THE TIME OF PAN 
by Jer
May 21, 2002
	This one is a milder episode, but it connects some characters together not mentioned 
earlier and it sets the stage to connect the next events.  It took me awhile to do this one 
because of the increase in conversation.  I have a very hard time doing that, oh well!  Hope
 you enjoy! =)

Episode 4
A white textured surface appeared as Pan’s eyes opened.  ‘I’m dead’, thought Pan.  Funny how
 the wall of the afterlife looked like Grandma Chichi’s ceiling.  Pan felt the faint taste 
of a senzu bean that had been in her mouth, and then what had happened was obvious.  “Oh, 
Thank Kami you are alright.”  It was Videl’s voice.  Pan lifted her head slightly to see her
 mother.  The room was filled with familiar faces, all gathered in Chichi’s living room.  
Pan sat up off the mat to look around.  There was Vegita, Ubuu, and Goten standing around 
the room.  Chichi was sitting with Gohan at the table.  Gohan had his shirt off with a large
 bandage wrapped around his stomach.  Videl was hovering over Pan, who was laying on a mat 
on the floor.  Pan looked around at everyone wondering why they all came.  “Why is everyone
 here?” Pan asked.  “We were coming to help you and your Dad” answered Ubuu.  “We must have
 just missed the fight.  We found you two on the ground.”  Pan began to stand up.  She 
suddenly felt a sharp pain in the middle of her body where she had been hit.  “Ahhhhuuh!!”
 Pan shrieked in pain.  She quickly grasped the wound with both hands and fell to her knees.
  She too had a bandage around her covering the wound.  “Are you all right, Pan!?” said 
Videl, grabbing her daughter to keep her from falling over.  “Well I thought I was” said Pan
 still wincing from the pain.  “You should try to keep still and get some rest, Pan”, Gohan
 said, getting up from the table.  “You are still weak from your ordeal.  You definitely 
took the blast worse than I did.”  Pan looked down at the floor with a saddened face and a 
heavy heart.  “I…I’m…sorry father, for what I did”, said Pan, almost in tears.  “I should 
have stayed put like you said.”  Gohan smiled lightly and walked over and sat down next to
 his daughter.  “I understand why you did it, I know it has always been hard for me to stay
 on the sidelines.”  Pan wiped her damp eyes with her sleeve and looked up at her Dad.  “I 
remember on several occasions where my Dad told me to stay put, yet I was so eager to jump 
in the fight and help.”  “Like when you told me that time you and Grandpa were on planet 
Namek fighting that Freeza guy?”, asked Pan.  Gohan scratched the back of his head thinking
 about the event.  “Well…, that was different, you see Dad really did need my help and…well
 that’s…um…” Gohan began to loose his train of thought.  Videl added in, “Well Pan, you 
just know it when the time is right to help out.  Right Gohan?”  “heh heh”, Gohan added 
with a goofy smile still scratching the back of his head.  
	
Gohan then looked up at the doorway and stood up.  “Ah!  Trunks is back.”  “Trunks?” asked
 Pan.  Pan began to think of Trunks being here at Chichi’s house.  Goten turned and explained
 to Pan, “Trunks went to Korin’s place to get some senzu beans.  Your Grandma only had one
 senzu bean here in the house which we split for you and Gohan.”  Pan was already in a 
dream state and heard none of Goten’s explanation.  A few months earlier before Pan had 
begun training with her father, she had become closer to Trunks.  They became good friends
 yet she always hoped that it would become something more.  Whether or not Trunks felt the
 same way was Pan’s great dilemma.  Gohan put his dark blue gi top on, still slightly 
shredded from Ryuujin’s blast.  Gohan then ran outside closely followed by Goten.  They 
both stopped a few feet from the house and looked up at the sky.  Trunks dropped out of the
 night sky and landed in front of the house.  “Hey Gohan, hey Goten.  I got em!” yelled 
Trunks, holding up a small brown pouch.  Trunks was wearing tan khaki pants, a tight black
 T-shirt, and a light blue Capsule Corp. Jacket.  “Hey, good job Trunks,” said Gohan.  
Trunks gave the bag to Gohan.  Gohan untied the string from the bag and removed a senzu 
bean.  He then stuck the strange and mystical bean in his mouth.  After chewing and 
swallowing the bean, the powerful effect instantly struck.  Gohan felt all his muscles pump
 and relax all at once.  All fatigue had disappeared and every ache and wound was healed 
and revitalized.  Gohan , Goten, and Trunks headed back in the house but before entering, 
Gohan turned around and put his hand up in front of Goten and Trunks.  “Guys, I need you to
 do something for me.  Make sure Pan doesn’t get a senzu bean.”  “But why not?!  She’s 
injured!” Trunks said in a worried tone.  “It’s so she doesn’t follow us when we go look for
 the Ryuujin’s.  She’ll be fine for now, and tomorrow we will give her one if she needs it 
then.”  Trunks and Goten both gave Gohan a stern look and nodded, “All right,”  said Goten.

