Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z/GT.
A/N: I know what you think right now. Another new story? And I answer: Yes, another new story. Well, what shall I say? I have a lot of ideas in the last time! And before I forget them, I better write them down. Please don't be so hard on me. This is kind of my first T/P fic. I just hope that it hadn't been done before, but somehow I think that every T/P fic has been done before… Whatever, I just hope that you'll like this story!
Prologue
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It was a beautiful summer day about one year after the Z warriors fought the evil Shenlong and Goku disappeared. Since then the world had finally been living in peace.
Gohan smiled as he lazily walked the path from the house to the mailbox. The birds were singing and there was no cloud to be seen at the sky. Pan was sleeping over at Bra's, so that the girls could talk until late in the night without hanging on the telephone the whole time. Well, and he and Videl had used the time to do a bit more… private stuff.
Everything was just peaceful. Just a perfect day, Gohan thought, when he reached the mailbox. He pulled out the letters and looked through them on his way back to the house, where he could already smell the fresh coffee his wife was making for them.
"Bill, publicity, publicity, bill, publicity…" Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a rather formal letter for Pan. He turned the envelope around, to see who the sender was. "California Boarding School?" he mumbled surprised. He had heard of this school. It was one of the best boarding schools on this planet. They even had their own college there.
Gohan knew he shouldn't do it, but he was wondering why his daughter was receiving letters from this school, so he opened it nonetheless. The content was a formal letter, which said,
Dear Miss Son,
We are pleased to inform you that you have passed all the tests with extraordinary results and that you have been accepted at California Boarding School.
Terms begin on September 1. Your room and everything will be prepared. We will expect you to arrive at August 31.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Jenkins
Gohan swallowed hard, when he read this. Random thoughts were running through his head. What did they mean with this letter? Well, he knew what the letter was saying, but how could that be? As far as he knew did Pan never do any tests to be accepted by this school. That must be a big mistake. His daughter would never do something like that without telling them. Him. She was his little girl and she always told him everything. Everything! And besides, why would she want to go to this school?
Well, he would have to wait until she comes back that night to ask her what's up with this strange letter. He hoped that there was an easy explanation for all of this – even though he knew somewhere back in his mind that he wouldn't like that explanation at all.
"Gohan? What are you still doing out there?" Videl wanted to know, as she came to the door. "Please come in. The coffee is getting cold." When she saw the pale face of her husband, she got worried and walked up to him. "Gohan? What's up? Are you okay?" Then she spotted the letter. "What's this?"
"It was in the mail and it's for Pan," he replied.
"Gohan, you know how Pan reacts when you open her letters. She'll surely flip!"
He gave her the letter. "First she'll have some explanation to do. Here. Read."
A worried look appeared on Videl's face, when she had read the letter. "Gohan?" she asked with a shaking voice and he could not tell, if his wife was angry or if she would start to cry at any moment. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know…" Gohan just replied, "But Pan will have a lot of things to explain, when she gets back." Gohan's frown deepened, as he took his wife in his arms. Maybe this day wasn't that perfect after all.
~*~
When Pan came home it was already dark outside. First of all she and Bra had slept almost till late afternoon, because they somehow first found their way to bed as the sun already began to rise, and after that she had agreed on sparring with Vegeta. She would have rather sparred with Trunks, with him she knew that she had a small chance of winning, since he was lacking off due to his work, but Vegeta gave her a real workout. So all she wanted to do right now was taking a shower, eating a small snack and then climbing into her warm and very comfortable bed. She thought she could almost hear it calling out for her.
She chuckled, as she came through the front door. She didn't know when she last had been that tired. And happy at the same time. Well, people always said that she was always cheerful. But most of the time it was just show. Since her grandfather died, it hadn't been the same. A part of her was missing. But with that, she could deal. What bothered her most was that everyone still treated her like a small child. She was sixteen years old, for Dende's sake and especially after the grand tour they should have noticed that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. And still, when someone was talking and she asked them what about, she always got as answer that she wouldn't understand that. That she was still too young. How could she grow up, when everyone was still thinking that she was still six years old? Everyone around her was acting like that when it came to her, even Bra, who was just a year older than her, but was always said to be much more mature – and Trunks. Her best friend. He still saw her like 'little Panny', the girl who acted like a boy, who was a good sparring partner and listener. Just a real good friend.
