Disclaimer: I own only the memory...MEM'RY, NOT A SOUND FROM THE PAVEMENT....not that memory, Goku. Oh, yeah, I also own a Goku action figure...Chibi Trunks thinks I replaced him.
A/N: As the disclaimer says, I now own a Goku action figure. My Chibi Trunks action figure is kinda sore over the whole thing. He thinks he's been replaced by a better fighter. But nope, I was just trying to get him some company for when I'm not home!
And I hate to sound condescending or rude or mean or whatever, but none of you can follow directions. Is it really that hard? "Send me an *~EMAIL~* about whether Marron should be paired with Goten, or Uub. Send an *~ACTUAL REASON~* as to why they belong together. *~DO NOT LEAVE IT IN A REVIEW~*. Is it really that hard?
Anyways, sorry about that. On with the fic.
Read, review, but be sure to enjoy. ;P
*******************
Petrified Tears
chapter 34
The gentle purr of a car brought him out of his reverie.
Gohan blinked, lifting his head from where it'd settled onto his chest. His eyes strained against his desk lamp as he readjusted his glasses from where they'd fallen lopsided on his nose when he'd dozed off.
He'd told Panny that he wouldn't wait up for her-like he always told her; and like he always had, he'd found an excuse to stay up. Last time, it'd been to read the paper, though in reality, it'd been to make sure that that purple-headed bastard hadn't tried to kiss her goodnight. This time though, he hadn't even thought to worry about his little girl like that. He knew that something had happened, even though neither acted like anything had, and for sure, neither would ever tell him.
Like he'd drag it out of either of them.
He trusted Panny completely, knew that she knew what she was capable of handling, although her little display the other night had been more then enough to prove to him that she was in way over her head. But she'd come to him when she needed him, she always had.
As for Trunks, well, that boy was a different matter.
Maybe Gohan could at least ask him what she'd meant...
He shook his head, not all too sure that it was such a wise decision, but knew that if he let Panny take care of it herself, she wouldn't be mad enough to disown herself.
He looked back down at the photo album as he heard the engine idling outside his house cut.
*~*
A car door slammed.
"See ya, Trunks!" he heard Goten yell. The engine revved again.
"Bye!" came the high-pitched giggle of his little girl. Gohan smiled to himself, knowing that his 6 year old daughter had probably just had the time of her life while he was in here trying to finish this research project for the local university so that he could be downstairs for her birthday dinner.
The front door opened.
"See ya, Goten." The engine revved again, much to the delight of Pan.
*Damn that boy loves his car.*
"Oh, and Panny," Trunks called, letting the engine idle. The little girl could be heard to giggle, and Gohan didn't need to be downstairs to see her eyes light up. Six years old to the day, and he already knew she'd be in love with that boy for a long time.
"Yeah?" his sensitive saiyan hearing picked up, wonder and shyness lacing through her innocent voice, and though he wasn't happy with how much she was growing up without him, Gohan had to smile.
"Thanks for allowing me to take you out today, maybe next time, we can sneak away with having Goten chaperoning."
Gohan laughed quietly to himself, turning another page in his book, wishing he could be downstairs to watch her giggle and blush beyond all reason.
After a few more minutes, he could hear the car race away.
Gohan took his head in both hands, staring down in vain at the book, wishing the answer would just leap out at him, that it would just be jumping up and down screaming "~Here I am! Here I am!!~" Then he would be able to go downstairs and enjoy his daughter's company: carry her on his shoulders, take her for a short ride on Nimbus which ChiChi and Videl finished dinner, and then sit and hold her in his lap while she opened her presents, carry her upstairs and put her to bed with a story and a kiss, tuck her in and turn off the lights, sweep midnight's gift out of her eyes as she slept.
But the answer wasn't there, and no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't find it. He'd read the damned thing three times over in the past hour, and if he didn't find the answer in time, he would lose not only his grant, but his job as well.
