Chapter 5: Meeting an Idol
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, or any of its characters. All rights reserved to Akira Toriyama and his buddies.
AN: Yeah I think I'm going to have to move the time in between my updates from every 2 weeks to about every 3 to 4 weeks. Unfortunately my classes are not letting up, and I heard it is going to get worse before it gets better. I'm sorry if this displeases someone. Overall this chapter took a lot longer because I kept editing until about 3 days ago. Thankfully Ace pulled overtime to work on fixing my mistakes, as much as possible. Thanks man I owe you one. I know you have your stuff to do as well. These chapters are getting longer and longer, but don't expect all of them to be like this. I want to thank everyone that reviewed. They really helped me pull through
Thp-thump - - - thp-thump - - - thp-thump - - - thp-thump …
Gohan slowly opened his eyes to look at the dark void in front of him. He sat up and looked all around him; nothing but a black space could be seen stretching for what seemed like an eternity. He pushed himself off the ground and looked around. A small mist hugged the ground thereby not allowing him the chance to see the 'ground.' Not that it would change anything; he knew exactly where he was. The only sound that could be heard for next few minute was those 'thumps.'
He closed his eyes and let a deep breath out. White condensation could be seen escaping his lips.
Then he heard it. It began as a far away sound. A sound that someone would be hard pressed to catch. It seemed to grow louder with each minute that passed. It was laughter, a laugh he wished to never hear again.
'—ha - haha – ahahahahaha - AHAHAHAHA'
Gohan wrinkled his nose has he heard the first sounds of his night time tormentor. Small growls escaped his lips.
"Won't you ever SHUT UP?!"
An amused chuckle could be heard, "Come now Gohan, is that any way to greet an old friend? Why I'm sure if your mother heard you spout such profanity, well, she might be inclined to clean that dirty mouth of yours with a bar of soap."
"You're no friend of mine, Cell," Gohan all but growled out. From behind the mist the tall figure of Cell appeared before Gohan.
Cell's smirk still intact, "with that attitude I'm not surprised. Here I go out of my way to check on my favorite person, and all he does is curse my name. I'm hurt Gohan; I thought we shared something special." Cell spoke with a condescending tone.
"You're nothing but an illusion, a false memory, a fragment of my imagination!" Gohan shouted.
Cell's smirk was reduced to a simple thin line. He starred into the eyes of Gohan and began to frown. Cell lunged at Gohan and buried his fist deep into his stomach; thereby making Gohan double over.
Cell bent over and whispered, "I may be all those things, but in this place it doesn't matter because in here, I reign supreme," into Gohan's ear.
Gohan began to regain his breathe when he saw Cell take a step back, a smirk had returned to his lips. He balled his fists and growled at the amused fighter in front of him.
"Oh, does the little fighter have some fight still in him? What are you going to do Gohan, fight me? You know it is useless. I am perfection!" Cell sneered.
"I beat you once, didn't I? I can do it all once again," Gohan responded.
Cell's chuckle grew until it became a full blown cackle. "Please Gohan, don't make promises you can't keep."
Cell's loud laughter still irritated Gohan to no end. It had been months since the nightmares began, but he could still not get used to his cackles.
Gohan began to power up, but like every night before, nothing came. A faint white aura exploded around him for a brief second before it disappeared. He was breathing harder when he came out of it.
"Done?" Cell jovially asked.
Gohan took a deep breath and shifted his stance into a more defensive one. He knew it was pointless, but he kept trying to access his Ki. Every attempt had been unsuccessful, but still he held hope one of these days the rush of energy would return, and he would be able overpower his tormentor. Every night was the same. The power that he held in the real world seemed to elude him in the dream world, and it seems this Dream-Cell capitalized on it.
Cell lunged forward, one fist rolled back, and when he was close enough he threw it forward. All sense of smile on Cell's face had evaporated.
Gohan managed to back flip a split second before the fist could have connected with his cranium. When he looked back at Cell, he was rewarded with swift kick from Cell to his shoulder. This threw Gohan for a small flight before painfully crashing into the ground.
Gohan cringed when he felt the sting in his shoulder as he got back up. Gohan watched when Cell put his stretched leg down.
"Weak," Cell rushed once again and began a combo of punches. Gohan tried everything to block or parry the hits, but more often than not, he was on the losing end of the hit.
"Pathetic," landing a painful punch into Gohan's cheek, Gohan began to lift himself off the ground, and rubbed the corner of his mouth and saw blood on his hand.
"Sorry excuse for a warrior!" Cell finished with a kick to Gohan's chin. Gohan was once again sent skidding across the ground.
Gohan desperately kept trying to access his ki. No luck. He got up and saw the slowly approaching Cell; he always seemed to get a kick out of prolonging Gohan's suffering. This was Cell's M.O. or was it his own?
Gohan punched the ground and got back up. His breathing was little jagged and his posture was a little hunched over. His lower lip was busted, and was showing signs that his left eyes was going to swollen soon. He glared at his approaching opponent.
When Cell was close enough, Gohan released a war cry and jumped while lunging forward through the air. "WAAAAGGGHH," Gohan's fist connected with Cell's cheek. Cell's head tilted to the side from the hit, but otherwise didn't show any other sign of damage.
Cell shifted his head back, his magenta eyes clashed with the enraged defiant onyx eyes of Gohan. He could see Gohan had put all his strength into that hit. It made him smile for a second. Cell's eyes glowed purple momentarily and suddenly Gohan was airborne once again.
As Gohan landed he tumbled back. He landed a couple meters away from Cell. His roll finally came to an end with him face down. The mist covered most of his body, but he knew Cell knew exactly where he was.
Gohan's fingers were the first to show sign of life. They began to twitch until Gohan clenched both of his hands and lifted his head of the floor. 'Not again.'
"—ahahahaha how the great ones always fall huh? Well, I guess I can't call you a 'great one,' after all what have you ever done to deserve that title."
"I killed you didn't I?"Gohan answered with small bloody smile.
Cell reached down and picked up Gohan by his Gi top and held him at eye level. Gohan grabbed at Cell's hand, but could not pry it off. Cell's smug look still remained.
"True, but tell me, how many times have you been a pest on the field? How many times has someone had to come bail you out, because you bit more then you can chew? How many more people will someone have to die for you to realize that you are worthless on the battlefield?" Cell spoke with a deathly quiet tone.
Gohan remained silent. He looked away from Cell, but the wrinkle in Gohan's nose did not disappear.
Cell's smile widen as he spoke the words he knew would hurt Gohan the most, " 'Pitiful, look at you wasting away,' I think that was what your mother said, right? I have to agree with her, what a useless son. Why don't you run back to those books you love so much? Hide like the coward I know you to be."
Enraged by what he was hearing, Gohan swung himself and landed both of his knees into Cell's chin. Caught off-guard momentarily, Cell released Gohan slightly, but it was enough for Gohan to push off of Cell's chest plate and launch himself backwards. He performed a back flip and landed on a new stance.
Cell took one of his hands and adjusted his mandible manually. He opened and closed his mouth to make sure everything was in place. After he just cracked his neck and looked at the glowering 11 year old in front of him.
"A lucky hit," Cell professed, "but then again your past fights have always been riddled with lucky hits. I wonder if you have ever won one of your battles through skill and determination."
Gohan did not take the bait this time.
"What no snarky remarks? No snide comments? Hmph you're no fun. Very well we can move on."
Gohan spread his feet a little more to give him a more balance base and bent slightly his back leg. He put one fist forward and the other close to his heart.
Cell snickered at this action. "No one is here to save you!"
Cell took off and began a new punching frenzy. Gohan managed to divert the right hook at the last second, but didn't see the back handed punch Cell gave his skull after Cell spun off his first punch's divert. Cell pressed on.
