Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.
The Long Road
Chapter 34: Burdens
Gohan: One Week Later
An alarm blared from the clock next to his bed,, immediately setting Gohan to groggily pull himself up, casting his hand towards the device. With a terrible crash, the clock and half of his side table exploded into wooden chips and warped plastic. Looking towards the utterly destroyed appliance and furniture, Gohan groaned with the realization of having destroyed another side table and another clock. It was incredibly frustrating, not because he couldn't afford it, but because it wasted time every other day, having to buy a new clock or side table, or both.
Still, there was no more time for regrets today, or even time to buy a new clock or table, at least this morning. Today he was going to head to the rural shit hole his daughter lived in, to try and see her. Of course Videl was going to be an absolute nightmare to deal with, but he'd been expecting to deal with her for days now. Crazy didn't even begin to describe her, as far as he was concerned. She probably needed to be medicated, as far as he could tell. Back in the Planet Trade, they'd have classified her as suffering from Battle Fatigue, and he'd killed several dozen of his own for having the misfortune of carrying that trait.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Gohan slowly slipped from his bed, stretching as he did. Without a second thought, he walked over to his fridge in the kitchen, popping it open, revealing a half stocked inside. Meat, vegetables, fruit, and flour based products all presented themselves to him.
Damn it, I've got to go shopping for food later too?
Saiyan physiology had its drawbacks, he noted as he pulled most of what remained in the fridge out. The coming moments were an orgy of eating, cooking, and then more eating. It was infuriating and frustrating how he wasn't nearly as good of a cook as his mother was, but at the end of the day, he'd had much... much worse meals. Eating fallen enemies or allies on horrible, war torn worlds were among the first to come to mind. Even the thought brought back familiar smells and sounds, all playing out within his mind.
With an annoyed noise, he dropped a set of picked clean bones into the sink for him to finish disposing of later. A mighty burp bellowed from him as he finished the last of the food. From there it was a quick journey to the shower, followed by a quick journey to the closet. Popping open the doors, Gohan examined his clothes for a moment, deciding on what fit best for the kind of day he was going to have. Casual attire was the idea given the circumstances. It also made him immediately think he probably needed a more diverse arrangement of clothes. Still, there was enough there for him. Red t-shirt, black shirt over that, unbutton, and black jeans. Humans were so odd about their attire choices, and he really didn't want to look exotic by their standards.
Looking himself over once in the mirror, the Saiyan just sighed to himself. Today was going to be a giant pain in the ass. Despite that though, his thoughts quietly drifted to his daughter, which was still a strange way to think of Pan. In her own way, she reminded him of himself when he was young, when he was lost and forgotten. Briefly, he was lost in his own thoughts as he stared into his own eyes in the mirror.
It was exactly what he said the other week, Pan deserved better then him, but more then anything she deserved someone. Hell, she deserved to have someone as noble and big hearted as his father. It was one reason he didn't want to tell her the truth, beyond the awkward conversations it would lead to regarding how he was her father. She could conjure up whatever fantasy she wanted about who her father was, and why he wasn't there. Whatever she came up with, would probably be better then the truth itself.
Blinking, Gohan found himself still looking in the mirror, bringing his hand up, tracing over the long scar on the left side of his face. It was the beginning of his journey, the most vivid of his memories from childhood. Everything from the moment he'd earned this, was another step on a long journey. Battles raging across the galaxy, slaughters on a mass scale, and then turning over to struggles against himself and a family he'd rediscovered. Now that was all over as well. The newest part of the adventure, the journey since he'd been taken from his home, was trying to do what? Find out a way to give a little girl a better life?
It seemed absolutely absurd. But if you'd told him before he came to Earth, that he'd kill Turles in mortal combat, and then face down the Legendary Super Saiyan... well, absurd wouldn't quantify how he'd feel about it. In a way, it was more terrifying to confront his obligations to a little girl, as he couldn't just fight his way past it.
As he walked towards the balcony, preparing to take off, Gohan did have a pleasant thought at least. His daughter wouldn't know the kind of pain he'd known throughout his life. She wouldn't be subject to violence and danger at every corner, and she wouldn't be made to fight, and kill in order to protect the people she cared about, or just plainly to survive. Placing his hands on the railing of the balcony, the thoughts running through his mind made him smile.
It was very Saiyan at all, but this planet had showed him something about the race he'd been so proud to be apart of only a few years ago. So far, the happiest times of his life had been the most peaceful times of his life, even if they weren't as long as he would like. Saiyans supposedly thrived and loved conflict. It was something he didn't want anymore, and he was happy his child wouldn't go through the same things herself.
With that, Gohan launched himself into the air, any hint of a smile being forced back already by knowing what he was going to run into first.
Videl.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Videl:
The world was hazy, very, very hazy. After the event last week, Videl had needed to go to a doctor for pain medication, and thankfully the doctor in the closest town had provided her with it. Of course he'd told her the same thing Gohan had, she needed to rest and recover. He'd blathered something about her being lucky, and that it could have been worse. What could falling behind again, be worse then? Short of death, there wasn't a lot on the table, and she knew she'd have survived as soon as she felt the force that hit her.
The problems she now faced were exhaustion, and a profound high that the narcotic based painkillers she received from the doctor delivered. She'd ignored all his advice, trying her best to train her body. The gashes on her arms itched from too much use, now wrapped in new bandages. She felt woozy and couldn't keep her footing most of the time, but any caution had long since been thrown to the wind. Even she knew most of her training was her trying to stop herself from stumbling, but she kept her mind as focused as she could, trying not to let worn muscles somehow go to waste.
She'd been being plagued by nightmares again. All of them involving the Saiyan. They were all filled with dread, and they almost all showed his strength overwhelming her. They couldn't entirely be nightmares, because that was exactly what would happen. Part of her felt useless, another part scared, and another part thrilled. She wanted to be strong so badly, that she'd become obsessed with the very idea of strength, and the freedom it gave to anyone who had it. It let any and all obligations fall to the wayside, all morality, it let anyone who had it show who they really were.
The one that stood out the most among all of them, was the one where she was the one with all the strength eventually, that was the one that thrilled and terrified her more then any of the others. She could take whatever she wanted, and do anything she wanted. She'd left everything in her life behind. She left Pan behind first, and then her dad, then she got all the revenge she wanted from anyone she thought deserved it, but namely Gohan. It was almost a fantasy at first, not a nightmare at all, until it wasn't. Everything spiralled out of control, she raped and murdered her attacker, justice by any other name, and then the real violence began. It was so easy to do whatever she'd wanted, whenever she'd wanted.
