Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
Pan found herself in the midst of one of Taino's most elaborate exercises yet:
Amura and Umiu had joined with Taino, the three playing the parts of Recoome, Burter, and Jeice respectively. Also included with them was Goma, a patroller who Pan hadn't seen since her earliest days in the Time Patrol, playing the part of Guldo.
All four combated Pan, first one at a time, then in teams of two, to see her progress so far. Taino aside, the other three were taught techniques of their respected Ginyu Force member. Using Kaio-Ken, Amura made herself a greater physical presence while Umiu increased his speed immensely to outpace Pan.
Pan stayed on the defensive well enough to guard against both, but also kept an eye out for Goma as, at any moment, he'd say "Stop". When he did, everyone would act like they were frozen while Taino explained the possible actions Guldo could take at that moment, be it retreating, attacking, or setting someone up.
Once their session was over, the five departed from the training grounds. Taino believed Pan to be making good progress, which would be further built upon in her next exercise.
As Pan took a moment to look over at the academy, her mind wandering to Orange Star High School, she accidentally bumped into someone.
"Sorry about that..."
She saw a familiar set of purple hair: Trunks turned around, surprised to see her.
"Oh, uh... hey, Pan."
Neither really knew how to start with the conversation right then and there, what with...
"The last time we talked, I..." began Trunks.
"It's fine," Pan interrupted. "We both had a lot to get off our chests."
They still remained stumped on where to go or what to talk about.
"So... you've been training hard."
"Yeah, Taino's certainly been pushing me."
Just as Trunks was scratching the back of his head, an idea came to him.
"Want to talk up there?"
Pan saw him pointing up to the very top of the academy. In all her time in Toki Toki City, she had never once gone up there.
After she nodded to Trunks, both hovered to the roof and sat atop it, looking down at the academy grounds. To her right, Pan could see the housing area, and to her left, the Time Machine Station and particularly of note, the golden statue she'd only caught glimpses of:
A very familiar figure with an afro.
"Hercule's a legend even here?"
"That Hercule is certainly something," went Trunks, having taken note of Pan looking over at the statue of him. "Despite not being all that strong, he serves as inspiration to a lot of the patrollers, even outside of Earthlings."
"He's my grandfather on my mom's side."
Trunks didn't quite fall over, but he certainly was surprised to hear this. Pan saw a few patrollers exiting the academy carrying books including a member of Frieza's race wearing reading glasses.
"I gotta say, going to the academy here was like going back to school for me."
She turned to Trunks.
"How about you?"
"I never knew what school was like. My mom taught me everything I knew. What she didn't know, I read from whatever books I could find."
"I gather my parents were the first of my family to go to school. And that when my dad was out in public, he had to keep his abilities in check, and act like he didn't have them."
Seeing more exiting student patrollers left Pan reflecting further.
"When I went to school, or even just out in public, I had to do the same."
"So outside of your family and friends, no one else knew of your abilities?"
"Well... there were just a few who did..."
"Just before I turned 18, there was an exchange student visiting my school."
"Why don't you introduce yourself to our class, Mister..."
"Hello everyone. The name's Colm."
"Blonde-haired, dressed warm, had a bit of an accent. I couldn't remember the name of where he came from, but it was a village that relied on fishing to thrive."
"Tell us about yourself."
"Well... aside from fishing, I look after the birds that live nearby. After I graduate, I want to work towards being an avian veterinarian."
"He seemed nice and got along with everyone fine, though less savory students called him 'bird brain' behind his back."
"So did you two interact much at school?"
"No, not really. But then on one day..."
"I remember waiting for my dad to pick me up, and I saw Colm standing there by himself waiting for his."
Part of her considered going over to Colm to give him company, but that thought was put on hold as she felt her phone going off in her backpack. She zipped it open, reaching into it until she answered:
It was her dad. As she listened to him telling her he was almost there, Pan saw a large delivery truck with a fishing company logo on its side stop in front of Colm, then thought how it would be rather odd for Colm to be picked up in that kind of vehicle.
Then as she put away the phone after the call, Pan remembered that he was visiting from afar, and that she didn't recall him mention anything about his family owning a fishing company. But as she zipped up her backpack, she heard the back door lift open.
When she looked back at Colm, she saw a masked man grab hold of him, then threw him into the back.
Pan couldn't believe it: someone was abducting him.
