Okay, if anyone was curious as to how old Chichi was when she passed, I did some calculation after I posted chapter 24. Pan was 28 when she gave birth to Hanora, Gohan was 24 when Videl gave birth to Pan, and Chichi was 20 when she gave birth to Gohan. Hanora's 7 now, going on 8, so that would've placed Chichi at 78 or 79. I never picked a month for her birthday, and there wasn't an available date on DBZ wiki, just an Age/year. I hope that clears up any confusion if anyone thought that Chichi was too young to have died in her sleep. Honestly, I'd rather die in my sleep than any other way, seems so peaceful.

This chapter picks up five days after the last chapter, and will feature Trunks and Pan figuring out an explanation to give their children for what's happened to their grandmother/great grandmother, as well as Pan coming to grips with it on her own terms.

When I was a kid, my parents weren't blunt about death, but they didn't really sugarcoat it either. I knew, from about seven or six, that such and such relative wasn't coming back. I was too young to really grasp why that was, but I never held any reservations that I would see them again, on this Earth, and I was really too young for it to bother me any.

I went to my first funeral when I was six or five, I think, and, to be honest, I really don't think it's okay for young children to see a body laid out in front of them like that. My parents usually made my siblings and I walk up to the casket and look at the body, that's the part that's really not okay because it gave me nightmares, so I think it would be best to not force the children to look at a dead body up close, especially if they express the desire not to. I certainly did.

LUVR of Trunks n' Vegeta brought up a very good point, one that I haven't given much thought to, and that's what's going to happen to Goku now. I honestly don't know, she gave me a few ideas, but I still haven't quite figured that bit out. Feel free to shoot me any suggestions so I can figure that out. My first inclination is to do that mate-bond thing, where, when one of them dies, the other follows soon after. That's what LUVR of Trunks n' Vegeta suggested, and it's the only thing that won't leave any unnecessary loose ends to tie up... but a part of me really doesn't want Goku to die as well.

It's a big issue at the moment, one that's in desperate need of solving.

No POV

Something felt off to Chichi as she walked from the table where the children were working to go answer the door. Her vision, which had never wavered, even to this day, was now starting to blur around the edges. Blinking a bit to clear the blurriness away, the wife of Goku opened the front door and smiled at her grandson in-law, who was standing on the porch.

"Hello, Trunks," the wife of Goku greeted warmly, "what brings you to my neck of the woods?" She began to sway slightly, but hid it by leaning further against the door, pushing it against the wall and providing more support and balance for herself.

"Hey, Chichi," Trunks chuckled, scratching at the back of his head in a manner reminiscent of the family he'd married into and basically been apart for almost all of his life, "I came to pick up the kids. I was going to eat lunch with Pan at her job, and I thought I'd surprise her by bringing the kids along."

"Hm, and what am I supposed to tell their cousins when their parents don't come to pick them up for a special lunch?" Chichi snapped teasingly, using a hand to brush her silvery black hair back into the loose ponytail at the nape of her neck, and then reached out to pinch the cheek of her youngest great grandson, who was perched in the crook of Trunks' arm. Boxer cooed adorably and laughed, wrapping his fluffy black tail around his great grandmother's wrist for a few seconds.

"Uh, well... I guess I wasn't thinking about that, Chichi," the husband of Pan flushed deep red, "but come on, they're kids, they won't notice." He insisted with a sheepish smile, "come on, I'll have them back in time for the rest of their lessons, honest."

"Oh, alright, I guess it's fine if you bring them back on time," Chichi blinked furiously to turn the three Trunks' in her vision back into one, "I'm going to start on lunch for the rest of the kids in a bit. Come on in, Nora, Panda, and Toran will be ready to go in a second."

Trunks nodded and entered the warm, cozy home, stepping out of the cold February air. The moment he entered the house, he was bombarded by the twins and his niece, Brielle.

"Uncle Trunks," Brielle chirped, hugging him around the knees, "what're you doing here?"

