Here it finally is. The series I have been doing for the past two years is finally becoming a trilogy in a sense. For those of you who never read the first two fics, look under "Hush Little Panny" and "I'll Always Love You Mommy". If you don't care to read them, that's fine. You don't need to know much, but those fics will provide some background information. This fic will be slightly different, as it will be much longer than the other two and done in chapters.

Dedication: To all of you who read the other two fics and made this possible. I doubt I would have written more without your encouragement.

Disclaimer: Duh, I don't own DBZ. Right now I only own Shane and Tsukai.

Pan lay on her stomach on the twin-sized bed, bent over her trigonometry homework. Headphones rested atop her raven black hair and the CD player lay on the bed, inside being Mello Paine's latest CD. Her socked foot tapped out a beat on her navy blue comforter.

"If only I had a second chance with you,

I would take it in a simple instant

I'd live my life over again, if only,

If only I could your face again"

"Let's see… if sinθ2+cosθ2=1, then sinθ2+cosθ2 can be changed to 1 (A/N Yes, it's a true statement) so that makes the equation 1/cosθ+sinθ=secθ+1/cscθ and… hmm… what comes next?" Gohan chose that exact moment to pop into Pan's room. "Whatcha doing dear? Homework?"

Pan looked up at him and pressed pause on her CD player, pushing the headphones down off her head. "Yeah… come help me with this trig problem dad. I can't figure out what to do next."

Gohan walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. Pan handed him her notebook. "Hmm… so you're trying to get the equation to equal, am I correct?"

"Yeah. We just started this today. It's just sooo confusing. Mr. Hipkiss said this was the hardest chapter in the book. He ain't kidding either."

"Hmm.. I think I know how to do this. Where are your notes?"

Pan grabbed the notebook back and flipped back a few pages to where her notes were. She pointed with her blue ink pen. "Here's today's notes. Something about trig identities. I didn't understand it."

"Why didn't you ask questions then?"

"Daaad. No one asks questions in class. I'm not gonna look totally geeky. That's just….ewww."

"I believe you should start asking questions. You'll never learn it otherwise."

"I have you."

"That is not the point. I can't always help you. When you go off to college, will you always be calling me? I think not. You've got to either pay attention and ask questions, or find a classmate to tutor you."

"I bet you if mom were here she'd help me. She wouldn't mind."

"Pan… she…" Gohan's eyes got a faraway look in them and then suddenly changed to a fierce look. "You don't know what your mother would have done!" He slapped her across her face and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Pan stared at the door, a tear rolling down her cheek. That had really hurt. She hadn't meant for him to take it that way. He'd been so touchy about the subject lately. He was a totally different man when she was brought up. She knew it was soon to be the 16th anniversary of her death, but there was nothing different about it than the other years. She set her trig work aside. Shane could help her with it tomorrow before the first bell.

Pan rolled over onto her back and lay on her pillows. She pressed play on the CD player and the song continued.

"Your blue crystal tears in my heart

God, it hurts me so damn much

It only seems like just yesterday

When time stood still on that moment"

Gohan clenched his fists as he walked down the hallway. She had to bring her up. And I got angry again. She tries that answer every time. If only mom this and if only mom that. Doesn't she know how much it hurts me? I can't move on so easily after almost 16 years. I just can't and I should have so long ago.

He turned the knob and entered his bedroom. He hated calling it that- his. It used to be ours.. but now it's just mine. Why am I so obsessed with her memory? Videl are you torturing me? You haunt me like I've done something wrong. He rested his head in his hands. Pan must wonder why I'm so bad this year. I only wish Videl could have seen how beautiful and smart her baby girl had become. Sixteen years and this is what she's become. I hope I raised her right. I tried my best, Videl, I really did.

Gohan stared out the window. The sky was a serene blue, with hardly a cloud to be seen. A bird chirruped in the scraggly, yet leafy tree outside. He tugged at his darkish red tie and untied it from around his neck. It felt as though he was releasing built up tension from his neck.

That evening, Gohan tried to make amends with Pan. He made her favorite dinner- chicken and rice vegetable stir-fry. He hoped it would cheer her some. He even set the table so that she wouldn't have to do it. Walking to the stairwell (and clad in an off white apron), he called, "Pan, come on down. Dinner's ready!"

Pan rolled off her bed. She set the CD player on her side table with the headphones hanging off the side and took her time getting down stairs. She wasn't looking forward to facing her father. Dinner smells wafted up the stairs and Pan could tell it was her favorite meal. Great… he's trying to make amends. I wonder what's up with him anyway. She hoped he wasn't going to act all blubbery on her. She couldn't take that. She was only a 16-year-old girl for goodness sakes, not a psychologist!

She walked into the kitchen to the sound of clinking dishes. Her dad was just dishing up dinner as she sat down in a chair, scraping it across the floor as she pulled it to the table. "Pan, how many times have I asked you not to scrap the chairs? It's not good on the floor."

"Sorry, won't do it again."

"That would be what you said last time."

"I'll remember next time. We could always put a heavy rug underneath the table. Aunt Bulma has a nice looking forest green leaf rug she said we could have."

Gohan sat down at the table and considered this, tilting his fork. "Well… the floor does look pretty bare…."

