So I decided to start another story… even though I haven't finished COA. I promise (pinky promise, even) that I will finish that story. I'll just try doing two things at once.

Before I start – this is an AU story. Goku is still alive as the battle with Omega Shenron and such forth did not happen. The Black Star Dragonball Hunt did however, but after that nothing is as was dictated in the series. It will just make everything fit a little better with this idea.

Also only going to say this once in this story: I do not own Dragonball.

Please review after reading this story, I'm trying to do something a little different and your ideas and criticisms would be much appreciated – as with COA, just writing on a whim, so don't have a plan as such – so your ideas could come to fruition.

Enjoy!

It was a midsummer night when everything changed. A midnight blue blanket carpeted the sky as if it were spun silk. The night, albeit dark, was gloriously warm. The Gods had flung handfuls of glitter upon their blank canvass, creating a mesmerising work of art. The perfect setting for intricate, inverted thought...

The world was asleep, save the sounds of bats flying swiftly yet elegantly through the air, the occasional chirp of the crickets coming out to play and the soft, running water of the stream not too far away.

Water was a captivating element. People used to say that Son Goku was the very embodiment of the water spirits. His heart was pure and transparent. There was not an ounce of hatred in the man – he was like an open book at times, allowing you to view the innermost depths of his soul, to pinpoint his emotions with a simple glance. His aura tended to reveal all.

With this purity came a degree of serenity. As one could appreciate the smoothness of the water running through their fingers, Son Goku had this same appreciation of the wider world. From gazing listlessly at the clouds, valued their fluid patterns and designs, to the humblest onion root, each natural object had its own living, breathing, unique beauty.

Conversely, regardless of the serene, untainted characteristics that water held, it could be the very opposite of the façade it normally portrayed. It could be vicious, fierce and merciless in its power, destroying whatever obstacle was in its path. It holds an immense strength, used when necessary.

Water is described as the virtuous element that could tame any other wild beast. Its opposite – fire - happened to be what was most apt for describing his lifelong friend, Bulma Briefs.

Fire was feral, fierce in its emotions. It was hit-or-miss with regards to its thoughts and feelings. Bulma Briefs was the epitome of this element. Loud, brash and often harsh, she was the centre of attention in many a situation.

Like fire, she could take hold in an instant, wiping out everything in her path. A smouldering ember, ebbing away in a dark corner could rapidly spring to life, the brilliance of its multiplex of reds, oranges and yellows taking hold, injecting vibrancy into circumstances otherwise greyed by little sentiment.

She was a born leader – her dynamic nature could sweep you up and in no time at all you'd be following her as the children of Hamelin followed the Pied Piper. However, this forceful, confident nature could also be her downfall. Fire could be destructive in nature once it got out of hand, as Bulma's 'leadership skills' could if she did not provoke the action or reaction she so desired.

This flare of anger when her cogent skills would not prove as fruitful she had previously hoped meant that she could come across as selfish or ignorant, just as fire knows no bounds in its destructive nature – it would swallow everything in its path.

Traditionally, if a fire element is to combine with an earth element, the results could be potentially creative and powerful. If too strong a connection is to attempt to form, the results could be catastrophic, a clash of personalities so great, metaphorical sparks could fly.

Therefore, it was only fitting that Vegeta-no-Ouji, the Crown Prince of the Saiya-jin race possessed the characteristic of the Earth element.

The Earth is a rigid, unmoving mass. It is constant, striving for one thing and one thing only; self-preservation. Everyday is a new challenge; the constant stress for something bigger and better was always at the forefront of each new day's objective. This selfish concentration into one's own goals was to be the downfall of the Saiya-jin Prince's first real relationship.

The tumultuous relationship founded with his fiery heiress turned into something ugly. The refusal of either party to moderate and to compromise resulted in something that didn't sound too dissimilar to a hammer smacking a nail into a coffin.

The Earth element's refusal to give up on its ultimate goal of survival spread freely into Vegeta's character. His ambitions of becoming the strongest in the universe and reclaiming his title as the head of the Saiya-jin Empire was too great, even though the once great Empire was now nothing more than a chapter in History's great book.

