Read and enjoy! And please feel free to tell me what you think-what you think needs to be changed, what you like. I would REALLY appreciate it for future writing. Thank you!

~!*!~

"Hang on!" Goten said to the door as he rushed over. He opened it and blinked in the harsh sunlight. "Oh, uh...Hey, Videl. Pan."

Pan waved happily at him while Videl flat-out ignored his greeting. She peeked around him into the house, trademark scowl on her features.

"Where's Gohan?" she demanded, finally looking Goten in the eye. "He didn't tell me he was staying the night!"

"He didn't? Well, we did have a bit of a rough night..." He scratched his head nervously. Videl wasn't someone you ever wanted to have to deal with angry.

"Is he in there?" She didn't wait for answer as she nearly pushed past him, marching inside with purpose.

Goten watched alongside his niece. Crossing her arms like her mother, Pan tilted her head with amusement. "I sure hope he has a good excuse."

"Eh...he does," Goten assured drearily.

Gohan looked up at his wife's commanding voice, and leaned back a bit as she stormed over to him. "Er, hey-"

"Don't you 'hey' me," she snapped. "What's the big idea? I don't care if you want to spend the night, but you should at least let me know first!"

"I'm sorry." He bowed his head. "But it's been really crazy. I'm sure you'll understan-"

"Who's this?" Her attention-and wrath-had been distracted as she turned her head to the one Gohan had been guarding all night long. She frowned. "What happened?"

"To be honest, I don't know," he admitted, brows lowered grimly. "Do...do you recognize him?"

He supposed she wouldn't be able to easily. He was starkly different now than before, sleeping relatively peacefully, black hair hanging in his face, even snoring softly. This seemed like a completely separate person than the one she had fought and lost against.

"...No..? Why? Do I know him?"

"You did. Years ago." He sighed wearily. "In that village in the mountains. You, Trunks, and Goten were out searching for the Dragon Balls."

He waited until the recollection was in her face before going on, "He's Broly, the Super Saiyan."

She mouthed the name, brows furrowed, thinking hard. Then her face fell, mouth dropping open. She looked quickly between Gohan and the old enemy. "Oh...oh my-this is really him?"

"Yep. Somehow alive even though we killed him that day. I don't know-"

"You have got some serious explaining to do!" she half-yelled, and he ducked just as he would for his mother. Couldn't they ever cut him a little slack?

"Shh! Shh!" He suddenly jumped to his feet and grabbed her shoulders, effectively silencing her while he looked anxiously down at the man. He hadn't so much as twitched. Thank Kami, or Dende. Whichever.

When she pushed him back, he rubbed his neck apologetically. "Sorry. I was just afraid you'd woken him."

She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing her mistake. "Eesh! Sorry!"

They both watched, frozen, as the legendary Saiyan gave a low groan and turned his head away from them in his sleep, wincing. His condition didn't seem to have improved other than he was coughing less, rather breathing in a way that made Gohan's chest sore. Fact was, he just didn't know what exactly to do. He was stuck as of now, at least until he woke up. Then he would at least get some answers, hopefully.

"Who's that?"

They both jumped and simultaneously hushed their daughter. Pan put her hands up defensively. "What?" she whispered. Her parents both pointed out the sleepily mumbling figure below and she clamped her mouth shut.

"Who is that?" she hissed, going around to stand beside them.

"You've never met him," Gohan explained. "And that's not important right now. Go hang out with Goten."

"Aw!"

Videl gave her look and she hung her head acceptingly. Gohan was about to thank her when they all jerked at a crash from the kitchen. Metal pots and pans. Instinctively, both adults hurried over to find out the commotion and inspect damage, momentarily forgetting their resident Saiyan.

Pan didn't. She watched them go with a small frown. What was the big secret? Who was this man? She was certain she'd never seen him before, but her parents seemed to know him, possibly from before she was born. She turned to face him, only to let out a startled squeak when she was met with deep onyx eyes.

"Er, hi." She weakly waved a hand politely. He only stared emotionless at her face, eyes hardly half-open. She kicked her foot awkwardly. Why was this guy being all creepy..?

"Um...I'm Pan," she introduced quietly, crouching so she was a little more at eye level. "Who're you?"

That seemed to get his brain working as he quickly looked away. His mouth opened like he wanted to talk but no sound came out.

