Potara flew aimlessly through the sky still in her Blue state, resisting the urge to scream her head off and fire ki blasts everywhere. Fury didn't even begin to describe what she felt right now. She had come so close, only to be denied by a memory of a warning of the future. Her purpose for being created had just been thrown away. She could have tried anyway, but the fear had overtaken her. Fear of dying, of being erased, of not even having an afterlife. She had cowardly backed down, and it humiliated her. After ALL of that, she just backed down like a scared little girl. Mere twelve years old or not (or less than an hour old depending on how she looked at it) shouldn't have mattered.

She ground her teeth, she couldn't even lash out at the environment at full power without destroying the world. DAMMIT, she just wanted to hit something right now. She stopped flying, gave a cry of rage, and threw her fist forward...

ZIP

"Hey Potara I...," started Goku after teleporting infront of her.

He paused, and she paused, her fist centimeters from his face.

Potara glared at him and pulled back. "You're lucky I have more control than Pan did otherwise I would have taken your head off. And did you learn nothing from Pan? Just randomly teleporting infront of people is libel to get you hit, hard."

Goku bashfully scratched his head. "Woops. I'm not that good at learning my lessons."

Potara stared at him. "No shit."

Goku winced at that. "Um... Potara... I just want to talk..."

"And I just want to hit something," she spat back.

Goku smirked and went blue. "Trade?"

She stared at him, eyes narrowing. "You are far stronger than Pan was, but not me. You are not capable of taking what I can dish out."

"Try me," was Goku's response, crossing his arms infront of him.

Fuck it. She had warned him. Potara flew at him and slammed a fist into his arms as hard as she could. Goku gave a pained yelp and was sent flying at the impact, a shockwave emanating from where she had hit. She smirked at that, even if Pan and the Doll were nothing compared to to Son Goku on their own, their powers fused and combined into her were something else entirely. And yet...

She seethed. "Yet... its nothing compared to what I had, what I just lost. I could spend the rest of my life, and thousands of yeas of the afterlife, training, and never get back even close to what I had."

Goku flew back, studying her. "Does it matter to you that much?"

She glared at him full force. "YES! You can't even imagine what it felt like to have that power, pure bliss doesn't even describe it, and now that its gone..."

She hung her head, powering down. "I just... feel so empty without it. It feels like I'm missing something important... the sensation is awful."

She shook her head, turned and started flying off. "Forget it."

"Hey Potara, I thought we were trading? Can't we talk now?" asked Goku, powering down and starting to fly after her.

Potara rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, now you want to talk, just like you always 'talked' with Pan? What, want to yell at me for risking the Earth? Call me a villain? Call me irresponsible for..."

"No," interrupted Goku.

Potara stopped flying and turned to stare at him. "..."

"I'm not here to blame you or scold you or anything like that, I just... I just want to talk," said Goku, his voice desperate.

Potara stared at him warily. The hell was he acting like this for? She played over his actions during the fight against the gods. He had been angry at the gods, refusing to help them. He had given her the idea to mix God Ki and the Energy of Creation. And as much as she hated him for it, he had probably saved her life for reminding her of Bardock's vision.

Speaking of which...

Potara had him by his throat a second later. "You want to talk? I want an answer first. Do you understand?"

Goku made no move to remove her hand and merely nodded.

"Bardock's warning...," she began.

Bardock turned to Goku. "Kakarot, you remember that person, don't you? The one who stopped you from making a certain wish at the end of the Universal Survival Tournament?"

Goku stiffened, a shocked look crossing his face. "How do you know about... that person?"

Bardock merely smiled and poked his head. "I can see the past too because of the ring."

Goku nodded slowly, his eyes briefly turning towards Pan before going back to Bardock. "What about... that person?"

"When the time comes, and you meet that person again...," began Bardock.

Goku's eyes went wide. "Wait, what? That person's alive?!"

Bardock hesitated. "Not yet... well... in a manner of speaking, ish... grrr, its hard to explain without endangering that future."

Bardock took in a breath and slowly let it out. "When the time comes, and you meet that person again, you need to stop that person from trying to commit the same mistake you were going to make with that wish of yours. If that person tries it, that person will die and everything will spin out of control. When the moment arrives, and you'll know it when it does, tell that person to have faith in 'them'."

