A Daughter's Difference Chapter 10: Crossroads, a dragon ball z fanfic

Chapter 10: Crossroads

AN: After almost a month and a half, I'm back with a new chapter. I had high hopes that I would have been able to do more in this break, but unfortunately sometimes life interferes. To make a long story short: I went on a small trip, where I thought I would get most of my writing done and turns out to be the least productive time, then I come back for the holidays and what a hoot that was (sigh), and finally it was revision of this chapter. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Loud explosives could be heard overhead the entrance to the Park. Cash-Land was sparing no expense to announce its grand opening. There were mascots walking all around, taking pictures with kids, and camera workers from the park taking pictures for those families who did not bring a camera of their own.

The island's ports were backed up with small and large water vessels awaiting their turn to disembark their passenger load. On another part of the island was an air control tower, leading the private and personal airships and hoverships for a landing in one of its many strips and hover-zones.

Beyond the entrance many of the attractions were in full operation. Roller Coasters ran their predestined routes while their passengers screamed their lungs out. Parents stood alongside their children while they rounded the Merry-Go-Round. The giggling children laughed as the small clay dragons bounced up and down. All the while, a disinterested teen, who was handling the attraction, looked at his watch once again to see if it was time for his break.

At the other end of the island was the main attraction of the night, The Megadome. It would house tonight's first Intergalactic Tournament. The uniqueness of the structure was its ability to fit the need of any program. With its ability to shift sitting areas mechanically and even change the center field to go from grassy area to clean sheet of ice at a click of a button, it was something never before seen.

Mr. Cash grinned as he looked at the many security cameras and all the people that had showed up. "Well boys, wish me luck. I get to play host now, so you guys keep up the good work." He patted the guard in front of him.

"Good luck sir, and thank you," came the chorused response from the four security guards looking at all the cameras on display.

X. S. Cash walked out of the room, and made his way to announce the arrival of Mr. Satan and the four 'extra-terrestrials.'

Ten minutes later they heard an alarm. "What is that alarm, is that the intruder alarm?" One of the four asked.

"Yeah, that's the intruder alarm. It seems to be coming from one of the second stage battle arenas. Should we send someone to take a look?" Another security guard contemplated.

"Don't worry guys. I've been here since the first day, and let me tell you, that damn alarm always acts up for no reason." The older guard sighed as he overrode the alarm. He continued, "I asked the guys that installed the security detail, and he told me that it was suppose to be sensitive, but because of the larger field its covering it can be slightly faulty." He waved them off. "Next week he will be coming in to fix those problems, so just ignore it for now."

"But sir, I'm picking up five separate heat sources in that field," the second guard argued.

"Five?!" The oldest guard stroked his chin, "hmm, you know what, it's probably Ako and his crew. I told them to set up the props that arrived in the morning, early, and I'm willing to bet that he waved it off and now they are running around like headless chickens."

The last guard spoke up with a chuckle, "That sounds like funny scene, can we see?"

The oldest laughed, "Unfortunately we can't right now, but don't worry I'll be sure to make a copy and we can watch it when the park closes tonight. So get back to work for now guys."

"Alright/Yeah/Sure," wer the respective responses from the other three guards. They all turned to their individual monitors and began to make sure everything was fine after their impromptu break.

"Freaken' Ako," muttered the oldest of the guards while shaking his head.

Trunks cracked his neck, "How long will they keep us in this holding pattern?"

Bulma's personal airship was asked to keep a holding pattern over the seas, as the control tower tried to find a place for them. It had been thirty minutes of flying the same pattern and Trunks was getting anxious from having to stay in the ship when he could have easily flown himself.

"How should I know? I'm waiting for the all clear as well," Bulma stated in exasperation from the pilot's seat. She rested her chin on the steering control in front of her. The ship was on auto-pilot so she didn't worry about how her action may affect the pre-determined flight path. She blew upwards at the strand of hair that was partially covering one of her eyes.

"This is the primary reason I said we should have flown here ourselves, rather than take the ship. And there is the island again, for like the thousandth time." Trunks stated as he settled back into his seat.

"Yeah well, not all of us know how to fly through the sky, so we normal folk have to get used to traveling through other means, and I doubt you would want to leave your poor, flightless, mother behind just so you can get there a few minutes early," Bulma retorted.

Trunks' sighed once again, "I offered to take you, but you insisted that this was better. I don't see how going slower and being kept up here is better."

Bulma spun in her chair to face Trunks, "It's better because my feet aren't dangling dangerously above thousands of feet in the air. It's better because I'm not in constant fear that I will suddenly drop from the sky." Bulma quickly turned to the row behind her and said, "No offence Gohan, I know you would never drop me, but that fear is already pre-programmed into our head."

Gohan raised an eyebrow in confusion until he remembered he was the one who took Bulma and Yajirobe back home when the androids first struck. 'Sadly that was under two years ago yet it feels like more time has passed.' He waved off Bulma and turned his attention back to the little girl to his right looking out the window once again.

"The point is that if I'm flying I prefer if there is something solid under my feet," Bulma ended her mini-rant.

"Alright, I get it. All I'm saying is that I hate this cooped-up feeling I'm getting from sitting here." Trunks yawned in boredom.

"I see with my eyes …something… red."A purple Gi wearing Pan turned from the window to smile at her father who was equally dressed in a similar purple Gi.

Gohan smile, "Pan it's 'I spy with my –little- eye' not 'I see with my eyes'."

"Oh okay, I spy with my little eye something red. There, now it's your turn daddy."

"Fine let's see what we have here. Hmm… is it that airship up there?" He pointed at one of the name brand airship that was making regular trips to the island to drop off passengers.

"Noooo," a giggling Pan responded.

Gohan looked around once again, making sure that he took in anything with the color red. Pan being part-Saiyan meant that her vision was also probably advanced, so he didn't disregard any of the faraway items that his eye could catch. "How about … that red crane in the port?" Since they were flying alongside the island's ports, Gohan could see the huge container carrying crane by the edge.

