A/N: Sorry about the long delay, I've been busy and running around like a dumbass with their head chopped off. Meaning that I've mastered the art of driving a manual transmission…^_^ 

Thanks too all the reviewers who…reviewed!!! I'd post your guys' names, but to tell you the truth I'm really too lazy…you all know who you are.

On a different note…Just because Pan returned home, doesn't mean she isn't done jumping hurdles. Although, for all the Gohan fans; you'll be happy with me, hopefully. OH! T/P isn't too far ahead!!! YAH!! Expect this chapter to be pure fluff…or something like that. (Hell, I'm still not sure what I'm going to write, but I do know what's going to happen…)

Alone

~ * Last Time * ~

 Pan smiled as she turned and saw Trunks on the porch; Goten had ran inside screaming, "She's back!" over and over again, forgetting to say just who is back. Trunks let a warm smile cross his face as he uncrossed his arms.

Chapter Eight

~ * Flashback * ~

"Wait." Pan called after him. "Could you stay here tonight? You know, I kinda forgot Mr. Booboo."
       "Umm…" Trunks said uneasy.
       "Not like that. I mean like friends, just sort of be here. I don't want to be alone." Pan said as she bowed her head and didn't look back up.
        He didn't say anything, just smiled kindly and walked toward Pan and put an arm around her. "Like I said, I'll always be here for you." He said with a slight yawn.
        She laid down and Trunks followed suit holding her protectively as if there was monsters in the closet. With in moments Trunks was asleep as Pan laid awake thinking about life in general. She stirred in the bed to make herself comfortable, Trunks' strong grip didn't give her much room to move, but she found a comfortable spot resting her head on his chest.
        "I love you." He whispered. His eyes were still closed and Pan knew he was sleeping and with in seconds she joined him in slumber land.

~ * End Flashback * ~

'Where'd that come from?' Pan asked herself as she stopped in misstep to ponder on her thought. She scratched the back of her neck secretly wondering if she was doing the right thing, returning. 'No, no, you're back now, there's no running away.' She told herself. Her eyes met with the icy blues of Trunks' for a split second before she turned back to her father. Emmanuel was laughing and squealing like he did when his other grandfather would hold him and Gohan was smiling warmly at the young child in his arms.

"What? Are you still worried I'm going to drop him?" Gohan asked with a slight laugh.

"No, no." Pan assured as she took a deep breath. "I guess I just got lost in thought again." By this time Krillin had taken to Gohan's side to play peek-a-boo with Emmanuel while Vegeta and Uubu resumed their sparring the match. She sighed once more as she turned around to find that Trunks had made his way from the porch to a few feet from where she stood.

"What? You didn't expect me to wait all day, did you?" Trunks smirked. "How have you been?" he asked as he gestured for her to follow.

"Pretty good, I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you guys like crazy."

"You hurt all of us." He stated grimly as he leaned against the railing on the porch, with Pan right in front of him. "I hope you found what you were looking for."

"I did."

"Good, cause I was thinking you'd never come back." He said as he wrapped his arms around her protectively. "I meant what I said that night, I'll always be here for you." He whispered as he closed his eyes.

'Damn, why does he have to smell so good; I guess that means he hasn't been training.' She thought to herself for a minute before saying anything. "And I'll always be here for you too." She smiled. Before either of them knew what hit them, they were knocked over the railing and onto the snow covered grass. Three other individuals were squirming on top of the two, after Pan regained her senses she learned that the guilty culprits were none other than Marron, Goten and Bura.

"I can't believe you're back!" Bura cried as she jumped off the ground. Marron and Goten followed Bura's lead and stood up.

"Yeah, me neither." Pan groaned as Trunks extended his hand to help her off the ground.      

"How have you been?!" Marron squealed as she hugged her once life long friend without mercy. "I've missed you so much; so MUCH!!!" she nearly yelled.

Pan flinched from her yelling and screeching; after all, she had inherited her ancestors' sensitive hearing. "I've been busy." She smiled. "I missed you guys too." Marron stepped back and Bura moved in for her hug. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hi." Bura sighed as she released Pan. "So what finally brought you back to us?"

"If it's alright, I'd rather not go into that particular subject right now." Pan answered.

Goten moved in and brushed away a strand of hair from her face before giving her a bear hug that even Goku would be proud of. "You're never EVER going to leave us like that again! Do you hear me?" he scolded with a half smile. "It's just so nice to finally have you back." He said softer as he relinquished her from his death grasp.

"Ah Pan, I love you and all," Gohan started as he made his way through the crowd of the youngest generation of Z fighters. "But I believe this is your area of expertise." He finished as he handed Emmanuel over to his rightful mother.

"Do you have a poopy diaper?" Pan cooed as she tickled his tummy. Emmanuel giggled with delight, Bura and Marron stood there in awe for a few seconds, unable to form any words of any sort. Pan smirked at their dumbfounded expressions. "Bura, Marron," Pan started humorously, "Goten and Trunks, I believe I haven't formerly introduced you to the love of my life and undying affection. I'd like to meet one Mr. Emmanuel Black Jr."

"Oh my Kami! Oh my Kami!" Marron squealed, "He's so cute!!!!"

"So adorable!!" Bura cooed as she ran her fingers through the young child's hair. "So I assume you're Mrs. Pan Black then?" she said in her normal tone.

"I guess." Pan said as if she was uncertain of the correct answer.

"What do you mean, you guess? Where's your husband?" Marron asked getting a little protective of her friend. Pan cleared her throat and shifted her son as if she was uneasy with the subject. "He left you, didn't he and that's why you came back, isn't it?" she asked.

