Okay, I was playing Sims 3: Supernatural today, with a little family of fairies, and bam, this little idea was born. We're going to pretend like, for all intents and purposes, that fairy dust has similar properties to Rapunzel's hair in Tangled, granting those it touches with youth. Basically, it'll be a sort-of mixture of Tangled and Aionia Okeano, but with fairies and fairy dust instead of the super long magical hair and mermaids.
Videl's half-fae on her mother's side, and Gohan, of course, is half-saiyan/half-human. Their children, twins Pan and Chase, are a quarter fae, a quarter saiyan, and half human. Pan was kidnapped at birth, yet again, by a woman who's far too obsessed with vanity and youth, *cough* Mother Gothel *cough*, who knew Videl's mother was a fae and, obviously, knew the properties of fairy dust.
We'll call her... Valentina. Inspiration for the name, The Mortal Instruments.
So, yes, Valentina kidnapped Pan and has been using her fairy dust to keep herself young and beautiful. Fast forward... sixteen years. No, I'm not doing this as a love story, it'll be more family-oriented. So, sixteen years later, Chase comes across a rather curious looking tower in the forests behind his home.
Valentina is a skilled sorceress, so it was next to nothing for her to create a tower that not only hides the ki of its inhabitants, but makes the tower unplottable and charms it so it won't show up on, say, a satellite camera... or any camera, for that matter. Unplottable means the property can be moved to different places by way of magic. Credit: Harry Potter.
So, Chase, on a whim, flies up the side of the tower to the only window, and opening, and... Well, I have to write that, heheh. Pan will be, of course, a little naive and inexperienced with life outside of her tower.
Oh, and Videl, Pan, and Chase can conceal their wings if they so wish, so Chase can alternate between flying with his ki or with his wings.
"What the... what's this doing here?" The sixteen year-old quarter-demi saiyan muttered to himself, stepping lithely over exposed roots and rocks as he eyed the tower, "I'm pretty sure this wasn't here before..." It definitely seemed like it had been. Moss and vines crept up the sides of the rustic, medieval looking tower, and the white stone it was made of was a slate gray with age and dinginess.
"I wonder if anyone's up there," the son of Gohan began to float up to the window at the very top and, belatedly, he realized that the small window was the only way in and out of the tower, "um... hello?" Chase peered over the window sill and registered the swish of a head of ebony hair ducking out of sight in his peripheral vision.
"I'm not going to hurt you, honest," Chase floated over the edge of the sill and alighted on the stone floor of what he now knew was a bedroom, female by the looks of it, "I was just wondering what your tower was doing here in the middle of the forest... I've never seen it here before, but it looks like it's been here for a while."
Something clattered to the floor off to his right, and the Son's eyes widened as a short, petite girl about his age stumbled out from behind a bureau, face concealed by waves of ebony hair. What surprised him the most was the pair of translucent wings that were attached to the center of her back. Periwinkle in color with swirling silver and white designs, they were completely identical to his own wings, which were concealed at the moment.
Where his wings had a distinct, sharp shape to them, hers were softer and rounder, but the designs, patterns, and color were all exactly the same as his. Having spent sixteen years with his wings, he figured he'd notice if he came across an identical pair.
"How did you get in here?" The girl asked him curiously, fighting to get all of her hair out of her face, "Mother keeps the door locked... Oh, I'm an idiot," she shook her head, getting the last of her errant hair out of her face, "you came in through the window. Silly me."
"You're a fae?" Chase asked softly, approaching her, "and... you... your face..."
"I'm... Yes, I'm a fairy, but what's wrong with my face?" the girl touched her lips and jaw, "is there food on my face or something?"
"I, uh, no," the Son shook his head, "you just... you just look a lot like my mother... and my father... where are your parents?"
"Parents?" the girl started, "I only have Mother Val, I don't have a father. I don't think Mother would appreciate me talking to strangers like this... um, what's your name?"
"I'm Chase Son," Chase bit his lip nervously, "and yours?"
"Pandia," the bewildered fae responded, "I don't have a last name. Mother doesn't have one either."
(A/N: Pandia means 'personification of Brightness' which I think would be perfect for her. There is a certain TxP story of mine in which Trunks thinks of her as his personal sunshine, after all.)
