Note: To all those new and upcoming readers, I'd like to write a personalized author's note regarding my story. As you may very well see, the story is incredibly long, intricately detailed, and involves a great deal of character rounding that is only evident if you read every individual chapter.

Due to the sake of it being such an enormous work, one may be tempted to skip or skim ahead several chapters due to sheer impatience. I do NOT recommend such an act. A great deal happens within each chapter, and a LOT of little subliminal and forshadowing messages are included everywhere. It's one thing to speed-read a short story, but this is a novel. And, just as you don't skip ahead 5 chapters in a novel, please show the same respect to this work, if not for me, than for yourself. The story is purposely written the way it is in order to make it flow and to portray convincing character development.

Now with that said, onto the official...

ANNOUNCEMENTS!

(1) This fic is actually rated T, except the second half of the Baby Saga (beginning with Chapter 50) is rated M.

I'll repeat it again. The Baby Saga, and ONLY the Baby Saga, is rated M.

(2) This fic is mostly a comedy, however there are some major cases of drama, so be prepared for some really serious parts, namely the intense fight scenes in the future.

(3) This fiction focuses on Pan growing up, learning to mature, and how an altered course of events could potentially lead to a TP in the far future by slightly modifying and expanding Dragonball GT's storyline.

(4) Almost everything in this story is original. Any similarities or relations to other stories are completely coincidential. And everything is © LauraNeatO.

UPDATE: March 7, 2006: Due to the fact that I'm in graduate school now, updates are not as frequent. As a bit of forewarning, this story is going to be a project spanning over a multitude of years, since I don't have time to update that often. Also check out my site at Deviantart. com. The link is on my main page. I'm currently a lot more active there.

Enjoy X)

Welcome to Goku's Humored, a long and epic rewrite of Dragonball GT. I feel I need to open my story with an official author's note. This story is very long, and it will continue to get even longer. It covers the end of the Black Star Dragonball, Baby, Peacetime, Super Android 17, Second Grand Tour and Shadow Dragon Sagas.

Always note what says "x:NEW:x" in my chapter menu. I sometimes go back and edit previous chapters, and as the story progresses, this will be occurring more and more frequently as I re-write the beginning of this story.

All storyline is completely original, and if there are any similarities to previous works, it is merely coincidence.
All text, dialogue, and situations are © LauraNeatO unless otherwise noted.

If you would like to base your own fiction off my story, email me and/or IM me to ask permission first. You'll find I'm very easy to talk to, and I'm always willing to put aside my work and talk to my readers.

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Official Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dragonball Z/GT characters. I also do not own several dialogues that are directly taken from GT (though I also put disclaimers at the beginnings of the chapters that contain the borrowed material).

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GOKU'S HUMORED: Re-Released

Version 2: Bigger, Longer, and One Heck of a Ride, So Buckle Up

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REMAKE of CHAPTER 1:
After Escaping M2

Several days after their encounter with the Evil Dr. Myuu and his parasite creation Baby, our three heros are once again on the ship bound for another dragonball...

"Hey Trunks, do you think we could stop by a place to eat?" Goku kicked his legs while impatiently squirming in his chair. "I'm so hungry…"

A moment passed, and he wasn't getting a response. He turned his head to look to Trunks, who was busy observing some readings on the computer board. "Hey Trunks?"

"Sorry, could you give me a moment, Goku, I'm a little preoccupied."

Goku leaned back and put his arms behind his head, waiting patiently. He tried to ignore the pangs in his stomach as he began to recite the alphabet in his head and associate names with the letters. That always seemed to work when he wanted to get his mind off food, and it was a challenge enough to distract him for a while.

A… A... Goku scrunched up his nose as he tried to think of a name that started with "A". Ah, Android.. Android 18. B… Bulma… C… Chi Chi… As the list went on, Goku scrunched his nose more as he realized he really didn't know enough names to fill the gaps in some spaces, and by instinct, ended up filling the words with food names, however deconstructive the activity became.

