The darkness surrounded her, pulling her down and threatening to engulf her. She fought it with all her strength. Suddenly it let up and she was able to see, but almost immediately wished that she had not. What she saw made her shudder. At 17 years of age she had seen more death than most people had, and prided herself on her strength. In spite of this, what greeted her gaze was enough to make her want to cry.

She looked out over a field. But not an ordinary field, this was a field of bodies. The ground was literally covered with bodies of the dead so thick you could not see the ground. She could hardly choke back her nausea. What was rally weird though, was the fact that among the bodies was little green men.

But what she saw next was even more horrifying. There in the midst of all the bodies she saw the familiar forms of her family and friends. She felt tears streaming down her face, but all she could do was watch.

Then she saw something that seemed to make the very breath still in her lungs. For one person was struggling to his feet, ready to keep on fighting. She barley connected the usually perfectly groomed young man with which she had been aquatinted with all her life and been secretly in love with for years to this battered person. It was only the lavender hair, barley visible through the blood that allowed her to recognize him.

As she watched, he confronted whatever it was that had caused this great evil. She tried to make out the features of the thing as it approached the young man, but all she could see was shadows. It slowly stalked forward to where the man was struggling to his feet. She wanted so bad to do something, to try and help in some way, but all she could do was watch and wait as the figure got closer and closer her friend.

She struggled against the darkness that was even now pulling her down, but it was in vain. Her last concious thought was that her friend was dying and all she could do was watch. Then there was only darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pan woke up panting as silent tears coursed from her eyes. The dream was becoming familiar to her. When she had first had the dream she had thought it was just an ordinary nightmare. But the same dream had been occurring almost nightly for the last couple of weeks and she could not figure out what they met. She wished, not for the first time that her grandpa was back, but he had been gone for almost three years now.

"Ojii-san, where are you?" she asked quietly, but without expecting an answer. She wearily let her head fall forward and fought back the tears. Pan gave a sigh of self-disgust. "I have never been this whiny before, and now is not the time to start."

Not wanting to go back to sleep and face the dream again, Pan got to her feet and shrugged on her training clothes. She crept quietly out the door; careful so she would not wake anyone up. She glanced at the clock on her way out the door and noticed that it said 4 a.m. Once again she would only have four hours of sleep.

Oh well, she thought to herself, it will not be the first time. What little sleep she did get had been sporadic. Whenever she did fall asleep she had the horrible dream. It was easier just to avoid sleep whenever possible then to face them.

When she got outside she began stretching and began a vigorous training regimen. By exercising she was able to clear her mind and get rid of the horrible images that haunted her thoughts. She wished that there was someone that she could talk to, someone who would listen to her, but what could she say. That she had had a nightmare. Everyone already treated her like a baby, and they would think nothing of her dream. They would not understand the fear it caused, the pain she felt, every time she had it. It was not a dream to her, it was a vision of the future. She straightened her shoulders and started working out harder, realizing that it was probably in vain, that if it was the future, she wouldn't be able to change it, but was unable to accept that. If there was a way to save her family, she was going to find it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pan jerked awake at a sudden snap right beside her head. She sat up straight and looked at the teacher that stood before her.

"Pan-chan, please try to stay awake." Ms. Sinira said with a sigh as she headed back to her seat.

Just than the bell rung, and Pan jumped up. But the exhaustion from the endless nights with practically no sleep finally started to catch up to her. Her vision went blurry and the room started to spin, slowly everything went dark as she fell to the floor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Pan-chan, can you here me?" a gentle voice asked softly.

Pan opened her eyes and then blinked them when the light hit them. When she could finally focus, she saw the kind face of the school nurse staring at her in concern.

"What happened?" Pan groaned out as she tried to sit up. Her head started spinning, and with a groan she fell back against the pillows that she had been leaning against.

"You fell and hit your head," Nurse Ilene said softly as she assisted Pan into a sitting position. "Can you tell me how many fingers I am holding up?" she asked holding up two fingers while intently staring at Pan's eyes.

After giving the appropriate answer, Pan readjusted the ice pack that was on her head. "I tried to call your parents," Nurse Ilene informed her, "but there was no answer. I called the next name on the list. A Mr. Briefs I believe it was."

"Oh, you did not bother Trunks-kun did you? He is so busy. I am fine. I can take care of myself." Pan said quickly. She knew how busy Trunks was being the president of Capsule Corp. Of course, knowing him, he would probably be happy for the chance to leave work.

"He seemed very concerned. Besides, from what I see you can not take care of yourself. You obviously have not been sleeping. Would you care to talk about the problem?" She asked gently, an expression of concern showing on her face.

For a moment Pan was tempted. She wanted to talk to someone so badly, but then common sense prevailed. She felt that Nurse Ilene, though she was a very nice and wonderful person, just would not be able to understand her problem. "I do not know what you are talking about. I do not have any problem."

Nurse Ilene just sighed but appeared to accept her answer. Just then there was a knock on the door and she went to answer it. Pan heard a voice that she recognized as belonging to her friend. A head of lavender hair appeared around a door and a pair of blues eyes met hers.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked her gently.

"Fine," she said with a grumble. "Can we get out of here now?" More than anything in the world, Pan hated being thought of as weak, and she considered illness a weakness.

"In a minute," he replied with a relieved smile. When he had heard from the nurse that Pan had collapsed, he could not believe it. He could not remember Pan being sick before in the whole time in which he had known her, which was her whole life. He was glad to see she was back to her usual grouchy but lovable self.

He turned to the nurse. "Is it okay if I take her home now?" he asked.

"In a little while," she replied. "I think she should rest for a few more minute. If you have a few minutes, I would like to have a word with you."

Trunks turned to Pan and told her he would be back in a few minutes. They then stepped out of the infirmary and into Nurse Ilene's office.

"Yes?" Trunks asked after they had both taken a seat. "What is it that you had wanted to talk to me about?"

"I'm worried about Pan-chan. Has she said anything to you about a problem she maybe having? Maybe problems at home?" Nurse Ilene asked.

"No, she hasn't said anything to me. And I am sure everything is fine at home. She has a wonderful family. What makes you think she has a problem?" Trunks replied.

"The reason she passed out today is because she is physically exhausted. She obviously has not had a good nights sleep in weeks, if not months. It's amazing to me that she was even able to last this long with the extent of it. Anyone else would have been in the hospital a week ago. Also, when I was examining her I saw bruises on her like she had been in a fight or something. Do you have any idea why she would be in this condition?"

Trunks was in shock. He had not been spending a lot of time with Pan in the last month because he was so busy with work. He had no idea that she had not been sleeping, or that she had been fighting. He made a vow to find out what was going on and get to the bottom of it immediately.

"No, I do not know why, but I plan to find out."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trunks made the drive towards his home in silence, fighting back the feeling of guilt that was gnawing inside of him. When they had made the trip looking for the dragonballs to turn Goku back into an adult, they had gotten close. After they had come back and Goku had disappeared, Trunks had been so busy trying to make up the work he had missed he had not had time to spend with Pan.

Seeing her like this, without the sparkle that usually meant that she was about to get into trouble missing from her eyes, made him feel downhearted. Usually she was planning some kind of mischief that would undoubtedly get her into trouble and him with her. Pan was always trying to get him to lighten up and keep his life from becoming monotonous, which probably would of happened since he had such a boring yet stressful job.