Gohan steadied himself before trying to match Cell's fists, blow for blow, like he had done during the original battle with Cell. Although he was able to match the punches, he soon realized that his punches weren't doing much damage, while his knuckles were shaking from pain. Gohan quickly performed as simple spinning kick in order to hit Cell and create some space to regroup.
The second thing happened momentarily, but Cell was on top of Gohan seconds later.
"Pitiful!" said Cell as he socked Gohan right in nose.
Gohan landed a few meters away. His Gi top was soaked in his blood. He took one of the sides in the neck area of his top and stretched it out to wipe at least some of the blood of his face. Didn't do much of a difference other than smear it, but at least it was not falling into his eyes. His breathing was definitely heavier. He tried once again to dig deep and pull the power he so desperately needed.
Cell could see the boy was just grasping at straws. Inside this nightmare, the illusion reigned supreme. "Well time to put down Old Yeller."
Cell dashed forwards and smashed his bent knee into Gohan's midsection. Gohan curled into his leg until momentum took over and sent him back. Cell, however, (did not plan on letting Gohan any time to recover. He joined both of his hand and followed after Gohan. When he was flying parallel right next to him, he swung and connected with Gohan's temple.
Gohan flew in a new direction until Cell appeared ahead of him and drove his foot into his sternum. He landed with a bounce on the ground once again. Gohan's eyes were getting cloudy and his mouth tasted like copper. He began to lift his upper body against the wishes of the rest of it.
"Come on … this … is… not … the end," Gohan chocked out. A white aura once again surrounded Gohan, and he began to stand. "I will never … bow … down … to … you."
Gohan's eyes widened and spit the fluids in his mouth. The white aura had abandoned him once again, leaving a weaker Gohan behind. He fell forwards, spread out over the mist-covered ground.
Cell landed once again right by Gohan's head. His eyes danced with joy at the sight of the boy brutally destroyed on the ground.
"How can you to be a world savior, when you can't even save yourself." Cell sneered at the downed child.
"You're nothing but a useless waste of space."
Cell bent down once again and pulled Gohan up by hair until he was at eye level once again. A strangled sound came from Gohan's throat. He eyes were closed tightly.
"Come on Gohan, open those beautiful eyes. I got a movie just for you." Cell gleefully remarked as he slapped Gohan.
"I call it, 'Gohan: My Weak Friend' starringyou." All around them appeared what seemed like screens. In each of them were past battles of Gohan. However they showed only moment where Gohan was being beat into the ground.
"Look this is one of my favorite scenes. This was the first moment someone had to pay for your weakness am I right?" Gohan eyes opened slightly before opening them fully. He could see as Nappa powered his attack and all he could do was stare. He wanted to divert his eyes; he knew what was coming, but just like the boy on the screen he could only stare as the image of Piccolo's back appeared between himself and blast. Gohan wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to do anything, but could only look on as his mentor, and first friend, yelled to the high heavens as the blast hit him.
Gohan batted Cell's hand and landed on his knees. The film had reset itself and began once again from the moment Nappa charged his attack. It was a loop like all the others. Gohan looked at the others and could see the same thing. All of them showed his failure, and proudly displayed his greatest moments of weakness.
"Ah, I never get tired of watching this, don't you?" Cell asked with a chuckle.
"Do you get it now Gohan, you are weak, pathetic, sorry excuse for a warrior!" Cell shouted
"-shut up." Gohan murmured
"What was that?" Cell asked amused to see Gohan's fighting spirit still there.
"I said… that you talk too much! I know I have been weak in the past. I won't excuse my behavior by saying that I was a child. But as long as there are evil beings like you in the universe; I will continue my crusade against evil!" Gohan got back up. His white aura exploded around him. His breathing was getting heavier and his eyes began to droop, but he pushed forward.
The aura changed to gold as screamed. His eyes and hair were still as onyx as the day he was born, but he felt a small part of his missing power. He turned to the shocked Cell and decked him before he could recover. Cell's body flew right through the screen that was playing Piccolo's sacrifice. The screen exploded and the others went dark at that moment.
Gohan began to take shaky steps towards Cell. He kept dragging his right leg as his left hand went up to his right shoulder. The aura was still in play.
Cell sat up and swiped his thumb over the corner of his mouth. He looked at the purple blood on his pale hand. He growled at the glowing child a few meters away.
"As always, lucky hit," Cell said as he got up.
"At one point, you just can't call it luck anymore. I call it 'surprising the enemy.' Showing them that their greatest foe could come from the least expected places, but then again, you know all about that don't you Cell." Gohan said with a half-smile. It was all he could do with a busted lip.
Cell began to laugh. He looked at Gohan and laughed even harder.
"Guess you finally lost it huh?" said Gohan as he frowned at his opponent rather unusual behavior.
"You can't lose something you never had, but look at who I'm talking to. At least it isn't me that made this dream, and has been talking to someone that doesn't even exist anymore. You talk to me like I'm the real Cell, but like you said; I'm just a figment of your imagination.
"But what I find a hilarious is that you think you can still fight me in your current condition. So you accessed some of your power, not that it will help you much. After all we reign supreme here." Cell spoke as he signaled all around him. From the shadows of the void numerous pairs of eyes lit up.
"Your power will soon evaporate, and just imagine, if you felt weak when the white aura dissipated, how will you feel when this aura leaves you? I guess we won't have to wait much longer." Cell spoke as he saw the golden aura begin to decrease in size.
Gohan looked on horrified as he began to see the power was slowly leaving once again. He tried to power up, but it seemed to only speed up the rate of decrease. He felt as if every wound was being re-opened once again. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as the pain was unbearable. Then like a lit-candle in a hurricane wind, the aura was snuffed out.
He began to fall once again, but he was caught at the last minute. He looked over his shoulder and could see a long mane of dark hair. He knew who it belonged to.
"Hehehehehe so good to see you again, nephew," The person holding him said. He then put him into a full nelson.
"Raditz!" Gohan managed to spit out before his head was pushed to stare down.
"It's time to put to rest our sweet prince, and I don't see anything more fitting than doing it with the same technique of the last person that had to perish due to your inability to be stronger." Cell stated as he got into position.
Gohan desperately tried to lift his head to look at Cell. He wanted to know if it was what he was thinking. He got his answer a second later when heard the first syllable of the famous technique by the Kame school of martial arts.
"KA-ME—" Gohan managed to lift his head enough to see Cell in stance already and the blue sphere begin to shine between his hands.
"HA-ME—" He looked around the room, and he could see all his past enemies there cheering on Cell. Some laughed, other pointed, while others just smirked as they waited for the end of Son Gohan.
Gohan desperately tried to summon any bit of power. Even if it was for a moment, he didn't care what kind of damage it would mean for him, but alas nothing answered his call.
He tried to keep his tear at bay, not let them have the satisfaction of seeing him in that state, but even Gohan had his limits. A single stray tear escaped and began to roll down his face. He kept trying desperately to pull anything.
"GOODNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE! REMEMBER YOU WILL ALWAYS BE NOTHING MORE THAN A WEAKLING TO US!" Cell shouted over the roar of the energy pulsating in his hand, and the loud jeering from all those around them.
"—HA!" Gohan could only stare as the giant energy attack came closer. There was no way he could escape. He gave one final scream.
Gohan's eyes opened and he jumped from his resting spot in the field. He began to rise into the sky as his body was going through the transformation of Super Saiyan. His Gi top, which he had been using for a makeshift pillow, was blown away by his transformation. The field of lilies was all but obliterated by his simple power up.
He rose and rose until he had passed the clouds. He breathing was erratic, and he kept looking everywhere. He began to curl up and buried his face into his hands. A small whimper escaped his lips. 'It was all a dream, it was all a dream, it was all …' He kept saying to himself over and over.
