Author: The Noseless Wonder
Disclaimer: Do I even need to bother?! Have you or haven’t you read the previous chapters?! I don’t own, and didn’t create Dragon Ball Z or GT or any of it’s characters!! SO THERE!!! GET A CLUE!!! (Note to self: stop asking evil twin to write the disclaimer for you.)
Authors Notes: Chapter 4 is kind of a filler. Chapter 5 is when the good stuff starts, so keep reading.
A few hours later, Pan woke up. The next week was going to be the most boring seven days of her life. There would be no one to talk to and nowhere to go. Going through the wormhole disrupted the communicator signals. She couldn’t talk to anyone from home now. She already missed talking to everybody. Especially Trunks. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to talk to Goten yet. Every time she had asked Trunks to call him for her, Goten said that he was too busy to talk.
She sighed softly and rested her head in her hands. ‘Why am I taking this so hard?’ She asked herself. ‘It’s not as if I’ve never been alone before.’
When she was training she had things to do to keep her busy when no one was there. It was, after all, field training. Most of her alone time was spent gathering food or exercising. Besides, Trunks was there almost every day. She really wasn’t alone that often.
She even missed those boring conversations with her parents over the communicator. It’s funny, her parents weren’t that lifeless, when she was with them in person. She missed seeing her little brother too. His birthday was coming up in a week or so. She made a mental note to buy a gift for him while she was there.
Gohan had been acting a little strange over the phone. Pan noticed that he would get quiet and stern during parts of their conversation. The parts when she talked about Trunks, or when Trunks was there. She realized she talked about him quite a bit, but that was normal. After all he was her best friend. Gohan was just being overprotective about his daughter. He didn’t like seeing Trunks with her so much. Pan had reassured him before that she and Trunks would never be more than friends. Obviously, it fell on deaf ears.
She and Trunks had been through a lot. He had probably just grown to look over her like a big brother. Plus, they had a lot in common, so of course they were going to talk for a while. She was more mature now too, so their conversations had matured as well. He felt more free to talk about what was really troubling him. She liked it that way. They had both lived and grown up in some very tough times. Although, for a saiyan, they figured it was probably normal.
The next week held about as much excitement as she had expected. There weren’t a lot of things for her to do. She tried to train, but it didn’t do any good. There wasn’t a lot of room for her to move around in, and there wasn’t a gravitron. She couldn’t even manage to become winded. The metal shell of the ship wasn’t even strong enough for weak ki blasts either, so there went that idea. Bulma obviously hadn’t designed the ship for training.
There was, however, a stereo and all of her favorite music. Before she had left, she noticed that she was missing several albums… the exact same ones that were there. Curiously, she wondered if someone had packed hers… but why? The same thing happened with the food. It seemed all of her favorite meals were in the fridge or packed away in the cupboards. Pan shoved it in the back of her brain. She didn’t care, she was just grateful to have good music to listen to, and great food to eat. After all, Trunks had the same taste in music that she did, so they were probably his albums. As far as the food went, even a 1/ 4 saiyan couldn’t afford to be picky, so almost anything edible was her favorite.
There was a blank notebook and a ton of art supplies in one of the drawers. She tried to make the best of it and draw, but she could never get the picture in her head to show up on paper. She also tried to write, but she didn’t know what to write about. She tried to write down her feelings, but it always consisted of only a few words: homesick lonely and bored. The computer offered her games to play. She tried computer solitaire, but it got really boring really fast, even if it was in 3D. The rest of the games were even lamer. The only thing that got her through the week was reminiscing. She’d close her eyes and try to relive her past, even if the memories were painful. She also meditated, a trick she had picked up from Piccolo, but that only managed to put her to sleep. Those were the only two things that seemed to really pass the time.
Gohan and Videl were over at the Briefs’ home. Goten was there as well. It was the only place they could go that made them feel as if they were actually doing something to bring her back. Gohan was still angry at Goten, but he knew Goten was really sorry. Marron said that he hadn’t been his usual, smart-aleck self, that he had seemed almost depressed. He knew what he had done. He had lost his temper, tried to kill her, and then to top it all off, he never even went to talk to her before she got to the wormhole because he was too afraid that she wouldn’t forgive him.
Bulma and Trunks were sitting with them at the table in the kitchen. They were trying to explain the temporal and quantum mechanics of time travel. Bra had tried to sit with them. Pan was her friend too… and she was as worried as anyone else… except Gohan and Videl. She tried to stay as long as she could, but when her mom started droning on about physics and time travel, she became tired and went to bed.
