Set maybe after RF with some details from DBS, there may be some characters I've inserted that have nothing to do with the canon Universe. I did this story out of pure fun so please don't take any of this seriously, like who's stronger or _ is so lame. I enjoyed writing this so I hope you will enjoy reading it too :) Sorry in advance for slow updates!
Characters, story elements and milieu belong to the one and only Akira Toriyama.
I: Pan Makes a Promise
Son Pan only cares about three things in her life: food, fishing and fighting. One of the things the 12-year-old girl learned from her Grandpa Goku a.k.a Earth's Greatest Hero is to never take life seriously and just focus on three things she cares about. Her father has his books. Her uncle has his bikes and she has her sparring gloves.
Unfortunately, school isn't one of those things. That's why on that certain Monday morning, she woke up from the alarm with a grumble, half-dragged herself to the bathroom and sluggisly brushed her teeth, hoping her Crime watch would suddenly beep in alarm. Solving crimes and rescuing people is more exciting than World History on first period.
Below, she heard the stirring of pots and sound of knife chopping. Anytime, her mother would call her to get down. If Videl calls her name for the fifth time, that automatically means no training with Uncle Piccolo and Uub for the weekend. Just imagining how excruciatingly bored she will be, she brushed her teeth faster and quickly bounded the steps, resisting the urge to fly inside the house.
"Morning.." She greeted her mother in the kitchen before plunking down on her seat. She barely hid a yawn, settling her chin lazily on the table as Videl brings her a cup of hot chocolate. "Man, I'm still tired from last night. The robbers didn't make it easy making me chase them all the way to Central City."
"If I didn't know any better," Videl arched one brow at her daughter. "It Is that you deliberately prolonged the chase just so you won't return early last night. You can't use crime-fighting as an excuse to skip school the day after, young lady."
"Aw, but you and dad solve crimes when you were in high school!" Pan whined just as her father walked inside a kitchen.
"Morning!" Gohan gently shook his daughter's bed hair and sat down next to her. Pan knew her father stayed up half night working on one of his manuscripts but he still looked smart and refreshed as ever. "How's my little super heroine?"
"Ugh, don't encourage her." His wife set down a towering stack of pancakes on the table. "Did you know what your daughter did last night and how late she got home?"
"Yeah! It's all over the front page news." Her husband replied cheerfully, head buried on the newspaper he opened. "Masked Warrior Saves Three Runaway Robbers from a falling off a cliff." They may not have fallen from the cliff but you can say they fell 'under arrest', am I right?" He tried to wink at Pan but Videl kicked his leg hard under the table. Father and daughter grinned sheepishly at each other.
"C'mon, mom. You can't punish me for saving other people. It's part of my duty as the next Defender of the Earth." Pan reasoned out once again. "Besides, dad doesn't have a problem with it, right dad?"
Gohan is about to reply but his wife's warning look stopped him. "We're not stopping you, Pan." Videl replied as she poured a hot coffee in her mug. "Look, you can fight all you want and save the world, whenever you want but it's just not supposed to be like that all the time."
"Well, what?"
Her father put his mug down and looked at his daughter with a stern expression, well as stern as he can. "What your mother means is that it never hurts to be normal...once in a while. Like inviting your friends over in our house or spend the day shopping with Mother. You know how she likes it when you spend more time with her."
"But I am not normal." Pan frowned. "I'm not like the other girls my age. Heck I'm stronger than all the boys my age, well except for Uub. And for me, this is normal already. Going to school, doing my homework, spending time with friends..."
"Friends that don't include Uub, Piccolo, Marron and all your friends from Space?" Videl interrupted sharply. Pan just pouted in silence. "We're not telling you to go out there and live a normal life. But you can't make an excuse of your training or your adventures as Saiya Girl for everything." Videl gently squeezed her daughter's shoulder. Who says raising a girl who is part alien is gonna be easy? "You're not just your Grandfather's Successor. You're our daughter and you're also a big sister. You don't spend much time with your family than you used to."
Pan looked at her with suspicious eyes. "Do you want me to babysit Gomen for tonight while you and dad go off to another yucky honeymoon trip?"
"No! We're not going to another honeymoon trip." Videl emphasized though her cheeks are light pink. "But We do need you to babysit your brother because your father and I will go out for the night. We're going to celebrate his award for his recent academic paper." She smiled at her husband and the two exchanged adoring looks. Pan turned her head away, not wanting to ruin her appetite this early.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll babysit Gomen later if that's what you want."
"And we don't mean babysit as in strap him on your back while you fly off and chase criminals to the ground." Videl gave her daughter a sharp look. "You will take care of your brother yourself and not harass anyone, your Uncle Goten, Marron and especially Piccolo, to do the job, okay?"
Pan shrugged. "Alright. But if you want, I can start babysitting now! It will be great. You can have the whole day to yourself."
"Nice try, dear but you have to go to school." Videl smiled sweetly at her before pinching her nose. "You won't have your precious training time once Grandma finds out you're skipping classes, would you?"
