One Month Later...

Potara stood at a stand at the Extra-Dimensional Market, pulling a few red-onion-like rings off a spinning wheel and tossing a few coins to the vendor, chowing down as she walked away and started to brood. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? When was the right day to go back? She had been working at the market as a peacekeeper and bouncer for the Arcosians, earning some money that she kept in a pouch she bought, and keeping herself busy while trying to learn more about other dimensions. It wasn't a hard job in the slightest, though it was annoying when newcomers to the market, which kind of happened daily, didn't take her or her job seriously. Woes of being forever a pre-teen girl it seemed. Up until she kicked some ass or let a bullet or ray gun bounce off her harmlessly, she was just a nobody child to other people. What was the saying? Don't judge a book by it's cover?

She slowly shook her head, finishing off the last red-onion-like ring and wiping her mouth off on her sleeve, stretching a bit. She resumed her patrol of the market, eyes open for thieves or troublemakers...

"Pan?!" came a startled voice.

Potara blinked a few times before turning her head and freezing, spotting Bulma of all people, walking through the market. In true Bulma fashion, she had over ten bags of purchases, though, they were all being carried by poor Trunks. She had a brief smirk at that, before she recognized just what Bulma had called her.

She narrowed her eyes at the woman. "It's Potara."

Bulma blinked a few times. "Er... right... sorry..."

Potara frowned. "Why are you here?"

Bulma put her hands on her hips and huffed. "Excuse me? This IS an open market ya know. I am shopping!"

A dazed dreamy look entered her eyes, a bit of drool leaked from her chin, and she clasped her hands together up near her face. "There's so many new technologies, clothes, food, and jewelry to try out, and the money exchange rate isn't that bad either!"

Potara scoffed. "Seriously? I looked at those ratios."

Bulma gave her a mischievous grin. "If I were in charge of the market, the ratio's wouldn't be that nice."

"Hey mom, can I put these down?" mumbled Trunks.

Bulma shrugged. "Go ahead."

Trunks set the bags down one by one and sighed. "Jeez mom."

Bulma huffed. "Well, we don't go to the extra-dimensional market every day ya know!"

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Not yet, but by the look in your eye when you first saw it, I think you will be."

Bulma cuffed the back of his head. "Hmph!"

Potara stared at their antics, a hint of an amused smile on her face. How she had missed this...

Well...

Rather how she missed Pan's memories of these kind of interactions.

She hesitated briefly. "Who... else is here?"

"Vegeta and Bra are off somewhere," Bulma said dismissively, "We're supposed to meet up at the entrance of the market in a few hours."

"Gonna be days at this rate," mumbled Trunks, barely dodging another swat by Bulma.

Bulma turned her attention back to Potara, "What about you Pa... er... Potara? What have you been up to since... you left?"

Potara didn't miss the almost name mix-up, but at least Bulma had tried. "Working as part of the market as a peacekeeper and bouncer."

She decided to keep her ventures into the other dimensions themselves to herself for the time being.

Bulma crossed her arms. "No exploring other dimensions? Where's your sense of adventure?"

Potara gave her a look. "Guess it didn't carry over in the fusion."

Bulma winced a little. "Ah..."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Potara sighed and turned to go. "I should go..."

"Potara wait a sec!" said Bulma, taking a hesitant step forward.

Potara paused. "What?"

"When... are you going to come home?" she asked.

Potara's breath hitched in her throat, come home...

She spoke bitterly, "Am I even welcome there anymore?"

Bulma looked at her like she had grown a second head. "What? Of course you are!"

Potara's eyes widened a bit before she controlled them. "Oh..."

Bulma grew quiet for a moment. "Did... you really not think you were?"

Potara didn't answer.

Bulma walked over and hooked an arm under Potara's, "Well, that's settled then, you young missy, are coming back with us when were done!"

With that, Bulma started dragging Potara along. "H-hey!"

Trunks laughed and picked up the bags. "There's no escape now!"

Potara rolled her eyes and let Bulma drag her along. It was... a familiar sensation... Bulma had done this to Pan back in her childhood too, though, it hadn't taken Pan long to willingly want to go shopping.

Sniff Sniff

Potara gave Bulma a curious look. "What?"

Bulma made a face. "When exactly was the last time you washed your clothes or took a bath?"

