AN: Second chapter of the new brain baby. Enjoy, and Best Path. :) The ages are as follows: Trunks 30, Goten 29, Marron 26, Uub 23, Pan 18, Bura 17.
Burn More Slowly
WHEN GOTEN RETURNED home from Pan's Super Saiya-jin fiasco he'd given his mother a bare bones explanation, which had her dialing Gohan's number instantly. He ignored her shrill tone as she berated his older brother. In the security of his own bedroom, he found that something within him was unsettled. He had climb into bed, only to find that he tossed and turned, praying fervently that rest would come, but it continuously eluded him.
He sat up, kicking his sheets aside as he left the warmth of his bed. The moon was only a sliver in the sky, so his room was pitch black. Any efforts to see were attained through his Saiya-jin vision alone. He opened his window, perching comfortably in it's fat frame. He'd often sit at his bedroom window as a child, listening to Gohan tell tales of all the might feats their father had accomplished. His younger self would gaze into the sky, wondering if maybe their father was listening from the Kai's perch or where ever he may be, looking benevolently down upon his two children.
As he grew into manhood, he learned that his father usually was not paying attention, or having it diverted elsewhere. He felt old bitternesses gnaw further, burrowing deeper within his breast. His relationship with his father had always been, complicated, to say the least. He had adored and worshiped him as one might a god as a child, though that quickly gave way to a teenage anger and resentment when he saw that though his father loved his wife and children, he was distracted by grander things in life and the after life.
And now, as an adult, having lost any opportunity to further know that elusive man that was his sire, he didn't know what to think. All he knew was how he felt: bitter, cheated, unloved, unwanted. He had no place in this world his father had left him behind on. Since his birth he'd been afterthought, and only the kindness of his older brother's guidance had brought him to this point in his life. He had no lofty goals, no thoughts for himself, and no cause worthy of his attention. Goku cast a long shadow over Goten's life through his thoughtless selfishness.
How extraordinary that his niece, Pan, had attained Super Saiya-jin. That whole incident had set off this current chain of thought and feeling. It had reminded him that no matter how he ignored, suppressed, or avoided them, his problems were lurking there, just under the surface. He had sedated himself into a going nowhere, doing nothing lifestyle, just to keep himself from exploding in a hailstorm of righteous indignation at his lot in aforementioned life.
His niece's ascension also showed him the lack of focus in his life. Pan had been begging Vegeta to teach her for nearly three years now. What had he done in that time? Goten could have trained her himself, but he had been too busy wallowing in his own depression that had blanketed him like a heavy snowfall once his father had left for the ultimate and last time. Not only had he stagnated his own training, but he'd prevented, secondarily, Pan's progress as a warrior too.
It was likely that Vegeta would begin to train Pan now that she had literally proven her worth. He felt a pang of hurt in his chest. The thrill of battle...it had been too long since he'd last felt it. He noticed that Trunks had allowed his own training to fall to the wayside as well. They both hadn't quite become the men their fathers had been, it seemed.
Perhaps Vegeta would allow him to sit in on Pan's training sessions...sparring with her himself a bit, just to make sure she'd be okay... And if Vegeta desired a stronger sparring partner, or maybe wanted to show Pan an example of a certain attack or defense...
Goten felt excitement at the budding possibility. Perhaps Vegeta could train him too. He still had a lot to learn, so long as Vegeta was stronger than himself. He could even surpass him someday. Feeling better, he closed his bedroom window and returned to bed. He set an alarm for 4:30 am. That would give him ample time to greet Vegeta outside of his gravity chamber in the morning and humbly ask the Saiya-jin Prince to train him personally.
His eyes closed, and within moments he was asleep.
GOHAN OBSERVED HIS wife as she performed her motherly duties diligently towards their nearly grown teenage daughter. Videl was aware of her husband's gaze, and aware that his current emotional state was similar to a tiny ship tossed about the ocean during a storm. "Please talk to me." she murmured, her gaze not straying from her cleansing of Pan's injuries, though they were minor.
Gohan snapped from his reverie, and sighed heavily. "It's just difficult to adjust when your only child isn't a child anymore." There was a tinge of sadness in his voice that went beyond just Pan's growth.
Videl kept her emotions carefully contained. She and Gohan had discussed and even argued repeatedly over the number of children they'd wanted to have. Just Pan had been enough for her, where as Gohan had wanted one or two more. But he hadn't been the one to be home alone all day with a Saiya-jin infant who used ki during her temper tantrums. She sighed softly, she and Gohan had also been young when they'd married and had Pan. They hadn't really had the life experience to handle such great responsibilities at the time, nor did they have the finances to fund their budding family comfortably.