Trunks realized that he had been working too much lately and wished that Pan would plan another one of her escapades to relieve the tension. But he realized that she was not in any condition to do anything of the sort right now. This only strengthened his resolve to help her as soon as possible.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

They arrived at Trunks' house to discover that no one else was home. This was just fine with Trunks, it would give them some privacy. They both went and sat on the couch. They sat there in silence, Pan staring at the wall with a pensive look on her face and Trunks staring at her staring at the wall, trying to come up with a way to bring up the question about her condition.

Finally, though, the silence started to wear on his nerves and he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Pan-chan, what is wrong with you?"

She looked up at him in surprise and a brief look of panic appeared on her face. A moment later the look had disappeared and was replaced by an expressionless mask. "I don't know what you are talking about," Was the only replied he received.

He just continued to look at her, trying to think of a way to get her to open up and talk to him. But it wasn't necessary to say anything more. The burden of keeping the dreams was finally too much for her to keep to herself. She wanted to at least tell someone, even if they didn't believe her. And who better to tell it to than her best friend. Suddenly the whole story just started to spill out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"And there was nothing I could do to help," Pan said sobbing after she finished retelling the dream. Trunks wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her as she cried. He could hardly believe that a dream had had this kind of effect on Pan. The last time he had seen her cry was when her ojii-san, Goku, had turned it a weremonkey and almost destroyed everyone on the planet. She was always strong, and never cried, and for that reason alone he believed her. But that wasn't the only reason.

For the last couple of days Trunks had had the feeling that something was going to happen. Pan's dream just reinforced it. But, unlike Pan, he wasn't as positive that it couldn't be changed. He had heard stories about a person, everyone called him Future Trunks, coming back in time to change the future. This led him to believe that nothing was definite, and the future could be changed.

"Pan-chan, maybe you're looking at this the long way. Maybe it's not a vision of the future, but a warning of what could happen. We can change it. It won't be that way." He stated assertively.

Pan looked at him as if she was going to voice her doubt about this, but instead she just smiled, a blindingly bright smile that expressed her relief. After all this time of having to worry, feeling like there was nobody she could confide in, she finally had someone to lean on. For the first time in months, she felt relaxed. Slowly she began to drift off asleep.

Trunks continued to hold her as she drifted off to sleep. He was glad to see the peaceful expression upon her face. He made a vow to do everything in his power to keep it that way. As he to fell asleep, his last conscious thought was about how right it felt to be with Pan again.

And so, for the first time in months, Pan slept peacefully.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pan groggily awoke to find herself in Trunks arms. She smiled tenderly down at his sleeping face. She had missed him so much the last couple of months. Not only was he one of her best friends, but she loved him. She knew that he was so much older than she was, but that didn't affect her love in any way. But she knew that she could never tell him. He thought of her as a sister, while the feelings that she felt for him were anything but brotherly. She couldn't tell him, but she knew in her heart that he was the only person she would ever love. She fell back asleep relishing the feel of his arms around her, wishing that he would hold her like this forever.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Shouldn't you guys be doing that somewhere else?" a snide voice woke Pan up from her very comfortable nap. Pan opened her eyes to see Vegita, with his arms crossed, staring down at her with a smirking grin. Then she noticed why. While they were sleeping, somehow shifted positions that could be misunderstood.

Blushing bright red, Pan jumped off the couch. "Vegita-san, it's not what it looks like. We were just sleeping. Honest."

She looked over to Trunks to get a little help, but found him to still be asleep. "I know that, girl," Vegita replied in his usual I'm-a-prince-and-one-of-the-most-powerful-peo ple-in-the-world-and-better-than-you way (we all know and love it). "Do your parents know you're here? It's late, and you know how that fool of a father of yours worries. Weak humans." He seemed to mumble the last part to himself as he went out the room.

Pan looked at her watch and gasped when she realized that it was almost seven o'clock. They had been sleeping for almost four hours. She looked over at Trunks who was still lying on the couch, and was surprised to find him smiling, even though his eyes were still closed. That is until something occurred to her.

Pan's glared suspiciously at Trunks. Then a suspicious gleam came into her eyes. He continued to lay there with his eyes closed, acting completely innocent. To his own misfortune, he had no way of seeing what was coming.

Smack, one of the cushions came down and hit him on the head. His eyes snapped opened, but before he had a chance to react, a weight was already holding him down. Though little, taking after her mother, Pan was a ¼ Saiyan and thus weighed more than a normal human. Added to this was the fact that she was determined to make Trunks suffer after the humiliating scene with his father. This all added up to make a very tough adversary.

Of course, Trunks wasn't an ordinary human either, and was actually very strong (big surprise there ~_- ). So before long, it had turned into a wrestling match. It was a battle of huge proportions and was sure to go down in history along with other famous battles; man vs. woman, good vs. evil, Pepsi vs. Coke. There could only be one winner and there would be no prisoners. They would fight to the death (or until Pan had to go home so she wouldn't get grounded).

But the end result was already fated and the winner was clear. "Do you give up?" the victorious girl asked, smirking down from where she was perched on his chest.

"Aren't you gonna be late?" Trunks teased, a little put out at having been bested by a girl.

"Aren't you a little old to be such a poor sport?" she teased right back. But at the same time she was getting off him. He was right though, it was getting late and she didn't want her father to worry.

"Hey, I'm not old." He said stood up and smoothed out his suit. "Besides, I look great for my age. Not a day over twenty." He added with a decided lack of modesty.

"Oh!?" she asked, "Then what's with those wrinkles."

"What wrinkles?!!" he asked, hurrying over to a mirror. In his haste, he had failed to notice the wicked gleam in Pan's eye. After a thorough look in the mirror "I have no wrinkles!"

Then he turned around and noticed Pan on the floor holding her sides, fighting to keep the laughter in. But this was one fight that she felt it was okay to lose, and soon was rolling around on the floor in laughter. Trunks ego was always good for a laugh.

"What is so funny?!" Trunks huffed, trying to control the grin that was tugging the corners of his mouth. It was so great to hear her laugh, even if it was at his expense.

"Don't worry, Trunks-kun." Pan managed to get out between laughs. "You're still the best looking forty year old I know."

"FORTY!!! I'll have you know that I am only 31!!" This just caused Pan to laugh harder.

Trunks started to smirk. There was nothing else he could do. So arming himself with a cushion, he stepped in to do battle. He was going to attempt to knock some sense into her, literally.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A couple days later, Trunks and Pan were lying outside watching the stars.

Lying beside the man that she had secretly been in love with for as long as she could remember, she felt complete. Which caused her to get introspective. "Trunks-kun," she asked softly, "do you ever think about it?"

"What?" he asked, completely clueless to what she was talking about.

"Dying, Going to the next dimension. Do you ever think about what it would be like?" "Of course. When you fight a lot like I have, you have to think about it." He turned and lay on his side facing her. "So what's with all this talk about death anyway. Are you still having those dreams?"

"Not really. Well, I'm still having the same dream but it's changed. She sat up and wrapped her arm around her legs. She had a very serious expression on her face. "I don't know. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, what with the dreams and all. And, well, I don't think it would be all that bad. Not that I want to die or anything, It's just that, you know, like the people that I've talked to that were brought back with the Dragonballs didn't think it was that bad. I mean if I was to die, at least I'd know what to expect."

Trunks sat up to and looked intently at her. "What's all this talk about death?" he said trying to cheer her up. "You're not going to die for a long time now."

"Hmm." She said not quite agreeing. The she said with a small, kind of wishful smile. "But if something was to happen to me, would you do me a favor? Could you watch over my family for me? You know how protective they are of me, being the youngest in the family. And now that Grandpa Goku is gone, they're even worse."