With the masked man back inside, the back door closed and the truck sped off. Pan remembered she was told not to use her abilities, but in that moment, she wanted to fly off right after that truck and stop it...
But she wasn't the only student around. Several witnessed what had happened and were looking over in that direction. And while some might not have known her in particular, enough could at least recognize her if she decided to do something out of the ordinary.
Pan mentally paced back and forth, debating whether to risk being spotted or leave Colm to whatever terrible fate his abductors intended. She knew she couldn't do nothing and tried looking for any nearby areas where she wouldn't be seen. Sure enough, she saw that if she crossed the street into an alley, it would give her the cover necessary to go after the truck without being easily recognizable.
Once she saw the opening she needed where no one was looking, Pan floated over to there as quickly as she could, her lack of footsteps ensuring no one saw her and even someone who felt her zoom past would mistake it for a breeze. Once far enough in the alley, she flew upward, getting a view of where the truck was going. Upon spotting it, Pan made her way down several roofs to stay hidden, then managed to descend onto the truck's roof, lying on just the right spot not to be seen by onlookers.
She listened closely to what was going on inside: from the sound of it, there were several more people besides Colm and his kidnapper.
"What do you want with me?!" asked Colm in a panic. "I don't have anything that you'd want!"
"Zip it, kid!" shouted the man who grabbed him. "And you're wrong: you're what we want."
"Your pops'll pony up big money for you," went another thug. "Give us a cut of the profit."
"But you'd be taking that money from people who truly need it. From the village! Without it, they'll...!"
"I said zip it, kid!"
Pan did not like hearing the threats made to Colm, and should she had sensed any of them intending to harm him, she would have been willing to stop the truck right then and there regardless of being seen.
"Hey," started a third man, whom in contrast to the other two, didn't sound like a brute. "Don't hurt the merchandise. We have to show his father that he's in good condition. Then the old man will give us what we want to keep it that way."
"Sorry, boss."
Thankfully, it wasn't long before they pulled into a car repair shop attached to a taller building. Once its garage door closed and their truck was now hidden from view, the driver exited, wearing a delivery uniform and cap. He then opened up the back, allowing the three inside to exit with their hostage:
The masked man that grabbed Colm in the first place, another in a tanktop who was quite muscular, and the last dressed more sharply in a buttoned shirt and formal pants.
Another man, dressed like a mechanic and much bulkier than the other four, approached the ringleader.
"Don't you worry, boss. They won't be able to identify a scrap of this truck when I'm done with it."
The boss had his hand out.
"Did you find us something that flies?"
The mechanic placed a capsule in his hand.
"It'll have room for all four of you and the brat."
He held it up in his hand for his men to see.
"Perfect. They'll be looking all over for this truck on the ground. They'll have no reason to suspect anything in the air."
This seemed as good a time as any for Pan to spring into action, but she realized Colm would easily recognize her and her face would be visible to everyone there. With that in mind, she took her orange bandanna off her head, placed it over her nose and mouth, then tied it in a knot over her ears.
But even with the minimal cover, she knew Colm would immediately know her voice the moment she so much as talked. While it sounded goofy, Pan didn't have any other ideas:
"Let him go!" went Pan with a deeper tone of voice, hopping off of the truck.
At first startled at someone having followed and overheard them, their concerns dropped upon seeing her simple attempt at a disguise.
"Just got out of school, little lady?"
"You trying to sound like a superhero or something?"
Pan didn't have time to humor them and began walking towards the group. Their leader, not paying her any mind, took Colm into an elevator.
"Don't take too long taking out this trash."
Right after the elevator doors closed, the masked man ran in first with a punch, but Pan easily caught his arm, then flipped him onto his back. The other three felt his impact with the ground and saw how swiftly he was downed with ease. The driver and the other thug charged at her with a pipe and wrench respectively from opposite sides. Pan ducked to avoid the pipe, then forced him onto his knees with one elbow as the other believed he had a free shot with her back turned to him.
He swung the wrench downward with confidence, then saw that Pan had instantaneously turned around from his perspective, catching it with both hands. He tried to push down, but not only found that Pan's legs never nudged a single bit at his efforts...
But that with a turn of her wrists, the wrench bent. The shock left him entirely exposed to being tossed into the ceiling, hitting his back before being caught by Pan.
"You're good, girlie, I'll give you that..." went the mechanic, who began rolling up his sleeves. "But they were small-fries."
