In the present

A distant rushing sound filled Gohan's ears before he became fully conscious. As he pried his heavy lids apart in his disoriented state, awareness crashed into him. With a gasp, he sat up, now wide-eyed. He seemed to be sitting outside on the hard earth, the inky glow of a river coursing smoothly to his left. About twenty feet ahead was Piccolo's waterfall.

For a moment, the wall of crashing water filled his vision. Gohan was captivated by sight of the moonlight hitting the waterfall, how it appeared to sparkle and dance, gleaming silver on black. Tiny silver droplets caught his attention momentarily as they shimmered on the outskirts of the falling water where it crested, each one casting an incandescent glow. Gohan was vaguely aware of a buzzing sound in his ear, but it was easy to ignore with the mesmerizing view holding him captive. Sparks leaped in the water, like white-hot fire, mirroring something in his soul.

Abruptly the trance was broken as a face-an angry face-appeared immediately in front of Gohan and cut into his line of sight. He blinked.

"Gohan!" Vegeta was shaking him roughly by both shoulders, severing any lingering effects of his hypnotized state as his teeth chattered from the force.

"What?" Gohan demanded in aggravation after shaking his head once to clear it completely. Vegeta gave him a look of incredulity as he released the younger man, appearing even angrier. Gohan suddenly became aware that he was soaking wet as droplets coursed down his face. Vegeta, who had been kneeling on the ground next to him, stood quickly and threw his arms up.

"What do you mean, 'what'? You're more your father's son than I realized! I've been shouting your name while you stared off at nothing, looking like an imbecile!" He bared his teeth and jerked his head away in annoyance. "It doesn't matter! What was that enormous power I felt? It certainly didn't feel friendly." Finding no obvious threat, Vegeta looked back at Gohan, and this time he noted that Vegeta was in full warrior-mode. "I assume that whomever it was attacked you and managed to knock you out? You fell into the river just as I arrived." He ground his teeth angrily once more. "Instead of trying to find and eliminate the threat, as I should have, I scooped your sorry carcass out of the water. Now, tell me what happened!"

With each word the prince spoke, Gohan remembered what had taken place and felt his trepidation grow. Vegeta was now looking at him, expecting an answer, but his mind was suddenly invaded by thoughts of the heady power flowing through him again. His body nearly responded, but Gohan managed to barricade his thoughts and emotions before the monster could take hold.

"Hello!" Vegeta was quickly losing patience, if the bulging eyes were any indication, but Gohan could only stare at him with his mouth hanging open dumbly.

What could he tell him? He couldn't lie, that would be discovered quickly. Besides, his mind conceded, perhaps it was time to admit that he needed help. He had thought he had learned to control it, had rid himself of the monster. But as he had discovered mere minutes ago, the monster was not a separate entity, as he had always preferred to think of it: It was Son Gohan, as real as the one sitting there in that moment. It was him. Swallowing the bile in his throat with a grimace, Gohan realized that telling Vegeta might be the only way to keep the world safe from him.

"Alright, alright!" Gohan raised his hands in a nonthreatening gesture to quickly calm Vegeta, who had grabbed him roughly by the collar and hoisted him up with murder in his eyes.

As the prince set him on his feet with barely contained aggravation, Gohan spilled his story. He told Vegeta of the guilt he had felt since boyhood, the nearly incapacitating self-disgust, and, most importantly, the dark desires that he had never, in the nearly 30 years since he'd begun feeling them, dared to mention to anyone. It spilled out almost as if he had been aching to tell someone this whole time. As he told Vegeta of his twisted cravings to mindlessly cause pain, Gohan was slightly comforted by the fact that Vegeta did no more than frown slightly. Naturally, Vegeta had lived with dark desires in his heart as well, so this was not as disturbing to someone like him. Gohan felt some of the burden he hadn't realized he'd been carrying lift.

As he finished and stood in shame-faced silence, Gohan smacked his forehead internally for failing to realize that he could have turned to Vegeta for help with this issue years ago without facing judgment. And Piccolo! How could he have been so clueless? His own mentor, in some ways more his father than Goku was, had once been on a self-proclaimed quest to dominate the world. He would have understood completely, and helped his young friend. Gohan's heart ached involuntarily as he thought of the Namek. What a mistake he had made, not telling Piccolo of this long ago. The major difference, of course, between his evil desires and those of Piccolo or Vegeta, was the fact that they controlled theirs consciously; Gohan felt as though his was attempting to control him. He wasn't sure which was worse, but he was definitely more concerned with what could not be controlled. His heart suddenly grew cold as he imagined his father's reaction, which certainly would have been one of disappointment. Gohan was unable to keep his mouth from twisting into an angry scowl, and just as he realized that his power level was about to explode out of control, his musings were interrupted by Vegeta's grunt.