The power was too much, and he knew that he could not maintain it for much longer. He uncurled and released a bloodcurdling scream. The darkness of the night time vanished with Gohan's transformation. For miles Gohan shined almost as brightly as the sun during the day.
The rays of his golden aura bisected through the clouds in many places. All the clouds nearest Gohan, all but evaporated from the intense power output. Lighting could be seen falling. It pounded into the former lily field.
Finally the intense aura began to die down. Within a few minutes only the golden bio-electrical field surrounded just Gohan. The lids of his eyes began to open and inside were pupil-less glowing eyes. Anyone looking at Gohan would clearly be frightened by seemingly endless white in his eyes. He breathing seemed to be under control.
Gohan blinked a couple of times while looking around him. Finally he lifted his hand to the side of his head. He grunted for a few seconds before opening his eyes once again. The turquoises iris had returned.
'I'm not weak. I have to protect the world. I'll show them that I am not weak.' Gohan began to descend from his current position. A few minutes later he felt the familiar feeling of the soil making contact with his sole. He released the Ki that was keeping him airborne.
Gohan snorted, "So much for releasing any excess energy to stabilize me. I thought that leaving my house would solve my problems and that all I had been having was much pent up Ki.
"Mom is probably furious. *Sigh* Guess after tonight I'll head home and apologize for my behavior." Gohan looked down at his bare chest.
'I wonder where that top is now.' He looked all around his area for his Gi top.
In most timelines, Gohan would return home, embarrassed by how he acted. He would do everything to get his mother's forgiveness for his 'rebellious' attitude.
He would try to train as well, but since he did not want to displease his mother so soon after the last time, he cut back on any training for the time being. With the arrival of Goten and his mother's constant vigil of him studying the same books over and over, he never got around to getting back to train. He would train every so often to keep up his physique, but he never to the point like when he was a child.
The nightmares still plagued Gohan for the rest of his days, but he hid them well behind his mask of happiness. It was so good, that at times it even fooled himself into thinking everything was alright.
But those were those timelines. This one however is about to receive a shocking new permanent resident that would push our young hero in a new direction…
10:00 AM West City
Bulma was working on her latest invention. She whistled as she twirled the wrench in her hand to the tune of the music on the radio. She danced an awkward strut as she made her way from the tool bench to hover car.
"cha – cha – cha-cha-cha" Bulma placed her hands on the side of the hood, as her head and hips moved back and forth with rhythm of the music.
Suddenly there was rumble and everything in her lab began to shake.
"AH Earthquake!" Bulma shouted and sprinted towards her desk on the other side of the room. She took four steps before performing a swimmers jump over her desk with both hands stretched forward. Bulma landed with a roll forwards before stopping a few centimeters from the wall, and then rolling back under her desk.
'Safe' she thought with a smile as she pumped her fist into her desk and held on to it.
The rumble grew stronger, and then a distinct sound could be heard, it sounded like something that was speeding right in front of her. It wasn't the only one because she began to hear more and more of them. Eventually it sounded like a whirl when combined, and concluded with what sounded like an explosive decompression on a plane.
"What the hell is going on out there?!" Bulma frantically screamed over sounds. When she heard the explosion she could only point it to one person. "…VEGETA!"
'Wait, but I thought Vegeta wasn't training. He hasn't even touched the GR since the Cell Games. Why today?' She poked her head over her desk when everything was calm.
Vegeta sat up from his bed, and was also looking all around his room as everything was falling apart.
He did a quick Ki-search to make sure it wasn't a certain brat blowing off steam again.
'I swear it better not be Kaka-brat again. I just had that television replaced, and I was really into that show.' He looked at the shattered remains of his TV on the ground.
He finally found the brat's ki, but it was stable and very far away. Not even increasing or decreasing. Sure it was high, but it is like that all the time when he is awake.
Finally he found the culprit. Over the Capsule Corp campground he sensed a familiar Ki. 'Great the other brat is back.'
*Hmph* Vegeta put his arms behind his head and laid back down. Once he felt the pillow touch his hands, he turned slightly towards the wall.
She looked around and could spot everything was mess. The biggest damage was the hovercar she has been working on, it has slid off its levitation planks and the right front side slammed into the ground while the other sides were hanging off the beams of support.
"Gahhhh I was almost done with that one." Bulma slid her hands down both sides of her head covering her ears, and then covering her face.
She balled up her fist and walked towards the exit like a women possessed. 'I'm going to give that husband of mine a piece of my mind. I'm glad he is getting back to normal, but that doesn't mea…'
Right in the field between her Laboratory and the Family Wing, she saw it. It was quite an odd vehicle, but a vehicle she recognized immediately. Standing tall over the grass was the machine that she created in an alternative timeline.
'That mean…' She began to dash towards the machine.
She could see the ice that covered most of the outer body. There were trails of white smoke all over the machine. 'Most likely from the ice either reacting to our climate temperature or the heat difference between the machine and the ice,' Bulma concluded.
She looked up when she saw a hand perform circular motions on the frosted glass and a face appeared a second later. Bulma laughed and cried a little bit when she saw the face of her son looking back at her.
Trunks smiled at her, and indicated that he was going to open the glass shell, so she should step back. Bulma complied and looked on as jet stems of air blew out from all around the outer shell as the bolts unlocked the shell.
After 3 minutes of grueling waiting for it to open, the capsule lifted until it reached it's full opening capacity.
"Ready Pan" Trunks spoke as he looked down at the small girl to his side.
Pan nodded but there was a great amount of fear in her eyes. She trembled as she looked around; this looked nothing like her home, where was all the debris and fallen skyscrapers? She thought to herself.
Since she was so small, Bulma had yet to see her from the ground. She could only see her son talking, but she thought the machine must have gone through a couple upgrades and now works with voice control.
"Let me go greet my Mom and when I call you, you can come down, and don't forget anything inside because I'm going to capsulate the Time Machine when you are down there. I'll have a brief chat with my mom and then we will head over to see your father. Is that okay?" Trunks asked the frightened girl. He wondered if this was maybe too much for her small head to wrap around, and if he acted like this when he came here the first time.
'No, I just remember the feeling of rushing to get to Frieza before the other did.' Trunks concluded.
"Okay," was Pan's soft spoken answer. He could see her hugging her bear with all her might. It surprised him that she hadn't destroyed it from the way she was holding it to her small chest.
Trunks flashed one final smile and rested his hand on her head. He ruffled her hair like Gohan used to do to him when he was frightened, and he wanted Gohan to reassure him that everything was okay. 'Kami, how did Master have so much strength to reassure me when he knew everything was falling apart, and I can't even reassure his daughter and everything is peaceful here!'
Shaking his head he put one foot on the edge of the shell and jumped down. He landed just in time to see his grandfather and grandmother and joined in the welcoming committee.
"Hi Mom I'm back," was all he could say before Bulma jumped to encircle her arms around his neck.
"Trunks you're back! You wouldn't believe how worried I was when you returned to the future and we didn't hear from you. You said it was only going to be a couple of day." Bulma shouted right next to Trunks' ear. She cried into his shoulder.
Trunks' ears were still ringing, but he hugged his mom all the same. "I'm sorry Mom, but I had a bit of a problem when I got back."
Finally he pried his mother's arms and she took a step back. She immediately began to question him the moment she heard the word 'problem.' "What problem, do we need to send your father and Gohan to the future so they can take care of those androids? I will drag your father kicking and screaming if I have to, and strap him into that machine so he helps you.
"In fact, give me a second I'll go get him right now, and you can go back to take care of those machine's from hell." Bulma said as she began stalking back to the Family Wing until she heard her son's voice.
"Wait, not that kind of problem," uttered Trunks at his walking mother.
*Sigh* 'I would never hear the end of it if Father thought I couldn't take down those android after so much training' Trunks shivered at the thought.