Both Fire and Earth are too governed by their own interests if they do not moderate their personality accordingly. The turbulent storm created by their unison is a force to be reckoned with. Not even the placid, mediatory advice given by Water was enough to prevent this unity from shattering like a mirror dropped from a great height.

To escape, the Crown Prince decided to pursue his lost kingdom, to regain 'what was his birthright'. He left his home of many years, his children, his (dare I say) friends.

The stubborn nature of Earth seeped into the warrior's character, leaving him nothing other than the vast expanse of space and his empty dreams.

The years had slipped by since the unison of Vegeta and Bulma had died a quiet death. Earth had maintained its peace, and life for the hybrid Briefs and Son families continued as if their heritage had been forgotten.

Bulma had moved on from Vegeta, acting as though that chapter in her life had not existed, choosing to wipe the man from her memory.

Her two children, Trunks and Bra, had carried on their mother's legacy by working tirelessly for Capsule Corporation. The family were still at the forefront of all modern technologies, now branching out into medicine and intergalactic travel.

The Briefs family still maintained a close relationship with the Sons. After all, Goku was her lifelong friend and she had grown to love his growing family as if it were her own. She had watched Gohan grow from an inexplicably feminine four-year old into the handsome man he was today, married and with a daughter, Pan.

Bulma had concerns for Pan. She seemed detached from her family at most times. When she was younger, she had been a boisterous young thing, sparring and verbally abusive along with Trunks and Goten. She had been 'one of the boys'. However, since Vegeta had disappeared to 'find himself' as she called it, Pan had seemed distant, distracted; Vegeta had been her sensei, teaching her the basics of martial arts, that she was aware of. Bulma hadn't condoned the training of her children, or Gohan's, but Vegeta was blind to her arguments on the subject.

She knew she couldn't escape the fact that their children were alien hybrids, but Trunks and Bra had seemed to embrace settling into a wholly human way of living easier than Pan had managed to.

From talking with Gohan and Videl on numerous occasions, she had learnt that the young Son girl had been training in solitude, often for hours at a time until she collapsed from exhaustion. She would spend her nights looking into the sky – apparently she also had an odd fascination with astrology, lunar alignments and such forth; the universe and its mysterious powers in general.

It seemed fitting that Pan was so entranced by the skies and its secrets beyond what the human eye could see. She was the personification of Air itself; although she was physical in nature, embracing her Saiya-jin instincts through practice of several martial arts, she also was a deep thinker. She enjoyed intellectual challenges and was a supremely strategic fighter, pre-meditating her grandfather's moves, sometimes seemingly before he had realised himself what he was going to pull next.

It didn't come as a surprise when Pan's true essence started to shine through. With the absolute embodiment of Water for a grandfather, anything but Air would have caused doubt in her mind at least as to whether she was adopted.

Pan had turned into a careful thinker, not letting her teenage hormones rule her emotions. She would ponder every move she was going to make, every decision that needed careful thought. Because of this, it was rare that she found herself in an undesirable situation.

Nevertheless, like the Air, Pan was a dreamer. An impractical dreamer at that; one of the downfalls of her dominant element… It was because of these well thought through, but seemingly impossible dreams that Bulma had found herself in the situation she was in now.

Her last conversation with Pan was regarding the intergalactic travel program that Capsule Corp. was working on. Pan wanted to be the first human volunteer. Obviously her request was refused, with the addition of her parents protest at how she could not go travelling blindly into space on her own. With Trunks and her Grandfather was one thing – they were using only a standard Capsule Spaceship, which was only capable of travelling in the immediate Solar System. Alone, in new, untested technology was a definite no.

The argument raged for days, with Pan giving calculated answers to every negative that Gohan and Videl could muster. Eventually, on the fifth day of debate, the fighting ceased.

Intergalactic Prototype CC001 – The only working Capsule Ship prototype made; had gone.

Thanks for reading

You know the drill by now – please review!

-listenserendipity