Trunks started to say something, since all of this was starting to worry him. But looking at her face, he realized how serious she was. "Hai, Pan-chan. I promise."

"Thank you." She gave him a quick hug and went into the house before he could say anything more on the subject. He stared after her for a moment and then shrugged. Women!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was a week later and everyone was going on a picnic. Everyone had decided that they should still have get together at least once a month, despite of the fact that Goku was gone. Since it was summer, they decided to have it at the lake. The group consisted of Vegita, Bulma, Chichi, Yamcha, Kullin, 18, Gohan, Videl, Goten, Trunks, Bra, Marron, and Pan.

Chichi had brought along enough food to feed a small army or in this case a few Saiyans. As everyone was eating, Trunks looked at Pan. She looked a lot better than she had.

As if she noticed him watching her she looked up and smiled. His breath caught in his lungs. For a moment, the sunlight shined off her, giving her an ethereal appearance. Then the moment was gone and he shrugged it off.

After the initial feeding frenzy was over, everyone was just lounging around and in a lethargic state. That was when disaster struck. One minute everything was peaceful and then the next they were swarmed by a band of ugly little green men. There was no warning at all, just an instant attack. They managed to beat them back while the women, with the exception of Pan got away.

Pan started to fight back. There was no way she was going to let these monsters win. She managed to fry a couple with some ki blasts. Before she even had time to recover more were surrounding her.

The monsters surrounded her, pulling her under a sea of bodies. She felt their teeth and nails sink into her skin. She felt a throbbing in her shoulder where the teeth had sunk, hampering her ability to move her shoulder. She managed to throw a few off, but there was always more to take their place.

The monsters had short bodies, making them seem insubstantial and not a real challenge. Normally, she could beat them effortlessly. Saiyans, being a particularly strong race, had conquered planets with inhabitants ten times as strong as these abominations. But their power wasn't in their strength, it was in sheer volume. Whenever she did manage to trounce one, another was there to take its place. This fact alone was enough to make them a formable enemy.

Another factor was there very mindlessness. They attacked with only one thought, kill. They didn't think about the repercussions, or the fact that there was a very good chance that they would be killed. They were thoughtless, programmed to carry out one task, and that task was unfortunately to destroy her.

She felt herself began to fall under the weight of their repeated onslaught, helpless to try and protect herself. Right then Trunks appeared and managed to knock them away. All the while dealing with his own group. "You should go." He informed her in between kicks. Take care off your mom and grandma."

"They can take care of themselves." She informed him and jumped back into the fight, forgetting all about her injuries.

Pan looked around her and saw everyone being attacked. Though one of the things would hardly be able to damage a strong opponent, as soon as one was defeated, there was two more to take its place. There appeared to be an endless supply of them, and Pan knew that they couldn't last forever.

She also realized that these monsters wouldn't have the brains to organize an attack of this magnitude. She looked around to find the mastermind, and noticed someone suspicious. A man about 6 foot tall standing a distance away, calmly looking at the battle and smirking (though not quite as good at it as Vegita, but who is?) and appeared to be enjoying the battle. He had purple skin and white hair, which stood straight up. Pan got the feeling that he wasn't from earth.

Pan managed to knock the remaining little green men (I know, an alien cliche) off her. For some reason they weren't swarming her as much as before, probably because they didn't see her as much of a threat. She attempted to sneak up behind where the man was standing and got ready to attack. Before she got close enough to touch him, he had put a shield up around him. This also gave Pan a chance to feel his power level.

Pan was stunned. His power level was well over anything she had experienced before. She got ready to attack again but before she had a chance, he lifted her up and heaved her into a group of the monsters.

She was occupied with fighting them and didn't have enough time to even tell everyone else what she suspected.

When she finally had a moment, she looked over at the others and was surprised at there condition. They were beaten and bloody but still kept battling gallantly. Then she saw her father go down under an attack by multiple green men.

She had a flash back to her dream and realized that it was coming true. In her mind she saw the bodies of her friends and family, and it was too much for.

"NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" she screamed, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the fighting. Everyone seemed to pause and looked over at her.

They immediately had to turn away. Pan was glowing with a golden light so bright that it burned the eyes to look at it. Her power was steadily increasing, first to that of a super Saiyan and then beyond even that. Her power just steadily kept rising. But in spite of the power, her body didn't change at all. Where the others got bigger and their hair turned blond and they got blue/green eyes when they went super Saiyan, she remained exactly the same.

The glow spread and when the green guys came into contact with it, they immediately disintegrated. The whole time, though, Pan was focusing on something behind them. The man had backed away in shock upon witnessing the whole scene. He was shocked to see such a tremendous power in the hands of a mere girl.

Before he had time to flee though, she was behind him. It appeared that her speed had increased as well as her power. His eyes narrowed and with out another word he attacked. Pan matched him blow for blow.

At last he attacked with a powerful ki blast at her. Pan, using her newfound power, made a huge ball of golden power and called out "Golden Lash".

The blasts hit and a huge light exploded. The Golden Lash slowly over took the alien's attack and headed closer to him. He tried to get out of the way, but soon it had hit him and he disintegrated.

As soon as he was gone, the rest of the monsters disappeared. The others slowly gathered their wits about them and started to walk towards Pan. When they were a few feet away from her she grinned weakly and asked, "Did we win?" then collapsed on the ground.

Trunks rushed over to her and the others quickly followed suit. He cradled her head on his lap and gently tried to wake her up, "Pan-chan, can you here me? Wake up!"

She opened her eyes and forced them to focus. Pan looked at Trunks and said weakly, "Remember your promise. Take care of them for me."

Trunks instantly knew what she was talking about and felt the panic set in. "Pan, what do you mean? We won, you won."

"Yes I did," she managed to get out, even though it was getting harder to talk. "You will be able to keep on living. That's all I wanted."

Trunks looked down into her sweet face and felt her passing into the next dimension. He started shaking his head in denial. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. They had won. And slowly the tears started to fall as he held her lifeless body in his arms.

Chapter 2

Trunks sat on the ground and cradled Pan's now lifeless body in his arms. He sat in shock, not coming to terms with all that had happened in the last hour. They had all been having a good time, and now Pan was gone. He wiped at his face, wiping the tears from his face.

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into the grief-stricken face of Gohan. Gohan had an astonished look on his face as if he hadn't quite comprehended what had occurred. "Gohan…" he said softly but his voice trailed off. What could you say to someone who had just lost his only child?

The others stood around and remained silent, not knowing what to do. Goten walked over to his brother and silently gave him his support. They stayed like that for a little while, then all of a sudden Pan's body just disappeared. Before they could start asking questions, a familiar figure appeared.

"Piccolo," Goten exclaimed in shock. "I thought you were dead."

"Life's full of surprises, isn't it boy." He replied in his usual controlled manner. He then turned his attention to his formal pupil and one of the first people he ever cared about, Gohan. His usually brisk manner softened and he looked at him. Gohan just stared not really focusing on anything. "Gohan," he said softly, almost soothingly. "Pan will be fine."

At this Gohan looked up at him for the first time. "What? What do you know about it? Do you know where her body is?" He was starting to sound a little desperate.

"Yeah. Let's go back to the house and I'll tell you all about it." At first Gohan wanted to argue, he wanted to know right that moment, but looking into Piccolo's resolved face, he gave in.

"Yeah, let's go. I'm going to have to tell Videl about this anyway."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a solemn group that made they're way back to Capsule Corp. When they arrived, the women could tell that something was wrong. Videl looked them over sighing in relief to see that Gohan was all right. That was until she realized someone was missing. "Where's Pan?" she asked, concern lacing her voice. "Is she all right?"