When he got to M, Goku's mind faltered a bit as he thought of the most recent name that he thought started with that letter. Frowning slightly, he turned to look at Trunks and tapped the armrests of his chair patiently, "Hey Trunks?"

Trunks bit the cap off a pen as he filled in some readings. Without looking up, he mumbled, "Hmm?"

"How do you spell Myuu? I know it starts with an M."

"Hmm?" Trunks put the cap back on and eyed Goku with a slightly confused frown. "Myuu?" He raised his right eyebrow, "Why?"

Goku nodded to him and smiled expectantly.

A moment of pause passed between them as Trunks eyed Goku and the boy smiled innocently in return.

Another moment of silence lingered before Trunks cleared his throat, and repeated, in case Goku didn't hear the first time, "Why?"

Goku nodded again and repeated, "Y..."

Another awkward pause passed between them.

Trunks suddenly raised his left eyebrow to match his right as he made a confused face, "Are you trying to be funny or something?"

"Who me?"

Trunks sighed, "Goku, go play with Pan or something. I need to finish these readings so I can map out our projected course." Trunks turned back to his work, "I don't want to talk about that guy."

"Aww, but Trunks, if you don't help me with the name, I don't know what I'm gonna do… I can't spell it, and I'm so hungry…"

Trunks sighed, "What name? Myuu?"

"Yeah, M-y-y..."

Trunks blinked at Goku a moment as the boy's last comments suddenly hit him full force. M-y-y… Trunks cracked a smile and shook his head as he turned back to the computer board, "Goku, you are such a character, you know that?"

Goku blinked and leaned back in his chair for a moment as he began to frown. After a minute, Goku breathed deeply, and began rubbing his stomach. "Oh gosh, Trunks… I'm starving…"

Trunks sighed and put down his pen as he turned his head to face the boy, "Listen, Goku, go ask Pan to make you something. This is really important."

After a slight groan, Goku leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to calculate the parsecs to the next planet," Trunks tapped his pen on the paper he had been working on, "According to these readings, the dragonball is supposedly located in the 495 stellar field, but if that were the case, we'd be passing by a black hole."

The twelve year old scrunched his nose, "Is that a bad thing?"

Trunks looked back to his pen and picked it up as he began to tap it against his wrist, "Yeah, Goku. The last thing I want for us to do is get caught in the orbit of one of those things, so…" Trunks looked up to Goku and then back to the paper, "I have to modify our flight angle in a way so that we don't end up getting lost in space while trying to divert something that has the power to… Goku are you even listening to me?"

Goku smiled and nodded as his eyes glazed over, his mind obviously in some other plane.

Trunks sighed and shook his head, turning back to his notes, realizing Goku had an attention span even less than Goten's sometimes.

Goku blinked and then forced a grin. "Well then!" He swung his feet for a moment, and then hopped to the ground. "You know what Trunks, I think I'll leave you to that then…"

Trunks looked up, "Where are you going?"

"Oh…around…" Goku flicked his wrist as his eyes glinted, "Maybe the kitchen…"

Trunks took his pen and pointed it to Goku menacingly, "You aren't allowed in the kitchen by yourself, you know that, Goku."

"I know, I know…" Goku forced another grin, his eyebrows frowning in desperation, "But I'm so hungry…" Goku looked down, "I don't know if I've ever been this hungry before…"

"Fine." Trunks sighed and shook his head, "Go, then," but as Goku spun around on his heel Trunks called out, "But if you touch that microwave, I'm going to let you have it, got it, Goku?"

"Sure thing!" Goku grinned innocently and sped down the hall.

Trunks sighed with a nervous smirk as he got back to work. He tried his best to prevent himself from imagining the worst. The last thing he needed right now was for Goku to destroy the kitchen. He had nightmares about that sometimes – waking up, to find out all the food was left out and opened, as if a massive typhoon swept the inside of the ship and rained leftovers everywhere.

