Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Black Hearts ❯ Victory: Impossible ( Chapter 17 )

Pan landed on the front lawn of the CC building. She powered down and strode inside. She could sense that Bulma was far away, and that her parents were in another part of the building.

She stalked through CC and went upstairs. She calmed down the more she walked. She peered into the various rooms. Most were empty, though some contained some kind of spare furniture. She came to one room that was larger than the others. It sported a large balcony that overlooked the outdoor swimming pool in the back. She walked through the room to the balcony and looked at the pool, with its crystal clear water glowing in the light of the moon. She looked up. The full moon. Beautiful, she thought. Suddenly the idea of a swim seemed extremely appealing. She got up on the ledge of the balcony in a crouching position and jumped down, landing on the fine cement surrounding the pool. She stood up and looked at it more closely. It was a medium sized pool. The deep end was 9 feet. She touched the surface. Very cold, even though it was summer.

Pan stripped herself of all her clothes and dived in. At once the freezing cold water made her whole body tingle. She decided to warm it. She powered up very suddenly, causing the whole pool to lightly steam. The pool now pleasantly warm, she began to swim back and forth. She never swam before in her life, but she quickly got the hang of it. In no time she was speeding around the whole pool faster than most people could jog.

An hour later, she was floating on her back aimlessly, just staring at the stars. Most of them were gone. Destroyed by her own hand. It would take millions and millions of years for their light to disappear from Earth's sky though.

Pan very gradually became aware that Vegeta was watching her. From the balcony, he spied on her. She turned her head to him and beckoned him come. He glided down to the pool.

`Mind if I join you?' asked Vegeta.

`No. I'd like it.' Vegeta removed his clothes and dove beneath the surface. When he arose, it was next to Pan. Pan put her feet on the floor of the pool and faced him. Vegeta's hair was plastered down his back, but Pan's hair was in her face. Vegeta lifted his arm and tucked her hair behind her ear. The pale lights of the pool illuminated her face, making it seem that she make of porcelain. He saw as the tiny droplets of water slid off her face. Never had she looked more beautiful to him. He told her so. Pan moved closer to him, closing the gap between them. She pulled Vegeta into a kiss that seemed to go on forever. But presently, it became much more than a kiss.

----

Pan walked down the corridors of a space station. She didn't know where she was, or how she got there. Everything seemed a blur. The aliens as they rushed past, going about their lives, the lights, which were no more that a blur of colour. Why was it all blurred? So tired...All Pan wanted to do was go to sleep and never wake up. She felt something on her cheek. She raised her hand and brushed it off. It felt like water...tears? Pan couldn't think straight. She felt so lost. Her whole life...her whole method of existing had changed so much in the last year.

Before, it had been so simple. Train, fight, kill. Now it was so much different. Wait...was it?

Train...fight...kill…...No...it wasn't that much different. It felt different though. It felt as if everything had changed. She was free of Freeza. She had slain all who would oppose her. Vegeta was now her ally once again. This time he was more than that. He was her friend, her lover and her soul mate. Kakarott would never bother to kill her, so long as she left planet earth alone. Who else was there? Freeza and Kold were gone, and the rest of his family so far away that they'd never be a threat. The androids? To be honest, she wasn't entirely convinced that they'd come. For all she knew, this timeline might be different. They might never come.

Pan turned a corner, and came into another hazy corridor. Something seemed amiss though...the faces of the aliens, the uniforms they wore. They were all extinct, and they all wore Freeza's uniforms. Something was wrong. Pan turned around, and suddenly found herself in a small room with nothing but a bed and a few luxuries. This was her room, back on Freeza's space station....

`Look at the state you're in. It's pathetic,' came a hard, feminine voice. Pan swung around, but found no one.

`Who said that!?' demanded Pan. When she swung around, more tears fell from her eyes.

`Why, you did,' taunted the voice.

`What?' Pan was really confused. `No I didn't! Show yourself, coward!' The voice chuckled. Pan felt a hand on her shoulder, and she spun around to come face to face with something that looked exactly like her. Pan gasped in surprise.

`So I'm the coward? It seems to me that you were the one who ran away from Vegeta. Each time he came near you, you ran away,' said the being.

`What are you?' demanded Pan. The thing smirked at her.

`I'm you. I'm you without those worthless emotions that have infected you. You really are pathetic. You're crying,' taunted the other Pan. Pan wiped her eyes dry angrily. `Why did you run away? You could have killed him. You would have killed him if it weren't for that child.'

`No! I wouldn't!'

`Why not?'

`Because I....' Pan started, but broke off.

`What?' said the other Pan tauntingly. `Because you love him?'

`...Yes,' admitted Pan. The other Pan scoffed. `Because I love him. I would die for him.'