"Nhm-nhm," she shook her head.

"Alright I give. What was it?" Gohan asked.

"It was the balloon." She pointed to a red balloon that was getting higher and higher into the clouds. The balloon must have escaped the hands of a child on the island, and now it was on its way to the high heavens. "That's five points so I win!" Pan joyfully shouted while bouncing in her seat.

"I guess you did." Gohan pulled her into a sideways hug. "Next time I'll get you." He then began to tickle her, as she squirmed trying to get away, but it was no use.

"No-no no no Ha-Hahahaha!" Pan laughed as Gohan smiled. After a minute or so, he let her go.

"So you guys done with your game?" Bulma asked from the pilot's seat.

"Yeah," Gohan answered. "Did you let anyone else know about the tournament?"

"Well you know how most of the team doesn't even own a phone. To think of all the gifts I've given them over the years, and Tien still refuses to get with the time," Bulma sighed. "I called Kame house and they said they would try to make it, Yamcha wasn't answering his cell, and I can never get in contact with Piccolo so I didn't even bother. Vegeta is … well Vegeta, he said he didn't care for a 'pathetic human tournament,'" Bulma said in her best 'Vegeta' voice.

"Great this is going to be even more boring."

"Hey! I'm still going to be there," Trunks shouted undignified by his dismissal.

"That's right; you are going to be there, what's your point?" Gohan affirmed with a small smirk.

"Yeah Trunks, what's your point?" Pan echoed her father's words.

Bulma looked back and couldn't help but feel content. When Gohan arrived a week ago, he was extremely pale and moody, but looking at him right now, she could see that maybe Pan staying is a positive. He was smiling more, and had recovered some of his color; though the eating situation was still the same. 'I'll ask Trunks later if he was able to talk to Gohan about that,' she mentally reminded herself.

She noticed, however, that most of the time Gohan was in a better mood, was when Pan was around. It's not like he would completely revert back to his moody personality, but he had a happier tint when Pan was around. Whether from faking it for Pan's sake or because he was genuinely happier, she did not know.

"You know what; I'll let my fist to the talking for me on the field," Trunks replied.

"You wouldn't last ten seconds with my daddy. He would mop the floor with you," Pan taunted her 'older brother.'

"Don't worry Trunks; I'm just messing with you. I was referring to a lack of competition aside from you," Gohan placated.

Before Trunks could respond, there was a small chirp and the onboard system displayed 'Airstrip 9' and 'Contact Tower.' Bulma was about to make the call when a static was heard, followed by the voice of the control tower personnel.

"Vessel CC006, Good afternoon, this control tower. I have taken over for my colleague and wish to know what your fuel reserve is at the moment? Also how many bodies make up your vessel?"

Bulma immediately picked up her headset and spoke, "This vessel CC006, our fuel reading at the moment are at the halfway mark. There are a total of four people in this personal airship."

"Good, based on what you have mentioned, the four passengers and the fuel gauge, this airship can still hold on for a little while longer. We have a problem with another hovership which does not have sufficient fluids, and has declared an emergency. We will be using your designated strip for their landing. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but today has rather busy. I'll contact as soon as I have a new airstrip for this vessel."

"Oh dear, sure take the strip. Which vessel is it, and should I move my holding pattern to allow them easy passage?"

"There will be no need to move your holding pattern, unless I instruct you to do it. The ship is currently with no fuel, and is gliding with the emergency wings extension about a thousand feet above to the southeast of your current location."

"Very well, we'll hold out pattern." With that Bulma ended the transmission with the tower.

"Gohan?" Trunks said startling Bulma.

"Take Pan," he stated while passing Pan to the front passenger seat.

"Daddy/Gohan?" was the respective response from both Pan and Bulma.

Trunks took Pan from Gohan's extended hands and held her as Gohan made his way to the door in the back.

Gohan turned to Bulma, "That hovership won't make it. It's falling too fast and will crash a few meters before arriving to the closest patch of land possible for a landing. I'm going to help take it back to the landing zone. Ours was Airstrip 9 right?"

Bulma nodded, "Be careful kid."

"Daddy!" Pan shouted as Gohan opened the door.

Gohan placed a hand frame of the door, pushed himself back slightly to look back at Pan in the front. Trunks was climbing over the divider between the front seats and the back, and was slowly making his way to the back to close the hatch once Gohan took off.

Gohan smiled and said, "I'll see you on the ground Panny," and then hopped out of their airship. He immediately took off towards the downed hovership.

Trunks pushed to overcome the intensity of the air rushing in, and closed the door. He immediately locked the door in place. He turned to his mother to see if everything was okay.

"Everything is fine. The sudden decompression is being stabilized right now. The door is locked in place Trunks. You can come back to the front." Bulma announced next to a crying Pan. "Hey everything will be Pan; your Daddy just went to help."

"I wanna go with him," sobbed Pan.

"Hey Pan don't worry you'll see him soon." Trunks bent down, wrapped his arms around the small girl and patted her back.

He could see his mother mouth, 'This is why I said Pan should sleep in her own bed.' Trunks just rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what she was talking about too. Since their arrival, Pan has refused to sleep in her own bed and instead decided she wants to sleep next to Gohan. Even though Bulma added another bed to the room, Pan would climb over to Gohan's bed and curl up to his side. If she fell asleep early and was placed in her bed, she would wake up in the middle of the night and slip back to Gohan's side. By the fourth night, Gohan just let it be.

Bulma's argument was that once or twice is okay, but every night would not be ideal; that this would lead to a strong dependency, and Pan would find it harder to be separated from her father.

Trunks advocated that Pan just wanted to be closer to Gohan, similar to how she was with Aunt Chichi. That letting her sleep alongside Gohan was not uncommon for a child her age, as many children would slip into their parent's bed as a way to ward of the monsters under the bed. Eventually this phase would pass, was what Trunks said.