Potara winced. "Uh..."

Bulma separate and wagged a finger at her. "Potaraaaaaaaa!"

"What!" she whined, "I don't have a house or a bath or a change of clothes."

Bulma gave her an impatient look. "You do and you know it! All you had to do was go home, it's been a month! Even longer if you consider how long Pan was gone for!"

Potara scowled at her. "How long she was gone and what Pan did is no fault of mine!"

"Shesh, so defensive," said Bulma, "Relax, now c'mon. You've been here longer than I have, surely you have to have some ideas on what I should pick up for myself and the others."

Potara rolled her eyes and led Bulma through the market, taking her to one stand after the other. She decided that... she'd go along with Bulma's demand for her to go home. It was... long past time she supposed. She briefly checked in with the head Arcosian at the time, Granite, and 'handed in' her resignation. He did not seem pleased to lose her services, because she was damn good and booting out troublemakers, but, he merely stated that she was always welcome to return and reclaim her job if she wished. Not that she would if things went south at 'home'. The Market was far to close to her home dimension. If it went bad, she'd be leaving, and she'd stay as far away from Pan's old life as possible. It was kind of nerve wracking simply walking with Bulma. She kept expecting the woman or Trunks to be critical of her. But, they just acted like normal... well... according to Pan's memories anyway. Bulma chatted with Trunks and her merrily, asking her opinions on things she wanted to buy, or to tell her of some new invention or fashion back home. She was in a sense glad Bulma seemed... accepting. But... she was also concerned on the other end. Bulma hadn't slipped up again, but, was she just putting her in Pan's role and changing the associated name to Potara? She didn't want to be a replacement... she was Potara, NOT Pan.

She fidgeted a little as Bulma stood at a stand, struggling to push the bleak thoughts away when a voice rang out, "Hey mom!"

Potara turned her head to see Bra and Vegeta approaching. Vegeta instantly noticed her, but made no specific acknowledgement, merely keeping one eye on her as he followed his daughter to the stand Bulma was at. Bra hadn't noticed her, and ran up to Bulma and began to show her an assortment of jewelry and clothes she had bought. Potara stared at the antic. When was the last time Pan had done anything like that? Just gone on a cloth shopping spree? She contemplated it. During that whole training spree before the Time Plane mess, Pan had pretty much worn nothing but her Gis, and the occasional dress for an event. The last time had been before Pan was sucked into the other dimensions. The notion of 'a life interrupted' flowed into her mind before she banished it. Pan had her chance, and she fucked it up and threw it away.

The follow up question to when had Pan last gone shopping led Potara into: Did she want to do what they were doing? Potara fished into her pouch and fingered a few coins, contemplating it. She glanced down at her clothes for a moment before dismissing the thought. She liked what she wore, she didn't need anything else. Except maybe another few pairs of it...

Wait a second...

Weren't Kaioshins able to just make stuff out of thin air?

She brought a hand up to rub her chin. How the hell did they do that though? Instantaneous Movement just came naturally to her from the Doll. She didn't really know how to perform any of the other abilities or tricks a Kaioshin could do. Though, she wasn't really willing to go and ask Shin or the Elder Kai, gods were NOT beings she wanted to interact with anytime soon, especially the ones back home. Maybe she'd just ask Piccolo to make her a few spares, well... if he was willing and wanted anything to do with her that is...

Her face fell a bit before she shook her head and banished the thought, watching the blue haired pair ogle and giggle over their clothes. She sighed lightly...

"You said it," muttered Trunks with annoyance, "I hate getting dragged into these."

"Aren't you a fully grown man with a job?" asked Potara, giving a light jab, "How do you let yourself get dragged into these trips?"

Trunks rolled his eyes. "A job for a company my mother owns mind you. Besides, you can't just tell my mother no, to anything, even IF you're a super Saiyan."

Potara giggled lightly at that. "No, I suppose not."

Bra turned her head at the sound of the giggle and gave a small gasp of surprise.

"Oh, right," said Bulma, "I forgot to mention I found Potara wandering the market..."

"Working," corrected Potara.

Bulma waved a hand. "Details."

Potara rolled her eyes. That woman was something else sometimes...

