Note: If you haven't guessed already, the two voices from the previous chapter were Gohan and Goten.

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CHAPTER 46:
The Summoning

Pan sat up in her futon, her eyes watering as she smiled nostalgically at the photo before her.

It all seemed so foreign to her now, looking at their smiles, the happiness in their eyes as they posed for the picture on the beach. The day had been so beautiful, and she wished that the moment could have lasted forever, with her laughing on her grandfather's shoulders as she held her father's hands.

Everyone was there that day. It was hard to forget the happiness she felt, the acceptance, and the love, of her family and friends. It just seemed like so long ago to her. It had almost been two entire years since she last saw most of the people she truly loved. It still was hard for her to accept it sometimes, that her life, as she knew it, was over.

Piccolo never knew of the photo she had. Ever since she borrowed it from Capsule Corp, she kept it hidden among her clothes, tucked away in her jeans' pocket. If he saw that she still held attachments to her past, he would most probably be disappointed with her, and that's the last thing she wanted. So, she had to keep it a secret, as long as she could.

She felt no guilt about holding something back from him, though, because she'd been suspecting he had been up to something big these past two months. She somewhat made an educated guess as to his intentions, but she did everything she could to not judge a situation by assumptions. That was one of the principle rules Piccolo had taught her, and it was one of the few she decided to rigidly stick by.

But she couldn't help but wonder and marvel at the clay figurine that rested by his futon. It had taken him a great deal of effort to create, and the intricate patterns and scriptures on it were foreign to her, as if written in some other language or code. But, even though it was made of clay, it held a great life to it, and she had a feeling there was something more to it than what met the eye. But what really got her imagination wandering were the small round clay balls around it. All seven of them.

If it were any other number, Pan would have completely disregarded it, but the fact that there were seven balls surrounding a dragon happened to perk her interest. She wasn't even sure what the dragon clay figurine was, but every time she would ask him, he would just grunt and tell her she'd find out one day, as if it were some kind of surprise.

Pan tucked the picture under her blankets and stood up, looking around for any sign of Piccolo. She knew he was in the bath at the moment, but there was no telling when he could get out and try to give her a surprise attack, like he had been doing lately to teach her to always be wary and be on guard, because the times she felt safe were the most vulnerable situations.

Pan smiled to herself as she stretched her legs. Shaking her head with a grin, she mused, Piccolo is going to teach me how to be as paranoid as Trunks. With that thought, she let out a chuckle and adjusted her training clothes. Looking down, she observed the outfit Piccolo had given her several months previously. Although she personally thought the colors clashed, the purple gi and orange belt eventually grew on her. She smiled wider as she felt a warm surge of belonging, realizing she was becoming more like Piccolo every day. She laughed aloud when she tried to picture herself as a grouch, folding her arms before her and huffing at everything. The idea just seemed so comical to her.

It was good to be able to laugh again. She had been feeling a great deal happier lately as she began to somewhat adopt Piccolo as her family. She never made it known to him, but she began to really enjoy the times she spent with him, especially the rare moments when they would sit back and talk – or rather, she would talk in the bathtub and he'd listen patiently. But it just went to show how much she had opened up to him. She had not felt this comfort in a long time. Just like the picture she often observed, her happy memories of even the grand tour began to seem encased in glass, just beyond her reach as she'd walk by and give a quick and often nostalgic glance as if walking through a museum, but with places to go and other people to see. It all just seemed so long ago.

She leaned against the cave wall and tried to picture Trunks in her mind. It took a long time for her to be able to say his name again without stuttering or feeling a clench in her stomach. As time passed and she spent more days training with Piccolo, her memories of even him were fading away.

She sometimes would lie awake in bed at night, and try to picture what it would be like if everyone were to magically snap out of Baby's control, and life went on as it should have when they returned to Earth. She tried to imagine how she would be around Trunks nowadays, and what she would say. The thought itself was awkward enough to her, and she just couldn't fathom it ever being the same again. Even if he were to try to befriend her like before, things would just be different. But, she didn't know if they'd be different in a positive or negative way. All she could really tell was that she could legitimately say she was not the same person as nine months previously, and it most likely would affect how she would treat her friends and family.

She glanced over to Piccolo's futon again, and then shifted her stance, feeling a returning wave of curiosity. She usually didn't get time to herself to be able to ponder these things. Even when she would lie awake at night, she could only keep her eyes open so long before falling into a deep slumber, as her physical exhaustion drained her of all thought. So, being alone and awake this like was a rarity. And, if she ever wanted to get a good look at Piccolo's little dragon statue, now would most definitely be a good time.