Gohan bent his body to the right, to bank in that direction. He could see the injured ship descending steadily but faster than it should.

Hoverships are generally smaller aircrafts. The line was first introduced by Bulma, and was one of her earlier project. This is considered by many as her foot in the door to the scientific community and as an inventor.

While smaller in size and seat capacity, hoverships are generally faster than the traditional airships and have the capability to land without the need of a long strip of land, this is where the hover part comes from it is name. They also have a smaller wing span, as the boosters in the back are what generally propel the ship forward and the smaller turbines under the ship help keep it leveled. They have a large dependency of fuel, so the fact that it ran out is a terrible situation for pilot and its passengers. In response to this, Bulma had installed a feature that would immediately elongate the full span of the wings, so the ship could still glide down and not fall from the sky. Different loud alarms would sound off as soon as the fuel gauge reached one-fourth of a tank, so that should have given the pilot more than enough of a warning that they were approaching dangerous levels.

Gohan flew up alongside the ship and could see through one of the passenger windows an afro-haired man who looked vaguely familiar, a woman, and a couple children all screaming while holding on to their seat for dear life. He flew forward and looked through the front window to see the pilot screaming into his headset as he kept pulling on the steering stick back with all of his strength. Now Gohan understood why they were descending faster. The pilot was the reason they were descending rapidly by pulling back, instead of trying to level his wings, he was inadvertently slowing the hovership to a stall. If it hit a stall that ship would plummet, wings or no wings.

It seems that in all the commotion, no one in the ship looked out their window to see the floating boy outside. Gohan went under the ship and rested his palms comfortably where he thought the center of the ship was. He immediately put more power into pushing upward. Gohan wanted to stabilize the hovership before moving in any direction. He immediately turned in direction of the landing areas of the island, always making sure to pump the right amount of Ki to keep everything stable.

He thanked Kami that all ships are soundproof so he wasn't subjected to the screams of the occupants. He found Airstrip 9 rather quickly. It was one of the runways closest to the beach. In the distance he could see the emergency vehicles were still on their way. Gohan's feet touched ground, and he took a couple steps forward with the ship overhead to stop his momentum. He looked both ways for a way to drop the ship without just letting go. Eventually he just shrugged and got down on one knee, took one of his hands and placed it behind him, and slowly brought the ship down on top of him while he rested on his back.

Once it was safely on the ground, he wormed his way from under it. He came out from under the back of the ship. He got up and dusted his Gi. 'Weird they haven't come out yet,' Gohan thought. He shrugged once again, 'Not my problem,' he immediately jumped into the air and took off towards Bulma's airship. In the distance he could see the airship had left the holding pattern and was making its way to another runway. He turned towards the fence where he could wait for them to land.

The police car Mr. Cash was riding in came to a halt in front of Mr. Satan's personal hovership. He could see the other ambulances and firefighters were already there. When he heard Mr. Satan's ship had run out of fuel and was crashing, he immediately took off with the first cruiser that was nearby. The sight before him, though preferable to the alternative, had him perplexed. He knew a thing or two about airships and hoverships, and knew that given what he had heard it should be a different scene in front of him. Instead the hovership or the surrounding ground didn't have a scratch on it, and Mr. Satan was just laughing alongside the other emergency personnel.

The portly man walked up to Mr Satan and said, "Good afternoon Mr. Satan." He extended his hand out, which Hercule took, "I heard there was some trouble with your ship. Are you and your passengers alright?"

"Oh that, don't worry about that. We were in a tight spot, but Sora managed to get us out of it pretty quickly. I wasn't worried; I mean he is the best in the business, right Sora?" Hercule boomed in his general tone with his signature cackle.

The man named Sora, or the pilot, was sitting in the grassy area with his legs pulled in rocking back and forth. He kept mumbling while taking many deep breaths.

"Right…" Mr. Cash elongated while he looked at the pilot. "So you and your guests are alright?"

"Of course, I'm Hercule Satan after all. There is nothing to worry as long as I'm here, right everybody?"

Three different cheers came from the two blond-haired kids and one raven-haired child. Mr. Cash immediately recognized Mr. Satan's daughter, Videl, and the other children must be her friends. He also recognized Mr. Satan's illustrious wife in the background, Lucielle, who gave a weak forced smile before rolling her eyes and turning away.

"I'm glad. Well I know this wasn't the welcome you expected, but hopefully as the day progresses this becomes a distant memory. I would like to welcome one and all to Cash-Land. Our special transport should be arriving at any moment now, and will take us directly to the Megadome." As he stated this, a limousine came to a halt behind him.

The driver quickly made his way to the back door and to open it for his passengers. Once everyone got inside, minus Sora for obvious reasons, the driver went back to his seat and took off.

Mr. Cash smiled, "Your fans are awaiting your arrival. They were awaiting your arrival by the hoverzone near the Megadome, but due to what happened back there, I'll have the driver take us there personally. Your students have already arrived and are in the dressing room. The first round will begin in about two hours or so. You and your guest are welcome in our Luxury Box, which has the best seats in the house."

"Good!" Hercule acknowledged smugly looking out the window at all the attractions passing by.

Mr. Cash then turned to the children, who were pressing their faces against the window to look at the park's rides, "As for you, children, I have a special surprise. I got special passes to all the rides in the park so you can visit them all, and ride them as many times as you want. Just let my assistant know that I sent you. He already knows. I'm sure my son will be more than happy to meet you all."

The children cheered. "Say 'thank you Mr. Cash,' Videl," reprimanded Lucielle. "I'm sorry Mr. Cash, as you can tell she and her friends are visibly excited by the opportunity."

Before Videl could speak, Hercule interjected, "There is no need for saying thanks, dear. I mean the good man here is trying to make a good impression on me, and this is his way to thank me for risking my life to save his, right Cash?!"

Lucielle scowled at this notion, but Mr. Cash cut in before she could speak, "It's quite alright Ma'am. Your husband did save the world after all, so we are indebted to him."

