(Chapter Nine)
By: Kureeji
The tiny capsule car zoomed over the hills smoothly, zipping this way and that, Pan pressed into her seat from the force of Bulma’s crazy driving. Meekly she peeked up at the fanatical driver, only to looking at a mass of whipping blue hair.
“IT’S GREAT ISN’T IT?!” Bulma screamed over the air.
“I DON’T THINK I WILL BE QUITE THE SAME AFTER THIS IS OVER BULMA!” Pan screamed back, gripping the sides of the car for support.
All of a sudden, the small vehicle came to a screeching halt. Pan opened her
eyes, leaning forward with the sudden stop of movement. She blinked twice, for
in front of them was a little capsule dome house, in the middle of a quaint
little forest.
Pan’s stomach started to churn. “Are we already here?” She whimpered,
feeling queasy.
Bulma glanced at her, stepping out of the car. “Don’t be nervous! Chichi won’t do anything to you. Nothing that she didn’t do to Gohan.” Bulma stopped, considering that. “Say, you didn’t complete school did you?” She questioned Pan, looking at her worriedly.
“No.” Pan blinked. “The androids destroyed most schools way before I even started.” She frowned.
“Just don’t mention that to Chichi, ok?” Bulma smiled, a weird smile on her face. She chuckled nervously. Pan looked at her, but didn’t ask any questions. She hopped out of the car, just as a woman donned in a dress and apron opened the wooden door of the tiny house.
“BULMA!” She crooned, enveloping her in a hug. Bulma laughed and
hugged back. “I thought it was you, I heard your car.” She laughed,
a sound of wind chimes, sweet and light. Pan stared wide-eyed at the woman,
with bright black eyes and hair, piled neatly into a bun. She shifted her feet
nervously, afraid to speak.
The woman, her grandmother, Chichi, turned her smile towards her. “And who is this pretty girl? Perhaps one of Trunks’ girlfriends?” She joked at Pan, and Bulma laughed. Pan blushed.
“Well, Chichi…” Bulma began. “I think we should sit down…”
Chichi smiled “Oh of course, how rude of me! Come in!”
They sat, nibbling some of the best cookies Pan had ever had in her life, in the kitchen. Pan watched Bulma, as the woman prepared to gently tell Chichi of her origins.
“Chichi, do you remember Videl? That nice girl Gohan dated?” Bulma asked, nervously fiddling with her shirt.
“Oh yes, I do. She was so pretty. It is a shame, with the androids and
all.” Chichi frowned slightly. “Gohan was
going to marry her you know.” She sipped her tea.
Bulma stared at her. “Are you serious? I never knew that.”
She looked sideways at Pan, who was soaking up the info. Pan’s hand shook
around the delicate teacup she was
sipping. She watched as tiny ringlets quivered inside the cup.
“I could tell.” Continued Chichi. “The way he acted around her, just like Goku and I.” She laughed, eyes in a faraway place. “I miss them both so much…” She said softly.
“Me too Chichi…” Bulma replied. She hesitated. “I think you should know something…”
“What? You remarrying?” Chichi laughed, a glint of mischief in her eyes. “You always were attracting guys, Bulma.”
Bulma blushed. “Actually, it is about a member of your family…you see…” Bulma stuttered, nerve lost.
Pan still stared at her teacup. 17 years had been spent wondering where she belonged, who her family was. 9 years had been spent lonely, surviving without her mother. All of a sudden, an intense impatient feeling overwhelmed her. She was tired of waiting. Pan frowned, annoyed. “This is taking too long!” She turned towards Chichi, who was staring at her, surprised at her outburst. “My name is Pan, My mother was Videl, my father was Gohan.” She said as if it were an everyday thing. “Oh yeah, almost forgot…” She continued. “You are my grandmother.”
The woman’s raven eyes blinked around 3 times.
Chichi promptly fainted.
“That went...well.” Bulma said, looking at Chichi worriedly. “Thanks for being subtle, Pan, way to go.”
“Yeah, I sometimes have that effect on people.” Pan talked to the very unaware Chichi, who she caught in her arms.
“Oh, save it for Trunks.” Bulma laughed, rubbing her forehead. She
could only imagine the scene when Chichi
awoke…
Bulma checked the vital signs of her sleeping friend, Chichi. She marked off
her medical check board, running
down a list of check-up items. She hummed slightly, checking her watch. The
x-ray film needed to be seen.
Chichi was almost 55 years old, and even though Bulma was close behind, she
worried for Chichi. Despite the calm front she had put up when she fainted over
the rather, uncouth way of Pan telling her that she was her
grandmother, Bulma was surprised Chichi had fainted. It was most unlike the
fiery woman who she had once known, who would have probably bombarded Pan with
questions until her eyes bugged out.
She checked over the x-ray. After discovering Pan was a Saiyajin, she decided
to add it to her checklist when someone came in. It proved to be most helpful,
she mused laughing.
“No broken bones, thank Dende…” she sighed relieved, scanning the rest of the image.
Her aqua eyes came to a certain spot on her left shoulder, cloudy haze that seemed to cover half of her left regions. She froze.
“Kami…no….”
“Cancer.”