Her thoughts trailed off, and her nerves started feeling frayed, when Bra's eyes turned cold and unwelcoming. She turned her back on Potara and merely resumed going through what she had bought. Bulma gave Potara an apologetic look, but Potara merely looked away. Even if Bra and Pan had grown a little distant during Pan's training spree and had a little spat, they had been close friends...

She turned her head, eyeing a hallway she could fly down. Maybe she should just go...

Trunk's hand gripped her shoulder lightly and he spoke quietly, "Hey, don't let her get to you, Bra's just being Bra."

Potara resisted the urge to scoff. Trying to turn Bra into the 'villain' to convince her not to go off wasn't going to work. Especially when Bra probably had every right to feel the way she did towards Potara. It hadn't been Potara's choice that took Pan away, but, the blame could easily be laid at her feet...

A shadow fell over Potara, and it took her a moment to realize Vegeta had moved to stand in front of her.

"So brat," said Vegeta, "Seen anything out here that might put up a decent fight?"

Potara rolled her eyes and refocused her attention. "Oh goodie. I've upgraded from Pan's 'grandbrat' to a full blown 'brat' now. I'm overjoyed."

Vegeta seemed amused. "I can give you a better name if you so wish."

She gave Vegeta a grumpy look. She didn't exactly share any of Pan's 'good' opinions of the man. Neutrally and not letting Pan's memories bias her, he seemed just to be a more tame Saiyan than the Saiyan's colonizing Terra...

She frowned at the thought, and considered Vegeta's question, but in a different manner. Regardless of whether or not she stayed there, those on Earth needed to know what was going on in Terra. Because, to be frank, she didn't have a clue, even with a month to stew on it, what to do. Maybe the others could figure out a way to neutralize the Saiyans without endangering Earth.

She met Vegeta's gaze and said, "We're going to need to talk, all of us, about a threat I saw."

Vegeta didn't betray anything but a slight narrowing of his eyes. "Hmph."

Vegeta turned to bark at Bulma, "Hurry it up woman!"

Bulma didn't even acknowledge him, merely continuing to look over clothes with Bra. Potara smirked a little at that, especially when Vegeta's nostrils flared in irritation. Of course, he didn't do anything to make her move, even he wouldn't dare piss off Bulma. Some Super Saiyan God...

Well...

To be fair, she wouldn't want Bulma screaming at her either.

Ten minutes later, the blue haired paired finally finished, and shoved their bags of clothes and other purchases into Vegeta and Trunks hands before walking off. Both men grumbled under their breath and followed suit. Potara's mouth twitched into a smile at the sight before following behind them. It was hard to dig it out of Pan's memories, what did the girls back in school call this? Whipped?

Her smile slowly faded as they drew closer and closer to their destination. Her heart started beating rapidly as they walked up the steps, down the line of portals, to the one labeled Earth...

The others walked through without pause. Potara however stood at the threshold, apprehensive...

"Come on Potara, you punched the fricken Omni-King in his face, you can... you can do this," she muttered to herself.

To be honest though, she'd rather go a round with Beerus as Super Saiyan Blue than do this...

She sighed heavily, before walking through the portal and back to Earth. What she came out to was rather surprising. Instead of the small portal building she remembered, an entire kind of complex place was being built. What's more, there were people NOT of the Z-Fighter's group working on the building, in plain view of the portal! What in the world...

"You coming Potara?" called back Bulma.

Potara scrambled to catch up and whispered. "What's going on? Why are there normal people here?"

Bulma looked at her with disbelief for a moment before she blanked. "Oh right, you weren't there for it."

"There? For what?" asked Potara.

"We had our first few extra-dimensional visitors," answered Bulma with chagrin.

Potara narrowed her eyes. "Trouble?"

"Nah," said Bulma, "Well, none-violent trouble, they didn't like not being allowed to look around our world. One of them got out of the building and started flying around. Tons of people caught sight and took photo's of the 'alien' flying around, so our hand was kind of forced."

Vegeta shot Trunks a hostile look. "Because someone couldn't keep an eye on our 'guests'."

"Yeah yeah yeah," muttered Trunks.

"So, we had to make a choice. My father held a press conference explaining that the Briefs had accidentally created extra-dimensional travel," said Bulma before lowering her voice, "We didn't think humanity is ready for knowledge of the gods yet, so we took credit."

"The less we have to do with gods, the better," muttered Potara.

