CHAPTER 43:
The Good, the Bath, and the Ugly

Pan hesitated a moment before dipping her right toe in to test the temperature. The steam rose from the water in rising billows, the heat condensing thickly in the cool secluded cavern of their large cave.

Finding the temperature to be delectably perfect, she smiled and closed her eyes as she slipped into the large bath, sighing contentedly as she leaned her head back against the walls and felt all her muscles relax.

She couldn't remember the last time anything felt this good. Her physical training drained so much from her, she didn't think she ever would ever feel something this pleasing ever, ever again. She was so glad she found that spring.

She couldn't remember the last time she took a bath. During her trip to space, she was forced to take showers to conserve water, and even before, when her Papa – when her father and mother were still alive, she never made the time for it. She must have been just a little girl when she last had one. That, or it might have been that time when Trunks supposedly bathed with her. She kept telling herself she was glad she didn't remember that, but somewhere deep inside her, a curious spark threatened to make her mind wander to imagining him, what his body looked like. But that was just her stupid hormones kicking in, and she beat herself for thinking like a girl. She wasn't a girl. She was a woman. And women, according to Pan, could control their thoughts.

Piccolo continued to call her a woman while training – a woman who had the potential inside of her to change the world. Although Pan still had doubts about that, she appreciated the thought that she could make a difference. At first, the training was rough and Pan thought it was a waste of time, but as the weeks had progressed, Pan noticed a significant change in herself, and not just mentally, either.

Wading her hands in the steamy water, she looked down to her body and noted how it was thicker, more filled-out, and her muscles were growing, shaping her body into dangerous curves she never thought she could have. If it weren't for Piccolo, Pan would still be skinny and scrawny, but this was something Pan did enjoy – being able to finally appreciate how she was growing up, and seeing how it affected her body in the process.

Pan knew she wasn't very pretty. Her mother was beautiful in her youth, with her deep blue eyes and angular face, and her father had always been attractive, but in a shy and modest way. Pan thought she looked more like her father, which was always good in a way – there was no shame resembling her paternal side, but that also meant she wasn't drop-dead gorgeous like… like Bra, for instance. Everyone thought that Bra was beautiful because she resembled her mother so much in her youth, but nobody ever thought such things about Pan. She was just average, with a somewhat cute face and a bold temper, often emotional if she couldn't get things her way.

And nothing was actually appealing about her. Pan never had anything that made her stand out except her heritage. If boys introduced themselves to her, it wasn't because they thought she was pretty, but because they got some rush of pride for being able to talk to the granddaughter of a celebrity. It often broke her heart when she realized this, and she would run to her father crying. She couldn't remember ever coming home with a smile on her face. It was just unheard of for her. All her friends were fake, people just used her, and she was weak enough that she actually convinced herself she'd go along with it just so she might be able to lie to herself, to tell herself that she had friends.

And she just wanted to spit at the idea that all those phonies never gave her a chance to really be herself around them. She was always too paranoid that she might lose people's friendships, so she let them walk all over her. She was such a weak character. And they were all assholes, and they deserved to be possessed by Baby. Perhaps Baby might have made them into better people, ironically.

She normally would have thought this about everyone in the world, but there was one person whom she did actually befriend, for whom she wished nothing more than freedom. Trunks was the only person who really opened himself to her. He proved to her that good people did exist in the world, and showed her that people could care and show love through embraces and smiles without demanding anything in return. True, she always loved her family, like her… grandfather… but having Trunks in her life really had given her a boost of self-confidence she never knew she had.

Trunks actually made her feel pretty. Although it took a while, Trunks made her feel wanted, too. He was able to see through that short and scrawny temperamental girl, to actually see her. He was able to talk to her, to just lie back and gaze at the stars with her. He was her first true friend, and by that, he was her best friend. Her best friend… who was lost, forever. But just when she thought that she was alone and had no one, someone else saved her. Piccolo.