"I came to pick up your cousins," the son of Vegeta explained warmly, "we're going on a little trip."

Meanwhile, Chichi was standing at the counter in the kitchen, struggling to chop vegetables on her cutting board for the lunch she wanted to prepare for her grandbabies. Her vision kept doubling and tripling, and her hands refused to stop shaking. Ignoring the incessant nicks on her guiding hand, the encumbered woman continued to work on the food.

"Hey, Chichi," Trunks entered the kitchen, trailed by his three eldest kids, who were dressed in their coats for the flight back to West City, "I'm about to take off. When should I have them back by?"

"Fourty-five minutes is fine, Trunks," Chichi smiled warmly over her shoulder, refusing to give away any sign of her issues, "I'm going to finish up in here and take a nap after I get the kids fed. Kami knows I can't keep up with them like I used to." she chuckled wryly, "you three have fun, alright?"

"Alright, Grandma," Nora chirped, "we will."

"Bye, Granny Chichi," Panda giggled, running up to hug her great grandmother's legs, "we love you!" Chichi dropped the knife to grab hold of the edge of the counter, for, when her great granddaughter hugged her legs, she felt them begin to give out on her. Once she was steady, she patted Panda lovingly on the top of her head and sent her on her way with a loving smile.

"I love you all, too, dear," the wife of Goku sighed inaudibly, "I'll see you when you get back." Somewhere deep inside, the impeded old woman felt as though the words she'd spoken were lies, but she ignored the feeling and returned to her cooking, forcing herself to ignore the fact that her trembling had only worsened, spreading to the rest of her body.

*lunch*

"Alright, darlings," Chichi finished placing all the food she'd prepared on the dining room table, "you eat and go outside to play for a bit. Grandma's going to take a little nap before our afternoon lessons. I'll be awake in about an hour, and we know how long an hour is, don't we?"

"Yep," Brielle nodded eagerly, "we know, Granny Chichi."

"Eat up," the wife of Goku shuffled tiredly towards the stairs, wiping sweat from her brow with a dishtowel as she did so, "I'll be back down in an hour."

The trip up the stairs to get to her bedroom seemed to last an eternity and, by the time she got to the top, Chichi had to lean against the wall there to catch her breath. She felt incredibly light headed, and her body was trembling again, much more frenetically than it was before. Panting quietly, the woman pushed off of the wall and stumbled down the hall to her bedroom, more than desperate to reach her bed and fall into blessed slumber. Why was she so tired?

The beleaguered old woman slumped onto her bed and toed her boots off, kicking them away from her with tired lashing motions with her feet. The moment her head met the pillow, everything around her was swept away by a pleasant wave of peaceful darkness that Chichi welcomed all too readily. She was so worn out and sleepy, it felt good to finally get some rest...

Pan's POV

Everything seemed off.

You know how you just know something isn't quite right, but you just can't pinpoint what it is? It was like that, except everyone knew exactly what the something, or rather someone, was. The past five days had been a blur of walking on eggshells around the kids, making funeral arrangements, buying proper mourning attire for said funeral, and, for those of us who had young children, trying figure out the best way to break the news to them.

In a way, there was really no point trying to explain to them something that, to us, was just as foreign a concept. None of had ever really considered the fact that one day, Grandma Chichi was going to pass on. We'd been well and truly spoiled by the Dragon Balls, so spoiled in fact that, once they were gone and so was Grandma, we just didn't know what to do.

For the longest, it had always been, 'hey, let's summon Shenlong and bring them back to life!' We'd get the radar, gather the Balls, summon the dragon, make the wish, and all would be right in the world of us Sons, Briefs, and Chestnuts. Now... now we had to deal with the grief and pain just like every other family on this planet that wasn't equal parts extraterrestrial and extraordinary.

Grampa didn't come back home after he Instant Transmitted from Papa's office, and Papa wasn't speaking to anyone about it. I hadn't seen him this quiet and out of touch since Piccolo-san sacrificed himself to keep the Dark Star Dragon Balls from falling into the wrong hands again.

