As I Grow

Chapter 19: Happy Birthday! (Pt. 2)

A couple more hours dragged by, and Trunks' party slowly died out. Everyone had left, leaving my family, Trunks' family, and Krillin's family. There was a lot of catching up, and then they left. I knew what was going to happen now, even if I didn't want it to. We all enjoyed a few more minutes of silence. In the middle of it, a growl echoed through the ballroom.

Papa was standing by me, and I felt it as this sound escaped his chest and throat. I looked at Mama, and she hung her head, as did Grandma and Bulma. Bulla wasn't in the room anymore, and I saw Uncle Goten, Grandpa, and Vegeta along a wall. Trunks was frozen in place next to his father.

Papa released another blood curdling growl, and Trunks looked over at me. I hung my head in shame, not wanting to show any weakness. Papa tugged on my arm and pushed me over by Mama. He approached Trunks, and they went into the middle of the ballroom. They circled each other, and again, I heard Papa growl.

This time, Trunks growled back, neither one of them moving or looking at any of us. I watched as Papa watched Trunks. They were waiting for the other one to make the first move. Papa powered up, and he flew at Trunks. Trunks dodged Papa, and Papa came at him once again.

Papa managed to hit Trunks this time, and Trunks got up and powered up. He came at Papa and returned the hit. They hit each other back and forth for a solid hour. Both were tired and weak. I knew the fight wouldn't last much longer. Both of them were bleeding, and I could tell Papa had a few broken ribs. It looked like Trunks may have had a few too.

We all watched in horror as the fight dragged on. Trunks gave Papa a solid hit to the gut, and Papa powered down. Papa was giving up. He knew he would lose if the fight continued. "Trunks, you have proven to me that, no matter what, you will always be strong enough to take care of Pan. I hope you don't hate me for this," Papa said, wiping blood from his face.

"I could never hate you, Gohan. And I will do whatever it takes to keep Pan happy and safe. You have my word," Trunks said, holding a hand out to Papa. Papa took it, and after the handshake was over, Trunks helped Papa up off the ground. I ran over to both of them, looked each of them in the eyes, and I walked away. I went outside the backdoor, so I could get some fresh air.

Gohan's POV

We all watched Pan walk out of the room, and I knew why. She was happy I ended it, and she knew I would lose. She knew that if I slipped up once, Trunks could've killed me. I think Trunks knew that too, for he looked lost in his own little world.

Vegeta had gone and gotten a couple senzu beans from his secret stash and gave one to me and the other to his son. Trunks started walking for the door Pan went out of, but I stopped him. "Give her a little time," I said to him. He looked at me with the saddest expression I've ever seen on his face and nodded.

"Are you going to talk to her first then?" he asked me.

"I want to, yes," I replied. He thought for a little bit, and then nodded.

"When she's ready, I'll be in the pool," he said, walking out of the ballroom. I stood there for a little bit, and I saw Videl looking over at me. I smiled and she slightly waved, telling me to go. I nodded and walked out the door to find my eldest daughter.

She was sitting on a bench in the gardens, and I heard her muffled cries. It pained me to see her this way, but I knew it had to be done. I had to challenge Trunks, for her. I have to know she would be okay with him. I came up to her and sat down. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she jumped a bit.

"Papa? Are you okay?" she asked me, not looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told her. She wiped her eyes and continued looking at the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked her.

"No, but I will be. You could've died in there Papa. You were losing," she said, crying again.

"Trunks wouldn't take it that far. I knew, though, that I was losing. That's why I stopped the fight," I said, hugging my crying daughter close to me.

"How is Trunks?" she asked.

"He's okay. He wanted me to let you know he would be in the pool if you needed him. Your bags are in his room. Go ahead and celebrate the rest of his birthday with him," I told her, kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you, Papa. Thank you for trusting us," she said, hugging me.

Pan's POV

I went inside with Papa, and I hugged and kissed my family goodbye. I then headed up to Trunks' room to change into my swimsuit. After I was changed, I headed to the pool to meet up with Trunks. I walked through the back door, and Trunks was sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. He didn't hear me come out, or if he did, he chose to ignore me.

I walked over and sat down next to him. I looked up at his face, and I could tell right away he had been crying. He hid his face from me, and I took his hand. We sat there like this for a while, neither one of us saying a word. I knew he was upset with himself for what happened and my being upset as well.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say. I jumped at the sound of his voice, and I looked at him. His eyes were looking at the night sky, and I leaned against him.

"Don't be. Both of you are okay, and that's all that matters," I said, looking into the pool.

"I have to be. I could've killed him," Trunks said, bursting into tears. I grabbed him in my arms and held him as he cried. I've never seen Trunks break this far before. It broke my heart. I managed to get my shirt off and I was in my bikini top and bottoms. After all, I only slipped one of Trunks' shirts on...

"Pan?" Trunks asked after a little while.

"Yeah?" I replied, picking my head up from his chest.

"Thank you," he said, leaning down in front of my face.

"For what?" I asked, slightly blushing.

"Everything," he said just as his lips crashed into mine. There was a hunger and passion to this kiss that I've never felt in any of the others. I liked it. We broke apart some time later, and we watched the water and the night sky.

"Trunks?" I asked him as he leaned back.

"Hmm?" he replied. Just then I shoved him into the pool and started laughing.

"Oh, so that's how you wanna play, is it Panny?" he said. He jumped up out of the water and pulled me back in with him. I screamed slightly, due to the temperature of the water. We laughed and messed around for a while, and it really made me feel like a kid again. I could tell Trunks felt the same.

We got out again and dried off before heading back up to his room. When we were there, he told me I could go ahead and shower first. I gathered up clean clothes and a pair of my sweats along with one of his shirts. I headed into his bathroom and started the water. Once it was good enough, I got in and started washing the chlorine off my body and out of my hair.

I heard a slight knock on the door, and then it opened. I listened for a little longer and a familiar shade of lavender came up to the glass door of the shower. I was just glad it wasn't too see through. "Panny? I'm coming in," Trunks said as he opened the door.

"Trunks!" I yelled as he stepped in.