She put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes, smiling. Piccolo was a character, she had to give him that. He was so incredibly strict and demanding, it took Pan a long time to be able to look at him without imagining the quickest ways to just kill him in his sleep. Although she knew she'd never do that, she couldn't help but hate him for beating her every single day and assuming she was improving her character from it.

But after about a month, when she realized that she was, in fact, changing, she began to listen to him more. That also had to do somewhat with the fact that she got used to his temper, and it didn't bother her much anymore that he was just a jerk about the way he taught his pupil. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he just didn't really know any other way to teach her, and figured she was going to learn anyway, so he might as well push her harder.

But Piccolo was really holding back on her. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. Although he acted tough and commanding, there was also another side to him that made itself known very briefly when he would sit her down and compliment her on how proud he was of her. It just seemed like a huge character shift for him to be able to do that. She figured it might be the Kami side of him coming out every once in a while, making him a good person. But, most of the time, she could count on him acting like an asshole. It just humored her, though, while working with him. At first, she would purposely try to test his patience just so see how long he could hold in his anger, but those occasions occurred more rarely nowadays, ever since he and she began to get along more.

She tapped the edges of the large bath in a repeating rhythm and began to hum slightly as she enjoyed the water around her, soothing her aching body from all the extensive training. Her voice reverberated along the cave walls, creating a great deal of tone and color to a voice she wished she actually had by nature. After hearing the beautiful sound around her, she began to hum louder, and then eventually broke out into a full song as she smiled and reached over for some shampoo to wash her hair.

"Would you just stop SINGING?!" Piccolo's voice shook the whole cave as it reverberated off the walls and made its way over to Pan.

Pan's hand stopped in mid-grasp and she brought it back to the side as she turned her head to the cavern opening, "What's wrong with my voice?!!"

"It's terrible, that's what!!"

"HEY!" Pan slammed her fists against the bath wall, "That's really mean!!!"

"Yeah, well, anything to shut you up! I swear, if Baby doesn't end up killing me, your voice will."

Pan could feel a hateful lump rise in her throat as her mouth turned to a snarl. With a huff, realizing a verbal fight with him would be pointless, she growled and grabbed some shampoo, squirting some in her hand. Placing the bottle back, she reached her hands up, and, closing her eyes, began lathering it into her hair trying to shut the stupid, stupid Namek out of her mind.

Her hair had grown a great deal over time. She had not cut her hair since before the grand tour, and now it was growing several inches past her shoulders, on the border of being considered long. She had never had long hair before, and it was a nice change in her life. At least her hair made her feel pretty. But it was annoying when trying to wash and dry it. It took twice as long.

"Good. It's always nice to hear you silent."

Pan's eyes shot open as her head jerked to the opening of the cavern, seeing Piccolos standing there with his arms crossed.

It took a moment to register that Piccolo was actually there, standing several meters away from her, and staring her, before it all clicked into her head.

With her eyes going wide, Pan flung up her hands and screamed at the top of her lungs, "AAAAAHH?!?!?!?!", bringing her arms down to cover her naked body as if he could see through the bathtub with some weird X-ray ex-Guardian vision. "GET OUT!!!! GET OUT!!!!" Pan screamed again and splashed waves of water onto Piccolo as if she could shoo him out of the room.

Piccolo just stood there and knotted his brow, "Why?"

"WHY?! Because I'm naked, that's why!!!" Pan could feel her face turn shades of pink as she tried to bury her body even deeper in the water, hiding behind the wall with barely her eyes peeking over.

"So?" Piccolo raised a brow as he removed his cape and began to undo his gi belt.

"What are you doing?! What are you doing?!" Pan gasped and turned an even brighter shade of red as she realized Piccolo was stripping down, "STOP IT!" Pan looked away and covered her eyes.

"Oh grow up, kid."

Pan could hear Piccolo's clothes being thrown to the side and she started shivering from embarrassment that he would be naked in the same room as her. This was far worse than that time she had to strip with Trunks. At least Trunks had modesty!!!!