Vegeta had even been there for a while. His interest was on Goten. The boy had shown that there was a great power inside of him… comparable to Kakkarot’s. It was screaming to get out, but instead of training and learning to control it, he simply denied and buried it. The result was an explosion. It had even happened twice. He was sure the boy was going to bury it until he ended up destroying himself. However, when Vegeta heard his wife and son start talking about science, not even food could have kept him at that table.
All was quiet, for the moment. Videl sat next to Gohan and held his hand while she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn’t mind, he just rested his head on hers. Goten walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. The look on his brother and sister-in-law’s faces made him feel sick. Trunks got up and followed him, worried that the guilt was really getting to him.
“How are you doing?” Trunks asked Goten.
Goten just shrugged. “How am I supposed to be doing?”
“It wasn’t your fault, you know?” Trunks assured, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“You’re just saying that. I’m the one who lost my temper and threw the ki blast. This happened before when I tried to spar and I was dumb enough to do it again.”
“Dad said you just have to train and learn to control your new power…”
Goten cut him off, yelling, “I’m not going to train anymore!”
“Do you want to keep your voice down?” Trunks shushed. He pointed to the couch where four year-old Goku Jr. lay, fast asleep.
“No more training.” Goten continued more quietly. “No more sparring either. Not even with Vegeta or my dad. I just want to get a normal job and start a family with my wife.”
“Do you even care? With proper training my dad said you could be stronger than him or even Goku.”
“No, I don’t care. Not if means hurting the people I love. Besides, it’s not like our dads aren’t strong enough to defend the earth themselves.”
“But if you don’t train, you’ll blow up, and who knows who you’ll end up hurting next. It might end up being someone who can’t defend themselves as well as Pan.”
Goten glared at Trunks, but he knew he was right. “I really don’t want to argue with you about this.”
“Okay.” Trunks said, backing off.
There was an awkward silence in the room for a while. Goten just kept looking at Goku Jr. He’d rather have one of those and take care of him instead of fighting. Something kept gnawing at Goten’s brain though. He figured he might as well ask Trunks about it since he was there. He’d do anything to change the subject.
“Trunks, I was kind of wanting to ask you something…” He said suspiciously, turning to look him in the eyes.
“Sure, shoot.”
“Well, I’ve noticed that you’ve been spending a lot of time with Pan lately...”
“Yeah, I mean, my best bud’s an old married man now. Who am I supposed to hang out with?” Trunks asked, not really getting the point of Goten’s question, even though it was right in front of his face.
“It’s just that… well, Bra said you spent all your time the last week in front of the computer screen talking to her, even at night. She also said that you had skipped work to be with her.” Goten said, emphasizing the last words and hoping Trunks would get the point.
Something clicked and Trunks started to get the point of this particular discussion. ‘He couldn’t possibly know. Could he?’ Trunks thought. He was becoming very grateful for the darkness of the living room, that way, Goten couldn’t see the crimson, which was quickly overcoming his face. “She wanted company. She was freaked out… Who wouldn’t be?” He said innocently, smiling.
“Trunks, I just have to know. I am her uncle, after all. Is there anything going on between…” Goten was interrupted when Gohan walked into the room. Out of sympathy for his friend, the conversation ended there.
“Goten, can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked. The last thing Goten wanted at that moment was to talk to Gohan, but Trunks was grateful for the interruption, so he left.
“We’ll talk later.” Goten said as Trunks walked out the door. ‘Was that my imagination, or was that a blush on his face?’
“Was I interrupting anything?” Gohan asked when he saw Goten narrow his eyes at Trunks.
“No. We were just talking about Pan.”
Gohan was silent as he walked across the room to the couch where Goku lay. He took a blanket off the back of the couch and spread it over his son. Goku turned in his sleep and groaned softly. Gohan smiled, he often denied it, but everyone was right. Goku Jr. looked exactly like Gohan did at that age. Although, at that age, Gohan was out in the wilderness alone, and his father was dead. He was glad his son didn’t have to go through that.
Goten saw the look of pride on Gohan’s face as he watched Goku sleep. His stomach started to ache. He knew how much Gohan was worried about Pan. “Gohan, I never really explained my actions.”
“You don’t have to.” Gohan said. “Vegeta explained everything after the first time, I just don’t see why you let this happen again.”
“I didn’t mean to. It was just that I lost my temper and my ki flared without my intent.” Goten argued.
“I know, but you could have prevented it. Vegeta and Dad were both willing to train and teach you how to control yourself with this new power. You could be stronger than me, Vegeta or even Dad, but you won’t train.”
