Discoveries Of Love

 

 Chapter 4

By Strawberries



Disclaimer: Dragonball Z was created by Akira Toriyama. Akira Toriyama made all Characters in this story. (c) Akira Toriyama, Bird Studio, Toei Animation. Used without permission, please don't sue me; all you'll get is... nothing! :P

*.....* = thoughts
"....." = speaking

I think I'm very confusing. In the second chapter, I said there was no Gohan. One of you brought up of a very good point of if there's no Gohan, how can there be Pan? At first, I was like AHH!!! HOW COULD I BE SO DUMB!! But then I remembered that Pan is full Saiya-jin, born on Vegeta-sei, thus she has different parents. She still looks the same and everything. I'm sorry for the confusion! ^_^



"Hello, y-your majesty and P-Pan.", a first-class soldier greeted them.

They both smiled. Well, Pan smiled; Bra smiled her way: the evil smirk.

"Hi, Shonlie. HowEVER are you, dear?", Bra said, patting his chest in a lovingly manner. Inwardly, she groaned at how stupid he was for falling for her little games. Oh well; all the more fun for her!

"I'm good, highness.", he replied. He went on to say other things, but Bra wasn't paying attention. She had directed her sight on two approaching Saiya-jins. Both walked with an air of arrogance about them, just like her father.

Pan caught her attention directed elsewhere, so she followed her gaze to land on Trunks and Goten. They hadn't met but a few days ago and already, they were the best of friends.

"Yeah, man. That'd be great. Thanks!", Goten exclaimed. Bra heard this and made her way over to the two, completely not caring about leaving Shonlie in the middle of him trying to win her heart. If she had one. He simply frowned and walked off, shoulders slumped and head down.

"What would be great?", Bra asked suspisciously. Pan walked up beside her to see what was going on. Bra turned to Trunks, "Trunks! What have you done?!"

"Chill out, Bra.", Pan said. Trunks looked at her admiringly and she blushed. Bra and Goten didn't seem to notice; they were engaged in another verbal sparring match.

"Hey, guys?", Trunks asked meekly, getting both of the dueling teens' attention.

"WHAT?!", they both screamed. Pan laughed nervously and backed up.

"Well, I just thought that maybe I should tell father and mother that Goten will be moving in the palace and show him his room...", Trunks trailed off uncertainly.

"WHAT?!", Bra screamed yet again. The other three covered their ears in a failed attempt to guard them from the noise.

"He can't move in the palace!", Bra gave Trunks her best set of puppy dog eyes and stuck out her lower lip. Trunks shook his head.

"I'm not father; that won't work on me."

She growled and stomped off. Pan didn't exactly want to go with her, but felt that her friend needed consoling. She sighed and waved to Trunks and Goten as she followed Bra to Kami-knows-where.

**********

"So, mom, is it ok?"

"Sure, dear. Goten is welcome to stay in the palace.", Bulma smiled at her son. Vegeta "hmph'd" and looked away.

"Alright!", Trunks exclaimed then dragged Goten by the arm towards his chambers. Just like the rest of the Royal Quarters, there were many rooms and tons of guest rooms.

"Ok, these are my rooms.", Trunks stated as he motioned to five rooms at the front of the hall.

Goten nodded for him to continue.

"You can have any of the other five rooms at the end of the hall."

"Can I have all five of them?", Goten asked and grinned sheepishly.

Trunks laughed. "Yeah, sure. Each room has a bathroom, king size bed, and a walk-in closet." Goten's jaw dropped. Trunks smirked and shoved him towards his new rooms.

"Do you need to get your stuff from your old house?", Trunks asked while pressing Goten's hand onto the fingerprint scanner by each of his rooms. "There. You have access now."

Goten shook his head. "Nah. I think I'll just start anew."

"Alright then."

**********

"Pan, can you go get my stupid brother? He forgot about dinner.", Bra asked impatiently.

"Why can't you? He's your brother.", Pan snarled. Bra growled. Bulma and Vegeta sweatdropped and waited for the next reply.