He heard a slight knock to the open cabin door, and looked up again to see Pan enter the cockpit and sit down in her seat to the left of him. He tried to hold in a growl as he forced his mind to stay on his assignment. If there was any nightmare that kept him tossing and turning at night, even more so than Goku's massive appetite, it was the girl sitting next to him, who so innocently smiled to get his attention.

It wasn't going to work. He had better things to do right now than entertain her because she was bored. He scribbled some more notes and tried to think of happier thoughts.

"So…" Trunks heard Pan shift in her seat, and could feel her eyes on him as he tried to shut her out from his mind, "What'ya workin' on?"

Trunks sighed and stopped his pen as he tried to keep his eyebrow from twitching.

"Was it just me, or did I see Grandpa go into the kitchen?"

It really was more a statement than a question, an obvious trigger for a conversation if Trunks didn't already know about Goku's endeavor.

There was an awkward pause as Trunks glared at his pen, trying to think of home, and how he'd much rather have to endure a day of training than sit next to Pan and have to deal with her right now.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Trunks looked to her and said as flatly as he could manage, "Yes."

Pan sighed and knocked her knees together as she looked down at her hands, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Pan." Trunks growled and let out a frustrated huff, "You almost got us killed back there."

"I said I'm sorry! What more can I do?"

Trunks looked to her a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He could feel his right hand squeeze the pen as he observed her face, and tried to hold onto the anger he had been feeling, but the longer he looked at her, the more he felt his anguish drain, to his dismay.

She had been having that effect on him lately. Before, when she first came on the trip, it was easier to hold a grudge against the girl because she never wanted forgiveness. It had been almost above her, to accept the fact that she had done something wrong. But as she started to realize some of the follies she got Trunks and Goku into, it was as if a new word had entered her vernacular, and suddenly, it was harder to maintain spite against her.

Perhaps that wasn't the only reason he had been tolerating her more lately, but he couldn't place a finger on it, and he really didn't want to at this point. The fact of the matter was that he was adapting to her, finally, after almost eight and a half months of the trip, and it took two deserts, a wedding dress, a giant man, a giant doll, the Para brothers, and Dr. Myuu for her to grow on him.

Trunks realized he had been staring at her while his mind had wandered, and shook his head to somewhat reset his gaze. He looked to his right hand and then back to her and then sighed dejectedly as he felt his head slowly shake again, "It's alright, Pan."

Pan's face brightened a bit as she leaned forward, "So I don't owe you any favors?"

Trunks grunted and forced a smirk, "Just don't beg us to go to any more planets like M2, and I'll be fine."

There was a moment of peace and quiet that passed between them as they both looked up to the stars through the round windshield.

Trunks felt a hand suddenly touch his arm, and he looked down in more surprise than shock. It was unusual for Pan to touch him, and he felt a slight wave of uneasiness pass through him as he instinctively wanted to draw his arm away. He never let anyone touch him. She'd better have a good reason.

"I just wanted to let you know…" Pan looked to him with a slight smile, "That… well…" Her hand shook his arm confidently for a moment before she brought it back, "That it was also your fault, and that you owe me an apology too."

Trunks blinked as all amiable feelings were suddenly sucked from his mood, "Excuse me! Me? Owe you an apology?"

Pan frowned and knotted her eyebrows, "What did you think you were pulling, trying to fake that you were in that carbonite block!"

Trunks's eyes widened as he bared his fangs, "I was trying to discover Mr. Myuu's plans! I was working undercover, Pan. And what did you do?"

"I was trying to rescue you!" Pan stood up and crossed her arms, "And it was all for nothing, because you were faking being captured the whole time!"

"And suddenly it's a bad thing?" Trunks glared, "Would you rather I had been captured? Would you rather have had me splinter into a thousand pieces like that?"

"You! You..!" Pan suddenly slumped back into her chair as she began to sniffle, "No…"

"Oh no…" Trunks frowned as he leaned toward her in his chair, "Don't cry, Pan. I didn't mean to upset you like that."