Lucielle huffed and turned to look out the window. The last thing she wanted was for Videl to allow fame to go to her head and give her a sense of entitlement, but her husband seemed pretty hell-bent on instilling that very thought into her head.

Aside from the conversation by the children, the rest of the trip was done in relative silence.

Gohan waited by the gate to the airstrip where Bulma and the others would be walking from. He glanced to his side and saw his mentor standing on the rooftop of building next to him.

"Mr. Piccolo, it's nice to see you." Gohan returned his eyes to the gate but offered a small smile to his once-upon-a-time mentor. He knew that he didn't have to speak up much since Piccolo would be able to hear him.

"Kid," Piccolo responded. It was the first exchanged between the two in many months. Though Piccolo would look after him all those month, he was never one for emotions so all he knew to do was let Gohan release his pent up emotions.

"So are you entering the tournament?" Gohan asked. "It would be nice to show you how much I have improved since my days under your wing."

Only a grunt was heard from Piccolo as acknowledgement. He narrowed his eyes at Gohan; it may have been a couple of years since their training days, but he noticed something was off about Gohan. It wasn't just his erratic Ki, but there was something else that was at the edge of his senses. He just couldn't pinpoint the reason of his disturbance.

Pan, upon seeing her father, let go of Bulma's hand and ran over to her father. She attached herself to his leg.

Startled at first by the sudden movement, eventually Gohan realized it was Pan. He just patted her head and looked up at Bulma and Trunks running up to them.

"Gohan! You're back. I was worried that Pan had gone after you, but then I saw that you were here already. How did it go? Were there any injuries?" Bulma questioned.

"As far as I could tell everyone was okay. The emergency vehicles were also on their way, so they'll take care of anyone better than I could," Gohan answered while detaching Pan from his leg to hold her hand to his side.

"What a relief. I saw when they began to drop, and I was worried that something had gone wrong with the safety mechanism. I just wonder how it could have begun to fall out of nowhere." Bulma sighed. "I'm sure I'll be getting an accident report Monday morning."

"It was the pilot's fault. He kept pulling instead of leveling the wings," declared Gohan.

Trunks decided to interject before his Mother had a chance to respond, "Yeah well I'm sure this is all interesting and all, but I'm tired of all this technical talk and we are here for a tournament, not an accident investigation. End point: everyone is okay, and we only have about two hours before the tournament begins, so let's not waste our time with work-talk that can be saved for Monday."

"Trunks! This is important to me. I understand your need for action, but I have to answer the questions as to why the safety features didn't work," Bulma reprimanded.

Trunks sighed, "I know this is important, but I have been stuck in that jet for a long time and standing here isn't doing much for my restlessness." Trunks looked up at the towering figure of Piccolo standing atop the building, "Anyways it seems there may be some action in this tournament after all. I see Piccolo will be joining in. It's nice to see you again Piccolo." He waved at the old Namek.

Piccolo slowly dropped from his place until his feet quietly landed on the ground, his arms never uncrossing throughout the whole descent. He nodded to Trunks, but quickly refocused his attention on Gohan.

Pan upon hearing 'Piccolo' quickly perked up and looked all around. It was the name her Grandmother often mentioned. From what she remembered her Grandmother would speak highly about him since he was her Father's mentor, and the person that gave his life so her Grandmother and Father could live on.

She looked up and gaped at the giant green man that was descending. She would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly scared. Her Grandmother told her about him, but nothing could have prepared for the sight before her. Pan shuffled a little closer to her Father and stood behind him. In her mind she knew there was nothing to fear, but this was another important figure in her Father's life.

Gohan looked down and saw Pan peering from behind his leg. Her eyesight locked on Piccolo. He could understand her underlying fear. When he first met Piccolo, he too felt afraid of the then-demon king, but after many years of knowing him, Gohan could see past that rough image.

"Mr. Piccolo, I would like to introduce to you my daughter, Pan." Gohan pulled Pan from behind him and stood side-by-side with her.

For a moment everything stood still. Piccolo just looked down at the small girl in front of him. Pan on the other hand just wanted to return to her previous position behind her father. Everyone else waited to see what Piccolo's reaction would be.

Finally Piccolo cracked a faint smile, took a step closer, and uncrossed one of his arms to extend it to her.

Pan looked up to her father for reassurance; when she saw him smile and urging her to reciprocate she decided to indulge her father.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Piccolo," she said shyly. She took a hold of his green index fingers in her palm.

Piccolo's lips tugged upwards slightly more. "You got a strong grip there kid."

Pan blushed and ran back behind her father. Trunks just laughed while Bulma continued glaring at Piccolo.

"Well now that introductions are out of the way lets head over to the stadium. We can maybe even ride a couple of the attractions along the way," Trunks proposed.

"Why don't you guys go ahead," Bulma stated as her eyes never left Piccolo's form. "I have to have a quick word with Piccolo here and we'll catch up."

"Are you sure? Cause we can wait," Gohan asked Bulma.

Bulma's eyes left Piccolo to lock on to Gohan, "It's okay sweetie, just a quick word and we'll be right behind you guys."

Trunk silently glanced at her mother's weird behavior, but upon seeing her firm eyes he decided to question her later. "Hey Gohan let's go. You know adults; they always want to talk, so let's get a move on. Plus we have to sign-in."

Gohan looked at Trunks and then at Bulma. Finally he sighed and began to walk. Pan, who was still holding on to his hand walked alongside her father. Trunks gave a one last weak smile before following his alternate-time Master.

Piccolo didn't waste a moment to make his displeasure known, "You and I have nothing to talk about." He never was one for small talk, and he didn't want to be lectured by the harpy's right hand woman.

Piccolo began to walk away, but Bulma ran in front of him. She extended her hand to block his path. "Now I know that you and I have not always seen eye to eye. I understand that if it wasn't for some extreme cases that you wouldn't be on our side, but I feel I need to say this."

"Get out of my way," he growled.