"Hi Grandmother, Grandfather sorry for ignoring you," spoke a blushing Trunks
"Not a problem son, we all know Bulma can be quite the attention hog at time," Dr. Briefs jabbed playfully at his daughter's expense. He petted the little black kitten on his shoulder. "I'm glad to see you are in good health m'boy."
Mrs. Briefs tilted her head to the side and spoke, "You don't look a day older then the last time I saw you. You must tell me your secret to keeping your youth." She asked with a smile.
Trunks just looked at her. His forehead furrowed at the statement. "Um… Time Machine." He pointed with his thumb behind him.
"Ohhh, I must get one for myself, if the results are this good." Mrs. Briefs responded.
Trunks just kept staring, his left eye twitched, and a sweat drop appeared behind his head. 'How am I related to her?'
Dr. Briefs just chuckled and refrained from commenting. He knew it would be pointless to try to explain. His little cat just slipped off of his shoulder. Bulma, on the other hand, just face-palmed in the background at her mother's ditzy nature.
"…what was the problem, Trunks?" Bulma asked as she rubbed her temple, and tried to get the conversation back on track.
"Uh…oh ah… mechanical… yeah we had a couple problems with the Time Machine," Trunks mentally shut down for a second, when he heard his mother's question he returned to the land of the living.
"I'll try to work on it here, since some parts can't be manufacture over there, so I hope to get them here." Trunks continued.
Dr. Briefs smiled and patted Trunks' shoulder as he repositioned his little kitten back on his shoulder. "Our labs are always open to you m'boy, but I want to know who is it that is up there?"
He nodded towards the sitting area of the Time Machine where a mop of black hair and curious onyx eyes could be seen looking down at the Briefs family for quite some time. As soon as she heard the Dr. Briefs mention her, she ducked down hoping they hadn't seen her, not remembering that Dr. Briefs had just mentioned someone in the cockpit and that she was suppose to be meeting them anyways.
Trunks' eyes widen and he looked up to the capsule, "Oh right, how could I forget. Pan you can come down!"
Pan had been watching the interaction between Trunks and the Briefs since the beginning. It interested her to see so many new characters, and they all knew Trunks. She could only identify one of them, but she looked much younger than her Aunt Bulma.
'D'uh Time Machine, I guess it makes sense.' She thought as she heard them interchange greetings.
After the older man pointed her out, she ducked down, and grabbed her bear. She remained in that position until she heard Trunks call her.
"Well Teddy, let's do this." She began to climb over the dashboard and stood at the edge looking at all the Brief down below.
"Pan?!" Bulma asked confused as she looked up to see a very young girl standing at the edge of cockpit holding a teddy bear to her side.
Then the girl did the unthinkable and jumped from the edge to the soil below. Bulma almost let out a shriek until she realized the little girl landed with some grace.
She could see she was somewhat shy, as she all but dashed to stand behind Trunks.
"Hi," the little girl mumbled.
"Trunks, who is this girl?" Bulma asked worriedly since she came from the Time Machine
"Everyone this is Pan, Pan this is my mother, but you already know that, my grandmother, and my grandfather." Trunks commentated as he pointed out everyone he introduced.
"Don't tell me she's yours?" wondered Bulma.
"What… oh no, no not at all. Hahaha No she is … uh Gohan's daughter" finished Trunks.
"Oh …" Bulma nodded her head until she recalled what he said at the end. "WHAT?!"
Bulma could only gape at the young girl, but all the evidence was right there, and it pointed to a certain 11 year old she knew. She wore the same purple Gi as she had seen Gohan wear, as well as those eyes. Those curious onyx eyes; they were the same she had seen on Gohan when she first met him. They held a certain wonder that seemed to have vanished from the 11 year old world savior.
Pan flinched from the stare the younger looking Aunt Bulma was giving her. She felt like a specimen being viewed under a microscope.
Trunks sensing Pan's unease at being thoroughly examined by the rest of his family, decided to divert their attention and give the poor girl some space.
"Hey Grandma, you wouldn't have any cookies by any chance?" Trunks asked. He could see Pan's eyebrow shoot up at the mention of food. A bit of drool could be seen at the thought of those wonderful sugar treats.
"Of course honey, I made a fresh batch today in the morning. I'll go set up some tea." Mrs. Briefs made her way towards the Family Wing.
"Well it was nice to meet you Pan," Dr Briefs smiled and held up his hand for Pan to shake it. Pan gulped as she took a step closer and shakily took the doctor's hand. Dr. Briefs patted his small cat and looked towards Trunks, "But I don't think I'll be joining you for afternoon tea. There are many animals to take care of. It was nice seeing you again m'boy, and remember, this is your home as well."
Dr. Briefs got back on his little scooter, and a few seconds later he was out of sight, vanishing around the corner.
"Hey Pan how about you go ahead? Grandma should be in the kitchen by now, and if you ask nicely, I'm sure she will give you a cookie." Trunks goaded, knowing fully well this would give him a few private minutes with his mother. He could see all the questions that were already dancing in her head.
Pan enthusiastically nodded her head before dashing off towards the kitchen. Sure there was less destruction here then the Capsule Corp she remembered, but if there is one room she knew how to get to regardless of any changes down to the layout: was the kitchen.
Once Pan was out of sight, he took a deep breath of air, and turned towards his mother.
"So, Gohan's daughter huh?
"What were you thinking Trunks bringing her here, and what is worse is that you told me and my parents about a person that is not even born yet. What if Gohan finds out about this?" Bulma was going into full-panic mode.
"No, we can't let her out of our sight for a minute. If she and Gohan cross this could be disastrous. You have endangered her existence by bringing her." Bulma concluded.
"mom … Mom … MOM!" Trunks screamed at the pacing women in front of him.
"Look, I had this discussion with you once in the future already. I don't need to go through that again." Trunks spoke when he saw he had his mother's attention.
"That's some valuable time I won't get back, ever" Trunks muttered, slighting still brooding over all the time it took to attempt to convince his mother, only for his Aunt Chichi to do it in 10 minutes.
"She is here because we all agreed on this trip, and I mean everyone, including you and Aunt Chichi. They understand the risks, and are willing to take the chance.
"As for Pan's existence issue, we can have a larger discussion about that topic later, when we are not expected." Trunks nodded towards the Family Wing.
"Fine, but you have a lot of explaining to do mister." Bulma began treading towards the kitchen when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She followed the arm until she found her Son, "Um there is one more thing I should mention. It's a favor, if you will."
"Alright, as long as it is within my power," Bulma summarized.
*Sigh* "It's about Pan. She'll be staying here when I leave to the future. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking her in."
Bulma blinked, "What do you mean she will be staying here? Okay, what is going on here?"
"Mom, I'm sorry for bringing all this up so quickly, but this may be the only time I have to speak with you alone, so I'm trying to rush through all this." Trunks responded while running his hand through his hair.
"It was decided that our future is no place for a growing girl like Pan to grow up in. There is far too much destruction, and we are slowly rebuilding. Most of her life would be dedicated to rebuilding our world, and I think that my Master worked tirelessly enough to free our time, so I don't think it is fair that his daughter has to be responsible for our prosperity. She deserves better, and we think that place is here.
"She has always idolized her father because of all the stories she heard of him, both from this time as well as my Master. So we thought if she lived here, she could at least meet her father." Trunks finished.
Bulma sighed, "We really need to talk about this, but right now, they are waiting for us. If future me thinks this is for the best, then I'll take her word for it, for now. Let's head over before they send someone to pick us up."
Trunks nodded before both members of the Briefs' family walked over to the kitchen area.
When they entered the kitchen, they were treated to the sight of Pan going at the plate of cookies, like they were the first item of food she had seen in years. There was crumbs flying everywhere, and when one large crumb managed to get airborne, she plucked it from its trajectory and returned it to her mouth.
