Disclaimer: Read the last one.

Heya heya! Time to update! WOO!! It's the morning after the night of hell for the characters. What will happen in this chapter? Who will they meet in this chapter? What will they see in this chapter? Who will DIE in this chapter(dun dun dun!)!?!? Ok, no one dies :P but who will they SEE in this chapter (dun dun dun!)!?!? Hope you like it! As always, enjoy!

Chapter 17

There was an eerie silence running through the castle of the Briefs. Breakfast had just been served, then everyone seemed to have went their separate ways. Pan was sitting in her room, thinking of what to do next.

"Maybe I should talk to her about getting a doctor…" Pan thought aloud. She laid back on the bed, picking up the pillow Trunks had laid his head on and embraced it, breathing in to intake the smell of his hair.

'Trunks-chan.'

All she could think about was him. That's all she thought about lately, and now that she had talked to him about her rape, she felt like a lump had been removed from her chest; he knew everything now. The wall that was between them had fell down. She felt like she could talk to him about anything, and could no longer see life without him there.

But tears still came to her eyes.

'What am I going to do?' she thought, squeezing the pillow with her hand as she tried to suck the tears back into her eyes.

"Pan?" Bulma knocked on the door. Pan jumped, startled that she had come up to her. She threw the pillow back in place and sat up on the bed.

"C-come in!" she wiped her eyes quickly, just before Bulma walked in.

"Pan, I just came to check up on you. Is everything okay?" Bulma walked in, cracking the door.

"I-I'm fine," she looked down at the ground.

"Is there…something you want to talk about? You look troubled," she closed the door all the way, giving them the necessary privacy.

"W-why would I want to talk about something?" she stuttered, rising to her defense. She knew Bulma knew something was wrong, but she didn't want to admit it to her.

"Pan, it's okay. You can tell me," Bulma sat down on the bed, putting her hand on top of Pan's.

"I…I-"

"Let me take a shot at reading your mind," Bulma suggested, seeing as how it would take forever if she had to rely on Pan to start the conversation off.

"Would this have anything to do with you and Trunks wanting to mate?"

Pan nodded slowly. She hated telling people her personal business, especially if it was about sex; in fact, she'd never told anyone about anything sexual till the night before. No one even knew she had a sex life, and really, she didn't. Some people even figured she just didn't need it, that all she wanted is to fight, day and night.

"Well, Pan-chan, there's nothing to be ashamed about. You're a grown, mature woman now. I know, being through what you have, you probably haven't even thought about sex, well, ever. But now that you've met someone you want to give yourself to, you're scared."

"Whatever I had left to give, my father stole," she looked away, angered by memories running through her mind.

"Pan, you are still a virgin; remember that."

"How can you sit there and say that? I was raped! My 'virginity' is gone, and has been for a long time! Now all I have left to give to Trunks is whatever he didn't get!" Pan looked at the pillow she held just a moment ago. Tears started to come, once again.

"You may not be pure, Pan, but you haven't given yourself to another. That act wasn't out of love, it was out of pure hatred. No one with a heart could have done what they did to you, me, us. But no matter what happened, you are still a virgin until you've made the decision not to be one. No one can take that away, Pan."

Bulma's words were somewhat comfort to her, but she still had problems troubling her.

"I-I guess…but I ripped once, what…what if I rip again in the middle of, of our-"

"Pan, honey, I ripped too. I know how you feel, but don't worry. I will make sure it doesn't happen again, I promise. Anything you need, I'm here for you. We're here for you! We care about you, you understand?"

Pan didn't know what to say. Trunks and her family had been so kind to her since the beginning, and all she did was get them caught up in her own problems, but they didn't seem to mind. It looked as if they really wanted to help her get her life straight. As if they cared.

"But no one has ever cared," she whispered to herself.

"Well we do, sweetheart. You may not have had a childhood but I'll be damned if I let you leave us without Trunks," Bulma stated, half-joking, pulled her towards her and put her arms around her, rubbing her hair back softly and soothingly.

Pan was surprised at first, and tense, but she slowly got comfortable with being embraced. She'd been getting a lot of hugs lately. "You don't have to worry anymore, Pan," Bulma assured softly.

"Arigatou, Bulma-chan," was all that came out of Pan's lips.

"Boy, come here," Vegeta said as he saw Trunks pass the kitchen. Trunks stopped and came back, poking his head in the door frame.

"Yeah, dad?" he said, dully. The whole morning had seemed so quiet and colorless, that he wasn't too enthusiastic himself.

"Come here, sit down," he ordered.

"O, Okay," Trunks didn't know why his father told him to sit down, but he obeyed anyway; he figured it must be something important.

"Look," Vegeta looked as if the words he wanted to get out where getting clogged up in his throat as he nearly stuttered to say the next word.

"Dad, are you okay-"

"I'm fine! Just listen," he said again. Trunks obliged.

"Look…about the brat. Well…that is…well, just take it slow with her. She's not in the best of shapes, as we all can see, so don't expect too much out of her and make a mistake like I did with your mother."

'Mom?'

"I'm not telling you to keep your distance from her, just don't be all over her like you do with those sluts you hang around with."

"Mom?" Trunks asked, this time out loud, having ignored what Vegeta just said.

"What about her?"

"You…you said you made a mistake with mom. What do you mean?"

"Damnit, you don't know," Vegeta shook his head, feeling at fault for not telling his Trunks about his mother's rapist sooner.

"Know what? What dad?"

"…A while after we met….she was raped by one of my guards."

Another hole was punched in Trunks' heart.

'First P-Pan, a-and now, Mom?'

"I-I don't understa-"

"She was raped by one of my guards. I obviously wasn't around when it happened, but when she told me, I…" Vegeta looked the other way. He couldn't stand even thinking about it.

"Dad, mom was raped?" Trunks was still in shock. How could he not have known all this time? "Dad…mom…was raped."

"You said that already, boy."

"What did you do?"

"Well I was trying to tell you but you were obviously pre-occupied with the previous news," he snorted, "Anyway, I killed the son of a bitch, of course, but…after that, I couldn't even stand to look at your mother. Every time I even thought her name it drove me insane!" Vegeta leaned on the table and rubbed his forehead.

"But, but why-"

"Because I was the goddamned Prince of Saiyans and I couldn't even protect her from my own guards! I didn't feel that way at first, but suddenly I decided to realize that. It even almost drove me to…to hate her."

Trunks was getting dizzy, taking in so much in such a short amount of time. First Pan, then his mother. He felt overwhelmed.

"Look, my point is, just be there for her. Do something I couldn't even bring myself to do for your mother," and with that, Vegeta got up from the table and left.

"Father…" Trunks suddenly knew, why Vegeta cared so much; he didn't want a repeat of his own faults. He had felt the pain of being separated from someone you truly care about, and knowing that you couldn't protect them, even if you weren't there.

"Damn. But am I strong enough to do what he didn't do? If he wasn't, then how could I…" Pan's face ran through his mind.

"I…I guess it's not me I'm doing it for though…it's for her. She's suffered enough. I can't go and do something like that now. She needs me."

"She needs me."

Alllrighty! Sorry bout the re-post-pones for the updates but a lot of complications came up, but now I'm back on track! I know it isn't the longest update ever but I hope you do like it^^. Peaces Reeces!

Veggie-Trunks