A Daughter's Difference Chapter 1: A Tough Decision, a dragon ball z fanfic

Chapter 1: A Tough Decision

(A/N): So after constantly being told I should write my own story; here we are. *hold hand over forehead while shaking head* I want to thank Lancecomwar (even though I know this wasn't the story he wanted. I'm working on it I swear), BlackTea (who gave the initial push), and my good friend Ace Son. They all motivated me to start my own story, but the final push came from Ace. So if this story goes well you can thank these guys and girls. If the story is bad you know who to hunt down. (I suggest you start with Ace)

"…because it's for the best." Trunks exclaimed, exhausted at having this same conversation with his mother for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Bulma sighed. Of course she understood his logic, but that didn't mean she agreed with him. "Look Trunks, I know you are trying to look out for little Pan, but son you out of anyone should know the dangers of changing the past. We saw that with our interference with the past they got an even worse enemy in form of Cell."

The subject of their heated discussion slept peacefully in the next room. Unaware of how this discussion would change her life forever. Pan, the only daughter of Gohan that he would never get the pleasure of meeting, slept in her makeshift crib.

"Trunks we have gone over this a million times. What you are proposing is ludicrous. If you, being in their time for a little while made that much of an impact, can you imagine the amount of damage Pan can make by staying there?" Bulma stated rubbing the bridge of her nose.

It had been weeks since the return of Trunks to his time. Bulma could not have been happier at seeing her son once again. She worried that something may happen to him, and she would never see him again. Whether from fighting in the past or maybe the Time Machine breaking down in between jumps of time; she did not know, but something in her gut just didn't sit right with her when she saw him off the last time he went to the past. But he had returned and brought with him good news.

He told her of their great struggles with the androids and the villainous Cell. Bulma began to kick herself thinking that because they changed the past something worse had come. That feeling only got worse when she heard that Cell was actually from their time, and that he used her Time Machine to travel back. Of course Bulma understood the 'Butterfly Theory' for time travel, but she never expected it would have been that bad. To make matters worse, in the end, Goku still died. The silver line in this story though was at least the others were able to take care of Cell and the other androids. It made her wary of the dangers of time travel, and how they as in; Trunks and herself, should do the upmost to not use the Time Machine, and only use it if they are desperate enough.

The return of Trunks also meant the liberation of their tormentors. It didn't take long for Trunks to dispatch of those demons. It surprised her to see how strong Trunks had gotten thanks to the training he received in the past. When he returned from the fight he had smile that was difficult to erase for the next few days. He felt that he had finally succeeded in avenging his master.

Trunks often, over the last few weeks sat by the 3 year old Pan when she visited with her grandma Chichi. Pan was highly interested in hearing about his adventures in the past. He was even able to tell her a 'child's version' of the Cell games, where he would tell her of the bravery her alternate time father showed. The spark in the eyes of Pan lit up every time she would hear the name of her father, and how his actions had lead to the salvation of mankind. Trunks would smile whenever he saw that spark as he thought it was probably how he looked when he asked about his own father. During one of Trunk's retelling of the Cell Games; Pan stopped him, which led to the immortal statement that sparked the argument between Trunks and Bulma. 'Trunks I wanna go see dada too' he could still hear her words in his mind after so many days. He smiled, and promised to take her when he went back in time next time. Her eyes brighten even more if that was possible at the chance of seeing her dad, and jumped from where she was sitting to hug Trunks exclaiming many times 'thank you'. She like him often asked questions about her parents.

As the days passed Trunks looked at the carnage and destruction the androids had left. He knew it would take many years for the world to stabilize, and return to normal. Well a normal many of the younger generations had never seen. To them hiding and destruction were parts of the norm. Trunks, on the other hand had seen what a world without android looked like, and he hoped one day his world would reflect that beautiful landscape he had once seen. As he thought of how much work it would take to bring the Earth back to its former glory; he thought about Pan's request. He wanted her to live a life full of happiness and stress-free. She had lost both her parents, and outside her grandmother, his mother, and him; she had no family. Trunks came up with a plan he thought was ingenious. He would take Pan to the past, so she could live there. She wouldn't have to stress herself with a dying planet, and instead she would have at least a part of her immediate family back, her father.

He rushed to talk to his mother about his wonderful idea. He had hoped to be greeted with praises for his cleverness. Instead he has since faced an uphill battle against his mother. Apparently she was less than thrilled at the idea of messing with the past again.