Trunks and Gohan entered into Chichi’s house.  As they did, they heard a shout from the back
 room.  “MY ROOM!”  Trunks, Goten, and Gohan quickly hurried to see what was wrong.  Videl 
and Ubuu were helping Pan to the room she was staying in.  Inside were large chunks of the 
roof and walls strewn about.  The front and back walls were completely knocked out and the 
room was charred as if something exploded in there.  While everyone stood wide-eyed at the 
rubble, Chichi came up.  “I guess you all are wondering what happened to my guest room that
 Pan was staying in,” said Chichi with her hands on her hips in an agitated tone of voice. 
 “Someone’s stray blast came out of nowhere and demolished it.  It wasn’t yours, was it 
Gohan?!”  Innocently, Gohan put his hands up.  “No No, not me!  Honest, heh heh!”  Trunks 
and Goten still couldn’t believe how much Gohan answered to his mom like a little kid.  Pan
 slowly walked into the room, still wide-eyed with one hand on her stomach wound.  Pan 
rummaged around the room and only managed to find her orange bandanna and gloves, slightly
 burnt.  Pan stood in the middle of the roof-less room looking down at the floor.  “My 
clothes are gone,” Pan said sadly.  The thought that she was still wearing orange pajamas 
seemed to escape everyone’s mind.  As Pan turned around, Videl saw the large burn holes in
 her pajama top.  Videl turned to Chichi, “Do you have anything in the house that Pan could
 wear?”  Chichi thought for a moment.  

Pan stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.  “Uh…, I guess its ok” Pan said 
semi-approvingly.  Chichi had gotten Pan a uniform from one of the back rooms, the old 
orange gi that had been worn by everyone in the family at some point.  She was wearing one
 that Goten had previously worn when he was younger so it was around the right size.  Pan 
was wearing the orange pants, the weighted blue shirt, and the weighted boots.  She didn’t
 take notice to the increased weight of the clothes at all.  “So Pan, what emblem do you 
want,” Chichi held up the four different orange gi tops she had.  “I have this one from 
Piccolo.  I think this was Gohan’s.  This one is from Master Roshi.  This one is from Kami.
  And this one is…from King Kai.”  Pan turned and walked out of the room.  “It’s all right,
 grandma Chichi, I don’t need one,” said Pan as she fell back into a chair, still holding 
her bandanna and gloves.  

Pan woke up several hours later in the chair to the sound of someone exiting the house.  
It was early in the morning and the sun was slightly pouring in through the windows, hitting
 Pan in the face.  Pan put her hand up to block the sun, looked up and saw Trunks, Gohan, 
Ubuu, Vegita, and Videl begin to exit the house.  “Where are you all going,” said Pan through
 a yawn.  “Just stay here Pan, we’ll be back later.” said Gohan before exiting the house.  
Pan hated to be left out of things, and this was just another one of those times.  Pan 
quickly got up out of the chair, still feeling the effects of her injury.  She hurried over
 to the door, just catching Vegita before he left the house.  “Come on, where are you 
going!” Pan said, grabbing Vegita’s arm.  He turned his head to look at Pan.  “You needn’t
 concern yourself with our affairs.  This outing is just a simple search and destroy.” 
 said Vegita gruffly.  “You are going after that old man aren’t you?”  Vegita thought for 
a second and then turned around completely to face Pan, folding his arms and giving her a 
slight smirk.  “Oh, that’s right.  You were out cold when we discussed it,” said Vegita 
with a cocky attitude.  “While you and your father were here fighting that Ryuujin guy as 
he calls himself, Trunks and myself were fighting Ryuujin as well.”  “You were fighting 
him?  How could that be possible?” asked Pan.  “There are two of them, Pan.  I was handling
 one while you and your father had fun with the other.  It seems he got the best of you 
though.” Said Vegita with a slight chuckle.  Pan was astonished to hear that there was 
another Ryuujin lurking around, but what Vegita said about him getting the best of her hurt.
  She knew it was her fault that Gohan had lost that fight.  Otherwise the fight would be 
totally one-sided in favor of her father.  Vegita glanced over at Goten, who had been 
instructed to help his mother take care of Pan.  “Make sure she doesn’t get in our way.  
This time there will be no escape for that old fool.”  With that final comment, Vegita 
turned and ran out away from the house.  He then blasted into the sky with an incredible 
surge of energy, charring the ground on his way to catch up with the others.  Pan frowned 
grumpily and kicked the doorway on her way back in the house.  “Get in the way, hmph!” 
said Pan angrily for having been left out.  “How did he end up losing his Ryuujin anyway?!”
  Goten looked down at Pan with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.  “Trunks told me 
about it while you were asleep, Pan.  He said Ryuujin was getting a beating from Vegita, 
and he wasn’t even a Super Saiyan!  He said that Ryuujin then used some sort of magic to 
slip away by creating multiple images of himself.  Vegita and Trunks weren’t able to sense
 the real one and by the time they figured out what happened, Ryuujin was already gone.” 
 “Where were you during all this?” asked Pan.  “I sensed the commotion and headed over to
 the battle.  Ubuu was headed there too.  We arrived about the time Ryuujin slipped away.”
  Pan turned to look out the window.  “I wonder where the Ryuujins are now?” said Pan with
 a sigh.  