It was enough to drive her into sickness even in her sleep, and in the last few moments... she couldn't even think on it, even now while training. Even in her waking moments, everything in that nightmare followed her. Moments of it even blurred into the waves of reality around her, waves born of her painkillers. A dull ache still covered half her body, but she was swimming so deeply in her own thoughts and delusions, she barely noticed.
Finally her body started to give out after another battery of kicks. She felt everything tire out, and she felt her entire body depress into almost a complete fog. Slipping off one foot, she felt herself fall on her backside a second later, feeling like she could just drift into oblivion. The sky seemed to swim with different shapes and fluid motions as it spun in front of her. Seconds later, it was like she was floating slowly out of her body, drifting through the air helplessly.
A blurred face then shifted into view above her, before coming into focus.
It was the face that always haunted her, of course. The one who now just imposed himself on her life. It was like glimpsing into the eyes of the devil. The two orbs of black contained all of the hatred, resentment, and anger she felt for herself in many ways. The once blue sky behind him turned grey and then turned almost black, before starts started to fall through the sky. Blinking several times, Videl felt her head fall back against the ground as she almost giggled.
"Fuck, you're a mess aren't you?"
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Gohan:
Nothing could ever go easy could it? He couldn't show up and find everything at peace, of course not. Instead, he had to show up and Videl had to be in a semi-conscious puddle on the fucking ground. There was no real sign of a struggle, it was like she'd just decided to fall into a heap. Upon appraisal, leaning over her, looking over her features, he could see she was sweating, she was in training clothing, and her bandages had been replaced by fresh ones. At least that had been taken care of correctly.
"Fuck, you're a mess aren't you?" he more asked himself, knowing she wasn't in much of a condition to respond.
Glazed over eyes stared back at him among her giggles and he pulled his fingers up in front of her.
"Videl, how many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, noting a lack of a response as she stared back at him, almost in some kind of aw, or stupor, whichever at the moment he couldn't tell. Snapping his fingers several times, moving his hand around to see if she was following, she at least seemed to track the movement of his hand.
Fuck, now I've gotta drag her in front of Pan as a complete wreck, again. Frieza's Ass this is ridiculous. Am I going to find this woman like this all the time?
Reaching down, he slowly pulled his arms under her frame, before pulling her up into his arms.
"I'll... I'll... be... the strongest," Videl mumbled to herself as she looked at him, and then her eyes started to drift, looking around. She raised her hand, looking at it as if to try and figure out what it was.
Immediately any question as to what was going on, fled him. Gohan knew all too well what someone who was high out of their mind looked like. It was either recreational, which he doubted, or some kind of medicine, likely for the injuries she sustained the last week. He'd told her to rest last week, and her response had basically been to tell him to go fuck himself. Well now here she was, exhausted, and high out of her mind.
"You're nothing but trouble," Gohan told her angrily, walking towards the door, and using his energy to shove it open.
"I feel like... ... 'm... made... out of water."
Yea, he could almost see her brain had sail off into the vast oceans of delirium the moment she spoke. Was this going to be a regular occurrence? He definitely didn't have the patience for that, and he wasn't going to let Pan get exposed to it. As soon as he walked into the house, he immediately walked to the only room in the house he'd not actively entered, Videl's. As soon as he shoved it open with another pulse of energy, he dumped Videl unceremoniously on the bed. Looking around the very Spartan room, he saw a bottle of pills on the side of the bed. Picking them up a second later, Gohan quickly read over them, before sighing.
Painkillers, and very potent ones. Popping open the window, the Saiyan threw them as far as he could, the bottle disappearing into the sky before shifting the window back to its closed state. Turning back around, he cast an irritated look towards the semi-conscious woman. Taking several steps, he almost thought to berate her, until he of course recognized how intoxicated she was. There was no chance she was going to remember any of this anyway.
When he placed his hand on the door to open it and leave the room behind, he heard only breathing behind him before Videl spoke again, her voice strained and spaced out.
"... You think... you... you can just... fuck me, don't you?" she asked, her features remaining placid as she spoke. "But I'm stronger now... I can... fly..."
With those last words, her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head before her head flopped against her pillow.
Are you fucking kidding me? This has to be some kind of joke.
Her words almost were haunting, as she remarked he about how he thought he could 'fuck' her. That was how he got into this mess to begin with, wasn't it? It was hardly the first priority he had, especially when he started to notice how balanced Videl was. Admittedly, someone may make the same argument about him, violent outbursts, an inability to connect with many individuals, extremely guilt complex.. well, the list could go on, but he didn't want to over analyze it. Still, he was trying to get his life in order... and it looks like Videl was trying to tear hers apart.
He didn't get it, and it only served to frustrate him more.
Right. Now all he had to do was find Pan and make sure she was alright. This once a week business was already very clearly not enough. Which meant either coming here much more often, or attempting to find a more permanent solution. It was all about the most pragmatic solution at this point, which also meant he was increasingly beginning to believe that any damage to Videl was irrelevant, given she was clearly so... troubled anyway. What was the difference between more, or less troubled? You were still troubled.
Worry about it after you talk to the stupid woman later. Deal with the girl first Gohan. C'mon, let's try to at least start getting this sorted out, okay? Find out what the Hell she was doing later. Better yet, get the kid out of here for the afternoon so she doesn't stumble across 'mom being completely fucked' 2.0.
With his thoughts chasing him, Gohan just sighed with frustration, walking down the hall of the humble home, before opening the door to Pan's room. Inside there was a little girl, who looked up whole holding on to two action figures. They were colourful toys, with one looking like a man with a bright yellow and blue costume, and the other was a monster who looked like it was half-crocodile, and covered in scales.
Immediately a grin shot around Pan's face as soon as she saw him, she abandoned her toys almost instantly before shooing up. Everything about her stance screamed energy and a want to express herself. The smile that followed was brilliant, and somehow made Gohan himself smile back, unable to even help himself.
"Mister Gohan!" she greeted loudly, and excitedly. "You came back!"
The last words were sad to hear, but he kept smiling. She'd not expected him to come back, he could almost tell by how excited she was alone, but her words only further confirmed it. Taking a few steps forward, he placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair a second later.