She looked into Gohan's face and read the truth there. "No." she said softly "NO!!" she repeated more loudly. She fell to the floor rocking back and forth as tears streamed down her face. "Not my baby."

Gohan went and sat beside her. Trying to find words to comfort her, but failing, he wrapped his arms around her. Slowly his tears mixed with hers.

All the people who hadn't been aware of what happened started to comprehend the meaning of it. Slowly they two begin to cry. Chichi just stood there and fainted. Luckily Goten was close enough to her that he just caught her and carried her to a bedroom to lay down with out saying a word. Vegita went and wrapped his arms around Bulma as she too shed tears over their loss. Trunks went to Bra, the sister he often fought with, and held her while she cried.

After a while, when the tears were slowing down, Piccolo decided to have his say. Clearing his throat got the attention of everyone, since until then the room had been silent except for the sound of sobbing. "If you are all ready to listen to what I have to say, I've got some interesting news about Pan." At this Gohan started to say something but Piccolo just held up a hand for silence. "It seems that your daughter is the legendary super saiyan." At this an outbreak of voices pierced the quiet, the most vocal being Vegita.

"What the hell are you talking about?! We're all super saiyans."

"Yes," Piccolo replied in a matter of fact tone, "you are all super saiyan but Pan is the Legendary Super Saiyan."

"What exactly does being the legendary super saiyan entail and why is it different from being a super saiyan." Bulma, ever the voice of reason (well at least most of the time?…um… sometimes?), asked.

"The Legendary Super Saiyan is one of the most powerful beings in the world. When transformed they not only become stronger, but also more powerful and smarter. They get tremendous powers that just keep growing. To put it mildly, they become deadly adversaries, almost impossible to beat." Piccolo calmly informed them.

"What?! You're saying that that little girl is one of the most powerful people in the world?! Even more powerful than me?! How can this be?!" Vegita questioned in indignation.

"Yes," Piccolo said a touch of sarcasm in his voice. "Even stronger than you. And as to how it is possible, all Saiyan women are exceptionally strong. Every thousand years, a special one is born, these ones become Legendary Super Saiyans."

"And how is it you know all this," asked in annoyance, not about to admit that Piccolo could be right.

"Why, the kami of Vegita-sei told me. She was very informative." Piccolo said in feigned surprise.

"SHE?!" was Vegita's only reply. He could not believe it. A race of the strongest warriors and the god of the planet had been a WOMAN! "Oh, yes." Piccolo said a little smugly. "A very nice woman. She had a lot to say about you."

"Really?! Like what? That I was the strongest warrior ever born into the noble family of Vegita-sei."

"No. She said that you were the most adorable baby ever to be born to the Royal Family of Vegita-sei." Piccolo said with a grin.

"WHAT?! WHY OF ALL THE NERVE!! WHY I WAS THE STRONGEST BABY EVER!!" Vegita began to go into one of his tirades.

"STOP IT!" for the first time since arriving, Gohan spoke up, very forcibly. "WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP YOUR BICKERING!" When he saw that he had everyone's attention he continued in a softer tone. "I would like to hear about my daughter if it's okay with the two of you."

"Um..well..," Piccolo managed, a little shocked at Gohan's tone of voice. "Well, as you know, she's dead." At this there was a choked sob sound from Videl. "Anyway," he said continuing, "the reason her body disappeared is because I had a talk with Dende. He agreed to let her body go with her so she can train while she's in heaven. That way her body can get stronger so that when she's wished back she can control her power."

"Wished back?" Gohan asked. For the first time there was a hint of hope in his voice. "Can we do that? I thought we weren't allowed to use the Dragonballs anymore."

"How do you think I was able to be alive again. All you have to do is find Goku. He's in charge of protecting the Dragonballs now." At this there was a unanimous look of shock. Because Goku had been gone for so long, they had figured him to be dead, or at least gone for good.

"And where is he?" Gohan asked, the hopeless feeling leaving him.

"That seems to be a problem," Piccolo said with a look of slight chagrin. He hated not knowing everything. "We're not exactly sure."

"What do you mean you're not exactly sure," Chichi jumped in now. She, probably more than anyone, was surprised that Goku was alive. The fact that he hadn't contacted her in years was a very sore spot for her. Not only was she annoyed but hurt as well. This was her husband after all, and she had missed him. And now she finds out that he was on a vacation or something and hadn't been thinking about her at all.

"Well, when I get my hands on him..... Ahhh!!!" She screamed and stamped her foot in frustration. "He better have a good explanation." Everyone looked on and sweat dropped. If they weren't all a little put out with Goku, they would fill sorry for him.

Between all those present there was a silent agreement to find Goku as soon as possible.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Pan was on a trip to find someone herself. She had been surprised when she had appeared before Dende. He was after all a god, no matter the fact that her family had known him since he was a boy, even before he became kami. In fact she had met him before. But there is quite a difference between meeting someone when you're alive, then when you're dead.

Her first thought after the realization that she was dead, the second was the fact that she had thought that being dead would make you, well, lighter. After all, you wouldn't have a body. But contrary to what she believed, she in fact felt heavier. That's when she realized that she still had her body. And that the gravity in heaven was intense.

After giving her a moment to adjust to the situation, Dende began to explain the situation the same as Piccolo had, minus the comments towards Vegita.

"So," she added after he was finished explaining, "what you want me to do is go on a dangerous trip to some lady who is going to make me do a lot of hard training because I'm the legendary super saiyan until I can be wished back to life?"

Briefly wincing at the rather rough summary, Dende just nodded.

"Well," Pan said with a cocky smile, "there goes my vacation. Now which way do I go."

Dende pointed behind her and she turned to see. What she saw made her gulp once. It was a long road stretching forward as far as the eye (even her part saiyan eyes that were stronger than human) could see. It was full of sharp twists and turn and even had a few loops.

"That's it?!" she asked in amazement. At his nod she added "Who ever laid out these roads most of been on something. Well, I don't suppose you have a car I could borrow or something do you?"

"Um, I think getting there is part of the challenge." he informed her. He then went on to add a warning. "What ever you do don't fall off the road."

"Why not." she asked him.

He was beginning to lose patience with all the questions. "Because if you do you will be stuck in hell forever!" he snapped.

"Well then, shouldn't you put up a guard rail or something?" She asked with an impudent grin.

"GO!!" he practically shouted. The girl was enough to drive a saint, or in this case a god, to distraction.

She just grinned and quickly bent over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Dende. Oh, and tell Piccolo I said hi." With that she turned and started flying down the road, leaving the blushing god behind.

Dende turned around muttering under his breath about impudent little girls and saw a smirking green face. "Piccolo, you're back already?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah, back in time to se that little scene there." He said, his smirk turning into a full-fledged smile, seeing Dende flush red, which on his green skin was quite a sight.

"That girl was never taught the manners that would befit someone of my standing." he said huffily.

Piccolo just continued to grin. "That's part of her charm."

Dende just turned away. "Now tell me about what happened when you explained everything to them." he ordered. And Piccolo proceeded to do exactly that.

*****************

Pan continued to run down the road. She couldn't recall exactly how long she had been running, but she believed it to be close to a year. Her days consisted of running, flying, and walking down the road, until she stopped to sleep. The sleep was more for her emotionally than physically, because along with the need to eat the need to sleep had disappeared. This was kind of strange, because normally she could shovel it down with the best of them. But, she guessed it was a benefit of being dead.