Mama was crushed. Grandma Chichi had become her surrogate mother when Granny Pandia left her and Grampa Satan when Gramps let the fame and fortune get to his head and, even though she'd reconciled with her mom, the loss was no less difficult for her to bear.

Goten was in the same sort of mood as Papa, though he was prone to lash out angrily at irregular intrevals. Bra was having trouble getting through to him, so Trunks and Uub usually went to their home and let him vent through a long, rough spar. I would've volunteered to join in, but I was too busy helping my parents with the funeral stuff and comforting my mother, seeing as Papa was in his own funk.

I'd never had any clue as to how influential my grandmother was until she was gone... Without her around, all of these ugly chinks and vulnerabilities in our armor were being exposed, and suddenly... it was like we didn't know who we were anymore.

*Mount Paozu*

"Papa?" I peeked into his office warily, "Papa..." I sighed at the miserable shade of himself my father had become and entered the room fully, closing the door firmly behind me, "when was the last time you ate, Papa?"

If he'd heard my voice, there was certainly no physical indication of it. He remained perfectly still. I walked around Papa's desk and pulled his askew glasses off of his pallid face, gently using my thumbs to wipe away dried tear tracks on his cheeks. A bit of awareness flickered to life in his eyes, and I smiled wanly at him.

"You've been holed up in here since Grampa... never mind," I edged away from that topic, "Papa, why won't you talk to Mama anymore? Please tell me, because she's hurting even more because of it." My mother wouldn't tell me, but I knew that Papa's silence was hurting her just as much as Granny Chi's passing. It was written all over her face every time her gaze slid to his closed office door while we were working on the funeral together in the kitchen.

"Pan, I really don't want to talk about this right now," Papa's usually strong voice was dreadfully hoarse and weak, "you should go back to your mother and leave me alone for awhile-"

"You've been sitting in this office for five straight days, and you only leave to use the restroom," I cut in coolly, "you're my father, and I love you dearly, but I've had enough of this. You're not the only one who lost her, Papa. There's a number of people who could use you right now, like Mama or Uncle Goten. Goten's been an absolute mess..."

"I'm in no state to help anyone right now," Papa shook his head derisively, "I can't believe your grandfather just up and left like this."

"Is that what this is about?" I asked quietly, "you know Grampa's never been good at family things... that doesn't mean that he doesn't-"

"Care?" Papa's eyes flashed angrily, "his wife is about to be put in the ground tomorrow, and he doesn't even have the decency to stick around and support the rest of his family! He's so damned selfish-"

"Like you're any better, Dad," I shot back, "you've been in this office, feeling sorry for yourself for the past five days, when you should've been comforting my mother, your wife. Yeah, you turned out to be a much better Dad than Grampa did, but I guess that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree in certain cases."

"He promised," Papa's eyes were full of angry tears, "when he came back from his trip with Shenlong, he promised all of us that he wasn't going to leave again-"

"Papa, could you honestly tell me that you would've reacted any better if Trunks had told you that it was Mom who was gone?" I whispered, "no, you probably wouldn't have left, but you would've lost it because you can't imagine a world without her in it. At least give him that much, Papa, he lost his wife and he didn't know what else to do."

"I'm just so sick of him leaving at the drop of a hat," Papa coughed and reached up to wipe the tears from his eyes, "no one was really expecting this to happen, and I'm just taking it too hard. It's sad when you've actually come to expect your father to up and disappear for years on end, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I responded softly, "but this is how he copes. You and Goten get angry, and he leaves to escape it all. He'll be back, though, he knows we need him."

"I guess I should go apologize to your mother... Kami, I'm an idiot-"

"No," I shook my head vehemently, "you go hop in the shower, eat something, and then you and Mama need to sit down and talk. If you think I was harsh on you, then you'd best prepare yourself to get torn a new one because this," I waved a hand at him, "was not okay. Go shower and eat."