"I told you I'd come back, what gives?" he responded, huffing in amusement at the end of his question.
There was an immediate fumble on her response.
"Uhm... well... I..."
Smirking, he already guessed where the sentiment came from. It wasn't hard to imagine Pan didn't have many friends out here, and any she did have were remote acquaintances, more then friends. Sadly, he could understand that... at least a little. It wasn't as remote, or isolated as his own childhood, there wasn't the constant danger and violence, but there was the near isolation.
At least you didn't have to deal with that idiot Doore all the time.
Inclining his head to one side, he just chuckled before shaking his head.
"Don't sweat it, kid," he half laughed before stepping back towards the door. "I'll tell you what, I'll take you out today. We can go pretty well anywhere. But there in lies the question... where to go?"
Pan's head seemed to rise with the prospect of going out, to anywhere. Inquisitive eyes stared at him with disbelief, and he felt himself feel somehow... better. It was odd, receiving this kind of an emotional high from a child's response, but it was what it was.
"We can go anywhere?" Pan almost whispered in disbelief. "But... nu-uh! You can't go anywhere!"
Quirking his eyebrow up while staring back at her, his own smile turned playfully confident. Oh he knew full well they could, given how fast he was.
"Wanna bet?" he responded. "Name somewhere."
The little girl seemed to freeze in place, put on the spot, and still immensely excited. If he didn't know better he'd almost think she was vibrating across the room rather then walking as she started looking all around her for a reference point. On the wall there was a large "C" Logo on a poster. Internally, Gohan groaned as soon as he looked towards it himself, and then back to Pan.
"I wanna go see West City!" she almost shouted, pointing her finger towards the Capsule Corp logo, leaving Gohan to almost glare at the damned poster for a moment. She probably got it with one of her damn toys, or because Videl wanted to encourage the kid to be interested in science.
Looking back towards his... daughter, he just nodded.
"Sure, we'll drop by West City. I'll buy you lunch too. In fact, we'll see if there is anything you need for when we get back," he told her simply, walking out of the room and making his way towards the living room.
The sound of rapidly moving feet followed him, as Pan ran almost circles around him. The euphoria seemed to be put on hold a second later however, as she looked up at him.
"Uhm... I don't know... uhm... know if mommy will want me to go."
"It's okay," Gohan was quick to answer. "I'll leave a note for her, she'll be fine with it."
It was better to lie right now, then tell Pan that her mom was passed out from painkillers and exhaustion in the other room, and that he just wanted to get her out of here to keep her from finding out. So lying was going to have to be a foundation of their friendship, at least until he figured out how to deal with the other problem.
Looking around, he found a scrap piece of paper, sliding it onto the kitchen counter he found a pencil. Staring for a moment, he envisioned what he wanted to write.
Dear Crazy Woman
I've taken your daughter out for the day, because you're too busy being high on painkillers, and hurting yourself while training stupidly. What the Hell is wrong with you?
Best Regards, Gohan.
Of course, these words were never put to the page, instead, Gohan felt himself almost cave in reluctantly, pressing the graphite to the page and beginning to make the marks.
"Hey, just a heads up.
I'm taking Pan to West City for the day, so if you sober up enough and walk out here and find this note, but no Pan, don't freak out because she'll be back by nightfall. I'll make sure she gets fed too. Please don't attack me when I get back, we've got stuff to talk about.
-Gohan."
He stared down at the lackluster note, knowing full well that Videl was likely to take it the wrong way anyway, before just shrugging to himself and turning to Pan, who was already putting her Velcro shoes on. Walking towards the exit, he realized one very important thing. Pan probably hadn't been flying before. Looking down at the little girl, he felt himself almost grin. This was going to be hilarious.
Stepping outside, he gestured for her to follow.
"Alright, I want you to grab my leg, or waist," Gohan said.
She paused, looking up at him with a pair of confused eyes.
"What? You don't want to fly?"
Immediately something clicked and she gasped, running over to him. It was easy to see how she was almost scared, but at the same time filled with an anxious kind of excitement. She'd probably seen him flying on the news when he fought Broly. Thank goodness he'd done so as a Super Saiyan. Even if a few people picked him out in a crowd, he wasn't hounded repeatedly. It was a trend he could only hope would continue.
"Is it safe?" Pan asked, her eyes frightfully looking at him, before taking a hesitant step forward.
"You're worried you'll fall?" Gohan asked in turn, smiling. "Don't worry about it. I promise I won't let go."
That seemed to be enough. Taking another few steps forward, Pan grabbed him by the belt and by the waist, before looking up at him. Reaching down, he grabbed her by the back before letting a small piece of energy emerge to the surface. A purple aura burst around him seconds later, engulfing the two of them. He was using some of his energy, of course, to hold on to Pan with his aura as well.
As soon as he took off, a terrified, irritating scream escaped the little girl as the wind blasted around them. It only took a few moments for the scream to die down. Trees passed underneath them at an incredible rate. Rivers, lakes, roads, towns, and soon mountains all came into view, and then rapidly were left behind. It took only a few more minutes, before the terrified scream, had been replaced by an aw filled, joyful laughter.
"WOW! We're...-we're flying!" Pan laughed.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Gohan: Half an Hour Later
Finally his feet touched the solid ground again, in this case an alleyway in West City. There was a dumpster to his right, and the ground was wet, likely from recent rains and a lack of sunlight piercing the alleyway consistently. Looking down, he saw Pan still clutching to him, her eyes closed tightly, have become bothered by the constant waves of air that had been thrown against them. Still, she slowly opened them, before releasing him a second later.
Almost immediately she pulled back and grinned at him.
"Can we do it again!? I wanna fly again! That was so much fun!"
Again? But she wanted to come to this stupid city. God, he didn't want to run across Vegeta, or worse, Bulma, his mom and dad's friends. That'd be an entire situation he wanted to avoid. But for now, keeping the kid happy was probably his biggest priority. Looking towards the light in the street not more then ten metres over, Gohan just smirked.
"Trust me, we'll have more fun once we get into the city. You're going to be flying home anyway, right?"
