[To BannedUserName: I really appreciate your criticism! I'm quite inexperienced when it comes to what to write and what not to write for disclaimers and how to communicate a character gasping. (Funnily enough, I know exactly which part you mean!) You also mentioned adding italics to character's thoughts, which I will implement from this chapter onwards.]

I hope you all enjoy this massive chapter!

Chapter 13: Chichi and Little Pan

"I think you guys should hang back over there while I talk to her. I don't wanna shock her too much," Videl advised. The trio begrudgingly moved a few metres away.

Within two knocks, Chichi was there in a flash, looking wide eyed and stressed out. "Did you find him?!" she asked hastily.

Videl gave her the good news, "Yes, we did! And we have an extra guest, too! He looked after the kids while they were gone!"

Chichi ran past her, spotting three familiar figures nearby.

"Mom!" Goten noticed her approach and ran into her arms.

"Goten! My baby! WHERE WERE YOU?!" she roared as she held him tightly.

Bardock answered for him, "You can thank the Namekian Dragon Balls. They were taken to New Namek. So you're Chichi?"

Chichi replied to the man relievedly, "Oh, you took care of them, didn't you-" She took him in properly for the first time. "What the-?! Goku?!" She ran up to the man at light speed and put a tender hand on his cheek. "What happened to your face?! And you asked me who I am, too! UGH, I can't believe you've gotten amnesia! You trained way too hard this time, mister! And why were you away for so long this time?!"

Bardock had an expression of sheer annoyance on his face. His eyelids narrowed as he tried to pry her off of him like she was sticky tape. The only thing was, she just would not let go of him that easily. A stubborn human, for sure. "Let go of-"

"Hey! That's not all, y'know!" Chichi shouted, straining Bardock's ears. "Goten's been away from his summer studies-"

Was Kakarot's voice similar to his, or was this woman that ignorant? He interrupted, "Did you even listen to me?! First off, I'm not your 'darling husband'! I'm Bardock, Kakarot's father. I'm sure you know that name?"

Chichi's response was instantly made known as she looked him up and down with her mouth agape in shock. "That name is what Vegeta likes to call my husband…! Y- You're Goku's father?!"

Her stance shook, and Goten was afraid he might have to stop her from falling over. Though thankfully, she stood firm again as her shock transformed into a state of anger and confusion.

"Where the heck have you been all these years?! He never mentioned you or any of his family except his Grandpa Gohan! Did you know that he was living in the woods all by himself as a child after his grandpa died?! Why didn't you step up and raise him if you're his father, huh?!"

Bardock finally had an opening to speak after that little string of questions. His expression somehow looked angrier than her own. "Lady, I've been 'dead' in this time for a few decades. I travelled in time from the far past to this time about three weeks ago. It would've been an impossible task to go with him to Earth from Planet Vegeta, since all our power levels were tracked! His was low enough to not be noticed."

Chichi was silent after that last part. She solemnly responded, "You… couldn't get here because you would've been tracked here…?"

Bardock replied agitatedly, "That's right. Do you get it, now?"

Trunks, Goten and Videl were silent as the heated exchange continued. Maybe this was why Krillin and Yamcha had bailed out.

Chichi responded with a huff, "Yes, but don't you use that tone with me! Do you realise the work I have to do around here every day whenever Goku goes off training with those gods? I don't deserve any backchat or snark from any of you!"

She immediately switched face and smiled, putting on her hostess mode. "Now, come inside and make yourselves at home. My Goten has to be starving!"

They all quickly entered Chichi and Goten's abode without delay. Bardock took in his surroundings, and his first impression was that it seemed quite warm and cosy. There was a wooden smell that permeated throughout the house and a weird chemical smell coming solely from the kitchen area.

"Take a seat on the couch, everyone," Chichi directed. Everyone did as told, and sat in the living room. Bardock wanted to lay across it, but this woman wasn't worth defying whatsoever - that much he understood, already. Once again, he could see why she and his son were married. These two women had to be some of the fiercest Earthling women he'd ever seen, and they were the only ones he'd seen so far!