With another wary look around, Pan let out a nervous breath and slowly and steadily tiptoed toward Piccolo's bed. With each step, she could feel her heart racing and her body tense as her mind screamed how she was doing something naughty, and she should turn back. But Pan was never one to listen to her conscience, however much Piccolo tried to beat a cricket onto her shoulder.

Pan stopped less than a meter away as she looked down to stare at the clay figurines. The balls had dried and crusted some time ago, giving slight rustic cracks along the otherwise smooth surfaces.

Unable to resist her temptation, Pan gave a little mischievous smirk and reached out her right hand to pick up one of the little round balls.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!!"

Pan shrieked in surprise and dropped the ball as her hands went up and her fingers spread wide.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The ball went flying as Pan stepped back. With a little silent whistle, the ball spiraled up and then made its way through a parabola of doom, spinning toward the ground in its last moments of life.

But then something miraculous happened. As it dropped, it suddenly began to glow an iridescent yellow. It was brief, as was the ball's flight, but the brightness of it blinded Pan for a moment as she felt the impact of a gigantic wind-blast knock her backward a few steps, causing her to blink and completely miss the scene that unfolded before her eyes – the split second of Piccolo diving past her with hands outstretched to catch the ball.

When it was all over, Pan clutched her chest above her racing heart and panted heavily, trying to regain her stature as Piccolo stood up, stark naked, with the ball in his hand. Her eyes went wide as she realized she had been caught in the act, and she had almost ruined his project. Just the death glare in his eyes made her feel like she herself had been turned to stone at that moment, except if she fell, Piccolo would let her crumble as a punishment for her misdeed.

There was going to be no mercy on her now. Pan felt her breath catch as she realized Piccolo would never let her forget this moment. Her entire life would be ruined. If he ever held back on her before, he'd never consider it again. What she did was like accidentally declaring war.

A thousand screams of apologies ran through her mind as she just stared at him in a trembling stupor. She kept seeing her epitaph as a foreshadowed vision before her eyes. Her breath quickened as she felt his own eyes bore into hers. It was just maddening, the suspense, the calm before the storm.

Piccolo was the first to break eye contact as he looked down at the ball with a scowl. His hand clenched around it for a moment before relaxing.

His gruff voice had a slightly irritated inflection as he spoke in a low tone, "Do you realize what you could have done?"

There was a pause as Pan collected herself and felt a swarm of guilt within her, but when she tried to release it, she found herself growing angrier with every thought. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism, but Pan's temper suddenly flared as her eyes narrowed, "Well, I wouldn't have dropped it if you didn't scare me like that!"

"You shouldn't have even been touching them at all!" Piccolo growled, "Is this what you have been doing when I've left you alone? Have you been playing bocce with the balls while you were at it! You might as well have, if you were willing to DROP IT!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Pan scowled, "I was going to put it back and–!"

"–What have I told you about learning to accept responsibility!" Piccolo clutched the ball and pointed to her with his free hand. "You…! AUGH!" Piccolo shouted and tore at his antennae with his free hand, "These balls were to remain untouched!" He thrust his fist out, which held the ball, "Do you know what it could have meant if this ball were destroyed? It would…!" He opened his fist and looked down at the ball, "It would…! It…" His eyes widened as his tongue suddenly got knotted in his mouth. "It…?"

Piccolo seemed to have noticed something for the first time, and then looked up at her with a slightly confused expression before turning his head to look at the clay figures by his futon.

"It what?" Pan frowned and put her hands on her fists, trying to keep her eyes from being averted by his body.

For a moment, they both just stood there – Pan, with her adamant stature, and Piccolo in the nude, his towel having flown off during his dash to catch the ball.

It didn't seem as strange to Pan to face him without clothes anymore. Their occasional baths were easier to deal with after she had grown accustomed to him and had learned to trust that he truly was unlike any male she had ever known. She could be as naked as she wanted around him, and he just wouldn't care. She wasn't sure if she'd ever find anyone else like Piccolo for the rest of her life. It had been an odd custom to get used to, but bathing with him had actually become fun after a while.

