Disclaimer: I do not, I repeat, do not own DBZ. Although if I did, I'd be rich by now….

Chapter Three: Confrontations.

Silence fell over the entire household as they stared at one another. Seconds turned into minutes while they were each summoning the courage to be the first to speak. Years worth of suppressed emotions threatened to drown Pan as she stood in the house that held both fond and painful memories and in front of the people that had tossed her out like yesterday's trash. Meanwhile, the people around her were trying to take in the new appearance of the little girl they had all wronged in the past. Regrets filled their hearts as tension began rising in the walls.

"Pan?" a feminine whisper broke through the silence and said girl turned her head towards the speaker.

Her long-time best friend, Bra, glided slowly over to where she stood. Standing in front of her, Pan watched as Bra's eyes scanner her up and down, then once more. A timid smile broke out on her face as she stared back into Pan's eyes.

"I missed you, Pan," was all the warning she received before she was wrapped in the embrace of the blue-haired teen. "I missed you so much."

Pan blinked back the tears as she hugged her back. "I missed you, too."

A clearing of the throat broke the two girls apart. Looking back at the scene, Pan saw that all the other occupants had stood as well. Feeling like a frightened animal cornered, she took a few small steps backwards, ignoring the sadness that took over a few faces at her move.

"You came back, Panny." Goten spoke up as he stared at his neice. 'She grew up without me.'

"It's Pan. And believe me, I didn't come here by choice." A glare was shot at Kai, and an 'innocent' smile was the reply.

"You'll always be Panny here," another voice interrupted and Pan felt the hair on the back of her neck rise.

She turned her attention to the person who had spoken and felt her anger flare. With eyes blazing, causing those near her to gasp softly and Kai to place a calming hand on the small of her back, she spoke.

"Panny died the day she left. Panny is no longer alive to any of you nor will she be coming back. Pan was the one who struggled with life despite the fact that she knew there wasn't any life for her at all. Pan was the one who faced the grief of being alone and tried to escape the illusion that love had once given her. Pan was the one who survived." A scoff. "Besides, you lost all rights to call me by any familiarities. You all, especially you, lost that privilege the second you all decided to turn your backs on me when I needed you all. I should be no more than a mere stranger to you now. None of you knew me and none of you were willing to try either. I'm no one to you guys; you made sure of that."

She turned her head towards the two people that had forced her to change, forced her to become someone new. Her parents. "You made sure of that didn't you, Videl? Didn't you, Gohan? After all, you made it legally clear that I was to be in no way, shape or form, related to you. You both even went as far as to officially disown me. I have no parents, they died the day Pan Son died, and thus I'm not related to any of you. And even if you hadn't disowned me, I'd have emancipated myself from you legally five years ago."

With that, she scooped up Sayo, gave a sharp one-eighty turn and stormed out of the house. Kai could only look back at the others and, with a small shrug, took after the enraged female, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

"Well, that was intense." Goten whispered softly as the silence wore on.

"She's back. My baby girl's back. And she hates us." Videl sobbed openly into Gohan's chest while he blinked back the tears.

"She wasn't alone either." Trunks commented quietly. "She brought home a child. A child that looks just like…"

"…You." Bra completed when her brother's voice faded into nothing. From shock or what, she did not know.

Silence once more reigned in the house as guilt and many more emotions crept into their hearts. Guilt for treating a then-sixteen-year-old Pan the way they did. Remorse for the time lost and irretrievable. Sadness for a childhood left behind. And regret… regret for a family shattered, a woman and little boy they'll never know, and a mistake uncorrectable.

"A grandchild? I've missed my grandchild's first words, first steps, his birth! Oh my! I have much to make up for. To the child and to the mother." Bulma stated as she moved to follow the girl she had loved like a daughter and would've been proud to have as a daughter-in-law. But before she could make it out the front door, her husband's voice brought her to an abrupt halt.

"She's strong. About as strong as Kakorrot and I. In a few years time, she'll surpass the both of us combined in power level. Her will is unspoken of; strong, bendable, but unbreakable. Her child's powerful, too. And well he should be, for in his blood, he carries a rare bloodline… She is worthy of her title." Vegeta, then, turned on his heels and left, leaving a storm of confusion behind him.