He could only hope that Panny would understand.
"Grampa!" came the battle cry from downstairs, and he could hear his father stagger back as Pan's tiny form connected with him.
"Hey Panny!"
"Wanna hear what Uncle Goten and Trunks and me did today, huh Grampa? Huh huh huh?!"
"Sure, Panny!"
"We went to the fair, and they bought me ice cream, and, well, Trunks danced with me and Uncle Goten got a picture of it, and, well, one of Trunks's old girlfriends was there, and he told me I was prettier then she ever was, and-and-and-" She cut off, and Gohan could hear her as she jumped down to the floor and started racing up the stairs. "And I'm gonna go tell Daddy!"
Gohan froze, his mind teetering between the answer, and between his daughter's need to tell him about her day.
"Pan!" Videl cried. "Pan, wait a few minutes Honey. Your father's working right now. He'll be out soon to take you flying, just like he promised."
Gohan closed his eyes. He could just see Panny out of the corner of his eye and through the half-closed door to his office. She was standing at the head of the stairs, looking down at the hall to where she could see his hand holding a pencil poised over his notebook, his head hunched over the desk. Her eyes were alive and bright, alive with that light that had shone for him and him only since she'd been born 6 years ago to the day. Her rosy face was dark in the unlit hall, aside from the sliver of light from his green desklap-the one she'd given him last father's day-that had managed to spill through the crack in the door and across her smile and her eyes..
"But it'll just be a minute, Momma! I wanna tell Daddy-"
Gohan tore his mind from his daughter's face, the answer so clear in his mind eye that he could simply write down one word and have the entire equation-from beginning to end. ~But what was the word?!~
"Panny, he'll be out in a minute-"
"Momma!"
Gohan froze, the word half-written on the page. His pencil quivered in his hand. The near-tears cry of his daughter was demanding he leave the room and comfort her. But if he did, he wouldn't get a chance to finish writing, and he'd more then likely forget the answer by the time he finally got back to his office. But she was almost crying.
~Da~
Gohan strained to remember the word. It wouldn't come.
"Momma, Daddy promised he'd be done when Goten and me got back," his daughter whimpered.
Almost against his will, he glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing his daughter's flat and tear-filled eyes, the quivering lip, the flush across her face.
He couldn't do this-he couldn't remember the word, the answer, couldn't remember what the hell he was doing in this room, locked away from the world when his daughter-one of the two main reasons he lived for-was outside, thinking he hated her.
"I know he promised, but you know as well as I do that he needs to finish this. If he doesn't, he'll lose his job and we won't have any money to buy food and things like that," Videl reasoned with her, quietly.
Gohan ground his teeth, clutching his head, torn between what was right, and what moreso.
*She's only six, she doesn't understand that! How can she understand what losing my job would do to us? How can she understand that money is as important as it is? She's only ~six!~*
"I know, Momma. I just...I just thought he might have been able to keep his promise."
His hands turned into fists, the pencil clutched in his right hand shuddered under the pressure. He glanced back at his notepad, the half written answer.
~Da~
All his mind could come up with was "Daddy".
"You do Panny?"
He clenched his eyes shut again, cursing himself.
"Um hm," Panny mumbled miserably. "I'll go downstairs and wres-tle with Grampa until Daddy's done..."
The pencil shattered.
With a groan, he sat back in the chair, dropping his feet on the edge of his desk, hands behind his head, eyes focused on the ceiling, weighing his choices.
"I'm just...I'm just gonna go tell Daddy I still love him," Panny whispered.
Gohan closed his eyes, moving his hands onto the top of his head, clutching it because he was turning into such a bastard.
He'd promised himself when Panny was born that he'd always be there for her-would never miss a birthday, never miss her smile, be there for her whether she needed him or not, not like his father had missed it for him and Goten.
And in a way he hadn't, right? He was still alive, was still there to assure her whenever she needed him, right? He hadn't abandoned her...right?