"Not until you hear me out." Bulma narrowed her eyes. "Give me a chance to say my piece and I'll move out of your way."

Piccolo began to levitate. He tried to be nice. That disturbance he felt from Gohan still weighed heavily on Piccolo, and he wanted to get back to investigate further into it.

"It's about Gohan!" she shouted. This stopped Piccolo. He dropped back down.

"You have one minute," Piccolo scowled.

"Look, I'm not here to choose sides or trying to hear both sides of this argument. Frankly I'm tired of this mini feud between you two, but I will be damned if I let someone as sweet as Gohan be used as a rope between you and Chichi's tug of war."

"Don't compare me to that harpy," Piccolo retorted.

Bulma continued, "The state of Gohan earlier this week, that was unacceptable, and I don't care if it is your fault or Chichi's; I'll tell you the same thing I told her: I don't care how strong you are or what you are capable of, as long as he is with me he will be safer than with either of you two. If Gohan want to talk to either of you two, then it is his choice but I will not allow either of you two to bully your way into his life or force him to do one thing or the other. He needs support, not misguided beliefs of how he should live his life."

"What do you think I do?" Piccolo narrowed his eyes. "Ever since that kid has come into my life I have been taking care of him. More so than his so-called parents. What you saw earlier this week is a result of his power destabilizing, and he hasn't found a proper outlet. But there is something else now…"

"Something else?" Bulma wondered.

Piccolo walked around her, but left her one last note, "I'm not sure what it is, but there is something else I'm sensing, but I can't pinpoint the origin of his disturbance. Now if you don't mind I would like to get back to the kid to see if I can identify what it is."

"Wait up!"

Piccolo stopped but didn't turn around, "I appreciate that you took the kid in, and I appreciate your devotion to him, but I will always be there for him, and not you or anyone else will impede that." Piccolo lifted up and took off before Bulma could respond. He gave her a minute, and the time was up.

Bulma quickly caught up with the others soon after Piccolo's sudden departure. They hadn't gone far, since they were looking at a roller coaster nearby.

"Hey guys, I hope it wasn't that long of a wait," Bulma greeted.

"It's fine Mom. We were just distracted with this ride. It has a pretty steep fall, but somehow I get the feeling it won't be the same as falling from the sky like we do," Trunks replied.

"It's not about our abilities Trunks; since that would be an unfair comparison, given the difference and liberties flight gives us compare to this small ride. It's about letting the machine dictate in what direction we will be going. This gives a little mystery element, right Bulma?" Gohan countered.

"I wouldn't know. Like I said in the airship, I hate that feeling in both cases, when I'm falling from the sky as well as these roller coasters," Bulma answered. "Anyways let's get going. We still need to sign up. Once that is done, you three can come back and play in all the rides."

"Yay! Let's go Daddy." Pan pulled on her father hand to drag him along.

"Alright Pan," Gohan chuckled. "Let me walk hahaha."

'There is something else… another disturbance… but I don't see it. Gohan seems pretty calm.' Bulma thought as she saw the father-daughter duo giggling and walking in front.

"By the way Bulma, where is Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan turned his head to look back and ask.

"Oh! Um… he decided to go up ahead. You know him; he has never had the patience for walking among the crowds," Bulma responded while going around a family that was taking a picture.

"Right that makes sense. I guess we will see him in the fights," Gohan nodded.

Pan looked up at her father and asked, "Daddy can we get some food?"

"Well…" Gohan dug his hand into his Gi pants even though he knew what the result was. If there was one thing he had yet to figure out was how he was supposed to provide financially for his daughter. He bit his lip as he tried to think of a way to tell Pan that he didn't have more than a few Zeni notes, barely enough to buy enough food for her.

He looked at the few people in front of them; all waiting in line to purchase their tickets for the tournament or signing in as fighters. He looked down at the shinning pleading eyes of Pan and the little drool from the corner of her mouth.

"Um … how about we sign up and then we will find something to eat." Gohan smiled nervously at Pan. 'I'll just look for a food stand that is willing to exchange some manual labor for food. I'm sure I'll be able to finish before the tournament begins.'

Bulma overheard Gohan's conversation with Pan, and she had a pretty good idea why Gohan kept looking in all directions. She reached into her purse and pulled a small black card. She bent down and tapped Gohan in front of her. "Hey, take this."

"Huh?..." Gohan turned his head and noticed a small black card with a big green Z in the middle, held in between Bulma's thumb-pointer, resting on his shoulder. It took him a moment before he understood what was happening. "Bulma I can't accept this. This is your Zeni; I can't expect you to be paying for me."

"And why not? Are you going to tell me what I can and can't do with my Zeni, Son Gohan?" Bulma sassed while placing one hand on her hip.

Gohan turned around and shook his head. He bowed his head slightly, "I just can't accept it Bulma. It would not be right of me if I depended on you."

"Relax Gohan, it's not like I'm giving you my credit card. This is in fact your Zeni." Bulma informed as she motioned for Gohan to walk a few steps since the line was moving.

"How?" Gohan asked perplexed by the Bulma's words. He took a couple sets forward.

"Well if a certain somebody would have invited me to their birthday party last year, then I would have been able to give it to you then." Bulma responded with a wink.

Gohan blushed and began to babble, "I'm sorry Bulma, but even I didn't know they were going to hold a party for me back then. It was supposed to be a surprise party. I had no way of knowing who was invited and who was not."

She laughed, "It's okay Gohan. I was informed of the party, unfortunately in those days I was very busy getting ready for… well you know. Anyways I always meant to send this to you," Bulma said while waving the black card, "but I kept forgetting to do it and the other day I saw it on my desk so I decided to put it in my purse to have on hand to give it to you when I saw you.

"This is only a prepaid card with a certain amount of Zeni in it. I can't think of a better time than now to give it to you." Bulma bent down once again, reached down and took his available hand and placed the small gift card on his palm.

Gohan took a step closer and gave Bulma a hug. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

"How about we move forward? As touching as this scene is, I'm sure the people behind us aren't as moved by it." Trunks suggested. Behind him was slightly overweight man tapping his foot.

