Hey,

I have loads of time, so I'm trying to update as much as I can. I'm reformatting as well, so be on the lookout.

Enjoy!

Almost Doesn't Count

Chapter 3 - Spineless

Meanwhile, on Earth everyone was waiting impatiently for either the return of Pan, and perhaps even Goku. The group had grown closer together once more, the Sons constantly calling to see if Bulma and Trunks had succeeded in connecting Pan's ship. To their disappointment, the two couldn't connect to the ship, because it was one of Bulma's old models. Much had changed, systems and everything, and it was possible the ship was just too far away.

But, Piccolo finally appeared at Dende's Lookout once again, and called all of them to him.

After everyone had arrived, and the anticipation in the air had reached the breaking point, Piccolo and Dende walked out of the Palace with a measured step. As they neared the anxious group, their expressions became visible and Bra frowned when they kept quiet. She could sense that they had trouble wording what they were about to say.

"Hmph. Just spit it out." Bra barked with her arms crossed, and she ignored her father's amused smirk. Vegeta found it very amusing that she sometimes looked so much like him.

"Fine. I'm afraid I've got good and bad news," Piccolo paused as worried frowns surfaced on the many faces gathered at Dende's Lookout, "Pan has found the Dragonballs, but before she could make a wish Namek was attacked."

A collective gasp was heard, and it echoed between them. Trunks' mind worked furiously as he tried to comprehend what was happening, or specifically, what had happened to Pan. Gohan frowned and stepped forward, his fists clenched at his sides.

"But she fought and won from whoever it was, didn't she? I mean, she has this conviction that she has to keep training, so it wouldn't be possible for her to be defeated, or captured." To Trunks it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else. However, Piccolo's frown deepened as he shook his head.

"Pan got captured," The green Namek shook his head in wonderment. One moment he was intently watching to the looking glass in Hell, glad that the girl was fine, and the next he saw Pan being flown away from a partially destroyed Namek.

"What!" Gohan burst out, and Videl grabbed onto his forearm with a delicate hand, trying to get her husband to calm down. She gazed into his eyes calmly. It seemed to work once again, because now Gohan's voice sounded significantly calmer.

"Where did they take her? And who?"

"It's an out of the way planet – I don't know its name – but it's in the Ika system and it seems like they have time regulators on it," Piccolo paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his sharp green face. "Which means that while they have had Pan for only about 1 day here, it's already been about nine months at this backwater planet."

"Nine months!" Bra spoke up, surprised that someone could hold onto Pan for so long, but already trying to calculate how much time it would take to get a spaceship all prepared for flight. While Trunks was more fixed on designing cars and everything on Earth itself, and Bulma more on building (space) ships, Bra was much more interested in space travel in itself and where the planets were located. "Can you give me the exact coordinates, Piccolo?" The stoic Namek nodded and told her as Bra punched the coordinates into her palm computer.

"Do you want to go and retrieve her?" Vegeta spoke up in a tone that indicated he found it the most ridiculous idea ever. Bra shot an angry glance at her father, standing there so arrogantly with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Of course, Father. I don't think Pan would've stayed on the damn planet if she could've found herself a way out!" Bra snapped. Goten nodded, his eyes shining with worry for his niece.

"I agree with Bra. Pan's a strong girl, but the ones that captured her must be even stronger. It's the only explanation." He said and his eyes met with his brother's briefly, who nodded gravely in silent understanding.

"Then we must go and find her." Bulma said, turning to Piccolo. She was planning to get as much information out of him as possible.

The soldiers stood rigidly, flinching slightly when the General's stare trailed its way over the differently coloured faces and occasionally met new eyes that had yet to be disciplined by said General.

The soldiers glanced at each other. This General was something else. Upon their present General's arrival on Planet Dagoba, their Lord Ikaika had immediately murdered the old one, and let this one take its place. They had all been displeased with their old commander, so they had been happy to be rid of him.

And indeed, they had reason to rejoice, for this new General had been a lot nicer than any they had had before. Though she was a woman, she was the strongest being any of them had ever encountered before. She was a kind woman, and any soldier in her force would be lying if they said they hadn't checked her out at least once. But despite their furious tries to get her to notice them, Lord Ikaika had made it painfully clear to them that it was forbidden to even look at her anymore with that state of mind. She was there to train them, and nothing more.