"Because! Go get him!", she screamed back. Pan threw her hands up in defeat and stood from the dinner table. Ever since her and Bra had become best friends, almost sisters, she had joined the Royal family for most of the meals. Her parents had died when she was a toddler, so she had been left to fend for herself. She had met Bra when she was 10 years old. They could tell each other everything, but they still fought like they were really sisters sometimes.

Pan walked out of the Royal Dining Room towards Trunks' quarters. They weren't too far, so she reached them in a few minutes. She turned down his hall and spotted him talking with Goten. She opened her mouth to say something in order to get their attention, but then she heard their conversation a little better. She quickly stepped behind a corner to eavesdrop.

"So, do you like Pan?", Goten asked. Pan had to strain to hear them.

"Yes! I told you already!", Trunks scolded. Goten took a well deserved step back.

"Geez, gomen. I'm hungry.", he apologized while rubbing the back of his neck.

"When were you going to tell me?", Pan yelled angrily, stepping out of the corner into view. She was extremely upset, although she didn't really understand why. Trunks and Goten jumped, obviously startled.

"Heh heh.. tell you what, Pan-chan?", Trunks asked nervously.

Pan's eyes widened. "Pan-CHAN?!" Trunks smacked his forehead and hung his head in shame. Goten looked back and forth between the two in slight amusement.

*No sense in hiding it now.*, Trunks thought, half-sad and half-excited. "Pan, I.. I.. love you..", he trailed off in fear of her response.

Pan threw one hand up to cover her mouth in surprise. "W-WHAT?! You can't be serious!"

Trunks nodded grimly, head still hung. Pan glared at Goten as if he was at fault. Goten glared back as his stomach growled impatiently.

She put her hand on Trunks' shoulder gently, "Trunks, dinner is ready." He looked up confused.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Hai. Come on, you two." And with that, she walked off leaving a heartbroken Prince and a hungry friend. (Aww.. poor Trunks-chan!)

**********

"Where's the brat?!", Vegeta roared. Bulma rubbed his back, "Calm down. He'll be here soon."

As if on cue, Trunks, Pan, and Goten walked into the Dining Room. Vegeta raised an eyebrow in question.

"Why is he here?", he asked pointing to Goten.

Trunks knew he wouldn't get anywhere with his father, so he turned to Bulma. "Mother, Bra gets to have Pan eat with us; why can't Goten?"

Bulma realized he had a good point, so she agreed. "I don't see any problem with Goten eating with us. Isn't that right, dear?", she said while giving Vegeta the death glare that clearly meant "Agree-or-no-sex". Vegeta snorted and Trunks knew that meant "yes".

Pan sat down next to Bra and tried to forget Trunks' earlier words. She didn't think she was ready for a relationship. Bra stared at Goten as he took his seat between her and Trunks. *He's not THAT bad. He's ok, I guess.*, she thought before turning her attention to the delicious food being served to them by a few servants.

One of the servants sat down her plate and accidently spilled a little bit of the food onto Bra's lap. "Uh, excuse you!"

"G-Gomen nasai, your majesty.", the servant stuttered. Bra growled and punched the servant unconscious. One of the other servers picked up the girl and carried her off into another room.

"DADDY! What is so funny?!", Bra yelled at her father, who was laughing hysterically.

"Princess, no matter how annoying those servants are, learn to control your temper. It was only an accident.", he explained. She "hmph'd" and began eating.

Throughout the entire dinner, Bra kept shifting her gaze towards the figure next to her. Goten. *He's an enigma. He doesn't hang on my every word like other men. Why?!*

*I wonder how long Trunks has liked me?*, Pan thought curiously. She had to admit, he was attractive. But, she just wasn't ready. She had other things to think about. Like training for the tournament in less than two months.


NEXT CHAPTER OF DISCOVERIES OF LOVE: The teens train for the tournament. Trunks is engaged?!


I already know how I'm going to end this fic! Haha! But, I guess I should be thinking about what I'm going to put in the next chapter instead, eh? ^_^