Gohan hastily glanced back up at Vegeta as he clamped down on his energy. But his slip had escaped the prince's notice, as he stared into the distance before responding. He said most of the things that Gohan had expected to hear:

"You're an idiot for not telling me this sooner. You could have destroyed the planet! I would understand more if it had been pride that kept you from seeking help, but I can tell by the look on your face that it was shame." Vegeta's lips curled in disgust at the word as he shot Gohan a piercing glare. Gohan grimaced slightly; he hadn't expected that, but he should have. Vegeta's eyes wandered back to the water and he was silent for a moment. A small smirk was suddenly appearing on his face, making Gohan's stomach sink as he considered what that could mean.

"However," Vegeta continued quietly, his voice perhaps holding the hint of a threat, "this appears to be rather a unique challenge, and I have no doubt that I will be able to…." He cocked his head at Gohan with a smile, though its evil nature seemed to contradict that expression. "Well, let's just say…I think I can beat it out of you, Gohan."

Gohan sighed in resignation. Placing his hands on his hips and taking a step back, he shook his head at the ground. He should have expected that physical torture would be Vegeta's preferred method of "fixing" him, but he couldn't stop the crawling fear in his stomach at the thought of what he might do if driven hard enough. Now that the monster was awakened, Gohan could feel his duality. His hands vibrated almost imperceptibly as the thrum filled his blood. He looked up, meeting the Prince's grin skeptically. Suddenly, the crawling fear was heavily dampened by a rush of excitement that he couldn't temper enough to keep himself from smirking at Vegeta in anticipation. He was rewarded with wide-eyed surprise from the Saiyan Prince-and was that a sliver of apprehension that followed? Gohan's breaths came faster, but he clenched his fists to gain control of himself.

Suddenly, new energy signals became evident in the distance, and the men looked in their direction simultaneously. Trunks and Goten became visible after only a few moments. After an unreadable glance at Gohan, Vegeta lifted into the air to meet them, presumably to explain the source of the power they must surely have felt just as he had. Even as Gohan tightened his control of the monster, he could feel it stirring excitedly. Avoiding his brother's concerned eyes, he glanced over once more at the river that snaked by silkily, imagining that the rushing under his skin looked very much like it. His gaze followed it to the commanding cascade, and a fresh thrill surged through Gohan as he considered this new challenge with Vegeta. Though he still felt apprehension about hurting his friend, it was vastly overpowered by the disturbing desire to do just that.

In the past

"Oh, come on. Just this once?"

"Nope."

Pan huffed in frustration as she leaned back, glaring at the back of Gohan's black head. She stuck out her tongue in silent defiance, which made her feel better.

Gohan glanced back quickly in an obvious attempt to catch her doing something behind his back. Pan grinned innocently. The two were in Gohan's (or Pan's, currently) bedroom, Pan working on the rather large paper that Chi Chi had assigned each of them to write. Pan's grandmother had strictly forbidden Gohan to do Pan's homework weeks earlier, and he had annoyingly obeyed her wishes. It wasn't that Pan minded doing her own work, truly. What bothered her was that Gohan finished so much more quickly than her, as he had on this day, leaving her to spend hours working while he got to do something else. If his mother didn't know he was finished yet, he would usually stay with Pan to at least keep her company while she worked. She preferred this; not only did he help stave off the boredom of monotonous work, she could also convince him to help her, if only a little.

Gohan narrowed his eyes suspiciously but turned back around. He was lying stomach-down on the bed with a book open for some "light" reading about Aztec history, while Pan sat up leaning back onto the wall that the bed was arranged against. As she returned her attention to the paper which rested on her legs, she smiled, considering his similarity to her father in the way that he had had no problem teaching and helping her, but would rarely tell her the answer himself.

"The best way to learn is to do, sweetie," she recalled one of his favorite things to say when she would get annoyed at his refusal to tell her an answer. He would smile and explain whatever it was in a different way, trying to lead his daughter to the information. Her father was always willing and happy to help her, eager in fact. She couldn't remember him getting frustrated with her even once, no matter how long it took to help her get there. She particularly remembered Organic Chemistry and its special torture. Her dad always managed to lead her in the right direction, but he also knew when it was time to take a break. He talked about how the brain could only focus on something for so long before it was useless to spend any more time on it. Pan supposed his love of teaching was unsurprising, considering that the man was the President of the country's most prestigious university…which was why Pan knew how easy it was to play on this with the younger version.