Like hell. He was missing her birthday, and had missed probably 10 thousand other days because he was too fucking busy with this damned research-all the research he'd ever done.
His eyes opened in surprise as a small form climbed up into his lap.
Releasing the pressure on his skull, he looked down at the intruder, letting his hands slide back onto the back of his head.
Panny sat on his lap, big eyes shining-though slightly diluted-up at him, so lovingly that he knew that no matter what he ever did, he'd never lose her love and adoration for him.
"I guess I broke my promise again, didn't I?" he asked her, his face and voice layered in guilt.
"I understand, Daddy," she said quietly. And he knew that though she really didn't understand, because he wanted her to, she did. Her head drooped a little, eyes focusing on her hands as she played with the bottom hem of her tee shirt. Her hair fell into her eyes.
Midnight's gift to her was gorgeous, and fell to midback. Videl loved to put it up in pigtails, but today, it'd been left to do what she wanted it to. And she'd left it down. It was slightly knotted and kind of tangled from her wild day, no doubt driving at ludicrous speeds in Trunks's new convertible and from flying in every direction. But just the same, it lay flat against her back, falling over her shoulders, hiding her disappointed face from his view.
"I know you do, Sweetie," Gohan sighed, rubbing her shoulders as he dropped his feet back to the floor, pulling her against his chest. "But I still broke my promise."
"You couldn't control it," she mumbled almost miserably, snuggling against him, clutching his shirt.
Gohan smiled down at her, completely in awe of the knowledge that she possessed that was beyond her years. Even at her age, he couldn't understand why his father was dead and what in the name of Kami Piccolo thought by throwing a six year old into the wilderness to survive.
She remained quiet for a moment.
"Did you have a fun time today?" he asked. She nodded, but didn't elaborate, more then sure that her father had heard her tell her grandfather.
"I would have loved to have seen the look on that one girl's face when she dicovered she'd been replaced by a little beauty like you."
Panny peeked up at him, blushing.
He laughed, pulling her into one of the bear hugs that she loved to get.
She giggled as he turned the hug into a tickle attack, squirming in attempt to get away from his fingers.
Her eyes landed on his notebook as he ceased his attack, her laughter faded away. Head cocked, she looked at his notes, then looked at the book. Curiously, she turned a few pages, seemed to study the pages, then looked back at his notes. She looked back up at him.
"Daddy? Why are you researching Momma?"
Gohan started and leaned past her, pulling the book towards him, his eyes scanning all over the page for what had given his daughter that notion.
"Right here, Daddy," she told him, pointing to a sentence that mentioned the daughter of Satan. "It says 'young Satan pulled off more rescue attempts then her father, the world champion'."
Gohan stared at the sentence, then grabbed his notes.
~Da~
Not "Daddy", "Daughter".
With a cry of glee, he swept his daughter into the air, throwing her every which way until he lost his balance and they tumbled out into the hall.
"Does this mean you're done?" she asked innocently as he squeezed her, her voice straining to get past the pressure on her ribs, but still happy-go-lucky.
Gohan laughed again. "You kept it for me!"
*~*
Gohan smiled, his finger lingering on the photo of Pan and Trunks at the fair that day, Trunks holding Pan against his chest and shoulder, her little feet caught swinging in the air, their cheeks pressed against each other as they both held an arm out and tangoed towards the camera, both with a serious expression on their face as they both had a red line forming across nose and cheeks as they tried to suppress laughter.
Gohan shook his head and pushed out the chair, readjusting his glasses and stumbling down the stairs as he watched Trunks open the passenger side door through the picture window at the front of the house.
**********************
A/N: Sorry about my little rant at the top, I just feel like people are leaving nothing but their choice with no reason instead of an actual review just to piss me off.
Well, whaddaya think? I just think I'm a real Gohan softy. ;P
Review por favor.
