Hey everyone! It's been a while huh? I want to thank all of you for reading this story. The FF community has always been supportive. Please leave a review, or send me a PM. I'm open to hearing your ideas for new stories and perspectives. I just wanted to write something a little different.

With Love,

Lady Ruebo

Gohan remembered second grade— he thought. At least he remembered the books his mother stacked on his desk. Until the ninth grade, Chi-chi filled most of the roles in his life: mother, friend, provider, disciplinarian, and teacher. His classroom was a wooden desk with a wobbly leg, tucked in the corner of his bedroom. He remembered how the Grungy halls of East Star high seemed exotic on his first day of high school, like nasty candy wrapped in pretty gold foil.

Gohan looked down at his only daughter, now seven years old. He remembered the day she was born. He would never forget the swell of adoration and most of all—the fear. All it took was for her to set bug brown eyes on him. Determination sparked a fire in his heart; her life would be different.

Today, Pan was eager and bored. It was a dangerous combination for her. Golden Dawn Academy had small class rooms by design, encouraging teacher engagement. Pan just saw it as a social opportunity, not a four figure investment. Pan wiggled in her black flats. The teacher, Ms. Mio a 'green' teacher entering her second professional year corralled thirteen chatting second graders back to their desks.

Ms. Mio threw her straight black hair over her shoulder. She clapped her narrow hands together, and a hush fell over the room. In general, Pan didn't mind the quiet minutes of life because she noticed the little details, like birds chirping or soft green leaves shimmering after a. summer shower. Today, it wasn't the silence pan hated. It was the squeaky ceiling fan beating the air. The flapping poster on the back wall made her sweat. The blank eyes of her classmates made Pan's ears burn.

"You're going to do fine," Gohan whispered to her, and gently nudged her with his elbow.

"Good Morning," Ms. Mio announced, "Happy Monday!"

"Marvelous Monday!," the children responded.

Ms. Mio nodded with approval, "Today is the first day of our parent-project series. I urge you all to give Pan your undivided attention," she added behind a rehearsed smile.

The teacher's eyes settled on a little ginger boy sitting in the far back.

Pan clutched her poster board to her chest. Her wide, apprehensive eyes raised to her father.

"Go on," he said with an amused grin.

Pan drudged forward, dragging the soles of her glittery black shoes.

"So tell us about your guest," Ms. Mio guided.

"Well, here's my dad," Pan said casually and motioned with her head.

Friendly snickers echoed off the windows and walls. Her cheeks suddenly cooled, and her hands warmed.

"Daddy's name is Gohan Son and he's a search-fellow at the university."

"Research Fellow," Gohan warmly corrected her.

"Which one?," Ms. Mio asked.

"The one on upper King street," Pan said.

"Oxford's Imperial University of Japan," Gohan filled in.

"So, you're a teacher?"

"Uh, yes," Gohan sighed.

Might as well be, he thought.

"Tell us about your project Pan, "Ms. Mio attempted to get her back on task.

"We did a poster' bout vironmental science—the weather and stuff."

Pan looked down at the board.

"Rainbows," she read and wiped her finger below the colorful letters, "Rainbows are arches of color that appear when light passes through water in the air," Pan gulped and looked beyond her classmates' expectant faces, "Rainbows can happen anytime- night or day, and they happen everywhere. They can be big or little and don't always show up in the sky," Pan said looking down at her feet.

"Where else can they happen?," Ms. Mio said and crossed her arms.

"Uh, like over a waterfall, or a lake. There's gotta be fog over the lake though," Pan answered.

"Oh," Pan almost forgot, "The colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo , and violet—Roy G. Biv."

"Good job! Everyone thank Pan for her presentation," the teacher insisted.

The children stood at their desks and bowed. Pan returned a quick bow, taking a cue from her father.

"The class will ask questions now," Ms. Mio guided them, "Remember, we raise our hands. I'll go first. Pan, where were you and Mr. Son able to observe a rainbow."

"No, but my grandpa took me to see one near Mount Paos."

"Can rainbows happen when it's cold outside?," a little girl in the second row asked.

"I dunno-daddy?," Pan turned to Gohan.

"Yes, a rainbow may appear as long there is liquid water."

"So, like the North Pole?"

"Yeap, if conditions are right. It has to be snowing, or if the air's dirty you might see a halo or a sun dog, which are other light phenomenons."

"Mister what's a fen-o-men-on?," Hiro Toyotaro said.

"It' just something weird that happens," Pan butted in.

"But weird stuff happens all the time," another child said matter of factly.

Gohan's smile couldn't cover his embarrassment.

"Oh, well—," Gohan started.

"It's what adults say to us when they really don't get it either, kind of like playing pretend," Pan cut her father off.

"Not today guys…," Ms. Mio chanted, like it was some unwelcome mantra.

"Hey Pan, was there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?," Hal Mcwiggins called from the back, with his black eyes as bright as his copper tinted head.

"Hal!," ms. Mio scolded him, " Be respectful. Do you want to have your normal desk back?"

Pan looked up at her father, completely ignoring the surrounding conversation. Gohan lowered his brows and adopted the steepest tone he could achieve in a whisper. Her white teeth appeared between her lips. Pan's eyes twinkled with rebellious delight.

"Oh no…no!," Gohan commanded and feverishly shook his head. His stoic façade crumpled under fear for the present and future.

Kami help me, he thought as he replayed the glimpse of unholy teenage mutiny that awaited him in six more years.

"No gold," Pan blurted, "But there was this ginormous floaty castle in the sky!," she said dropping her presentation board and stretching her arms as far as they would go.

The laughing stopped, but Pan kept going. She bowed up on her tip-toes and her eyes dialated with the crazed memory.

"Then there were—," Pan rattled.

"Wait, how'd you get up there," a little boy slurred with no front teeth.

"We flew," Pan said like his obliviousness annoyed her, "Then there were these little trolls that made all the colors in the big wide world. They were super nice except one of 'em. I followed some pretty flowers to a cave and he promised to make sensei Piccolo better if I—"

"My goodness Pan!," Ms. Mio said.

Pan hushed beneath her teacher's outburst. The children were glued to the edges of their seats. Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose and slipped his reading glasses into his pocket. He took at deep breath and tried to swallow his failure to protect pan from the most obvious threat: human scrutiny.

"I am so sorr—"

"Mr. Son, I had no idea that you also worked in the department of literature. I've read your dissertations before, but wow. How creative to let Pan help you for her parent project!"

"Oh, yes," he answered, allowing his narrow eyes to settle on Pan. Pan clasped her hands behind her back and nodded vigorously. Her eyes drooped to the concrete floor.

"Let's thank Pan and Mr. Son for all their hard work," Ms. Mio applauded.

"Daddy," Pan mumbled below the clapping hands.

"Yeah."

"I did good?"

Gohan hesitated with a exhausted smile, "Yes Pan-chan."