Goten rubbed his forehead with his hand. He was starting to get very frustrated. Was it his imagination or had he heard the same thing fifty times that same day? “I don’t want to train.” He began the same argument over again.
“Why not?”
“Marron and I want to start a family. With a kid, I just don’t think I’ll have the time.”
“You and Marron weren’t trying after the first time, were you?” Gohan asked with an eyebrow raised. After all, everyone knew that they had been seeing each other before Trunks and Marron actually broke off the engagement.
“No!” Goten stated defensively.
“Besides, you’re not the one giving birth. Even if she does get pregnant, you’ll have nine months before the kid is born.”
“I just don’t want to train.” Goten said, frustrated, when he realized his first excuse hadn’t worked. “I have no desire to be the strongest.”
Gohan sighed with discomfort. He had a feeling he knew where this conversation was headed. “Is this because of Dad?”
Goten looked like he was about to defensively counter, but his head dropped, giving Gohan the answer he had expected.
“I didn’t even know he existed until I was six or seven. He might as well have been Santa Clause, or the Easter bunny. I only knew about him what people told me. I couldn’t understand because people said he was in heaven, but that he was coming back. All I ever saw of him was pictures. Then he came back, only to leave again to train somebody else when he should have been training me. Then he came back again and I thought that we were going to make up for lost time… he even trained me for a little while before he went off again… The only chance I had to really get to know him was ‘stolen’ by my niece. Then he died again, but he came back because everyone was willing to lose the dragon balls in exchange for his earthly body. Now the dragon balls are gone, and even though I’m glad to have him back…”
“I know.” Gohan sympathized. “I feel the same way. If we train and become strong, we’ll be the ones on the front line for the next battle. Now that the dragon balls are gone, we can’t be wished back if we die. Trust me, I want to be there for my children as much as you do. I would like to live to see Goku go Super Saiyan and graduate college. I’d like to be there to walk Pan down the aisle at her wedding.”
“I just want to be able to raise my children. I don’t want to die before I even get to hold them.”
Gohan put his hand on his brother’s shoulder supportively. “That’s not going to happen. I’ll be there with you fighting. Besides, it’s not really fair for us to keep shoving everything on Dad’s shoulders all the time.”
“Would you train with me?” Goten asked quietly.
“Yeah.” Gohan said, suddenly seeing the image of his six year-old brother asking the same thing.
“Because you haven’t trained in a while and you’re kind of getting soft.” He jokingly poked Gohan in the side as if there was a spare tire there or something. “With your old age, I’m a little concerned that you won’t be able to keep going when it gets tough.”
“I probably do have some catching up to do. I just hope I won’t have to wear spandex again.” They both laughed as they walked back towards the kitchen. “I’d better get Videl home. I bet she’s asleep by now.”
“Gohan, do think my second kid will look like me if it’s a boy?” He asked, looking back at Goku Jr.
“Probably, that tends to be the pattern in our family.”
“Don’t you think that would be a little weird, having three generations of men in our family that look exactly alike?”
“No.” Gohan said. “We’ll just have to buy the poor boy some surgery.”
Pan had been counting down the minutes all morning. She was finally about to land. As she looked out the window, she saw the earth grow gradually. She was sure she had never seen a more beautiful sight. The ship fell through the atmosphere and nearly halted as it got close to the ground. Pan’s anticipation grew. The last week had been boring and lonely. Now she could get out and move around. She still had to be as quiet as possible, but at least she got to be around people. The ship finally came to a complete rest on the ground. She waited a few moments before she jumped, just to make sure that it was safe.
Pan figured it was safe to move when the engines stopped. She quickly got out of her seat and ran to the window. To her, the view outside the window was breathtaking. The ship landed in the middle of a forest. There were lots of trees, but she could see the sun shining through them. She was back on earth. She wasted no time simply looking at the pretty picture. The temptation was too great. The door opened and a wave of fresh, pine-scented air rushed in and filled the small room. The temperature seemed to be just right, and there was a light breeze. The sky beckoned to her.
Pan ran as fast as she could to the bedroom and changed into her sweats and a tank top. It took less than a second before she was changed and out the door. She breathed in deeply as she took off in flight. At that moment, the past week disappeared completely. All she thought about was how good the wind felt in her hair. She was soaring high over the land when she spotted it, Satan city.
The ship must have been pre-programmed to land near the city, but not anywhere in plain view. A smile slowly spread across her face as she stopped. Capsule Corporation was near here. Should she stop by? No, she wasn’t supposed to interfere with the past, but she would have to make a point of snooping around before she left. How old were they now? Her younger self was around eight, Bra was probably nine or ten, Goten was twenty-one, Marron was nineteen or twenty and Trunks was twenty-two. She laughed, there were definitely some good blackmail opportunities here.