Instead of a brutish stance, this bulked man actually had proper fighting gestures prior to running towards her. He threw fast jabs, all which Pan was avoiding until she blocked and redirected one followed by catching one of his wrists. Even with his other arm still free, he found Pan squeezing his wrist to be excruciating. With a single punch, he was sent flying, sliding across the ground before hitting a tool rack and being covered in its contents.
With the four now taken care of, Pan went up to the garage door and began lifting it open with both hands. Once it was all the way up, she took to the skies, heading over the building as fast as she could.
Having emerged from the elevator on the roof, the ringleader held Colm with one arm and used his freed hand to throw the capsule onto the ground. From it poofed a helicopter for his getaway.
"Alright kiddo, now here's the deal..." he started saying to Colm.
"You're going to let him go or I'm going to come over there."
The man turned around speechless, not believing the voice he had heard:
Pan had somehow made it to the roof not long after him.
"How did you...?"
He tried to rationalize.
"You got away from my men and ran up the stairs?"
"No. I took them out."
"Very funny. You're not even in their weight class."
Pan decided to get her point across by stomping the ground with her foot, the impact being felt by him and Colm.
"No... that's not..."
Now done humoring him, she took another step, stomping with the same effect.
"If you don't let him go now, I'm going to take you out too."
Not liking where he stood in regards to the difference in power, the ringleader went with his last resort:
He drew a gun from his pocket and pointed it right at Colm's head.
"Back off girlie, or this kid gets it!"
As much as Pan knew she could move quickly, she didn't want to risk Colm's life and remained where she was.
"Now you're gonna turn around, walk into that elevator, and head back down. You turn around or so much as look over your shoulder, I'll kill him!"
Pan didn't like this, but it was better than possibly flying in too late to stop the shot. She did as instructed, turning her back to him and walking away. But then Colm caught a grin beginning to grow on the man's face as he took the gun off him and pointed it right at Pan.
But Pan had already suspected as much and began charging the smallest amount of ki necessary in her hand. Once the elevator chimed and the doors began to open...
The leader fired, the bullet speeding through the air towards the back of Pan's head...
...as she swerved downward, ducking, then turning to fire a small projectile right at the gun. It struck, breaking the top of the gun off and partially searing the man's right hand. In spite of the pain, his other arm remained around Colm's neck.
Now the man was sweating, knowing that he was completely out of his league against Pan, and that at any moment, she could come to him. There was nothing he could do to stand a chance of getting out of there...
...until he looked to the side of him.
In that moment, right as Pan ran towards him, he decided getting away in one piece was worth more than the money Colm was worth.
With the biggest toss he could manage with one arm, he threw Colm towards the edge of the roof...
...and over it. Seeing this and hearing Colm's scream, Pan changed course away from the ringleader, whom ducked and braced himself, practically shivering as she just passed him. She dove off the roof, catching up to the descending Colm, who saw he was seconds away from touching the ground and closed his eyes...
...but when several seconds passed, he opened them, then saw not only that he was still alive, but that he was going up through the air at a controlled ascent instead of falling down uncontrollably.
"Am I... flying?"
He looked down at his chest, realizing he had two arms wrapped over them and under his arms keeping him up. He looked up over his shoulder, seeing the young woman who had just saved him, but since he was unable to see how she was doing this, he inquired...
"But if you're holding me... whose holding you?"
Pan couldn't help but give a small chuckle...
...but in mid-flight, she realized her bandanna was coming undone. It flew off, to which Colm instinctively caught with his hand before it could fly away. Now looking back, he saw her face and realized...
"P... Pan? Is that really you?"
"At that point, the gig was up. I couldn't lie to him."
"Where did you go from there?"
"He directed me to where he was staying and we kept out of sight."
Colm pointed Pan in the direction of a hotel room balcony, to which he let the two in through its sliding door. The interior of the room wasn't overly fanciful, but of a decently high quality for someone doing business.
"I certainly do miss home, but it is nice, all things considered."
Pan just realized:
"Oh shoot. I never got in touch with my dad. He and my mom are probably wondering where I am right now."
"Do you have to go?"
Pan reached into her backpack, taking out her phone which had several missed calls.
"I should probably call him first."
Colm looked at the room's phone and it occurred to him...
"I should call mine and let him know I'm..."
As Colm was saying this, a door creaked open and a man donned in a green jacket and cap entered, at first with his head down and disheartened in posture...