She smirked at her paper unconsciously. The younger version had some benefits. For one thing, he had less experience, which translated into less creativity when it came to teaching, and often ended in Pan being able to wrestle an answer out of him. In addition, he was less mature. The fact was that Pan was his best friend and form of entertainment, and now that he had been introduced to the life of having a peer to spend time with, schoolwork held slightly less appeal than just having fun. All it usually took was waiting it out long enough. When G started to sigh and get fidgety, she would know the time was near. Glancing at his dark head again, Pan was disappointed to find that he was still engrossed in his book, showing no signs of impatience.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" she asked.

He responded without looking up. "Nothing, if you don't finish that paper."

Unfortunately, the benefits of the young version of her dad didn't seem to extend to three page essays. Looking at her measly half a page, Pan made a face and decided to try again: Writing a paper just wasn't her forte.

She unfolded one leg and nudged Gohan's nearby back with the heel of her bare foot.

He didn't respond. Pan frowned.

"G."

Still no answer. Pan sighed heavily and leaned onto her side to rest her head on her palm. She really despised being ignored and he knew that.

"Oh, dad."

He glanced at her this time, but only smiled lightly and returned to his book.

Pan decided to lay it on thick and let the cards fall where they may, so she lay back on the bed beside him in order to force him to look her in the eye, folding her hands together in the sign of supplication.

"Please." Gohan finally looked at her, and she took advantage of his attention to widen her eyes in an attempt to look pitiful. For a moment he gazed at her with an unfathomable expression as Pan held her breath and tried to look as sweet as humanly and Saiyanly possible, silently praying he'd give in and write the damn paper. Finally he threw his head back and laughed. Pan shot him a dirty look, slightly offended by this uncharmed response to her best schmoozing. Gohan then shook his head incredulously and, heaving a sigh, reached back to grab her paper and pencil.

He gave her a severe look as he bent over to begin writing, but the lingering smile diminished its effect. Pleased now, Pan smiled at him sweetly in response. She knew she was a bit spoiled, but it was hard not to take advantage of a prodigy while she could.

Naturally, Gohan started asking questions to force her to contribute, but she had expected this. Forty minutes later, the paper was complete and the "weekend" began.

An hour later, Gohan joined Pan in hugging his mother and brother goodbye. He scooped up Goten, his heart warming at the loving look the little boy gave him.

"See you in a couple hours, buddy."

Goten grinned in response and hopped down, running off with a roar as he and Buster vanished out the door. Suddenly his mother was grasping his face and planting a loud kiss. Gohan rubbed his cheek ruefully as she leaned back and smiled at him.

"Come straight to Bulma's after you've run the errands, sweetheart."

"Sure, mom. It shouldn't take us too long." He smiled back genuinely, struck by the thought that she looked a lot like Pan; or rather, Pan looked like her, which was funny since he had never thought he looked like his mother. "Are you sure you're okay taking Nimbus all the way to Bulma's?" Gohan couldn't help but question this again, although she had already assured him she'd be fine. As she nodded over Pan's head, the half Saiyan bit his lip in concern.

"It's a long ride mom, and I could just fly you there," he insisted. Chi Chi laughed.

"I'm the parent, remember, son?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, knowing it would do no good to argue with his mother.

A nudge in the ribs drew his eyes toward Pan and the girl gave him a mock-severe look.

"I think you forget that your mother is quite a strong woman, G," she chided playfully.

Gohan sighed. He had a sudden vision of his future, overrun by domineering women. And he hadn't even gotten married yet. With a shudder, he gave his mother one last hug.

When Chi Chi, Goten, and Nimbus were out of sight, the teens leaped into the air.

"Let's hurry, I'm starving," Pan urged. Gohan smiled.

"Okay, let's go as fast as we can then."

Before Pan could finish yelling, "Don't you dare!" Gohan had put on a burst of speed that sent him rocketing away from her. After a few seconds he slowed down, laughing heartily as he turned to fly back to Pan. Her glare only made him laugh harder.

"You know I can't go that fast," she complained as soon as he was close. Instead of turning back around to continue, Gohan quickly floated down so that he was under her. Before she had the chance to wonder what he was doing, he had grabbed Pan's arms and pulled her onto his back before hurtling forward again.

She only screamed for a few seconds, and then she laughed and whooped until they reached the city, feeling very much like a little kid.

When trees, fields, and farms began to give way to skyscrapers and packed streets, Gohan and Pan landed in order to avoid extra attention. Passing a large billboard, Pan did a double take as she recognized her grandfather's one-of-a-kind grinning face. She was so surprised that she stopped in the middle of the street, staring at her gramps and surprised by how much she missed him. Gohan, realizing she was no longer walking beside him, quickly doubled back.