Grabbing his hand, Pan immediately began to pull him towards the light, trying to drag him. Only to humour her, he allowed him to be dragged along until they got into the light. Cars were everywhere, swarming over the roads. There were people everywhere as well, men and women walking around, some holding brief cases and others holding up their phones. They'd landed near the centre of the city, rather then in the suburbs. They were surrounded by shopping centres, restaurants, office buildings, and of course noise. The sound the city made was familiar, almost reminding him of times on Cooler 52, or Frieza 63. Just as he'd been shepherded through cities by Turles when he was a kid, he was now the shepherd guiding his daughter. It was a strange feeling.
Tightening his own grip, he looked down towards her.
"Hey, follow me lead, alright?"
There was a nod on her part, which of course meant he was going to hold her to that. Walking down the street a few seconds later, the summer sun beat down on them from above. Every few moments, Pan began pointing at something.
"Oh! What's that!"
"Can we go in there?"
"I want one of those!"
"Whose that?!"
It was a little overwhelming to deal with. Just how was he supposed to have all the answers? At the same time, he didn't want to stonewall her either. She was so inquisitive, it reminded him almost... of himself, when he was young.
"A shopping mall."
"No."
"I think your mom wouldn't want you to have one of those."
"A person, like all the other people on the street."
Sometimes he was too blunt, and he knew it, but for the moment he just wanted to try and give any answer. Still, the walk in the sun was pleasant, and it felt somehow oddly normal. Even when they passed several street performers, which was an oddity in and of itself, it felt completely normal. One of them was dancing, another was singing and playing the guitar not further after that. They weren't bad acts, but they hardly merited his money. Either way, he dropped off a few Zeni in each one's collection bucket.
Pan stood there, looking at the dancer, before looking towards the one with the guitar.
Please don't ask what I know you're going to-
"Why are those people dancing and singing?" she asked.
Damn kid and her damn questions.
"People who perform for money, they need money to survive. Some do that because its something they enjoy, others do it because they need to," Gohan explained. "Beyond that, you'd have to ask them."
With an excited grin, Pan looked up at him.
"Can I ask them?"
"No," Gohan answered shortly, giving a dim look in response. "Sometimes it's best to mind your own business."
"But-"
"Hey look," Gohan said, pointing his head ahead, before half looking back down to Pan, seeing if she was distracted.
"Look at what?" she asked, looking confused.
"A restaurant, we can get lunch."
Before them was what appeared to be a family friendly establishment. Before, it wouldn't have been something Gohan considered, but almost instinctively he'd ruled out several places to eat just by virtue of having the kid with him. It was strange how it made an impact on his behaviour without him realizing it until he analyzed why he'd picked up on where they could go.
"Oh! Oh! Can I get ice cream?"
"Uhm, maybe? We'll first see what you'll get for lunch before we-"
"Ice cream!" Pan shouted, running towards the door, pushing past the first glass door. Outside, Gohan groaned, before following her inside.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Vegeta:
How did he get dragged into this waking nightmare? Walking past bustling people on busy streets, dealing with the annoying cries of his youngest daughter, and the spoiled shouts by his son, and of course the incessant complaints from his wife. Standing outside of a clothing store the woman had dragged him towards, he was left outside with Trunks. The boy had exited only a few minutes earlier, complaining of boredom. It was hardly his job to fix it.
"So dad," Trunks said after a moment, looking up at him shyly. "Are we going to go to the new roller coaster at the fare? Mom said it was up to you and-"
There was an annoyed look cast towards his son, who just grinned back at him. The boy knew full well that all he had to do was tell the woman that he'd decided they couldn't go, and it would spark a confrontation he didn't want to deal with more then not wanting to go the blasted amusement park. The boy was as manipulative as his mother, and it was unbecoming of a Saiyan.
With almost a sneer, Vegeta was about to comment when he looked up, peering across the street, feeling the faintest of energy. What was that? Or better yet, who was that? Looking around briefly, he noticed it disappeared within seconds. The boy felt it as well, his entire posture changing too.
"What's Gohan doing all the way out here?" Trunks asked, looking confused himself.
Gohan.
It'd been weeks since their last encounter, and Vegeta had time to stew. He of course, hadn't fully accepted Gohan's little remarks, stating that he'd turned his life around, and saved his son because it was the right thing to do. But some of it had to be true, even if Vegeta didn't want to admit it. The truth of it was, the Commander hadn't asked for anything, he'd not blackmailed or extorted them, and he'd not tried to manipulate Trunks. It seemed so much like... Kakarot, but Gohan was as much like Kakarot, as Vegeta was like Krillin. Some things just didn't add up, they didn't make sense.
"Hey! Do you think Gohan will want to come to the park with us?! I don't think mom will mind-"
"We are not going to the park with Kakarot's mistake," Vegeta responded coolly. "And I fail to see why you'd want him to come."
"... You know dad," Trunks said quietly, before looking up at him. "Gohan's not so bad. When we talked he was pretty nice-"
The naivety of a child. It was something his son had yet to grow out of, despite almost being twelve. Were they in space, in the Trade, such naivety would have died the moment he was strong enough to survive a drop onto an alien world. Instead, this peaceful planet had yet to strip him of such idealism. Trunks could fight monsters which presented themselves, he couldn't see monsters which lurked under the surface, monsters like Gohan.
Even after the more recent events, Vegeta couldn't bring himself to trust the other Saiyan, because he knew full well what kind of person you had to be, to be a commander. Commanders like Zarbon had shown him that. Smiling on one front, all the while working behind your back to keep you down, or get you killed. They could never be trusted with anything, as they'd use information to destroy you, or as an excuse later to kill you. They had no real friends, they had no real loyalty, only a loyalty to power, and perhaps their masters. But it all boiled down to one thing, they would kill their own, to protect themselves.
Looking over to Trunks critically, Vegeta crossed his arms.
"We are not going out of our way to visit the Commander, and that is final," Vegeta snapped, not realizing the door had just opened behind him.
"Visit who?" his woman asked, looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes.
"Kakarot's eldest brat, Gohan, is in the city. We sensed his power briefly. We're not going to visit him."
Holding onto their daughter in her arms, Bulma passed Vegeta a set of bags, clearly new products she'd just purchased. Taking the bags from her, Vegeta was glad she'd not commented further. She knew about the bad blood between the two of them, and he'd told her openly about his... misgivings regarding the other Saiyan. Even if she had another opinion on the matter, she understood him enough to know he didn't want to see Gohan.