She finally came to the end of a road and came upon a small planet. It seemed to be barren except for one house that stood in the middle. "Well," she thought, "I guess this is the place."

Pan walked up to the house and knocked on the door. When the door was opened, she was sure she was in the right place when she saw the person that answered. Pan's first thought was that she looked like Vegita. She had the same features, only more feminine and eyes so dark they appeared to be black. Her hair was the same wild spikes and dark black that Vegita's was, and her outfit was one that Pan recognized as being Saiyan armor because she had seen a suit similar belonging to Vegita, with her tail wrapped around her waist. But what was the most familiar was the same scowling expression that Vegita always seemed to wear.

"I'm Negla. It took you long enough to get here." Pan had to hold back a smile. This woman was so like Vegita it was almost scary. As she talked a black bird came out of the house and hopped on her shoulder. "We have a lot to do. Let's get started." And so Pan's training began.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I know it's kind of short, but I was busy. Gomen . Hopefully I can get the next chapter out faster. So write and tell me what you think so far.

Chapter 3

Trunks sighed warily as he entered the darkened house. He had spent another long day at work and wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep. He made his way through the hallway and towards his room. When he had almost reached it, he was surprised when the light in the hallway was switched on and he saw his mother standing there.

"Trunks, are you all right," Bulma asked in concern.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just tired."

"That's not what I mean. All you seem to do is work and sleep. I'm worried about you," she said in a concerned tone of voice.

"I'm fine." Trunks repeated this time with a bit of a snap in his voice. All he wanted was to go to bed and sleep.

"No," Bulma said simply. "I think you're taking this situation with Pan to hard."

"And how am I supposed to take it, mom? One of my best friends died." Trunks snapped at her.

"We'll bring her back as soon as we find the Dragonballs." Bulma said, remaining calm.

"And when are we going to do that. We've looked all over for Goku, and can't find him anywhere. We can't use the dragonradar, because it's gone. Look, I just want to go to bed." He brushed past her and entered his room.

After preparing for bed, he laid down. He let his mind drift and slowly fell into a deep sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Where am I?" Trunks asked. He gazed around himself in shock. He was in an open meadow, with a stream gently running through it. The sky above him was a dazzling blue without a cloud in sight.

"You're dreaming," A familiar voice answered him from behind. He spun around and gazed upon a familiar figure.

"Pan? What? How?" Trunks sputtered.

"You, at a loss for words? What has the world come to?" She asked with a teasing grin.

"What is going on here?" he asked. "This doesn't feel like a regular dream."

"It's kind of like an astral projection." Was her reply. He started to ask her more questions, but she held up a hand to stop him. "Let's just say you're mind is here, but you're body is safely tucked at home in bed."

Trunks still had questions, but decided not to ask, and just accept it. After all, he had been missing her and now had an opportunity to see her, even if it was only a dream.

"It's been awhile," Pan said.

"Two weeks." Trunks said softly.

"Two weeks, is that how long it's been here? It's been a lot longer for me. Time is different here.

"So," he asked, "what have you been doing? How's death treating you."

"Cute," she said with a grimace. "Can the dead humor, or I'll leave."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"Well, force yourself," she said dryly. "Anyway, I've been learning some new fighting techniques. The stuff that Negla has been teaching me is really amazing. She's already taught me so much, and she has a lot more she's going to teach me."

"Is Negla the former Kami of Vegita-sei?"

"Yep. She's so much like your father. You wouldn't believe it. So what have you been doing."

"Working. That's about it."

"Have you seen my family, are they all right. How are they taking all this." She asked him.

Trunks felt guilt at her question. He had promised to take care of them for her, but had been so wrapped up in his own grief he hadn't even seen them. "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen them since the day that you died."

She frowned, "I guess they took it hard."

"What did you expect. They love you and you went and did something stupid. You just had to go and play martyr, didn't you." For the first time, Trunks lost his temper. He had felt such guilt over not realizing what was going to happen. The signs had been there that she knew something, but he had ignored them. And he couldn't forgive himself for that.

'Look," she said, ignoring his outburst. "I have to go. Would you do me a favor?"

"What?" he asked.

"Go to my house and get there's two letters in my desk. Get them and give the one to my parents to them and read the other one, okay."

He nodded and she disappeared.

--------------------------------------------- ---------

The next morning Trunks woke up early and left before anyone else was awake. He flew quickly to Gohan and Videl's house. He saw an open window and crept in, careful not to make any noise.

Trunks found himself in the kitchen of their house. He checked to make sure that no one was awake and crept down the hall to Pan's room.

He got to her room and quietly opened the door. He ducked inside and eased the door shut. Going over to her desk, he opened the top drawer and looked inside. To put it kindly would to say it was a mess. Papers and other items were shoved inside. It was impossible to locate anything in there. Quickly pulling them out, he ruffled through the papers.

He finally found the letter he was looking for and sighed in relief. All this breaking and entering stuff was starting to wear thin on his nerves. Walking over to the door, he eased it open and was just about to ease through when he heard it.

"I'll be there in a minute." Trunks heard Goten called to his brother, down the hallway.

"Damn." He said, ducking back into the room. I should have just gone to Gohan and told him to look in the desk in the first place, a little voice in the back of his head said. And if he wanted to know how he knew? Another voice asked. What are you going to do, tell him that his dead daughter told you to in your dreams? You'd be locked in the loony bin within a week. Shouldn't I be, the other voice answered. I'm setting here arguing with myself. "Shut up," Trunks told both the voices.

He could hear the footsteps as they came closer to the stairs. Not wanting to risk getting caught, Trunks did the only thing he could do, dive into the closet. How does Pan always seem to get me in trouble, he asked with a sigh.

When he was sure that who ever had went by was gone, he opened the door a crack and peeked out. When he was sure it was safe he crept silently out and jumped out the window. After he was gone, he couldn't help smiling at himself. He had actually broken into his best friend's brother's house. And it had been kind of fun.

He settled himself under the tree and opened the letter addressed to him. He was surprised at the contents.

Dear Trunks, If you're reading this, I'm probably dead. Which is a good thing considering the fact that if I wasn't dead and had realized that you had gone through my stuff, I would kill you. Well, I know you, and I know that you're feeling guilty, right? Well, stop. Right now. You know me, once I have my mind set, no one can change it. That's one of the reasons I went on that trip with you and Grandpa Goku. And everything always seems to work out. If I hadn't done what I did, then lots of people would have been hurt. I couldn't live with the guilt of that, and you couldn't of either. So, even if you had stopped me, people would have been hurt. I was just narrowing down the amount. So, get over it, okay. You have more important things to worry about right now. Like where the hell my Grandpa is. Now get over it, and get to work. Sincerely, Pan

Trunks couldn't help smiling to himself. The note sounded so much like Pan. He wondered how she had known about her Grandpa, but then shrugged it off. After all that happened, this shouldn't surprise him too much. Pulling himself off the ground he started flying home. He clutched the letters close to his chest as he headed home. He had work to do.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trunks arrived home a few minutes later. But unlike when he left, he had a huge smile on his face. He entered the house and went straight to his mom's lab. "Mom, are you in here?" he called into the room.

"Over here," She called in a muffled voice.

Trunks followed the voice and saw his mother's feet sticking out from under a machine. When he got by her, she rolled out from under and sat looking at him, hesitant about what his attitude would be like after the previous night. Trunks noticed her look, and immediately apologized.

