A/N: For all of you who are still reading, CHEERS! I rewrote chapters 1 and 2 to get rid of the inconsistencies and repeated usage of the same adjectives(Thanks for pointing that out, Laura).

If anyone sees anything that doesn't fit, please tell me, as quick-edit gave me enough problems that I don't want to surf through the other 9 chapters checking.

On with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ/GT and this is not for profit.

Chapter 12

"Gohan, I don't like this," Videl said calmly, stirring honey into her tea. "Pan was almost killed during her last adventures. Even Goku admitted as much to us."

Gohan blew a sigh as he settled into his chair at the kitchen table. "I know, dear. I'm not too sanguine about the idea myself, but she'll just run off with Trunks again, no matter what we do." He closed his eyes in gesture of defeat. "At least she's a decent fighter now. Too bad dad isn't around to keep her out of trouble."

Videl tsk'ed. "Goku wasn't able to keep an eye on her, from what I understand, so I doubt it would have done any good." She took a sip of her tea, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I'm doubly worried about her going with Trunks this time."

Gohan smirked at her. "What's wrong with Trunks? I'm sure he'll make an suitable son-in-law."

Videl glared at her husband. "I don't trust him. Who's to say that he won't get bored and move on to some other girl? He can have his pick, you know. Pan's first serious relationship shouldn't be with him."

Gohan chuckled. "That's why you were harassing Trunks yesterday, wasn't it?" His expression sobered. "You don't trust Pan's judgment, do you?"

Videl shook her head. "No, I don't. I can trust her to do the right thing, but I can't trust her to think her way through all the details." She unexpectedly smiled brightly. "Considering what her grandparents are like, I guess I couldn't expect otherwise."

Gohan winced at the reminder of Goku, Chi-Chi and Hurcule. Those three were legendary for acting first and thinking later. Good thing Pan at least considers thinking first...even if she doesn't always do it. "I guess we're lucky not to have another Goku or Hurcule on our hands, but I see your point."

"But you don't agree." She said flatly

"No, I don't," Gohan answered. "I can't explain it, exactly, but remember how Pan was gone when Bebi came to Earth?"

Videl shuddered. "I'm a little hazy about what happened at the time, but I don't believe she was here."

"Think about what that means. She was one of the few people not infected by Bebi. One of only three, if I'm not mistaken."

Videl walk to the table and sat down. "I don't follow you. It's certainly long odds, but the result is nothing to complain about."

Gohan leaned forward intently. "Pan would have been infected if she hadn't run off with Trunks and my dad. I think that she was supposed to be with them."

Videl blinked. "Fate?" She asked disbelievingly.

Gohan smiled at her expression. "Why not? You didn't think I beat Cell by myself, did you?"

Videl blushed. "Well, actually, I did."

Gohan laughed. "I had all sorts of dreams and premonitions before the Cell Games...dad couldn't believe how hard I was pushing myself." His expression turned grim. "It took all that everyone had to beat Cell. Nevertheless, I think that it was fate that we won. If we'd lost, Cell would have destroyed the entire universe."

"So you think she should go?"

Gohan looked out the window thoughtfully. "I think it would be a mistake to stop her. I'm not saying we should push her to go, but we should support her if she wants to."

Videl slumped in her chair. "Gohan, I don't like having to worry about her! She's not even eighteen years old yet, and twice already she's gone off to fight in deadly battles for months at a time!" She paused, choking on unshed tears. "I'm afraid that she's going to die before she's even twenty! It's not right!"

Gohan rose from his chair and embraced his wife. "I'm sorry, dear. I wish we could have had a normal life, and that Pan could have had an ordinary childhood."

Videl smiled through her tears. "I wouldn't have married you if you were ordinary." She wiped her face with her sleeve and sighed. "I just wish these world-threatening disasters would stop. It's frightening to consider death without the dragonballs, especially when it's Pan."

Gohan assessed her mood carefully. "Trunks is much stronger now...close to how strong my dad was when they went after the black star dragonballs. I'm sure he'll do his best to keep her safe."

Videl's mood shifted again, her momentary acceptance turned to tension. "Yeah, and I'm sure he'll take great pains to protect her virgin status," she said scathingly.