However, it was completely different to face him standing up, dry and angry. Even though he had no human genitalia, it still somewhat gave her a fluttering stomach as she realized she'd be rude if she were to stare. But as he stood there, holding the ball, she found it hard to keep her eyes from wandering down his body. There was just something so incredibly sexy about seeing such a muscular form, and her mind threatened to wander, to picture a certain demi-saiyan she knew in her life who had a similar build. And while thinking of him, it triggered another thought. It somewhat made her queasy to realize Piccolo was almost as old as her Grandpa Goku. He really could pass as being in his late twenties – if he were a human, at least. It was hard to tell how long a Namek could live, but if Pan could make an educated guess, she'd say he had another few hundred years.

Piccolo didn't even notice her staring at him as he began to smirk somewhat at the ball in his hand. "It… no… they…" Piccolo turned to look at the clay figures by his futon, "They are ready."

"Ready?" Pan blinked and looked at the clay items before her, "Ready for what?"

"It's perfect!" Piccolo laughed darkly, holding his stomach as if trying to restrain himself. "It's nighttime and nobody will ever know!"

Pan could feel her eyebrows knot, "What is perfect?"

"Come on. Take some of the balls. I'll grab the rest."

Pan blinked, "What? Take the balls? But you just said that I–!"

"–Forget what I said. Let's move it!" Piccolo grabbed four more clay balls and made his way to the cave entrance.

Pan looked at the remaining two balls and frowned slightly, "What should I do about the dragon thing?"

Piccolo turned his head to her, "Leave it. It's only a model."

"What?" She blinked, "But then why bring the ball things out?"

"Don't ask questions. Come on."

Pan frowned as she followed Piccolo out of the cave and into the open air. It was late, and the planet Tuffle was just setting past the mountain ranges. The sky was a midnight red, speckled by constellations that glittered the sky. The air was significantly warmer – the beginnings of summer. The air smelled fresh and crisp with the new leaves and life of the forest. The crickets chirped all around them. Their song was usually muffled by the cave, but when Pan stood outside and breathed in the open air, the world was a symphony of nature.

Piccolo went out to the clearing and dropped the balls gently on the grass, "Alright, put them in a pile."

Pan walked up and placed her two balls gently next to the others before stepping back. She took several breaths and then frowned as she counted the balls on the ground, only coming up with a tally of six. She looked up to Piccolo with a confused expression, but saw him staring at one last ball that was in his hand.

He gave a smirk and shook his head slowly in thought. He then looked up to her and gave her a nod of recognition.

"Look," he huffed a slight grin, holding out his hand to Pan.

Her eyes widened as she saw what lay in his palm. It was as if a giant mallet struck her with realization, that her suspicions had been right, although it still made no sense. How was this possible?

Pan swallowed her voice as she blinked and took the item from Piccolo's hand. She felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach as her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes watered as she felt herself hold in several sniffles. "A…. A…." She let out a relieved laugh, still feeling awkwardly torn between disbelief and joy, "A dragonball?"

She rubbed it and held it up to her face, squinting to see in the dim light, "Three… yellow stars?"

"That's right." Piccolo gave a smirk, "Yellow Star dragonballs."

"It's… It's…" Pan felt her body tense as her emotions gave way to tears of happiness, "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…"

"It's time." He nodded, "Put that ball with the rest."

Pan smiled, sniffled and then placed the Three Star Dragonball on top of the pile.

Almost immediately, a bright glow encased all the balls and blinded the both of them in the darkness. Pan threw her left arm before her face and felt a rush of wind emerge from the dragonballs, their power emanating in pulses as they all lay together – all seven of them.

Pan lowed her arm and then dropped to her knees beside the pile, her arms shaking with excitement, "They glow… They glow like the Black Star balls…"

Piccolo huffed a slight chortle and shook his head, "Have you ever seen an eternal dragon before, Pan?"

Pan shook her head, "No. I don't know what one looks like. But… But I've heard the stories from P–Gohan…"

"This one is going to be a lot smaller than my others." Piccolo smirked while in thought, "These balls were rushed, and so the dragon will not be nearly as powerful as my Black Star and Red Star Shenrons. But," Piccolo grinned menacingly, "These will get the job done, one way or another."

"What job?" Pan stood up and blinked at him, "Wait… Wait…!" Her eyes widened, "We're going to call the dragon NOW!"

"Heh, of course we are. Don't be an idiot." Piccolo leaned over the balls and put his arms above the balls. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened one as he hesitated in his actions, "And don't say anything stupid."