"Mom, I'm sorry about last night. It was rude of me to take my frustration out on you." Bulma noticed the difference in her son's expression and a smile lightened her face. She wasn't sure what had happened to cause the change that had come over her son, but what ever it was, she was grateful.

"No problem," she said quickly. "Now, did you need something?"

"Yeah, did you ever finish the new Dragonball Radar that you were working on?" He asked her, glad that she was forgiving him for his attitude the night before.

"Yeah, I just finished it this morning." Bulma said, walking over to where it was laying on a table. Trunks looked at the device that appeared to be a high-tech watch.

"That's it?" He asked, doubtful that something that small could do the job.

"Yes, I'm sure it will work." Bulma snapped. She hated it when anyone doubted her work. "All you have to do is push this little button on the side to turn it on." She told him.

"Thanks," Trunks told her. With a quick kiss on her cheek he was rushing out of the room with it in his hands. "I'll be back as soon as I find Goku." Trunks called over his shoulder as he raced out of the room.

"Trunks!" Bulma yelled after him, but he was already gone.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gohan was getting ready to leave for work when he heard someone calling his name. Looking up into the air, he noticed someone flying towards him. He smiled when he recognized Trunks.

"Hi," Gohan called towards him. Trunks landed near Gohan and immediately noticed the circles under his eyes, as if it had been a long time since he had slept well. "What's up?" he asked.

"I wanted to give you this." Trunks said, handing him the letter.

Gohan saw his name on the front and immediately recognized Pan's handwriting. "What's this?" he asked in amazement.

"Something I thought you would like to read," Trunks told him softly.

Gohan tore the letter open and started reading.

Dear Mom and Dad, If you are reading this than I know that something happened to me. I just want you to know that I was expecting this to happen. There was absolutely nothing that you could have done to prevent it, so stop thinking about maybes. I had to do this. You always taught me to do what was right, and this was the right thing to do. I know you are sad and feel responsible, but you shouldn't. Just know that I'll be back soon and I love you both very much. Love, Pan

Gohan felt tears stinging his eyes. He missed her so much, and the house seemed so empty without her. He missed all the noise she would make and all the trouble she would create. Pan had filled the house with laughter, something that he really missed lately.

"Thanks," he told Trunks in a gruff voice. "I'm going to go show this to Videl."

Trunks just nodded, he didn't know what was in the note, but it had really helped cheer Gohan up. "Is Goten here?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's inside." Gohan said, glancing back down at the note. Trunks went with him up to the house and called in for Goten. A few seconds later, Goten came out dressed in casual clothes.

"What's up?" he asked Trunks casually.

"What are you doing later?" Trunks asked him.

"Not much, why?"

"You are now. Go pack some clothes, we have work to do!" Trunks said intently.

"What?" Goten asked standing up straight at the serious expression on Trunks face.

"Come on, we've got to go find your dad." Goten started to ask him more questions, but instead just smiled and rushed off to pack. This is going to be fun, he thought to himself.

Chapter 4

Trunks sighed and sank deeper into his sleep. He wasn't surprised to see Pan in his Dreams. Since that first time, a couple days ago, she had been appearing regularly. For some people, this might seem a little weird, but Trunks enjoyed it. He was seeing a new side to Pan that he had never had the fortune of seeing before. He now realized that she was not just a quick-tempered impetuous girl, she was also a caring and though she rarely showed it, somewhat vulnerable young woman. And he realized that he really liked this side of her personality. It showed that not only was she fun, but she was also an extraordinary person. Someone that he would really like to get to know better.

****************************************************************

As Trunks and Pan had their meeting, both were unaware that two people were talking about them and aware of what was going on.

"Do you think they have any idea what has happened?" Piccolo asked Negla, who was leaning against the wall of the room overlooking where Pan was sleeping.

"Not a clue," she said with an amused smirk. "I'm a little surprised at how strong their bond is. Neither of them is a full Saiyan, yet the bond was strong enough to last, even through death. Despite how strong it is, neither of them seems to realize what it is.

"That could be a good thing though," Piccolo said. Then changing the subject added, "So how is Pan's training going?"

"Good," she replied. "She has a pure heart. It gives her a strength that the others lacked." There was an unmistakable sound of pride in her voice. "The last of the Saiyans are a particularly strong bunch."

"Yes," Piccolo said in agreement. "They are all very powerful. And it seems that the youngest is the most powerful."

"Right now she is, but in the future there may be some even more powerful." There was a hint of mystery in her voice and Piccolo wondered about it.

"Well, I have to be going. Dende is worried about the person who had attacked them. So far there hasn't been any more attacks, but he thinks there might be later." With that Piccolo disappeared.

"Are you sure you know how to use that?" Goten was asking Trunks the next morning. After what appeared to be another futile search. For nearly a week now, they had been searching for Goku, and as of yet were uneventful.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Trunks snapped in impatience. He was starting to wonder if they would ever find the Dragonballs. HE looked at the screen of the radar in frustration when he noticed it. A little blip on the screen. "Goten," he called to his friend. "I think we found them."

At his words, Goten's face seemed to brighten. They took off as fast as they could fly, trying to find the source of the discrepancy. They came to a small house settled in the woods. It was a common enough house, and would have gone unnoticed, if it weren't for the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere.

As they got closer, they were astonished to see a familiar figure. Though he had changed a lot since the last time they had seen him, he was unmistakable. "Dad!" Goten yelled running over to him.

Goku looked up in surprise. He had been living alone for years now, and to say he was shocked to find someone else there was an understatement. "Goten!" He yelled his eyes widening at the site of his youngest son. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you and the dragonballs," he said, his face reflecting his happiness to see his father again after so long.

Goku had a blank expression on his face, and Goten realized that he had never heard about Pan. Remembering the reason they were there, Goten's face became sober.

"We need them to wish Pan back." Trunks said, coming up behind them.

Goku's expression became confused, "Wish her back?"

"It's kind of a long story." Trunks said. Goku led them into the house, as Trunks explained everything to him.

· * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ·

"Well," Goku said, "we'll have to wish her back as soon as possible." He was standing in front of the stove with a frilly pink apron on, preparing them all dinner. (I know what you're thinking: Goku cooking… But isn't it a lovely mental image ^_^)

Before they can make in definite plans, a voice suddenly intrudes in his mind. "Grandpa!"

"What?!" he asked. For a moment he thought he was going crazy.

Trunks and Goten looked at him with an expression of confusion on their faces. "Umm… Dad? Are you alright?"

Goku started to answer, but then he heard the voice again. "Grandpa, it's me Pan!"

Goku relaxed, relieved to know that he wasn't going crazy. "Hey, Panny! When did you learn telepathy?"

Trunks and Goten got startled looks on their faces, not sure whether to believe this or to have Goku committed to an institution. "Umm… What's going on?" Trunks' asked Goku.

"Shhh…" Was Goku's only reply. Trunks and Goten continued to stare at him, as he had what appeared to be a conversation with himself.

"How are you. That's good. Learn anything good. Really, you're going to have to show me that. Yeah, it's good. No I haven't been home yet. Are you sure? What should I tell your parents? Okay. Talk to you soon. Bye." They could hear Goku saying.

When he turned to look at him, he could tell by the puzzled looks on their faces that they hadn't been able to follow the conversation. "That was Pan." He informed them calmly as if it was no big deal to be having conversation with a dead person. "She learned telepathy, and was making a request."

"What," Goten asked impatiently, practically hoping in his seat.

"Well, it seems she doesn't want to be wished back yet." Goku said.

At that Goten fell of his seat. "What?! What do you mean she doesn't want to be wished back yet?"