-Panabelle ;P
www.angelfire.com/dbz/storytellers
PS: I have original fiction at this addy: www.angelfire.com/ca7/cathrynsfault/enter.html
A/N: As the disclaimer says, I now own a Goku action figure. My Chibi Trunks action figure is kinda sore over the whole thing. He thinks he's been replaced by a better fighter. But nope, I was just trying to get him some company for when I'm not home!
And I hate to sound condescending or rude or mean or whatever, but none of you can follow directions. Is it really that hard? "Send me an *~EMAIL~* about whether Marron should be paired with Goten, or Uub. Send an *~ACTUAL REASON~* as to why they belong together. *~DO NOT LEAVE IT IN A REVIEW~*. Is it really that hard?
Anyways, sorry about that. On with the fic.
Read, review, but be sure to enjoy. ;P
*******************
Petrified Tears
chapter 34
The gentle purr of a car brought him out of his reverie.
Gohan blinked, lifting his head from where it'd settled onto his chest. His eyes strained against his desk lamp as he readjusted his glasses from where they'd fallen lopsided on his nose when he'd dozed off.
He'd told Panny that he wouldn't wait up for her-like he always told her; and like he always had, he'd found an excuse to stay up. Last time, it'd been to read the paper, though in reality, it'd been to make sure that that purple-headed bastard hadn't tried to kiss her goodnight. This time though, he hadn't even thought to worry about his little girl like that. He knew that something had happened, even though neither acted like anything had, and for sure, neither would ever tell him.
Like he'd drag it out of either of them.
He trusted Panny completely, knew that she knew what she was capable of handling, although her little display the other night had been more then enough to prove to him that she was in way over her head. But she'd come to him when she needed him, she always had.
As for Trunks, well, that boy was a different matter.
Maybe Gohan could at least ask him what she'd meant...
He shook his head, not all too sure that it was such a wise decision, but knew that if he let Panny take care of it herself, she wouldn't be mad enough to disown herself.
He looked back down at the photo album as he heard the engine idling outside his house cut.
*~*
A car door slammed.
"See ya, Trunks!" he heard Goten yell. The engine revved again.
"Bye!" came the high-pitched giggle of his little girl. Gohan smiled to himself, knowing that his 6 year old daughter had probably just had the time of her life while he was in here trying to finish this research project for the local university so that he could be downstairs for her birthday dinner.
The front door opened.
"See ya, Goten." The engine revved again, much to the delight of Pan.
*Damn that boy loves his car.*
"Oh, and Panny," Trunks called, letting the engine idle. The little girl could be heard to giggle, and Gohan didn't need to be downstairs to see her eyes light up. Six years old to the day, and he already knew she'd be in love with that boy for a long time.
"Yeah?" his sensitive saiyan hearing picked up, wonder and shyness lacing through her innocent voice, and though he wasn't happy with how much she was growing up without him, Gohan had to smile.
"Thanks for allowing me to take you out today, maybe next time, we can sneak away with having Goten chaperoning."
Gohan laughed quietly to himself, turning another page in his book, wishing he could be downstairs to watch her giggle and blush beyond all reason.
After a few more minutes, he could hear the car race away.
Gohan took his head in both hands, staring down in vain at the book, wishing the answer would just leap out at him, that it would just be jumping up and down screaming "~Here I am! Here I am!!~" Then he would be able to go downstairs and enjoy his daughter's company: carry her on his shoulders, take her for a short ride on Nimbus which ChiChi and Videl finished dinner, and then sit and hold her in his lap while she opened her presents, carry her upstairs and put her to bed with a story and a kiss, tuck her in and turn off the lights, sweep midnight's gift out of her eyes as she slept.
But the answer wasn't there, and no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't find it. He'd read the damned thing three times over in the past hour, and if he didn't find the answer in time, he would lose not only his grant, but his job as well.
He could only hope that Panny would understand.
"Grampa!" came the battle cry from downstairs, and he could hear his father stagger back as Pan's tiny form connected with him.