"She loves us. We'll never truly lose her, not like you fear." The death of her own mother when she had been a girl sometimes made Videl not as nurturing or soft as another female could be. She could be too tough, too unyielding. Just as Chichi's incessant mothering had given Gohan a softer, sweeter disposition that was unlike a more typical male.
Gohan rubbed at the migraine that was brewing at his temples. "Am I transferring my unresolved issues over my father's...disappearances onto our daughter?" Once Goku had left, Gohan had sunk into a depression so deep that his relationship with Videl was suffering. So, together, they had decided to see a counselor, who often made Gohan confront his unresolved issues from his childhood, especially those concerning his father's absences.
"I know you're scared." Videl answered as she collected the medical supplies she had taken from the household first aid kit and replaced them. She pulled the covers up to Pan's chin and motioned to her husband to leave the room.
Gohan followed his wife, sparing once last glance to his daughter before joining his wife in the hall. She walked down the hall towards Gohan's office and he followed her. It seemed they had taken to conducting all of their serious conversations in Gohan's office, and over the years they had learned to calmly resolve most of their problems in that room. He sat at his, and Videl perched herself neatly in Gohan's lap.
He had still not replied to her comment, and she wasn't sure if she'd assumed to much over him. "Gohan?" Her hand brushed his cheek and that was what broke him.
"I am scared." he answered, his breath quavering. "I have seen everyone I love die time and time again...so many times I've looked at the damn near impossible situations we've been in and wondered if that was it, if we wouldn't pull through this time." his voice cracked, tears slipping unbidden down his smooth face.
Videl grabbed tissues from Gohan's desk drawer, lovingly pressing them to his tears. She said nothing, for she knew her husband hated these vulnerable moments when the past triggered him, paralyzing him in the present.
"I was so young, Videl, when my uncle came and killed my father. I was five, and then Mr. Piccolo trained me in the wilderness until Vegeta and Nappa came to kill us...I fought alongside my family and friends, and every time I ever fucked up somebody died. Back in the Cell games, my own arrogance..." He took more tissues from his wife's extended hand and he tried to pull himself together, failing miserably.
Videl nodded sympathetically. Gohan had been your average teenager when she had met him, but as the years passed, the post traumatic stress from everything he endured in his childhood had begun to take its toll on him. Over the years she had come to understand that her husband had deep emotional wounds from everything he had endured growing up as Son Goku's first child.
"He fucking left me, Videl. Again and again. And after the Cell games, when Mom was pregnant with Goten, he left again. And, I didn't have to become Goten's surrogate father, but I did because my poor mother was so shocked and grieved over Dad's death that she couldn't do it alone. And, when he was born, he looked so much like Dad..." he dissolved into deep heaving sobs at this point, and Videl held her husband to her chest.
"Panny won't leave you. Not like him. She loves you, and isn't absent minded the way that Goku-san was." she soothed, stroking her husband's enviably sable hair. Their daughter had always had a strong bond with Gohan, every bit a Daddy's girl, tomboyish though she was.
He hugged his wife closely, taking deep breaths to calm himself. Whenever this emotional storm hit it always swept him away, and it took some time before he could collect himself. "I know. She's not inconsiderate like that." his voice had almost taken the tone of a sullen teen.
"Your father did a lot of what he did due to his own ignorances, Gohan." His wife's blue gaze caught his own ebony, and he calmed marginally.
The elder Son laughed. "I know. He was clueless about everything. He didn't even know how to keep his own wife happy." He dried the remnants of his tears, tossing his tissues in the garbage can. "A twelve year old boy shouldn't be privy to his mother nagging to his father about her lack of a sex life."
Videl winced. "Gohan..."
"That's why I bend over backwards to make sure every little thing is to your satisfaction. That's why I'm so weak to females whenever they expect anything of me." His ball busting mother hadn't helped him anymore than his dead beat father had. And raising Goten had put more pressure on his life then he'd cared for.
"It wasn't fair. I know that. But it's not happening now. Pan is just going to be training with Vegeta." Videl reminded him calmly.
Gohan leaned back, pulling his wife close. "I know. These are afflicted emotions from the past that are causing me to suffer in the present." He closed his eyes, taking more deep, even breaths.
Videl smiled softly, kissing Gohan's brow tenderly. "She is becoming a beautiful woman." she commented softly. And, indeed, she was. Then had done quite well with their daughter, despite their differences, struggles, and conflicts.