"Well she is definitely a Saiyan." The sight before Bulma erased any doubt she may have had about Pan's Saiyan legitimacy.
When there were no more cookies on the plate, she looked up as she licked her fingers to get the last bit of taste of the wonderful cookies she just devoured.
"More cookies honey." Mrs. Briefs asked the 3 year old.
"There is more?!" Pan turned towards Mrs. Briefs and looked absolutely shocked. Food always had been rationed in the future. It was the only way to make sure they had enough for the long periods in between harvests. If these nice people were offering, she was not going to waste such a wonderful opportunity.
"Yes, yes, yes, more please," hey eyes lit up and she practically shoved the tray back into Mrs. Briefs' hands in order to get more of those wonder, delicious, sugary chocolate chip cookies.
"Very well honey," Mrs. Briefs was making it back towards the kitchen, but noticed the new entrants by the door. "Oh how nice of you to join us dear. The tea had gotten cold, but don't worry I am making more right now. Go ahead and take a seat. I'll be right back. Panny is such nice girl."
Trunks tilted his head slightly to his side to see just behind his grandmother, and could see baby Trunks sitting in his high chair trying desperately to reach a piece of cookie from Pan's cookie ravage. It seems his struggles attracted Pan's attention as well; she looked at where he was reaching for, and found a half cookie just laying a couple centimeters away from his hands. Pan climbed on the table walked over and took the cookie.
Trunks' eyes followed Pan's hand until she deposited the cookie in her mouth. She chewed a couple times before it too shared the same fate as all its brethren. Pan licked her lips and smiled at baby. She then walked back to her chair.
"Ma… ma cokie," Baby Trunks' eyes widen and gaped at callous way she took his cookie. It was within his reach, and she just took it! He leveled a glare on her for such disrespect.
'Trunks' is right; I need to work on my glare if this is what I look like' thought Pan as she laughed at baby Trunks' 'glare.'
"~Right… nice girl…sure." Trunks said as he saw the last scene happen while his grandmother was talking.
They sat down. Bulma decided to sit across from Pan, while Trunks sat next to her.
"You couldn't even save me one." Trunks murmured to Pan. She just grin right back. He could see pieces of cookies in her teeth. He just rolled his eyes at her.
"So tell me, Pan was it, how old are you?" Bulma began to get to know the little girl. If she was going to be living here, she might as well get basic introductions out of the way.
"I'm three years old, but in a few months I'll be four," the chipper response of Pan came.
"I see, and how do you like it here so far."
"It is different." Pan answered
At that moment Mrs. Briefs came back with a new tray of cookies. Both baby Trunks and Pan's eyes were glued to the tray.
Mrs. Briefs barely put the tray on the table before Pan pulled the tray towards her. "Mine"
Trunks reached for the tray, but Pan put her small arms over the mountain. She growled when he reached for them once again.
Trunks flicked her nose. Pan let go of the tray and put both hand over her nose. It made baby Trunks giggle at Pan. Trunks took the time to drag the tray back to the center.
"Why did you do that Trunks?" Pan stood up on her chair and growled.
"What would Aunt Chichi say if she saw you right now?" Trunks coyly asked.
Pan stared for a second more before reaching for another cookie, and sat back down turning away from him.
Trunks chuckled at her behavior. He turned towards his mother and saw the amused smile on her face. He took his tea and sipped some and asked the question that had been bothering him since he arrived.
"So, uh mom how long has it been since the Cell Games?" Trunks shyly asked
"Seven months." Bulma simply replied
"Damn, I thought it would take us a little bit futher ahead." Trunks mumbled to himself. 'Well at least it was within the time mom said we would be landing on, but I was really hoping for a year or even a year and half, so –'
"What was that Trunks?" Bulma asked when she heard him mutter to himself. She saw him begin to space off. She snapped her fingers in front of him and that his attention.
"Huh?"
"I asked, 'what did you mutter'," Bulma questioned once again.
"Oh nothing, it is just this Time Machine problem. I'll tell you about it later on, what were you saying," Trunks quickly placated.
"Yeah, well you wouldn't believe it, but some buffoon managed to actually take credit for Gohan's work. He is now parading himself as the champion. It makes me so angry, that someone would stoop so low to actually steal from a child. I mean what kind of human being does that?" Bulma was fuming at the thought of Hercule Satan.
Trunks knocked over his chair when she stood up. Even Pan paid attention when Trunks suddenly got up, "What?! How come you guys are still here sitting around here, when there is a faker out there taking credit for something he probably was not even there for."
"Calm down Trunks, I'm also livid as well, and it is not like we have been sitting on our hands. The guys were ready to storm the castle, so to speak, but Chichi called off the attack. She said that it would be a distraction for Gohan, and that he should be dedicating his time to studying, and not prancing around in front of the cameras, like the clown is doing.
"As for Hercule, he was at the Games. He was the one that insisted on being the first opponent of Cell, and had that lackey from ZTV alongside him." Bulma rested her elbows on the table and put her chin on her interlocked fingers.
"The one with the afro? Who could take a person like that seriously? How did he even manage to convince everyone he did it?" Trunks sputtered question after question.
Bulma sighed and cracked her knuckles. She rolled her shoulder and neck until a familiar crack could be heard. "I don't know how he did. My guess: it had to be that lackey and Satan's students. What I wouldn't give to beat down that man. He even has made it his mission to discredit you guys.
"I've even heard that some people have been fired or ostracized for coming to your defense. Once again the guys were ready to go, this was about pride now, but Chichi got whiff of our plans, how I will never know. She promised that she would track down any person she got whiff of that had divulged the truth. She said that most of the guys lived in solitarily place anyways, so they shouldn't care what the world thinks. Even going as far as saying Gohan himself had said he didn't want the publicity and would also track them down as well. That seemed to put enough fear into Yamcha and Krillen to pull back. Tien didn't care much for the threat, but also didn't care for the opinion of others."
"What about my father, or Piccolo? They wouldn't stand for this." Trunks desperately asked.
"Piccolo, well he is Piccolo. I don't know what he is up to most of the time. Your father on the other hand has been stuck in his room all this time. That man worries me so much sometimes. I think Goku's death hit him pretty hard, but he is too stubborn to accept it." Bulma answered.
"That bad huh? I'll try to talk to him." Trunks noted. He picked his chair up and sat back down.
Pan could not understand why her Grandmother would act this way. She had always been a calm and collected person, but the person her young Aunt Bulma was describing seemed too brash. And what was this Hercule character that had stolen something from her father. She remembered her vow to her Grandmother about protecting her father, and promised this Hercule person was going to be someone she had to be wary about. For now she felt it was time to go see her father.
Bulma smirked, "Good luck with that one. He barely let's me say my piece before he turns away, completely ignoring me."
"What I don't understand is why Gohan would threaten the other. It just doesn't seem like him. I know he is sort of shy, but to actually threaten the others seem to me like going overboard." Trunks pondered
"I don't think Gohan actually said that. Especially if what I have been hearing is right. I don't even think Gohan even knows about this problem with Hercule. The problem is he is getting more of a fan base every single day. Eventually it will be impossible to deny Hercule's claim.
"People are too ignorant for their own good. Like sheep, they will go in the same direction. Unfortunately they are heading towards the wolf-in-herder disguise. Soon Hercule can lose, and people will think he is holding back for his opponent's own good. It disgusts me that people are so easily swayed. They don't question anything, and believe anything that comes from that faker's mouth." Bulma slammed her hand on the mahogany desk. All the cups bounced momentarily.
"Oh my, I'll go get a cloth to clean up this mess." Mrs. Briefs stood up and walked away from feeding Trunks to get cloth, after a couple cups came down hard and spilled their content.