"You… -sniff- you…" Pan tried to control her breathing as she looked down to her knees, "You could have died…"

Trunks sighed and hung his head, "Pan! Why do you think I'm so angry with you?"

"You're… you're still angry…?"

"No! I mean, yes, I mean, I was…" Trunks sighed again and slumped his shoulders, "Pan…"

A sudden crash reverberated through the whole ship. The sound of plates clashing in the kitchen caused Trunks to jerk his head around to the sound.

"Oh no! GOKU!" Trunks stood up and marched toward the door, "I knew he was going to do something like this."

"Trunks, you don't even know what he did."

"Oh I know." Trunks rolled up his sleeve and shook his head in disappointment, "Trust me, I know what he did." He began to march out of the cockpit.

Pan sat up and twisted to frown, "Trunks, go easy on him!"

Trunks snorted and walked out to the hallway, hearing Pan get up to try to follow him before his steps echoed in the corridor. When he reached the kitchen, he stopped and took a deep breath, to prepare himself for the sight.

As he opened the door, he could feel a desperate groan leave him as his eyes took in the kitchen table. The thing was covered in globs of something, and he didn't even want to know what it was.

"Oh noooooooo…" Trunks looked to the counter to see an equally large portion of the green glob. He hung his head and put his hand to his forehead, "Goku, what the hell have you been doing in here!"

Goku turned around, wearing a green apron and a top hat. "Trunks! You're just in time to taste it!"

"Taste it!" Trunks' eyes widened, "Taste what?"

"It's good!" Goku wandered over to him with a tray of the green globs, "I made it with all natural veggies... I have celery… and I have green beans and um… spinach… and… semolina… and…"

Trunks' face turned purple as Goku started naming out the lists of greens he decided to put in the masterpiece.

"Goku…" Trunks tried to cut him off by waving his right hand, hoping his stomach wouldn't reel from the list of ingredients Goku named, "Were you seriously going to eat this!"

"Oh no!" Goku shook his head, "I already ate. This was for you."

"Oh god…" Trunks's eyes widened as his stomach threatened to gag.

"Here, try some." Goku held out the tray to Trunks, "I call it the Myuu Too."

Trunks backed away, "Goku… I'm not hungry…"

"Try some!" Goku took a few steps closer.

"I'm really not hungry…" Trunks backed up against the wall.

"Try it!"

"I'm rea-MMmmrm!" Trunks' eyes shot as wide as they could get as Goku shot up and stuffed a spoon into his mouth.

Trunks could feel his eyes welling up with tears as he forced it down his throat, for humility's sake. He tried to think of happier places, even sitting in the cockpit with Pan…

For a moment, the world threatened to turn black on him as he tried to stabilize himself against the wall. He could feel himself choke out in a desperate voice, "I'm dying… I'm dying!"

"Oh stop acting like such a primadonna!" Pan put her hands on her hips and grinned at Trunks.

"Pan…" Trunks clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he tried to disregard the taste, "Pan… you didn't have to swallow that…"

"There's more from where that came from!" Goku dug the spoon into more of the green glob.

"NO!" Trunks pushed him away, "Goku, you need to clean up this kitchen right now."

"But you're not finished ye–"

"–I tried your invention. Now clean up," Trunks stomped his foot, "NOW, Goku."

"Aww, but Trunks…"

Trunks put a finger up to point at Goku, "And you are never allowed to invent food again. Got it?"

"But, you liked what I invented last time."

Trunks closed his eyes and felt his temple throb. "Goku, that was a cheeseburger. You invented the pickles that went on it."

Pan snorted from laughter in the corner.

Trunks spun on a dime and pointed to her, "I'm not talking to you! Unless you'd like to help him clean up?"

Pan coughed a bit and looked away, suddenly stricken with a serious face.

Trunks looked between the two of them for a moment, feeling a surge of anger suddenly kindle into a raging fire inside him. And, the more he looked at Goku and Pan, the more he realized he needed a break from it all.