"She is." he agreed, running his fingers up his wife's arm. He squeezed her slightly, enjoying how she had allowed her body to soften slightly with her age. In their youth Videl had kept herself more muscular, and the softness she now had increased her femininity. "Like you." He pressed soft kisses on her neck, trailing up to her ear.
He knew her spots, and she shivered in response. "Even though I am becoming old?" They had just celebrated their fortieth birthdays not too far from one another, and Gohan looked much better for the wear. People often though he was Pan's brother instead of her father, where as she was undoubtedly Pan's mother.
"You'll always be beautiful to me. As Vegeta stands by Bulma, I will stand beside you." His reply was so unfailingly romantic that she wrapped her arms about his neck and laid a deep kiss on her handsome, half-alien husband.
"Thank you." she whispered in his ear, and for the moment they were content in one another's arms.
BURA ARRIVED AT at the gravity chamber even before her father did. She knew he'd said 5 am, but she'd beat him to the punch by arriving at 4 am instead. She could hardly sleep the night before, eager to learn everything her father could possibly teach her. She'd cut all of her nails short and removed the pink polish that had lacquered them previously. She dressed in a spandex suit similar to those that her father perpetually wore, leaving little to the imagination.
He entered the gravity room, a towel and a gallon on water in hand, and blinked in surprise to see his daughter had beat him to the chase and exceed even his own expectations. "Well, I suppose you're ready then." he replied, and moved to attack her.
This threw her off guard and she fought back instinctively, relying on her Saiya-jin nature to guide her through this tussle. She knew he was going incredibly easy on her, but she didn't mind. Her father was a strong warrior who could kill her with a breath of ki. It was better not to goad him into using greater strength on her.
He attacked her until she received the first blow that drew blood. To Bura it had felt like eons, when in all reality it was probably not even five minutes. It hurt, though she didn't realize how much until she stopped and pressed her trembling fingers to her swollen mouth. It occurred to her that this was the first time she had ever truly fought with her father.
Trunks had shown her the basics of fighting when she was younger when a boy had picked on her in school. The generic punches, kicks, and of course, dodging. It was a sibling moment of bonding that she recalled fondly. And her father had been extremely proud of them both once he'd discovered the mini-lesson. That lesson was what had served her now, in this minor skirmish with her sire. "Well done." he commended, and her heart leapt in joy.
"I...I think I can do this." she breathed, astonished that she'd fought, that she bled, that her father was proud. Her body was still trembling slightly, and she could barely contain the charge she felt coursing through her veins.
Vegeta nodded, retrieving his towel to blot at his daughter's swollen lip. His touch was as tender with her as he would be his aging wife. The two precious things he held above all others. He dabbed at the fresh wound, her blood crimson against the stark white of the terry cloth. "Of course."
He'd sounded almost impatient, but she knew he felt the streak of pride that his very human-like daughter was embracing her ancestors' warrior ways. "I want to become Super Saiya-jin too, Otousama." Her eyes gleamed with the fire of a Saiya-jin spirit. He could not quell such ambition in her.
"And under my tutelage, you shall." he responded earnestly. She beamed and the lesson continued. Time got away from the father and daughter as they became immersed in their training session. Suddenly the 'doorbell', of sorts, rang outside the gravity chamber.
They both both turned to regard whomever the visitor might be, both startled to find that it was Goten. Vegeta was surprised because Goten hadn't entered his gravity chamber since the younger Son brother was a teenager, and Bura because she harbored a huge crush on Goten and became nervous whenever he was near her.
"What is it?" Vegeta questioned expectantly.
Goten, not expecting Bura of all people to be sparring with Vegeta, was thrown off. "Oh...I...uh..." He dropped to kneel before Vegeta as a soldier would kneel before his liege. "I have come to formally request your personal training and to offer assistance where your potential student Pan is concerned." he spoke eloquently. He hastily added the respectful title of 'Ouji-sama' as an after thought, but Vegeta was already more than exasperated.
"I'm already training Bura, and once Pan has recovered I will be training her as well! Do you think I have all the time in the world to be training you whelps when you could have broached the same request when we were both far younger with more leisure?" Vegeta growled impatiently. What was it with these kids? For decades none of them express any interest in fighting, and then Pan goes off and becomes a Super Saiya-jin! And now they were lining up outside his gravity chamber!
Goten grinned sheepishly, but he already had a solution to Vegeta's dilemma.. "I could train Bura on the basics and get her prepared to become Super Saiya-jin while you cultivate Pan's powers." Bura's heart pitter-pattered at Goten's suggestion, though she kept her features schooled. She couldn't let on to either Goten or Vegeta how much she liked the idea.