"Yes, Pan," Papa sighed and stood up, "thank you."

"You're welcome, I'd give you a kiss, but you smell awful."

Before either of us could leave the room, the door swung open, and Mama stepped into the doorway. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her hair was all over her head, and she was clad a pair of Papa's old gi pants and a sweat shirt, but the fires of HFIL were burning in her eyes. Her heated gaze looked with Papa's and she pointed wordlessly down the hall, towards the stairs.

I took that as my cue to leave the room and head back into the kitchen, which I did quickly. Mama followed Papa to the stairs, but simply stood at the landing and watched him climb up before returning to the kitchen. She headed tot he refrigerator and began rummaging around. Other than her rifling, the kitchen was quiet... and then...

"You sounded just like you grandmother just then, Pan-chan," Mama popped out of the fridge, arms full of food, "I heard you from the living room and I came into the kitchen to eavesdrop before I'd somehow convinced myself that she'd come back from the dead."

"I..." I didn't know what to say to that. It was normal for people to tell me that I'd inherited my grandmother's famous temper, but, now that she was gone, it didn't seem like an appropriate thing to say at the time. Her death was too fresh to say such things without the bittersweet tang of remembrance.

"I can't believe I'm actually fixing your father something to eat," Mama grumbled, "after holing himself up in that room for something so childish, I should just let him starve, but his mother would have my head." A few tears slipped down her cheek, and she laughed humorlessly as she wiped them away, "all the things she used to do that drove me insane and made me so mad... they all seem so stupid and trivial now..." her voice was thick with unshed tears.

"Mama..."

"It's okay," she sniffed quietly, "I'm okay..."

"Stop crying, Mama," I sighed, "you know she's probably pissed that you're crying over her like this. I can hear her right now... 'Don't you go crying over me, Videl, it's a wonder I lasted this long, what with all the things my Goku, Gohan,Goten and Pan have put me through over the years'." I laughed weakly, "we didn't exactly make it easy on her, did we?"

"No, you didn't," Mama shook her head, laughing quietly, "you most certainly didn't. Kami," she chortled, "it's good thing she was as stubborn and tough as an ox, otherwise we'd have lost her ages ago to stress."

"Well, she was the Ox Princess," I responded, smiling wryly, "I think that's about as stubborn as you could get."

"Have you figured out what you're going to tell the kids?" Mama inquired softly, sobering up, and I shrugged, "I don't know... I'm barely grasping the fact that she's gone, I don't know how I'm supposed to explain this to them when it hasn't even really hit me yet."

I'd been running in overdrive for the past five days, desperately outrunning the ever-looming rock hard wall that was the truth that I was unconsciously fighting to not have to face. Grandma had been a constant presence in my life for all thirty-six years of it and, as my eyes drifted to the back door, I found myself unconsciously wondering whether or not she'd pop in to help Mama fix Papa's lunch and go on and on about her precious grandbabies... and how she'd always want more of them, as many as we were willing to give her... or how Grampa Goku still trained too much and that she wished he'd be home more often... even though he was home before sunset each day...

"I'm going to swing by Marron's and pick up the kids," I jumped up from my seat, "we finished all the... the funeral preparations today, didn't we?"

"Yes," Mama nodded, eyeing me suspiciously, "Panny, what's-"

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," I hurriedly pecked her on the cheek, "don't be too hard on Papa, please. I love you."

"I... love you, too, Pan-chan." Her confused voice followed me out of the kitchen as I darted into the living room to grab my keys and things and get out.

It didn't seem like I was in a rush, but it felt like I was running for my life, desperate to escape the memories and reminders that this place held. It felt like they were pursuing me, fighting and raring to trap me and swallow me whole. The uncontrollable desire to escape didn't abate until Mount Paozu was completely out of sight in my rear-view mirror...

*a while later*

"We're not flying home, Mama?" Nora asked curiously as I led her and her younger siblings out to my air car. Boxer was curled up in my arms, fast asleep. I bit my lip and smiled woodenly, "no, baby, Mama felt like driving today."