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After the incident in the kitchen, Trunks had turned and left, leaving Pan and Goku to sort out the mess among themselves. He had more important matters to attend to. If they wanted to get to the next dragonball safely, he had to finish up several important calculations, or else it wouldn't be just their lives at stake.

Sometimes Goku and Pan tended to forget the gravity of the situation, how important the mission was. Often times, they treated it like a playground, playing hide and seek or one of their video games while Trunks was left to do all the work. It figured, though, having to travel with two kids. He just wished they'd take their trip a little more seriously sometimes. That excluded tourist trips to hostile planets like M2, and stopping off at every other planet to grab Goku a new exotic meal; but sometimes it was necessary, to keep him from pulling stunts like the one he just did with that green glob.

Trunks sat forward in his chair as he felt his stomach wrench again. He tried not to picture the substance, and even more so to forget how revolting it tasted…

Determined to keep his mind on more productive tasks, Trunks turned back to the control panel and started punching in coordinates. Looking intently at the computer screen, he frowned slightly and leaned back in his chair as he brought his pen to his mouth, chewing its cap thoughtfully.

A sharp movement on the dashboard caught his eye as he was working out some numbers in his head. "-giru giru-!"

Trunks looked up to see Giru chewing one of the wrenches he had brought in earlier when fixing a loose bolt in the main computer. His first reaction was to stare a moment in slight shock, but then a wave of exasperation filled him as he cried out loud, "Oh no!" Trunks leaned forward and grabbed the handle of the wrench, "Give that back, Giru, we need that!"

"-giru!" The robot grabbed the remainder of the utensil and began to tug it his way.

"Give that back!" Trunks tugged harder, "I'll find you something healthier for you. Just don't eat that. We only have two of those!"

"-giru giru-!"

"AUGH!" Trunks yanked at the utensil and cursed everyone and everything on the ship. Nothing was going his way today, nor had it ever. And he was beginning to get seriously fed up with it all. It was hard to imagine… three and a half more months, he'd have to endure this cruel and unusual punishment.

It was times like these he truly did wish that Goten came along instead of Pan. Even if things were looking bleak and everything were going wrong, Goten always managed to alleviated the situation even for a small while – long enough for Trunks to move on to other things and not have to worry about everything going wrong on the trip. But Pan…

Trunks yanked the wrench free with a mighty tug that sent him sprawling back in the chair. "Aha!" Trunks lifted the tool triumphantly with a growing smirk, "I won!"

"-giruuuu…."

"Giru, why don't you find Goku and Pan?" Trunks laid the wrench on his lap and leaned forward to look at his mathematical calculations again, cursing himself for losing his track of thought.

The robot bleeped slightly and then quickly flew out of the room in search for more entertaining things to do.

Trunks smiled then, realizing he was finally alone. Sitting alone and thinking was his favorite thing to do these days. It was good to be able to escape the ship for a bit and daydream of his friends and family back home…. And the merger with Bocks Co… and the marketing campaign of Prime Inc… and the efforts to go public with the company.

There really was a lot to think about. But he mostly thought of his mother back home, wondering how she was handling the company in his absence. The paperwork would have to be re-filed and reorganized when he returned, and…

He was thinking about his job again. It tended be a bad habit of his, having his mind constantly wander back to the office. It was hard not to, considering he practically slaved there every day without breaks. Sometimes, he just had to schedule his own free time, to the dismay of the secretary. But a trip like this… To space, with two attention-deficient children, was not his idea of a vacation.

Trunks looked down a coughed twice before laying down his pen.

"Goten…" Trunks muttered under his breath as his right hand began to drum the control panel. "If only you had come instead…"

Sighing deeply, Trunks picked up the pen again and bit off the cap, chewing it as he took the integrals of several formulas depicting the angle of their route if they decided to circumvent the imminent black hole.

If anything, having Goten along would have definitely spiced up the menu on the ship. No more green globs, no more boots in the stew…

Trunks sighed again and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to relieve the sudden wave of stress that threatened to swarm over him.