Trunks looked down at his cup. It was the only one that had survived its brief flight. He shook his head, not fully understanding how things could have spiraled out of control in the seven months since his departure. 'Master always taught me humility, but he also taught me that lying and cheating will never get anyone anywhere. That a man that achieves things through underhanded techniques like that is no better than the worms in the dirt, and I don't think that my Master and Gohan are that different in personal philosophies. But if he didn't say that, why is Aunt Chichi saying he did?'
He was pulled out of his thought when he felt a tug on his jacket. He turned from his thought to Pan right next to him.
"Um, Trunks can we go see my Daddy now? You said you were only gonna talk to Aunty Bulma for a second, and it has been wayyy more than a second. Even I know a second is not that long."
Trunks rubbed his temples, "It's an expression Pan. Fine let's go to your new room, and then we will head over there."
"Wait I am living here? I thought you said I was living with my Daddy, and he doesn't live here, does he Aunty?" Pan turned towards Bulma. She was making a perfect imitation of a fish,
"Wait, you guys want to meet him right now?" Bulma asked perplexed by Pan's sudden urge to see Gohan.
"I thought we were supposed to have a longer discussion about you guys coming here, and your little crazy plan, and how it would affect this timeline." Bulma questioned
"Well that was the plan. I mean that was the reason for Pan to coming to the past in the first place. Remember you agreed in the future, and you said you would take her word for it. Why is something wrong, I sense there is something you are not telling me mother?" Trunks stared right back at Bulma.
"Right now may not be the best time. As I was saying before, I don't even think Gohan is aware of what is going on with the world right now—" Bulma began before being interrupted.
"It is because of Goku?" Trunks asked
"Yes… No… I don't know. *Sigh* I have been receiving mixed reports and for a while now." Bulma scratched her head.
"Everyone is saying something different, but one thing that is constant in all the versions, Gohan is not doing well right now. He walked out of his house a couple days ago and Chichi has been going insane since then. Thankfully Ox has been there to help her. Being pregnant is not easy. I should know, but Ox is there and making sure she is alright. It also helps that Ox is one of the few people Chichi can't and won't attack."
Pan heard enough. Her father was in need, and she had been here stuffing her mouth. Her mission was suppose to be 'to protect her father' even when he was down, and right now she felt the need to jump from the closest window and rush towards her father. The problem is that she did not know where to start. Not to mention her Ki-sensing was not in tune with her father, and didn't even know where to start looking for him.
"Pregnant? I hadn't heard she was with child, and you say Gohan walked out. I wonder why?" Trunks inquired.
"That's the hard part. I have two versions I heard. Chichi claims Gohan rebelled and turned to his 'common thug form' as she calls it, and took off spouting about 'who-knows-what' according to her. She kept calling here to bawl about Gohan's disobedience in recent months; also cursing to the high heavens that this is all Piccolo's fault.
"She even keeps demanding I make your father go out and drag Gohan back home, but you know your father. He doesn't take that well to demand especially as he says, 'from the harpy,' and that 'Kakabrat' can find his way home if the 'little runt' had the balls to run out. Also like I said before, Vegeta has been in his room, and only goes out every so often."
"The other version comes from Krillen. He came here a couple days ago. Apparently Gohan's morning Ki releases stopped for a week or so, and then suddenly there was a jump like no other. He swears Gohan had to have turned Super Saiyan 2 inside the house from the energy output. Which odd since we all know how much damage a Super Saiyan 1 does in closed quarters. I mean what would prompt Gohan to endanger his mother's life as well as their entire house to turn Super Saiyan 2 inside, but then again Krillen has always exaggerated when it came to you guys' power.
"Anyways, he and Yamcha decided to go find out what happened with Gohan to cause so much distress in him. When they were almost at Gohan's location they ran into Piccolo, he stopped them before they could go forward. Apparently Gohan had been releasing his excess energy every morning, but even Piccolo doesn't know where it is coming from or why, but Krillen said that the Green man was hiding something. But who knows? *sigh*
"Piccolo blames Chichi; he says she is so self-involved in her dream of Gohan becoming a scholar that she hadn't notice the small changes in Gohan, and that Gohan finally blew his top. It also appears that during the week he did not go out to 'release' his energy, Chichi had locked Gohan inside." Bulma looked exasperated
"Chichi denies these claims, and that she did not lock up her son, but rather pushed for Gohan to finish his workbooks. That it was inevitable that him to be inside for long periods. The problem is that this is becoming word of mouth, and I don't know who to believe. What I do know is Piccolo said Gohan needed some time alone." Bulma finally concluded.
"Seven months mom, seven months I'm gone and everything is descending into chaos. What is this about Gohan releasing his energy for no reason?" Trunks wondered as he performed circular motions on the side of his forehead.
"Trunks I want to go now," Pan demanded
"What?" He turned to her for a second.
"I said I want to go see my daddy right now!" Pan barked.
"Give me a second Pan. I'm trying to finish this conversation. You are listening as well. We may have to push the day until this blow over." He turned to his mother and gestured for her to continue.
Bulma shrugged, "I don't know much. Like I said Chichi keeps damning Piccolo, and Piccolo is keeping tight lips about it. I talked to Ox though; he said that it might have to do with Goku, but he is not sure.
"I asked Vegeta if he had been feeling Gohan's power rise, and he just laughed. He said it was impossible to not feel it every morning, and sometimes during the day, and randomly at three in the morning. When I asked if it was normal, he said that 'the brat' was probably just blowing some steam. That he had done something similar years ago. That it was completely natural."
"Nothing Dad ever does is ever normal or natural." Trunks retorted.
"Trunks, I don care if you come with me or not, but imma go see my daddy." Pan got up from her seat and started running towards the door until she heard Trunks beckon for her.
"Wait," Trunks sighed. This was not the way he wanted Pan to meet her father. In fact this was exactly what he feared would happen if he came too early in the timeline.
Pan stopped and looked back. Bulma could see her eyes were a little red. 'Maybe it was not right to speak about Gohan in front of her. I thought she would not be able to follow us, but it seems she knows exactly what is going on. I guess I shouldn't expect any less from the daughter of Gohan.'
"Trunks…" Bulma sternly spoke. When her son gave her his attention, she shook her head. She made it clear she did not want Pan to go right now. 'If it were up to me, it would never happen, but somehow my future self agreed. Why?'
He took a deep breath and released through his nose. "I'm sorry mom, but you heard her." He checked for Gohan's Ki and found it stable at the moment. "If I try to keep her here, she will find a way to escape, and then I might lose her. I can't let something like that happen. You from the future and Aunt Chichi would have my head if something happens to her under my watch."
"I checked with Gohan's Ki, and it is stable right now." Trunks started making his way towards Pan.
Bulma quickly got up and put herself between Trunks and the door. "I can't let you do it Trunks. What would happen to Pan's existence if she presents herself as Gohan's daughter to Gohan?" She whispered trying to reason with her son.
"Mom, she can't be born in this timeline. We crunched the numbers with my Mom, and it is simply impossible. Her chances are just too slim. That is why they allowed her to come. I was able to be born because my timeline and this timeline were still very attached to one another, but the future of this timeline and my timeline are probably too far away from one another. There is no point trying to protect a person that will never be born." Trunks harshly whispered. He could see Pan was just about to take off again, and he needed to make she didn't do anything rash.
Bulma slowly brought her arms down. 'Pan is never going to be born here.' It upset her that she was talking with a person that would likely never get the chance to live like her son got. She looked towards her son in his high chair.
'Is that what you risk every time you travel in time, that someone somewhere loses their chance at birth?' It sent a shiver down her spine at the thought of losing her son because someone traveled in time. Pan would never be born because Trunks traveled in time.