"No, no, not at all." She said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck with her one free hand. "We loved each other very much, he's just sort of…dead."

"Oh my Kami! I'm so sorry. I didn't know!! I'm sooo sorry!" Marron pleaded.

"Hey, it's okay. I've come to peace with it, so should you." Pan grinned as she started to head for the back door to go inside. "Now, I have a poopy diaper crisis to resolve and I left his diaper bag in Yamcha's car."

"Yamcha's car?" Goten asked.

"Yeah, I moved in next door to him and he gave us a ride here." She answered.

"So someone finally moved into that apartment. It's been vacant for over three years now. I think someone killed themselves in there." Bura said a eerie voice. "Scary…what if it's haunted?"

"Right…" Pan joked.

"Dinner's ready!!" a familiar voice yelled out of the sliding glass door. "PAN!!!" Chichi screamed with delight before dropping her tray of appetizers. "Oh! I have a great grandson!! Where's the father!" she yelped cheerfully. Trying not to go into detail about everything, she answered her grandmother as Chichi pulled her into the kitchen. All the older women gasped out of surprised and started asking questions galore! After the women were left breathless, Pan promised to answer their questions after she changed her son's dirty diaper and that meant heading in to where all the other men where…the bar area.

"Yamcha, you in here?" Pan called in, trying to be heard over the loud classic rock being played at near full blast. Suddenly the music stopped and it seemed like all eyes were on her and her son. "Ummm, dinner's done." She said awkwardly…soon all the men were running out of the room, she pulled Yamcha to the side before he ran out of sight. "Hey, I left his diaper bag in the car, could I get the keys from you or something?"

"Nah." Yamcha teased. "I'll accompany you though." He stated as they walked out of the room and soon out of Capsule Corp. "Make good with your father again?" he asked with a hiked eyebrow as he opened the one of the back doors and grabbed the green and yellow bag with giraffes and monkeys on it.

"Yeah, not to mention everyone else." Pan sighed.

"So I guess you found out."

"Found out what?"

"About your father." Yamcha stated as if it were common knowledge. When he noticed her stupefied look he continued. "I guess you haven't. Well then, we should be getting back inside then, we don't want a sick baby on our hands." He said as he hurried towards the door.

"No wait!" Pan called after him. She caught up to him and forced him to look at her. "Tell me about my father."

"I think maybe your father should…"

"No, you tell me, now!" She demanded.

"Okay, okay, no need to go super sayain on my ass." Yamcha grinned; noticing she was getting worked up again; meaning her ki was rapidly rising. Pan caught on and lowered her ki to her normal level. "Shortly after you left, Bulma did some test on your father's blood to see how his sayain DNA was reacting to the HIV virus. It turns out that his sayain DNA is rejecting the virus, thus disabling it from turning into the more deadly form of AIDS. But him being half human as well, it's been an uphill battle; just as long as he stay active and lets his sayain half have a decent work out, Bulma and the doctors predict that he'll be able to purge the virus from his system in a few years."

"Wow." Was all Pan could say after being taken back.

"He still has a long way to go Pan, he could really use your support." He stated seriously.

"Um, yeah." She said uneasily as she cleared her throat. Emmanuel reminded his mother about his dirty diaper by starting a crying fest and tugging at her hair. "Right, I have a diaper to change." She said as she started back to the house.

"Hey." Yamcha called after her before she got inside. "You alright?"

She stopped and looked at him, "Yeah, I think I'm going to be just fine. Thanks." She smiled. The rest of the evening went smoothly enough, no insults were passed to one another and it seemed like everything really was going to be alright for now on. Soon everyone was gathered in the living room; Emmanuel was passed out in Goten's arms while everyone reminisced about old times.

"So Pan," Chichi started. "How did you meet your husband?" she asked with curiosity. Suddenly the room grew quiet, almost uncomfortably quiet.

She cleared her throat and sighed. Clearing her throat in awkward situations was rapidly becoming a bad habit at this point in her life. "Well, I was in Vegas with some friends of mine…" she trailed off, "and I guess I got lucky." She added as if it were an after thought. Goten nearly choked on his laughter, then realizing he might wake the baby tried to calm down. Pan smirked at the sight of her family's facial expressions. "You would've liked him." She assured.

"What did he do for a living?" Gohan asked as if skeptical.

"He was a cop, head of his division." She answered.

"Do you have a picture?" Bura asked.

Pan pulled out a picture from her wallet and handed it to her friend. It was a picture of Pan when she was about seven months pregnant, a man with tan skin and blond hair sat next to her kissing her cheek. They were sitting on the porch steps of a town house with several other people. "The other people in there are my sister in-law, her good for nothing boyfriend and my friends Sarah, Lilly and Heather." She pointed them out.

"He's cute." Marron stated.  

 "I thought so." She replied as her cell phone began playing a Mozart piece, breaking the silence. "Excuse me." She said as she answered it, "Hello?" she said into the mouthpiece but only heard uncontrollable sobbing at the other end, "Who is this? Sarah, Lilly, Heather? Um, who ever this is, please calm down." She requested.

"Pan," A soft voice said into the phone quietly.

"Sarah? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Pan asked.

A fit of sobbing and heavy breathing was heard before she replied, "Turn on the TV, the media is all over it."

"What? The media is all over what?"

"You didn't hear about it?"

"Hear about what?" Pan asked getting worried. "May I?" She asked, gesturing towards the remote. Bulma nodded as if giving permission. "What channel?"

A/N: Alright, that concludes yet another chapter, sorry if it wasn't any good…but you know how it is…well, see ya next chapter…hopefully!! ^_~

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