...but upon hearing his voice...
"Colm?!"
He lifted his head up, revealing his blonde and slightly grayed hair with a few on his chin.
"Papa?"
The two ran over to one another, hugging with Colm being close to smothered by the jacket.
"Are you alright, son? I looked all over for you! I was starting to lose faith. I thought..."
Colm's father noticed a silhouette on the floor and turned his head, seeing Pan, who had tried backing away to the sliding door.
"Just who are you, missy?"
Colm took the moment to break off the hug, allowing him to catch his breath, then answered...
"She's one of my classmates at school here. Her name is Pan."
"Oh yeah? And what do you think you're doing here in our room?"
"We... I..." struggled Colm to put a reasonable explanation into words. "I invited her in."
"And this was before or after someone nabbed you in front of that school?"
As happy as Colm's father was to see his son safe and sound, now he wanted answers to what had been on his mind for the past few hours. And seeing that Pan had tried getting out of the room earlier, he pointed at her.
"You have something to do with it?"
Colm stepped next to her.
"It was a bunch of thugs. Said something about holding me ransom to blackmail you."
His father seemed to ponder, as if thinking about potential candidates who could've gone through with it.
"But I'm here now, Papa."
"Okay... then how did you get away from those thugs?"
"Well, I was... I had help from..."
As Colm stumbled to say what happened without stating Pan was there, his father noticed something in Colm's hand.
"What's that now?"
Upon looking closer, he saw that it was an orange bandanna.
"Now why would you be carrying...?"
"Oh, this? This is Pan's."
He hurriedly gave Pan back her orange bandanna and while she would've put it back on her head, the current mood of the room would've made the gesture inappropriate.
"They told me the one who grabbed you was wearing something to conceal their face..."
He walked over to Pan, then yanked the bandanna out of her hand.
"Maybe something like that!"
He held it up with both hands, as if trying to visualize Pan wearing it over her nose and mouth to hide herself.
"Papa, please, that's enough! I already told you, it was thugs!"
"Boy..."
He wasn't in the best mood, but Colm's father didn't want to take out his frustration on his son. But even then, he still wasn't ready to let this go without an explanation.
"Now I'm going to ask you one last time, and this time, you'd better give me an answer, missy..."
Now he was pointing at Pan with her bandanna in his hand.
"Did YOU have something to do with it?"
"I..."
Pan tried as hard as she could to keep her normal demeanor, but she couldn't come up with any lie in regards to how she saw Colm's kidnapping, then just so happened to meet him later.
"I'm listening."
"I..."
Colm intervened once again.
"Papa, believe me, Pan, she... she..."
As much as he wanted to come up with a lie, Colm couldn't bring himself to do that to his father. He looked to Pan, seeing if she had doubts about what he was about to reveal to him. Ultimately, she nodded, letting him go ahead.
"Pan... she saved me from those men. Saved my life."
Now his father went from distrusting to absolutely lost as his initial viewpoint on Pan began shifting at the seams.
"One of the men threw me off a roof and if Pan hadn't caught me, I would've..."
Colm didn't finish, since he began to see tears going down his father's eyes at the thought of what Pan had prevented. He first stretched out his hand with the bandanna, no longer gripping it.
"I've misjudged you."
Pan slowly took the bandanna back, but after this gesture, Colm's father then crouched over and hugged Pan. She could tell that his heart had changed entirely upon hearing what she did.
"Bless you... bless you for saving my boy."
"So did you head home?" inquired Trunks.
"No. I called my dad and he, my mom, and Grandpa Hercule came over. Hercule convinced Colm's dad not to tell everyone I saved his son. Instead, everyone believed that Great Saiyawoman rescued Colm."
"Great... Saiyawoman?"
"That was a superheroine alias my mom used when fighting crime alongside my dad's, Great Saiyaman."
The thought of Gohan being a superhero of sorts actually brought a smile to Trunks' face.
"And after that, what did your parents think?"
"Oh..."
Upon arriving home, Hercule was heading to bed and saw off Pan first.
"Now you get a good night's sleep, my little superheroine, you."
He lightly pinched her cheek, then left for his bedroom. Once the door closed, Gohan and Videl both approached her.
"They were pretty steamed."
"Do you realize what could've happened if someone recognized you?" started Gohan. "If anyone saw you flying?"
"I couldn't just stand there and do nothing," Pan responded.