Chichi told them with an authoritative tone, "We can talk more about what happened over dinner. Don't touch anything!" She changed to her smiley face again. "And would any of you like a drink?"

Bardock asked for "whatever's strongest", but Chichi admonished him for asking for such a thing with children around. As a result, he was given the weakest of her beverages instead - some plain old water.

Suffice to say, he was a little ticked off at being denied his rightful drink as he not only watched over her youngest child in the fight with Cooler, but also took him back home.

'The nerve of this woman. I'll be sure to have whatever drink I want once she understands the whole damn picture,' he thought angrily.

"So how's your water, Bardock?" Trunks teased him.

"Shut up."

"Aw, don't be like that to your prince!" Trunks said the latter word slowly and teasingly. "Besides, I thought water was a nice, refreshing drink?"

"Any more, and you'll come to know how I can, and will, shut a Saiyan prince's mouth."

"Those sound like fighting words!" Trunks laughed. "But haven't I beaten you today already?"

Videl sighed. "Trunks? Bardock? What are you guys doing?"

"The kid's buggin' me, so I'm giving him a warning," Bardock stated plainly.

"Oh, I get it. You're just cranky 'cause the food isn't ready yet! Well, sit tight and don't antagonise each other. Seriously. Chichi's frying pan packs a surprisingly huge wallop," Videl cautioned.

"Fine, Videl. I'll stop talking to Mister Grumpy Pants here," Trunks teased again.

"Shut the hell up!" Bardock said through gritted teeth.

"What was that?" Chichi glared over at the guests, specifically at a certain Saiyan.

"Nothing at all," Bardock responded flippantly, causing Chichi to slowly bring out her frying pan. (Was it Bardock's imagination, or did a red glow appear around her?)

The man recoiled. "Alright, alright, woman! I won't talk like that around here again, sheesh!"

It was approaching evening, and the Saiyans in the house sat in silence for a moment, each with drinks in hand. The three discussed various things while the women prepared the monstrous amounts of food.

Goten asked Bardock, "Do you like our house?"

"S'alright," he responded in a bored manner.

"I gotta show you around the area sometime! There are so many animals, and everywhere is so pretty!"

""Pretty"," Bardock said in a deadpan tone.

His tone went unnoticed by Goten. "Yeah, there's mountains nearby and they're really cold at the top!"

Trunks commented, "You're really eager to show Bardock everything, aren't you?"

Bardock sighed, "I can tell you don't get many visitors here."

Goten responded, "It's not just that! You're one of my grandpas! That means you're part of the family, so why wouldn't I wanna show you where I live?"

Trunks understood. "Well, you got a point there, Goten."

A while later, the food was all ready, and the Saiyans seated themselves and started chowing down to their hearts' content.

Within two minutes, the table's worth of food was gone from this world, and to no one's surprise, Bardock ate the most. He loved it all - the flavours, the aromas, the textures… they were like nothing he'd ever eaten… though he'd admit that Gine could cook meat just as well as Chichi.

Chichi spoke, "I know the appetites of you Saiyans know no bounds, so I thought I'd wait until you finished before we got to talking." They now had their attention on her, so she asked, "So Goten, what happened when you got taken to New Namek?"

Goten attempted to explain the whole thing. "Well when me and Trunks got there, the green people that looked like Piccolo said that we needed to help fight Frieza's brother so we went and-"

Chichi's face paled in horror. "You two had to go and fight who?!"

Goten continued, "Yeah, he was pretty nasty and wanted to hurt Grandpa Bardock and the green people! He was kinda strong, but me and Trunks helped out like the people asked us to, and we managed to kill him! Well, I was somewhere else when it happened but Trunks was there!"

Chichi exclaimed, her hands tightening around her cup, "Goten! Trunks! You could've been seriously hurt! What will Bulma say about this?!"

Bardock assured her, "She won't have to worry too much about it. The three of us were more than enough to handle that…" He cleared his throat. "…moron. Besides, the journey through space was a smooth one. Nothin' dangerous sprung up on the way here."