Trunks, though he didn't say anything was just as surprised as Goten, though he shouldn't have been. He knew how much she liked learning the new techniques, despite how much she missed everyone. And she was determined to get as strong as possible.

"So, when does she want to come home?" Trunks asked, forcing his voice to be calm. "Well, she said, at the end of the year."

"And, what are we supposed to do until then?" He asked, his voice rising slightly and expressing his frustration.

"Well, it seems that she thinks everyone should train, and get ready. She senses that the fight she had was just the beginning, and everything is going to get tougher from here."

"Are you going home with us?" Goten asked, a note of expectation in his voice.

"I can't." Goku said quickly, but there was a note of longing in his voice. He had missed seeing his wife, children, and grandchild. But he had to stay away.

"Why?" Goten asked him, the pain obvious in his voice. "Why do you have to stay here? Why do you always abandon us?"

Goku didn't know what to say to his words. In a way they were true. He always left, but there was always an important reason to. Some unexpected threat always came up, that put the world in danger. Danger that only he could fix. His family had had to come second, and he was tired of it. But he couldn't go back, the danger was just too great. But maybe this time, things would be different. They had all gotten stronger, maybe this time, no one would be hurt.

All these emotions swam through him, but the most apparent on was longing. Longing for a normal life that he could spend with his family. And the only possible chance that could happen would be by going home.

With a look of determination on his face, he turned to the other two and said, "Let's go."

The closer they got to home, the more nervous Goku got. On one hand, he was looking forward to seeing Chichi, just not her attitude at seeing him. He knew that he was in for a long harangue about his absence. But then, Chichi was always like that. Two of the things he loved about her were her strength and courage.

When they arrived at Goku's house, Goten called inside. "Mom, Gohan, Videl, come here quick!!"

They came rushing out of the house as soon as they heard him. But, when Chichi saw Goku, her reaction was very unexpected. They had expected yelling and screaming, but that was not what they got. Instead, they all saw her run up to Goku and throw herself into his arms, crying.

Goku wrapped his arms around her and shut his eyes. For the first time in years, he felt complete. He closed his eyes and rested them on her forehead. They remained that way for several moments, while the others just stood back and let them have their moment, still surprised by Chichi's unexpected reaction.

After a few moments's Chichi pulled away, and wiped her eyes. "It's good to have you back, Goku." She said softly. With that she turned around and went back inside. After a brief reunion with the rest, Goku followed her inside. The rest left, to give them privacy.

"Why did you leave?" Chichi asked from the kitchen, her back turned towards him.

Goku thought about all the possible reasons and finally decided to tell her the truth. "I couldn't stand to see you hurt anymore."

"What?!" she spun around with surprise in her eyes.

"You think I didn't notice how much it hurt when you saw the kids fight? When you saw Pan fight? I knew it did, just as I knew that if I kept the dragonballs here, it would just increase the chance of something like that happening. I couldn't let that happen. I love you too much to ever intentionally hurt you or put you in danger."

Chichi looked at her husband. This was so unlike the carefree and impulsive man that she was accustomed to. It occurred to her that maybe Goku had finally grown up. But that didn't excuse him.

"Did it ever occur to you how much your leaving may have hurt me. I love you, and one day you just disappear without a trace. I thought you were dead." He could hear the pain in her voice and went to comfort her. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "I never meant to hurt you. I thought it would be for the best."

"Just promise you won't leave me like this again." She pleaded.

"I won't." he promised. And then he kissed her.

*********************************************

7 months later

"Ready?" Goku asked. Around him, everybody was gathered, waiting for him to wish Pan back to life. At everybody's nod, he turned back to where the dragonballs were gathered. "Well, here goes nothing."

"Eternal Dragon, I summon you" he called out. (I don't know what the words to summon it are. My minds blank.) The sky went black and the balls began to glow. The glowed a golden color, and then the dragon appeared in all his glory."

"What is it you wish?!" The dragons booming voice asked of him.

"I wish for Son Pan to be brought back to this dimension." Goku said.

"You're wish will be granted."

Suddenly Pan appeared before them. She was back.

________________________________________________________________________________
You know, I had really planned to make this longer, but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. Now that this is written, I can concentrate on the fun stuff. Like more on Trunks and Pan.
-Lady Trunks

Chapter 5

In a large room, a man with dark blue hair sat staring out the window, a frown upon his handsome face. He couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. This was supposed to have been an easy mission, with hardly any resistance. He had sent Shag start the invasion with a force of ghats, the little green men that his planet had especially made to attack and conquer planets. But somehow, instead of an easy victory, Shag had disappeared along with the ghats. At first he had suspected betrayal, but Shag, though not the strongest of his subjects was one of the most loyal. Only one thing would have stopped him from his objective, and that was what was troubling him.

"Shin!!" he yelled.

Within seconds a tall orange man was bowing in front of him. "Yes you highness?" he asked respectfully.

"I want you to find out what happened to Shag immediately." he commanded in the voice of someone that was used to getting what he wanted, which in fact, he was.

"Of course your majesty," he said quickly bowing again to the floor.

"You are dismissed," he said casually in a condescending manner. With that he turned back to the window. Soon, he thought to himself, as he looked at the earth blow him, soon this will all be mine.

********************************************* ****

Trunks stood back as everyone swarmed around Pan to welcome her back. He was happy to have her back, but at same time, though he would never admit it to anyone, he was intimidated. This girl, whom he had baby-sat when she was still a baby, was stronger than them all.

He felt guilty for feeling jealous at the thought of her getting all that power, which only made the whole thing worse. Added to that the feelings that had begun to grow in him for her, and it was safe to say that he was confused.

He glanced over and noticed his father was also separated from the crowd. That in its self wasn't so surprising. Vegita wasn't nor would ever be an overly social person. In fact, if you looked up antisocial in the dictionary, Trunks was certain that you would find a picture of his dad by the definition. But, that's how Vegita was, and you just had to accept it. Trunks still had trouble believing that his mom, a very social person, had gotten involved with him. He figured it must be true that opposites attract.

As these thoughts were running through his head, he was a little surprised to notice that Pan had broken away from the group and was walking towards him. He tensed, thinking about what he was going to say to her. But, to his surprise, she walked right past him and went to talk to his father.

From where he was standing, Trunks couldn't hear what she was saying, but he almost had a heart attack when she hugged Vegita. But, even more surprising was the fact that he was letting her. Trunks saw Pan whisper something to his father and saw the smile, yes a smile not the usual smirk, cross the prince's face.

By this time Trunks, and everyone else who had witnessed what could probably be classified as a miracle, was practically dying to know what she had said to Vegita. It even made him forget his own trepidation over the up coming reunion.

Pan turned away from Vegita and noticed that everyone was staring at her with a questioning look. With a blush on her cheeks, she gave a careless shrug that seemed to say 'What?'. She then turned her attention to Trunks.

Though she managed to hide her reaction to Trunks lack of greeting, she felt a pang of hurt in her chest. She had thought that they were closer than ever, maybe even more than friends. Instead his attitude seemed to be one of indifference. While she was training with Nagla, she had felt a connection with him where she could practically feel everything that he was feeling. But now, the connection was gone, or at least blocked.

She walked over to him hesitantly, not sure what his reaction would be. He held at his arms for her and gave her a hug, which she returned. As she pulled back, he patted her on the head and said, "Welcome back, Panny."

Pan barely suppressed a frown at that. He was treating her just like a little sister, something she discovered she really didn't enjoy.