"Pan, we know you meant well..." began Videl. "But you should've called the police. Told them what you saw. It's their job to handle that. You're a student."
"If I hadn't gone after them, they would've gotten away with Colm, or worse. And didn't you help the police fight crime at my age?"
Videl was caught off-guard and couldn't seem to find a rationale for why it was different for herself and Pan.
"That's not the point," her father scolded. "We've taught you not to fly or use your abilities where people could see. You should've known the risk."
"I did! And I chose to save someone who was in danger!"
Pan, feeling like her father was condemning her for what she did, was losing her ability to keep calm with him.
"You're acting like I did something bad! So I should've left Colm in their hands, is that it?!"
"We're not saying that at all, Pan," went Videl, trying to calm her daughter down. "But had you been seen and word had gotten out of what you did, people would be all over you."
"You know I wasn't doing it for attention or for fame."
Gohan had lost all his patience with his daughter.
"And you are not ready to be making those kind of decisions! Not until...!"
"Not until what?! I'm 18?! Yeah, give me a few more weeks and then I will be!"
Videl saw how heated this was getting and tried to keep the peace.
"Look, let's all just..."
"Grandpa Goku wouldn't have let that...!"
"That's enough!" Gohan shouted, a large gust from around his body shaking a few pictures on the wall.
The three of them went silent after this. Gohan simply pointed to Pan for one final ultimatum.
"If this happens again, we're pulling you from school. No exceptions."
Pan turned away from her parents and opened her bedroom door, not wanting them to see how her face was twisting.
"I thought you would've been proud of me."
Pan wanted to slam the door with all her might, regardless of how it'd undoubtedly break the door off its hinges, but she knew her strength and only slammed it enough to get across how she felt.
She tore her bandanna off her head, threw it onto the ground, then lied against her drawer. She put her head onto her arms which sat upon her knees, not holding back how she felt. That something good she did was being treated like a mortal sin.
But even amidst her anguish, Pan could hear her parents discussing something.
"Now Gohan, you remember the Golden Warrior, right?"
"This is completely different. I realized how easily I could've been figured out and took measures."
"And we both know how well those measures did when we first met... and I mean both times."
Gohan realized his point was less than great and sighed, trying to find the answer to best explain his feelings on the matter.
"It's one thing for us to go out there and do this, but not Pan. Not our daughter. I know how much she's trained, but if there's even a small chance she gets hurt, or does something irreversible, I..."
Videl took off Gohan's glasses, realizing there was a droplet on one of the lenses.
"You okay, honey?"
"My dad..."
He lied his back against the wall, which Pan could hear and feel.
"My dad may not have considered himself a hero, but he died doing what he felt was right. After I made the worst mistake of my life..."
"Don't do this to yourself again, please..."
"He would still be with us if I had just..."
"Son Gohan!"
He composed himself just enough to move on regarding his father, but what he had to say was still heavy on him.
"I know these have been peaceful times and I know Pan is more than capable, but the thought of losing..."
Seeing him struggle to finish that sentence, Videl crouched down to his level, lifting up his chin.
"We're not going to let that happen because we're both looking out for her."
Pan heard all this and began to understand what drove her father, even if he couldn't find the right way of putting it earlier. Just a few seconds later, she heard a knock on the door.
"Pan?"
She didn't move from her spot, but she did respond...
"Yeah, dad?"
Gohan could sense her remaining in place, and elected not to open the door.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to come off... how I did."
He put his head up against the door.
"You know how much your mother and I both care for you... so, so much."
Pan wiped some tears from her eyes, now starting to get back to herself.
"Which is why we're going to make sure you won't have to go into action again."
"And how did they do that?"
"They began patrolling as Great Saiyaman and Saiyawoman again any time there was trouble. First time in years, since I was pretty young."
"I take it Colm left right after?"
"While his father was done having him go to my school, he and Colm still stayed for a few days afterward."
"My family invited both of them over. Colm's father was eager to meet the parent and grandparents of the person who saved his son."
Leaving the adults to talk in the living area, Pan and Colm walked through the hallway, passing by several photos on the wall:
Baby pictures, a young Pan and Hercule with a dog, her at an amusement park with a massive statue of a gentle giant mascot in the background, and Pan in a Halloween costume consisting of her usual attire with insect wings and two antenna holding what looked like a large big-eyed baby bee.
"And here we are."