Just three and a half more months…

And as long as they stayed out of sticky situations, Trunks would make sure they would stick to a smooth ride. That was, as long as Pan didn't get involved in his agenda. The last thing they needed was for her to volunteer to 'play hero' again.

He was really getting sick of that.

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–Updated: 4/19/05–

Note: I have rewritten Chapters 1 - 3. The new version is the immedate chapter presented, and if you scroll down, you can access the originals, in case you would like to read how I originally began this story back on September 18th, 2004.

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ORIGINAL:

CHAPTER 1

Goku kicked his legs while impatiently squirming in his chair. "Hey guys, do you think we could stop by a place to eat? I'm hungry." He looked over to Trunks, who was observing some readings on the computer board.

"I don't know, Goku. It might be a while. It says here that we won't be reaching the nearest inhabitable planet for 3 days, but I'm sure Pan can try to make something less bland tonight. Maybe we can both put a request in." Trunks grinned over at Goku, who sighed in discontentment.

"Are you absolutely sure, Trunks? No place at all? Man, I'm so hungry… I don't know if I've ever been THIS hungry before…"

Trunks shook his head, with a small smirk on his face as he continued to read the computer data. Goku will never change, he thought to himself as he started pressing a few buttons to figure out coordinates.

Just then, both Goku and Trunks heard a clanging from the kitchen area of the ship. Immediately concerned, the two jumped up in surprise, and Goku was first to the kitchen door to check on his granddaughter, just in time to see Giru hide under the table from the commotion. "I'm okay!" Trunks heard Pan cry out, "It's just some silverware. Honestly, Grandpa, you don't have to jump every time you hear noises in the kitchen. I don't know how Grandma Chi Chi ever put up with you and your appetite."

Goku's stomach growled at the thought of food. "Hey Pan, you don't think you could cook something tonight, could you? I mean… even a sandwich would be nice right about now."

Pan grimaced at Goku and pointed a spoon at him that she just picked up. "No way, it's Trunks' turn to cook tonight! I cooked last night AND the night before because you two were lazy."

"Giru, Giru!" Suddenly, the small white robot emerged from under the table, appearing excited.

"I know! I think GIRU can cook tonight!" Pan looked quite pleased and grabbed the robot out of the air. "Have you ever cooked before, Giru? I can teach you, you know!"

"Giru! Giru cook? Giru Giru, Giru not a cook, Giru!"

"Oh come ON, it'll be fun! I'll make a cooking exception for you. We can cook together!" Giru began bleeping rapidly as it tried to wiggle out from her grasp. Her grip remained firm, however, and she smiled over at Trunks and Goku who were watching this from the door.

"Well okay Pan, just hurry up. I'm STARVING," Goku rubbed his stomach, anticipating a hearty meal to fill him up.

"Hey Pan, may I see Giru for a minute?" Trunks passed Goku and walked into the kitchen area to look at the robot which was still bleeping quietly. As Pan handed Giru over to Trunks, he slid the back of the robot to the side to look at the Dragon Radar. "Wow, just as I suspected. But I don't know how it's possible. That bleeping is actually a dragonball that's a day away." He stopped a moment to think. "But, the only planet within that range has too much chlorine gas on it to sustain life. I have to check this out. It might be a problem getting this one." Trunks walked out of the room, holding a confused robot in his hands, and leaving a questionable look on both Pan's and Goku's faces.

"Does this mean I won't get dinner anytime soon?" Goku frowned a little.

"Grandpa! Honestly, is that ALL you think about! FINE, I'll make you something, but you OWE ME." Pan opened the refrigerator and started uncapsuling some cold food storage boxes while Goku sat down and watched her, cupping his face in his hands as his elbows leaned on the table.

"Pan, you know, I don't think we've ever really talked to each other privately since we set out on our trip." Goku pondered this, rolling his eyes to the side, thinking how long it had been since they ever were that close at all. "You know, I don't think we've ever really sat down and talked."

