#puub

It was a typical summer day, though the inhabitants of West City and cities nearby were suffering from a massive heatwave.

“It’s so freaking hot today that even the air-conditioning doesn’t seem to be working and cool the heat down.” Bulla Briefs was lying down on her bed, cooling herself down with a fan.

“I know.” Pan replied, from the floor. “I feel like I’m gonna melt any second. Not even ice is helping today.”

“Hey, why don’t we go to a swimming pool?” Marron suggested and both girls looked at her. She seemed to be the one that didn’t mind the excessive heat that much.

“That’s a great idea, Marron!” Bulla exclaimed, sitting down. “I’m in.”

“I like it, but it’s gonna be crowded. It’s the kind of place everyone goes to when the weather is like this.”

“It’s true, but honestly who cares about this? At this point I’m down for anything to help me cool down.”

“Alright then, let’s go!”

****

Pan couldn’t help but feel a little upset at the fact Bulla and Marron drew attention from some guys on the street. It also made her roll her eyes at their stupidity and lack of common sense. Not that she thought she wasn’t pretty or anything like that, but her two best friends effortlessly became the center of attention anywhere they went. With a long silent sigh, she shook her head and tried to push such thoughts away.

“Pan, is everything okay?” Marron asked in her usual soft voice as she gently waved her hand in front of her friend’s eyes.

“Huh? Yes, I’m sorry.” She quickly smiled at her. “I was just spacing out for a moment. Nothing to worry about.”

“If you say so.” The blonde replied, but didn’t seem convinced in the slightest.

****

The public swimming pool was crowded, but not like the girls thought it would be. Still, it was quite hard for them to find a good spot. Pan laid down on her towel and decided to listen to some music while Goten and Trunks didn’t arrive, which didn’t take long.

“Hi, girls.” Goten said cheerfully and then bent over, removing Pan’s earphones. She had her eyes closed, so she didn’t notice their arrivals. “It’s not cool to listen to music when other people are around.”

“Bite me.” She took a deep breath. “I know, I just didn’t want to deal with guys looking at Bulla and Marron and ignoring me.”

“Why would they ignore you, Panny?” He sat down next to her. “You’re just as pretty as them.”

“Of course you’d say that, you’re my uncle.”

“No.” He touched her knee and gave it a light squeeze. “I’m saying this because it’s true. It makes me sad you’d even think that about yourself.”

“I don’t think I’m ugly, uncle Goten.” She sat up and looked at her feet. “It’s just that they draw more attention from guys than me. And honestly, why wouldn’t they?”

“That’s stupid, Pan. Yeah, they’re pretty, but you are too. You’re pretty your own way and shouldn’t compare to them. I’m sure there are guys out there who’d love to date you.”

“I suppose so.” She shrugged; her tone still skeptical.

Goten moved to sit beside his niece. “I know so. And who knows? You might as well find someone here today.”

She bit her lower lip. “Uncle Goten, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Panny, you can ask me anything.”

“Please, don’t call me Panny. It’s embarrassing now.”

“Sorry, I can’t do it, Panny.” He teased her with a grin.

“Ugh.” She pressed her palm against her face, but was smiling as well.

“What do you want to ask?”

“Have you ever messed up with someone so badly you don’t know if you can ever make it up to them?”

“I believe you can always make it up to anyone. Unless you committed a crime or did something very bad, everything can be solved with a heart to heart conversation. You just have to be honest with yourself.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“Well, then you did everything you could. It’s not on you anymore. But if you mean something to this person, they will understand and forgive you.” Goten assured her. “I honestly don’t see why they wouldn’t. You’re a wonderful person, Pan. And I’m proud and happy for this fierce and beautiful woman you’re becoming.”

“Thank you so much, uncle Goten. It means a lot.”

“Of course, Panny.” He hugged her. “You deserve to be happy.”

The sun was shining at its full force and about two thirds of the people in the swimming pool were actually in the water. The rest was getting tanned on their towels.

“Come on, Pan!” Goten said from the pool. “The water is really nice, you should get in.”

“In a little bit.”

“Okay, but you’re missing out.”

“Hey, Goten.” Trunks approached him. “Isn’t that your father’s pupil over there?”

“Where?” He looked around and grinned. “Yes, that’s right! It’s Uub. Hey, Uub!”

