Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.

Against my will

"Pan!" my mother yelled, pushing past the others in order to get to me. Wrapping her arms around me with a huge amount of force, she all but picked me off the ground as she embraced me, whispering over and over again that she was so worried.

Nana Chi Chi was even worse. She bowled Yamcha completely over in order to get to me, and I found myself drowning in the hugs and kisses of my female relatives. Thankfully, both Grandpa Ox and Grandpa Hurcule felt content to observe from a distance.

"You look filthy!" Nana said, pulling at my uniform top, which was torn and covered in grime. "Whose blood is this?" she asked, eyeing me worriedly.

"Mine," I replied. "I took a senzu, and Dende healed me too, so I'm okay. But it's my blood."

"You bled this much?" my mother asked, her eyes widening as her voice rose in panic. "I thought you said you'd take care of her!" she yelled, turning to face my father.

"Trunks had her covered," he replied. "And I'm okay, just so you know."

"Trunks had her covered? This isn't a game, Gohan," my mother replied, placing her hands on her hips. "She could have died!"

"I know!" my dad yelled back, clearly at the end of his tether. "I know! And I tried my best to take care of her, okay! But I also had to watch out for the ten guys that I was fighting myself! I knew Pan was fine, for the most part, so don't go crazy at me!"

"I'm not going crazy," she retorted, "I just…"

"Hey!" Bulma yelled, cutting them off. "Now is not the time for domestics, okay? We have to figure out what to do! I want to know what's going on, so will someone please tell me! And where's Tarble? And Krillin?"

At the mention of Tarble I froze, biting my lip, and risking a glance at Gure. She stood a short way off, her face etched with concern, continuously wringing her fingers with worry. My heart broke as I watched her, knowing that her husband was dead.

Dead because of me.

No one spoke, and the silence dragged on uncomfortably. I was sure that the others grasped what this meant, but Bulma shook her head in disbelief.

"No," she whispered, "not Tarble… not Krillin." She looked to Vegeta, pleading to him with her eyes.

"Tarble fought bravely," Vegeta replied, looking directly at Gure. "I'm sorry. His body is still on the battlefield, the Kai did not give me time to retrieve it."

Gure just stood there, staring back at all of us. Eventually, she gave a small nod, and walked slowly away, curling up in a ball under one of the palm trees. Tears formed in my own eyes as I watched her little body shake, and the soft sobs of despair reached my ears. I remembered the promise I had made to Tarble, and with a sigh of anguish, slowly made my way over to Gure.

I sat down, just a foot away from her, but decided to stay quiet. I wanted to comfort her, but at the same time I needed to give her space. In the mean time, I contented myself to picking the flowers in the garden bed where I sat, making daisy chains with the different varieties.

"I've known him all my life," she whispered after a while, sobbing only softly now, "I don't know how to live without him."

I placed a hand on her back, giving her a small rub. "He told me to tell you that he loves you," I whispered back. "He said he always has, and that he always will."

She nodded, taking in a shaky breath. "I know," she said after a moment, and stared out into the blue sky. "I just wish he was still here."

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. After more silence, I decided it was best to leave her to her thoughts, and stood up quietly, three daisy chains wrapped around my wrists- one for each of my fallen friends.

***

When I rejoined the main group Bulma was looking even more worried than before, with her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was holding herself together. "Do you think we're going to die?" she asked Vegeta, tentatively clutching onto one of his bloodied arms.

"Of course not," he replied, but from the look in her eyes, I don't think she was very reassured.

One good thing was that my parents appeared to have made up; they stood off to the side, with one of my father's arms around my mum's waist. I blushed as he bent down to place a short kiss on her lips, and looked away, giving them some privacy.

I don't think I'll ever get used to them being together.

I felt the heat rush to my face even more as I remembered the events of this morning. So much had happened that I had forgotten, but now I remembered Dad standing naked in the bathroom, Mum's heartbeat clear from behind the shower curtain, and my own stupidity for not seeing it sooner.

"Why do you keep blushing Panda?" Trunks asked, snaking his arms around me. "What naughty things are you thinking about?"

I grumbled, turning so that I could bury myself in Trunks' shoulder. He smelt strongly of blood- we all did- but I didn't care. I just wanted him as close to me as possible.

"I saw them in the bathroom," I mumbled quietly, low enough that no one else would hear.

"What?" Trunks asked, pulling back and staring at me, one eyebrow raised in amusement. I rolled my eyes, and whispered to him about the events of my morning.

"What?" he asked a little louder, as I got to the part about my mother hiding in the shower. The others looked at us, and I blushed even more. I caught the eyes of both of my parents, and they glared back at me. 'You better not be talking about us,' their eyes seemed to say.

"They're sleeping together?" Trunks whispered, clearly surprised. "Already?"

"What do you mean already?" I whispered back. "I didn't even know they were together. Did you?"

"Well yeah," Trunks replied, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly at my shocked face. "Gohan told me two weeks ago that they started dating again… didn't you know? I thought it was so obvious."