Suddenly, she felt two strong ki’s. They were Goten and Trunks’. She would know those power signatures anywhere. Something clicked in her mind making her realize that if she could sense them from where she was, they could sense her from where they were. She slapped herself mentally for forgetting to hide her ki that entire time. Flying probably gave off her exact location. Vegeta would surely know she was there, unless he was distracted. If he were paying attention, however, he’d be there by now. She counted her blessings and landed, pushing her power level down as far as it would go. She turned to start walking back, but as she stepped forward, a figure blocked her path.
The figure was familiar to Pan. The weighted clothing, the height, the green skin, the turban, it couldn’t be anyone else. Pan chuckled nervously.
“Good day Mr. Piccolo.” She greeted. He didn’t move or make a sound. He just stood there with his arms crossed looking mean, like Piccolo usually does. “It’s nice out, isn’t it? Perfect for meditating or training. I bet the water tastes really good today.” He still just stood there. She suddenly became nervous about her father’s former sensei. “Well, nice talking to you, but I have to be going now.”
She rushed to leave, but Piccolo grabbed the back of her shirt. If he wasn’t asexual, she might accuse him of something. She knew he wasn’t going to let her go anywhere without her telling him everything. It suddenly became hard to swallow. If he didn’t believe her, he might get angry thinking she was lying.
“Who are you?” He said with his eyes narrowed and his K-9 teeth barring.
Pan was reluctant, to say the least. “Who do I look like? I’m a twenty-five year-old woman on her way home after visiting the city.” She chuckled nervously again. There was no way he was going to buy that. She had called him by name. In addition, she had reacted normally to seeing a tall, green man from outer space.
She was right. He didn’t buy it, he just increased his grip on her shirt. “How do you know about me? And why is your ki so strong?”
Pan figured she might as well go ahead and tell him. She could always use the spray on him… and it’s not as if he normally talks to anyone but her dad anyway. “Well, I believe you know my father.”
“Who is he?!” Piccolo’s voice was loud and angry. He was quickly loosing his patience.
“Son Gohan.”
“What?!” He wasn’t sure if he believed her. He knew Gohan had a kid, but he didn’t think she’d be this old already. “How?”
“I’m his daughter, from the future.”
“From the future? Great.” He said releasing her from his grip. “What happened now?”
“Nothing…happened…” She said, not quite understanding what he had meant. “I’m kind of here by accident.”
“By accident?”
“It’s kind of a long story. Come with me, I need to show you something on the ship anyway. I can tell you while we walk.”
Piccolo went with her, but he suspected something was up. She told him the entire story. He wasn’t surprised when he heard the part about Goten having hidden powers. He knew all too well about Gohan having mysterious fighting capabilities. Why wouldn’t his younger brother have them too? He was, however, surprised that Pan had gone super saiyan level two. He didn’t think that the girl would have had the power, or the strength. He figured it was just one of the advantages of being Gohan’s daughter and Goku’s granddaughter.
They got to the ship all too soon. She went inside, but he just waited outside, annoyed that she couldn’t tell him what was so important on the way.
“I found it.” She said after coming back out.
“Well, what is it?”
She was amazed at how similar Piccolo could be to Vegeta sometimes, despite the fact that they hated each other. “It’s right here.” She took a peak at the instructions just to make sure, then she pulled the can from behind her back. She sprayed it directly into his eyes, but nothing happened. He didn’t even flinch, he just stood there with his arms crossed.
She started to back up. Now she had really ticked him off, but he wouldn’t kill Gohan’s daughter, would he? “It didn’t work! This was supposed to make you forget about me.” She slapped her forehead with her hand. “I guess Namekian physiology is really different from a human’s.” She chuckled nervously. “Piccolo, if you tell anyone that I’m here…”
“I’m not stupid. I’m well aware of the ramifications of changing the past.” He said. His expression turned darker, if that were possible. “I would stay put if I were you. Also, stop being so sloppy with your ki. I would think that any child of Gohan’s would know better than that.” He took off into the sky.
Pan leaned up against the ship and hit her head purposely, but harder than she would have liked to. If anyone else besides Piccolo or Vegeta said that, she would have been offended. She knew he was right. She didn’t want to, but she was going to have to stay on the ship. The only excuse she had to leave the ship was to go look for her brother’s birthday gift and go grocery shopping. She had been scared for her life before, but this was the only “adventure” she ever went on where she thought she would die from boredom.