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.
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