"Nice to meet you, Pandia," the Son responded, "can I call you Pan for short?"
"Yes," Pandia nodded, "I prefer it."
Pan was pretty petite, kind of like Chase's mother, but without that aura that made her seem about ten feet tall that his mother had, Pan was relatively tiny, standing at, he estimated, about five feet flat. Her hair was nearly as long as she was tall, the ends dangling down to just below her knees, and her eyes were large and almond-shaped, like his mother's, complete with the same rich periwinkle color. When she smiled nervously, however, all he could see was his father's face. The shape of her jaw, the slight roundness of her eye shape that made them seem like they weren't completely almond-shaped, the innocent, naive disposition she gave was glaringly similar to the one his father often had, a little tick that his mother found endearing.
Traits that Chase himself carried in his own face and personality.
For all intents and purposes, this girl could be his parents' long lost child... and his twin.
His twin.
It came back to him all at once, the sister he never truly had that had been snatched away en route to the nursery the night they were born. His parents didn't get around to telling him about Pan until he was seven. There'd been a huge search, both publicly and privately using the secret weapons Bulma had at her disposal, as well as the special abilities of the Z-Senshi, but there'd been no trace of her, as if she'd simply ceased to exist.
Pan.
Pandia, Pan for short.
Could it really be? Had he really found his sister?
"Uh, Chase?" Pan queried, frowning at his lack of focus, "um... are you alright?"
"What does your mom look like?" Chase asked, "just... just wondering."
"She's tall and blonde with green eyes," the fae responded quietly, "she's not my birth mother. My parents died when I was just a baby and she took me in. I'm really lucky to have her, even though she only drops in every... um, every two full moons."
More like she's lucky Dad didn't catch her taking you from the hospital, Chase responded silently, and then, aloud, "she only comes to see you every two months?"
"Mmhm," Pan nodded, "she's sick, you see, I have to sprinkle my fairy dust on her when she comes, otherwise her illness will get worse."
"Does she always look the same every time she comes to see you?" the Son knew all too well what the various properties of fairy dust were. His mother had made sure he knew why he had to be very careful when it came to telling people about that part of his heritage. The promise of eternal health, youth, and life could excite a powerful amount of greed in people.
"Yes, of course, she's no reason to change," the petite girl giggled and fluttered her wings, "why are you asking?"
"No, I meant... does she get any older. Has she aged in the past year or so?"
"She's always looked the same to me," Pan was confused, "blonde hair, green eyes... I honestly don't understand why you need to know this."
"Because our wings," as he said 'wings', Chase allowed his own wings to come into existence, "naturally produce fairy dust, which can, in regulated doses, grant others eternal life, youth, and health. I'm not trying to be negative but it could be a very real possibility that she's lying about her illness and just using you to keep herself young and-"
"Mother would never-"
"Chase?" The sound of Gohan's voice silenced the beginning of Pan's vehement retort, and the two teens went silent as death as the son of Goku called out again, "Chase, bud, where'd you go?"
"Can't he sense me?" Chase wondered aloud, "and the tower's right here, how could he miss it?" The son of Gohan headed towards the window to call out to his father when Pan grasped his forearm and dragged him back.
"Are you crazy?" She demanded, "who is that?"
"Our dad," Chase responded, "I-I mean, my Dad," he corrected himself, "he's probably wondering where I am... Would you like to meet him?"
"I... Mother says I'm not to step foot outside of the tower... ever." Pan looked frightened, "she told me that there were bad people after me, and that the tower was the only place where she could protect me from them and keep me safe. I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Just for a second?" The Son pleaded, "I promise that I won't keep you out of here for any longer than a few minutes."
"... You promise?"
"I swear," Chase offered her a hand, "are you coming?"
"I..." Pan nibbled on her bottom lip, and then nodded, "okay, but only for five minutes."
The Son beamed at his alleged sister and walked over to the sill, leaning out to look for his father, "Dad! Up here!" Gohan looked up from where he'd been searching on the ground, accompanied by Goten, and both of them gawked at Chase because, for all intents and purposes, his upper body was hanging out of thin air.