Squeezing her eyes shut, Pan did everything she could to try to shut the Namek out of her mind. Her attempt didn't last very long before she heard the water splash slightly as he entered with her.

It was just too much for her. Her heart was going to explode, her face itself was so red, it began to turn blue. Pan squeezed her arms around her body, shielding herself as her voice trembled, "What are you DOING?!?!?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking a bath."

"You can't take a bath with me!!!!" Pans eyes flew open as her nose began to turn shades of purple, "That's… That's wrong!"

Piccolo let out a half snort and leaned his head back, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Did you hear me?!" Pan's cheeks flushed back to pink as she tightened her hold around her body, "You can't be in the tub with me!!! It's not right!!! You'll look at me!"

"Oh get OVER yourself." Piccolo huffed and brought his head up to scowl at her, "There is no way I'd ever be attracted to you in the first place. Besides me being parthenogenetic, you're not even the same species as me."

"That–that doesn't matter! I'm still a female!"

"And what?" He tilted his head, "I should grant you special priviledges?"

"N-no…" Pan tried to breathe as she looked down and twisted her legs so she could still conceal her body, but sit in a more comfortable position. "But… but it's just wrong!"

A few moments passed as Piccolo leaned his head back and relaxed in the water, closing his eyes. Pan tried to steady her breathing, lest she somehow get a heart attack from being in the bathtub with someone almost as old as her grandfather.

What really began to annoy Pan were the shampoo suds that were dripping down her forehead from her hair. She couldn't do anything about it without sacrificing one of the arms that was shielding her body from Piccolo, even though he wasn't even looking at her.

Adjusting her seated position again, she managed to bring her knees up while keeping her legs tightly together. With her left hand, she still covered her breasts and with her right, she slowly massaged the shampoo into her hair again, all the while keeping a wary eye for Piccolo somehow peeking.

Piccolo grunted after a time and scratched his chin, "Are you done yet?"

Pan dunked her hair in the water and rose to the surface with a confused frown, "Done with what? Washing my hair?"

"No, I mean your stupid tantrum. Can I look at you now?"

"Not while I'm still naked, you can't."

Piccolo growled and looked up anyway, glaring at her as she kept her knees glued to her chest, "You need to learn how to accept your body for what it is."

"I do accept it." Pan dunked her hair again and when she came up, her longer hair dripped lamely past her shoulders.

Piccolo looked at her hair and grunted, "And that hair has to go."

"Huh? My hair?" Pan looked up and blinked, "Where is it going?"

Piccolo groaned and put his left hand to his face, "Honestly, sometimes I think the idiot gene runs in Goku's family."

Pan's eyes widened, "What did you just call me?!"

Piccolo grunted, "I called you an idiot. I also am calling you immature and self-centered."

Pan's face turned red again, but for a completely different purpose as her eyes lit on fire, "You take that back."

"No." Piccolo shook his head, "Not until I give you a lesson for the day."

"A lesson?" Pan groaned and sunk her head lower in the water. "Can't it wait?! I thought this is break time."

"You only get breaks when you earn them." Piccolo shook his head, "And I have a lesson to teach you right now."

"Can't it wait…?"

"NO!" Piccolo's eyes narrowed as his mouth bared several fangs, "Now shut up and listen to me. This is very important to know."

Pan sighed and adjusted her knees slightly. Piccolo looked at the water for a moment, and then began rubbing his shoulders for a moment as he looked her hard in the eyes. "Today you will learn about battle dress code."

"Huh?" Pan raised an eyebrow, "Battle dress code?"

"Yes. And don't interrupt me again." Piccolo glared hard and then rubbed his shoulders again after a long breath. "As you may have noticed, most professional fighters prefer to fight in loose-fitted clothing. There is a reason for this, Pan." Piccolo looked to see her expression, "By wearing loose clothing, you not only allow the body full mobility, but you allow yourself to breathe more easily in the process." Piccolo nodded, "And the best belts are no belts. The belt should only serve to hold the clothing together, not hold your stomach in or keep your pants tight against your body."