"Can you speak?" she asked innocently.

"I...my name is Broly." His voice was so low she had to lean forward to hear.

"Huh. That's an interesting name." She smiled kindly. Broly only seemed confused by the gesture.

"Where'd you come from?" Pan went on. She sat on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest comfortably, hoping to look as friendly as she could. She could tell he was timid just by looking at him, the way he refused to meet her eye, his quiet tone. It had almost been like he was scared of her. Now, though, perhaps by the way she was so relaxed, he let the tension slowly out of his muscles. She was glad. Sure, she could be pretty intimidating at times, but she did think it was a little odd frightening a man this much older than her.

He paused again, unsure of how to answer. Then he mumbled, "I don't know."

"Don't know?"

"I don't...remember."

She pinched her brows. Couldn't remember? Had he been knocked on the head or something? That seemed logical. It had happened to her grandpa years ago, after all.

"Well...are you from the city?" she tried.

"...I don't think so." His tone was unsure, and she was beginning to think he truly had gone through some brain damage. How could he not know where he came from? Or maybe he simply didn't have a home, roaming around the woods. She'd heard about guys like that.

"It's okay if you can't remember." She smiled assuredly. "I live right here. Well, not right here. The-eep!"

She jumped to her feet when a hand grabbed her shoulder, and found her father towering over her in his protective way. He was glaring directly at the man, who immediately shied away nervously.

"I'm sorry, Pan," Gohan said evenly, not looking at her. "I shouldn't have left the room. It was my fault."

"Your faul...?" She frowned. "Papa, why are you so...I don't know, upset? I wasn't doing anything, just talking to him. He's nice."

At that comment, he looked down at her with angry surprise. Honestly, what was his problem? "Pan, I don't want you to so much as look at him again, understand?"

"What? Why?"

"Because. It's complicated and I don't want to get you involved. Now go with Goten for now." He nodded to the doorway to the living room where Uncle Goten stood with a puzzled expression. Her mom came out alongside her grandmother, upset as well. She gestured for Pan to obey her father and leave the room, but she didn't move. She had too many questions.

"Could someone just tell me what this is about?" Pan exclaimed exasperatedly, looking around at all four of her family accusingly. Goten and ChiChi didn't meet her eye, forcing her parents to explain or not.

Gohan didn't speak for a few seconds, then he let out a deep sigh. When Pan saw his face, he looked worn and uncomfortable, anxious and frustrated. But why?

"Pan, I'm sorry," he finally said. "But not now, okay? I'll explain later."

"But-"

"No 'buts.' Just leave with your uncle."

She hesitated a few more moments, then stormed off into the other room, Goten trailing after her. So now they were keeping secrets. What was the big idea? Why couldn't she talk to him? Why couldn't they just tell her who the guy was? That was all she wanted to know. That, and why it was such the huge deal that they made it out to be. Was he so special? He hadn't seemed like much, more like a scared little kid. She just wanted to know what was going on.

~!*!~

"That guy's a Super Saiyan?" Pan cried in a whisper. Uncle Goten nodded, putting a finger to his lips to silence her. She could only shake her head. "But he's just so...so..."

"Yeah, I don't get it either." Goten sighed, sitting cross-legged on his bed next to her. "He's so different than before, it's like he's another person. Or...or maybe he is."

"Huh? What'd you mean?"

"I don't know..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, completely baffled. "It's just, he was supposed to be dead. Now, I know it's not all that unusual for bad guys like that to show up again." That last part sounded somewhat bitter. "But...I don't understand how."

"Dragon Balls?" Pan suggested. "Or when there was that big hole in the Other World or something? Maybe that was how he escaped."

"I dunno. Guess we'll just have to wait until your dad 'interrogates' him."

Pan nodded then looked down. She hoped he wouldn't be too mean. That guy was fragile enough as it was. She got the feeling if he were, as Goten put it, 'interrogated' too harshly, he might go into some kind of panic attack. And if he were some super powerful Saiyan, that might be dangerous.

Suddenly she got to her feet with resolve. "I'm gonna go listen in," she declared, leaving no room for argument. "Coming?"

Goten watched as she left the room but didn't say anything. Then he let his shoulders fall in defeat. "Right, coming."