"Hey Panny!"
"Wanna hear what Uncle Goten and Trunks and me did today, huh Grampa? Huh huh huh?!"
"Sure, Panny!"
"We went to the fair, and they bought me ice cream, and, well, Trunks danced with me and Uncle Goten got a picture of it, and, well, one of Trunks's old girlfriends was there, and he told me I was prettier then she ever was, and-and-and-" She cut off, and Gohan could hear her as she jumped down to the floor and started racing up the stairs. "And I'm gonna go tell Daddy!"
Gohan froze, his mind teetering between the answer, and between his daughter's need to tell him about her day.
"Pan!" Videl cried. "Pan, wait a few minutes Honey. Your father's working right now. He'll be out soon to take you flying, just like he promised."
Gohan closed his eyes. He could just see Panny out of the corner of his eye and through the half-closed door to his office. She was standing at the head of the stairs, looking down at the hall to where she could see his hand holding a pencil poised over his notebook, his head hunched over the desk. Her eyes were alive and bright, alive with that light that had shone for him and him only since she'd been born 6 years ago to the day. Her rosy face was dark in the unlit hall, aside from the sliver of light from his green desklap-the one she'd given him last father's day-that had managed to spill through the crack in the door and across her smile and her eyes..
"But it'll just be a minute, Momma! I wanna tell Daddy-"
Gohan tore his mind from his daughter's face, the answer so clear in his mind eye that he could simply write down one word and have the entire equation-from beginning to end. ~But what was the word?!~
"Panny, he'll be out in a minute-"
"Momma!"
Gohan froze, the word half-written on the page. His pencil quivered in his hand. The near-tears cry of his daughter was demanding he leave the room and comfort her. But if he did, he wouldn't get a chance to finish writing, and he'd more then likely forget the answer by the time he finally got back to his office. But she was almost crying.
~Da~
Gohan strained to remember the word. It wouldn't come.
"Momma, Daddy promised he'd be done when Goten and me got back," his daughter whimpered.
Almost against his will, he glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing his daughter's flat and tear-filled eyes, the quivering lip, the flush across her face.
He couldn't do this-he couldn't remember the word, the answer, couldn't remember what the hell he was doing in this room, locked away from the world when his daughter-one of the two main reasons he lived for-was outside, thinking he hated her.
"I know he promised, but you know as well as I do that he needs to finish this. If he doesn't, he'll lose his job and we won't have any money to buy food and things like that," Videl reasoned with her, quietly.
Gohan ground his teeth, clutching his head, torn between what was right, and what moreso.
*She's only six, she doesn't understand that! How can she understand what losing my job would do to us? How can she understand that money is as important as it is? She's only ~six!~*
"I know, Momma. I just...I just thought he might have been able to keep his promise."
His hands turned into fists, the pencil clutched in his right hand shuddered under the pressure. He glanced back at his notepad, the half written answer.
~Da~
All his mind could come up with was "Daddy".
"You do Panny?"
He clenched his eyes shut again, cursing himself.
"Um hm," Panny mumbled miserably. "I'll go downstairs and wres-tle with Grampa until Daddy's done..."
The pencil shattered.
With a groan, he sat back in the chair, dropping his feet on the edge of his desk, hands behind his head, eyes focused on the ceiling, weighing his choices.
"I'm just...I'm just gonna go tell Daddy I still love him," Panny whispered.
Gohan closed his eyes, moving his hands onto the top of his head, clutching it because he was turning into such a bastard.
He'd promised himself when Panny was born that he'd always be there for her-would never miss a birthday, never miss her smile, be there for her whether she needed him or not, not like his father had missed it for him and Goten.
And in a way he hadn't, right? He was still alive, was still there to assure her whenever she needed him, right? He hadn't abandoned her...right?
Like hell. He was missing her birthday, and had missed probably 10 thousand other days because he was too fucking busy with this damned research-all the research he'd ever done.