Gohan peered up at the Champ's enormous face, the billboard proclaiming his as the World Savior, and laughed.

"That's Hercule Satan," he explained to Pan, "the guy that took credit for defeating Cell. Better him being surrounded by cameras all day than me!" He grinned at Pan, expecting her to laugh with him, but she was unable to do more than force a smile due to the sudden painful lump in her throat. Although he gave her a curious look, he didn't comment further.

"Let's go, we're in a hurry, remember?" Gohan took Pan's elbow and pulled her along, not thinking about the strange man any longer.

Pan allowed herself to be pulled along to their destination in a slight daze. They were in Satan City. She knew this town like the back of her hand, although it was slightly different now. She could turn left, right there, and be at her gramps' house in two minutes. Her breath caught as her heart skipped a beat. Her mother would be there. As they passed the street, Pan couldn't help but linger, continuing to stare at the street until they took another turn and it was lost from view.

She had known they were coming here, of course, but it was still a shock. This was the first time she'd come to Satan City since arriving in this time. Pan was surprised that Gohan didn't notice her distraction, but he was a man on a mission as he steered her further into the city. She took a deep breath to relax herself, reminded by the quick smile he glanced down to give her that she wasn't totally alone here.

At last the target came into view, causing Gohan to pick up his pace. Pan was being half dragged at this point but she had to smile; just like his father and brother, G was a lover of all things edible.

Suddenly the warm breeze changed direction, wafting the heavenly aroma their way. Pan felt her mind go slightly numb as they entered the bakery, and remembered immediately why they had come to this one instead of one of the many in West City, where Bulma lived. The place was simply the best, and it made the trip worth it one hundred times over.

Gohan wasted no time making his way to the front counter, pulling Pan between several other patrons and along behind him. As he gave their name to the cashier, she wondered why he felt it necessary to hold onto her. It reminded her of being a small child in the city, always holding the hand of one family member or the other. The reason her family did that, of course, was to ensure that she didn't run off, as little kids tend to do. Here, she was 16 and still being carted around. She wasn't sure if it was similar to her childhood, or if it was simply Gohan's tendency to be rather...controlling. This was something that surprised her even after nearly two months around him. She couldn't remember her father being that way with anyone, not even her mother. Here, he was protective to almost a paranoid degree. It was sweet, usually, but it could get a little annoying at times. Pan supposed she was lucky he didn't try to carry her.

Only a moment passed and the baker himself was suddenly there, a portly man that looked exactly like he'd been baking cakes and other desserts his whole life. The work of art he carried was one of his greatest achievements, he raved, due to the size of it. It was huge indeed, at least the box it was inside was, and Pan cringed to imagine trying to fly with it all the way to Bulma's. Luckily, it was a simple matter of putting it in the capsule container they had brought with them.

Pan was eager to leave and began to turn, but soon realized that the baker had drawn Gohan into looking at some of his other tasty creations, and her along with him. Suddenly feeling overly confined and impatient to be out of the crowded shop, she pulled her arm from his grip. When he looked at her questioningly, she gestured to him that she would wait outside. G furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, a clear sign that this made him uneasy, and Pan rolled her eyes at his overly parental concern.

He shrugged. "Just wait right outside the door, I'll only be a couple minutes," he finally conceded.

"Sure," Pan smiled to reassure him and headed out of the shop. Once in the street, she breathed some fresh air, grateful to be out of the crowded place. Without any real purpose, Pan watched the passersby; women, men, children, teens scowling at being forced to be seen in public with their families. Other groups of teenagers milled by lazily, chatting and laughing, and Pan thought about her friends at school, and Bra, and how much she missed that.

One word being called out suddenly caught Pan's attention, almost as if someone had called her name, and she involuntarily glanced in that direction. Her heart nearly stopped.

The word was a name, and the name was Videl. The girl who had spoken it was about fifteen feet away on the opposite side of the street-blonde, cute. Pan knew her; it was Erasa, her parents' friend from high school whom her mother still kept in touch with regularly. She was younger, obviously, but there was no mistaking her high-pitched voice. She appeared to be chiding her friend, a girl with long dark hair which she wore in a high ponytail, as she attempted to drag her along to some unknown place. Pan was dizzy, her breathing shallow as she stared hungrily at the girl that could only be her mother.

Here she was. Pan had been thinking of her perhaps fifteen minutes ago and she was here now. Half a second before the girls rounded a corner and disappeared, Pan knew she wasn't ready to stop looking at her. At the very least, she needed to see her face. She broke into a run and quickly caught up to the other two, remaining a discreet distance behind.