Of course, they didn't know, or perhaps they did, that this wasn't the case for their fearsome leader.

They soon found out that the longer their General trained them to be the best of the best, the stricter she became. And if anyone had the audacity to really look at her, they would see the pain in her eyes, and the despair. They would be able to see that every day she died a little more inside, another piece of her broke to be lost forever.

But nobody ever did.

Lord Ikaika, however, did gaze at his little General all the time, and he enjoyed every minute of watching that strong soul crumble at his feet like a fragile piece of glass. And one day, he would own that soul, not to mention that body.

But there was no rush. After all, he had all the time in the world.

"You call that a roundhouse kick?" She snapped harshly at one of her men, and his whole body tensed. A scowl marred her features as she scrutinized the room. From the corner of her eye she could see the soldier relaxing again, and she glared at him.

"Rivi, if you ever want to be a soldier, I suggest you start acting like one!" Turning on her heel, she stalked away, only stopping briefly in the threshold to the Great Training Hall to cast a warning glare at her men as they looked at her retreating back.

"Tomorrow, 5:30, here. Dismissed." She barked, before leaving the room entirely.

Her posture slumped slightly from its former straightness as she trudged into her room and plopped down on her bed, her training gear sticking to her skin. She knew that she should change for dinner, but opted to just lie for a couple more minutes. Besides, her clothes hadn't even been brought in yet.

As if on cue a knock was heard at her double doors, and before she could react, they were already opened, and a small figure made its way in. Unbidden, a tiny smirk appeared on her lips and she slowly sat up to greet the person.

"Hello Miss Pan. I brought you your clothing for this evening's dinner." A curt nod was his answer as Pan slid off the bed and came over to inspect the dress. It was a skimpy number, by the looks of it hardly able to cover anything. But she was used to it by now. After being on Dagoba for about 11 months, it was hard not to.

"Thanks, Ice." Her voice was a monotone as she took the dress out of his hands and threw it carelessly on the bed. Turning back to the two other men now in the room besides Ice, the guards, she gave them a warning glare. They understood directly, and closed the door behind them, leaving the Tsiru-jin inside with her.

"How are you?" His soft voice penetrated the comfortable silence as Pan sat down on the edge of her bed. She frowned and shook her head at the dress, before lifting her head to warily regard her guest.

She had met Ice in the giant library in the palace one day, about 6 days after her arrival, when she had healed sufficiently from her first encounter. Lord Ikaika had almost immediately made her General of his armies after he had seen her fighting skills. This had given her a certain amount of freedom, for her 'Lord' had nothing to fear of her. She had swiftly found out just how powerful a weapon a mind could be – thus her hopes of ever escaping had quickly dwindled down.

Ice was a librarian and one of the healers/scientists, and sometimes their Lord let him run errands like he was doing at the moment.. Pan knew that he was the only heir of the Cold family, brother to one or perhaps two of her grandfather's early enemies, but he was the only nice person she had met since arriving, and when you're all alone on a foreign planet filled with nothing but bastards you just about take what you can get.

He had been a helpful and good friend to her, and he was nearly the only one that could make her face shift into a facsimile of a smile. His stark white complexion, and his purple 'pads' fascinated her. Ice was the only Tsiru-jin she'd ever actually met, but apparently also the only one that still remained alive. Or at least until Ikaika got enough of him.

"As good as a human like me can get around here." A shoulder lifted in a casual shrug. "But the soldiers are still shitty. I've got one or two exceptions, but the rest is a disgrace." She picked the dress off of the soft, large bed and walked over to the paper screen with it, stepping behind it and began to undress.

First came the light grey armor, which she tossed onto a nearby chair. Stretching her arms above her head and to the side, Pan revelled in the freedom of movement she got by simply removing the darn thing. They didn't have a women's armor on the planet, for normally women did not fight. She was an exception, but that didn't mean that Ikaika would let them make new armor for her – he just made her wear it.

"Ikaika requests you wear the dress, because he has guests joining youfor dinner." Ice's voice drifted through the room as she removed her boots and dark red spandex suit. It was just a shade different from Ikaika's, which indicated her high ranking, the same for the armor.