Gohan almost laughed, but he managed to stifle it. He couldn't suppress a broad grin, though. "I seem to remember a rather pretty dark-haired girl saying something along the lines of 'We don't need to wait for the wedding...' to me a few years ago. She was very persuasive, as I recall."

Videl blushed to the roots of her hair. "Oh...you!" She stammered. "I can't believe you'd bring that up!"

Gohan smiled and bent down to kiss her softly. "The point is, you were the one who made the decision. Trunks won't push her, and she won't do anything unless she's sure. On that point, I think we can trust her discernment."

Videl sighed in pleasure as Gohan stroked her cheek. "You make a good case. I just hope your faith in Pan is justified." She frowned slightly. "I was running around with your mom and the others gathering the dragonballs when Buu was running loose. I was no more safe then than Pan has been lately, but now all I do is worry about what could happen to her. I must be getting old."

Gohan chuckled softly, and made sure she noticed him looking her over appreciatively. "I doubt it...you're just as beautiful as the first time I saw you."

"And you damn Saiyans never seem to age." She said it in a tone of frustration, but her eyes were burning with a smoldering passion that Gohan recognized. His own passion ignited in response. "You may have won the argument, but you owe me for it, Son Gohan." She said teasingly.

"I'll have to see what I can do about that, then," he said softly. "Shall we talk about that upstairs?"

"Ah...what a good idea. I hope you're planning on something...hands-on."

Pan was bummed.

She'd flown back to the Briefs' family compound with Vegeta, but Trunks wasn't there. Vegeta was no less annoyed to find him gone, but that was nothing compared to Bulma's wrath. Pan winced as Trunks' mother verbally castigated the older Saiyan at the top of her lungs for destroying the gravity platform.

"I can't believe you and Trunks did this! This was brand new! It took me weeks to build this, and now..." Bulma continued, but Pan tuned it out, as she wasn't the object of the petite lavendar-haired woman's ire. She noted that Vegeta had tuned it out, too. Oh, boy. I don't think I want to be around when she notices that...

As Pan snuck away, Vegeta gave her a dirty look. She glared at him. It's not my fault you idiots did that! You deal with the angry woman! Bulma had been working on the damaged section from a side access panel, so the only escape route was over the platform since they landed on the side of the property that was away from the buildings.

As Pan flew over the platform, she idly looked over the damage caused by the duel. As she assessed the damage, she started to notice that the pattern was all wrong. This wasn't an all out fight... she thought to herself. The damage is too limited. She looked out beyond the bounds of the ring. Not much damage there, either...

Pan flew down, and before she thought better of it, she hit the ring with the flat of her palm solidly. It bounced slightly, absorbing the shock.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Bulma screamed at her. "As if Vegeta and Trunks didn't do enough damage to the platform, you're trying to wreck it, too!"

Pan flinched at the unexpected reprimand. "I'm sorry, Ms. Bulma, but I couldn't believe that the damage was so limited. I had to check."

"Limited...LIMITED!" Bulma shrieked. "Those two TOTALED it!"

Pan's eyes glittered, and she glared at Vegeta as the pieces began to fall into place in her mind. "I don't think that's the case, Ma'am. This section is perfectly intact. I'd be willing to bet that the area with the hole in it is the only one damaged."

Bulma looked at her in disbelief. "No way! Trunks set the machine too high! It should have burned out all of the coils!"

Pan crossed her arms, shaking in anger. "What happened?"

Vegeta glared back at Pan, but Bulma was too far gone in her own anger to notice the looks the two Saiyans were exchanging. "Trunks set the gravity to ten-thousand, and Vegeta crashed through the platform. It's going to take me days to fix this!" She grumbled to herself.

Pan was seeing red. He LIED to me! HE LIED TO ME! She thought furiously. I can't believe him! HE POINT BLANK LIED TO ME! Somehow, Pan managed to keep the anger out of her voice. "Vegeta, I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Alright," He said in blatant disregard of her rage. "Lead the way."