Pan began to look very irritated and didn't even look at Goku when she turned red while violently cutting the onions. "Grandpa, now is NOT the time to talk about things like that. Right now I'm trying to cook for you AGAIN, and you're sitting there trying to catch up on lost time."

"I know, but Pan, I just feel like I've missed out on your life, and we don't ever get alone time because Trunks is always with us, and, well-"

"Is there something you have to say that Trunks can't hear?" Pan stopped and turned around to face Goku, with her hands on her hips.

"Well, no. I just wanted to know what memories you may have of me from before I went off to train Ubuu. I mean, you were really young at the time, and I'm not sure if you remember much of me. As it is, I didn't even recognize YOU when those men were robbing that bank, and I feel like you and I don't know each other, and I'd like to gain something from this trip."

"Well, first of all, the memories I have of my Grandpa involved a man that was OLDER than me. I only really have a few that stand out, but why bring that up now?" Pan's anger subsided and bewilderment replaced her features.

Goku patted to the chair next to him at the table. Although his stomach growled again, he pushed the thought of food aside - he'd get to eat later - and replaced it with concern for his granddaughter. She was fourteen going on fifteen in a few months, and she barely knew him. What made him feel worse was that he, in return, barely knew her, and wanted to remedy that, at least a little.

As she sat down, frowning in confusion, she started to open her mouth to speak, but Goku put up a hand to silence her. "I just want to say that you've grown up so fast, I am sorry that I missed out on so much of your life, but I hope to be around a long time from now on, and make up for lost time. You've really become beautiful, just like your mother, and from the first moment I saw you again, I could see your Grandma Chi Chi all over your actions. You've become strong both mentally and physically, and I want to say that I'm really proud of you, Pan."

She flushed a little, blinking, and looked away shyly. "Grandpa…"

"No, wait, I'm not done. I am really glad that you came with us, Pan, because I see how you are, how you act when your walls are down. And, I feel that you'll be able to walk away from this year and maybe have some good memories of me."

"Grandpa, I do have good memories… like the time we went to the beach together… all of us… remember that? And… and I remember the Budokai tournament that you took me to, and we both ate ice cream…"

"Pan, those are memories of things we've gone. But you've never actually known me."

"Papa talks about you all the time, Grandpa, and things you've done. I've heard plenty of stories about you. I just, I feel a little embarassed right now. Can we talk about this later? Your food will be ready in a bit…"

"Oh sure, Pan. Go ahead, and trust me, I'm not purposely trying to keep you away from making my meal. I just thought we could talk."

"Oh Grandpa, you're so funny. We can always talk! We've been on this spaceship for nine months now and I think I've done a great deal of talking! And not to mention, I've had the best company."

"You know, Pan, speaking of company… although Trunks doesn't say it, he's glad you came on the trip as well. I think he really appreciated being able to befriend you. And it's always nice to have a girl around. It balances out the company a bit."

Pan got back to chopping her onions, and then stopped. She turned around a bit, with a distant look on her face as she faced Goku. He raised his eyebrow a bit and waved his hand to get her attention. "Pan? You okay?" At this, she refocused herself, looked at him, then turned and began to cut the onions again.

"Grandpa, you said you wanted me to get to know more about you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, um… You know, I've been wondering a long time, but I keep forgetting to ask Bulma this. How did you and Bulma meet? I mean, the fact that Trunks is here, and we're on a Capsule Corp. ship, traveling the universe together. I just, I guess I'm wondering where and how it all began."

Goku laughed a bit at this. "Your dad never told you? Oh wow, it's such a great story. It's the story of how Bulma and I met, and that's how we met Chi Chi and Yamchua and …"

The kitchen door opened and Trunks walked in while Goku was in mid-story, explaining the adventures of his childhood. After several steps, he stopped and slapped his right hand to his forehead. "Oh no! Are you telling the story of how you and my mom met?" Trunks groaned at Goku.

"Yes I am, Trunks! Believe it or not, Pan doesn't know it."