His eyes opened in surprise as a small form climbed up into his lap.
Releasing the pressure on his skull, he looked down at the intruder, letting his hands slide back onto the back of his head.
Panny sat on his lap, big eyes shining-though slightly diluted-up at him, so lovingly that he knew that no matter what he ever did, he'd never lose her love and adoration for him.
"I guess I broke my promise again, didn't I?" he asked her, his face and voice layered in guilt.
"I understand, Daddy," she said quietly. And he knew that though she really didn't understand, because he wanted her to, she did. Her head drooped a little, eyes focusing on her hands as she played with the bottom hem of her tee shirt. Her hair fell into her eyes.
Midnight's gift to her was gorgeous, and fell to midback. Videl loved to put it up in pigtails, but today, it'd been left to do what she wanted it to. And she'd left it down. It was slightly knotted and kind of tangled from her wild day, no doubt driving at ludicrous speeds in Trunks's new convertible and from flying in every direction. But just the same, it lay flat against her back, falling over her shoulders, hiding her disappointed face from his view.
"I know you do, Sweetie," Gohan sighed, rubbing her shoulders as he dropped his feet back to the floor, pulling her against his chest. "But I still broke my promise."
"You couldn't control it," she mumbled almost miserably, snuggling against him, clutching his shirt.
Gohan smiled down at her, completely in awe of the knowledge that she possessed that was beyond her years. Even at her age, he couldn't understand why his father was dead and what in the name of Kami Piccolo thought by throwing a six year old into the wilderness to survive.
She remained quiet for a moment.
"Did you have a fun time today?" he asked. She nodded, but didn't elaborate, more then sure that her father had heard her tell her grandfather.
"I would have loved to have seen the look on that one girl's face when she dicovered she'd been replaced by a little beauty like you."
Panny peeked up at him, blushing.
He laughed, pulling her into one of the bear hugs that she loved to get.
She giggled as he turned the hug into a tickle attack, squirming in attempt to get away from his fingers.
Her eyes landed on his notebook as he ceased his attack, her laughter faded away. Head cocked, she looked at his notes, then looked at the book. Curiously, she turned a few pages, seemed to study the pages, then looked back at his notes. She looked back up at him.
"Daddy? Why are you researching Momma?"
Gohan started and leaned past her, pulling the book towards him, his eyes scanning all over the page for what had given his daughter that notion.
"Right here, Daddy," she told him, pointing to a sentence that mentioned the daughter of Satan. "It says 'young Satan pulled off more rescue attempts then her father, the world champion'."
Gohan stared at the sentence, then grabbed his notes.
~Da~
Not "Daddy", "Daughter".
With a cry of glee, he swept his daughter into the air, throwing her every which way until he lost his balance and they tumbled out into the hall.
"Does this mean you're done?" she asked innocently as he squeezed her, her voice straining to get past the pressure on her ribs, but still happy-go-lucky.
Gohan laughed again. "You kept it for me!"
*~*
Gohan smiled, his finger lingering on the photo of Pan and Trunks at the fair that day, Trunks holding Pan against his chest and shoulder, her little feet caught swinging in the air, their cheeks pressed against each other as they both held an arm out and tangoed towards the camera, both with a serious expression on their face as they both had a red line forming across nose and cheeks as they tried to suppress laughter.
Gohan shook his head and pushed out the chair, readjusting his glasses and stumbling down the stairs as he watched Trunks open the passenger side door through the picture window at the front of the house.
**********************
A/N: Sorry about my little rant at the top, I just feel like people are leaving nothing but their choice with no reason instead of an actual review just to piss me off.
Well, whaddaya think? I just think I'm a real Gohan softy. ;P
Review por favor.
-Panabelle ;P
www.angelfire.com/dbz/storytellers
PS: I have original fiction at this addy: www.angelfire.com/ca7/cathrynsfault/enter.html