"Oh," she nodded and climbed into the front passenger seat. Panda tugged on my free hand, "Mama, why are all the grownups all sad-like?" Her innocent voice was sweet, and just the sound of it made a ball of unease form in the pit of my stomach.

"What do you mean, Panda-chan?" I asked airily as I opened the backdoor, "we're not sad-like."

"Yeah, you are," Toran insisted firmly, "when you came to Grandma's on Monday, you were crying and Granny Videl was crying, too. Nobody would tell us why Granny Chichi wouldn't wake up, and Papa never told us if he figured out why."

"Come on," I gestured to the car, "let's get Boxer buckled in. We're going to go pick up Papa from work, and then we're going on a ride."

"Yay, a ride!" Toran and Panda chorused, and Boxer stirred awake with a jerk against my chest. I shushed his disturbed mewls and whines and whispered soft croons and coos to get him to relax again, "hold on, honey bun, let's get you buckled into your seat."

Once I got my youngest son buckled into his car seat, made sure Toran and Panda had properly secured themselves in their child seats, which they hadn't so I had to do it myself, and then climbed into the driver's seat, "let's go get Papa, and then we're going to drive around for a little bit."

*later* Trunks' POV

'We've barely had a chance to talk about how we were going to do this,' I griped telepathically at my wife, 'how are we going to tell them, they've never been through the stuff we have, death isn't normal for them, hell, it's barely normal for you.'

'I know,' she responded shortly, 'but we need to tell them something, the funeral's tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to calm down several freak outs when they don't understand why their grandmother's sleeping in a wooden box that's going to be buried underground. We need to tell them now.'

'Fine, fine,' I grabbed the steering wheel and started the car, "we're going to drive around West City for a little bit, your Mom and I have something that we need to talk to you about."

Pan and I had switched spots, she was in the passenger seat, I was driving, and Nora was in the back seat between the twins where Boxer's car seat had been. Boxer was sitting in Pan's lap, contently playing with her fingers on her left hand.

"Is it about Granny Chichi?" Nora inquired in her soft soprano, "we haven't been to lessons since Monday, and everyone's been all weird lately, so I thought..."

"Yeah, it's about your grandmother," I responded gently, "well, you know how she was sleeping the other day and you guys couldn't get her to wake up? Well, you know your Grandma's been around for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, she was there even when my Dad, your Grampa Gohan was a baby," Pan spoke up quietly, "she was there when your Papa and I were babies, too."

"But she had to be there when Grampa Gohan was a baby, Mama, she's his Mama," Panda told her mother matter-of-factily, "you told us that Mamas are the ones who have the babies, like how Bubbles was in your stomach for a really long time."

"That's exactly right, Panda-chan," I chuckled softly, "your Grampa Gohan and Uncle Goten were in Grandma Chichi's stomach once, too. Do you guys remember what your mother and I taught you about Otherworld?"

"Yep," Toran pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose, "that's where everybody goes when their body stops working or they get too sick to get better here on Earth... and where the bad people go when Grampa Goku kicks their butts before they go to HFIL."

"Right," Pan murmured, "well, you know your grandmother's been around for such a long time. She's been on this Earth for 79 years, you know?"

"Wow..." The twins chorused in the backseat but, from my view in the rear view mirror, Nora wasn't nearly as impressed. My big girl wanted to know what had happened.

"The reason why we're bringing all of this back up is because Granny Chichi's been around so long, her body's been working so long and hard that it got too tired and stopped working," Pan glanced over at me as I spoke, eyes shining with tears, "so that's why she wouldn't wake up, because her body here on Earth stopped working, and she had to go Otherworld for a new, stronger body that'll never stop working."

"But... but if she's in Otherworld in her new body, she can't come back," Nora's voice quivered audibly, "we used the Dragon Balls up... how's she supposed to come back and give us our lessons?"