The adults, Grandma ChiChi and Pan's parents, stood in the living room close by the couch. From her position on the other side of the wall, as close to the doorway as she dared, Pan couldn't see their prisoner, but she assumed they had him awake and ready to talk. She peeked around the corner, holding her breath.

"Just tell me this," Gohan said to the couch, arms crossed. "Do you know how you came back?"

There was tense silence for several moments, then Gohan looked away with frustration. Evidently the answer had been a no, or more likely a shake of the head. Still, he didn't give up.

"Do you...remember anything about what happened? Do you remember who I am?" A good question to ask. It had been about fifteen years ago, after all.

More hesitation, then, "N-no."

Gohan looked surprised, but tried to conceal it. Videl and ChiChi glanced at each other. This was turning out strangely. Granted, it was easy to forget a face, but Broly had always seemed to have a knack for remembering every Son's face because of their similarity to their father. Then Gohan tightened his fist.

"You two, step back, would you?" he asked the women. They were confused but obliged, edging back to the far wall. Then he took a breath.

"Broly, do you remember Kakarot?"

Only Gohan had a highly tense air about him as the others tried to figure out what he meant. Listening in, Goten remembered his encounters with the Saiyan, he had been repeating that word-Kakarot. He had had no clue what it meant, though. Gohan seemed to, and apparently it was a bad thing.

Gohan eyed his prisoner carefully. This was risky. Just the mere mention of that name was enough to set the monster off, throwing him into a fit of destructive rage. But it was a chance to test his theory, whether or not he responded to it.

Broly only stared up at him with the same wide, anxious eyes, but now Gohan could tell he was pondering the name. Surely he had to remember, otherwise...

He shook his head "no." So that settled it-he had lost his memory. Thank goodness for that.

Gohan slowly let his shoulders lower and turned his head to the two behind him. "It's okay. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he has a case of amnesia."

The women blinked, cautious but trusting. Well, this was a new situation altogether. The feared and mighty Saiyan was in their hands, docile as a baby deer by the looks of it. Gohan figured it was safe to assume that if he didn't remember Kakarot's name, the memory of his past had been at the very least buried. It was a relief, needless to say. Nonetheless, this was still an issue. The possibility of him regaining his memory hung over Gohan's head like a storm cloud. They may be strong, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a problem.

"Well, if he's lost his memory, does that mean he's safe?" Videl asked quietly. She realized it might not be a good idea to let the enemy know he had a past. "He's not going to try and kill us all?"

"I can't say for sure, but that's what my guess is." Reluctantly, Gohan crouched down so he was no longer looming imposingly as he spoke to Broly, "Did you wake up in this forest?" He would start there and try to expand.

Visibly calmed slightly by his gentler tone, the raven-haired man nodded. Gohan went on, "And you said you walked here?"

He nodded once more.

"How long have you been on the mountain?"

"Um...can't remember. Few days?"

"Okay." Gohan stood up and leaned against the wall, frowning. "And you don't remember anything before you woke up, right?"

"Right..."

Gohan lowered his head in thought. He couldn't think of any more questions that could help them get to the bottom of the whole thing, so he would give Broly a break. He looked even worse than only a few minutes ago, overcome with stress, chest heaving like he had been running. Learning that he had amnesia didn't change Gohan's view at all, but he figured there was nothing more he could do. For now, they had to decide what to do with him.

Wordlessly, ChiChi brushed past him to her 'patient,' gingerly laying a damp cloth on his forehead as he flinched. She pursed her lips. "He's got a fever. Why don't you let him be for now, Gohan."

"That's...fine." Gohan couldn't keep himself from scowling lightly. It was just so wrong, caring for him like that. "I was done asking questions anyway."

The three gathered in the far corner of the room to discuss plans quietly. Meanwhile, eyes purposely averted, Broly bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. That lady was so kind to him. It was strange; he had a feeling deep in his gut that he had never gotten this sort of treatment before in his life. He wasn't able to remember any of his past, but he knew this was the first time someone had actually...cared for him. That woman, and the little girl too. Pan. She had smiled at him.

Why was he so surprised at kindness? Had he received none of it growing up? On one hand, he wished he could remember, while on the other he thought he was better off not knowing. What had his childhood been like? Why couldn't he remember? It was maddening. He still felt as though those memories were simply hidden, not gone completely. Like someone had buried them. But for what purpose? Was there even a reason? Had he hit his head or something, or was there someone behind it..? He just wanted to understand. The way all the others had acted toward him made him itch to know about his past. They all seemed to know him well, they even knew his name. He couldn't even recognize their faces.

