it's just me! Pan!" I shouted with annoyance.

"Your cries are falling on deaf ears," a voice muttered behind me. I jumped up with a fright, and turned around to a bemused Trunks, while my ki flared in anger. I punched his arm and he laughed.

"Pan, what are you getting so worked up over? It's just me," he smirked.

"You scared the crap out of me, Trunks Briefs! I could have seriously hurt you!" I cried with a soft growl. He laughed even harder, making me even more upset.

"You? Hurt me? That's funny, Pan." he grinned, knowingly hitting a nerve in my system. I stomped down the hallway, and he naturally followed. Trunks apparently still thought it was his job to keep me in his view at all times. I turned down the corner in frustration. No matter how upset I get with him, I still can't help but fall victim to this God forsaken crush. In this fit of anger, I decided to do exactly what always calmed me down. I ran away.

I slipped into an empty guest room down the hall as I felt Trunks' ki close behind. I slid under the bed quickly, doing my best to hide my position from Trunks. Looking through the crack under the door, I saw his feet stop abruptly as the door opened slowly. His feet stopped right in front of my face and I held my breath.

"Pan, I wonder where you could have gone...just remember you can run, but you can't hide for long..." he whispered. I felt cold chills run down my spine in response, and he abruptly kneeled down in front of me as I gasped, feeling his hand pull me out from under the frame. "You would think that you'd learn after almost 15 years that you need a new hiding space." I blushed and glared at him, trying to seem as if I were truly infuriated with him. The truth was that I couldn't help but fall head over heels all over again. He smiled and pulled my arms around his shoulders and picked up my legs swiftly. He muttered to me softly. "Piggyback ride?"

I nodded and he walked off, holding me in place as we trekked down the stairs softly. Goten had a vacant look on his face as we entered the dining room in which everyone was seated, awaiting the dinner being created. Vegeta surprisingly was back to his normal stoic stature, as if no tender moments had happened in the past half-hour. Bra had just returned with her mother from their shopping spree and she tugged me down from the back of Trunks, excited as she babbled on incessantly about her day. "Oh my gosh, Pan, you should have come to the mall with me! It was so much fun and there were so many hot guys! At least you're staying for dinner, because if you weren't I'd have to be really angry, and we really don't want that. So did you just stay here all day? Isn't it boring? Whatever, I'm really hungry." She had finally stopped to sip her soda.

Bulma glanced over to us with a soft smile. "So, has anything interesting happened to anyone today?" I looked towards my left as Trunks turned a bright red, seemingly angry. I looked towards my plate and I could feel Bra staring at me knowingly. He looked up towards his parents and sighed.

"Well, I, for one, found out I was losing my best friend today." Bulma' s, Vegeta' s, and Goten' s faces all transformed into utter confusion.

"But Trunks, I'm not going anywhere!" Goten cried, as Vegeta and Bulma nodded in agreement. Bra and I raised an eyebrow and Trunks slapped the middle of his forehead.

"Not you, Goten...Pan's going away to school in America," he scoffed, staring at me with hurt in his eyes. It killed me to see him like that. I wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but that's the stuff of romances, so I simply stayed put, staring at my plate sadly. Bra moved her hand onto my shoulder and shook her head. I nodded, and looked up to Bulma, who was smiling.

"Pan, sweetie, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you. Are you excited? When do you leave?" she asked, very similarly to Bra.

"Well, I'm very excited, and I leave in two weeks, actually." I replied, looking to everyone anxiously. For once, I was beginning to lose my appetite. Bulma nodded and Vegeta grunted in response. The bots swept in and began dishing out portions of food onto plates scattered across the table. "I hope you'll come to see me off..." I muttered. " All of you." My eyes locked with Trunks' own blue orbs. He was hurt, that was true enough, but I was as well. I couldn't very well say that, so I strained to try and let him know of my feelings through our stare. He nodded and struggled to smile. And I swear, I heard him whisper the words "I love you." But the thing was...his mouth didn't move...

~*~

Goten, Bra, Trunks, and myself were sitting in the local Dairy Queen, downing about 20 Blizzards each. "Did you guys ever notice just how ice cream makes everything bad go away?" Trunks said through a mouthful of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. We all nodded, shoveling more of the delicious confectioner's treat into our mouths.

I had finished my fourth Blizzard when I looked around and everyone was staring at me. Bra looked like she was gonna cry, and Goten and Trunks seemed a bit angry. Talk about ruining a good treat.

"Is there something on my face?"

Bra's bottom lip quivered and she wailed loudly. "Pan! This is like the last time we're going to see each other for a really long time!!!" Goten rubbed her back and she sniffled.

"Yeah, we're really going to miss you , Pan-chan." he replied. I sighed and shook my head.

"It's not like I'm never coming back, you guys! I'll visit a lot, I promise. Pinky swear!" I said, holding my pinky out. Immediately, Trunks linked his own with mine. He gave me a somewhat cold stare and shook his head slightly.

"You better keep good on that promise, Pan. Or I will go and get you myself," he muttered cautiously. I felt a bit uncomfortable and threatened by the tone in his voice, so I quickly did the same with the other and finished my ice cream. I hadn't realized just how mad Trunks would be. It's hurting me to see him like this. Yet, when I think about it, I know this is all for the better. I got up and threw all of the Blizzard cups away, and collected my composure again. I returned to the table and grabbed my jacket.

"Come on, guys. Let's go back to Capsule," I sighed, putting the jacket on. Trunks looked at me a bit confused, and I felt him stare at me again. It was as if he were trying to get into my thoughts, my head. His eyes cleared from the icy cold and he nodded, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I was confused, but at the same time, I knew why he was acting this way somehow. I understood his mode of operation. I didn't know how I knew all of a sudden, but I did. This had been happening all day! I just couldn't understand what was going on. And one long stare always triggered it... that probing stare kept clearing everything up between us. But what was the driving force behind it?

Bra and Goten slipped in front of us as we walked home. Trunks refused to acknowledge my existence, but he still held my shoulders in a tight grip. I heard him whisper the words, "God, Pan, I'm sorry. I really don't mean to hurt you." I smiled and glanced up, nodding.

"Apology accepted, Trunks." He gave me an odd stare, and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? I haven't said anything," he muttered. I blushed, and didn't look at him for the rest of the way home. At least was talking to me...somewhat.

[A/N: WAINESS!!! I finally finished this chapter. Man, I'm so ready for the calmer schedule of college. *counts down* Only 7 months left...Anyways, hope you liked it! Give me some feedback, yell at me for not writing faster, whatever, just let me know how you feel, k? Bai! ~L.O.P-chan]