Gohan gave a started cry as he appeared midair over a jungle with Pan in his arms. He tumbled a bit, shocked and surprised, before righting himself and looking around. Where in the world...

He closed his eyes, throwing his ki sense wide. Videl, Vegta, Shin, Dad, they weren't here. To be honest, something was weird about this planet. There was plant life here, but, he couldn't detect a single person's ki signature. Strange, but, not his concern for the moment. Shin had been right, Pan could somehow teleport to other dimensions.

Gohan slowly and carefully descended through the treetops until he touched down on the ground. He glanced down at Pan who had fallen unconscious in his arms. Gently, he set her down on the most even ground and sat down next to her, leaning against a tree. He kept a careful eye on her, if anything green so much as appeared around her he'd latch on. He was NOT going to lose his daughter again.

He sighed. "Pan... when you wake up you and I are going to have a long talk about pulling crazy stunts like that. Kaio-Ken and Super Saiyan 2... I... could have lost you again..."

He glanced at her, a sad smile on his face, before he gently ran a hand through her hair. He wiped a tear away from his eye and crossed his arms, staring off into the distance, waiting for his daughter to awaken...

Goku, Videl, Vegeta, and Shin stood in a circle at the center of a portal room, mulling over their options.

"We should start searching for them right away!" said Videl.

Vegeta shook his head. "No, Gohan knows about the portals, all he has to do is find the one on whatever world he ended up in."

Shin nodded. "I concur, it would be best if we simply waited for them to return. If we kept on venturing through the worlds, we might miss them."

Goku frowned. "Not to mention, we have no idea where they will come out from. There are endless portal rooms. We need to stay out here and keep our senses open, or, at least I do."

Vegeta glared at him. "Excuse me Kakarot?"

Goku smiled softly. "We'll, you can wait too. We'll stand by our home dimension portal. Once I sense Gohan, I'll Instant Transmission, grab them, and teleport back to you. Videl, Shin, you two should go home."

Videl shook her head. "No! I'm not going back without my husband and daughter!"

Goku walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Videl, Pan's still hurt. I need you to go back, get Dende, and check with Korin for more Sensu beans, and bring em to the portal. Okay? It's got to be you, because I think Shin will need to go report to the Omni-Kings when he gets back."

Shin nodded. "Agreed, lets go."

"A... ah...," came a soft whimper next to Gohan.

He blinked and glanced down, seeing his daughter wince before she slowly, and weakly, opened her eyes. "Oww..."

It was a dumb question, he knew, but, "You okay Pan?"

Pan scowled weakly. "Sure... never been better dad..."

Pan's face blanked for a moment. She slowly turned her head, looking up at Gohan in disbelief.

"D-dad...?!" she whispered.

He smiled. "Hey there pumpkin."

"Daddy..." she whispered again, "Daddy!"

She tried to set up, and moved her arms towards him before she collapsed back down, screaming in pain. "Gaaaaah!"

Gohan immediately moved and put his hands on her shoulders. "Pan! You can't move right now, your in really, really bad shape."

"You don't... need to tell me... twice...," grimaced Pan, "Son of... a bitch..."

Gohan blinked a few times and scowled. "Pan, where did you get a mouth like that?"

Pan averted her eyes. "Erm... from... a few friends of... mine..."

Gohan smiled softly, a chuckle escaping him. "I'll let it slide, just don't let your Grandma hear that king of language."

"Hee hee," whispered Pan weakly.

Gohan's voice began to shake. "I-I'm... so glad that we finally found you Pan. I'm going to give you a bit to rest, then, were going home."

Pan trembled, closing her eyes, tears flowing down her face, a blissful expression on her face. "H-home..."

Gohan slowly brought his hand down to thumb through locks of Pan's hair. "Pan... I'm... really proud of you."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, redness entering her face. "..."

"We arrived at the end of your battle with that Kojin guy," he explained, "I heard what you said Pan. I've never been more proud of you in my life than that moment."