She stepped into the shower and turned the knobs, quickly rinsing the sweat off before she powered up and dried instantly.

"He just wants to show me off." Muttering obscenities under her breath, Pan slipped into the skimpy dress. Barefoot, she walked from behind the screen and over to her mirror. Turning around to inspect the back, she scowled disdainfully.

The pure white colour of the dress accentuated her caramel complexion perfectly, and it shone through as hell. Two strings tied behind her neck, the thin material resting on her chest loosely. A rather indecent amount of cleavage showed, and the back was impossibly low. The dress stopped mid- thigh, showing her long, toned legs.

Braiding her hair loosely, said braid fell to about mid-back and swished with each movement of her supple body. Due to the looseness of the braid, many raven bangs framed her heart-shaped face. The scowl deepened as she realized that lifting her arms only made her cleavage more prominent. She would have to keep her arms as low as possible, that was for certain.

"It's just a dress, Miss Pan. Here are the shoes and your jewellery." Ice handed her two sets of silver bracelets and a pair of long silver earrings, which she grudgingly put on. She turned around and slipped into the shoes he had placed there. They were a silvery colour also, with extremely high heels.

Having experienced this many times before, she could decently walk on the abominations. That didn't mean that her feet wouldn't hurt like hell in the morning.

"Well, how do I look?" Growling, Pan swivelled to the Tsiru-jin, a positively livid look on her face. The bastard always made her wear these stupid dresses. Well, at least when she wasn't training his soldiers to be as good as her. Hn, as if that was possible when the majority of the guys she trained were uninterested, uncoordinated, sex-crazed fools. And that was another flaw in his army; there wasn't a woman in sight!

"You look beautiful, Miss Pan," at the unbelieving glint in her eyes, he quickly added, "really!" and chuckled heartily. Pan glared at him, though there was a sparkle in her eyes that spoke of inner mirth.

"Oh shut up, you bastard! How would you feel if you wore so little fabric?" She walked over to the doors of her room and opened them, only shooting a glance at her friend over one shoulder to indicate that he should follow her out of her room. Nodding, Ice joined her in her stride down the long halls of the palace.

"So, who are these guests you were talking about?" She asked as they turned the corner at the end of one large hall, only to enter another.Near the entrance to the library, which happened to be on their way, they paused briefly.

"I believe it's the representative of a famous trading planet from a nearby system. His wife should be present too, so Ikaika requires you to act like his wife. He indeed wants to show you off." Ice smiled sympathetically at her, but her eyes had hardened and she just nodded curtly before saying goodbye to her only friend.

The white fabric of the breezy dress swished as she strode further, trying not to notice the leering gazes she received from the soldiers standing on duty or strolling down the halls. Finally arriving at the huge double doors that would lead her into her Lord's private dining room, she gave a curt nod at the soldiers that stood at attention next to either side of the doors.

They opened the doors for her, and she squared her shoulders before entering the huge room. Smiling falsely as a chair was pulled out for her, Pan sat down and looked around. The Lord was sitting at the head of the table, and the representative and his wife on the other seats.

"Welcome, my dear. May I introduce to you Lord Ira and his wife, Mistress Cuor from the planet Shi. Lord, Mistress – this is Pan, my wife." Yeah right. Pan resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and nodded politely to the guests. Both foreigners were yellow-coloured, and looked a bit like cats if you ignored their skin colour. They had pointy ears and tails, but their mouths looked humanoid.

Mistress Cuor was a pretty woman, not beautiful, but she looked nice enough. And Lord Ira wasn't ugly either. They both nodded back at Pan, and then continued talking to Ikaika while eating their meal. She didn't listen, just tried to ignore the yellow man's eyes on her body. He was leering at her, trying to be inconspicuous but obviously failing.

"I'm sorry, honey," Pan tried not to let the sarcasm drip from the endearment, "but I'm a bit tired from the day's activities. May I be excused?" She smiled her prettiest smile at him, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Are you sure you don't want dessert?" He sternly asked her, the glint in his eyes telling her that if she did not sit down there would be hell to pay after his guests had left. Pan smiled politely and sat down again.