Goku slowly nodded, a deeply troubled look on his face, his eyes flickered to Pan again before going back to Bardock. "Okay. I'm not sure I really understand how that person can be alive but not be alive, nor why that person would make the same mistake that person stopped me from making, but, I'll try when the time comes."

"What the hell was he talking about?" Potara demanded, "You've met me before? How? I was just born!"

Goku hesitated. "Well..."

"No lies, no games, you have one chance or I'm done with you," she warned.

"I can show you then," he offered.

"Do so," she said, her voice thin.

Goku reached a hand forward and placed it on her forehead...

Goku ground his teeth. He wanted to explain that this was all wrong, but, he felt as if his words would fall on deaf ears. He couldn't let this happen again, couldn't let this madness go on. He should have realized something like this could have happened after Omni-King had obliterated future Trunk's timeline along with Zamasu. He just thought it would never have gone this far.

He glanced at the last ball, any wish within their power. A thought came to him that he never would have acknowledged before. But, this tournament had made him do a lot of things he had never wanted to do before. The only power that could stop the Omni-Kings was their own power. The wish was granted instantly, without pause. He could wish for the Omni-Kings to disappear, to cease to exist, and they wouldn't be able to stop it…

"Don't do it!" a girl's voice screamed in his mind.

Goku glanced up, startled. Behind the throne of the Omni-Kings stood a translucent form of a young girl, dressed in strange clothes that looked like an orange mix of the clothing of a Kai and a turtle hermit gi, complete with green Potara earrings. She was bloodied and battered, her clothes ripped, blood oozing from heavy wounds across her body. Her hair, he was startled to see her hair was standing upright, shining with the blue of a saiyan god. He couldn't believe it, she couldn't be more than twelve years old, yet she had gone blue. Her face, for some reason, held a level of familiarity to it.

The girl fell to her knees, her power fading, her hair and eyes turning to a normal black color, letting Goku see a swirling black portal behind her. Pieces of her body were starting to disintegrate and flow back into the portal. The girl gave a bloody smile, and again, her words filled his ears.

"D-don't do it, p-please, have… have hope in them…" the girl begged, life leaving her body and eyes.

"Wait!" Goku cried out, holding out a hand.

The Omni-Kings looked behind their throne before glancing forward again. "Wait for what Son-Kun?"

Could the Omni-Kings not see her? He watched as she collapsed, a single patora earring falling off her ear. She reached out, struggling to try to grasp the earring. A single, tired, word filled his ears before the earring, her body, and the portal disintegrated.

"Potara…"

Goku stood there, mortified, his hand falling back to his side. A sense of dread filled him, for some reason, the fact that the portal had disintegrated instead of closed scared him and left a sense of finality that he was unfamiliar with. He made a guess since he had never met her, and that she knew what his wish was, that despite not having a time machine she was from the future. Yet, he couldn't shake the fact that she looked familiar, shared qualities with someone he knew… wait…

He glanced back towards his universes bleachers, at Videl and then the infant in her arms. He took one look at the child before recognition took over and horror crept into his body. The girl, the girl was his granddaughter. He turned to look past the Omni-King's throne, seeing his granddaughter disintegrate into nothingness over and over again in his mind.

He closed his eyes, fighting back tears. He recognized that whatever had happened in her timeline was his fault. He… he had killed his granddaughter, no, if he had to guess, he had probably led to the deaths of who knows how many people in that timeline by destroying the Omni-Kings, maybe everyone. The Omni-Kings were the gods of everything, who knows what would happen without them.

Potara frowned intently as the shared memory finished. That memory raised far more questions than it answered, but, first things first.

"That wasn't me," said Potara.

"Huh?" asked Goku.

"Her eyes and earrings weren't red," said Potara flatly, "Not to mention her clothes aren't exactly the same. She might be a fusion, she might share my name, but she sure as hell isn't me."

Potara did not let go of Goku's throat, instead, she tightened her grip, making him wince. "So that's what, twelve years? Twelve years you kept that a secret? Or was it just hidden from Pan?"

"Told... Vegeta...no one else," Goku stammered out.

Potara shook her head and threw him back. "Pitiful, you people and your damn secrets, always holding Pan back, condemning her, keeping things from her."

Goku rubbed his throat and frowned. "I don't get you Potara. Do you actually hate Pan? You say you do, but, you're always so quick to her defense."

