Disclaimer: DBZ and all of its characters belong to Akira Toriyama. I make no profit from posting this other than the warm, bubbly feeling in my heart. xD

I'm not new to FFdotNet but this is my first post. Hope you enjoy. ^^

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Meteor Shower

"Look, Pan, it's a meteor shower!"

The young girl made little movement as she sat with legs crossed on the grass, arms folded across her chest. Her black eyes turned to her mother who was standing in front of her, blue eyes sparkling with excitement at the bright streams of light rushing through the night sky. She blinked, a monotone expression on her babyish face, before turning her gaze on the people littering the meadow around her. She easily recognized all of them; from fathers to sons to daughters to mothers, they were all familiar to her.

However… one was missing.

Pan took a deep breath and lay back on the soft blanket her mother had provided. She too watched the sparkling sky but not with the same wonder that everyone else seemed to share. Her eyes widened briefly at a fairly large chunk of glowing rock that raced by, just a bit smaller than their moon and twice as colorful. It was impressive but there was little she saw that was wonderful. As it passed so did the minuscule stint of amazement she felt and again the face of boredom returned.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Her eyes remained unmoving as her father suddenly appeared, taking a heavy seat at her side. She didn't have to look at him to know that he was smiling. "It isn't as though you see something like this everyday. I thought you liked this kind of stuff."

"I do," she answered quickly. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea. It wasn't the spectacular display above her that was making her feel so dejected. Finally, her neutral expression cracked, a hint of grief running through her onyx orbs. "I guess it just isn't the same…" Her father blinked, waiting patiently for a moment as she continued, "It just isn't the same without grandpa…"

Gohan said nothing as he turned away, eyes averted from the show in the sky. He instead watched the grass before him, the long blades sparkling with an unusual color. The excitement was drained from him, his shoulders slumping just a bit.

"I see… I wish there was something I could do to fix that…" Pan turned her head and instantly felt a wave of guilt wash over her at the unhappy look on the man's face. She pulled herself up in a rush, her hands in front of her, unsure of what to do with them.

"N-no, no, don't look like that, dad! It's not like it's your fault." She calmed when he smiled a bit, though the pain was still there. "I'm sorry for bringing the mood down," she said sullenly. "I'm just… angry…"

Gohan glanced at her, a little surprised. "Angry…?" She nodded.

"It's been years since we last saw him even though he promised that he'd visit. He promised, didn't he? He's being selfish." She folded her arms again, huffing in irritation. "He didn't even bother stopping by on my birthday."

Gohan grinned a little. The way Pan held her arms tightly against her, her nose in the air was very much like his mother when she was angry at the very same person. His eyes softened as he raised his arm and placed a comforting palm on the girl's soft black hair.

"I know he's thinking about you. No matter where he goes he's always thinking about his family." Pan only frowned further, though the hope in her eyes betrayed her.

"How do you know that…?" Gohan gave a small chuckle and pulled the little girl onto his folded lap, wrapping his thick arms protectively around her middle. He rested his chin on her head and returned his gaze to the falling meteors still running across the sky with renewed enthusiasm.

"Do think about me, Pan?" She blinked with a little confusion as she rested her arms on her father's, her eyes also on the meteors above.

"Well, yeah, but what's that got to do with—?"

"And if I was gone, would you miss me?" Suddenly Pan grew anxious and began to wriggle in an effort to break free of her father's grasp. She wanted to see his expression, to see if he meant anything by what he'd said. She had stomached, with great difficulty, the absence of her favorite grandfather. She simply could not fathom how she would live without her father.

However, Gohan easily held her still, a soft laugh falling from his lips.

"What are you saying? Are you leaving, too?" she finally blurted, unable to escape.

"No, I'm not going anywhere. But if I did, would you miss me?" Pan fought back childish tears, feeling only slightly relieved, and nodded.

"Of course, I would."

"Because I'm important to you?"

"Of course, you are." Gohan leaned to one side, allowing his daughter to see the happy smile on his face and her gloomy expression eased.

"And mom, too?" he asked. She nodded and he pressed his cheek to her hair, hugging her just a bit tighter. "We feel the same you know. We always miss you when you go to school or hang out with your friends, because you're important to us; because we're family and we love each other."

A carefree smile touched Pan's face and she gripped her father's arms in reply. She was beginning to see the bigger picture.

"We all miss grandpa, Pan, because he's family and we love him. There's no doubt in my mind that he feels the same about us."

"Yeah…" she said quietly, a bubble of warmth spreading through her heart.

Gohan returned his chin to the top of her head and the two of them looked to sky again, the shower fading but not quite over just yet. His gaze flickered over to his wife and he caught an affectionate smile on her lips. He returned the smile tenfold.

"Hey, dad?" Pan asked, pulling his eyes to the sky again.

"Hm?"

"Do you think grandpa can see this too? The meteor shower, I mean." Gohan chuckled, his chest vibrating behind her.

"I'm sure he's watching from somewhere and I'll bet he's thinking about us as he does; just like you're thinking about him."

The lights began to dim, once again leaving the illumination of the earth below to the large bright moon. A few people began to clap, showing their appreciation for the beautiful show while others began to dig into the treat-filled baskets waiting patiently on the mass of blankets.

Pan remained unmoving in the strong embrace of her father's arms and swelled with happiness at her new found discovery. It was amazing to think that even though her grandfather was so far away he would still be able to see what she had seen, to share the magic she'd experienced. Though mundane at first, it suddenly felt as though she had witnessed something truly amazing.

She would surely never forget such a day in all of her life…

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Somewhere across the globe, miles above the clouds, a man stood with a smile on his face as the last little meteor joined its family beyond the horizon.

"Look, Pan… it's a meteor shower…"