Pan frowned and stepped back a bit to watch Piccolo's hands glow in the pulsating light of the Yellow Star dragonballs. The yellow glow reflected off his entire body, which was still bare. It was hard to keep her mind focused on what was happening. With all the shocks and revelations of the evening, witnessing Piccolo walking around nude, and now about to encounter her first eternal dragon, Pan could not help but think about her grandpa. She now wished, more than ever, that her grandpa could have been there. Goku would have loved to see the dragon.

As if reading her mind, Piccolo's eyes shot open and he shouted aloud, at the top of his voice, shaking the ground around them, "ARISE GOKU!"

In a split second, Pan's eyes blinked as she felt herself respond "G-Goku!"

At the same time, a bright light emanated from the balls, lighting the entire clearing and forest around them as clouds suddenly formed above them and blocked out the stars one by one. The dark night suddenly became jet midnight black as lightning began to electrify the sky in clashes and roars of thunder.

Great winds picked up as Pan felt her hair suddenly whip by her face. The world trembled for a hesitant moment, and then, in an explosion of light and sound, a great glowing figure shot out from the balls in a breathtaking and awesome display of light.

The light took form above their heads and formed into a giant body of a dragon – an exact replica of the model Pan had seen beside Piccolo's bed for two months. As she stared in shock and in awe of the figure, she felt herself cower backwards, stepping back as if from fear and trepidation.

Her heart raced, her breaths quickened, her eyes fluttered as she felt her courage drain as this overwhelmingly formidable yet majestic being towered over them in a great display of energy and light. It was just unreal to her. She had never seen anything remotely like this before in her life.

"You who have summoned me," the great deep voice of the dragon echoed and reverberated off the mountains and hills around them, "What is your wish?"

Piccolo threw up his hands and said loudly and clearly, "I wish that the inner core of the recently restored Planet Tuffle, otherwise known as the Planet Vegeta, be removed and disintegrated from the planet, making the planet hollow!"

There was a pause as the dragon tried to process the wish. Pan looked to Piccolo and said in voice slightly rougher and louder than a whisper, "Wow, you sure made that wish specific, huh?"

Piccolo shook his head, "There's no room for err at this point."

There was another pause as the dragon's eyes glowed red a moment, but then grew dark. Pan and Piccolo stared up at the dragon, awaiting its response patiently.

When the dragon spoke again, it gave an answer which Piccolo did not seem pleased about, "Your wish cannot be granted. It is not within my power to grant such a wish."

"What do you MEAN 'not in your power'" Piccolo shook his fist and growled at the dragon, "I created you! I know you are perfectly capable of performing such a task!"

"It is not within my power to eliminate matter. What is your wish?"

"S#-T," Piccolo snarled as he realized the predicament the dragon left him in, "Now what!" He turned to Pan, "Do you have an idea?"

Pan blinked twice, "Whaaa? Me!" She shook her head furiously, "I don't know what's going on? How would I know!"

Piccolo gave a frustrated huff and crossed his arms while glaring at the dragon. He stared at the eternal being with unblinking eyes for an entire minute straight, trying to think of alternative ways of getting his wish.

Thinking he finally came up with a plan, he raised his head and said slowly, in a low, but loud gruff voice, "Goku! Is it possible for me to wish for you to transfer the matter of the inner core? Can you do that!"

The Eternal Dragon Goku's eyes glowed for a moment as Pan tried to hide a snicker under her breath.

"It is possible for me to transfer matter, but there is a limit to the distance I can send it."

"Great. Just great. More work for me. I hate clean-up duty," Piccolo shook his head and sighed heavily as he realized he'd have another job to do after finishing his wish. Clearing his mind and ridding himself of his frown, Piccolo looked up and threw his hands forward as Pan watched.

"Goku!" Piccolo shouted into the great winds of the storm, "I wish that the inner core of the Planet Tuffle, formerly known as the Planet Vegeta, be transferred to orbit the Earth as a new moon!"

The dragon's eyes glowed red for a moment, and suddenly all the energy picked up again, with howling winds and treacherous lightning strikes as rain began to pour down.

Pan grabbed at her gi, covering her eyes as water began to pour on her face. It all seemed so surreal to her, the entire situation. It was unbelievable, the power she was witnessing. And to think Piccolo called this dragon weak! Pan could not even begin to fathom the power that must have been within the Black Star dragonballs that she, Trunks and her grandpa had gathered.

Suddenly, the dragon's eyes stopped glowing and the winds died down. The rain, lightning, and powerful thunderclaps immediately stopped. There was a small pause as the world began to get on its feet again, and as light began to return to the Earth.