`Oh, you will. But in vain.'

`What is that supposed to mean!?'

`Oh...nothing. Hm. Love. You don't know the meaning of the word. Neither does Vegeta. You can fool yourself into thinking that you do, but it's pointless. Saiya-jins can't love. Look what this so-called "love" has done to you. It's made you weak. What's to stop an enemy from using the things you think you love against you?'

`No!' declared Pan. `Your wrong. It made me stronger. Having to protect things I care about gives me a reason to go on.' The other Pan's eyes narrowed into slits. She held up her hand, as if to blast her counterpart.

`You don't know what you're talking about. You're weak.' Pan dried her eyes, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she smirked.

`I'm a super Saiya-jin.'

`Irrelevant. It looks like I'll have to convince you in more forceful ways.' The other Pan blasted the real Pan with all its strength. `KAMEHAMEHA!' Pan countered with one of her own. They we evenly matched. The two blasts battled in the centre of the room. Gradually, Pan's began to lose. The other one simply had more will power. Pan was almost defeated. She went super Saiya-jin. At the very same moment, the other Pan used Kaio Ken times one hundred. The two blasts were evenly matched. It seemed like they could go on forever. The other Pan began to smoke, and then burst into flames. Pan's blast crushed the other's blast, and swept her burning form away. When the other was no more, Pan lowered her hands, and looked at them. She looked up, and saw her reflection in a large mirror. It showed a weak looking girl in blue jeans, a red top and an orange bandanna in her hair. Pan looked at it, and shook her head vigorously. When she looked again, it showed her true reflection; Saiya-jin armour. Spiky golden hair. Eyes as hard a diamonds, and a heart as black as coal.

Pan jerked awake. She looked around, and found herself in bed. Vegeta was asleep next to her. She remembered last night. She felt happy. She thought for a long while. She felt...balanced. She no longer felt overpowering pain for the death of her son. She missed him, but she felt as if things were as they always had been. She felt sane again. At least, as sane as she ever had been, that is. She didn't feel the urge to exterminate all life anymore. What was different? Ahh...she was perhaps wiser, and a little bit more caring. She didn't hate everything anymore. For some reason, she felt an urge to protect this place. This planet Earth. Vegeta-sei was where she came from, but this planet was now her home. She smiled, and sank back down to the soft pillow, moving closer to Vegeta. She fell asleep in seconds, going into a deep, peaceful slumber.

-

That afternoon Bulma had decided to host a party. The occasion was "The end of the end of the universe". Bulma's parties were legendary, and everybody she knew always attended. At least, that's what Pan gathered, as she looked down at the party in the back garden of CC. It was a bright, sunny day. The pool was filled with Bulma's friends. Barbecues burned all over the place. Loads of people showed up. She only knew the names of Goku, Gohan, Bulma and her parents, and Piccolo. Wait...she could also recall Krillin.

Vegeta came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck, then looked down at the party. Pan smiled. `I'm hungry, Vegeta. I want to go down there and eat,' she said happily. Without waiting for Vegeta's response, she flipped herself off the balcony, landing right in the middle of the whole thing. All the talking stopped as eyes turned to her. Some were curious, but most were terrified. Of course, everyone had seen Pan waiting on the balcony, but that had been high up. Now that she was closer...well…she just seemed more real. She glared at everyone. `What? Can't I join the festivities?' she asked with a raised eyebrow. There was a terse silence, broken by Goku.

`Of course you can, Pan! Hey, that rhymes!' He laughed at his little play on words. When he spoke again, he sounded much more serious and mature. `But seriously, it's good that you're not rampaging anymore. Feel free to join in. You really should try the brownies. Chi-Chi made them. Tell Vegeta that he can join in too. Right guys?' he said, trying to encourage them. There was a mumbling among those assembled that was along the lines of `I guess'.

`What's the matter? Why are you all looking at me as if I were some freak show?!' demanded Pan. The company looked uncomfortable answering.

`Well....' began Goku nervously. `Those clothes do look a bit...strange on you.' Pan looked down at what she was wearing.

`What's wrong with them? They belong to Bulma. They're the only clothes available.'

`Oh, nothing is wrong with them!' broke in Master Roshi. `I think they look very good on you!'

`We're sorry Pan,' said Goku. `We're just not used to you wearing really, really tight tank tops, and short shorts.'

Pan walked deeper into the gathering. `Well, if you

don't like it, tough.'

`Um...no complaints. Right everybody?' said Goku nervously. There was a chorus of "Right" and "Yeah, Sure".