Rather than look happy, to his surprise, she looked away with remorse on her face. "I couldn't... I couldn't save Bata... she brought me... me..."

Pan began to cough hoarsely. Gohan hesitated for a moment before he placed an arm on her shoulder. He didn't know if her body was ready yet, but, he poured energy into his daughter, trying to replace some of her lost strength. He pulled away a moment later.

Pan sniffled. "She brought me back to life dad, I... I just stood there, stood there while Kojin murdered her."

Gohan shook his head. "It's not your fault Pan."

"It is though, its all because of me...," she cried, "Bata never would have died if I hadn't come along."

"Pan... she doesn't hold it against you. She was happy that Kojin was dead, and that you were alive, she told us she wanted us to say goodbye to you for her," said Gohan.

Pan gave him a confused look. "T-told you?"

"She talked through the Grand Kai of that world," explained Gohan, "She also said she'd get an old man and a lizard man back for you."

A mischievous look briefly crossed Pan's face. "Bata... not such a goody two shoes anymore are you? Hee hee."

Gohan ran a hand through his daughter's hair again. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Pan, sorry you had to see your friend die, sorry you had to kill that man..."

Anger flashed across Pan's face. "Sorry? Kojin was scum! He deserved to die!"

Gohan's blood ran cold for a moment as he locked eyes with Pan. There... there was a coldness, a hardness he had never been prepared to see, nor ever wanted to see, in them. Wait... where was it? Where was that happy, playful, innocent look he had always seen in his daughters eyes? Where had it gone? Gohan shivered, detecting a dark edge to her ki, but was unable to bring himself to ask the question he wanted to know so badly, but also feared: Pan, what had happened to you?

Instead, he merely cleared his throat. "Pan, you should never want to kill someone. Even I didn't want to kill Cell."

Pan looked away from him. "Hmph, I forgot how soft you all were."

Gohan went silent.

"Dad... our home is a lie," she said softly, "The dimensions... they're awful, awful places. You can't be weak, you can't show mercy to people like that, or everyone you care about will die. And even then, they still die..."

Gohan couldn't help himself, he put a hand under her back, helped her sit up, and embraced her in a fierce hug. "Don't say that Pan."

"Its true!" she sobbed, "I lost them all. Bata, Aideen, Aneurin, all the people of Haven..."

Gohan paused for a moment, a hopeful thought coming to the forefront of his mind. "Well, you almost lost Aideen."

Pan sharply pulled away from him and gave him a shocked look. "A-almost?"

Gohan smiled. "We came to Terra a few hours after you disappeared from it. Aneurin was badly hurt, but alive, and that crazy Odianna girl was using her energy to keep Aideen alive. So, I offered a Senzu and..."

He gave a startled yelp when Pan tackled him to the ground. "DADDY!"

She buried her face into his chest, crying uncontrollably. "Aideen's alive, Aideeeeeen's aliiiveeee!"

Gohan put his arms around her, rubbing her back gently. "Shhh Pan, shh..."

Minutes dragged by, with nothing but the sounds of Pan's relieved cries filling the air. Finally, Pan got ahold of herself and pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I... I have to go back to Terra!" said Pan, "I have to help them!"

Gohan winced. "Pan... you can't go back."

Pan looked at him in disbelief. "Why?!"

He shook his head. "Aideen told us to tell you not to worry about her, but, that you couldn't return or Odianna would kill you. She means it too, that crazy girl almost killed me."

Pan frowned. "Odianna..."

She clenched her fists. "I don't care if she'll kill me."

Gohan placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know if you need to worry about them anymore. Odianna kinda stole a bag of Senzu's from me and said she was going to grow them in the time chamber. Not to mention, she got Shin to remove the time limit on their Time Chamber after she... er..."

Pan stared at him and spoke with voice so calm it unnerved him. "After she did what dad?"

Gohan frowned. "After she took your mother hostage and threatened to kill her."

Pan nodded, and to Gohan's surprise, didn't seem particularly fazed. "So, they have infinite Senzu beans, and infinite time in the time chamber..."