Their day continued however, piling shopping upon more shopping. He found himself carrying dozens of bags in his arms as they walked down the pavement, making him more and more annoyed that he could be training at that exact moment, and instead he was being pushed into service as some kind of pack mule. His daughter cried periodically as well, making things all the more insufferable. It was when Bulma exited one final store, as far as he was concerned, that Bulla began to shriek again.
"No, shhhh honey, it's okay. What's wrong? Are you hungry? Did you make a mess? Huh? What is it?"
With increasing frustration, Vegeta was almost ready to storm off back towards Capsule Corp, on his own, until Bulma looked up.
"Have you seen Trunks?"
Looking around a second later, Vegeta's Saiyan eyes scanned the street as Bulma began to look almost panicked. There was hardly any reason to be concerned, the woman just overreacted to everything. Hardly anyone alive could harm his son, despite some of his softer tendencies. Even if he didn't like Kakarot's brat, there was no way Goh-
"Gohan!" Trunks' voice shouted from almost a block away, hovering in front of a window. "Hey Gohan!"
Damned boy.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Gohan:
"For the fifth time, Pan, eat your food first, and then you'll get ice cream. I'm not going to tell you again," Gohan said, pointing his finger at the meal he was paying for.
It was chicken fingers, and she seemed to like them, but her desperate bid for the frozen treat was grating against his nerves. The staff had been helpful enough in seating them, and getting their orders. The most annoying thing they could have said was remarking how he and Pan were 'father and daughter'.
"So just for you and your daughter."
"He's not my dad, he's Mister Gohan!"
"... I'm her Guardian."
The suspicious looks he got afterwards were still coming. If he had to deal with law enforcement it'd be even worse, not that they could detain him. It was ridiculous, that he was in fact her father, but was pretending not to be, while trying to act like her father?
You're winning a stupid award right now. Last years winner was dad, but damn, maybe this year you could take the gold for yourself!
... Shut up me...
But that did bring up something he'd not wanted to think about. When was he going to tell Pan? When was her mom going to tell her? When was it even right to tell her. It then lead to more questions. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why do you two hate each other? Why was I born? Perhaps those questions would be easy to skirt at age five, but what about ten? Then what? Then how did everything break down? Worse, it wasn't as if that would fix his problems with Videl. Hell, he knew Videl hadn't told Pan yet, because she wanted her daughter to not even think about who her dad was.
One night, years ago, lead to all this disaster. A night where he was dumb, excited, angry, malicious, horny, and young. Nobody mattered but him, and he didn't think about consequences. Humans weren't even real people, as far as he'd been concerned. Now here he was, in a human establishment, after having saved the humans, and with a daughter who was three quarters human. It was a quick way to make himself feel like a piece of shit, and right now he didn't want to feel that way around his daughter.
Smirking, he saw her biting into the breaded meat, noting her half glare at him.
"Glaring at me won't get you ice cream."
With a chick-finger half in her mouth, she grinned for a moment before tearing it two, and beginning to chew with her mouth open. Every Saiyan he ever knew typically chewed at least sometimes with their mouth open, so he couldn't fault her there, now could he?
"So when I'm done the chicken, that means-"
"I swear to any Gods there are Pan, if you ask for ice cream one more time-"
"Gohan! Hey Gohan!"
A voice shouted through the window as a purple haired boy grinned excitedly at him. It was a relief that it wasn't Vegeta, at least.
Uncomfortably smiling, Gohan raised his hand, waving at the boy.
"Whose that, Mister Gohan?"
"That would be Trunks, he's one of my brother's friends. Friend of the family. I helped him out of a bit of a tight spot a few months ago. He's a good kid and..."
Gohan's sentence didn't finish as a familiar spiked haircut came into view, along with a blue haired woman holding on to an infant girl. They were staring at him, and then stared at Pan. As soon as they took the look towards Pan, Gohan internally cringed. Of all the people to run into, barring his parents, these were the worst. What the Hell was he supposed to say? Fuck.
FUCK!
There was a look of near disbelief on Bulma's face, but Vegeta's was unreadable. Turning around, Trunks began speaking to them, but Gohan wasn't interested in listening.
"Mister Gohan?"
Blinking, he turned his head and stared back at Pan questioningly.
"... You didn't finish what you were saying," she said, before looking concerned. "Are you alright? You look pale."
The restaurant's door opened seconds later, and Vegeta's family rapidly approached. It was impossible to hide his tension as he stared back towards the other Saiyan and then to his wife.
"Hello, Gohan," Bulma said, smiling at him, clearly trying to appear nonthreatening. "Whose this?"
"My name's Pan!" she quickly cut in before he could. "Who're you?"
"Oh, my name is Bulma. I'm a friend of your fathers."
It was enough to make Gohan face-palm before shaking his head with almost a kind of disbelief that this was all happening.
"You know my dad?" Pan asked in almost shock, missing that Bulma was implying to him. "Nuh-uh! No one knows my dad. Even mommy doesn't."
There was almost a brief moment of realization that passed over Bulma, and then Vegeta's features, before they stared back at Gohan.
I'm going to have to talk to them. Fuck. Alright, plan, you're always good at plans. You plotted out military campaigns at fifteen and managed large scale interplanetary logistics, you can figure out how to tell two people what you're up to.
"Hey Trunks?" Gohan asked, looking over to him before smiling in the same friendly way he often did around Pan. It was too friendly, for the Briefs, but he didn't want to change his presentation around Pan. "Can you do me a huge favour? I've gotta talk to your mom and dad, can you stay here with Pan?"
"Where are you going?" Pan responded, looking at him with her big, innocent looking eyes.
"I've just got to have a grown up conversation with Bulma, and her husband Vegeta. Trunks is a good kid though, he'll watch out for you, I promise. And when I get back, ice cream, I promise."
"Ice cream!"
The shout of approval was enough to let Gohan pull himself out of the booth and walk towards the front entrance, motioning for Vegeta and Bulma to follow. Once he was outside, Gohan felt himself rest his back against the concrete wall of the building, exhaling through his mouth a moment later before the two figures moved in front of him.
"She's a Saiyan, and she's not mine," Vegeta commented. "And I doubt your covering for Kakarot, which means its yours."
For once, your powers of observation do you credit.
"Why doesn't she think your her father? And if you aren't, then who is?" Bulma then asked. "And why doesn't Chi-Chi or Goku know about this?"