She paused. "What about ki? Plenty of other dimensions use it..."

"Yeah, that got revealed too," said Bulma with chagrin, "Ugh... your grandfather's little act was painful to watch, especially that convoluted explanation he gave for the whole Cell thing..."

Potara raised an eyebrow. "Hercule or Goku?"

Bulma stopped walking, they all did, and turned to stare at her. "What?"

Bulma crossed her arms. "Your grandfather on your mother's side."

"So, Hercule," said Potara.

Bra rolled her eyes and grabbed her shopping bags from her father. "You can deal with her, I'm out."

Potara frowned and watched the girl walk away, feeling apprehensive again.

"Potara... did you really not see them as your grandfathers?" asked Bulma quietly.

Oh... that.

Potara kept her face passive and masked. "I haven't decided yet."

"Hmph," said Vegeta, "Regardless, you said you had something you needed to talk to us about. We will speak in the house privately, Bulma will call the others and..."

ZIP

"Aha! I KNEW I sensed her!" came a familiar and gleeful voice behind her.

Potara gave a startled cry as she was hugged from behind and lifted up into the air. "Hi Potara!"

She glanced back to see Goku clutching her tightly, swinging her back and forth in a friendly bear hug. "Leggo! Put me down!"

Goku grinned playfully before setting her down and ruffling her hair. "Good to see your back."

She scowled and fixed her hair. "Jeez, I ain't a little kid."

Goku raised an eyebrow and put his hand up to measure her height compared to his own. She scowled and swatted at his hand, making him smile in response.

"Kakarot, go fetch the rest of your 'friends'," said Vegeta.

"Oh, a welcome home party?" said Goku eagerly, "What kind of food are we having?!"

"No you moron," said Vegeta, "Potara has a warning for us."

Instantly Goku went serious and had two fingers to his head. "On it."

ZIP

Potara dusted herself off and sighed. "He's really like a kid in a man's body sometimes..."

"Wouldn't have him any other way," said Bulma with a faint smile.

Vegeta merely scowled.

They walked towards the house, only for Potara to pause, her eyes lingering on the backyard. Memories flashed by her face, of countless parties and gatherings that had been held there during Pan's life. Her face scrunched up briefly with an odd mixture of wistfulness and rejection...

"Something wrong Potara?" came Bulma's voice.

Potara turned to see the woman standing next to the doorway, looking at her curiously.

Potara walked to and into the house, pausing briefly at the door to mutter, "To many memories that are not my own."

Bulma went silent.

Potara followed Vegeta's energy signature and found him in Brief's lavish living room, leaning against a wall, a contemplative look on his face. Potara picked a single chair and sat down with a sigh, feeling a little anxious. Goku was going to gather them all...

ZIP

In the span of a second, Goku appeared with Piccolo and Dende, dropped them off, and teleported away. The two Namekians eyed Potara for a moment before moving to a corner to talk quietly. Teleport by teleport, Goku began dragging in the rest of the Z-Fighters...

Potara bowed her head and did not gaze at any of them. In truth, there were two in particular Potara was dreading to see.

Gohan and Videl...

She could still vividly recall the way Videl had shaken her, screaming at her to go away and give her Pan back...

When Gohan had said his daughter was gone...

Truthful as it was, and with every right they had to feel the way they did, it still hurt. Though she could grudgingly admit she had been kind of a little bitch when she was born. She would not apologize for that though, it wasn't her fault she had been dumped into the middle of that godforsaken mess with the gods trying to take her power from her! Anyone would have been put in that kind of state. She frowned contemplatively. It had been some time since she had last given it thought, distracted over her job and her worries. The green energy, the 'power of creation' as the Omni-King had referred to it. It was... still a blank spot in her ki where it had been before. That just... empty... feeling, she almost hated tapping into her ki just because it reminded her of what had been lost. She could so faintly recall the pure bliss it had been, to channel that energy through her body...

What she wouldn't give to have it back. Forget using it for fighting, if she could just have it to feel it again, she'd settle for that...

"Brat, are you going to brood all day or can we get on with this?" came Vegeta's annoyed voice.

Potara gave a start and glanced that everyone had gathered and was watching her. "Umm..."

She saw them.

Gohan and Videl.