To Gohan's shock, a wicked grin spread across Pan's face. "Yeah... they don't need me anymore. Odianna, she's going to kill every single damn Saiyan in that universe now. Good riddance."

Gohan stared quietly at his daughter. It hit him, then and there, that while he had some clues, he had absolutely no idea of the depths of what Pan had gone through, and how much she might have changed. She... she wasn't the same innocent little girl she had been before it all began. There was a pain in her eyes... it was a pain that shattered his heart. Something had warped and twisted within her, the Pan he knew, his innocent sweet little daughter would never condone, let allow agree with something like genocide.

A protective fear crossed his face. He needed to get her out of here, out of these places and back home where it was safe, where she could recover and heal alongside her friends and family. Where they could fix whatever was wrong. Nor more searching, no more waiting, it was time to go, now.

He picked Pan up, cradling her in his arms and started moving. "C'mon Pan, let's go home."

"Dad... put me down, I can walk now," said Pan.

"Humor your father," was his only reply.

He winced and came to a stop when she squeezed his arm hard, using his own gifted strength against him. "I am not some weak little girl anymore. Put. Me. Down."

"You've never been weak to me Pan," said Gohan.

She only stared up at him in silence, looking vexed. With a sigh, Gohan set her down. Pan wearily stood on her feet, her legs wobbly. One step at a time, she started forward without looking back. Gohan watched her walk in silence. He had never thought she was weak, but, she was right in a way. She might have been badly hurt, might have gone through awful things that left her extremely emotionally and mentally raw, but, she walked with an inner strength he wasn't used to seeing in her. She was only nine though, she shouldn't have to have that kind of strength yet, should never have had to go through anything like what he had gone through. He closed his eyes. He had wished, prayed the moment she had been born, that she'd never have to experience a childhood like his own. That she could grow up happy and content, being whatever she wanted to be in the world. It hurt, it hurt to recognize he had been unable to protect her when it mattered most.

"How exactly do we get back home?" asked Pan, "And where is everyone else?"

Gohan opened his eyes and jogged to catch up. "Well, I was holding you after we gave you a senzu..."

"Oh, that's how I'm alive," murmured Pan, "Thought for sure I was gonna die."

Gohan scratched his head. "Well, you teleported us to another dimension. To get out without that ability of yours, we have to find a portal. It will be hidden, but, the moment we pass near it, it will try to drain our energy to power up and open."

"And it could be anywhere on the world?" asked Pan.

"Yeah," confirmed Gohan.

"Great," grumbled Pan.

"It's always ground level though, so that helps a bit," said Gohan.

Pan nodded, but said nothing in return. The walked in silence for an hour.

"Pan, it would be faster if we flew. I know you don't want to be carried, but your not really strong enough to fly at the moment," said Gohan.

Pan slowly came to a stop and sighed. "Fine, but, piggyback instead of being carried."

Gohan smirked, just like when she was a little kid. He knelt down in front of her, she put her arms around his neck and latched on. With that, Gohan began to fly ground level, slowly picking up the pace and weaving through the jungle. He wasn't going to go top speed with Pan still weakened. It would probably take a few hours, at minimum, but, they'd find it. They had too...

"Kakarot," said Vegeta.

Goku glanced over at his rival who was leaning on the wall on the other side of their home dimension's portal. "Yeah?"

"You got off lucky," said Vegeta, "This could have taken decades to find her. Perhaps we may never have found her at all if it wasn't for the girl's mother."

Goku sighed and slid to the ground. "Yeah..."

"And just because we found her doesn't mean it excuses you," continued Vegeta, "Kakarot, that wish of yours was foolish, and I don't mean just because of what happened to your Granddaughter."

Goku was silent.

"You've opened a can of worms of the likes we've never seen before," said Vegeta, "What we've encountered thus far, what Pan's encountered this far, is only the beginning."