Trunks said in a concerned tone, "Mom will still be worried though. She's probably in space thinking about me right now…"

Chichi spoke, "That's right - Gohan told me they were going off to New Namek to get the Dragon Balls to find you two! If I had my way, Gohan would have stayed here on Earth to look after his wife and daughter! But he knows the people there, so he had to leave!" she huffed in annoyance.

Goten continued, "The big green people-"

"Namekians, Goten," Trunks whispered.

"The big green Namekians made three wishes and one of them was to bring me and Trunks there, then to have three cool spaceships, and the third one was to reverse all the destruction!"

"I'm glad the Namekians were responsible with their wishes… mostly," Videl commented.

Chichi butted in, "I wish one of them hadn't been to send two children to fight some intergalactic alien tyrant!"

Goten explained, "Yeah well, it wasn't too bad! You and Gohan taught me how to fight, so it was all okay, really! Anyway, afterwards, we used one of their ships and came home! But boy did we talk about a lot of things on that ship! I did train a little too."

"That about wraps up what happened, more or less. Right Bardock?" Trunks asked with a casual demeanour.

Bardock nodded and said, "I got a whole lot stronger after fighting Cooler. Even went Super Saiyan for a good while."

Chichi groaned, "Not another one! Isn't there some way you can do that without changing your hair to ridiculous colours?"

Bardock appeared flummoxed by the woman's odd perspective on the legendary Saiyan transformation. "I don't know, lady. But does it matter if it gives you the power to defeat your enemies?"

Chichi considered this. "Hm, I suppose there's no helping it. Just don't go parading around here with it on like my husband and Gohan did some years ago! They looked like they were trying to imitate delinquency…" Her eyes grew darker. (Or was that a trick of the light?) "…and that's something I won't allow in my house! And don't call me "lady"!"

Bardock pondered over one piece of interesting information she just shared. "Why were they Super Saiyans in the house?"

Videl explained, "Oh, Gohan told me about that! He said that he and his father wanted to get completely used to the form so it would be less effort to use when they were going to fight Cell."

Bardock responded thoughtfully, "Cell, huh? That strategy seems like a good idea for me to copy, since I want to better control my Super Saiyan form."

Chichi was about to pipe up, but Bardock cut in and waved his hand with a knowing look, "Yeah, yeah, not in your house…"

Trunks asked, "Say, Bardock, where are you gonna be staying?"

Chichi stated, "If you don't have anywhere, you can use the couch, or Goku's old hut."

Bardock shook his head, responding, "I have my own ship with everything I need on it. I'll just bring it around this area and stay in there."

Chichi scowled. "You think you can just drop a ship onto my land like that? It'll ruin the scenery! …Well, because you're Goku's father, and you looked after my Goten, I'll make an exception! I'll show you where you can put it."

Bardock grumbled, "Right."

When Chichi showed him the spot outside, he stated, flying off, "I'll be right back."

While he went to fetch his ship that he left in the desert, Videl turned to Chichi. "I'd better go back home to check on Pan. Give my regards to Bardock!"

Chichi replied, "Hold on a moment, Videl! Why don't we show him Pan tomorrow? She's his great-granddaughter, after all!"

Videl nodded. "Okay, Chichi. I'll bring her by in the morning. See you then!"

Aboard a spaceship that blasted through space…

Bulma was making a lot of noise, tapping this and that button… irritating Piccolo to no end. She was in the process of contacting her father to tell him what happened when they visited New Namek.

A click was heard and Dr. Briefs' voice came through. "Bulma! Is everything okay?"

Bulma responded, "Hi, Dad! We went to New Namek, and the Namekians there told us the kids were on their planet with another Saiyan called Bardock! But, now they've traveled back to Earth, and they should be there as we speak!"

Dr. Briefs hummed as he realised something. "Ah, so that's who was aboard that unknown ship I picked up the other day… Trunks is here now? He didn't come back to Capsule Corp. Maybe he went to where Goten lives… hm…"

Bulma asked him, "Please can you contact Chichi to see if they're there at all?"