And then there was that girl. She hadn't acted like all the others-much sweeter. True, that one older woman had been nice, but her care had been more like the mother dinosaur's. Tender and motherly. Pan seemed to have genuinely liked him. And he liked her already as well. She was the only one that didn't scare him in this whole place.

As he breathed in, his chest ached and he coughed painfully. Merely being inside the cozy warm home made him feel slightly better, but everything still hurt, especially his head. His stomach cramped and his entire body was sticky with a cold sweat. He hated this feeling. It was much too hot and hard to breathe. He was utterly drained but sleep was impossible, he was too uncomfortable. The blanket was stifling and the pillow beneath his head was warm and damp. He was beginning to miss the outdoors, with the cold rocks under his skin, the freezing wind sounding a great deal better than the conditions he was in now. But out there he wouldn't have the nice lady to take care of him. And then...No. He was staying right here.

"Psst. Psst!"

He looked up and there was a familiar face hanging above him. Pan smiled.

"Hey there," she whispered, frequently glancing up at where the adults were clustered. She smirked evilly in their direction before grinning sweetly back down at him. "How are you feeling?"

It took his brain a few seconds to function properly again, and he mumbled confusedly, "Uh...bad."

"Well, you're honest, I'll give you that." She started and ducked swiftly behind the couch again when her mother glanced over in their direction. After several long moments, she peeked back over with a breath of relief. "That was close."

"Why're you..." he steeled up his nerves to say, struggling to find words. "Why're you being so...nice to me?"

She raised her eyebrows, like she hadn't been expecting the question. He felt his already sorely warm cheeks redden more. Then she giggled.

"I dunno. I like you."

He froze. There it was again-that twinge. He had never heard those words. Ever. It made him uncomfortable, but at the same time...he was 'liked.' That was a good thing.

"I don't think anyone's ever liked me," he admitted in a hoarse voice. Why was he being so honest with her? He couldn't help it-something about her made him slightly more at ease.

"Really?" She sounded sympathetic. Why? He hadn't asked for her pity. She had simply given it to him, just like that. "That's...that's sad."

She looked around quickly once more, then leaned closer to him. "I know how you feel."

His eyes widened. She...she did?

"All the kids in my school never really liked me either." She frowned, but didn't look very upset. "They were scared of me, 'cause I have powers."

"Scared...?"

"Yep. But you wanna know something? These days, I have a few friends there! Can you believe it?"

He furrowed his brows, uncomprehending. They were scared of her...but now they weren't? What was she talking about? "How?"

"Well, most of them still stay away from me. But I've got two kids who think my powers are cool. They're my friends, Kati and May. Super nice. Do you...did people not like you because you have powers?"

He couldn't reply to that. He honestly had no idea. Powers...what sort? He certainly didn't feel powerful, quite the opposite. Everyone acted like he did, though. They thought he was some dangerous criminal. He was so confused it hurt.

"So you're a Super Saiyan?" she asked innocently, ignoring his silence.

"I...don't know what that is." He had heard the others talking about him, calling him this 'Super Saiyan,' but he hadn't payed much attention. Was it good, bad?

"Eh, me neither. I'm not one, but my grandpa, my dad, my uncle, a bunch of others...they're all Super Saiyans. It makes them really, really powerful. And blonde. It's weird, but cool."

He just shook his head to say he didn't understand, but let it go. At the moment, he was focusing more on the fact of how easily she spoke to him. He didn't know a single thing about 'friends,' but...maybe this was one? Maybe?

She read his mind perfectly, "I think we get along well. Wanna join my buddy list?" She beamed and his jaw dropped. Buddy, pal, friend. It all meant the same. And she wanted him to be one with her. His clenched hand shook.

She giggled softly. "Hey, now. No need to get all emotional on me."

He roughly rubbed at his eye with the heel of his palm, not liking the way it stung, threatening to water. He couldn't help it. There was a lump of emotion in his throat that felt completely alien. And...he kind of liked it. It made him feel. He somehow didn't think that had happened in a long, long time. Oh so gradually, the tiniest of smiles formed on his lips.

"...Thank you..."

~!*!~

Thank you for reading!