Bulma huffed, she opened her mouth and closed it a couple of time, as if trying to find the appropriate retort before giving up and walking up to the person behind the ticket booth.

Trunks laughed before making his way after his mom. It was their turn at the booth after all.

"Can we go eat after this?" Pan asked while tugging onto her father's hand.

The eleven year old savior smiled at his daughter, "Sure, anything you want." He said this as he clutched on to the small plastic in one hand and gave Pan a gentle squeeze in the other. 'This does raise the question about how I'll make a living to support her. I can't always be expecting for small miracles like this. I'll have to thank Bulma for this; someday I'll repay her for the gesture.'

"How many adults and how many children?" The teen behind the booth inquired.

"One child and one adult." Bulma responded. "Also I was told that was the place for fighters to sign in."

"Um Bulma, for Pan I can—" Gohan began but was stopped by Bulma.

The Capsule Corp heiress shook her head, "Don't even start Gohan. This one is on me."

"Although infants get in free; I doubt the small girl qualifies, so you will still have to pay for the small girl's entrance fee. Fighters can sign in here or at the desk by the fighter's locker rooms or simply known as Gladiator Hall. However only those that have registered and paid their fees can sign in at the desk. All spots for registering as a fighter are about full. I think we still have a couple spots open though," the bored teen announced in a very monotonous voice.

"The child ticket was for the little girl," Bulma deadpanned. "I registered two fighters earlier this week. Please look for 'Trunks' and 'Gohan.' It was done only a couple of days ago, if that helps."

The employee dragged a small folder from his side. He also turned on his screen. "Hopefully it's already in this folder, but I'll open the search query in case." He turned a couple of pages. "Do either have a family name I can look for?" he asked.

"I didn't register either with a family name. How about you look for them through my name? I asked for some favors to keep some personal information of my fighter private," Bulma acknowledged.

The teen behind the desk just raised an eyebrow, "Alright? What name should I look for?"

"Bulma Briefs." She smiled.

The teen's eyes widened at the name and almost popped out of his head when he took a closer look at the person in front of him. "Ms. Briefs!? Of course, giv-e me a-a-a uh a second. Here it is; two fighters, Trunks and Gohan. Ms. Briefs there may be some mistake; it says one of them is only 11."

"There is no mistake. Trunks is this young man to my right and Gohan is kid right here. I talked to your supervisors already, and we have accepted their terms of liability. So let's get a move on."

"Of-of-of course, here are the two access passes for the fighters. The guys at the desk will let them know to which terminal they are assigned to. There is about an hour before they are mandated to show up or they will forfeit. Here are your other two tickets also."

"Thank you." Bulma grinned before passing out the access passes; effectively finishing the transaction.

"Ms. Briefs, I just wanted to say that it was an honor to meet you. I hope you have a great day!" the teen offered a shaky hand through the small window.

Bulma shook his hand. "Keep up the good work," she said as she winked.

All four began to walk away from the ticket booths and made their way towards the locker rooms.

"Can we go now?" Pan pleaded. Her small stomach roared after she asked.

Gohan laughed, "Fine. I think I have made you wait enough. Bulma! Pan and I are going to find something to eat. You and Trunks are welcome to join in, but I think we'll go ahead. Pan doesn't seem to be patient enough to walk there."

"I heard," Bulma chuckled. "With a roar like that, there is no doubt that Saiyan blood runs through her. Don't worry Gohan, you guys go ahead; we'll catch up."

Pan dragged her father away. Occasionally the voice of Gohan could be heard where he asks Pan to slow down.

"They seem to be getting along quite well," commented Bulma. "I'll admit, at first I wasn't sure it would be okay for Gohan to be taking care of a child of his own. It's a big responsibility after all, but up until now he has been doing a good job. Mind you it has only been one week, but he is always looking out for her."

"I'm not surprised. Like I said my Master took care of me since I was born; though I would have liked an older Gohan to lessen the responsibility. Still, I see him doing a great job." Trunks crossed his arms."Mom what was all that about with Piccolo back there?" the time traveler inquired.

Bulma sighed, "Nothing much. Remember what I told you about the rumors surrounding what pushed Gohan over the edge, well after a nice conversation with Chichi the other day I decided that neither Piccolo nor Chichi will force themselves on Gohan while I'm around. Come on let's at least walk in their directions, and I'll answer your question.

"Basically I was just letting Piccolo know of my decision. However I feel like I left with more questions and less like the authority figure I thought I would be after that conversation. Tell me Trunks did you by any chance find out about Gohan's lack of hunger or have you felt anything weird about him lately?"

Trunks shook his head, "Nothing about his hunger. I know that by Saiyan standards I eat just enough to sustain myself but not much more; I do that since it keeps my body better in check when I go back to the future where food is limited, but Gohan is eating even less than me.

"In many aspects my Master and Gohan are very similar, but there are some notable differences. A lot of their mannerisms are the same or similar where I can tell what he is thinking, and I can tell there is something definitely off about Gohan." Trunks looked up to the sky, "However it's something I can't pinpoint exactly. He is displaying some facial tics that give off that he is hiding some pain; my Master would often do the same, but there is something more.

"This is where my Master and Gohan are different, where the similarities end and I'm not sure what he is going through his mind. Where the pain originates, whether it's physical or mental? My Master had certain features that gave that away, but this Gohan isn't like that."

"You seem to have paid an awful amount of time becoming an expert on Gohan," Bulma commented.

"He was my idol. Learning as much about him was my pastime. I wanted to grow up to be exactly like him. However most of the muscle twitches and their meanings were determined by Pan's mother. She knew him better than anyone else. I would often ask her what each action meant since she was the expert," said a blushing Trunks.

"Getting back on track, so you say that you noticed there is something off about him right? What is it that you felt that is 'off' about him?" wondered Bulma.