"No!" I whispered furiously. "It wasn't obvious at all! What do you mean, two weeks? Why didn't you say anything? You're meant to tell me these things, Trunks! Now I look like an idiot!"

"You don't look like an idiot," he replied with a chuckle, "it's their fault for getting it on in your bathroom. I thought you knew, Panda. Honestly, I thought you just didn't want to talk about it. I would have told you, if I knew you didn't know."

"Why would you think I didn't want to talk about it?" I asked, frowning. "I talk to you about everything, why would this be different? I'm a girl! Girls have to talk about things!"

"All right Panda," he said, before silencing me with a kiss. "I'm sorry that I didn't know that you didn't know that your parents were together, okay? Forgive me?"

I giggled, nodding and kissing him eagerly in reply. And for those few moments, everything seemed right in the world.

***

From the time we had arrived on the lookout, Kami had stood still, peering over the edge, his wrinkled hands clutching his staff tightly. I had never seen him before, and watched him now with a sense of understanding sympathy. Like us fighters, Kami, as the guardian of the Earth, quite literally had the world on his shoulders. I imagined he would now be desperately worried, and upset that he couldn't do anything himself.

Suddenly he turned away from the edge, and with a grim determination strolled over to the group. Staring straight at Piccolo, the wrinkled Namek showed a fire in his eyes that seemed to contradict his old, crippled body.

"You know what we have to do," he said to Piccolo, his frown deepening. Piccolo snarled in return, and turned away, shaking his head as if in disbelief.

"What about the dragonballs?" Piccolo asked, looking back at Kami. "Krillin died."

"Krillin has already been wished back by my dragonballs anyway," Kami replied, "it wouldn't work. But the Namek ones are still available, I'm sure our brothers would be happy to help. And Dende can take over from me, he is willing. He can make the Earth dragonballs stronger."

"Oh," Trunks mumbled into my hair, and I looked up at him questioningly. "I told you about this, what happened in the past," he explained, "Piccolo and Kami fused, to become a Super Namek. I think they're going to do it now."

"Wow," I breathed in reply, and turned back to watch the events unfold.

Piccolo appeared to be of two minds. He stomped up and down the lookout, grumbling to himself and baring his fangs at anyone caught staring. In the meantime, I decided I had some questions for the old guardian.

"Excuse me, uh… Kami," I said quietly, dragging Trunks along behind me. "Are you really going to fuse with Piccolo?"

"If he wants to, yes," he replied, turning to me. "I only wish your grandfather was here, he'd sort this mess out."

"Oh, yeah," I mumbled, frowning. Everyone always seemed to be wishing Grandpa Goku was around, and I wondered whether he would really make a difference at all. After all, Trunks, my father, and Vegeta were all Super Saiyans.

"Can't you lay an egg?" I asked suddenly, looking up at Kami. His face grew slack in shock, and he blinked back down at me in disbelief.

"Lay an egg?" he asked. "Why?"

"Bulma told me that Piccolo isn't the original Piccolo. She said that King Piccolo laid an egg just before he blew up, and that egg became Piccolo. I was just wondering, couldn't you lay and egg that could fuse with Piccolo, instead of you having to fuse yourself? And… I mean… does a fusion like this change you?"

Kami paused for a moment before answering taking the time to look me up and down. "You're a very intelligent young woman," he commented, "it's surprising, coming from someone your age."

"Thanks," I mumbled, blushing. "But…"

"No, an egg would take too long," he replied to my questions. "Plus, in order to transfer one's full essence into an egg, one must sacrifice their own life force. You see, when King Piccolo died, it was not from the wound Goku inflicted, but from the fact that he sacrificed his own life force and put it in the egg. It caused him to self destruct."

"Why did King Piccolo do that?" Trunks asked, frowning. "It doesn't make sense."

"Oh, he knew he would die anyway, he had a hole through the stomach. It just would have been a slow, painful death. This one was much quicker. Daimao was evil to the end, and undoubtedly selfish. By laying an egg, though, he thought he could ensure his plans for world domination would continue. You can thank your father for changing that, I never thought I'd see Piccolo overcome the evil in his heart."

"Fine!" Piccolo yelled, turning back to face us, "Fine, you wrinkled, useless, old man! I'll fuse with you, but we're keeping my body, understand?"

"Of course," Kami replied, "Your body is the stronger of the two."

"But Kami…" Mr. Popo began, tears forming in his eyes.

"It has to be done," Kami replied, turning to the genie, "Thank you, for all you've ever done for me, old friend."

"Oh, Kami," Popo sobbed, taking the old Namek's staff.

"It is time," Kami said with an air of finality. "Place your hand on my chest," he continued, speaking to Piccolo, "and we will begin."

I watched with awe as Piccolo did as Kami instructed, and quickly shielded my eyes as the two Namekians suddenly appeared to set on fire, hot blue flames coming from their bodies. They were both screaming, a harrowing sound which chilled me to the core, and I gripped onto Trunks' arm in fear, unable to look away from the freakish sight.

