I groaned as senses came to me; the sound of birds, the smell of something cooking, the feel of my cover crumpled about my waist. My head was killing me. It felt like I had drunk myself to sleep the night before. I pushed myself up on my elbows, squinting at the light pouring in through the window. Slowly the night before came back to me, starting with the dream (premonition) and working backward. I shuddered at the memory of my dream, and of the body at the fair. I got up and got dressed slowly. In the bathroom I tossed back a few painkillers for my head.

I trudged downstairs into the living room. The TV was on, Gohan was sitting in front of it. The screen showed a shot of the entrance to the fair, which was disturbingly empty for opening weekend. Gohan looked up at me as I entered. He was frowning.

"They're reporting on what you guys saw last night." I sat in one of the chairs and listened.

"Witness reports say the body was the same as it was found when the police arrived. The woman, still unidentified, appears to have been burned, or possibly electrocuted. There are no suspects as of yet, but police assure us they are doing everything in their power to find the person responsible." Gohan shook his head slowly.

"This doesn't feel right." I looked at him and he continued. "Something about this doesn't ring right to me. Least of all the explanation for how a woman got burned to a crisp in the middle of a crowded fairground without anyone seeing." He stood and turned off the TV. He walked from the room, heading down into his office. I sat for a moment before standing and going into the kitchen.

Videl was sitting at the table reading. She looked up at me and smiled. "I saved some breakfast for you, if you want it." I smiled and nodded. She started to get up, but I stopped her and moved to the fridge myself. I got the food out and made a plate. I heated it, sat, and ate. When I finished I looked at Videl.

"Do you know where Pan is?"

"She went to Bras for a while. She looked a little wound up, so she probably went to train with Vegeta." I nodded and stood.

"I'm gonna go over there and find her. I'll be back later." I left the house and took off. A little while later I arrived at Bras. I could hear the now familiar sounds of sparring from around the house. I floated over the building and saw Pan and Vegeta hovering about 10 feet off the ground, trading blows. They rocked back and forth as they traded going on the offensive. Neither seemed to gain much ground. Pan had a look of intense, angry concentration on her face, Vegeta had his usual bored scowl.

Suddenly one of Pans punches made it through Vegetas defenses, smashing into his chest. She scored a series of hits, knocking Vegeta back with each one. She grinned, speeding up. Then, just as quickly as her assault had begun, it ended. Vegeta threw out a fist, landing a single massive punch, sending her flying into the ground to create a large skid mark in the dirt. When the dust settled she was lying on her back, wincing.

"Ouch."

Vegeta smirked. "That was better," he said, his rough voice making the praise sound diminished. "But just because you land a few hits, don't drop your defense. Anyway, that's all for today. It appears you have a visitor." He glanced up at me. I gulped softly and gave him a small smile. He just stared at me, then dropped to the ground. I followed, landing next to Pan. I held out my hand and she took it, smiling. I pulled her to her feet, then stood back as she brushed herself off.

"How're you doing today?" I asked.

She graced me with a small smile. "I'm better. I'm sorry, I never thanked you for last night." She leaned in and gave me a small kiss. I flushed, my face growing hot.

"It's OK, it was understandable. The night ended on kind of a bad note."

She shrugged. "Still, before that it was good. I showed mom and dad the doll this morning. Dad was embarrassed; mom got a kick out of it." I smiled.

"Where's Bra today?"

Pan rolled her eyes. "Shopping. Like, serious shopping with her mother."

"Ah. So you'd rather stay here and let Vegeta kick the crap out of you?"

"It's better than listening to Bra ask if 'this dress makes my butt look big?' for the hundredth time." Her voice raised in a vague imitation of her friend as she said that. I grinned. "Well, since they're not here, I guess I've got nothing else to do here. Wanna head home?" I shrugged, and we took off.

About halfway home I glided closer to her. "Hey, can I make a request?"

"Depends." She waited.

"Well, it's a little odd, but do you think you could give me a little training?"

She looked at me. "Training? Why do you need that?"

"It's kinda complicated." She waited, watching me expectantly. "Well, I had a dream last night. Not a pleasant one. These powers do more than just let me throw things around. Sometimes I get…premonitions. Most of the time they're just strong feelings, but this was worse. I just feel like I might need to be able to defend myself soon, and everything I can do will help." She looked at me for a bit longer before nodding.

We landed at the house and got some lunch. I wasn't hungry, but I sat with Pan as she ate. Immediately after she herded me outside to start training me.

"OK, you've already shown you've got some training." I stayed silent, knowing I only did what I could do on instinct. Hopefully that'd be enough. "So here's what we're gonna do. Just try and block or dodge what I throw at you." She dropped into a crouch, and I followed suit. Her arms came up, covering her midsection. I let my right arm drop, allowing it to block anything that came in low or mid. My left hand I brought back and up, forming a fist. She nodded and jumped at me. She wasn't moving nearly as fast as she could, but it was still too much for me.