Potara ground her teeth. "Idiot. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Then explain it to me," he said forcefully.

"Why do you care?" she said bitterly.

"Because I want to understand you," he answered honestly, "You're really confusing to be honest. I'm not sure if you mean half the things you say or do."

Potara couldn't help but growl at him. "I mean EVERYTHING I say. I hate Pan, I hate her with a passion... she... what she did was unforgivable!"

Goku gave her a confused look. "Huh?"

"She left me here to deal with this mess!" Potara yelled at him, "She took the cowards way out!"

Goku narrowed his eyes. "Pan was many things, but she was NO coward. I don't think being forced to fuse was taking a cowards way out, in fact, she didn't even have..."

"A choice?" said Potara bitterly, "You're an idiot. She had every choice. She had God Ki, she COULD have fought the fusion off!"

Goku stared at her in disbelief. "What...?"

She met his eyes grimly. "You really don't get it, do you? Or did you forget? Pan was given a piece of advice by Bardock as well..."

Bardock slowly shook his head and turned towards Pan. Rather than speak, he stared at her for a few minutes, appearing to mull something over.

He closed his eyes. "Pan, there are so many things I could say, things I could try to change, but... I think rather than give you a warning or a suggestion, I'll ask you a question."

Pan felt curious, and a little wary at his words. "What is it?"

"Would you sacrifice everything, even who you are as a person, if it meant standing up for what you believe in and, in your mind, protecting your friends and family?" asked Bardock.

Pan didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Gohan stiffened, looking back and forth between Pan and Bardock before demanding. "Why ask that question Bardock?"

Bardock shook his head, refusing to answer.

Pan crossed her arms, she had a hunch what he meant. "It probably means I'm going to die again at some point. Great, as if the first time wasn't enough."

Bardock gave her a sad smile. "Just remember what your answer when the time comes to make that sacrifice. What happens isn't exactly what you think it will be."

Pan refused to grow alarmed or show any signs of nervousness. "If your going to just tease it around me, don't bother. I'll just have to grab the dragonballs when we get back to get ready."

Bardock hesitated for a moment. "Pan... not everything can be solved with the dragonballs."

Potara watched silently as a mixture of emotions passed across Goku's face. She could tell he finally got it. Even then, he didn't understand the full implications yet, no one did. Only she did... she was alone in it...

"She could have fought off the fusion, but, at the end of the struggle, when it was fuse or back out, she reluctantly submitted to it. Why you ask? Because she didn't think she'd be strong enough on her own. She understood that if she fused with the Doll, they'd regain access to the green energy. She took the cowards way out, she gave herself up, who she was as a person. " said Potara.

She grew bitter. "But she didn't fucking THINK, and I HATE her for it! She gave up her own life and dumped me straight into the middle of this god forsaken mess! She wanted to impose her own damn promise of 'making the dimensions a better place' without any kind of consideration for what I'd want to do with MY life! Let's not stop there, she basically killed herself without any consideration for her friends and family. Her family is NOT my family! Her friends are NOT my friends! They don't want me! I can't fill that hole she just left!"

"Potara...," Goku tried to interrupt, wary of the near hysterical tone she was reaching.

"SHUT UP!" she roared at him, silencing him.

Potara's voice grew quiet. "I hate her, but... she... she still gave me life... I wouldn't exist if she hadn't killed herself. Having lived, having breathed, having had my own thoughts, I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. I'd... I'd fulfill her promise if I could, but... I lost it, I lost the power. She gave me an impossible task to do, she gave me a purpose I could never fulfill."

"I hate her... I love her..., fuck, I don't know what to think of her," choked Potara, unsure of how to feel or what to do at this point, dammit she wished she had just kept her mouth shut...

Goku stared at the fused girl, unsure of what to say or do. Potara floated there, looking utterly miserable. Utterly lost. Jeez... he loved Pan, dearly, but... what had she been thinking?! He knew Pan could be brash and emotional, even for a kid, but, taking on the gods and then accepting a fusion that was forced on her simply because she wasn't strong enough to finish what she started? Why hadn't she come to them before it got that far instead of training in secret and attacking them on contact? She should have come to HIM! He could have tried to do something for her! He didn't know what, but he would have tried!