She grinned as tears filled her eyes, witnessing her mother being pulled around much the way that Bra often pulled her around when she was forced to go shopping. Much the way, in fact, that G had just been pulling her.

What were the odds, really? This city was huge. To assuage her guilt, knowing that she shouldn't be approaching her mother at all, Pan told herself that this had to be a sign, that she had come to this place on this exact day and her mother had been here by design.

Videl and Erasa suddenly crossed the street and entered a small clothing store, Pan following quickly. She hoped she wasn't being too conspicuous but the girls hadn't seemed to notice her. She tailed them for a few minutes, hiding behind racks of clothing to get a good look at her mother's face when they finally stopped. Videl was smiling at her friend, her blue eyes sparkling. Pan ached, positively ached to go to her, to be in her mother's arms. She could almost feel her soft skin. Tears were pricking her eyes painfully and she wiped them away hurriedly so that her view of Videl would not be obscured. In most ways, Pan was a definite daddy's girl. But sometimes, a girl just needed her mom. This was one of those times.

Suddenly Videl spoke to Erasa: This shirt sucks, was all she said, but Pan, who had gone far too long without hearing her mom's voice, was barely able to contain the onslaught of emotion. Why was it that this was harder than being in space for a year? The only answer she had was that going home wasn't a certain thing this time, like it had been with Trunks and her grandpa.

The girls started to move away. Pan crept out from behind the rack where she'd been hiding as they reached the end of the aisle, following silently and hastily scrubbing tears from her face as she went.

"Pan!"

Pan froze in the center of the aisle, shocked by the loudness of hearing her name in her hyper-focused state, and suddenly Gohan was right next to her looking very annoyed.

"Why didn't you wait-" Gohan cut off as he took in Pan's tearstained cheeks and the emotionally fraught look on her face. "Hey," he continued gently, his look of annoyance replaced with one of concern, "Pan, what's wrong? What happened?"

Pan crashed into him, nearly unbalancing Gohan. Unable to contain it at all now, Pan started sobbing, wetting Gohan's shirt with her tears. She hugged him tightly as he questioned her, but she was unable to speak well enough to answer. Perhaps she wasn't doing as well as she had previously thought, because suddenly the thought of never getting home gripped her with terror.

"Pan!" Alarmed by this reaction, Gohan hugged her for only a moment before pulling her away from him to question her again frantically. "What is it? Tell me what to do, Pan. Did something happen?" She shook her head and continued to sob, feeling like a complete idiot now in addition to her sadness. "Pan, talk to me, please! What's wrong?" The girl could tell that G's alarm was about to go in a bad direction.

"It's okay, I'm fine," she finally choked out. Instead of the concern fading from his eyes, it grew.

"Pan." He tightened his grip on her upper arms and shook her slightly. "Did something happen? If someone hurt you, I need you to tell me." His dark eyes, so much like hers, were intense. He was quickly slipping into a fighter frame of mind, and as he considered the thought of someone hurting one of his loved ones, his hands tightened around her biceps reflexively.

"Ow! That hurts, G," the shock of slight pain pulled Pan out of her emotional turmoil. Gohan's immediate remorse was apparent in his eyes, but she was surprised when he let go of her and physically stepped back with clenched fists, rather than simply loosening his grip. His sudden abandonment hurt more than she liked to admit, but she knew he didn't mean it that way.

"Everything is okay, really-" Pan paused. Though she was much calmer now, she quickly realized that she didn't have an explanation for her outburst without putting the future in jeopardy, but something she hadn't been counting on saved her from replying. Suddenly someone was standing between her and her young father.

The voice registered first, and Pan's heart was abruptly pounding in her chest.

"Back off, jerk!" Videl was shoving a completely shocked looking Gohan in the chest. Pan was surprised when he took half a step back, but he must have been pretty distracted. "I don't like guys like you, who shove girls around, so you better beat it before I kick your ass!"

Gohan's jaw dropped at this accusation, at a loss for words.

Videl turned slightly to face Pan, the kindness in her face like a knife through Pan's heart and at the same time a soothing balm. "Are you okay?"

Pan suddenly realized how bad this must have looked to Videl and Erasa; she could see why they had assumed Gohan had been the one to upset her. This of course made Pan feel terrible, and she quickly attempted to correct the situation, but Gohan spoke before she could.

"Excuse me, I didn't do anything to her," he said as he reached around Videl and pulled Pan toward him once more. The look he gave Videl was rather annoyed, but not unkind. Videl took this as a challenge anyway, grabbing Pan's other arm and pulling her back. Gohan looked quite a bit angrier then.