The young man blushed heavily upon hearing his name being called and seeing who had done it.

“Come here, join us!”

Pan felt her heart racing and her cheeks blushing heavily when she heard his name. She thought she would go unnoticed, but there was someone paying full attention to her.

“Pan, why are you blushing?”

“What are you talking about, Bulla?” She screamed, drawing some attention to herself. Her face was blushing even more, but she didn’t really care. “I’m not blushing.”

“Yes, you are!” Bulla insisted. “You have a crush on someone!”

“I do not! And can you please keep it down?” Pan pleaded. “I don’t want to be the center of a scene here.”

“Fine.” The blue haired woman backed down, but Pan knew quite well she wasn’t going to let it go. She also knew she wouldn’t fall for that. But for the time being, she had to avoid talking to Uub.

Bulla turned around and looked into Goten’s black eyes intently. He looked back at her and placed his hands on her hips.

“What are you thinking?”

“What if we set Pan up with Uub?”

“Bulla, I really don’t think it’s a good idea. She’s old enough, she’s capable of finding her own dates.”

“I know, but I thought maybe we could help her. You know, give her a push.”

“Uh, I’m not sure.” He squeezed her hips very lightly. “You know as well as I do that Pan doesn’t like that. In fact, no one does.”

“You have a point.” Bulla ran her hands through her boyfriend’s bare and wet chest.

“Whatever happens, she deal with it the best way she can.”

“I know…” She bit her lower lip and looked up at him again. “But she’s your niece, you know? Don’t you wanna help her?”

“Please, don’t go there.” Goten said firmly. “Of course I wanna help her, but only she can decide who’s suitable for herself or not. It’s not our place to do it.”

“Great, so we can come up with a plan to set them up.” She grinned.

“Bulla, did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “We’re gonna give them a push and let them work it out afterwards.”

“That’s not what…” Goten sighed in frustration. He was aware it was pointless to knock some sense into Bulla sometimes.

****

Pan spied the hall, to make sure she wouldn’t run into Uub. Not that she didn’t want to see him, but she didn’t wanna risk bumping into someone else if she was talking to him. She also didn’t know what to say if she ever ran into him by accident. It would be a very awkward moment. She couldn’t help but think he was avoiding her just as much, and she didn’t blame him at all. As soon as she made sure it was safe and walked out of the changing room, she collided with him.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” He blushed a little when he looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

“It’s okay.” She assured him. “I didn’t see you as well.”

“Right.”

“So how have you been?” Pan asked, breaking eye contact with him. “It’s been a while since…”

“Yeah.” Uub interrupted her, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I’ve been good. Still training with your grandfather from time to time.”

“I can see that.” The young woman felt her cheeks blushing heavily after checking his well-toned chest. That made the boy blush even more.

“What about you? How have you been?”

“I’ve been good too. You know, busy with college.”

“I get it.”

“Yeah.”

“Well…” Uub quickly glanced towards the pool and then back at her. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Wait!” In an impulse, she reached out and grabbed his wrist. “I think we should talk.”

“Pan, I don’t think we have anything to talk about anymore.”

“Right.” She let go of him. “If that’s what you think.”

“That’s how you made it seem last time we saw each other.”

“What?” The brunette woman was taken aback with his statement. “Is that how you saw it?”

“Was there any other way to see it? You left me.”

“Okay…” She bit her lower lip and looked around, to make sure they were still alone. “I want to explain myself, so can we go somewhere quieter?”

“Pan, I still think we don’t have anything to talk about anymore.”

“But I do. Please.”

Uub looked into her piercing black eyes and took a deep breath, defeated. “Alright.”

The two friends walked into a coffee shop nearby about fifteen minutes later. Pan sighed with relief after realizing neither Goten nor her friends were day, making it a safe place for them, at least for the time being.

“You can order anything you want, it’s on me.”

“You don’t have to pay for me as a way to make it up.”

“I didn’t…” Pan stopped talking when she looked at him and saw his expression. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“So…” She began, uncertain. “As I said earlier, I want to explain myself.”

She paused and looked into his eyes, as if she was expecting him to say something before proceeding. But no words came out of his mouth. She bit her lower lip and took a few more seconds before speaking again.

“Okay, so… it’s not what you think.”