"All right then. I guess a bit of dessert wouldn't hurt." Her eyes lowered to her plate, trying to ignore the smug smirk on her Lord's face. She was so weak. But thinking of what the punishment would've been if she hadn't obeyed, a shudder trailed over her skin. Not that she wouldn't be punished for her insolence, but perhaps he would show some mercy.

She had never begged him, though.

Pan couldn't help but let a heavy sigh escape her mouth as she trudged into her room. She locked the door behind her then walked over to the bed, letting the jewellery fall onto the ground on her way, and the rubber band that was in her half-braided hair followed its descend. Raising her tired arms to behind her neck, she untied the knot there and let the dress fall to the ground too, until she was left in her panties and shoes.

The shoes. God, those godforsaken, terrible shoes. They certainly hadn't helped her in trying to get away from her loving Lord.

After dinner was finished, and the guests had retired to their rooms, Ikaika had ordered her to stay behind. Every soldier, every slave had had to leave the room. Not that they minded, no, every 'staff' member of the palace was used to it by now. And they didn't even look up anymore when they heard suspicious screams coming from the dining room, or the main living room, or any other place their Lord would become a little angry and take it out on his followers. Specifically her. Only she was different: she never made a single sound, and it only made him angrier.

She shuddered as she remembered what he had done. When she had arrived at this place, she had been quite confident that she would get out of there. A dry chuckle danced past her chapped lips as Pan let her heavy, weary body fall back onto the soft bed. False confidence never helped anybody.

And he doesn't even have to touch me. A listless hand was placed on an empty stomach. It was the truest sentence she had ever heard before. Well, except when her father said that she would never become a... Back up.

She picked up her thoughts again. The seemingly powerless Lord Ikaika wasn't feared by his underlings, his enemies and allies for no reason. No, after that first time in the throne room she quickly found out why they feared him so.

Ikaika was an empath, and a mind controller. He could make people suffer by intruding their minds, finding their deepest fears and using those to control them. And he could feel your fear, and your suffering at any given time, he took pleasure from it. But, then he did have to have access to your mind.

Thankfully, Ikaika did not have access to her mind yet, though if things continued the way they were, she didn't think she would last long. Then again, he did not fully control her mind yet, but he didn't have to; it was already more painful than she could have ever imagined. Pain like nothing else trailed through her veins when he grasped her mind and encompassed it with his own. He could go on and on, until her blood felt like it was on fire.

Already, she could feel the urge to vomit rise back up inside of her.

But Pan calmed herself with thoughts of home, home where her family was, and her friends. Dreams like that plagued her mind, but they held no value to her anymore besides comfort. Perhaps it would be better to forget all about them, and try to live on without them. They would never find her, and maybe she didn't want them to.

How could she tell them that she had failed to do what she had left for; her sole purpose. Failure was something she had never handled very well, and this was the only thing she wished for in her whole life – the one thing she desperately wanted to accomplish.

It didn't matter anymore, anyway. She couldn't do anything to her Lord, and trying to raise a resistance in the palace wouldn't help. Everybody was too afraid. And trying to kill herself didn't work either; she'd tried. He'd punished her. The next day she hadn't been able to attend to training.

Control was such a fragile thing. Once you thought you had it, it was gone. Just like happiness; rotten things happen so we can see the difference between the two, between good and evil, right and wrong. But what happens when you lose sight of the borders between these things? If all was so soon lost, why did people live? Trust and betrayal, love and hate, hope and despair: weren't all of these things just lies? Were there really borders or was it all the same thing?

There's a fine line between love and hate, but isn't there between all of these things a minimal difference, negligible even?

What was a person without hope? Without love, without trust and without strength? Where was the justice in being captured on a planet, tortured day in and day out? How was she to have hope when there was not a thing giving her any indication that there was hope to be had?

Drawing herself slightly further up onto the bed, she crawled silently underneath the satin covers. A mind full of emptiness and a body filled with pain.

On the other side of the universe, a small child cried in the night. It echoed on the inside of a spaceship rounder than the Earth itself. It was large and spacious, the room the child was in was dark and cold to his eyes. His hair stood in all directions, naturally formed that way but even worse now.