Vegeta sighed. "Were not that young anymore Kakarot. I've lost count of how many days we've spent inside the time chamber, or inside Whis's staff dimension. Counting our normal age along with that, I don't think we've got more than a decade or two until our age starts catching up with us."

Goku blinked a few times. "Huh?"

"Kakarot you idiot, what I'm saying is we're getting old!" barked Vegeta.

Vegeta rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Saiyans may stay in their prime for far longer than humans, but we pay for it when we start to age into our elder years. We gray fast and hard. We become frail former shadows of ourselves. When that happens, we wont be able to fight anymore, we wont be able to save our families out of the constant mess we all seem to get into."

Goku went silent, brooding over it.

"Kakarot, were not going to be able to help them when this all comes to a head. Its only just begun, our group is probably the only mortals who know how to cross dimensions, but it wont remain that way. In twenty years, I imagine there will be hundreds of dimensions, if not thousands, that have discovered how to cross over," said Vegeta, his voice heavy.

"What you're saying is, you and I wont be able to do a damn thing if an enemy comes from another dimension," said Goku.

Vegeta nodded. "Correct. I wish I could say our children could rise to the occasion, but, I can't. My... little Bra trains somewhat, but its only to appease me, she doesn't want to fight. Trunks is starting to follow in his mother's footsteps, and lets not even talk about your two sons! Kakarot..."

Goku was shocked to see Vegeta look a little distraught. "If we weren't here right now, from what we just saw, the strongest, reliable warrior on our world would be your Granddaughter, your damn nine year old granddaughter! Buu is always sleeping, and Uub isn't anywhere near his prime, heck, we don't even know if he can become as strong as Kid Buu was. We cant rely on the other universes for immediate aid. I look at our bloodline's future..."

Vegeta shook his head, his tone bitter. "...and I just see it ending."

"Vegeta...," was all Goku could manage to say.

The two of them stayed there, brooding to themselves in a heavy silence...

"Bleh," said Pan, spitting out a few berries she had tried, but failed, to eat.

"I'd tell you not to be picky, but, I agree," said Gohan with distaste.

Pan's stomach rumbled loudly. "Of all the ways to die, I'd rather have Kojin break me in half and blow me up again than starve to death."

Gohan frowned intently, his temper rising, he was NOT pleased to learn how Pan had died. He knew she was making a joke, but, the way she so casual referred to it was also a little alarming. Then again, dad and Vegeta kind of did the same thing.

Gohan sighed. "Well, I can agree I guess, getting blown up by Kid Buu's death ball while unconscious is probably a better way to go as well.

They both exchanged glances and laughed a little before they resumed flying, with Pan still hanging on piggyback style. They weren't so much looking for the portal as they were edible food.

"Hmm," murmured Pan.

"What's up?" asked Gohan.

"I was wondering about this world we landed in. I don't feel anyone. I thought maybe it might have been purged like Terra was, but, there's plantlife everyone and I don't see any ruins. Though, now that I think about it, I don't sense any animals either, it's weird," said Pan.

Gohan nodded, he was starting to have a bad feeling all the sudden. "Agreed..."

"Hungry, I'm hungry..."

Gohan froze for a moment.

"Dad, I know you're hungry to, but, don't project it into my head," murmured Pan.

"That wasn't me," murmured Gohan.

"Hungry hungry hungry, Cuu is hungry."

Gohan stopped midair and began to pass his gaze over the area. For a brief moment, he thought he felt something..

"Dad, something is watching us," said Pan warily, "Its ki is..."

She frowned. "Damn, its gone."

"Hungry hungry hungry hungry!"

"Join the club! I'm hungry too!" shouted Pan aloud.

Gohan winced. "I don't think you should encourage..."

His eyes went wide as he felt a surge of wicked evil, somewhat familiar, and extremely powerful ki.

"Dad... that things power...," Pan whispered.

"CUU IS HUNGRY!" a maniacal voice shouted.

Gohan whirled around to see...

Oh kami...