Piccolo watched as Pan was getting bored, and raised his voice slightly get her attention again, "But the best clothes to wear are NO clothes."

"Huh?" Pan blinked, "No clothes?!"

"Clothes are not important, Pan. They are only a socially accepted method of remaining modest." Piccolo growled, "But modesty is a weakness." Piccolo shook his head, "Modesty is only significant if a fighter is arrogant by nature and doesn't want to overestimate his own abilities. But if one has too much modesty, and purposely holds back, that can be a problem."

"But I don't see how this has to do with me and being naked."

"Then let me rephrase this." Piccolo coughed and started over, "If you were to be in a battle, and happened to have your gi blown clean off you by a powerful ki blast, you need to be completely comfortable with fighting naked."

Pan's eyes widened, "You're not going to make me–?!"

"–No, I'm not. Don't worry." Piccolo shook his head again. "But you need to be aware that it could happen one day, and you should not hold back." He looked straight at her, "My main point is, not that you need to fight naked, but that you need to wear more fitting clothes that you can move in as if you were naked."

"What? My clothes aren't good enough?" Pan frowned.

"Listen, kid. You really need a new wardrobe." Piccolo looked seriously at her, "Your shirt flies everywhere, and your jeans are too tight on you. You probably lose a good thirty degrees of an angular kick with those." He grunted, "And besides, you outgrew your clothes a long time ago."

"So what do you expect me to do?"

"Nothing. I'm going to give you a new set of clothes, modeled right after Yours Truly."

Pan huffed, "I don't want your clothes."

"Well you're going to get them. And that leads me to another point." Piccolo smirked, and crossed his arms underwater, "As I said before, your hair is coming off."

Pan's eyes widened as she realized what he was implying. Springing back and splashing water everywhere, Pan shouted, "There is no way I'm going to let you cut my hair!!!"

"Well it's too bad. It's been decided."

Pan growled and pointed a finger at him, "WHY?! Why does it have to come off?!"

"Partially because it's dress code, partly because your hair gets in your face, but mostly because your hair can be your own worst enemy if your nemesis manages to grab a hold of it."

"But I have my bandana. My bandana works fine."

"Don't always rely on pieces of fabric holding your body together, Pan." Piccolo smirked, "Fabric seems to be the first thing to go in battles." He paused as if another idea popped into his head, "Left arms, too. Watch out for those." He chuckled as if he had somehow said something funny. Whatever was humorous about it was beyond Pan.

She scowled and then looked sourly to the Namek, "What if I just tie my hair back with my bandana? Can't that work, too?"

"Nope."

Pan could feel desperation rise in her stomach as she realized she might lose something she had been working on growing for so long, "Oh please, Piccolo! Please! I'll do something with it. I'll tie it back, I'll keep it manageable! Just don't take my hair!"

"Stop whining. I already told you I've made my decision."

Pan could feel tears well in her eyes, "Please, Piccolo. Please…"

Without thinking, she reached out her right hand and tenderly touched his knee in pleading. The sudden intimate contact caused Piccolo to jerk his knee back in surprise, but it was enough of a startle to him to get him to blink and then narrow his eyes before looking away.

A pause lingered on the air for a moment. Then Piccolo muttered, "Fine. You can keep it for now." He paused and looked at her, "key words: For NOW."

Pan felt tears of joy fall from her face into the bath. "Oh… Oh thank you Piccolo…" She rubbed her right hand against her eyes, "That means a lot to me."

"Yeah, yeah." Piccolo snorted and laid back, resting his head on the edge of the tub as he closed his eyes, wondering why he always gave in to her.

A long moment of silence then passed between them as they both sat still in the warm water, the steam rising in thick clouds and making the room into a giant sauna.