"Awww.. Come on dad. Let's liven up the kitchen some. Bring some life into it. You know how dull it looks."

"Well… okay. You will have to pick it up after school tomorrow though. I'll let Bulma know that you'll be stopping by. Don't stay too long though, and don't go off flirting with Trunks."

"Daad! It's been two years! I was only 14 then. I don't think of Trunks like that anymore. I know what I want in a relationship and it certainly isn't him." Pan made a face as she poured herself a glass of water. (A/N: As you can see, this isn't going to be a T/P fic)

Gohan smiled. "Yes Panny. Whatever you say."

"Dad… That nick is so childish."

Gohan's face changed slightly and he got a faraway look in his eyes. "Pan, it's what your mother always called you. She loved that nickname. But…. If you want me to stop calling you it, then I will."

Pan looked at her dad. She didn't want to make him mad twice in one day. "Nah, it's okay. I don't mind it." She mentally crossed her fingers and hoped it worked as she physically ate her chicken and rice vegetable stir-fry.

Gohan smiled a bit. "Okay Pan. By the way, make sure you keep yourself free next Friday."

Pan didn't have to ask why. Next Friday was the anniversary of her mother's death. "Okay dad. What do you have planned for this year?"

"I was thinking a picnic at the spot by the river. You've always liked going there."

"Okay. You know I never make plans for that day."

The rest of dinner went quietly. Pan finished her meal and put her dishes into the sink. "Good dinner dad. I'm going back up to my room and finishing some work." She sauntered off towards the steps before Gohan could say a thing.

Once in her room, Pan flopped onto her bed. She rolled over and flipped on her small radio to her favorite station. "Annnnd… we're back with another round of today's hottest pop and rock on WZ107! Our next song was a request by an unnamed listener. So whoever you are, here's Rose Falcon's "Best Friend"! The radio cut out from the announcer and into the song.

"The wind is whispering in my ear

The clock is ticking can you hear

The clouds are rolling by"

The first verse was slow and Pan figured that the rest of the song would be. What person would request such a slow song on a rock station? Pan sighed and was about to turn the station, but something made her keep listening.

"How could anybody die

Beneath this periwinkle sky

I was too young to know her then

She would have been my friend

My best friend"

Something stirred in Pan's memory. She couldn't see it nor hear it, but it was there. It was something she'd never really thought about much. But now…. It made her wonder and consider. Her father had only told her what she'd wanted to know before. She knew that a drunken driver had killed her mother on her way to work when Pan was only three months old. Pan also knew that her mother was a human, no matter how strong she was.

"The sun is shining on my face

The world is such a pretty place

Bees and butterflies"

Pan rolled over, trying to think of what else she knew about her mother. She couldn't remember much…. Or maybe she just hadn't been paying attention to her father at times. She knew her dad still kept the last family portrait they had together on his nightstand. It was taken when Pan had turned three months old, about a week and a half before Videl had passed away.

"How could anybody cry

Wish that I could have said

Goodbye

If I could see her again

She would be my friend

My best friend"

Pan frowned. Why hadn't she cared much about her mother until now? It made her seem like a bad child, forgetting the woman that brought her into this world. And this song…. It was stirring something more. A silent tear rolled down her face. She tried to listen even more closely to the song.

"All I have is photographs

Put on her wedding ring

Put in a tape of lullabies

The ones she used to sing

To me

Don't cry

Baby"

At that moment, Gohan walked into her room to ask a question. "Pan, do you know where…. Pan, what's wrong?"

Pan put a finger to her lips and pointed to the radio. Gohan turned his head to it, knowing that she wanted him to listen to the song. He hoped it wasn't a song by Mello Paine. Then again, had a Mello Paine song ever made Pan cry?

"How could anybody die

Beneath this periwinkle sky

I was too young to know her then

She would have been my friend

My best friend"

It suddenly hit Gohan why the song had made Pan teary-eyed. She was remembering her mother, his Videl. He couldn't figure out why it was happening now though. It was just a song, a simple song. Songs never had so much impact on her before now. He moved closer, and sat down on the bed next to her.

"How could anybody cry

Wish that I could have said

Goodbye

If I could see her again

She would be my friend

My best friend"

Gohan rubbed Pan's back gently in small circles. He wished she would have asked him before about her mother. He would have been glad to tell her. Every time he tried to though, she wouldn't listen, or was in a hurry, or was doing something. He wondered what was going through her mind.

Pan couldn't seem to remember any more about her mother. Didn't dad say that I was like her? I can't remember. Maybe that was Grandpa Satan who said that. What did dad tell me about her? She fought crime with him.. was loving…. What else? He proposed to her at that spot by the river…

(Sounds of a young baby or toddler are heard. Then a mother's voice is heard, comforting the child. The last words said are "Bye bye". The song ends on that note.)

"Wow, a beautiful song! I'm Tsukai and we'll…." Pan flipped the radio off and sat up.

"Dad, what was mom like? I mean, what was she really like?"

You are probably wondering about the songs. Mello Paine is not a real band, nor is the song I used. I made both up. Rose Falcon of course owns her own work and that is not mine. Her song was perfect for this fic. I am trying to incorporate songs into this fic as I feel that they help convey emotions the characters can't portray. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. More to come soon! Please review with your feedback ^_^