The Saiya-jin Prince ran Goten's scenario through his mind, trying to find fault with his suggestion. But Goten was well trained in the basics, had even achieved Super Saiya-jin level two himself...so he could be a good tutor to Bura, as long as Vegeta observed and inserted his own superior skills where necessary. Though, he had to admit, Son Goten was very good at improvisation when he fought. He was quite creative as a fighter, actually.
He had little reason to say no. Goten's assistance would be of great help. "Very well," Vegeta sighed, "you and Bura decide amongst yourselves a schedule that will be appropriate for the both of you and do not stray from that. I will conduct the training of Pan on my own leisure, and you two must adhere to that."
Both students nodded in agreement, shouting 'Hai!' in unison.
"Good, now fight amongst yourselves. I'm getting something to eat." Vegeta muttered, stalking of to leave his and Goku's progeny to spar. Honestly, the audacity of these kids!
Bura and Goten watched the sulky Prince leave and turned to one another. It occurred to Goten that Bura might not necessarily be happy that he had assigned himself to be her tutor, effectively cutting down on the time she'd be spending with her dad. "Sorry about that..." he trailed off uncertainly. Was Vegeta angry with them now? It was so hard to read Vegeta at times.
Bura, who was elated that Goten, the object of her affections, would now be her tutor, arched a brow. "Sorry? For what?" she queried, honestly confused. She wondered if maybe Goten did not want to tutor her, but was only doing so in the event that Vegeta would train him as well.
"Well, if you were looking forward to spending time with your dad, I kind of limited it by offering to teach you the basics instead." he explained. He had been incredibly hurt by his own father going off with Uub for ten years to train in the wilderness, neglecting his own family.
He vaguely wondered how Uub was doing, since he'd never really come to know him as an adult. The former Majin and himself had an age difference of seven years, and so they had never played together as children or anything of the sort. If he remembered correctly, Buu's reincarnation was about twenty three years old right now. Just old enough to do anything that truly matter in the scheme of this society. But, he digressed.
The Saiya-jin Princess shook her head, her heart thumping loudly. She hoped Goten couldn't hear it. She hoped she didn't seem like a teenage girl mooning over her crush. "It's okay. I look forward to learning from you."
She gave a slight bow to show respect, and Goten grinned sheepishly. "Geez, I've never been a sensei before, so pardon the mistakes that I make." The task actually seemed to be quite the undertaking, and he wasn't sure where to start.
She laughed. "We can make the mistakes together." She knew she wasn't perfect, nor did she expect Goten to be. "So, is there a particular time or days of the week that would work well with you?"
Goten looked thoughtful. "Honestly...I'm not doing much at the moment...I want to pursue fighting seriously right now. So...whenever." He didn't even bother to fake prior engagements. He had no reason to lie to Bura, or seem like he had a more full social calendar. Appearances be damned.
Bura, on the other hand, had quite the opposite dilemma. She had finished her G.E.D. early, when she had been fifteen. Now she was working towards her Bachelor's degree, and at seventeen she was already halfway complete. Perhaps she should be prudent and consider her school schedule. Or, she could slow herself to a more reasonable pace of 12 credits a semester. Her mind was very quick, and she had an affinity towards the sciences as her mother had. Bura had hoped to maybe become a scientist on the Capsule Corp's payroll by the time she was twenty.
But fighting...she felt drawn to it, had always had a curiosity, but hadn't ever pushed until now. And here was the golden opportunity: Goten had said he didn't have anything else to do. "Let's meet everyday, except Mondays."
"Mondays?" he queried, wondering what Bura had to do on Mondays. If they were to have a day off, wouldn't Saturday or Sunday be better?
"Yeah...I just hate them." Her disdain was obvious, and he laughed. "What?" she asked, defensive, "Don't you hate them too?"
"Yeah, back when I was in high school." he replied honestly. High school, what a trip. He was thirty now, so it had been about twelve years. He knew Bura already had her G.E.D. and was currently enrolled in university, but she was still only seventeen, and quite the bookworm.
"Well, you can take it or leave it. I still hate them." She plopped down on the floor of the gravity chamber, and Goten crouched beside her so keep the conversation in close range. "I think at least two hours would be good," she said, effectively changing the subject, "but we can carry over if you want. And we probably shouldn't crowd the gravity room first thing in the morning, and then I have classes, so evenings would be better. Say, oh, 6 pm?"