Floating out of the tree tops towards them was a blue Majin Buu. More specifically, a lean muscular version like the Super Buu Gohan could recall fighting. This was bad... even if Pan was also at full power, they didn't stand a chance against this thing.

"Mr. Buu?" Pan asked, confused.

"Buu? I Cuu, not Buu!" replied Cuu.

"Pan, you really know how to pick your dimensions to teleport too," murmured Gohan.

Pan raised a hand and bonked him on the head.

Cuu licked its lips. "Cuu is hungry..."

Well, that answered where every living person or animal on the planet was. Cuu had probably turned them into candy and ate them... wait... maybe they could talk their way out of this.

"Cuu, you like candy right? We have lots of candy back home if you'll...," Gohan began.

Cuu tilted his head. "Candy? What is candy?"

Gohan began to sweat. "Uh... er..."

"Cuu no want 'candy'," it licked its lips again, "Cuu want meat."

Pan's eyes went wide with fear. "DAD! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Gohan turned Super Saiyan and bolted. Cuu began to laugh and started flying leisurely after them.

"Pan, now would be a great time to teleport us to another dimension!" exclaimed Gohan.

"I don't know how I do it!" Pan yelled.

WHAM

Cuu slammed a fist into Gohan's side, knocking him to the ground. Pan gave a yelp, flipping through the air, before hitting the ground as well, cringing in pain. Gohan groaned, rising to his feet, his Super Saiyan aura flickering on and off. One hit... one measly hit... this was even worse then his first encounter with the pink fat Buu. Before Gohan could react, Cuu was after him. The blue blob monster latched onto him, expanded its mouth, revealing dagger like teeth, and bit down into Gohan's shoulder. Gohan screamed in agony, feeling the creature begin to rip and tear his through his tendons.

"GET OFF MY DADDY!" screamed Pan.

Gohan watched over Cuu's shoulder, stunned, as Pan, wounded and weak as she was, exploded in power. She ascended to Super Saiyan 2 and burst forth, slamming a fist into Cuu and launching him off of Gohan. Gohan staggered and fell away, rolling along the ground and coming to a stop. He winced, struggling to rise to his feet before he felt something strange. It was like his power was being drained by...

His eyes went wide, turning to see the outlines of a portal begin to materialize. They had found it! He turned back to Pan, ready to shout for her to run to him, only to see Cuu shoot a beam of energy through her chest. The girl screamed, flew back, landing near Gohan's feet, her aura fading.

"PAN!" Gohan screamed in terror, scrambling over to her and picking her up.

"D-dad... I can't... feel my legs...," whispered Pan, her voice weakened and pained.

Gohan looked down, the hole in her chest was dead center, Cuu had blown through her spine... how... how dare that thing!

Cuu licked its lips and raised a hand towards them. "Cuu like cooked meat more!"

For a moment, Gohan felt his anger and rage begin to skyrocket as Pan's ki began to fall. He could feel himself begin to ascend to the next level. He ground his teeth, and held it back, it wouldn't be enough. Even him going Super Saiyan 2 wouldn't work, he... was too weak... every single damn time... he was to weak because of being a damn scholar. There was only one thing that could save them now, and he hated himself for it.

"I know where's lots of meat!" shouted Gohan in desperation.

Cuu froze. "Lots... of... meat?!"

Gohan nodded, trying to keep his rage out of his voice, and pointed to the portal slowly forming behind him. "Through there."

Cuu stared at it before walking forward. "Cuu want meat! Cuu go see if meat, you two come too! If no meat, Cuu eat you!"

Cuu grabbed them, fed the portal energy, then threw them through.

Gohan flew off the ledge the portal he came through was on and fell to the ground, wincing and trying to cradle Pan.

Cuu walked through the portal and frowned. "Cuu no see meat. So, Cuu eat you two."

Gohan stopped holding back his power. He let it burst out, the imagine of the beam piercing Pan's chest fresh in his mind. His power exploded, ascending for the first time in a long time to Super Saiyan 2.