`Good,' said Pan, who then made her way to the tables with the food on them. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually had food. She only then realised how hungry she was. Yamcha was also at the table, and he stiffened when Pan walked up next to him. He was afraid to move. Very slowly, he moved his head to look at her. She was only a foot away. He looked down at her legs. Her gorgeous legs. Finely toned. Powerful enough to kick his head off his shoulders. Pale. Flawless. Smooth. And he could see them all the way up to her outer thigh. Her perfect backside pressed so tightly against those tiny denim short shorts. Up further. He could see her powerful abs. Stronger than a brick wall, yet softer than a baby's skin. And her smallish breasts were nearly tearing the fabric of that very tight tank top which was far too small for her. He could see her nipples poking through. She wasn't wearing a bra because she didn't need it. Her arms. Powerful arms. Muscled, but not so much it was immediately obvious. Lovely hands. Such lithe fingers. Lithe, but capable of wringing the life from almost anybody. *God, if I don't stop now I'm going to explode in my pants!* He stiffly walked away, and vanished behind a corner.

Just a day ago Pan would have been disgusted, but she was instead amused, and even secretly flattered by his reaction. She became aware that more than one guy was looking at her the same way. The mime. The tri-clops. Krillin. The fat guy in the pool. The old man. The pig. The enormous man with the hat with horns jutting from two sides. Kakarott. Even Gohan! Piccolo and the women were the only ones not staring. Pan looked Goku in the eye, and he began to nervously approach her.

Hey Pan!' he hailed.

`They're all staring at me,' murmured Pan, who was satisfied that she got such a reaction, but also slightly uneasy, as she had never had that kind of attention from anyone. Well, save Zarbon. But he was dead, so it seemed like it was of no consequence anymore. Yamcha chose that moment to return, walking briskly and looking very happy with himself.

`Well...you are rather...um....' Goku cleared his throat. `Attractive. And those clothes are designed to get that kind of reaction.'

`I see....' Pan grew serious. `I noticed you were looking too. We're related, you know.'

`Yeah, I know. Bulma told me. She couldn't determine what relation, though.'

`Well, don't you know that you shouldn't be looking at your relations that way?' Goku became more serious too.

`I was staring at you for a different reason. Besides, I'm married you know,' he finished lightly. Pan huffed.

`Yeah. I know. You told me when you were babbling the morning after we fought Freeza. After we....' she trailed off, not wanting anyone else to overhear. She was still ashamed.

`Yeah...about that. I don't remember.'

`What?' snapped Pan.

`I don't remember anything between the time I died and the time I woke up in a Yardarat hospital. You were long gone by then. I've been meaning to ask you how we got off the planet. I came over here to say that I'm sorry about your son.'

`Huh?!' *What!? How can he know about my son if he doesn't remember what we did?!*

`Bulma told me. When Vegeta brought you to CC, Bulma fixed you up, and you began to lactate. She assumed that meant you were pregnant. Vegeta refused to speak, but Bulma found evidence that your womb was damaged, and she guessed that since you were alone, you had a miscarriage or something. I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss.' Pan sighed sadly.

`It's all right. I deserved it. But my son didn't. That is my regret. You know...he looked like you,' said Pan barely above a whisper.

`Well, we were family...Man, when I look at it that way, it makes me sad too....' There was a short silence between them, which ended when Pan walked away, disgusted still. She didn't know why the idea of being with her grandfather made her sick. She had never been told it was wrong or anything like that. Maybe it was just because it was he wasn't a proper Saiya-jin. She left the party, and walked right into Vegeta. She looked up, glad to see him. Vegeta examined her.

`What is the matter?' he asked. Pan shook her head.

`Nothing. I'm still just upset that I was with a member of my own family. The idea just seems so wrong to me.' Vegeta looked astonished.

`What? Do you not know anything of Saiya-jin culture?'

`What are you implying Vegeta?' asked Pan with suspicion.

`Inbreeding on Vegeta-sei was not only widespread, it was encouraged.' Pan looked stunned. `At least, that's what Nappa and Raditz taught me. It creates greater blood purity, and in turn, greater power.'

`But that's disgusting!' Vegeta frowned.

`I am inbred ten times. I have ten lines of decent in my family. I was to be mated to my mother, who was my father's sister, and then in turn with the daughter that we would produce together. Inbreeding in the royal family was central. My father was royalty because of the very fact that he was so pure of blood. Are you disgusted by me?' he asked. Pan looked hard-pressed to answer.

`That different-'

`No, it's not. All that's different is your perception. Are. You. Disgusted. By. Me?' Pan fidgeted.

`…no. I'm sorry. I just need to think over it.' She broke off suddenly and snapped her head to the sky, sensing a powerful ki. `But I don't think I'll be able to for a while…' She and Vegeta ran back to the party, where everybody was looking at the