Pan moved a bit, causing the water to ruffle slightly as she adjusted herself to a more comfortable position.

Another moment passed before Pan looked up hesitantly and coughed softly. "Mr.. I mean… Piccolo?"

His right eye opened a slit, "Yeah?"

"I've been… I've been wondering something." Pan looked to him and paused briefly. "Where… Where were you when… Goku… died?"

Piccolo looked at her oddly, "In Other World." He frowned, "Why?"

Pan's eyes widened, "You were in Other World?! Really?!"

Piccolo raised a brow ridge, "Yeah." He repeated, "Why?"

Pan looked down to her knees, her hair still dripping around her, "Did you… Did you see Goku?"

Piccolo wasn't sure how much he would want to reveal to her. If she had any idea Goku would be returning, she'd never be able to reach her full potential. He'd have to choose his words wisely, "Yes, I did."

"You did?!" Pan's eyes widened, "How was he? What'd you guys do? What'd he say?!"

Piccolo grunted and relaxed his shoulders, "We sat."

"You sat?" Pan blinked. "What did you… sit… about?"

He peered at her, "We sat about the grass."

"You didn't say anything to each other?"

"Not really."

Pan looked down, grimly, "Did he say anything about me?"

"Eh…" Piccolo grimaced as he tried to remember what Goku actually said about Pan. "Oh yeah…" Piccolo nodded, "He told me to tell you he's… 'okay'…"

"Sounds like something he'd… he'd… say…" Pan began to sniffle softly and splashed water on her face to wash away her tears.

"Augh," Piccolo shook his head, "What have I told you about crying? Have you not learned anything in the past months?"

"I'm… I'm…" Pan sniffled, "I'm sorry… I just… I just wish…"

Piccolo sighed and crossed his arms underwater, "What's wrong?"

"I wish Grandpa knew about what happened with the dragonballs, that's all…"

Piccolo was about to reprimand her about using a title, but the rest of her sentence sunk in and caused him to sit back in a confused stupor. "What? What are you talking about?"

Pan sniffled, "You know… the black star dragonballs…"

Piccolo's eyes knotted down in confusion, "Explain."

Pan's eyes went wide as she looked to him, "You… You don't know?!"

"Know what?!"

"How do you think we got that planet in the sky?" Pan blinked.

"I figured Baby used the dragonballs." Piccolo blinked, "Why?" He paused a moment, "He…" His eyes suddenly widened, "He didn't!!!" Piccolo stood straight up, splashing water up in a giant fountain, "HE DIDN'T USE the BLACK STAR dragonballs, DID HE?!"

At first, all that Pan could do was gape and stare at Piccolo's body in a stupor. It suddenly struck her that he had no genitalia. Piccolo wasn't lying when he said that he wasn't of the same species. It was just mind-blowing to her.

"EXPLAIN!!!" Piccolo pointed to her in a seething rage, "NOW!!!"

Pan came out of her shock with fluttering eyes and a stuttering tongue, "Y-Y… You d-didn't know?!"

"GODDAMNIT!!!!" Piccolo screamed and clawed at his antennae, "I didn't know we had a DEADLINE!!!" He threw his fists up in a rage, "$#&T!!!"

"Piccolo…! Piccolo, please! Calm down!"

"Get out." Piccolo growled to her. "Get out, NOW!!!! No more baths! No more breaks! No more sleep unless I grant it! We only have half a year to get you up to par!" Piccolo leapt out of the bathtub and stomped toward the cavern entrance. When reaching the doorway, he turned around and screamed, "BE READY IN FIVE MINUTES!"

Piccolo stormed away from the cavern with stream practically coming from his head. The whole time, cursing Goku in his head, knowing that Goku, as well, had no knowledge of the deadline. Goku you'd better come back in time, or else you're going to have HELL to pay!

And when Goku would return, Pan would be ready. He'd make sure of that. Oh yes, he'd make sure of that.

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-1/26/05-