"I understand the risks. I know that her presence will shift their timeline even more than we have already, but she deserves to live in a peaceful world." Trunks restated his reason for sending Pan back in time.

"We have peace here now too." Bulma countered

"But it is not the same. The world is far too destroyed, and it will take years before it becomes a shadow of what it once was." Trunks almost shouted until he remembered of who was sleeping a couple meters away from them. "Look mother if she goes back she can live with her father and her family. What does she have here?" Trunks said somewhat quietly.

"To put an entire planet at risk for the happiness of one little girl, a girl that can find that same happiness here alongside us; seems somewhat selfish" Bulma pointed out hoping to get her son to understand it was too much of a risk.

"We don't know if her presence could mean the end of world for that timeline." Trunks said thinking about the absurdity of small innocent Pan being the reason a world was destroyed. Sometimes his mother could be overdramatic.

"Well it is a possibility" Bulma still frighten about how one mess up had led to Cell.

"Anyways where will Pan live when she gets there?" Bulma asked. "As you said Chichi and Gohan lost Goku, so they are still probably grieving their loss, and you will impose a child on them on top of it. Gohan is still a child in that time, and shouldn't be raising children himself."

Trunks stayed silent for a moment contemplating her words. Finally he gathered his wits and responded, "I never said she would be living with the Son's. I said she would have her father. I'm sure I can ask you from that time to look after her. All I want is Pan to have a better life than the one we can offer her here."

"Here she will have to work for most of her life to put this world back together, and even that seems like pipe dream at this point. Gohan and all the other Z-fighters fought long and hard to have peace for the younger generations. I believe she deserves better than a broken world." Trunks finished

Bulma of course knew he was right. Gohan had fought for so long in their time, and eventually died without knowing about his daughter. She deserved to have that peace her father worked so hard to get, but a part of her couldn't bare the thought of never seeing Pan again. She was the last piece of Gohan and Videl that they had. Sure she was worried about the timeline's effects, but what struck more terror into her heart was losing her last connection to Gohan. To finally see the old soul put to rest. She dragged her hand across her face as she sat on her chair once again. How long had she been standing?

Every time she saw a smiling Pan; it made her think back to those days when she saw Goku once again after five long years, and she first laid eyes on the shy Gohan clutching onto the leg of Goku as if, if he remained still no one would see him. She could see where Pan drew her resemblance from, but that didn't mean she didn't get anything from her mother. Videl was beautiful woman in her own right, and she was sure Pan would draw from her in her later years. Those eyes though were no doubt Gohan's. Every time she saw her eyes it reminded her of that innocent young demi-saiyan; she had met once upon a time, and in part let her keep the illusion that Gohan and Videl were still alive through her.

Trunks seeing the actions of his mother took this as the end of the round. He knew he was slowly chipping at defenses of Bulma. He sat down as well looking up the heavens as if asking for guidance from his long dead master. He sighed once again. As always it was silent after their discussion. He wondered what was going through her mind right now. Her face kept alternating between smiling and frowning, as she looked at the coffee cup in her hands. The coffee long ago turned cold as Trunks could assert to that when he took a sip of his own.

"So can I say something now." A third voice sounded off to their side. Making both of their eyes immediately look for the owner of that voice.

A red tint could be seen on both of their faces from the embarrassment of not noticing they had an audience throughout this whole ordeal. Their eyes finally landed on aging Chichi, which sat on a couch adjacent to the dining table where they sat. She sat there slightly smirking as they finally took notice of her.

Bulma immediately perked up. She got up from her chair and all but dashed to sit next to Chichi. "YES…yes… of course please Chichi, tell my idiotic son what a bad idea this is. Tell him how you will not stand to be separated from your grandchild." Bulma said taking both of Chichi hands into her own as Trunks slowly walked towards them.

Chichi smiled at her as she took her hands out of Bulma's. "Bulma you are my dearest friend, but I have to agree with Trunks" Chichi stated

Bulma was clearly shocked. She expected an ally in Chichi. Chichi put her palms together on her lap, and continued after taking a long breath, "Bulma we are getting older. Trunks is right her family is dwindling here, and in a few years I don't know if I'll even be here. We buried my father last week." Chichi said as she felt tears rim around her eyes. She wiped them before they started to fall, and looked once again at Bulma. This was going to be the hardest part.