Well, it was time to come clean, wasn't it? It was almost as bad as getting debriefed by Cooler.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Videl:
A groan escaped Videl as she felt her muscles protest and act like they'd turned to jello. Rolling over on her bed, she felt herself put her hand to her forehead, which was of course covered in sweat. What'd happened? Struggling to sit up, she just breathed out, feeling miserable and cold. Blue eyes barely found the will to scan the room as she looked for any sign as to how she got there.
She'd been training, and then-
Pain shot through her left shoulder and she felt her right hand move over to it, trembling. She needed her pills and then she could try and-
Looking over to her side table, she noticed they were gone. The pain in her arm only got worse, and she tried to stand up, a pained hiss escaping her laps as she did. Slowly, her mind entered the haze of what she'd been in, before passing out. It was someone familiar, and she hated them. Which meant it was... Gohan. Her teeth grit together as she managed to get to her feet, before taking several steps towards the door. They were staggering steps of course, given she'd pushed herself too far, too fast, and she was still injured. Every step was more difficult then the first, and she still felt herself sweating.
Entering the bathroom a minute later, she didn't find her painkillers there either. Another painful spike felt like it was rammed through her shoulder. Placing her hands on the sink and just looking up at herself, she breathed in as she tried to restrain all the pain she was in. Looking back at her, she saw briefly a smirking Gohan staring at her through the mirror. Her heart jumped in her chest as she tried to even compute what was happening.Without his mouth moving inside the mirror, she heard his voice.
She's mine now.
What? What did that even-
"Pan?" Videl asked, turning away from the mirror.
There was no answer. Suddenly the room felt very cold as well, even colder then before. It only took a minute to check her room, and then check the kitchen. Her heart began beating more and more rapidly and her breathing began to accelerate as she found no sign of anything. Until she found a note in the kitchen. Grasping it, her eyes traced over it, feeling dread slowly consume her.
Gohan took her.
Barely able to stand, Videl managed to drag herself over to a chair before flopping into it like a rag doll. All she could do was shiver as she felt herself become wracked with fear. What if he never brought her back? What if he just decided he could do what he wanted?
After all, he had all the power he needed to do whatever he wanted.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Bulma:
"They don't know because I didn't know until the tournament," Gohan responded after a few moments. "She's the result of a night where I made a mistake. Her mom hates me. So this has kind of been between me and them. I don't want my family involved. Not right now."
There stood Son Gohan, her best and oldest friend's eldest son, admitting he'd concealed the fact that her best friend had a grand daughter, and for what? She still didn't get it. The fact he wasn't looking at them made it all the worse. His black eyes were trailed off into the distance, and his features looked uncomfortable, and uncooperative.
It was an unsatisfying answer, and left something cold in her stomach. Which was so strange, Gohan and Pan looked so warm, and happy only minutes ago. It'd brought a smile to her face when she realized that it was Gohan sitting there with a little girl. He didn't look annoyed, or bitter, or cold as she'd often seen him, if anything he was smiling just like his father.
There was huffing sound from her husband, who crossed his arms.
"I suspect that given the age of the child, she was conceived not long after you arrived on this planet. I also suspect it was before you put on this act of behaving more in line with this planet's norms, which meant you were hunting for sport and found the girl's mother. I doubt she had much say in the girl's conception," Vegeta said coolly. "You're as much an animal as your Uncle Raditz. That buffoon was always chasing after anything that remotely looked Saiyan."
Part of Bulma wanted to smack Vegeta across the face. Overt disrespect, again, towards Gohan. Bulma just approached her friend's son very differently. The guy had a tough life, he'd come to Earth, and he'd been working on making his life work. Everything Chi told her, beyond the incident weeks ago, told her Gohan wasn't actually so bad. Behind his cold attitude, there was a genuinely kind person. The fact that Trunks had talked him into making a video for his future mom even told her more. Antagonizing him was just pointless, and petty.
"Well Mister-Know-It-All, I bet Gohan killed sixty people with his mind rays too while he was here, and then pulled a Nappa and blew up a city! You're being such a jerk Vegeta, can't you just cut the guy a -"
"He's not wrong," Gohan said, cutting off her 'robust' defence of his character, looking at her straight in the eye. "Her mother doesn't think of the encounter well, and thinks it lacked consent. Upon reflecting on it... I am... hard pressed, to make arguments for the opposite opinion."
The blue haired woman froze, clutching Bulla instinctively as Gohan admitted something she'd never thought him capable of. A cold chill ran down her as she saw the sincerity in his eyes and her sickness returned, but this time thinking of the poor girl. How could anyone do that? It was hard to imagine. But then again it was hard to imagine Gohan killing billions of people. Anyone with any sense would have every right to call him a monster. Vegeta had killed his own share of billions as well. She would be too quick to judge everything, even if it felt right to.
"I was different," Gohan tried to explain quickly, obviously seeing the look she gave him. "I'm trying to fix things. I'm trying to set the girl up with a better life, and I'm trying to help her mom. The latter isn't going quite as well, but I'm trying. I just-"
"You have to tell your parents," Bulma said, her voice as commanding as ever. "And you need to come clean with this now. If you don't, we-"
"No," Vegeta cut in, looking at her seriously before looking back towards Gohan. "Gohan will resolve this on his own, it isn't our business."
She couldn't believe what he'd just said.
"Like Hell it isn't, Vegeta!" Bulma shouted. "We stumbled across this at the tournament and didn't know, and now we see it here! Goku and-"
Her husband's gaze turned on her sharply, before narrowing his eyes.
"Whether I like the Commander or not, it is his business. Everyone seems to have so much faith in him, then let them. Let the boy solve his own problems," he said coolly, before looking back at Gohan with a prideful stare.
Standing there, his back still against the wall, Gohan looked away from them again, but just sighed. Internally, Bulma groaned as she felt her resolve slowly slip.
"Alright," she finally said, before looking back inside. "We won't tell Chi-Chi or Goku... but you're going to have to tell them, soon. I expect you to do the right thing Gohan."
Walking inside a second later, Bulma took Trunks hand just as he was making a poor joke for the girl.
"Time to go."
"Awwww! But mom! We didn't get to the part where the booger alien-"
"Now, honey."
Pulling him from the booth, Bulma walked past Gohan, who was putting on a smile again for the little girl. For some reason, when she saw that, and she knew he wasn't happy, something made her for a brief second, have faith that he would do the right thing.