"It's weird." Trunks narrowed his eyes. "You know what; it feels like there is a dark shadow that is encompassing him, something that is taking him over bit by bit. When Pan is around it doesn't feel as strong, but when you are alone with him, you can almost see the darkness above him."

"I was worried about that. Piccolo mentioned there is something about Gohan's Ki that rubbed him the wrong way." Bulma rubbed her chin. "He said that he was going to get to the bottom of this."

"So Piccolo noticed as well. Not surprising, Piccolo has always had a kinder ship for Gohan. If he is on the case I'm sure we'll know soon enough." The time traveler grinned.

"Bulma!" A floating child-like person approached them. "And Trunks you're back as well."

"Chiaotzu! It's good to see you. Yeah I arrived here a week ago. Everything went well back home." Trunks greeted the young emperor.

"That's a relief. I'm sure Tien will be happy to hear that." Chiaotzu turned to Bulma, "I didn't know you guys were going to be here Bulma. Who else is here?"

"Well if you guys were to use the phone I gave you guys then you would have known." Bulma placed her hand on her hip. "As for who is here, Gohan is here as well as Piccolo. Any of the others I'm not sure."

"Sorry Bulma, you know that most of my free time I'm training with Tien, and we are locations that out of service or where no electricity runs," the young emperor scratched the back of his neck. "Boy am I glad I didn't join. Having to fight the human fighters in the gang is hard enough, now you add Piccolo and the Saiyans; that is just insanity."

*Ding* Attention all fighters of tonight's tournament. Please start making your way towards Gladiator Hall. There is only one hour before the doors close. Thank you

"Mom, I'm going to go ahead and hurry up Gohan and Pan. Knowing Pan she is still stuffing her face. It was nice to see you Chiaotzu. Maybe after the tournament we can all get together before I leave." Trunks waved before taking off in the direction of the food court.

"Hurry back and remember Pan is coming with me! Just look for me by the entrance to the general seats! I still have Pan's ticket!" Bulma shouted while waving the tickets overhead.

"Pan?" the floating person asked.

"You'll meet her soon enough. So Tien is also entering?" Bulma diverted.

"Yeah, Tien feels like he is in a rut recently and came here for inspiration. Guess he is going to get more than he bargained for, but I'm sure it will help him in the long run."

"Slow down Pan," Gohan pleaded as he allowed the little girl in front of him drag him along. They walked among the masses of people, all moving in different directions.

"Come on Daddy, I'm hungry. Its been forever since I ate." Pan gleefully hopped as she pulled her father along.

"You ate this morning, and my share as well." Gohan rolled his eyes.

Pan turned to her father and let of his hand, "That was a loooong time ago plus you said that we only have little time since we heard the ding."

"Breakfast was only three to four hours ago; I would hardly consider that to be a long time." Gohan looked down at his daughter, her eyes seemed to have grown and develop a certain shine to them. As much as he tried to look away it was useless. "Fine, just slow down."

"Yay!" Pan immediately took off once again.

Gohan couldn't help but smile at Pan's jubilant behavior at something as simple as food. It warmed his heart to know that such innocence does exist. He was so focused on the little girl in front of him that he didn't notice another person rapidly approaching them until that person crashed into Gohan.

A young girl about the age of Gohan with two small raven ponytails bounced off Gohan and landed harshly on the ground.

Gohan grabbed a hold of Pan's hand before she could leave, "Give me a second Pan."

The girl that was sprawled on the floor slowly sat up. She rubbed the side of her head. "Ah that hurt."

The young world savior took a closer look at the girl in front of him and couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. He looked into her Ki and could swear he had come in contact with someone with a similar Ki that she was emitting, but as far as he knew he had never met this girl before, and the Ki eluded him. Gohan shook his head and chose to leave that mystery for later. For now he decided to find out if she was alright.

"Hey, are you alright? That was a pretty nasty fall you had there." Gohan crouched in front of the girl.

"I would ask if someone got the license plate of the car that hit me, but that would make no sense here. Yeah I'm okay; just my head is ringing from the hitting the ground," replied the fallen girl.

"Here allow me. I'm going to see if there are any openings." Gohan immediately began to check the back of her head, but after thoroughly checking he could not find any blood. "Well as far as I can see I don't see any blood, so I think it's safe to assume that the hit and a headache is probably the worst of the damages; though I would check with a doctor to be on the safe side."

"Thanks," nodded the girl in front of him. For the first time the girl opened her eyes and looked at the person that had been helping her. From his voice she already knew he was young as well, but was not prepared to come into eye contact with concerned onyx eyes.

"Here let me help you up." Gohan stood up and extended his hand for her to take.

The adolescent in front of Gohan looked at his extended hand. Finally it clicked and she laughed as she took his hand. "I don't know what is wrong with me today." She pushed herself to stand with her other hand. Now that they were standing she could see that they were about the same height. She could also see his crazy hair spiked up and slightly to the side; it was the same shade of midnight black as his eyes, and was wearing a purple Gi.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Gohan scratched the back of his neck.

"Huh?" the girl tilted her head. "Oh that, don't sweat it; in fact it's me that should apologize. I was racing my friends to that rollercoaster," she pointed at a tall rollercoaster in the distance, "and well I was trying to see how much of lead I had. I'm sorry, if I had been paying attention where I was running I would have not ran into you. I hope you are alright?"

Gohan held a faint smile, "I'll be fine. I'm sorry if this seems intrusive, but have we ever met before? I have been having a sense of déjà-vu since I met you."

The girl's smile grew, "Well you probably saw me on television recently."

Gohan shook his head, "Doubtful. My mother never really let me watch television as she thought it is a waste of time."

This stumped the pre-teen in front of him for a number of reasons; from what kind of child doesn't watch television to where else they could have possibly met. "Weeelll are you a native of Orange Star City?"

He shook his head once again, "Can't say I have ever been there. Oh well, I guess it's one of those moments where you feel that you know someone but have never met them right?"