The clouds began to thin, the red haze of the setting planet once again cast a dull scarlet light upon the sky. If it weren't for the dragon who was still looming over them, Pan might have had a hard time believing that course of events just happened at all. But looking at the dragon towering above her brought back an entirely new wave of awe.

The dragon then spoke, confidently and assuredly, "Your wish has been granted." Suddenly, another wind picked up as the Yellow Star balls began to tremble and move on their own. "Until the next time… Farewell!"

"Huh?" Pan blinked as the dragonballs glowed brightly and began to levitate above the ground on their own. "What's happening?"

The balls suddenly shot up in a great beam of light, rising to the heavens as they lit up the sky in beams of yellow. All at once, they separated in seven different directions as Pan reached out her hand, "Wait! No! Wait!" But, as the world became dark again and the stars began to twinkle overhead, Pan bent forward and brought her hands to her knees, "Why did he go! Why!"

Piccolo frowned slightly and cocked his head to one side, "What are you whining about?"

"We…" Pan looked up with him with a determined face, "We should have gotten two wishes!"

Piccolo looked at her for moment as a pause settled on the air. As he stared at her, his left brow ridge rose somewhat as his mouth threatened to curl up to reach his cheeks. Another moment of looking at her suddenly got his eyes to squint as he gave a full-on grin, and then brought his hands to his stomach as he couldn't contain it anymore, "Hehehehahahahahah!"

Pan frowned, "What's so funny!?"

"Hehehahahaha!" Piccolo shook his head as his body shook, "Talk about looking a gift-horse in the mouth, hahaha!"

Pan grimaced as she brought her hands to her ears, "PLEASE stop laughing. Your laugh is just plain creepy!"

"Hehehehaha… oh wow…. Hehehe…" Piccolo continued to shake his head as if trying to get it out of his system, "I haven't laughed like that in over ten years." He grinned darkly, "Ever since your idiot grandfather actually convinced people to donate their energy for defeating Majin Buu – I mean…" Piccolo chuckled, "your other idiot grandfather. Hehehahahaha!"

Pan frowned somewhat and crossed her arms before her as she watched Piccolo laugh across from her. She could tell he was in an incredibly good mood. He had not ever been in this good a mood ever since she first met him. In fact, she wasn't even sure if she had ever heard him truly laugh before. Being able to get that wish accomplished really seemed to lift a great weight off Piccolo's shoulders, but Pan was slightly confused. If she would have been able to make a wish, it would have been far different.

Pan brought her hands behind her back and shifted her stance a bit as Piccolo's laughter calmed down. She looked down at her feet and shuffled them in the grass as she heard Piccolo take calming breaths. A moment of silence passed between them as they both collected themselves.

"Piccolo…" Pan continued to look at the ground as her eyebrows knotted slightly, "Why…?" She looked up at him, trying to conceal the hurt within her heart, "Why didn't you wish my grandfather, Goku, back?"

"Huh?" Piccolo frowned, "Goku? Why the hell would I wish Goku over here?"

"I mean…" Pan looked down at the ground again, feeling incredibly awkward, "You did name it after him…"

"Oh! Hahahaha!" Piccolo grabbed his stomach and shook his head again, "Don't get me wrong. You named it. Or don't you remember?"

"Huh?" Pan looked up, blinking.

"It was either that or … Vercrapadorf, hehehe."

Pan suddenly felt a grin come to her face as her stomach spasmed in slight laughter that gradually built. "HeheheehahaHAHAHA!"

They both had a good laugh as all their stress was suddenly forgotten in the warm and musical night.

It felt so good to be able to laugh, to find something funny and be able to feel joy course through her body. For the second time that day, Pan felt an incredible acceptance being around Piccolo. When she was with him, she forgot all of her pains.

It was at that time, Pan realized what Piccolo was to her. He wasn't just a sensei anymore. She stopped laughing and looked at him seriously as he smiled and looked up to the stars.

Piccolo had become her friend, and not just any friend. But a best friend.

She smiled to herself as she watched him. He was a best friend, and unlike Trunks, she'd be able to keep him in her life forever. Suddenly, her future didn't look so bleak.

As long as she had him around, she could find happiness in this world.

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––2/12/05––

Note: This chapter ended up being longer than I had planned, so we will have one more Pan/Piccolo chapter before a certain someone arrives on the scene. I still have to squeeze some last things in before I can progress with the plot.

UPDATE:

Note 2: Yes, this is still (and always will be) a TP get-together, but things won't be back to normal for them until after the Baby Saga.