What's more, Potara was right. What Pan had done was irresponsible. Creating life, whether it was having a kid, or, well, fusing to make new life, was a huge responsibility not to be done on a whim. Potara's own words fit perfectly, Pan had made her and 'dumped her straight into the middle of a god forsaken mess'. He was starting to wonder who was really going to have a harder time adapting to all of this. All of them, or Potara herself?

Because, as much as he didn't want to admit it, as much as it hurt to admit it, despite having her face, Potara was not Pan. He was noticing quite a few differences between them already, and he was sure to spot more. First and foremost, the raw readiness Potara had to confront people and her problems head on dwarfed Pan by a landslide. Her cockiness and arrogance had been astounding, and she had no problem trying to boss him around and throw around authority, not to mention she also had quite the mouth on her. She was also more than willing to cross family, the hand mark on his throat was evident of that, she had quite the grip. Though, a painful thought did cross his mind: did she consider him, consider them family? That question aside, Potara had absolutely no tolerance for secrecy or lies, and was very bluntly truthful herself. She *might* also have anger issues, he wasn't sure, that situation might just have seriously pissed her off. Hell, he had BARELY acknowledged how angry he was at the gods, at the Doll, at himself and his family, at Potara for her near reckless destruction of everything, and even at Pan. This whole thing had been handled so badly by everyone involved, he wasn't the smartest, especially with emotional stuff, but even he saw that. Potara though was a more pressing concern than his own feelings at the moment.

Taking one more moment to acknowledge what he had observed of her, he knew he needed to be careful here. He didn't think she'd actually seriously hurt him or the others intentionally, but, he knew better to push it. He was more concerned with screwing up and driving her away. She would not put up with any of the kind of crap Pan did. But, what was the best way to approach this?

He paused his thoughts when he noted Potara suddenly masking her misery and turning to fly away again, crap, he needed something! "Umm... Potara..."

She sighed. "What now?"

"Wana get icecream?" he offered.

She stared at him, her eyes narrowed. "Seriously? You're offering ICECREAM right now?"

He winced, okay, maybe that route wouldn't work, "Just trying to..."

"I KNOW what you are trying to do, I'm not blind," she spat, "Save your effort, right now, I'm not capable of appreciating it. I just don't want to deal with this crap. We already 'talked', but you keep wanting more of me, but, do you think I want to talk? Do you think I want to deal with any of you people right now?"

She gave him an icy smile. "I'm more inclined with removing limbs at the moment."

Goku really wasn't certain if she was being serious or using grim humor, Vegeta did that sometimes. "Fair enough..."

He gave a start when she was suddenly up in his face. "I'm going to say this once and only once Son Goku, so listen up. I want to be left alone for awhile. Do not follow me, do not talk to me, do not watch or spy on me. All I want is time to myself, are we clear?"

Goku nodded. "Fine, but..."

She rolled her eyes. "But what?"

"You can call me Grandpa you know," he offered with a small smile

Potara stared at him silently before shaking her head. "I don't know if I really want to yet or not."

She turned and started to fly away before pausing. "Grandpa."

He smiled at that. "Yeah?"

"She forgave you at the end," said Potara quietly.

Goku blinked a few times. "Forgave me?"

"Even if its what led to the forced fusion, when you helped Pan, when you stood up to Beerus for her on behalf of the Doll, she forgave you for abandoning Odianna, for that moment, you became her beloved Grandpa again. I just thought you might want to know that," she offered faintly.

He had seen it in Pan's eyes, but, to have had it confirmed was a heavy relief in his mind. "Thank you."

She sighed. "You know, maybe I could trust you, but the others? I don't think I'll honestly get much privacy here, I got a better idea, I'll see you later."

He gave a start when she shimmered and disappeared. She could teleport?! He focused his energy and found her near Capsule Corp and the others and instant transmissioned to follow. He came back, sighting the Z-Fighters watching Potara silently, mistrust and uncertainty in most of their eyes. Potara didn't spare them a glance. She turned and made for the portal building and walked inside without a word. He kept his senses on her until she disappeared through the portal to other dimensions. She... really had left...

He crossed his arms in thought. No, she hadn't fully left, she had given him relieving parting words about Pan, and even trusting him and saying they'd meet again. She was just upset, and had demanded time; that was honestly all they could offer right now. He didn't think anyone, save maybe for Aideen, was in the right mindset to honestly deal with this right now. They all needed time. He gave a heavy sigh and started walking back to the others...