"That's true. Well the name is V—" she couldn't finish her introduction as the third member of this circle decided to make her presence known.

"Daddy, can we go now?" Pan tugged her father's arm.

Gohan let out a breath of air. "Okay we'll go." Gohan turned to the girl, "Well I'm glad you are alright, but unfortunately we'll have to continue this conversation at a later time. Have a nice day." With that, Gohan and Pan began to make their way to the food court.

"Bye." The girl was left confused as she hadn't seen the little girl during their entire conversation. 'I guess I hit my head harder than I thought.'

"Wait …Daddy? That kid looks about my age."

"Videl! We finally caught up with you," shouted the female of the blond duo.

Videl shook her head, "Hey guys, I was wondering where you guys were."

"I told you I didn't want to race," pouted the blond girl.

"Fine Erasa we'll walk there."

Trunks walked from around the corner. He pressed himself against the wall nearest him as he tried to control his dry laughter. 'I guess Mom was right, those two seem almost destined for one another. When I saw them talking I thought she looked familiar, but her Ki and her name sealed it. What are the chances of Gohan and Videl meeting, I thought they were zero since so many people are alive here, but this proved me wrong.'

Trunks covered his face as he shook his head, 'I'm sure Mom and Aunt Chichi will be thrilled to know that their paths have crossed already once here.'

"I guess I better make my way to food court as well." Trunks took one last look towards where Videl and her friends had left. 'I hope you have a better life here Videl, and I pray one day your path and Gohan's path cross once again.'

AN: So Videl makes her first appearance. Not as big as I'm sure most of you thought, but nonetheless I didn't want to do something drastic right off the bat. Videl will be seen on and off, but don't expect her to make her big splash just yet. I have something in store for her and her eventual rise to main character status. Some of you may notice that Videl wasn't as stand-off ish. My only excuse is that I don't think that the Videl (we see in the Saiyaman Saga) was always like that. I'll get more into that later on.

I also wanted to apologize to everyone for this chapter. I know that my last few chapters have all be emotionally-driven, and frankly I feel like that made this chapter extra dull for me, so I can only imagine how much torture it was for you. Still I hope you liked the chapter nonetheless. On the topic of my next chapter, I do have about half complete, but something happened and part of what I had written was erased. I have tried to find my drive to finish the chapter, but it's killing me inside that the second version isn't as good as the first one I wrote. I know once I get past the part that is being rewritten, things will pick up, but I just can't find it in me to finish that part. I hope to have that one up soon, but I do apologize for any delays.

Dear orion kuroi,

I want to thank you for catching that obvious mistake.

Dear dapmitidp,

I'll be frank with you; I have never been a fan of the stumbling fool that Saiyaman Saga Gohan was. That being said, as you saw in this chapter they do meet and at the same time they don't, so I have preserved their first official meeting for a later time. Their relationship will be an interesting one, partly it will be funny too but I don't plan to make a Saiyaman Saga Gohan in my story. It just wouldn't fit with how responsible I'm trying to make Gohan be and yet he is same clueless fool that we see in the series. I'm sorry if you don't like this direction, but I do hope you will stick with me nonetheless.

Dear palazard95,

Actually it was a little later than Xmas; I hope you had a Merry Christmas though. The future is no happy place, that is for sure. I hope I didn't bore you too much in this chapter.

Dear SaintMichael95,

The Bojack Saga has officially started; I do hope you enjoy it. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Dear The King of Ranting,

Thank you. As you saw in this chapter he seems to have missed who she really was. That darn Pan right ;) The fights will begin in the next chapter.

Dear Aaron Leach,

Thank you!

Dear KiwiS92,

Wow 2 out of 3 in the guesses. I know most make Videl very standoff-ish, but I wanted to do something different as their first meeting. I also loved writing about Trunks trying to explain sex to Gohan. It provided many laughs that night.

Dear Mustafa123,

Thank you nonetheless.

Dear The Fantastic Altruist,

Thanks! Piccolo will have a bigger role in training Pan later on. Don't worry I have a couple scenes in mind.

Dear Penelope,

Thank you so much. I try to pour as much emotion as I can and I'm glad people are responding.

Dear UltimateGoham,

Thank you. I'm glad I was able to invoke those feelings.

Dear Joshrobo,

... and it is a process he will have to go through. He won't immediately be father of the year, but know that this is a 'work in progress' for him. The next few chapter will get better... I hope :)

Dear pir84lyf,

I wouldn't put it past Vegeta that he enjoys those kind of shows. Vegeta is stubborn mule, and he always feels that he is all he needs to get through any trouble. He will eventually confide in Bulma, but Vegeta isn't an easy nut to crack so it will take a while... unless someone pushes things along ;)

Dear Mystical Angel of the Night,

Nice pen-name by the way, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Dear Red Labyrinth,

Thank you very much.

Dear Zyphrost,

I'm kind of curious what mysteries or unanswered questions you saw in that chapter?

Dear SinisterofRAGE,

Thank you :)

Dear RedRoseGrave,

Thank you for the nice comments.

Dear A,

I'm glad I was able to invoke those feeling in you, as that tells me that I did a good job.

Dear ndesi62,

Well at least you gave this story a shot. There is not much I can ask more than that. I guess this story was not your cup of tea; I'm sorry to hear that. As much as you think I'm doing a terrible job, I won't change as long as I have people saying I'm doing an okay job, and up until now most of the feedback is good.

Dear EmeraldoftheStars,

I'm glad you find my take on this type of story, special. It warms my heart to hear that. Thank you. I hope I don't disappoint.

Dear Arjun,

Thank you :)

Dear Guest,

My intentions were never to show an evil Chichi. She just values things that, from my perspective, aren't as important as training. I understand the importance of an education, but not to the extent that she takes it. I'm glad you can see that.

Dear BloodySS2God,

Thank you so much for the encouraging words. I hope to not misplace your trust, and to live up to your expectations.

Dear PoisonDreamz,

I hope the wait wasn't too long ;)