"Uh, Chase, where's the rest of you?" Goten inquired, "you're half a body, kiddo."
"Huh?" Chase looked behind himself and was surprised to see that Pan, and her bedroom, had disappeared, but he could still feel the stone floor beneath his feet and her small, soft hand in his grasp. The small girl eased forward a bit more, and then broke through the veil that had settled over the tower.
"Who's that?" Goten, ever oblivious, asked, "I thought you were dating Kassie, Chase." Gohan had gone completely silent at the sight of Pan, and then, if possible, even more silent when Chase began floating down to the forest floor with her beside him, their matching wings fluttering silently as they came down to ground level, alighting silently on the dirt ground.
"Whoa," the younger son of Goku observed aloud, "Kid, if you were a girl, I think you'd look just like her, wings and all." Pan flushed pink and ducked partially behind Chase at his comment, and her pseudo-protector scowled at his tactless Uncle, "Uncle G, shut up. Dad," he turned to his silent father, "this is Pan... Pandia."
"Just Pan, please," the petite girl spoke in a quiet tone, "nice to meet you, Chase's Dad. Can I go back inside now, Chase?" Her wandering eyes had betrayed her real desire to stay in the open, seeing as she was seemingly trying to take in every detail of the outside world at once.
"You've never been outside before?" Chase asked, "I thought you'd been out, but your Mother didn't-"
"She's never let me go outside before," Pan whispered, "this is my first time."
Gohan spoke up, "well that's a shame. I'm... I'm Chase's dad, Gohan. It's nice to meet you, Pan."
'Dad,' Chase contacted his father telepathically, 'her ki. Is she really...?'
'She's your sister, kiddo,' Gohan responded, 'I just can't believe we never knew she was here... All this time, she was right here...'
"Nice to meet you, too," Pan responded, suddenly drawn to Gohan's presence, "I... I'm sorry, I should really get back to my..." she turned to face the tower and gawked at the empty space, "where'd... where'd it g-"
"What is the meaning of this?" A tall woman with long, curly blonde locks and brilliant green eyes appeared in a burst of purple light, staring piercingly at Pan, "what are you doing outside of your tower, Pandia?"
"I- Mother, I... I just-"
"Be quiet," Valentina sneered, "I don't want to hear your pitiful excuses. Come on, then," she waved a hand, and the tower blinked back into view, "lets go back inside. It's time to move-" she then noticed the three extra presences in her midst. A wave of horror swamped over the woman as she recognized the three of them as Pan's father, brother, and uncle.
"I... I know you," Gohan whispered, "you were friends with my mother in-law, before she died."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the blonde woman grasped Pan's arm, "come along, Pan, I'm in need of a dose of your wonderful fairy dust-"
"You're not going anywhere with her," Chase stepped between Valentina and Pan, forcing her to release the fae's arm, "you're the one who stole my sister from us in the first place-"
"My daughter is not your sister, boy," the sorceress shoved past Chase and brushed a hand lovingly against Pan's cheek, "this precious little angel was abandoned at the hospital by her careless parents. I merely took her in out of the goodness of my heart-"
"Stop lying," Gohan spat, "you charmed the cameras, knocked the nurses unconscious, and took our daughter away from us and called her your own because you just wanted to use her for her fairy dust. Your vanity and youth are more important than her well-being. Surely you know enough about Fae to know that they can't continuously use their fairy dust on others without burning out on it and draining themselves in the process? You could've killed her, and you probably wouldn't have cared."
"I... Mother, I'm... I'm his daughter?" Pan asked, "but you told me that I was abandoned..."
"A-and you were," Valentina cupped the disbelieving fae's face, "darling, I merely saved you from a life where your abilities and potential would be wasted-"
"But my parents did want me, didn't they?" Pan's voice was cold, "you just denied them of their daughter because of your selfish needs."
"I... I was ill, I was-"
"You're not sick in anyway except in the head," Chase sneered, "you were obsessed with being young and beautiful forever and took Pan away to insure it would happen."
"Shut it, boy!" the sorceress cried desperately. Pan cowered away from her, looking at her like she was a completely different person, "You told me that my parents were dead, and now you say that they abandoned me... what really happened?"
