Into the Void

Healing

20- Healing

Pan sat on the window sill of her and Trunks' apartment and watched the aliens of Kore below. She would watch the aliens and imagine what errands they were doing or who they were meeting. It was one of her favorite past-times, mainly because it was one of the only things she could do.

Just a few days after arriving in Kore, Trunks had found a job at a mechanic place down the street, thanks to Hade. Trunks had been hopeful about the job since they were one of the best mechanics in the city, and new parts always went to them first before any other mechanics. Finding parts for their ship would be no problem for Trunks now.

It had been two weeks since then, and it hadn't taken Pan and Trunks long to get into a routine of sorts. In the mornings, while Trunks got ready, Pan would fix breakfast, and then they would eat together. During Trunks' lunch break, he usually stopped at Perse's cafe and picked something up so they could eat lunch together. When he came home in the evenings, he took a shower and would help Pan fix supper. They ate and talked about their day. Sometimes they watched a movie with the DVD player they brought from the ship, other times they read.

Pan sighed as she continued her alien-watching. It was moments like this when Trunks was at work that left her bored. Since there wasn't much else to do, she kept the apartment clean and tidy. And in her spare time - which seemed to be all the time, she watched the aliens of Kore.

Gentle knocking on the door pulled Pan out of her gazing. She eyed the door suspiciously as she stood up and walked towards it. She knew it wasn't Trunks because he had a key to the apartment unless he had forgotten it this morning.

Pan opened the door and was surprised to see Perse standing there. "Hi!" She smiled at Pan brightly.

Pan blinked, still surprised and confused. "Hi?" She raised an eyebrow before she stepped to the side. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, thanks!" Perse nodded as she stepped in. She slipped her shoes off at the entrance and placed her purse and two cups on the counter. She glanced around the apartment with a happy smile. "You two have made this homey in no time!"

"We had most of these things already," Pan admitted with a small smile. "Is everything okay?" She asked Perse gently. They had only spoken a handful of times and weren't that close.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have startled you," Perse frowned. "Truthfully, I came over because I was worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Pan's eyes widened in surprise.

Perse's frown deepened. "I've seen Trunks almost daily, but I haven't seen you around much at all. I know some are more comfortable on their own, so if I'm overstepping a boundary, I'm sorry. I just thought that you might be lonely."

Pan could feel the surprise running down her body and making her warm. She was suddenly reminded of Bulla and how she had always been there for Pan. The day they left for space, Bulla helped her sneak onto the ship, but only after Pan had promised to return home safely. Pan had failed her, just like she had failed everyone else.

"Oh, I made you cry!" Perse said frantically. "I'm so sorry!"

"You're okay," Pan promised with a sniff as she wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, I was just suddenly reminded of a friend back home."

Perse's face softened, "you two are far away from home, aren't you?" She asked gently.

Pan nodded. "Very far," she whispered as she fought down the lump in her throat. "Sometimes it feels like we'll never make it back."

Perse turned and picked up one of the cups she had brought. "Here. It's something warm and sweet," she said with a small smile. "I can only imagine what you've gone through. I might not relate, but I can listen if you want to talk about it. Through personal experience, I've found that sometimes, just having a person to listen to your troubles helps. Or, if you want to sit quietly, we can do that instead."