"Oh wow, Pan, you don't even WANT to know how many times I've heard this. My mother has told me that story so many times, I don't think I could handle hearing it again. It was her favorite bed time story when I was little, and then I had to endure it all over again when Bra was born."

"It's okay, Trunks, you don't have to listen. But if you do, I'll try to keep it short."

"Actually, can I just say one thing before I go, then? If you don't mind, Goku… I don't want to interrupt such an epic story, but I think this is important."

"Sure, Trunks. What's going on? Oh yeah, the food should be ready in a little bit, if you want to sit down and talk with us… my story can wait."

Pan took out a pot and put it on the stove, leaning to make sure she set the temperature on high, and rummaged through some vegetables to find some tomatoes. Trunks took the invitation to sit across from Goku at the table. "Well, I looked at the readings again for the dragonball's location, and I concluded something very interesting. It appears that the number 5 dragonball is on a large moon, and the moon is large enough to sustain life, from what I can tell. However, that's all I can figure out. If there is civilization, it most likely is primitive. I guess we'll see when we get there. But Goku, I think your restaurant will have to be put on hold. Sorry." Trunks smiled a bit at the twelve year old before him. It was really hard to imagine that same child to be the same hero he'd known all his life. "Goku, I don't think I'll ever get used to you being so young again. I mean, you're old enough to be my father, but you look young enough to be my kid."

"Yeah, wouldn't Vegeta love to picture that one!" Pan grinned over at the two who burst out laughing at the table. After they calmed down, Goku and Trunks sat in silence, watching Pan labor over the stove for a while.

After several minutes, Goku leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "You know, you two would make a really cute couple one day. And I don't think Vegeta would really mind that. So I mean… the idea of having a grandkid that's related to me…"

Both Trunks and Pan stopped and gave Goku a disgusted look. "You can't be serious!" Trunks blinked at Goku. "Don't go getting any false ideas. Where did that come from?" Trunks turned red and looked over at Pan, who was too embarassed to look back at him. Trunks looked over at a smiling Goku and relaxed, "Oh, I get it! That was a joke!" and began to laugh away the sudden anxiety that washed over him. Pan, however, was not smiling.

"Grandpa, that wasn't even funny! That was mean and embarassing and that came out of nowhere."

Another few minutes of uncomfortable silence lay between them. Goku seemed fine, but Trunks and Pan were mentally fumbling over what they could say to change the subject without sounding awkward. Trunks blushed a bit as he fumbled around his pockets for something. He took out a sheet of paper from his right pocket and unfolded it for Goku to see. "I guess, uh, getting to what we were talking about before," he coughed to himself, "I calculated the time it would take to get to the moon and we'll be there within 20 hours, so I suggest we get some sleep soon, as in right after dinner. I want to have been awake for a bit by the time we land, and I know how Pan likes to sleep in."

Pan stuck her tongue out at Trunks, and threw the tomatoes, onions, and other chopped ingredients, into the boiling pot. Hearing the water start to boil louder, Trunks raised his eyebrow a bit. "Pan, um… what exactly are you cooking?"

"Stew."

"Ohhh, that sounds delicious!" Goku clapped happily.

"What kind of stew?"

"I don't know. Hey GIRU! What kind of Stew should I make?" Pan called out to the other room, hoping the robot would hear.

Trunks' mouth fell wide open. "What! Are you telling me you're just throwing things into a pot and expecting them to come out tasting like a gourmet meal!"

Pan backed away from the stove. "Well, if you are going to be picky, why don't YOU make dinner tonight, Trunks, since tonight IS YOUR TURN!"

"No… no, that's okay. 'Stew' sounds great right about now." Trunks tried to mimic an innocent Goku grin, which Pan found absolutely hilarious and started laughing about.

Goku, however, didn't see it, and looked up to ask, "What's so funny?"

At that point, the door suddenly burst open, revealing a frantic robot. "Danger! Danger! Pan is cooking dinner!"

In a split second, both Trunks and Goku were laughing, while Pan stood there. "What's so funny!"

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–9/18/04–