"You leave her alone, or I'll make you!" Videl was getting quieter rather than shouting, a development that was rather scary. Pan was dumbfounded. The terrible potential hit her suddenly; this was her parents' first meeting! Exactly what she was afraid of was happening and it was all her fault. The way the two were looking at each other was most definitely not a good start to a long and happy marriage, not to mention a baby!

"It's okay! He didn't do anything to me, I swear," Pan was quickly attempting to correct her young mother's mistake. Videl turned back to her suspiciously.

"Who is he?" she demanded.

"He's my…." Pan trailed off and glanced at G. He didn't return her look, only continued to stare stonily at Videl. He appeared too angry to be of much help. Videl was looking more and more suspicious. "He's my brother," Pan invented the lie easily because it was the most believable. They looked too much alike to not be related. She glanced at her father again to gauge his reaction, but he still didn't meet her gaze, didn't even blink.

"Even brothers can be controlling abusive creeps," Videl shot him an angry glare. "Do you want me to make him leave? You don't have to go with him." She folded her arms and looked back at Pan. "I don't like him, and I really don't trust him." Pan's heart sank at her words. What was she going to do? This was her very existence at stake. How had this even happened?

"Well I'm not," Gohan said quietly, "abusive, or a creep." He had regained some composure, since he seemed to have noticed how upset Pan was, and still hadn't forgotten her earlier crying. "So I think my sister and I will be going now. She's upset, and it's not because of me, so I'd like to find out why." His manners kicked in and he seemed unable to stop himself from adding, "Thank you for trying to help."

For some reason, Videl seemed to be even more enraged by his words. "You do not own her, and she seems perfectly capable of making her own decision about when to leave!"

Pan cut in quickly, "I want to go with him, really. He's not what upset me." Pan's placating words cooled Videl down slightly.

After glaring at Gohan for a moment longer, she said, "Fine. But come over here and talk to me for a moment first." With that she grabbed Pan's hand and pulled her further down the aisle, where she proceeded to confer with the other girl in a hushed tone, though Pan knew that her father could hear every word clearly.

"You're sure?" she began.

Pan nodded emphatically.

Videl pursed her lips, unable to get rid of the concern. "Well, listen, I think you should take my number. Just in case you feel like you need someone to talk to or need help. If you're in a situation you need to get out of, I can take care of it for you. And if by some chance I can't, I've got connections that definitely can."

Pan felt a little lightheaded by this proclamation, but she forced herself to smile. "Sure, I'll take it. But honestly, this is just a misunderstanding. He came in and found me upset, and it just made him anxious."

Videl nodded, although she still didn't look convinced. "Okay." As she pulled a piece of paper and pen from her purse, she regarded Pan curiously, "What's your name? You look about my age but I haven't ever seen you at school." Her face soured slightly as she added, "Or your brother."

"It's Pan, Son Pan." Suddenly Pan wasn't sure she shouldn't have made up a name. But Gohan would have thought that was strange and questioned it later, and Pan had to remember that she couldn't let him know who this girl was. "We're homeschooled by…our mother."

Videl smiled genuinely as she handed her a slip of paper with numbers scrawled on it. "I'm Videl. My family name is Satan, so I'm not kidding about the family connections, okay?" She winked. Pan nodded in response.

"Thank you so much for being so kind and trying to help me," she suddenly felt the need to fix this. Who knew if this would have terrible far-reaching consequences? And who knew when she would see her mother again? "Please don't think badly of my brother. He's just…," Pan glanced at Gohan, who had cooled considerably and was looking away from her, probably to appear nonthreatening to Videl. He glanced at Pan and gave her a slight half-smile. She continued speaking to her mother, "He's just a little overprotective. See, we lost our father a few years ago, and he's the oldest so he feels like it's his responsibility to take care of us."

Videl's expression softened at this. "My mom left last year." The obvious ache in her voice and the pain in her eyes nearly undid Pan once more. Videl glanced down and let out a quiet laugh, embarrassed that she had just shared this private detail about herself with a stranger.

Pan grimaced. She knew her maternal grandmother had left her husband and daughter for another man, and all at once she was ashamed that she had never really bothered to talk to her mother about this and find out how she felt. She had never even met the woman.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Pan responded quietly, "I'm sorry." It was strange then, when their eyes met as Videl looked up, how strong a connection Pan felt. She certainly knew the pain of losing a loved one, whether it was a grandparent, a father, or even her own mother, ironically. But there was a solid difference in the fact that Videl's mother had chosen to leave her.