The tears slipping down his face, accompanied by soft hiccups, were a testimony to the pain he felt inside his small body. Drowned in the memories of his nightmare, he didn't notice the other dark form sitting down beside him, until there was a small hand laid upon his shivering shoulder.

Quickly he looked up into the stern face of his friend, a surprised look on his own youthful face. His friend's dark eyes held sympathy, and Gogeta's strong arms surrounded him in a child's embrace. Comforted by this, the hiccups died down and he was able to look up after a while.

"Boys don't cry." Gogeta whispered, his voice small and insincere. "What was it about?"

Goku looked down at his hands, ashamed of himself. He shook it off as he remembered what his awful nightmare had been about. "Pan, Go. It was about Panny. She... she's in pain. I could feel everything..." A shiver went through his body.

Gogeta's face seemed to tighten, his eyes fiery even in the darkness. Goku looked back up at his friend, wiping the drying tears from his cheeks.

"Tomorrow we'll tell Mom and Dad and the rest."

"Are you serious?"

It sounded disbelieving, as if the mere mention of the possibility was insane, ridiculous. Yet little Goku looked more serious than he'd ever been before. His eyes were narrowed, quite angry that nobody except Gogeta seemed to believe in him.

"Of course I'm serious, it's not everyday I dream about my sister being in pain!" He yelled, then clapped a hand over his own mouth, looking very guilty and sorry for being so rude to the grown-ups. His father glanced at him, wanting to be mad, but not capable of it. The young boy seemed so intent on proving he was right, that perhaps he was.

After all, weirder things had happened to their family and friends.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Chi Chi asked, stroking a gentle hand through Goku's wild hair. She wore a worried frown, more things on her mind than she could count. Videl laid a hand on her shoulder, offering silent support, and the older woman forced an appreciative smile.

"We continue on our way. We need to stop for a recharge on a nearby planet, though. Maybe we can gather some more information about who we're dealing with." Bulma commented, checking the controls and setting a course for the nearest planet.

"Good idea." Gohan stated, then left the room, leaving the other occupants of the room to wonder just what was going through his mind.

Pan crawled out of bed, trying to regain some semblance of consciousness. It was five in the morning, yet there was light streaming through the small windows, allowing her to see the interior of her room. The bed was ridiculously big, the plush carpet tickling her bare feet.

Mechanically, she showered and dressed, aching to wear something else than armor or rags of fabric. Perhaps some sweatpants, or jeans. Blankly, she considered her existence as it was now, the routines she had grown to depend on and the people that surrounded her.

The servants were nothing but polite to her, fearing to approach her. Yet they seemed sympathetic, giving her knowing glances, like they had been through the same thing. And they probably had been in similar situations. If she had the strength, she would've been angry, furious even, that this was happening to them and her.

But she didn't, she had given up. Given up on helping these people, on getting off the damn planet and away from Ikaika, on life and everything else. So there was no use in trying or pretending.

With a curt nod she watched as a guard knocked and entered, then saluted her. She took note of his stance, stiff as a board, as if he were afraid of slacking. He probably was; she knew she had a reputation of being harsh, and she was. But harsh or not, she got the job done. At the end of the day, the soldiers had gotten their training, she had gotten hers, she'd played along with her Lord and she was obedient.

"Well?" She spat, her patience running thin. The soldier cringed.

"The Lord requests your presence." His voice was controlled, his eyes transfixed on the far wall. She waved her hand, effectively dismissing him. Quickly, she left the room, slamming the door behind her as she stormed down the halls of the Presidential Palace.

Two guards stood by the door, as per usual, and they opened the door for her. Her footsteps echoed in the large room, her feet taking her to the end, where he was sitting. His eyes were fixed on her, burning holes in her as he roamed the edges of her mind.

"Your Majesty." She greeted, falling down on one knee, her head lowered.

"My dear Pan, I have an assignment for you." She lifted her head, a blank look on her face, hiding her surprise. Ikaika wore a smirk, his eyes calculating, "Now that I know you are aware of my full capabilities, it has become apparent to me that you are ready for the first step of my plan."

Pan looked at her Lord, wondering what he was talking about. Maybe not all was lost?

Hope it is to your satisfaction. Comments and criticism much appreciated as always!