Trunks pushed passed her and ran after Pan once she took off.
Both demi-saiyans flew in silence. Both Saiyans pondered what this meeting would bring.
Trunks kept thinking about what his mother had divulged. He wondered how everything could have fallen apart in just seven short months. The world had been duped by phony in a cape, while the Z-family was falling apart, and this all seem to come back to a certain 11 year old world savior.
Pan, on the other hand, began to get worried. She was on route to meet the person she had heard so much about: her father. It was like a dream, but at the same time is seemed so unreal. When she was back in Capsule Corp, all she could think about was that her father was not doing well, and she wanted to get to him as soon as possible, but as Trunks and her flew in direction towards him, her old fears resurfaced.
Trunks looked towards Pan and could see nothing but pure determination written across her face.
'What if he does not like me,' Pan thought.
He admired how fearless she was and flew a full speed to see her father. It was something he felt he wished he could have been like during his original trip to the past.
'Um, maybe I should slow down; yeah, that's what I'll do. There is no reason I need to hurry.'
To think a three year old was acting so courageous. It gave Trunks confidence everything was going to turn out alright. Even with everything he heard today, Pan would overcome it; he just knew it. He smiled and redoubled his efforts to arrive at their destination.
'Oh man. What am I going to say? Where is Teddy when I need him?' Pan kept a 'calm and collected' expression, but inside she was hyperventilating.
"He is down there!" Trunks shouted over the wind as he pointed to a large clearing.
'Well it is the moment of truth,' both Pan and Trunks thought at the same time as they began their descent.
Just over a hill Pan got the first sight of her father. There he stood with his back to them and a golden aura enveloping him. He wore no top and she could see every muscle on his back was tense and pulsating. Pan swallowed as she felt the energy just roll off of him, it was overwhelming. It was clear she was standing in the presences of the strongest warrior on the planet, and her father.
'hahahaha - mwahahaha - Hahahahaha'
Gohan could still hear the echoes of Cell's laugher. He snorted. 'Even in the real world, you can't seem to leave me alone huh?'
He took another deep breath and attempted a different meditation technique. It seemed like he could never tune out the voices that made his skin crawl. No matter how much he tried, it seemed like he was doomed to live with this living nightmares every single day.
There were times that he could swear he saw one of his past enemies standing front of him, when he is fully awake. The lines between reality and nightmare had been blurred and these were the results. Every day he was condemned to hear their taunt and teases. To listen, and not be able to do anything about it, after all you can't attack a being that is not there.
So Gohan meditated in the hope it would clear his mind of these distractions. The results had been mixed. Some days were better than others.
Gohan slowly opened his eyes when he felt a Ki he knew walking up to him from behind and another that seemed familiar, but couldn't quite place it though.
Gohan had not been having a good day, and was not in the mood for a chit-chat. He called to the warrior from the future without even turning around.
"What do you want Trunks?" His voice cut through the wind like a sharp katana through bamboo. It seemed more menacing then the last time Trunks had spoken with him.
Pan gulped when she heard him speak. She was shaking and took a step closer to Trunks. Her Grandmother, Aunt Chichi, and even Trunks said when her father spoke, everyone listened. He had that kind of voice that may be low, but was definitely powerful in its own right. She never understood what they meant until right now.
Trunks had been used to this voice, though it slightly unnerved him that it was coming from the child form of his deceased mentor. He shrugged, "what no, 'Hey Trunks, how did it go?' you are going to just growl at me. I'm hurt." Trunks knew he was poking a bear, but couldn't help but tease the young savior.
Gohan crossed him arms and looked over his shoulder. He growled, "If you're here to crack jokes, I'm not in the mood, as I'm sure you have noticed."
"Alright, alright, alright." Trunks put his arms out to show he meant no harm. He looked down at the girl that had shifted to stand behind his left leg and was clutching on to his pants.
He could see she was staring right at the man she idolized with a mixture of feelings. The most predominant one was fear, but there was also happiness, wonder, and shock behind her eyes. She trembled slightly at the sight of her father.
"I'm here because I have someone that has been dying to meet you. She has traveled long, and nearly dragged me here, just to see you." Trunks spoke with a smile as he looked at Pan.
Pan quickly darted her eyes from her father's form to stare at Trunks, and then back to see how her father would react. 'Maybe this was a mistake. Th-is-is can't be my daddy?' She flinched when she looked back at her father and noticed he was staring right at her. His burning teal eyes met her onyx eyes. She gulped once again.
When Gohan heard Trunks speak about the other person, he decided to indulge this person's request. He turned and saw a young girl that could not be older than 5 years old, clutching on to Trunk's pants. She looked scared beyond belief. The same sense of familiarity flooded through his being, the moment he saw her.
"Who is she?" Gohan could see the disappointment in her young face when he asked his question, but quickly perked back up.
"Grandma said he wouldn't know me, Grandma said he wouldn't know me…' she kept repeating to herself when he failed to recognize her. Still it hurt her.
"Think you can … you know power down. I think you are frightening her." Trunks hoped this would ease the tense atmosphere.
*Sigh* "Fine." Gohan took another deep breath and closed his eyes. As his chest was getting filled with air, his hair began to sway. He released the air, and his hair came back down to its original onyx. He opened his eyes and stared at Trunks.
Trunks nodded and noticed a slightly weaker grip on his pants by Pan. He took Pan's hand and shifted her in front of him. Pan originally didn't seem too fond of the push forward, but when she looked at her father's onyx eyes she seemed to accept it.
"Well, I was going to make you guess," Trunks said with a smile. He couldn't wait to see Gohan's expression. "But I think I dragged this on long enough."
Trunks took a deep breath, but the smile could not be erased, 'it is now or never' he said to himself. Gohan was clearly not happy with Trunks' theatrics, but didn't reflect his displeasure.
"Gohan, it is my honor to introduce you to Son Pan. My Master's daughter." Trunks said a cheeky grin.
Gohan's hard stare vanished almost immediately. "Wait your Master… that mean…" Gohan's mouth began to gape as he began to jump to his conclusions. He stared at her and then Trunks for confirmation.
"That's right. She is Master Gohan's daughter, technically, your future daughter." Trunks was clearly happy with the shocked facial expression on Gohan's face.
Pan blushed when she was officially introduced. She looked at father's face to see what he would say now. She almost jumped out of her skin when he began to walk towards her. Trunks decided to take a couple steps back in order to let them be acquainted. He got what he came for anyways.
The bare-chested teen walked until he was right in front of her. She stared right up at him. Pan wouldn't lie, but she was still a little frightened by how she first saw him, but this was her father. Yes, from a different time, but she always felt close to him, from all the stories Trunks would tell her. Deep down, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. Pan planted her feet and waited to see what he would do.
He crouched down until they were eye to eye. He looked like the pictures her grandmother had of him. Though he looked a little older than those photos, and also didn't have a ponytail.
Gohan searched all her facial feature and could identify many as his, like her onyx eyes, but there was also feature he could not identify. He guessed they belong to her mother; like her hair for instance was slightly straighter than his. They were also not all bunched together, but rather seemed like individual strands.
He finally had the answer as to why her Ki seemed so familiar. It had the same properties as his. He almost face-palmed for not noticing his Ki sooner, but the other Ki mixed had done a good enough job of hiding the obvious. He smiled inwardly; there was no doubt about it, she was his daughter. Still there was something he could do as a final verification.
Pan looked into her father's eyes and could see many emotions. He seemed to be questioning many things, but at the same time seemed to be answering them as well. She could see the corner of his mouth turn upward faintly.
Finally Gohan lifted one of his hands and opened his palm to her. Pan just tilted her head at this action. Suddenly a small aura enveloped his hand and stopped. It repeated this action over and over, and she looked to her father for an explanation. She saw him smile, gesture for her to put her palm on his. Pan nodded, she trusted this man, he was her father after all, if he was asking her to do this, then she is sure there is a good reason. Gulping down her fear, she began to lift her much smaller hand. Slowly her hand began to move towards his aura hand.
