Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Prince's Bodyguard ❯ Princess Pan ( Chapter 10 )

Okay, I know the last one was a bit short, so I'll try to do better!

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"Bra, are you okay?" asked Pan, stepping into the steam of the showers. She could barely make out Bra's form through the thick fog. "Pan?" Bra sounded tired and afraid and Pan closed her eyes for a moment to steel herself before making her way to her friend's side. The hot water made the angry red slashes on Bra's pale, perfect skin seem even more dramatic, more horrible. The fact that her uncle had inflicted those wounds, had hurt Bra this way, made Pan sick to her stomach. Bra raised her hand, slowly and brushed her trembling fingers across Pan's throat, softly. Pan's hand flew to her neck and she felt the bruises there for the first time. Trunks was strong, there was no debating that and he had come close to crushing her windpipe. She looked at Bra again and the Princess' eyes were suspiciously bright. "Bra?" "Pan, what happened to them?" Bra asked, her voice cracking. "The Run, partly, but there was something else to this, Bra. They would never have done this," Pan said, biting her lip. "Did Daddy get there in time?" Bra asked, turning to the shower wall and shutting off the water. Pan nodded. "He did. I claimed him tonight, Bra." Bra raised one elegant eyebrow. "Good. That makes you the Crown Princess. You'll have the authority to have what happened tonight investigated." Pan's brow furrowed. "You think someone meant for this to happen? Why?" "There's any number of reasons, not the least of which is that someone may have found out about you and Daddy and wanted to stop it." She picked up a thick white robe and shrugged it on, tying the belt tightly at her small waist. Pan followed her as she walked to the other side of the room and sat down on one of the narrow benches. Biting at her lower lip, she sat beside Bra. "You mean one of Vegeta's mistresses?" "Maybe, but there has to be more to it than just jealousy. If Daddy hadn't found us when he did, we'd probably have ended up dead tonight, Pan. Someone wanted to kill one or both of us, and I'm willing to bet you were the primary target," Bra said, toweling her long hair dry. "Bra, you're the princess here, not me. It's a lot more likely that they were after you, not me." "Pan, you don't purposely time an attack on the princess when her bodyguard is beside her unless it's the bodyguard you want to kill," Bra reasoned. "And besides, as of now, you're a princess too."

Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he sat up, quickly taking in his surroundings. He had somehow made it into his chambers, but not his bed. He lay on the floor, near the door and the room around him was torn apart. Suddenly remembering the events of the night before, he rose to his feet and grabbed a pair of pants that had been thrown to the floor. Pulling them on, he walked out the door and into the hallway.

The palace was full of people once more, the men looking hung over and tired and the women's faces showed relief, or pain, depending on whether they'd been caught during the Run. Vegeta moved past all of them without glancing right or left and walked into the empty bedchamber next to Bra's. Pulling aside a tapestry, he pressed a hidden lever and a panel of the wall slid open. Letting the tapestry fall behind him, he moved through the secret door and into Bra's room.

Pan and Bra were curled up, side-by-side, on the bed, dressed in their panties and small, tight tank tops, their hair spread out on the pillows, mingling together, black and azure. A sheet covered most of Bra, but he could still see a good deal of the damage Goten had done to her body. Pan was on top of the sheets and blankets, exposed to his view and he took in the fingerprint bruises on her throat, the bruises, scrapes and cuts on her arms and legs and the swollen, split lower lip. They looked like battered, exhausted angels, sleeping away the pain and terror of the night before. Their right arms were twined together, their fingers laced, holding hands. "One angel protects another," he muttered, before shaking his head to clear it and stepping to the side of the bed.

"Pan, wake up," he said, brushing a hand over her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she jerked away from his touch. Bra woke at her movement, sitting up and looking around with wide eyes. Both of them relaxed when sleep released them completely and they focused on his face. "Daddy," Bra said, reaching out. He caught her and pulled her close for a moment, before releasing her and turning to Pan. She was staring at him, her eyes locked on his throat, where her bite mark was perfectly clear. "Pan," he said. Slowly her eyes rose to meet his and when their gazes locked, she could feel his energy, his strength. It was all around him, like an aura and it was reaching out to encompass her as well. She felt it touch her and she shivered as the strength of their bond drove home the truth. She was truly and forever mated with Vegeta, crown Prince of Vegeta-sei.

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Okay, I know it's been a long time since I updated, and I apologize, but I promise to try really hard not to let things go for so long next time! R&R and, as always, flame if you feel the need!