A few hours later at Chichi’s house, Goten and Pan were sitting in the living room.  Chichi
 had left to do some shopping.  Pan had found the TV to ease her boredom while Goten passed
 the time by sleeping on the couch.  Pan glanced over at her sleeping uncle.  He had an arm
 hanging off the couch and was drooling out his wide-open mouth.  She wasn’t paying any 
attention to the television at all.  The reoccurring event of her messing things up for her
 father kept her mind busy.  Pan then thought of the dream she had the night earlier.  
‘What was that?  What does it mean?’ thought Pan.  ‘It said to escape and find power 
elsewhere.  Could the dream be related to the appearance of Ryuujin?  Surly the dream didn’t
 refer to Ryuujin as being dangerous, did it?  My Dad and Vegita had no problem taking him 
on.  Perhaps there is more to Ryuujin than anyone can see.  I wish I could go help out 
anyway, this waiting around blows.  I couldn’t really go anywhere anyway in my current 
condition.’  Pan then noticed the brown bag of senzu beans on the coffee table in front of
 Goten.  Pan thought for a moment, debating what she should do.  Then she came to a 
conclusion.  Pan quietly got up and started sneaking towards the bag.  She tip toed closer
 and closer.  Pan quietly knelt down at the small table.  She reached out to grab the bag.
  “A HA!!!” yelled Goten, snatching Pan’s arm.  “I thought you’d try something!”  Though 
Pan was caught, she had no intention of stopping now.  Pan jumped up and grabbed Goten’s 
hand with her other hand.  She then pulled him towards her with all her might and plowed 
both her feet into Goten’s stomach.  Goten doubled over on the floor, letting go of Pan. 
 “DAMMIT, Pan!!  Don’t think I won’t tell Gohan what you did!”  “I don’t care, I have to 
go help them.”  Said Pan while quickly opening the bag and removing a bean.  She popped it
 in her mouth and chewed it up.  Instantaneously, all Pan’s muscles tightened and relaxed 
as she surged with energy.  She felt completely revitalized.  Pan lifted her shirt and began
 unraveling the bandage from her body.  The injury had completely healed.  Pan put her 
gloves on and tied her bandanna across her head on her way to the door.  Suddenly, Pan felt
 a hand grab her ankle.  “Get back here you!” shouted Goten, still clutching his stomach 
from the floor.  Pan fell to the floor but quickly did a series of rolls causing Goten to 
loose his grip.  She flung open the door and powered up in the doorway.  Goten jumped to his
 feet and rushed at Pan just as she began to blast out the doorway.  The fiery Ki energy 
blasted Goten back into the room.  Regaining his balance, Goten hurried to the doorway and
 ran out the house.  He frantically searched the morning sky when he saw the Ki trail in 
the sky leaving the house.  “There you are!” exclaimed Goten.  He leapt into the sky in an
 explosion of energy.  

Chichi stood in the doorway of the empty house hours later with several bags of groceries 
in her arms.  She glanced around the room spotting several pieces of furniture knocked over.
  As she walked further into the room she could see Pan’s bandages strewn on the floor and 
a pile of spilt senzu beans on the coffee table.  Chichi sighed, “Typical.”