"Oh, baby girl," Pan whispered, "I know it hurts but even if we did still have the Dragon Balls, she still wouldn't be able to come back to us. Her body stopped working on its own, and that's a natural way to get to Otherworld. Shenlong's magic doesn't work if your body stops working all on its own."

"Oh..." Nora looked down at her lap, and the twins looked incredibly sullen on either side of her. I turned onto the street that our house was on, and Pan held Boxer a bit tighter in her arms.

*at home* Pan's POV

"So Grandma's never coming back?" Panda asked for the nth time as I helped her into her pajamas for bed. I sighed and kissed the top of her head, using my thumbs to wipe the few tears that had flowed down her chubby cheeks, "honey, if she could come back, I know for a fact that she would. She loves us and she'd do anything that would make us happy. She can't come back to Earth because her new body only works in Otherworld. She can see us from there, though, and she knows that we love her and we miss her."

I couldn't remember the last time any of the kids had cried the way they did when we got them home after our little drive. I could hear Nora tossing and turning fitfully in her uneasy sleep just down the hall. It took Trunks almost an hour to soothe her and get her calmed down enough to sleep. For awhile, I'd been afraid that we were going to have to get her a sedative, she'd been on the verge of hysterics before Trunks finally got through to her and got her to go to sleep.

They loved their great grandmother something fierce.

"Okay..." Panda admitted defeat, and I nuzzled her cheeks gently, "don't be too sad... One day, we'll be able to go to Otherworld and see her again, and when we do, we'll never have to worry about being separated again."

"Really?" my five year-old daughter asked with wide eyes. I smiled and kissed her on her forehead, "really. Now come on, let's get you in the bed. We've got a big day tomorrow."

Panda went down easily, compared to Nora, and it only took me another fifteen minutes to get her tucked in and her night light turned on before I was able to leave her room. Trunks was just leaving Nora's room when I came out, and I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Did she wake up again?" I asked softly, looking up at his stoic face. Trunks shook his head once, "I thought she did, but she was just crying in her sleep. Kami, I had no idea it'd be this hard. Or is it easy because they all managed to grasp that Chichi's not coming back?"

"I don't know," I shrugged helplessly, "did you have any trouble with Toran?"

"Nope, he took it like a champ," my husband raked a hand through his hair, "what about Boxer?"

"He has no clue what's going on, and he's in his crib, sleeping like a little rock." I laughed humorlessly and buried my face in his chest, "I feel like we seriously underrated how much sway Chichi held over our family. My dad was holed up in his office for five straight days, my mother's doing a little better but she's still out of it, Grampa's gone again..."

"Was?" Trunks queried, "you said was. When did Gohan come back out?"

"I went in and talked to him," I murmured, "Mama said I sounded just like Grandma Chichi, and I just... I didn't know to how to react to that, and then I panicked and left."

"Pan, are you sure you're handling this okay?" Trunks gently cupped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze, "I haven't been around you much this week, we've both been busy..."

"I'm not..." I responded, "I keep waiting for her to call me, to walk through the back door of my parents' house, going on about Grampa Goku's training and the kids and their lessons while she helps Mama fix lunch... I'm just... it's so... I feel like I'm standing on the outside of reality. Everyone else has accepted that she's gone, even the kids, and I'm just sitting outside of the loop like a naive child."

"I've cried, it hurts to think about it, but I still don't believe it," I looked up into my husband's blue eyes desperately, "I don't feel it but I know it's true, but... It hasn't hit just yet."

"Give it time," Trunks whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of my head lovingly, "it's not going to be pretty, but it'll happen eventually."

Next chapter will feature the funeral and, hopefully, Pan finding the closure she needs to accept this and begin to move on from it. I thought the funeral was going to be in this chapter, but I decided to include a sort-of flash back from the last chapter at the beginning, and it threw my word count off. I didn't want this chapter to be too long. I hope you guys enjoyed this... I mean, not like you're happy Chichi died or anything... you know what I mean. *sheepish head scratch*

~CloudSpires1295~