Pan opened the door to her room and let Colm through. It seemed basic enough with a bulky computer monitor sitting atop a desk, and a bed set on the opposing side. As he noticed the relatively plain walls lacking posters, Pan realized she had left her closet open, leaving old toys kept from her childhood in plain view.
She scrambled towards it at first to try to close it, but saw Colm didn't scoff at any of its contents.
"That's the baby bee from the photo."
He pointed over at the large stuffed bee, whose colors were slightly faded, wings partially bent, and eyes a little fuzzy.
"Yep, it is."
Pan remembered the moment the picture was taken: her cradling the bee toy like she was caring for it, then turning in the direction of the camera, already smiling.
"What about those?"
Seeing how Colm was legitimately interested in her old toys, she decided to pick up and present each one herself.
A dark green chubby-looking monster with two whiskers akin to a catfish...
"One of its whiskers is cut."
"Yeah... that was with scissors."
A shiny metallic-looking red apple.
"It's... quite fascinating."
Inspecting it further, he saw what he thought were teeth marks. A little embarrassed, Pan simply replied...
"Wouldn't recommend eating it."
A fighting robot figure composed of three smaller ones.
"So you're saying it's actually three toys together as one?"
"Right. Well, actually, there was a fourth one... but I broke it on accident."
And finally, a giant tiger whose proportions seemed more suited for hopping around than running.
"Does the tiger bounce?"
"It did, except falling from high places wasn't good for it in the long run."
Once Pan put all the toys back, Colm looked over at a picture of Pan with Bulla. Without him even asking, she explained...
"That's my best friend Bulla. We've been friends since we were little."
"And who is that?"
He pointed to a picture of her most inspiration figure.
"That's my grandpa Goku."
"And what's he like?"
"...he passed away when my dad was a teenager."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"But even though I've never known him, I've heard so many stories about him. All the amazing things he did... that he could do."
Colm could tell from both the tone of her voice and her expression just how much she took Goku to heart.
"I hope that one day, I can measure up to him."
After pausing to reflect, Pan was ready to get going.
"Well, guess we should probably get back and..."
"Pan?"
"Yes?"
He sat down on her bed.
"Since I'm leaving in a few days, I wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, go ahead."
"You learned how to fly, right?"
Pan nodded.
"Can you teach me how?"
"All these years, I never expected anyone would ask me to teach them."
"So how did you do as an instructor?"
"It wasn't easy..."
"And at first, Colm had doubts about himself..."
The two were outside in an area near a forest, far enough from any potential onlookers, with Pan gesturing to Colm as he stood, trying as hard as he could to float.
"Ease into it, Colm..."
In spite of this, he was getting frustrated and instead pushed himself harder, starting to sweat.
"I said ease. Ease into it."
He fell onto his knees, disappointed in himself.
"I can't..."
"Yes, you can, Colm. It just takes time."
"Time?! Like how you've had years?!"
Realizing he had snapped at her, he sighed, then composed himself once more.
"I apologize for my outburst, Pan. It's just been frustrating."
"Hey."
She gave him a friendly jab to his shoulder.
"I promised to teach you, didn't I? And I can guarantee you'll know before you leave."
"Didn't make the next attempts much easier, but he slowly worked his way up to floating. And just the day before he had to leave..."
Both were floating off the ground by a few inches as Pan beckoned him while going up slightly higher.
"Okay, now just a little more..."
Colm matched her height, then saw Pan going further up.
"Little more..."
At this point, Pan started using her arms to stay afloat as she began leaning over frontwise.
"You know what to do."
Seeing the ground beneath him, Colm was getting a little nervous.
"You'll catch me if I fall, right?"
Pan hovered down below him.
"Of course."
Colm closed his eyes.
"Okay, here goes..."
He opened them again as he tipped over...
...and saw neither Pan nor the ground seemed to be getting closer to him. Realizing he was in a flying stance, Colm's eyes widened and his dropped jaw gave way for an open smile.
"I... I'm flying."
He couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"I'm actually flying."
Pan flew up to him and pointed him in the direction of the trees.
"Come on."
She went forward, but keeping at a slower pace as she waited for Colm. Sure enough, she was met by Colm giggling in awe at his accomplishment.
"Keep going."
After going above the trees, the two saw a nearby pond and Colm was eager to fly down to it. Now hovering just above the water, Colm could see his reflection as gusts of wind blew pedals towards him.