"Pandia, please," Valentina reached out for one of the fae's hands, but she jerked away, "you don't understand, I needed your powers, your lovely fairy dust to keep my... my illness from worsening."
"By illness you mean aging, you lying waste of space," A new voice, this one domineering and feminine, broke into the confrontation, "nice to see you again, 'Aunt Val'."
Videl alighted silently on the forest floor next to her husband, glaring hotly at the woman before her. Her periwinkle wings fluttered a bit quicker when her gaze landed on Pan, and her jaw dropped to release a gasp, "Pan...?"
Pan stared curiously at the new fae who'd entered into the confrontation and unconsciously stumbled towards her. Chase noticed what she was, unconsciously, trying to do and nudged her along, keeping his eyes on Mother Val, who was beginning to realize that her carefully made plans for her eternity as a youthful, beautiful young woman were rapidly dying before her eyes. The long lost Son walked the short distance over to her mother and father and stopped at about a foot or so away.
"Uh... hello." Pan spoke shyly, "it's nice to meet you."
Gohan carefully stepped around his new found daughter, placing himself between her the woman who'd stolen her away, watching as a desperate, crazed light began to glow in her green eyes. Before either he or Goten could move to stop her, she grabbed onto one of Chase's wings and yanked on it. The boy hissed in pain and, on instinct, threw an elbow into the witch's face.
Valentina screeched in pain as her nose broke and crumpled to the ground, tearing Chase's left wing horribly as she did so. The top portion hung down, nearly dragging the ground, and blood began soaking through the back of his shirt, where the wing had been torn from his back. Videl gasped and rushed over to her son, pulling him into her arms so she could examine the damage. At her elbow, Pan looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
"Leave her there," Videl told her husband, who was advancing on the prostrate woman, "she'll be feeling that broken nose for a while as it is. We need to get Chase to Dende's. I don't want you vanishing your wings, though, it could make the wounds worse. Panny," she turned to look at her daughter, "baby girl, don't cry. I know you think this is your fault, but it's not. Just calm down."
Pan nodded, still looking teary-eyed. Gohan opened his arms, and the small girl, compelled by some unknown emotion, entered them, burrowing her face in his warm, firm chest.
Videl waved a hand at Valentina and sent her flying through the window Pan had just escaped from. With a snap of her fingers, the tower vanished into thin air. Her husband and brother in-law raised a brow at this, and she shook her head.
"The tower's still there, we just can't see it and it's been sealed so she can't get out," she explained, "and, as long as she's been using Pan's fairy dust, it won't be too long before she... yeah. Suppressing your aging only makes it progress faster when you stop using it. It's a double-edged sword."
Chase grimaced as his Uncle helped him get up on his back, and Gohan gently pulled Pan away from his chest so he could look into her periwinkle eyes, "we're going to have to fly in a moment. Do you think you can keep up with us?"
"I think so," Pan mumbled, tucking a loose lock of hair behind one of her pointed ears, one of the fae features she inherited from Videl that Chase didn't receive, "I've never flown out in the open before... or outside."
"Alright, come on," Gohan knelt down so she could get on his back, "I don't want you to get left behind." Vanishing her wings, the Son carefully settled herself on her father's back and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. The eldest son of Goku checked to see if the others were ready and, when he was certain that they were, he launched off of the forest floor, headed for the Lookout.
*on the Lookout*
Dende raised an inquisitive brow at the group of five people that were landing on the Lookout but, when he saw that Chase was in need of his help, he hurried out to attend to his friend's son at once. Pan, who'd gotten down from Gohan's back, was standing on the edge of the Lookout, taking in her surroundings hungrily. Videl watched her with a sad smile, and looked over at her husband as he approached.
"Has she really never been outside of that tower?" Videl inquired in a morose tone, "no wonder she seems so surprised by everything, she's never experienced the world outside of her tower."
"We can help her get used to it all... if she'll let us, that is." Gohan responded, "I just can't believe that Valentina was able to take her right out from under our noses like that. Sixteen years we've missed with her."