Her father said in a chipper tone, "Yes, of course I will! You and the other two travel safely, now! Goodbye!"

Dr. Briefs hung up and wondered, tapping his desk, "Now, where is Chichi's number?" He clicked his fingers. "Ah yes, it's near the house phone! Panchy, honey, are you in the kitchen?" he called to his wife, Mrs. Briefs.

"I am, dear! I'm baking cookies with Bulla!" she called back with her usual, cheery, high-pitched voice.

"Please can you bring me the house phone and the list of numbers? I have to talk to Chichi!"

"Of course dear- Oh! Stay there, Bulla, sweetie! Be right baaaack~!" she sang to the baby.

The next morning with Bardock & Co. at the Son residence, Chichi was hanging out clothes to dry while Bardock sat outside leaning against the house, chewing a piece of straw while in Super Saiyan. The kids were playing nearby under a tree. Trunks had yet to return to Capsule Corp, having slept over at Goten's instead, which was naughty of him. Chichi had sternly told him to go back home before the day's end.

Chichi was just about done with the washing line and approached the lazing Super Saiyan, standing next to him with annoyance written all over her face. "What did I tell you about being a Super Saiyan around here?"

"You said not to do it in your house. In case you haven't noticed, I'm outside."

Chichi couldn't refute that, though she couldn't help but feel antsy about it. (Her Delinquent senses were tingling.)

She turned her attention away from the blonde-haired Saiyan, and regarded the kids a ways off. "I can't believe they're so carefree after their run-in with Frieza's brother."

Bardock grunted. "Hmph. I guess that having enough power at your disposal will make you act that way. They've been trained well - almost too well. I've never seen such strength from mere children before."

Chichi smiled, then asked hesitantly, "I know I might regret asking this, but it's for Goku's sake. Is there any chance that his… mother is…?"

Bardock frowned, looking down. He got up, and walked away from her to go somewhere else. Chichi stared at his back, downcast at the implications behind his solemn response. 'Oh… So she definitely isn't around anymore… How sad… And I made him sad, too!' she thought, frustrated with herself, 'I'll have to make it up to him; I know Pan is coming later, but I don't know how pleased he'll be at seeing her, so I'll try something else as well. How improper of me to ask that on the second day of knowing him!'

She got an idea, and beckoned the kids over to her. "Trunks, Goten, quickly go shopping with this money here and bring back all your favourite foods. We're going to introduce Bardock to more of Earth's food!"

Trunks and Goten beamed at her excitedly. "Alright! Let's head to Satan City, Goten!"

"Yay!"

The two proceeded to fly off at lightning speed. Chichi smiled, and as she reentered her home, her phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello? This is the Son residence."

"Ah, Chichi, dear! Hello. It's me, Dr. Briefs. Would you happen to have Trunks and Goten at your house? Bulma says they should be back by now," Dr. Briefs inquired.

Chichi responded, "Yes, they're both here. Trunks was going to come home before tomorrow. Someone else joined them on their way back to Earth. It's Goku's father, can you believe?"

Dr. Briefs asked interestedly, "Goku's father? You're certain? Bulma mentioned a Saiyan named something similar to Burdock. Is that the one?"

Chichi replied, "Yes, that's him. His name's Bardock, and he and the boys fought some despot called Cooler on New Namek, who was apparently Frieza's brother!"

Dr. Briefs responded, "That Frieza had a brother? He sounds like he was a nasty piece of work. Are the kids alright, then? Considering they had to fight someone that dangerous."

Chichi assured him, "They say that it wasn't too bad, and my Goten was even disappointed that he didn't get to fight him very much!" 'I must talk to him about that later,' Chichi thought to herself. She added, "Trunks and Bardock did most of the work."

Dr. Briefs sighed in relief. "Well, as long as you're all doing well, then there's nothing to worry about! I'll let Bulma and my wife know where Trunks is."

Chichi said sincerely, "I'm sorry I didn't call you yesterday about their arrival back here, Dr. Briefs! I was so caught up in feeding three hungry Saiyans and talking about what they were doing!"