Unlike Goku, you're not the almost perfect person, whose always nice and kind, but you're trying, aren't you?
With that, Bulma stepped outside, looking over to her bag burdened husband.
"Let's go home."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Gohan:
Walking down the street, the hot sun still beating down on them, Gohan silently was thankful that the encounter had gone as 'smoothly' as it could. It was a surprise that Vegeta of all people recommended they keep his secret. He didn't go out of his way to disagree, that was for certain. It was a mild relief that they weren't going to exactly rat him out right away. But it did mean he needed to figure out just what the Hell he was going to do to resolve all this. If he didn't feel pressured before, he felt multiples more pressure now.
To his right, holding his hand, and holding an ice cream cone, Pan just grinned up at him, her mouth covered in the no longer frozen chocolate treat. He smiled back, glad that she wasn't asking him uncomfortable questions as well. The kid was easy enough to distract, and buying ice cream was a small sacrifice to get the situation on the right track again.
As they walked past a seemingly innocent storefront, Pan stopped him, grabbing at his hand and pointing her ice cream cone towards the windows.
"Oh! I wanna go in this store!"
With a half smirk, he turned his head to look inside. It was probably some toy store-
Raising a brow, he looked over what appeared to be a store which specialized in... human music? What appeared to be primitive recording devices, namely tape recorders and vinyl records were painted, relatively badly, on the inside of the glass. Looking up, he saw the name of the store appear above the door.
"West Music: The Home of Today's Music."
Internally, Gohan groaned at what was in front of him. Turning his head, he gave Pan a questioning look.
"Are you sure you want to go in there? I don't think there will be many toys or-"
Before he could finish, Pan was already stepping forward. Alright, well, he'd humour her and go in there with her. Generally he'd despised human music for most of his time on the planet. Anything playing in an elevator, at the mall, or on the radio stations he heard as he'd been passing through areas, spoke of an uncultured society, if one wanted to listen to their music.
Opening the door and stepping inside, Gohan was immediately assaulted by the smell of smoke, dust, and perhaps body sweat? It was displeasing to say the least. Then there was more of that awful noise. It sounded like a man was screaming into a microphone. It didn't seem to bother Pan in the slightest however as she just started to look over the records left in displays. There were instruments displayed on the walls as well, each with sale tags attached to them.
Looking over to the sick psychopath who ran this nightmare of a store, the clerk behind the counter was standing there with a cigarette in hand, and looked as if he didn't really care if people were in the store.
"Hey, if you find what you want, just like... bring it up here and pay for it," he said offhandedly.
Ugh, what a waste of time.
The music in the store changed a second later, but Gohan didn't notice at first. Instead, he just sighed.
"Hey Pan, I don't think this is a good place for kids. What with adults smoking, and bad music, and-"
The noise from the speak wasn't putrid, it was... ... indescribable? It took him several moments to realize for a moment where he was even. The beat and the smoothness of the sound, mixed with the rough sound of an electronically altered string based instrument, but very infrequently, left him slowly moving his head to it. The voice of whoever was singing was... oddly soothing to hear. Turning his head to the clerk, almost forgetting Pan was with him, he narrowed his eyes.
"What's this playing?"
"How can you not have heard this? It's been out since forever-"
Walking over briskly, Gohan stopped in front of the counter, giving a very cool gaze.
"I didn't ask for you to voice your opinion, what is this playing?"
"Manic Monday, by the Bangles. They were some fictional band from a movie set on some alternate Earth, but it got popular so people put together a-"
Without even realizing it, Gohan was already grabbing a capsule from a display, looking at it before looking up at the clerk.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Pan: Fifteen Minutes Later
"We're just going to drop by my place for a minute so I can drop some stuff off," Gohan said. "Don't worry, it's on the way back."
"Uhm," Pan paused as she looked towards the large Saiyan who she'd been spending the day with. They'd taken off flying again, this time heading back home. "Can I use your bathroom?"
It was a thrill to be in the air, terrifying and exciting at the same time. The air around them just seemed to slip by, and everything was moving so fast her eyes could only follow it for seconds before it was gone. Towns, mountains, clouds, it all just passed them by and it was amazing. Inside Pan wished she could fly like this herself. Everything seemed to just go away when she was flying. All the problems the little girl had back at her home were left behind in a blur.
Looking back towards her with a quirked brow, Gohan smirked.
"Yea, of course, just don't tell your mom we dropped by here. I don't think she'd like the idea of you dropping by my home."
Mommy doesn't like me doing anything.
The thought was more sad, then bitter.
Fleeing her thoughts as they passed over the surface of the Earth again, a new city came into view, and this time Gohan veered towards it. Quickly, high rise buildings passed by them, only more slowly as their speed declined once they entered the air around the city. Finally, there was a building they seemed to fly directly towards. It looked really nice, smooth edges, big windows and lots of them, and it was really, really tall. Shifting the flight slightly, they arrived at the top of the structure, before landing on a large balcony. Looking around the balcony for a moment, Pan was left in almost a kind of shock. The urge to pee was forgotten for a few brief seconds as she peered past the balcony doors. His home looked awesome. Comfy looking couches, everything looked pristine, and it almost looked like it was out of a movie.
"Are you rich?" Pan asked a second later, forgetting any kind of manners.
"Sort of," he responded, walking inside the apartment first. "If you're going to the washroom, go."
Stepping inside the apartment, her feet going on hardwood flooring, she just looked about as she wandered into the large suite.
"Uhm... which one is-"
"One hall over, it'll be the door on your left."
Moving past a book shelf before finding the hall, Pan ventured further into the home. Her imagination wandered for a brief moment, hoping that one day she'd get to live in such a nice place. Opening the bathroom door, Pan stepped inside.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Gohan:
Well, the day had gone well enough at least. Several crisis were averted, he managed to drag Pan away from what a complete wreck her mother was, and he found some strange human music he actively enjoyed. Looking down at the five capsules in his right hand, he almost wanted to laugh. He was hardly going to listen to this with anyone around. It was highly... inappropriate, to listen to a primitive planet's music. Without even realizing it, he was worried of what people would think of him. There were some customs which just didn't fade.
Of course, when he got back to Videl's rather humble home in the middle of nowhere, he was going to have to try and at least sort out some kind of agreement with her. Barging in was already getting annoying. She was also clearly not very pleased that he was dictating terms. It was at times, difficult to remember the people on this rock felt that they had a say in things. They didn't deserve to be killed, or harmed without just cause, but they certainly had an inflated opinion of self-worth.