"Sixteen years that we'll do everything in our power to make up for," his wife replied, brushing a hand along the line of his jaw lovingly, "I'm going to talk to her and see how she's doing." With that, Videl glided over to the edge of the Lookout, keeping her distance from the slightly shorter, curious fae who was settled on the edge of Dende's home, staring out into the sea of clouds.
"This is so amazing." Pan breathed, holding both hands against her chest as her wide eyes darted to and fro. She spotted her mother standing a ways away, watching her with a small smile on her lips. At her notice, the older fae approached and swung her legs over the side of the Lookout to sit beside her, conscious to keep some space between them.
"Having fun?" Videl inquired warmly, swinging her legs gently. Her hands were tucked between her knees, mainly to keep her from following the urge to grab her baby and hug the life out of her. She'd missed her precious girl so much over the years.
"I... um, yes," Pan stuttered a bit, "I-I am. Everything is so wonderful," she blushed a bit at her gushing, "I can't believe I never knew that the outside world could be anything like this. Mo-Valentina," she corrected herself, "she always made it seem like such a horrible, evil, dreadfully dangerous place. I'm happy to know that she was wrong."
"There's a lot more to it than what you've seen," Videl replied gently, "and, while it's not wholly evil and dangerous, it's not completely safe or good either. It's more like a melting pot of all those things... and many others. It's a culmination of many things."
"She never loved me, did she?" the young fae inquired emotionlessly, "I was just a means to an end for her, nothing more or less, right?"
"I don't understand the way that Valentina's mind worked, so I can't tell you that, love," Videl bit her lip, "maybe she did, maybe she didn't. We'll never know."
"Is it bad that I wish she'd taken anyone else but me?" Pan questioned, "I mean, because of her, I don't know anything about the world outside of my tower, I don't really understand how to interact with other people, and I spent sixteen years of my life thinking that you – that my parents abandoned me at birth because I wasn't good enough. Now I know that that wasn't the truth, that she was using me for my abilities, and that my family never stopped looking for me, and I don't know what to do. It's so much to take in..."
"I'm certain that anyone in your position would wish the same thing, Pan," the wife of Gohan responded, "it's only natural. As for you not knowing what to do about it, I can't help you with that. Only you can decide what to do now that you know all these things. If I had my way, I'd cart you home and never let you leave my sight again, but then I'd be doing the same thing that Valentina did."
"You'd be doing it out of love, though," Pan gave a soft laugh, "how did you know her?"
"She's older than she looks, for one," Videl furrowed her brow, "she was really close friends with my mother, up until they had a horrible falling out. Valentina's true colors had shown through, and your grandmother no longer wanted anything to do with her."
"But what did she do?"
"Valentina asked my mother if she would allow her to take me as her own and use my fairy dust to prolong her youthful vitality. I guess she was crazy enough to think that their friendship was strong enough for her to ask for something so blasphemous. When my mother said no, they parted ways and then Valentina killed her in retribution. Your Grampa Hercule was never quite the same. I thought that we'd seen the last of her, and then you disappeared and popped up today with her in tow."
"She killed your mother?" Pan grimaced, "that's horrible..."
"It was," Videl murmured, gaze haunted with terrible memories of the past, "but now, she'll never darken our doorstep again." She turned to look over her shoulder, spying Gohan and Chase approaching.
The demi saiyans settled on the edge of the Lookout, Chase on Pan's other side and Gohan beside him, letting their legs dangle over the side. Pan looked at them curiously, wondering what they were like… and finding that she was very eager to get to know them and find that out for herself. With a soft, contented sigh, she laid her head on her mother's shoulder and tangled her fingers with her newfound brother's.
Gohan smiled fondly and scooted a bit closer, wrapping one arm around his newly reunited family. After all this time, he never thought they'd be whole again. He couldn't remember a time when he was so thrilled to be wrong.
"What do you say we go home?" Videl's voice was soft, filled with love, "we'll have to clear out your room, but it's there if you want it, Panny."
"I'd like that," the young fae murmured, smiling brightly, "I'd like that a lot."
The ending is dry as hell but I'll take it. Not crazy about how it went as a whole either. To be far, I wrote most of it five years ago and things have changed since then, but yeah. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
*~*CloudSpires1295*~*