"It's perfectly fine, Chichi. Now I must get going! Goodbye!"

"Bye, Dr. Briefs!" Chichi hung up, and thought to herself, 'The boys should be paying for the food soon. I think I'll make a coffee and wait for Videl and Pan.'

Half an hour later, the kids had brought their favourite foods back, all laid out on the table. Chichi scrutinised their picks. "I'm seeing a lot of sugar on this table, kiddos. We don't want to overwhelm Bardock with all these, you know!" She put her hands on her hips.

Trunks scratched his cheek nervously. "Ahah, well, you said to get all our favourite foods, and… I guess we didn't realise how many sweet things we bought! Haha!"

She squinted accusingly at the two. The kids sweatdropped and apologised profusely. She accepted their apologies, and decided that Bardock could simply judge each food item for himself.

She also reprimanded Goten for his disappointment at not being able to go up against an intergalactic tyrant, saying that "good little boys like you need to not be so eager to get into dangerous fights with men like Cooler".

"I'm sorry, Mom!" Goten then thought to himself, 'But that's exactly what Dad does though… So not fair…'

Chichi also told Trunks that his grandfather just contacted her about their arrival back on Earth, and that his grandfather knows where Trunks is now too.

"Videl and Pan will be here any minute, so you should keep an eye out for them. And tell Bardock to come here when she arrives!" Chichi instructed.

The two boys proceeded to hang around outside the front of the house, and chatted amongst themselves until they decided to fly over to Bardock.

The Saiyan in question was laying down on the entrance ramp of the ship with his eyes closed, and his expression looked annoyed as he worked on maintaining his Super Saiyan transformation while he napped. He initially woke up that morning realising he had reverted to base form while he slept the previous night.

He raised a brow, his eyes still closed. 'Tch. The kids're here.' He found his ki sensing ability to be very useful even for mundane situations.

He slowly opened his bright teal eyes, staring at the sky as they apporoached. Trunks and Goten landed before him and Goten greeted him, "Hi, Grandpa Bardock! Videl's coming round soon with Pan! You definitely have to come and meet her!"

Bardock seemed somewhat bothered by this. He still wasn't used to all the family bonding and friendly people.

Trunks attempted to persuade him, as he was a little bothered himself by Bardock's reaction. "Uh, Pan is your great-granddaughter. So, it would be nice to see her, right?"

Bardock shrugged and sighed, "I guess. How old is she?"

Goten replied cheerily, "She turned 1 a month ago!"

Bardock grumbled, "Hmph. "Pan". Ain't that something you cook with?" The kids were silent, waiting for some kind of actual answer. "…I'll come over in a few," he said, waving them off. He continued to lie there.

Trunks nodded. "Alright, catch ya later Bardock!" The duo proceeded to fly back to the house.

Videl was about to knock on the door but Chichi opened it before she could. "Come in, Videl! Let's set Pan down on the couch. Bardock's going to come over soon… hopefully." Chichi's eyes squinted slightly as she glanced outside.

Videl replied enthusiastically, "Great! I wonder what he'll make of her? His great-granddaughter…! It's kinda crazy, right?"

Chichi said in response, "Not many can look that young whilst having a great-grandchild, so we shouldn't mention it to too many people. Besides, it's not like we could explain that he came to our time from the past!"

Videl nodded, giggling. "I totally agree with that. Oh, here come the kids!"

Trunks walked in followed by Goten. Trunks greeted, "Hey Videl! And you, Pan!" He crouched to Pan's level.

Pan stretched her arms out to Goten, and so Goten held her, smiling.

Trunks looked a bit miffed. "Hey! I was talking to you, Pan! Ugh, never mind. Anyway…" He turned to the two women. "Bardock's going to be coming here soon."

"How soon?" Chichi asked.

Trunks responded, "Well, he said, "In a few"." Chichi seemed to accept the answer, and nodded.

Videl wondered, "Hey, uh, why do we have so many desserts on the table?"