But he did not fight, instead, he focused all of his energy into powering up like a beacon, and screamed, to his great shame, one single word, a word he had always been forced to turn to in order to save himself and his friends, "DAD!"

Goku blinked, feeling a huge surge of ki. "Woah, been awhile since Gohan..."

"IDIOT!" roared Vegeta, "They're not alone and Pan's ki is dropping!"

Goku Instant Transmissioned as fast as he could without another word, reappearing in time to see a blue version of Super Buu rushing towards Gohan, who had a big bite wound on his shoulder and Pan...

He froze.

Pan... who had a hole in her chest...

Goku was there instantly, his hair spiking and turning blue, his face contorted with anger, and grabbing the blue Buu by the throat. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Goku threw the Majin back and spoke with a deadly tone. "I'm going to say this once, and only once. Go back to wherever you came from, now."

The Majin licked its lips. "Cuu not scared of blue haired man! Cuu not feel any energy at all! Cuu eat man, Cuu eat other man, Cuu eat little girl, then Cuu find more people too..."

Goku sighed with resignation, raised a hand, and obliterated Majin Cuu in a single blast. "Dammit."

"Dad! Pan's ki is dropping!" yelled Gohan.

Goku rushed over, put a hand on Gohan and Pan, and Instant Transmission'd them back to Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince took one look at them before grabbing Gohan and rushing him through the portal home while Goku grabbed Pan and brought her through himself.

All Pan saw and felt for a time since she fell unconscious was empty blackness. Slowly... very slowly... she began to feel something...

"Please! Please tell me its working!" came a woman's voice, it almost sounded like mom.

"I am, please give me space. Repairing a spinal injury, particularly a 'missing' part of a spine, isn't as easy as restoring or healing flesh," came another voice that sounded a lot like Dende.

Pan winced, suddenly starting to be able to feel her toes.

"Oh! Her foot moved!" yelled a voice.

"Krillin, were right here, no need to shout," came another voice.

"Well sorry, I haven't seen the kiddo for almost a year, and she comes back with a hole in her gut, I'm tryin not to flip out here!" retorted the voice.

"Have some patience, she'll be fine," calm a calm, commanding voice, was that... Tien?

Pan flinched, suddenly regaining most of her senses. In that instant she had felt everyone's ki around her. Ki signatures she hadn't felt in a long time, over a year counting her time in the time chamber. Her family, her friends...

The only way they were here was...

If she was home...

"Umm... she should be healed now... Pan are you awake?" asked Dende.

Pan laid there, feeling numb. She felt frightened and unsure if she really wanted to open her eyes or not. She had wanted over a year to come home, had hungered for it. But, at that moment, she wondered if she could actually go back to life as it had been before, and even if she could, did she want to? She remembered what she had told her father, calling their home a lie. It had been raw, but, she meant it in a sense. The peacefulness she had her entire life up to the point where she went to Terra, it didn't seem to exist anywhere else that she had been. If she tried to go back to the way things were before, would it make her weak?

Regardless of that question, she couldn't just lay there forever. Slowly, and unwillingly, she opened eyes, sighting way to many faces leaning over to look at her, big dumb huge childlike smiles on their faces. Vegeta, Tien, and Piccolo stood a ways away and were the only ones who kept their composure and serious manor, though, Pan felt certain she briefly saw a smile on Piccolo's face.

She couldn't figure out what to say or do. She had dreamed about this moment, and now that it was here, she just laid there, a passive, almost sad look on her face, watching people watch her. Despite being healed, she just felt drained and tired. She felt like crying, but like hell was she going to do that in front of everyone.

Goku leaned a bit closer and offered a hand. "Heya Pan!"

She glanced up at him, she had one idea of what to say all the sudden and spoke, her tone less than friendly and rising, "Grandpa..."

Goku winced and slowly lowered his hand. "Y-yeah?"

"If you ever make a wish like that again, I swear I'm going to blast you into space," said Pan scornfully.

All that could be heard for miles was the sound of laughter...