I managed to block her first punch, but it knocked me off balance more than far enough for her second to get through before I could get myself set up again. I fell back, landing squarely on my butt. I grimaced and stood, dropping into a crouch again.

This continued for a while, me managing to block one or two before getting knocked flat. By the fifth time I was growling low in my throat as I stood, my right arm throbbing from where her punches had landed. She was watching me uneasily.

"Should we stop?" she asked slowly. I shook my head. "OK, but you look like you want to rip me in half right about now." I blinked, realizing that yes, I was pissed off. I straightened, her following, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. I closed my eyes, thinking. Everything else so far has been natural, why not this?

The voice in my head spoke up again. You're thinking about it too much. Relax, don't worry about it. Feel the punches coming. You know how this stuff works.

I smirked and opened my eyes. Pan relaxed when she saw the smile, and I motioned for her to resume. We dropped into mirrored crouches, and I took a deep breath as she readied herself to charge me. I let the breath out, stretching out with my feelings. I could feel her, and I could see shadow images of her going in different directions. I struggled to narrow my focus to the images coming straight for me, and almost succeeded. Still, when she attacked, I managed to block, taking the hits on my lower arms, falling back under the punches. After half a dozen or so hits, I saw my opening coming. Two more hits and I swung, connecting with her stomach. She exhaled in a whoosh, and I took the opportunity to press my advantage. I didn't worry about hurting her, only scoring hits.

I launched a three punch flurry, going for her midsection twice, then her chest. I hit all three, and felt her intention to throw a high right at me. I dropped before she even punched, using the sweep for real this time, knocking her off her feet. I pushed myself off the ground, grabbing her as she fell and continuing through the air, landing on my back and rolling, still holding her. We ended up with her half on me.

She stared at me, a little out of breath. "Impressive. Now, you wanna let me go?" I blushed, the grin falling off my face, and let go of her arms. She laughed and jumped up, reaching down to help me up. "Seriously, that was a lot better. How'd you do it?"

I shrugged. "I could see what you were planning to do. Well, not exactly, I could see different possibilities for what you could do, and managed to narrow down my focus enough to pick it out just before you attacked. From there I was one step ahead the whole time."

She nodded slowly, looking impressed. "Nice. That sounds useful. Maybe you should be teaching me." I didn't respond; she smacked my arm. "Whatever, let's go again."

Over the next hour or so we increased the difficulty, Pan starting to come from different directions and throwing new attacks at me. I practiced narrowing my focus so I would only see the paths she was most seriously considering. I got good enough so that I could start deflecting attacks instead of outright blocking, saving my arms more punishment.

Eventually we stopped, and I realized just how sore my arms were going to be later. We went in and took turns in the shower, Pan going first. Afterward I went back outside, this time carrying my lightsaber. I practiced with that for a while, trying to make my moves as fluid as I could. I don't know how long I kept it up, only that when I finished it was noticeably darker, I was hungry, and needed another shower. When I turned toward the house it was like that day a week ago. Pan was leaning against the house, arms crossed. She was frowning at me.

"You're really serious. You're worried something's going to happen?" I nodded, breathing heavily. She motioned inside. "Come on, dinners almost ready. You've got enough time for another shower." I went with her.

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The next few weeks were taken by school, training, and trying to figure out our relationship. I was enjoying life more than I had in a while. Then one day I found myself on the verge of disaster, though I didn't know it yet.

I walked into the living room. The other three members of the house were sitting around the TV, watching a news story. Pan looked up at me, a haunted look on her face.

"It's Carla, from our class. She…" She trailed off. I sat on the arm of her chair.

She took my hand and I gave it a squeeze. I looked at the TV.

"Once again, Carla Lorens, senior at Orange Star High School, was found dead today. She was raped and murdered in her home in downtown West City. The culprit was found in the house. He has claimed to not remember anything of the attack. His lawyer has filed a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. More on this as the story unfolds."

I felt that unease that had been quiet for weeks. I had been downtown earlier today, doing some shopping. Knowing that in some way, I might have been able to do something ate at me.

No, came the unknown voice, there was nothing you could do. You absolutely can't blame yourself for this. I breathed, realizing the truth of that. I still didn't recognize the voice, but its advice hadn't led me wrong yet, so I was beginning to welcome when it spoke.

Pan stood and walked outside. I followed her a minute later. She was standing, staring at the sky with her arms wrapped around her. I walked up and put my hands on her shoulders. She leaned back against me. I found myself breathing in the scent of her hair, and welcomed the calming effect it had. I dropped my arms and hugged her around her waist.

"It's not right," she whispered. "She was a nice girl. Didn't ever do anything wrong." Her voice hardened and rose. "I hope they kill that guy."

I didn't say anything, just hugged her tighter. We stood that way for a long time, watching the sky and letting the cold wind sink into our bones.