Pan stormed into one of the buildings, leaving Bulma to grumble over her broken masterpiece. Vegeta followed her unhurriedly, as if he were out on a stroll. Pan picked one of the rooms at random and almost wrenched the door off as she opened it. Vegeta calmly closed the door, and leaned against the wall at the entryway. "Well?" He asked.

"YOU...YOU!" She screamed, trying to keep her temper somehow. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Her breaths were coming out in shallow pants. "You said you weren't holding back with Trunks...but you THREW THE MATCH!"

Vegeta looked a bit disturbed. "I didn't. We both fought at full power. Neither was holding back."

"LIAR!" She screamed at him. "Neither of you were giving it your all, let alone fighting at full power! WHY DID YOU LET HIM WIN?"

Vegeta's face turned mask-like. "I did not let him win, and we were most assuredly fighting at our full power."

Pan forced herself to calm down. She took a very deep breath. "You're still lying to me," She stated bluntly. "Tell me how the gravity platform survived unscathed until you blew a hole in it, and how an audience managed not to get blown to bits if you were both fighting at your best."

Vegeta frowned at her. "Alright, so we were both holding back. Trunks and I are the only ones that needed to know that."

Pan ground her teeth in pure fury. "WHY DID YOU LET HIM WIN?"

Vegeta tilted his head slightly, as if considering what kind of an answer to give her. "You heard the story- he caught me off guard. I didn't 'throw the match,' as you put it."

He's baiting me...trying to get me to lose it. I'll never get the truth out of him by demanding it. Pan made a conscious attempt to abandon her anger in favor of logic. "You blew that hole through the gravity platform with a ki blast. It would have held if you had simply fallen. You threw the match...why?"

Vegeta expression was an odd mixture of irritation and approval. "Because further fighting would have been pointless. My son came up with a good strategy, and he applied it well. Not well enough to beat me, but he shows enough potential that I let him have the win."

Pan was appalled. "You know that won't be good enough. This is Buu and Bebi we're talking about."

Vegeta looked annoyed by her assertion. "Trunks and Goten almost beat Majin Buu by themselves. Had they been properly appraised of the monster's regenerative ability, my son might have figured out a countermeasure. As much as I despised him for being a reminder of my weakness, he did remarkably well given his age and inexperience."

Pan shook her head in disbelief. "And you think..."

"I don't think, I KNOW he can do it," Vegeta firmly interrupted. "Kakkarot told me that my son figured out the secret of planet M2 without either of you knowing. This is not blind chance. I would not let my son out of my sight if I was not absolutely certain."

Pan frowned at him. "Then why do you want me to go?"

Vegeta frowned. "Battles are uncertain. Kakkarot would have failed had I not shown up when I did with the plan to use fusion against Li Shenron. As able as my son is, there may come a time when he can't do it alone. You have a deep hidden power, much like your father, and you may have to be there to help my son to victory."

"So I'm insurance?" Pan asked resentfully.

Vegeta glared at her coldly. "This is not a game, child. If my son dies, you'd better not come back in any better condition."

Pan shivered. He means it... "I don't know if I'm up to this," She admitted quietly

Vegeta's continence softened, slightly. "No one else can do this. You've risked your life time and time again for Kakkarot and my son. You're no stranger to this, and I've taught you as well as I could given the time we had. It will have to be enough."

He made a gesture toward the courtyard that Bulma was working in. "Trunks could be literally anywhere right now, so I don't recommend waiting for him. He said he wanted to leave in three days. Don't be late."

When Vegeta said "literally anywhere," it was unlikely that he knew how accurate his comment was. Trunks was on Namek, and might have felt Pan's transformation had he not been gathering the dragonballs there to summon the true eternal dragon.

"I don't know about this, Trunks…" Dende whispered. The seven dragon balls of Namek were arrayed before them, a different number of orange stars denoting each ball's number. They were much larger than the normal dragon balls of Earth or even the wickedly powerful black star dragonballs.

Trunks sighed at Dende's trepidation. "I told you, this will all work out fine." Even the Namekian Elder had granted his blessing when Trunks had explained that they needed the balls to correct an imbalance of universal scale. "Please call Porunga."

Dende seemed to steel himself, and spoke the summoning phrase in Namekian. That had always been the most effective defense against the misuse of the balls- Porunga would not grant a wish that was not spoken in the native tongue of its master.