"I know." Pan grumbled under her breath, unable to argue with that one. Her grandmother doesn't really expect her to grow up to be an intellectual like her dad but she at least needs to finish school and have good grades while at it. She somehow blames her Uncle for that. If he had finished school instead of tweaking with old bikes, there's a better chance that her grandma would leave her alone. As it turns out, she made it a mission that Pan doesn't grow up to be, as in her own words, a hellion of a girl no man in his right mind would ever want to marry.
Pan finished her seventh pancake in five seconds and finished her hot choco in one gulp. "Gotta go. Don't want to be late for the doze fest..I mean, class. See you guys tonight!"
"Remember to get home early tonight!" Videl kissed her daughter goodbye and Gohan pulled her in a gentle hug.
Little do they know, this will be the last time they will live with their not-so-normal daughter for a long, long time.
I: Bulla Makes a Deal
It was the explosion downstairs that woke her up. It could mean two things: her brother had another experiment gone wrong or Mai tried cooking breakfast by herself again. Either way, it's just another typical morning for the youngest member of the Capsule Corp Family.
Bulla tried to go back to sleep once again but her senses picked up the distinctive, rich smell of pies cooked inside the oven. Good, it means Mai is nowhere near the kitchen and her grandma is taking charge. She threw the covers away and scrambled towards the bathroom so she can get a full pie for herself before her lousy brother eats it all.
At 10, Bulla cares only about three things in life: cats, clothes and cakes fresh out the oven. Perfectly normal, simple things, really.
"Good morning!" She dashed towards the balcony area on the second floor and landed on her favorite seat beside her grandmother.
"Morning, brat." Her brother walked in behind her in a more leisurely manner. He is dressed for work, stiffly adjusting his tie as he sat down. "And before you pester me about it, I will now say 'No, Papa's still in space and I don't know when he'll be back."' Trunks had a feeling it was Bulla who mostly send their father away to Space to train, with all her constant pestering on taking her shopping or to an amusement park. If he's physically around, he can't refuse her.
"Does Mama know when he'll be back?" Bulla piped eagerly.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her? She's in the lab with Mai."
Bulla stared down at her plate grumpily. She knows how scary her mother can be when she interrupts her work for small things.
Her mood lightened considerably when her grandma set a steaming hot apple pie in front of her. "Here you go, sweetums. Something to cheer you up." A service droid flew beside her to deliver a mug of hot chocolate brewed upon her's liking. Another robot servant tied a hanky around her neck as the other droid stirred the chocolate in quick precise movement.
Trunks eyed his sister idly as he sipped his own drink. Seeing her being pampered like this is ridiculous to say the least. It didn't help that his grandparents clearly dotes her since the day she was born. Even he wasn't spoiled this much, as far as he can remember. He shakes his head, smirking in bemusement.
"What?" Bulla looked at him suspiciously.
"Nothing. I was just thinking how you're not going to survive a day in the wilderness on your own."
"Why would I want to survive in a wilderness on my own?" She asked, confused.
"It's not a matter of whether you want it or not. I'm saying you can't."
Bulla sat straighter from her seat. Her brother is obviously baiting him but she couldn't stand that mischievous look on his face. "Why?"
Trunks shrugged, lounging against his seat with his arms crossed against his chest. "You're spoiled, idiot. I bet if you spend even one hour alone in Mt. Paotzu with all the wild creatures, you're gonna cry your way home. You're much too pampered to do anything on your own."
"So what? It's not like I'm going to stay in a forest off the mountains." His sister responded pluckily. "And even if I did, Papa's going to save me."
Trunks sighed and just concentrated on reading the paper he prepared all night for the meeting today. "Whatever you say, brat."
Bulla just pouted at him. It's not like she wins every argument she had with her brother, but sometimes she wished she can just get something to throw to his face. Especially that he has to act all smug about this. He's not just tough but he's smart, though he can be a real dork when Mai's around. He's got all the reason to be smug.
Bulla finished at least four pies and two mugs of hot chocolate before she had her fill. The droids hover around her, fulfilling her every whim. Her grandmother is happily sharing a neighborhood story but she didn't seem to mind that it was only her husband who's listening to her. Trunks kept on reading and ignoring her. Breakfast feels so dull without her parents around.
After a brief silence, she made up her mind. She's going to show her brother that he's wrong. "I can do it, you know!" She declared.
"Do what, Bulla-chan?" her grandmother asked eagerly.
"I can take care of myself wherever I am." She leapt from her seat and glared at her brother. "Just watch."
"Okay. But how are you going to do that?"
"I'll think of something but once I did, you have to wear that ugly yellow-striped suit Mama made for you for the rest of the week."
Trunks didn't bat an eye. "Deal, but if none of us are impressed, you're going to eat nothing but vegetables for a week."
Bulla visibly blanched at that but cannot deny that it only seemed fair. Her brother hated that suit as much as she hated green food. "Deal!" She juts her chin up and trots angrily inside the house. She hadn't made it to the door when her grandma runs after her with a handkerchief.
"Goodness, you still have your bib on." Bunny wipes the side of her lips with a hanky. "You don't want to go to school with crumbs all over your face, do you?"
Heat rushed to her cheeks but she can't do anything but fume silently as her brother laughed at her face.
R&R please. Much appreciated :)