Tales of the Xenoverse

What if Baby Took Over Pan?

Suggested by Dragonballreader and Súper j on Archive of Our Own, and Anonymous

After nearly a year of adventuring, seeing dozens of planets, meeting new friends, and having more than plenty of battles, Goku, Pan and Trunks finally returned home to Earth. At last: the Grand Tour of the Universe had come to an end, and the Seven Black Star Dragon Balls had been gathered. The only thing that was left to do was summon the dragon, the one called 'Ultimate Shenron', and wish for the Earth to be spared.

This, however, would already be where things differed from the timeline you know, through a series of small changes. Changes that may appear simple enough on their own, but when put together, spell something drastically, amazingly different.

The first would be their initial destination: Bulma insisted on throwing a massive party to celebrate their arrival. In addition to food and drink, music and dancing, and everyone being invited; after being told the situation at hand, Bulma came up with another surprise: both Shenrons would be arriving. First, Ultimate Shenron was summoned to undo the destruction of the planet, allowing the Black Star Dragon Balls to scatter throughout the universe, unable to be brought together again. Then, secondly, the regular green Shenron would return Goku back to his usual age, effectively returning everything back to normal. Despite initial disappointment at being an 'old man' again by Goku (much to Chi-Chi and Bulma's chagrin) everyone was happy.

Of course, Bulma was ecstatic to see her son again, Vegeta was proud of his boy for taking care of himself (joking about having to be the 'adult', compared to Goku), and even Bra was impressed by her brother, having seen so much of the universe and wanting to know more. Meanwhile, Goku was greeted with open arms by his family, who were happy to see him again, back to normal, and with Uub happy to see his master well and good, and somehow more powerful than ever.

The only one to be greeted in less-than-savory means was Pan, albeit only initially. She was given a thorough scolding by Gohan and Videl, for sneaking onto the spaceship and endangering her life. Despite snapping back at first, Pan would be calmed down after both Goku and Mr. Satan spoke to Pan's defense. After a long talk, Gohan and Videl calmed down, eventually agreeing to allow Pan to train with Goku in the future... after being grounded for at least three months.

At long last, the party would come to an end, and while everyone would begin to work together on cleaning up, Pan slipped away, flying to an area a decent distance away. Noticing this, as well as the clear frustration on her face, Trunks followed her, meeting her privately.

"Pan?" he called to her. "Is everything alright?"

Pan sighed, shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes. "I mean, I was just scolded like a kid, so that was fun..."

Trunks chuckled slightly, taking a minute to appreciate the cool breezes of wind and sounds of cicadas chirping.

"They're just worried about you. They know you're strong, I know you're strong, but..." Trunks paused, giving Pan a smile. "They're still your family. Family's gonna worry, wanna look out for you, freak out when you're in danger. It's what we do."

Pan rolled her eyes again, turning to fully face Trunks.

"I suppose."

Trunks chuckled again. He had never heard Pan use the phrase 'I suppose' before.

Fiddling with her hands slightly, Pan spoke back up, awkwardly smiling as she looked Trunks right in the eye.

"I'm really glad you're here, Trunks... I wanted to talk to you, anyway..."

Trunks perked up slightly.

"It wasn't the right time before, with everything going on, but I think I noticed it on Planet Pital..."