A few tickled his nose, resulting in a sneeze. As he went to cover his nose with his wrist, he saw himself starting to lose control and flailed his arms about. Pan quickly grabbed hold of Colm's right hand, keeping level so he wouldn't fall in.
"Close one, huh Colm?"
While being held above the water, he touched it with his left hand, gliding it across while being guided by Pan. She saw him laughing away with child-like delight, like he had discovered a whole new world.
As Pan had to soon change directions, she lifted Colm back up and nodded to him, letting him know she was letting go of him. Once she did, he at first flailed again, but soon regained control, ascending and keeping next to her.
On their way back to where they started, Pan noticed a bird flying to her right. To her left, Colm was astonished at seeing himself at the center of a flock of birds in the air. He turned to Pan, the biggest smile his face could muster, overjoyed. Pan couldn't help but giggle, covering her mouth with her hand as Colm found himself giggling as well.
"The thing I remember most about that day was just how happy flying made him."
"I would imagine going his whole life up to that point not knowing it was possible, then actually flying..."
"Yeah..."
"Then came the day he was leaving. Colm and his dad wanted to see us before taking off for their village."
Colm's father shook hands with Pan.
"You are welcome to come to our village any time. Our home will be your home, Miss Pan."
"Sure thing," Pan nodded.
His father walked over to shake hands with Gohan and Videl, Pan not quite catching what they were talking about."
"Hey, Pan."
There Colm was, a suitcase in his left hand.
"Colm. Hey."
"Well, I guess this will be good-bye... for a little while."
"Just a little while."
Even though she had the night prior to think about what to say, Pan couldn't think of anything in that moment. She reached out her hand to him.
"Best of luck with everything back home."
Instead of meeting her right hand with his own...
...Colm let go of his suitcase and hugged her.
"Thank you, Pan... so much... for everything."
She put her hands behind him and hugged him as well. She still didn't know the right words to say, but she let the shared warmth between them make up the difference.
Once Colm let go and picked up his belongings, he and his father both turned back one last to Pan and her family before heading out in their car. His father waved.
"Take care."
Colm waved soon after.
"Goodbye."
Pan returned the wave with her own.
"See you next time."
But right as Pan wrapped up her story, Trunks noticed her going quiet for a moment.
"Those were the last words I ever said to him. 'See you next time.'"
Trunks didn't even have to ask what came next.
"My family might've gone to his village to visit after I graduated... were it not for..."
He didn't know if this was the exact right thing to say or possibly one of the worst, but he went ahead and said it.
"You got to experience how happy those moments made you. Those good memories will always be a part of you."
While worried he might've fumbled it, Pan seemed to find something to lift her from it.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I can always think back on those happy memories."
A thought occurred, which Trunks immediately put into words.
"I realize I'm prying by asking this, but..."
Pan noticed his hesitance in finishing his sentence.
"Yes, Trunks?"
"Would you say you and Colm were... close?"
After he said this, he was already scolding himself in his head.
"Oh, what am I doing? Digging into her personal business!"
Pan thought long and hard on what Trunks had asked her, but even she wasn't sure if she knew herself.
"I can't really say. We were friends, certainly."
She tried recalling what her ideal thoughts of going to visit Colm at his village would've looked like, and what might've resulted from it.
"Maybe if we spent more time together..."
Try as she might, she couldn't create the image of her and Colm together.
"...but I don't know... and I never will."
"I'm sorry, Pan. I shouldn't have asked you that."
She could tell Trunks was working himself up about it and tried to steer him clear of that.
"No, it's fine. Really."
He sighed to himself, convinced he had messed things up, as he felt he was naturally prone to do. Pan put a hand on his shoulder.
"Trunks..."
He turned to her, giving his full attention.
"After what happened, part of me forgot that I had those moments."
He saw Pan's expression of mournful reflection begin to fade, like a ray of light had reemerged.
"But talking about it with you... it brought them back to me. Made me remember that they did happen."
"Really?"
She nodded, then took her hand off him and looked upward at the clouds flowing above the city. Trunks, no longer beating himself up, worked his way back to saying what was on his mind.
"Pan, I just want to let you know that..."
He was interrupted by a ringing on his wrist communicator, and one which he was already dreading as he answered.
"Supreme Kai of Time?"
"It's just as we suspected:"
Chronoa looked over a scroll with a purple glow.
"Towa's using the Ginyu Force."