Chichi glared at the boys before answering Videl, "I asked the boys to go get a lot of their favourite foods and let Bardock try them. What I didn't realise is just how much of a sweet tooth these two rascals have," she harrumphed, "Who knows if Bardock will like them? Here's to hoping, I suppose."

A quarter of an hour later, a hard triple knock was heard on the front door. Videl opened it to find a frowning Bardock with his arms crossed. Videl ignored his current demeanour. "Hey Bardock! Come on in! I'll introduce you to your great-granddaughter Pan! Also, the boys brought a bunch of tasty things for you to try!"

Bardock humphed in response, and rigidly walked in.

Chichi noticed his uncomfortable expression and tried to ease the atmosphere. "Bardock! Do you want to meet Pan first, or try some of Goten and Trunks' favourite foods?"

Bardock wandered over to the… brightly-coloured selection of food on the table. He couldn't help but ask the kids confusedly, "What… do you call this stuff…? It doesn't look that edible to me." He circled the table with his hands on his hips. Trunks turned to look at him with his eyelids lowered, somewhat offended that Bardock would question his excellent taste in food.

Goten piped up in surprise, "Hey! Pan! Come back here!"

Pan had quickly shot out of Goten's lap to locate the new voice in the room, and was slowly hovering in the air over to Bardock. She scanned him up and down with wide eyes, looking excited to see him.

"Gran'pa?!"

Bardock failed to see her until she neared his arms. He looked beside him and spotted a very small child no taller than his shins floating in place. He raised a brow in clear surprise. "What the hell? This… baby can already fly?"

Videl responded, "Yep, she sure can! Her name is Pan, don't forget. She seems to think you're Goku, her Grandpa!"

Pan repeated, "Gran'pa!" several times and held her arms out for him to hold her. Bardock just stood there silently, until Videl decided to properly introduce her to him.

She did this by grabbing ahold of Pan and pointing at Bardock. "Pan, honey, this is Bardock! Great-grandpa Bardock!"

Pan was clearly confused. "Ba'do… Gran'pa? Oskee?"

Goten laughed because Pan was thinking of her other great-grandfather, the Ox King. Goten copied Videl's words, "No, Great-grandpa Bardock!"

Bardock tried to focus his attention on the weird-looking food before him, but the girl just kept making noises at him.

"Grey-gran'pa? Grey-gran'pa Oskee?" Pan pointed, still not having caught on.

Everyone except Bardock chuckled lightheartedly. Videl reiterated, "No, Pan, Great-grandpa Bardock!"

"Grey-gran'pa Ba'do!" she repeated excitedly.

"Yes! That's right, Pan! Good job!" Videl clapped.

'It's not, but whatever,' Bardock thought, rolling his eyes.

"Tell you what, Pan, let's sit you down on the table…" Videl did just that, the table still packed full of food, because Bardock had yet to lay a finger on any of it.

But because Pan was now there on the table, Bardock's attention on the food was thwarted. And Pan's attention was solely on this familiar stranger. "Great," he muttered under his breath, "Now this child's even closer to me. I've had enough of interacting with children for a lifetime…"

Despite the girl's staring, Bardock picked up what he didn't know was a cupcake with icing.

Chichi spoke up, "By the way, Bardock, a lot of what the kids brought for you to try today is very sweet. You shouldn't go and eat it all!"

Bardock exhaled and bit into a small potion of the cupcake, with Pan watching him closely with curiosity. She reached out a hand to grab it, to no avail. Bardock's eyes widened and he stared at the sweet item he just tried. "You weren't kidding. This thing is almost sickeningly sweet. I… don't eat too many things like this. And if this is what those two like eating, I don't think I can relate."

"Grey-gran'pa! Hi!" Pan spoke with a very cute and high-pitched voice, and beamed at him, waving her chubby right hand.

Bardock glanced at her once more, sighing. Everyone chuckled, but Pan was a little confused by Bardock's frowning. Everyone she saw always smiled at her, save a few.

"Sad?" She asked as she pointed at him. Bardock was trying his best to ignore her, but she kept pushing.