"Thanks, Trunks-kun," she said pulling away and going to stand beside her parents. "So," she asked everyone in general, "are we ready to leave??"

"Yep," Bulma said, speaking for everyone. "I'm sure you want to go home and rest. We'll all meet back at our house later for a welcome back party." At everyone's nods of agreement, they all took off in their own directions.

When they arrived home, Pan was coddled by both her parents. They were so happy to see her again, that it was hard for her to get a moment of privacy. After being fed until she couldn't hold another bite and being hugged until she was sure she would have bruises for a week, they finally allowed her to go to her room and rest.

As Pan lay in bed resting, she was again trying to figure out Trunks strange behavior earlier. He had been so withdrawn and then his treating her just like a sister. She didn't understand what happened. She could tell that something was bothering him, but she had no idea what. As she drifted to sleep, she made a vow to find out what it was.

************************************

The door of Pan's room opened softly, not waking her up. Through the crack Gohan looked in, reassuring himself that she was back. He stiffened briefly as he felt someone come up behind him. He then relaxed when he recognized it as his wife.

"What are you doing?" She asked him softly looking over his shoulder at their sleeping daughter.

"Just checking to make sure she's really here." he said in the same soft tone, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm so glad that she's finally back. I missed her so much."

"So did I. It's hard to admit, isn't it? That are little girl is growing up."

He turned around and looked at her. "Yes, it is. But it's reassuring to know what a wonderful person she's becoming. I think we did a good job of raising her." Videl gave a silent nod of agreement. At that moment there was a soft groan from the bed and the sound of the sheets being turned as Pan rolled over in her sleep. "I think we had better let her sleep." she whispered, backing away from the door.

Gohan closed the door silently and the two of them walked down the hall, happy to once again be a family.

*************************************

Later that night, Pan heard a knock on the door. She looked in the mirror and saw her father entering the room.

"Hi, Daddy." She said with a smile on her face. She noticed the look in his eyes and turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he said gently. "I'm just so glad to have you home."

"I'm glad to be home," Pan said getting up and hugging him.

"So," she said, stepping away. "How do I look?" She twirled around and the black dress she was wearing for the party flared out slightly. Her long hair hung straight, framing her delicate face. As he looked at her, Gohan pictured her as she had been when she was a child. Her hair had been short then, and she had been such an adorable tomboy, always fighting with people that were twice her size... and usually winning.

"You look beautiful," he told her truthfully. "Are you ready? Were going to be late if we don't hurry."

"K, I'm ready." With a last glance in the mirror they left the room.

****************************************

When they arrived at Capsule Corp. Pan was surprised to see a rather large crowd of people already there. A lot of them were people she didn't even know.

As she made her way inside she looked around, trying to spot Trunks. She saw him in a corner talking to some blonde that Pan new at a glance was an airhead. As she neared them, she heard a high pitch giggle that caused her to grimace. Pan saw Trunks glance up and see her, then went right back to his conversation with the blonde that Pan had termed 'The Slut'. She fought down a wave of annoyance and went to stand beside him.

"Trunks, could I please speak to you for a moment." She said. He turned around and nodded to "The Slut". After promising to dance with her later, he reluctantly walked with Pan out onto the balcony.

"What exactly is your problem?" Pan snapped, getting straight to the point.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Trunks said casually, but she saw the guilty look on his face.

"Don't give me that," she said, poking him in the chest with her index finger. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why the sudden change back to acting like I'm a little girl again. As if I'm your sister!" Though her tone was outraged, he could sense the pain in her voice.

"Look, Panny. It's well…" He trailed off, not really sure how to put it. It wasn't that he minded that she was so strong, just that she was stronger than he was. It was just a little weird. He had known her since she was a baby, and he had never stopped to question how powerful she was. It had just been her, and he had always known, well thought at least, that even though she was powerful, she was nowhere near as strong as he was.

Though he never spoke these thoughts out loud, she just seemed to know. And to say she was upset was to put it mildly.

"Oh, so that was what this was all about? You can't stand the thought that I'm stronger than you?" Trunks tried to cut in, but Pan was on a rampage now, and wouldn't be stopped. "Of all the egotistical, chauvinistic, pig-headed things! I had really thought better of you Trunks. Well, it won't be the first time that a boy has stopped liking me because I'm stronger than he is, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Then, with an explosive blast of ki, she took off blasting in the sky.

"Pan!!" Trunks yelled after her, but it was too late, she was gone. "Damn it!!" he cursed to himself, or what he thought was himself.

He swung around and noticed a figure standing in the background looking at him. "Hi, Otousan. How long have you been standing there?" "Long enough," Vegita said grimly. "You do realize you just made the biggest mistake of your life?'

"NANI?!" Trunks asked shocked. Vegita was the last one he expected to give him love advice. "What makes you say that?"

Vegita just snorted. "Don't give me that boy. I'm aware that you are in love with her." He ignored Trunks look of shock, and continued. "And I'm also aware that she loves you. You two have bonded after all." Once again his words shocked Trunks.

"Boy, why are you making up excuses? Why can't you just be with her?"

Trunks wasn't quite sure what to say. "Umm, it's not that simple. There's the age thing." Vegita just snorted. "And then there's the fact that I won't be able to protect her!"

That got Vegita's attention. "So you're saying that instead of making her your mate like you want to, you would rather stay away from her forever? Don't be so stupid boy. Saiyan's always marry strong women. Look at that idiot Kakarot and his mate. Do you think he would be happy with some weak, pitiful woman? And look at your mother and me. She may not be physically strong, but she fights more than any other human I've met."

Trunks wasn't sure what to say to that, and Vegita just left him standing there. Trunks thought about what his father had said. Did he love Pan? He was not sure. So, he missed her whenever she was gone, and was happy whenever she was gone. That did not mean he loved her, did it? So when she had died it felt like a part of him had died too. What did that mean? And there was that little bond thing they had going on…Suddenly he felt more confused then ever. He wasn't sure exactly what he should do, but he did know one thing… He had to go after Pan. · * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * ** * * * * * ** * * * * * ** * * * * * ** * * * * * * ·

Shin stood a distance away from where the small woman was crying. When he had felt the huge burst of power, he had immediately followed it. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it sure wasn't the young lady that he had found. He looked at her crying, and for the first time he felt bad for what they were going to do. This was a planet full of human beings, a world full of people that cared for things the same way they did. That felt pain the same way they did. And now, for the first time, he felt guilty about their plans.

So what if their planet had been destroyed? Did that give them the right to take over someone else's? The questions just came into his mind, and he did his best to shove them aside. Those weren't his decisions to make. He was loyal and he had his orders.

Pan looked up and felt the man coming up behind her. Before she had a chance to react she felt a metal bracelet being snapped onto her wrist. She tried to move, but found her body paralyzed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trunks flew to the spot where he felt Pan's ki. All of a sudden, it seemed to just disappear. He was so surprised, he halted in his tracks. But then he realized that he had to find out what had happened. Flying to where he had last felt her ki, he recognized the park that she liked to walk in.

As he neared the fountain, he noticed an unfamiliar ki. He headed in that direction, thinking that it might lead to Pan. He neared the bench where Pan liked to sit, and saw two figures. One was obviously Pan but he had never seen the other person before. He saw that Pan was trying to pull away from him, and immediately went to help. But before he had a chance, they both vanished right before his eyes.

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I know, not the greatest ending. Put I think I should be able to finish the story soon. It's taken me a long time, but I have all these other stories that I plan to write, so hopefully the next one won't take so long. Lots of thinks to all the people that have emailed me. Well, tell me what you think.

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