Videl gave Pan a small smile of appreciation, then glanced at Gohan again as she seemed to remember him. She eyed him thoughtfully as she sighed. "I hope he is a good guy, because you seem like a really sweet girl." She met Pan's eyes again and grinned. "I'm glad I met you. And remember," she raised her eyebrows threateningly, "if you need anything, just call." Despite the warning in her tone, Pan could see Videl's genuine warmth.

Pan could do no more than nod again. With a final glance at Gohan, Videl left the store with Erasa.

Flying to Capsule Corp. ten minutes later, Pan was unusually silent. Gohan eyed her with concern. Since the strange, angry girl had left the store, Pan hadn't said a word, and he hadn't the heart to make her talk at the moment.

However, she seemed to be even more distraught after the confrontation with the stranger than she had been before. Although she was no longer hysterical—something Gohan hadn't seen from her since her arrival, and was much more emotionally difficult for him now than it had been six weeks ago—anxiety was written all over her face.

Gohan wished he knew how to help her, and felt a sudden surge of anger at his helplessness. He realized that he was no more useful than he had been as a child, and he was sickened by the notion.

Gritting his teeth, Gohan forced his mind to other things. He searched his mind for a distraction, and quickly found one.

Before setting out that morning, Pan had told Gohan something she had only remembered the previous night: Before awakening in this time, she had seen a disturbing image in her own time. She could only remember that she had seen the form of a person as the lightning struck—a familiar form. Frustratingly, Pan could only remember this feeling of recognition, and not specifically who it was or what this person looked like. Gohan's brow furrowed as he went over Pan's next words in his mind.

"I can't remember who it was, but I know when I saw them…I wasn't scared. I felt safer."

After thinking about it for a few more minutes, this realization had seemed to give Pan comfort. She reasoned that if it was someone she knew and felt safe with, surely it wasn't someone who would hurt her.

Gohan wasn't so optimistic. Pan knew the history of their family's unique life, but she hadn't lived it. Stranger things had happened than friends becoming enemies, or being controlled by enemies. In addition to this, Pan knew many more people than Gohan did. She had several friends at school, and something about the way she spoke gave Gohan the idea that many people knew her even if she didn't know them. She had mentioned people coming up to her on the street a couple times, and abruptly stopped or changed the subject, as if this was something she didn't want him to know. Perhaps his lifestyle had made him a little more paranoid than the average person, or perhaps having Piccolo as a surrogate guardian had affected him, but Gohan wasn't above suspecting an old family enemy of infiltrating his daughter's life to enact revenge on him or his father.

He hadn't voiced any of these thoughts to Pan earlier; she seemed to be in a surprisingly fragile state, somehow more emotional than she had been in the weeks since the original despair of her arrival. He supposed it must be this new realization that made her hug him a little more often than usual, or spend more time playing with Goten. She had to be more scared about this memory than she was letting on. The more Gohan thought about this, the more he knew it must be the case.

He inhaled a cleansing breath as the wind ruffled his hair, and smiled at Pan. Young as he was, he couldn't help the parental pride that filled him as he thought about how brave and strong Pan was. Their training had been going exceedingly well, with Piccolo even dropping in a few times to help. The Namek wasn't particularly kind to Pan, and he usually ignored her altogether rather than face the strange and slightly creepy grin she always wore when she saw him, but he barked remarks to Gohan about how she should be faster, or what he needed to do to improve her training. Pan was never fazed by his gruffness, and Gohan had learned to accept her acceptance. It brought him a lot of happiness to know that Piccolo must be close to his daughter.

His positive thoughts didn't last long, as he again took in Pan's fretful face. His jaw clenched automatically as he considered that someone might want to hurt her. Over his dead body, was his instinctive thought. He took some small comfort in knowing that no one in this world was as strong as he was. But he knew that in Pan's time, this was not the case, meaning that their enemy might be strong enough to get rid of him easily. He decided at that moment to train not only Pan, but himself even harder. It was vitally important that he reach whatever levels of power he could in order to protect the people he loved: his mother, Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, and now, Pan. Not only that, he would find this unknown adversary himself, and discover exactly what his motives were. His renewed resolve gave him focus, and he felt his body tense in a new way: motivation rather than anxiety.

Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by their sudden arrival at Capsule Corp. As they landed on the expansive and immaculate green lawn that Bulma paid handsomely to have maintained, Pan surprised him by turning to him with a smile.

Before he could do more than cock an eyebrow curiously, Bulma appeared in the open doorway, blocking the teens' entrance with a grin, followed closely with a frown.

"Gohan!" Her sudden anger, unexpectedly directed at him, caused Gohan to take a step back, his ears ringing. Bulma's earlier smile—hadn't it been only a second ago?—had vanished, replaced with an incensed look that told Gohan just how indignant she was. He was unable to respond, mouth hanging open in shock at the velocity of this mood swing. Before he had even glanced at Pan with incredulity, Bulma was going on.