"Smile okay, Grey-gran'pa? No sad!" she demanded, shaking her head vigorously, making her hair move about. She had always seen her other Grandpas smile at her, so why not her Great-grandpa Bardock too?

Bardock was impressed with her vocal ability at such a young age. And… there was something about her words.

What she had spoken caused some kind of memory within him to stir, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

He remembered children no older than five playing tag on Planet Vegeta… and he was one of them. They all laughed and wrestled each other when one caught the other. He had taken a wrong turn while evading the chaser, and had fallen off a rocky cliff, grazing his legs in the process. As he inspected the cuts, he grimaced and whined angrily for letting that happen. His family wouldn't be pleased with him.

A girl who was also running from the chaser found him and gingerly made her way over to him. "Oh no! Are you okay, Bardock?"

The little boy gasped and frowned in shame that someone had noticed his folly. The girl sat in front of him, examining the areas that started to bleed.

Once she understood what had happened, she held a hand out to him to pull him up. Bardock continued to sit there and he pouted, upset. "It's not fair. I was trying really hard not to go near the edge… and I forgot to fly…"

The girl… no - Gine… She grabbed his arm and yanked him up forcefully. "It's okay… Everyone makes mistakes." When he didn't look at her, she yanked his arm again.

"Hey!" Bardock complained, his expression still sour.

Gine pointed at him, her huge black irises focused on him intently. "Don't be sad. I don't like it when you're sad! Okay?"

That was one of the earliest things he could remember. And it was truly a shame that the last time he saw her, she had been far more upset than that day.

Bardock's lips tightened for a moment. "I don't gotta smile at you to prove that I'm fine, kid," he muttered morosely as he continued browsing the food to find something more appetising while she watched.

Goten was about to pipe up about wanting to grab the pocky sticks that lay on the table until Trunks whispered, "Nah, wait a sec. Don't ruin the scene!" The women smiled at Trunks' comment.

Pan crawled across and grabbed something from the selection, showing it to Bardock.

"What's that?" Bardock asks in a monotonous tone.

"Bagel!" Pan said cheerily. She took a small chomp out of it using her newly-formed teeth and tried to give the man the rest of her bagel.

Those large, dark-grey irises just kept lingering on him, and that chunky arm of hers was outstretched for him for what seemed like a whole minute.

Bardock looked at her offering, being reminded of Berry and the food basket he would always offer him, and so he took it. Unsure if it was sweet or not, he split the bagel in half and gave one half back to her. She held her share with both her hands while Bardock had a bite of his.

"Not bad," he stated while eating, "At least something here is sort of savoury."

"Hey, can we have some?" Goten asked his mother.

Chichi responded, "Well, I suppose you can have a few things. But no more than that, Goten! Too much sugar is bad for a kid your age!"

Videl commented, looking at the massive spread, "All of that would be bad for anyone at any age…"

Videl went over to her daughter and praised her, "Good girl, Pan!" Videl stroked her soft head. "Great-grandpa likes the bagel! Are you going to eat your half?"

Pan looked at the bagel, then at Bardock, then at her mother. She smiled, taking another bite, then she offered the rest to her mother.

Videl's eyes sparkled as her mouth flew open in surprise. "You're giving it to me, Pan?" She took one small bite and hugged her. "Thank you! You're such a good girl! Wait until Daddy hears about what you did!"

Bardock turned his head away, feeling socially worn out. He was also feeling awkward around the small thing that was related to him, but the others were sure he'd get used to her.

He muttered to himself, "Pfft. How mushy can you get. That kid better not be coddled. She's part Saiyan, for crying out loud."

Bardock decided he needed to get away from the tot and stood by the wall, his half-bagel consumed entirely.

That's when he noticed several framed photographs and trinkets on a shelf close to him.

[Author's notes: You might think Goten wouldn't have the word "kill" in his vocabulary, but in Sparking Zero, there's an interaction he has with Super Buu where he says he's going to kill him, lol.

And yeah, Chichi's bold text was on purpose!

And, this chapter somehow gained 1000 words while I edited it before publishing it today.]