“You already said that.”

“Right.” She pressed her palms together nervously. “I wasn’t ready.”

“Is that your excuse? You could’ve just said it.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You did a great job on that.”

Pan didn’t like where the conversation was going, but she knew she couldn’t say anything. He had every right to be upset and hurt.

“I’m sorry.” She said eventually. “I know that saying I didn’t mean to hurt you won’t make anything better.”

“No, it won’t.” He replied. “You’re the first person I know who reacts badly to ‘I love you’.”

“In my defense, you took me by surprise. I didn’t know how to react, since we never really talked about being in love with each other.”

“And running away like that was the solution you found.” The tone of his voice was as sharp as a knife.

“I don’t know what else to say. I panicked, okay? I’m aware that it hurt you, and I’d take it back if I could. I regret it everyday, trust me.”

“I find it very hard to believe.”

“I can’t change the past.” Pan stretched her arms and touched his hands tentatively, just to see how he would react. Much to her surprise, he didn’t take them away. That gave her the push she needed to keep going. “We’ve known each other for so long. I can’t imagine my life – or myself, for that matter – without you anymore. And I really don’t want to.”

“What does that mean though?”

“It means that I’m sorry about what I did and if you let me, I want to make up for all the hurt I’ve caused.”

“Hmmm.” Uub replied very calmly, which caused Pan to begin to lose her temper. “How exactly?”

“I don’t want to run from my feelings anymore.” She took a sip of her drink. “I want to make us official.”

He narrowed his eyes, feeling very suspicious. “Right.”

“I thought you’d be happy about it.”

“It’s hard to believe anything you say now, to be honest.”

“I mean it.” The brunette girl stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him up as well. “I want to be with you. And I want to tell everyone about it. No more hiding.”

“Still not really convinced.” The boy said, and Pan could tell his walls were beginning to come down. She was definitely going to use that in her favor.

“What if I do this?” She stood on her toes and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling his head towards her for a kiss.

He resisted at first, but quickly let his defenses down. She seized the opportunity to wrap her other arm around him and smiled when she felt his around her waist, pressing her body against his. They pulled away from each other eventually and let their foreheads touch.

“What about that?” She asked. “Is that enough to convince you?”

“I think so.” He couldn’t help but grin. “That’s more than enough for me.”

“Come on.” Pan took him by the hand. “We gotta tell everyone.”

****

“There she is!” Bulla shouted when Pan walked into the swimming pool place again. She let out a piercing scream when she noticed she was holding hands with Uub. “Oh my God!! Marron, do you see this?”

“I do.” The blonde nodded. “But you don’t need to be so loud. It can be embarrass them, and we don’t want that.”

“I’m just happy Pan found someone! You two make a beautiful couple.”

“Thank you.” Pan blushed and looked at her uncle, who was standing behind Bulla and had his arms around her. He gave her a subtle and warm smile.

“It’s true, you really do.” Marron echoed the bluenette. “I had no idea you two were seeing each other.”

“Yeah, it’s a long story.” The young woman blushed even more, while Uub rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “What matters is that we’re here now.”

“That’s really nice and all, but I still want to know how you two got together.”

“Bulla.” Goten softly called her out and she bent to her right, to look at him.

“You don’t wanna know?”

“I think it’s something private. They will share it if they want to. If they don’t, it’s okay too.”

“You wanna know!” She pressed her finger against his chest. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“I think it’s time for us to go home.” Marron intervened, in an attempt to help her childhood friend.

****

Goten looked over his shoulder when the group was making their way to the Capsule Corp and saw Pan was the last one on the sidewalk, so he purposely started walking slower to catch up with her.

“So... Uub, huh?” He put his left arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah…” She blushed again and looked down to hide it from him.

“Hey, you don’t have to be embarrassed with it. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I know.” She finally looked at him. “You were right, by the way. Everything can be solved with a heart to heart conversation.”

“I told you. So he’s the guy you were talking about by the pool?”

“Yes.” She confirmed. “It’s quite a long story, to be honest.”

“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”

“Maybe one day I will.”

“No pressure at all.” Goten squeezed her shoulder lightly. “Do your parents know about it?”

“Not yet.” Pan bit her lower lip. “But I was wondering if you could be there when I do.”