And that hurt. Those were her reason why she couldn't stand living there anymore. She knew that she would miss her friends a lot, but she just had to get away. She couldn't just stay and wait for them to change, to see that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She had to get away as far as possible, so that she could start a new a life. A life where she could get over her … crush on Trunks. And at the same time, Trunks was the only one who knew that Pan wanted to go to this school in California. He was the one who lied for her, when she had been in the States doing this test, telling her parents that she had been with him the whole day and that made her love him even more. Who wouldn't love him for that?
Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts she walked into the living room, hoping to find her parents there. She just wanted to tell them that she was back. But they weren't in the living room. "Mom? Dad?" she called out and went into the kitchen, where she saw them sitting at the table. "Here you are…" Then she saw the serious looks on her faces. "Hey, is something wrong? Has something happened?" As her parents didn't answer and Pan saw the angry look on her father's face, she automatically backed a bit away. She could feel that he was trying to keep his power level low. "Dad? What's going on? You're scaring me…"
"Pan, sit down," he told her sternly. Pan obeyed and sat down at the table, not taking her eyes of her father. She had never seen him like that. His dark eyes have seemed to become even darker and the deep scowl just didn't belong on his face. Something was seriously wrong. "Here." He tossed the letter over to her. "That was in the mail today. It's for you."
Pan took the envelope and saw that it was already opened. She first wanted to say something about how she didn't like it when someone was opening her letters, but the icy glare of her father shut her up. She took the letter out of the envelope and began to read. A small smile crept over her face. She did it! She really did it! She was accepted at one of the best schools on this world. Her dreams would finally come true. She had a chance to get away.
Suddenly her mother, who saw Pan's reaction towards that letter, pulled her out of her thoughts. "So, this is no mistake? You really made this test? Why didn't you tell us?" She sounded disappointed.
She looked at her mother's sad face. "I'm sorry. I know I should have told you, but I knew that you wouldn't let me do this test, so I had to prove first that I'm good enough to go to this school," she lied, lowering her head. "I'm really sorry."
"You won't go to this school," Gohan said in a calm voice that sent Pan shivers down her spine.
Her head jerked up. "What? Why?"
"You're too young. I won't let my little daughter go the States all alone," he told her.
Pan felt her anger rise and stood up. "Dad! I'm sixteen years old! SIXTEEN! I'm not a little girl anymore! I'm old enough to know what I want and I'm strong enough to take care of my self! You have been a lot younger than I am now, as you were on Namek or defeated Cell! So please don't tell me that I'm too young or that I'm little!" she almost yelled, but quickly calmed down, as she saw the tears in her mother's eyes. "Dad, please, you must understand… You know that the California Boarding School has an excellent reputation. They do not accept many people - the test makes sure of that. Everyone who's accepted by this school gets a full scholarship. First for the High School and then later for their college. This is my only chance to go there, to get the best education I could get."
Gohan shook his head. "I still say no."
"And I don't take 'no' as an answer, dad," Pan told him confidently, "I will go to this school, whether you like it or not. You can't force me to stay here." She stared at her father, whose face was still full of anger and then at her mother, who was crying. "I'm sorry mom, but this is something that I just have to do." She turned her back to her parents and left the kitchen, going to her room.
Pan let herself fall down on her bed, but after that fight she wasn't tired anymore. She was just angry. Why just didn't they see what it meant for her to go to this school? She sat up again and opened the window. She had to talk to someone.
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Okay guys, this was the prologue for my second new fic! I hope that I'll be able to update both of them about once a week, but I can't promise anything! During writing The Lost Warrior – The Next Generation I've decided to write again more short chapters than long ones, so it is most likely possible that I can update fast.
Whatever, please review and tell me what you think of this story, okay?
Eternally yours
ChibiChibi