They stood there, on far side of the room silently, looking at her with pained eyes. Gohan looked the same as ever, though, his face seemed a bit ragged and tired. Videl looked even worse, with deep dark bags under her eyes. The moment her eyes met theirs, there was a wave of tension and uncertainty that went through all three of them.

Potara quickly averted her eyes and turned her head to Vegeta. "Sure."

She cleared her throat. "I... went to the dimension Terra was in..."

"YOU WHAT?" exploded Vegeta, "I swear, if you caused..."

Potara glared at him. "I did NOTHING, got it? I didn't go there to cause trouble, I went there to go see one of Pan's friend in that dimension's Otherworld."

Vegeta frowned, looking vexed. "Continue."

"When I got back, Kale was there waiting by the portal," said Potara.

She gave Vegeta a pointed look. "I COULD have beat the crap out of him if I wanted to, but I kept relatively civil."

"Define relatively," said Vegeta crossly.

"I did not punch him," said Potara before hesitating, "Well, at least until he tried to punch me first."

Vegeta reached a hand up to massage his forehead.

"Well, what happened?" asked Goku.

"He... wanted to give me a tour of his new 'capital world'," spat Potara.

"A tour? Really?" said Yamcha, confused.

"Capital world?!" came a familiar woman's voice.

Potara paused at that, turning to rest her eyes on an unfamiliar woman...

Wait a second...

Was that Aideen?

Potara was flabbergasted. Rather than the gi and ragged look Potara remembered her to have. The woman was dressed in a rather nice set of office clothes, her hair done up in a bun behind her head, a slight touch of makeup on her face that made her scars seem less drastic, with glasses of all things on her. She just... looked so much like a normal person now...

The woman crossed her arms. "What?"

"You um... look different?" Potara offered sheepishly.

Aideen shrugged. "Well, I finished my first few set of classes, and Mrs. Brief gave me a job."

Potara's eyes briefly turned to Bulma, showing her a hint of appreciation in them, before returning to Aideen as the woman demanded, "Now what did you mean by 'capital world'?"

Potara pursed her lips. "The Saiyans completely cleared Terra. There are no signs humanity even existed there anymore. They've started colonizing the world."

Vegeta nodded. "Kale wishes his base of power to be near the portal, to have complete control over who comes into or goes out of that dimension."

"I don't see how that's threatening," murmured Goten, scratching his head.

Potara shot him a look. "I'm not done. He gave me a 'tour' of his world, showed me what he intends to do..."

"Erm... why?" said Yamcha, scratching his head.

Potara scowled. "I assume because he wanted to impress me with it, he made an offer for me to join his Empire, I didn't take him up on it."

"Okay, so, what's he doing then?" asked Trunks.

Potara made a distasteful face. "He was 'inspired' by Pan's 'performance' at the tournament. So, he's gathering other races he deems worthy through testing and breeding hybrids."

"Ewww, having babies with aliens, gross," said Bra.

"You know... that's how we we born," pointed out Trunks.

"Ah shaddup, Saiyans and humans look pretty much the same," retorted Bra.

"Quiet," ordered Vegeta, glaring at his two children.

He turned to face Potara. "I want you to detail everything you saw."

She did as instructed, informing him of the complex building, the basement that contained intermingling species, laboratories, living quarters, and the 'day cares'. She explained what she understood about their 'testing' process to Bulma. She finished with her brief flyover of Terra.

Vegeta tucked his chin in. "Hmm..."

"Well... having kids isn't really a reason to go up in arms," said Krillen, "But..."

"What will he be doing with that generation when they come of age? Or how about the next several generations?" said Potara, "He doesn't age, he can wait for as long as he wants and build up an army as big as..."

"It's not our problem," said Vegeta.

Potara froze, disbelief on her face. "What?"

"You heard me brat, it's not our problem," said Vegeta, "We're not a target to them, I'm tired of having to stick our necks out for other people's problems over and over again, and I am not fighting against my own race without just cause."

Potara pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. "..."

"Don't look at me like that, tell me brat, ignoring everything else, how would you deal with an immortal Saiyan god?" inquired Vegeta.

"A wish got him immortality, a wish could take it away," said Potara, "We have dragonballs here and..."

"That won't work," said Piccolo.

Potara grew confused. "Why not?"