Sighing, he turned his head towards his room, intending on depositing the capsules in his room.
I need to figure out what the Hell I'm...
Pausing, Gohan felt something close by. It was a moderate power, weaker then his father's human friends, but much stronger then the less fighters like Videl. It had just finished moving quickly. Looking up and towards the wall for a brief second, Gohan's mind struggled to keep up with his instincts. It was then that he noticed a faint red glow on his normally white wall. Blinking once, he turned his head, looking behind him only to see a red orb of energy charging in front of a figure he couldn't make out. Black energy crackled around it a second later and he felt his eyes widened.
You little shit.
Preparing to attack, Gohan heard the bathroom door open.
"Mister Gohan?"
Without realizing Gohan already turned his head towards the door. Everything in his apartment almost seemed to float as the red attack was unleashed.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Author's Notes:
Alright boyz. Just giving everyone a heads up that my work's been pretty busy lately, and I've not had as much time to write. It'll probably be this way for a few months. I will be updating still, and I will give you estimates on when Chapters will be finished, but I can't do hard deadlines again until probably after December. Right now I'm expecting Chapter 35 to take around 3-5 weeks to write. I'm hoping its three obviously, but as I said, my time is being torn in a bunch of different directions right now.
Next chapter is as I said before, mainly going to focus on the rest of the Sons, but don't worry... the cliffhanger will be resolved. :P
I'm super excited for the villain in this particular saga, as I think I've mentioned before. I'll do my best to make this the most meaningful and epic saga. Don't expect tons of fighting quite yet however. The action is probably not going to ramp up until somewhere between chapters 38-40. I still have lots of other things to write first.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Reviewers:
Perfect Carnage: I'm generally more into vainglory then pride, sir! Lol. Yea, a PTO company vacation would have been great, were they not all a bunch of psychopaths.
Hinata-Hime-Starz: I don't think that'd really work...
The Ghost Who Walks1: Pan isn't stronger then anyone right now, her potential is utterly untapped at the moment, but she has a lot of potential if its ever explored.
Just another anonymous user: Your wrong! (lol)
Pyromania101: Yea, Goten can't just switch his brain to think 'well, I guess Gohan's cool now". Goten's a good kid, he'll get himself sorted out.
Gguest: Coostorybro. I'm not gonna lie, I don't perceive me as dragging things out. This is how I write. If you want me to absolutely change how I do things, so its not 'dragged out', then you're going to be sorely disappointed.
ICOTAN: Thanks. O.o Wish I had more to say, but there aren't really any questions for me to answer from that, lol
Chemestry-Deaf: Videl's basically trying to fix things that she can't fix. It sucks for her, and it's sad, as her persistence has really turned around and is more her enemy then her friend.
Dbzfanthefirst: You're welcome.
Guest1: Gohan's actually stronger then Vegeta and Goku, he's just a worse fighter then the two of them are. When Gohan's hitting all his points, when he's in the right frame of mind, he's significantly more dangerous then Goku or Vegeta right now. Because of course, things can change.
VuVuzelaHero: Yea, he's really trying to be a better person, he's coming into his own really, finally emerging from his past. What could possible go wrong from here? O.O
BurningSaiyan: Buu's stuff will start to get address this saga, probably expect to hear from the Kai's next chapter... but his role in the story, even if very different from Dragon Ball, isn't through yet.
RoxaShadow: Answered by PM.
Heseltine: Neither can I.
Masenko56: I don't think Goten is going to be a villain in the future, no. I don't believe Saiyans have advanced hearing in their humanoid forms.
Brograham18: And expect much more interaction between Videl, Gohan, and Pan in Chapter 36!
MaxPain32: Dende and Popo's fate will be discussed next chapter as well! :D
DarkKnightShiva: I'm tryin' dude, lol
Eveline: Goten and Gohan will have one of the more interesting dynamics in the stories... especially by the end of this saga, and moving beyond.
Brelic: Thanks!
Guest2: I've actually been itching to respond to this one since it was posted. The first thing I want to start with is, just because someone has something terrible happen to them, doesn't mean that they are automatically a better person. Gohan's had a lot more opportunity for development, and empathy. Videl's life collapsed around her, she's angry, bitter, and still badly hurt from what happened before. She easily has PSD, and probably has several other undiagnosed conditions, she's also to an extent, a masochist. Videl being a victim of a terrible crime, is what's caused her to have most of these problems. That doesn't mean she's a bad person, she's a damaged person. She needs time to heal, and she's not getting the right kind of time to do that. So no, she's not a bad person, I don't think I'm portraying her as such. I'm portraying her as a damaged person. She can't correct her priorities because her mindset is too toxic at the moment.
Guest3: I dunno if she'll beat the shit out of soneone, but she might beat the shit out of someone. lulz
MasenkoX: You'll note, I've kinda abandoned the traditional sagas almost all together now that I've altered the "Buu" saga so dramatically. All the villains are from Dragon Ball, but how they're implemented will be completely different.
Maesde: For every high, there is a low. For every action, there is a reaction. Everything has a cost, and everyone must eventually pay that cost. The good, the bad, the unaffiliated.
Tomorrow4eva: You should find their appearance very worrying. :D
The Void Fox: Thanks :)
xdevil-childx: I can't wait to write what happens next.
Redhunter87: I honestly don't think Gohan wanted to be a warrior in the canon, and when given the choice after Cell, he decided not to be. I don't think it was all big-bad-Chi-Chi. I think most of it was the trauma of watching his friends dying when he was a kid, followed by the constant life threatening struggles. He never had an opportunity to see fighting as 'fun' like Goku did. Gohan in this, dislikes training for wholly different reasons. He's tired of fighting, and he sees it as kind of the cause of a lot of the problems in his life. Which is true to an extent.
Darion of the Abyss: In time, I suspect they will. The question isn't if, but when.
Morisako83: Thanks! :)
Son Akito: These things happen quickly. But really it'd been building for some time, from Goten, and he was the catalyst for the conflict. The writing had been on the wall for a confrontation between Goten and Gohan for some time, the problem for Goten, is it happened about 8 years too early.
Daughter of Vegeta: Gohan would have arrived on Earth around the age of 17-18. Which means Pan is just shy of five, and gestation... Gohan would be around 24ish.