Suddenly Kami seemed to dissolve, his form stretching out until it was nothing but a mass of swirling gas. It enveloped Piccolo, covering him entirely. Then, as sudden as it began, it was over, and Piccolo stood alone.

I let out the breath I had been holding, and took a closer look at the Namek before us. He looked the same as Piccolo had before, but there was something different about him- some slight difference in mannerisms that showed that he had changed. He actually quirked a little smile at me, something that Piccolo would have never done before.

It wasn't only that, I realized, as I sensed his ki. Not only had the general feel of it changed, he had also grown exponentially stronger. Trunks had told me in the past that after the Namekian fusion Piccolo had been as strong as a Super Saiyan; if that were true, he would be a great help against Buu.

Piccolo seemed to be examining the change, stretching out his arms and looking himself over. Finally, he spoke.

"I am the Namek who has long forgotten his name," he said, frowning out towards the sky.

"Well, that's good to know," Bulma said sarcastically, "I'm so glad this thing worked out so well, now you don't even know who you are!"

Piccolo frowned at her, his mouth turning down in the scowl that seemed much more like his usual demeanor. "Just call me Piccolo, okay?" he said angrily, and stomped away to stand on the edge of the lookout. "Stupid human wench," I heard him mutter under his breath, "she doesn't understand the significance of this."

"All right!" Vegeta yelled, making me jump. "I'm sick of this melodrama. The Nameks fused, so let's get on with it. We have to decide what we are going to do next; I doubt it will be long before they figure out where we are hiding, so we can't sit around here like scared little girls."

"Sexist," I mumbled under my breath, causing a harsh glare from Vegeta to be sent my way.

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber," Trunks said, nodding towards the lookout palace. "Only a day passes on the outside, but inside the room you get an entire year of training, under harsh conditions and ten times the Earth's gravity. I used it in the past, and I think it's our best bet now."

Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise, before his face transformed into an angry scowl. "Why didn't you tell me about a room like that earlier, boy? I would have used it a long time ago."

"It's only for emergencies," Trunks explained, "You can only spend two years in there, any more and the room locks you in forever. And it only supplies enough food for two Saiyans at a time, no more."

"Well, if you've used it for two years before boy, that means you can't use it again now, hmm?" Vegeta questioned.

"No, Trunks can use it," Mr. Popo answered. "He used the room in a different universe to this one, so this room will not recognize him. It is perfectly safe."

"Well good!" I said, cutting in. "That means Trunks and I can go in together, and maybe Vegeta and my dad, and then the others, and we'll all be way stronger!" I looked around for confirmation, but all of the fighters didn't seem to agree with my idea. Looking up at Trunks, I was surprised to see him frowning down at me.

"Panda…" he began, hesitating to find the right words, "I…"

"You can't train with Trunks," Piccolo cut in, walking back over to the group, "He goes too easy on you."

I frowned, taking a step back as a knot formed tight in my gut. "What do you mean?" I said, my voice rising in panic. "What do you mean, that I can't train with Trunks? You expect me to spend a whole year in a freakish room on my own?"

"No, not on your own," Piccolo replied coolly, "You will train with your father and I. I don't eat, so I can join two Saiyans in there. Trunks can train with Vegeta."

"No," I replied, shaking my head, "No, I'm not spending a whole year without Trunks. A year! I can't do that!"

"Would you rather we all die?" Vegeta asked, staring coldly at me. "Don't be foolish, girl, a year is nothing. You're no more than a spoilt brat. Either you take the year of training, or you don't fight at all, it's as simple as that. Trunks cannot train you, he's too soft. And you can't go in with him; you'll distract him too much."

"No!" I said, stomping my foot like a child. "Trunks! Tell them! Tell them you want to train with me!" I looked up at him, fearing what his answer would be.

"I'm sorry, Panda," he replied softly, "but they're right. I can't train you. This is serious; the whole world is at stake. It's a bigger issue than just you and me."

"But Trunks!" I cried, tears spilling down my face, "I can't spend a whole year without you!"

"Yes you can," Piccolo replied, grasping both my arms from behind. I screamed, twisting in his grip, trying to knock him off balance so that I could break free. "Gohan!" Piccolo yelled, "Hurry up and help me!"

"Stop it!" I screeched as my father transformed and took hold of my legs. "You can't do this to me! You can't make me train with you! I won't! I refuse! Stop it! Put me down! Trunks! Help me!"

I looked over to Trunks as they dragged me away, to see him staring blankly at us. "Trunks!" I cried again, "Don't let them do this to me! Why won't you help me? I love you!" His gaze met mine at that, the blue eyes piercing through my heart.

"You have to train, Pan," he said, before he turned his back and walked away.

"TRUNKS!" I screamed, but it was too late. The door closed in my face, and I was thrown to the floor.

The next year was going to be hell.

A/N: The whole Namek egg thing is just my interpretation on what happens. Sorry the update took a while; thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I hope you all enjoyed this one. :)

Also, I know Trunks may seem a little mean at the end of this chapter, but he's coming from a fighter's perspective (so please don't hate him!). I'm going to give you all his POV on the matter in two chapters time.