"It's something we had considered if he should become a threat, but Dende pointed out a problem to us, a big problem. That immortality was transferred unto him by the Omni-Kings. No eternal-dragon can take away what they gave," said Piccolo.

Potara grimaced. "Crap... um... the Evil Containment Wave?"

"An option, but requires setup and a lot to go in your favor to use, one mistake and it fails," said Piccolo.

"There's always throwing him into the sun," muttered Potara.

"Possibly," said Piccolo, "But I question if that would stop a Saiyan god, especially an immortal one, for long."

"Well what then?" said Potara, "You can't just leave him unopposed!"

"What exactly would you have us do then brat?" said Vegeta before looking her dead in the eye, "In the odds that we somehow fought and somehow pulled out a victory against an immortal Saiyan god, what about those who are 'breeding hybrids' as you say. Would you have us murder pregnant woman, kill their children? Deny people the right to form families with those they wish?"

Potara opened her mouth to retort, but hesitated and slowly closed it. "..."

"He's right on that," said Goku.

Gohan spoke for the first time since arriving, "I... don't like it either, but, we can't go trying to police the..."

He paused briefly. "Dimensionverse? No that doesn't sound right, umm..."

"We get your meaning," said Piccolo.

Gohan gave him a nod of thanks. "It's been hard enough over the years to try and maintain some kind of normalcy here at home. It would be impossible to do it on a multi-dimensional scale."

"Not to mention it would probably make us a big target," muttered Krillen.

Potara slowly passed her gaze around the room. None of them looked as if they had anything to say in her favor. They were really just going to sit back... well... not that any of them but Goku or Vegeta could help with this anyway. Vegeta had said his peace...

She focused on Goku, noting his arms were crossed, a frown on his face.

"Potara," he began, "I'm not one to back down from a challenge, but, I've picked enough fights and made enough decisions that have come back to hurt my friends and family..."

The way he was staring at her wistfully, she was fairly certain he was thinking of the wish that sent Pan to the other dimensions and started this whole mess.

"If we start a fight with them and lose, everyone on Earth dies," said Goku, "I've talked with Vegeta about the Saiyans while you were away. According to him, if we let him do his 'diplomacy' thing, the Earth will be in no danger now, or in the future. That second point is important, me and Vegeta aren't going to be around forever."

"There comes a time when you have to learn when to pick your battles," said Vegeta, "Something that neither you or your fusees were skilled at."

Potara glared at him. "Coming from you of all people? How many times have I heard of you getting your face kicked in for starting a fight with a stronger opponent, or letting them get away with a transformation?"

Vegeta scowled. "My point exactly. Learn from our mistakes."

Potara felt the urge to scream at them, but, suppressed it, put on a passive face, and simply said, "Fine."

Vegeta blinked a few times, appearing a bit surprised that she backed down. "Fine?"

"If you want to let them go unchallenged, then fine. If that decision comes back to bite you, it's on you, not me," said Potara.

She stood up and made to leave the living room only to pause when Vegeta spoke, "What you do with your life is your decision brat, but, if you care at all for Pan's family and friends, do not bring an extra-dimensional war down on our heads."

"Noted," was all she said before leaving the room, frustrated...

"Not quite how I expected her coming home to go," muttered Goku, scratching the back of his head.

"At least she's not going all psycho," said Bra with disdain, "I was half expected her to blow a gasket."

"Ah give her a break," said Trunks.

"Do... you guys think playing it cool is the right decision?" asked Yamcha, "I mean, I'm glad for once we aren't going gung-ho, but..."

"Kakarot meant what he said," rebuked Vegeta, "He and I wont be here to keep this world safe forever. With all the time we've spent in the time chamber, or Whis's staff dimension, we're nearing our older years. In a decade or two, our power will fade."

"Considering our children's lack of desire to train and Gohan's habit of slacking off on his own training...," began Vegeta.

Gohan rolled his eyes.

"...diplomacy IS the only solution to safeguard Earth's future," said Vegeta, "I'll not have my bloodline fade away."

"Nice to know you care about the rest of us," said 18 dryly.

"Well, Potara would be a good fighter," said Trunks, "She could bridge the gap pretty well until we have kids and one of them wants to learn how to fight."

"Pff, like you'll ever get married and have a kid," teased Bra.