"Porunga!" Dende finally shouted at the end of the summoning.

The balls glowed with an inner light, and the sky darkened. Lightning flashed, and the wind shrieked. A storm quickly gathered and coalesced into the form of a massive dragon, easily three hundred feet tall. It was covered in green scales, with long humanoid arms that ended in ebony claws and five straight horns that protruded from it's head. It reminded Trunks of a crown. Most arresting were it's eyes…a baleful ruby color that glowed from within.

WHO HAS AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER?

Trunks was sure that Porunga was speaking, but he realized that the dragon wouldn't be speaking in an Earth language. Porunga's massive voice was in his mind.

Dende wasn't as flustered as Trunks. He'd summoned Porunga twice before. "Trunks, speak your wish, and I'll translate." He sounded only a little hesitant.

Trunks took a deep breath. "Porunga! The dragonballs of Earth were flawed in their original construction. Can you fix them?"

Dende took a moment to translate, and it seemed Porunga was deep in thought.

THE DRAGONBALLS OF EARTH ARE NO LONGER PART OF THIS DIMENSION

Trunks felt his heart sink. I should have known…when Goku beat Li Shenron, he banished the dragonballs. No wonder Shenron required his freedom as payment. He shook his despair off like a dog shaking asheet of water from his coat. I promised Goku that I'd get him back. I'll just have to try another approach.

Trunks looked back up at the massive apparition. "Porunga, could you fix the flaw in the dragonballs if they were in this dimension?"

THAT IS WITHIN MY POWER

Trunks let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Can you bring the dragonballs back to this dimension?"

Porunga seemed to consider again.

I CAN RETURN SHENRON TO THIS DIMENSION

Dende grabbed his sleeve before Trunks could speak again. "Trunks, what are you doing? The dragonballs are gone for a reason!"

Trunks looked at him in sympathy. "I know Dende, but it was the wrong reason."

Dende looked angry. "How do you know? My job is to keep the Earth balanced!"

Trunks understood his anger. "We inherited a monster from Kami, even as he rushed off to save us from another one. Goku was the ultimate victim here. This is about getting him back, and taking our world back, Dende."

Dende's anger seemed to drain out of him. "It would be great if we could do that…how are you planning on getting Goku back?"

Trunks smirked. "Just trust me with this."

Dende looked resolute. "Ok, I'll translate."

Trunks turned back to Porunga. "Wish the dragonballs back to this dimension, Dende," he said quietly.

Porunga's eyes glowed fiercely when Dende finished translating. After a moment, they faded back to normal.

YOUR FIRST WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. I MUST HAVE YOUR SECOND WISH

One down, two to go, Trunks thought. "Ask Porunga to fix the flaw in the dragonballs." Trunks said softly to Dende.

Dende spoke in Namekian once again. Porunga seemed to struggle after Dende finished translating the wish. Finally, he seemed to relax.

YOUR SECOND WISH IS GRANTED. SPEAK YOUR FINAL WISH!

Dende looked to Trunks. "Do we wish for Goku?"

Trunks answered absently as he formulated the last wish. "No. Goku should be alive and well on Earth right now. Ask Porunga."

Dende spoke some words in Namekian to Porunga.

THE SAIYAN NAMED GOKU IS ALREADY IN THIS DIMENSION

Trunks sighed inwardly in relief that his theory had been correct. He wanted to use the last wish to correct a botched wish from long ago to pay the Nameks back for using their dragonballs. Surprisingly, Yamcha had been the one to figure out the correct wording for such a wish: name a time, and name a condition if required. "Dende, ask Porunga to bring back all of the Nameks that were killed since Frieza arrived."

Dende's eyes widened. "You want to revive all the Nameks that Vegeta killed?"

"I do. The original wish was badly worded. Frieza might have won on Namek if my father hadn't slowed him down and wrecked the little monster's plans at every turn, but what he did to those Nameks was horrible. Call it a kind of atonement."

Dende nodded. He translated the third wish.

Porunga shuddered after his eyes glowed again.

YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. I TAKE MY LEAVE.