"After dinner is fine." he replied evenly. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, and it'd be nice to spar with Vegeta earlier in the day, then finish out the day molding Bura's prowess.
"Well," she said, stretching her legs out, "shall we spar?"
He extended his hands and they pulled one another up in unison. "Let's do this." Their bodies became blurs, moving to strike, counter, and dodge one another.
PAN AWOKE WHEN the sun had began its descent into the west. She was alone, and in the comfort of her own room and bed. The house was quiet, and she felt out her parents' familiar ki signatures to see that neither of them were home. It was nice, actually, to have her solitude.
She wasn't sure what day it was, but she recalled how she had confessed her feelings to Trunks. And then she had run across Vegeta, who had goaded her into becoming a Super Saiya-jin. And then she remembered nothing.
She fumbled on her nightstand for her alarm clock, wincing when she saw that she'd been unconscious for nearly twenty four hours. It was apparent that ascension to Super Saiya-jin took a lot out of someone when they attained it. Her body ached, and she had minor burns, cuts, and bruises. Her clothing, which no one had bothered to remove for her, was frayed and singed everywhere.
She slinked out of bed tenderly, mindful of her injuries and hobbled down the hall to the bathroom. She stripped herself of her damaged clothing, feeling a pang of regret when she recalled that her grandfather's gi, which she had used as a handkerchief for years, had disintegrated. She did have a complete gi that her grandfather had left behind when he left with Shenlong, but she didn't want to cut it up to make another headpiece for herself.
"I guess I need to let go of you, if only this little bit." she murmured aloud, as if her grandfather were in the room and could hear her. Would he be upset? Or glad that she had grown, if only marginally. How would he feel about her attaining Super Saiya-jin? She knew him well, and had a feeling that he'd be just as excited as she felt.
Her whole life to this point had been pursuing the elusive power of Super Saiya-jin. Now that she had accessed that source of infinitesimal power, what could she do with it? Her thoughts turned to Vegeta. Would he train her now? She had proven her worth as a warrior, in her own eyes. Surely he could be convinced...to hell with his excuses to wait until her eighteenth birthday. She'd show him exactly what her potential was. Now he could not refuse her.
She jumped into the shower, washing herself quickly, and returned to her room to dress. She had to go to Vegeta, to convince him to train her. She couldn't waste another moment. Not when she had finally become the very thing she had longed for the most. She left her house before her parents even came home, and didn't bother to leave a note.
She raced across the skies to Capsule Corp, thinking of Trunks and his complete rejection of her. He had been kind enough, but it was still rejection nonetheless. But somehow it didn't bother her so much anymore. The Trunks she'd crush on as a girl wasn't the same man anymore. He'd become content, soft, weak...human. It was apparent that as he aged he would only become more complacent with a normal, human life.
She couldn't admire that. She couldn't respect or love a man who didn't possess a warrior's spirit, as she herself did. It seemed she would be single until she met a man who could match her. She didn't mind. She'd be busy attempting to master Super Saiya-jin, and then pushing herself to the next level thereafter.
The granddaughter of Son Goku touched down in the backyard of Capsule Corporation, not surprised to see that the gravity chamber was on and occupied. But she was surprised to see Goten and Bura inside, in addition to Vegeta, fighting together while Vegeta floated about the room, barking orders and critiquing their form. She rang the bell, waiting expectantly for them to respond.
"I didn't expect you here so soon." Vegeta said flatly when he answered, stepping aside for her to enter. Goten and Bura both greeted her cheerfully, offering congratulations on her achievement.
"What's going on here?" Pan asked, looking amongst the trio. Had Vegeta taken both Goten and Bura on as students, effectively removing her opportunity for any training herself? Why would he take them, for neither of them had expressed the will or interest in fighting, over herself? She felt crushed.
"Well," Goten interjected, "Bura and I both became inspired to fight when we learned that you had become Super Saiya-jin, so we all agreed that I would train Bura in the basics while Vegeta trained you, and Vegeta would train me also..."
Pan blinked, looking amongst her sensei, uncle, and close friend. "So...we're having a Saiya-jin boot camp?"
Bura nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! What do you think?"
Pan grinned widely. "This is awesome! None of us will ever suffer from the lack of a sparring partner again!" Not only would she have Vegeta to teach her, but her uncle would be an excellent sparring partner, now that he was motivated by his Saiya-jin nature. And this would be a common point between Bura and herself, so they could rekindle their friendship and become even closer.
Vegeta scowled, crossing his arms. "Then get to it. I don't have all day for a Super Saiya-jin party." The three youths' backs straightened and they fell into fighting formation.