Bulma sighed. "Trunks... I'm not sure she will stay. She seemed pretty content with her life working out in the extra-dimensional market. She... didn't refer to either Hercule or Goku as her grandfather. She's not bound here."

Goku frowned at that, but said nothing.

Piccolo rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That's her call to make. There are dangers to both her staying or leaving."

"I don't know Piccolo," said Dende thoughtfully, "She seemed a lot less hostile than she was after her fusion. That situation was unique and very stressful, using that to judge her might not be fair."

He glanced at Vegeta. "She did listen to you after all rather than go off after the Saiyans all hot headed."

Vegeta merely grunted in response.

Bulma hummed to herself for a moment before glancing at Gohan and Videl. "So... with Potara, are you two going to...?"

Gohan shrugged. "That... is her decision to make. I'm... we're... willing to try to get to know her, but, we won't force it."

Videl didn't comment, a tightly guarded look on her face.

"For now, go on as usual, but be on guard," said Piccolo, "She..."

"Didn't I say we should stop treating family like a threat?" said Goku crossly.

Piccolo didn't back down. "She's only half-family. Remember, while she is part Pan, part of her is also that 'Doll', the god construct. We don't know how much of it's personality play's into who Potara is. Need I remind you just what it did? To treat Pan so cruelly, to use her, and forcefully fuse with her?"

Goku went silent at that.

"We can give her the benefit of the doubt, but, she is not Pan, I won't give her half the leeway or patience I would have given your Grandaughter," warned Piccolo.

"Hmph, you can act high and mighty if you wish, Namek, but don't forget, she IS a Potara fusion, there is little you could do about her," said Vegeta, "Try not to egg her on more than necessary, not a single one of us in here is capable of fighting her if she turns on us without doing a fusion of sorts ourselves, and considering the level of power it requires, it wouldn't last long enough to make a difference."

"I'm aware," muttered Piccolo.

"I don't think she would," said Goten.

"Agreed," said Uub, "The way she was looking around the room at us as we gathered, I think that while she may not say it, Pan won out in regards to us within the fusion."

"That remains to be seen," said Vegeta, "Now, if we're done here, all of you get out of my damn living room!"

The group collectively rolled their eyes at him before dispersing...

Potara flew around the Earth at a leisurely pace, trying to take her mind off the failure that gathering had been. While Pan had flown around this world many times, Potara had never had the chance to. To just fly around, take in the sight of her birth-world, enjoying the wind rushing past her face, the sensation of the tiny ki's of the world's population scattered below her. She wanted to do this at least once, she wanted her own memory of it to turn to, not Pan's.

She flew silently for a few hours, taking in the sights, before she called it quits. She floated in the air above an ocean, frowning and contemplating what to do...

"Well, I do remember what Bulma said," she muttered, "I probably ought to go take a shower and get a change of clothes."

To that end though, she didn't want to go to Pan's home, not yet. Instead, she flew towards the lookout. She arrived there a few minutes later, floating above it. She glanced down, sighting Piccolo and Dende standing at the edge looking up at her. She landed down a bit away from them and approached.

"Umm," she began awkwardly, "Could... I ask you for a favor Piccolo?"

The Namekian frowned briefly. "What is it?"

"Kaioshins are supposed to be able to make things out of thin air, but, the Doll was never trained or taught how, so... could you make me another set of my current clothes and show me how to do that later?" she asked, a bit embarrassed at the request.

Piccolo stared at her blankly, not appearing to have expected that. "Uh... sure kid."

POP

Piccolo snapped his fingers and a set of folded clothes appeared in his hands. "Here."

Potara took them. "Thanks. I don't wish to impose, but, do you and Dende mind if I shower and stay here tonight?"

Piccolo's eyes flickered to Dende, who nodded but asked, "You don't wish to go home? I'm sure Gohan and Videl..."

"I'm... not ready for that," she murmured, not meeting their eyes, "Besides, that's Pan's home, not mine."

Dende nodded slowly. "Alright, you are welcome to stay here for the time being then."

"Thanks," she said, turning and making to walk into the lookout...

"Potara," called out Piccolo.

She turned. "Yes?"

"What exactly do you intend to do?" asked Piccolo, a careful tone in his voice.

Potara stared at him silently for a moment before answering honestly, "I don't know."

With that, she went into the lookout...