When Pan's hand finally rested her hand on his, she felt a surge of energy surround her. Her Gi rustled from the wind, and her hair began to sway. It was unreal. She could feel it. There was a connection from deep inside that burst open like the gate of a dam. Her Ki was reacting to her father's infused Ki. She squealed when her white aura burst around her, and it began to reach for the blue aura of her father. She laughed as she saw her aura desperately trying to reach for the blue aura, only for it to shift just before it could reach it.
Trunks, who had been standing a few meters away, stared with amazement. He had never seen anything like this before. They were practically lighting up the fields, as the sun was already setting.
Gohan smiled as he saw the young girl's, his child's glee. It was the first smile that had graced his feature in quite some time. He looked up and stopped his aura. He allowed hers to finally catch up.
When Pan felt her aura make contact with his, she felt a wave a warm fuzzy feeling envelop her. She sighed as she felt her father's aura making a cocoon around them. She felt protected in that moment, like nothing could harm her. There was a lull that made her eyes heavy. She blinked a couple of times and smiled at her still crouching father.
She could still feel a little sadness inside the cocoon, off to the side somewhere in a corner. Gohan had been trying to suppress his pain completely, but it seems even this was an impossible task. It brought Pan back to what her Aunt Bulma was saying today, about the problems that had been plaguing her father.
Gohan finally dissipated his aura, and with it, Pan's also disappeared. Pan was somewhat sad to see it go. She looked right into her father's eyes and couldn't help by tear up a little.
"Daddy!" she screamed and jumped into arms. She wrapped her small arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. Finally after so many years of dreaming of this moment, it finally happened.
Gohan stood up holding the three year old as she cried herself to sleep.
"Well this is interesting," spoke the tall Namekian from the sky. He stared at his pupil, as he held in his arms the girl that claims to be his daughter.
He smirks, "I guess it was the right decision to let her and Trunks reach Gohan, especially if she managed to make him smile."
AN: There is it. This was getting to the point I wanted to break it in two since it was getting so long, but I kept telling myself 'I promised the meet was going to happen this chapter, and so it will be in this chapter, no matter how long it turns out.' I hope this was everything you guys were hoping for in terms of the meet. Anyways if you have some time, be sure to leave a comments. :) Well time to get back to reading & reviewing. I have a whole week to catch up on.
Dear Guest,
Yeah I feel sorry for her too. Technically Gohan already exploded on Chichi, but I get what you mean. Hopefully this was a fun chapter.
Dear dapmitidp,
I believe I answered to your complaint and question. Let me know if I'm wrong. You hate what GT did to Gohan, I hate what Saiyaman saga did to Gohan. I feel that was the first moment things started to go down for him. Hopefully you like the chapter.
Dear Zyphrost,
I do have a plot in mind. (somewhat) More like I have certain events that are suppose to happen, and I can pick-and-choose how to get to them. They run for along time. I will answer this, it will go long past Chichi's realization of her mistakes. I can't answer the other without spoiling what I'm going to do.
Dear The King of Ranting,
Glad to know you are enjoying it. :)
Dear pir84lyf,
Not sure what points I was making in the last chapter, but okay I'll take the compliment. I agree in terms over overbearing she-demon, Chichi is the winner everytime.
Dear Ace Son,
Man a lot of people are beating you this time, in terms of first reviewer hahaha. I'm only messing with you. Yeah the age difference in canon was always a huge turn-off for me. I mean the guy is almost twice her age. Like I said before, there is no plans for TxP in this story as of yet. Even though they are close in age right now, I have never cared much for the pairing, so it will be very hard for me to invest some time to read a couple TxP stories to get a feel for how their romance is suppose to be like. I might but to be honest I don't think it will happen.
I'll be honest I never thought much of Vegeta's reactions, since she is kakarot's granddaughter, and he doesn't care for Kakarot. Though you have sparked my interest, and I'll see if I can included that scene some time later.
Sometimes we let our anger control us. It's why some people feel awful after an argument. They feel regret that some of their deepest thoughts have come to the surface, but also because of how they handle those thoughts. They are brash and spiteful. It is not until we have calmed down that we realize what huge mistake it was to speak to that other person in that way. There are times that we may even lose friends or allies because of those few moments of weakness. Chichi is near always on an anger high that she doesn't even realize what a mistake she is making; she has not calmed down yet. All she sees is red because Gohan is not doing what she is telling him to do, to the letter. Her pregnancy may be another contributing factor.
I'm going to miss future Chichi as well. There was just so much regret in her. :'( I'm glad you are enjoying it. Happy to know I have that kind of effect.
Dear DeinonychusL,
I'm going to guess hogan= Gohan? I didn't fully understand the 'two Chichi turning from one to the next' bit. I may be exaggerating Chichi as you said, but I'm a firm believer that Gohan did not stop training because he didn't want to train anymore. Even if he doesn't like fighting, Gohan is too smart to think that evil has been eradicated from the universe with Goku's sacrifice. He would train to protect his family, if only. I believe there must have been a great external reason for his abandonment of training, and the only person capable of making him stop: Chichi. If I make Gohan lash out and want to continue his path of a warrior, then I must make Chichi even more irrational to contest his will.
To be honest I never thought I was developing Mirai Chichi. I was trying to give a back story for Pan and how she came to be. I wanted to show a Chichi that was remorseful and filled with regret, for the way she acted. The reason I chose Chichi was because she was the closest person to Gohan throughout his life, and probably saw him the most during his younger days. She probably also lived with Videl, so she has her backstory as well. I used Chichi as a proxy to give us exposition. I wished to bring her to the past as well, but I found she would have no purpose outside of scolding present-time Chichi. Yes it was cruel, but there was not much I could do. We may still hear about Mirai Chichi when Pan begins to compare both, and speak about how her grandmother was very different to this time's Chichi.
Glad to hear you are enjoying the story.
Dear NatNicole,
Thank you for the review, and I'm glad you like how I portray both Chichis. As for the other thing ...ah *Scratches back of my head* ... oops. Guess Gohan is going to be younger than you thought.
Dear The Fantastic Altruist,
Yeah she mellows out, but you have to think about all her loss to see she couldn't keep up her doberman attitude. By the way perfect description of Chichi hahaha.
Dear, Zailz-101,
Thanks for the review. :)
Dear Power9987,
Don't worry man I understand, classes can be hard on anyone's sanity. My major is proof of that, but I can imagine yours is a killer.
Glad you approved of Pan's characterization. Others often say that present-Trunks is extremely mischievous because of Bulma's brain and Vegeta's attitude, but I believe that title belongs to Pan since her father was extremely smart, yet had an innocent face, while Videl was edgy and willing to pull dangerous stunts. For that reason I believe Pan would be smart and edgy, yet innocent looking that people wouldn't suspect that from her. I agree that this must have been the most difficult decision for Chichi to make.
It's funny, I respect Mirai Trunks, but I never expected that he was my strongest character.
I agree with you on your assessment of Videl's view on intimacy, but I can't help but believe that Videl is probably the one with the crazy ideas for intimacy in the relationship. As I said before I think she is the edgy/dangerous girl. It's not a stretch for her to be the one with the crazy plan for intimacy, away from everyone's eyes of course.
I wanted to divulge more into Mirai Gohan and Mirai Videl's relationship, but I felt that it would push Gohan and Pan's meet longer, so I discarded some scenes.
Don't worry I always enjoy your rants haha.
Dear InfiniteXXI
Did you just plug your story in my reviews. hahaha. Okay I'll check it out later. There will be action later, but first set up.