"It is why, I was thinking that maybe it would be better if we send both Trunks and Pan back indefinitely." Bulma's eyes widen at the sudden idea. "I love my granddaughter more than anything; she is all I have of my once happy family, and I would do anything to provide her with the best living conditions…even …even if I have to send her to another time… even if I will never be able to hold her in my arms again" Chichi began to cry. Trunks leaned against the wall as he let his aunt Chichi and mother talk.

Bulma's shocked eyes began to narrow. "How could you suggest that I should let see my baby go to never see him again." Anger evident in Bulma's hoarse voice.

"Bulma look around you. There is nothing but ruins here. The population on this planet right now is a small number. We are on the verge of becoming extinct as a race." Chichi said putting more power into her voice, but not enough to wake Pan as she wiped her tears once again, and then moved her arms around as if to show the state of their living conditions right now.

Bulma's eyes began to tear up as she was coming to the same conclusion Chichi has been alluding to. Part of watching your children grow up is the idea that one day; they too would leave the nest. It tore her inside to think that Trunks would one day leave, and she would be all alone for the rest of her days. Bulma threw both her arms around Chichi, and embraced her as she let her tears run their course.

"But I don't want to lose him too." Bulma frantically exclaimed to her best friend

"I know it is hard, but you have me here. Together we will be able to keep each other company." Chichi patted Bulma as she kept sobbing into her shoulder.

Bulma nodded. "I get it. I understand, and as much as it hurt I understand I need to let those two go. Like you have done, and let them carve their own road in a place where a future is possible."

Trunks began to think. 'Wait, what happened to all that the; world will end if I let you go back in time, my mother kept saying.' Finally it began to dawn on Trunks, and he had to stop himself from bashing his head on the wall for not noticing it earlier. 'Essentially I have been attacking the wrong wall. Oh god, I should have noticed she was more worried about seeing us fly the coop.' As Trunks kept berating himself for being clueless, and lamenting all the wasted time advocating for Pan's permanent visa to the past; Chichi kept stroking Bulma's hair in a way to soothe her.

Trunks couldn't believe it took aunt Chichi only once to identify and take down his mother. Finally he decided to break his mental beating for later, and address something his aunt had said. "Mom I wanted to ask again, but will you allow me to take Pan to the past, so she may live there?" He knew the answer, but he still had to ask.

Bulma lifted her head and starred at her son. She nodded. "I understand the risks, but I'm sure she and you will be better off there than here."

Trunks bowed his head for a moment to acknowledge what she had said before he continued. "Aunt Chichi I would like to thank you for coming to my aid, and helping me convince my mother, but I wanted to set something clear. I have no intention on staying in the past."

This got the attention of both ladies in the room as Trunks continued. "Pan is young and she can make a life there. I would not be surprised if in a few years all of this becomes a distant memory, and she doesn't even remember us. I on the other hand was born and raised here, and I plan to live my final days here."

Trunks took a deep breath as he began to think of his reasons for staying. "I am this world's protector. The Z-fighters may be dead, but one of their legacies is still very much alive. I am the son of Vegeta; Prince of all Saiyan, and my master was the last living Z-Fighter, Gohan. I swore as I buried my Sensei that I would never abandon the world he worked so hard to protect."

Immediately silencing any protest Bulma was working on. She knew how much of a sensitive subject talking about Gohan was for Trunks. "My fate will be the fate of my planet. If it dies then I had no reason to live."

"Trunks, sweetie maybe you are not thi…." Bulma started but was interrupted by Trunks

"No I have made up my mind. I will deliver Pan to the past; stay a few days to charge the machine, and then return. I know that the ship can only make one more round trip, and I am fine living here." Trunks said with conviction behind his voice. Bulma at times like this wondered if his stubbornness came from her or Vegeta. 'Definitely Vegeta… I'm not that hard headed' thought ironically Bulma.

"Well it is getting late, and we still have lots of work tomorrow so off to bed children" said Chichi quite entertained by the Briefs duo. As she got up, and walked towards the room that housed her granddaughter to spend as much time with her as possible.

'I hope I am making the right decision with you, Pan' Chichi thought smiling as she stroked her hair. 'Soon you will be in the arms of your father. I just hope you will take better care of him than I did here.' With that she walked over to the bed alongside the crib-like bed, and closed her eyes allowing Morpheus to claim her.

A/N: Yeah I know this whole chapter didn't have Gohan appearing. I'm just as sad as you are. Trust me, this is just set up for the big picture. I also wanted to give more background, and not just start with Gohan and Pan meeting. See you next time I guess