"Your shoes are filthy! How dare you think of coming into my house like this, young man!"

He glanced down. They looked perfectly fine to him, no dirtier than any other time he'd entered Capsule Corp.

"Pan, go on in honey," Bulma smiled warmly as she stepped aside. Pan didn't even meet his gaze as she dashed through the door, and Gohan's disbelief grew as he glared at the traitor's back.

"But, Bulma!" he had finally found his voice, "My shoes aren't any dirtier than Pan's!"

Bulma's dirty look—apparently her special new look for Gohan alone—was back. "Don't even think of coming in here until those shoes are spotless, Son Gohan!" She narrowed her eyes in a final glare before abruptly slamming the door in his face.

He blinked, taken completely aback. He shook his head at the heavens, knowing that females were a mystery he could never hope to solve. Heaving an exaggerated sigh as he grasped the frame of Bulma's door, he began roughly wiping his shoes on the mat outside the door.

Once they were, as far as he could see, completely dirt free, Gohan ventured into the house. All was quiet, and he wondered if Pan and Bulma had gone into the backyard. He crossed the hall quickly, eager to join his family and friends. Just as he reached the darkened living room which would connect him to the kitchen, he heard a slight ruffling noise. As he glanced to the side curiously, the lights in the room suddenly blinked on, stopping him in his tracks.

"Surprise!"

Suddenly all of his friends and family were jumping out from behind sofas, from under tables, spilling out of the opening into the kitchen. Gohan laughed in shock, bracing himself on the nearby wall as his heart's racing slowed. Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, Puar, Turtle, Tien, Chiaotzu—they were all there, laughing heartily at Gohan's surprise, along with his mother, Bulma, his grandpa, Pan, Mr. Briefs, Goten, and Trunks, all laughing and clapping in delight at Gohan's complete shock. Piccolo, leaning on the back of a sofa, grinned at him. Even Vegeta was there, arms crossed and staring into the kitchen, making his disinterest apparent only when he wasn't glancing around at the lot of them, sneering to show his disgust. Gohan's heart warmed at the sight of them all.

"I thought you guys weren't going to make it!" He shouted at the vicinity of Krillin and the other Z warriors as Trunks and Goten leapt at him. Krillin grinned deviously in response.

"All part of the plan, brother!"

Overcome by affection for all of them, Gohan shook his head in disbelief. The preschoolers crowding his feet hooted enthusiastically. The crowd suddenly began to part as Bulma's mother entered from the kitchen, carrying the massive and delectable-looking cake that Gohan and Pan had picked up earlier. He only knew it was Bulma's mother from the waist down, it was so large. It was all chocolate; a five-layer masterpiece of thick fudge frosting and tediously applied designs and scrolls. It was beautiful. It was decorated with 17 lit candles, and as the lights were turned off again, their flickering became the centerpiece of the event, creating a swirling and barely discernible rainbow of colors as the light hit the topmost layer of frosting.

For a moment all was silent, and it was in that moment that Gohan experienced a sudden wave of apprehension. He swallowed reflexively, the unease growing as Bunny brought his cake nearer. He looked around at all of them once more. Everything was so perfect in his life right now—it almost couldn't get better. The flicker of the candles caught his attention once again, and whipping his head back to them, his stomach curled at the realization of how sinister their dancing light looked. Gohan's breaths were starting to come shallowly, and he swallowed again involuntarily.

Out of nowhere, Pan was at his side. As she hugged him tightly, smiling up at him and obviously unaware of his anxiety, the strange spell broke.

Nearby, Bulma, winking at him now, began singing. Allowing his moment of disquiet to be shaken off quickly, Gohan smiled warily as he felt his cheeks heating up. The rest of the group quickly joined in—Trunks and Goten screaming the words, Pan laughing the lyrics as she caught sight of his blush, his mother's eyes brimming with unshed tears.

As they neared the end of the song, one more breeze of apprehension brushed the back of Gohan's neck. It felt so…tangible—as if fingernails were actually being trailed intimately across his nape—that he was unable to stop himself from reaching back to rub his neck vigorously. The group took this as his further embarrassment of course, and finished up with gusto.

He looked down at Pan.

"Happy birthday dear, Gohan… "

He told himself that the whisper at his neck was his imagination, that there was no reason that this song should feel ominous.

"Happy birthday to you."

A/N: I'm eager to get this posted, so I'm ending this chapter a little earlier than planned. PLEASE REVIEW, IT KEEPS ME MOTIVATED TO WRITE MORE! Thanks.