"I CAN'T!"

His ears nearly burst at the familiar cry, but his heart tore in immediate concern. He'd heard his daughter scream and whine many times by now, but this was different.

His brow creased as he released his hand from the front door to his home, leaving it closed behind him when his work shoes tapped the ground as he strode off to the backyard. Quickly, he mentally scanned the area in search of nearby ki. Videl was in the house, in the kitchen most likely sitting at the table. Probably with coffee, he mentally chuckled. Then in the backyard was his daughter and his father. The noise of his feet drowned out when he reached the grass and he turned a corner cautiously, leaving his hands in his pockets.

When the two came into his view, both in their fighting gis, Gohan leaned against the side of his house to observe. He knew that his father would know that he was there, but so far he hadn't reacted, instead gluing his full attention to his granddaughter.

Pan was standing in front of her grandfather, her small face forlorn. She hadn't cried much her entire life, even as a baby, yet here she was straining to hold herself together. She whipped around, turning her back on Goku, hiding her shame.

Goku had been training Pan in the afternoons for weeks now. Goten had even come along a time or two to meet his brother after work for a spar. So far Pan hadn't seemed to have had any trouble. From what his father had told him, she was a complete natural. What could she possibly be getting so hung up on?

Wait.

Oh.

Today Goku was teaching something much different than what she'd been working on before.

Something harder.

"It's okay, Panny! We can try again tomorrow." Gohan heard his father tell her. She didn't respond, but her ki was tense.

Suddenly, Gohan had an idea.

Taking one deep breath, he emerged from the side of the house and approached his family. Goku's face scrunched in the confusion added to his already befuddled state. Pan cringed when she noticed her father was seeing her like this. She adjusted so her back was to both men.

"What's going on out here guys?" Gohan asked.

Goku's brows fell. He knew Gohan knew exactly what was going on. Why was he asking?

"We've been training pretty hard, but I think we're done for the day," he said, looking to and from the small, shaking girl and his son.

"Done? Already? But I just got here!" he said cheerfully. "I want to train too. Shame Goten's not here. Pan, think you can train with your old dad?"

She didn't answer and the men ignored a small sniffle and the minor quake in her shoulders.

"Pan Son," Gohan said.

Casting her eyes to the grass below, she turned slowly to face her father. Her feet shuffled noisily and she resisted the urge to cover her face with her hands.

"Pan, look at me."

She did.

All three ignored the shining stains on her cheeks.

"What were you learning that upset you so much?"

Her gaze fell like lead.

"Pan," Gohan prodded.

She looked him in the eye and said, "Grandpa was trying to teach me to fly."

"To fly!" Gohan burst the words from his mouth as best as he could, turning to his father. "And you really thought she could do it?"

Pan's eyes shut, her ki rising.

Goku looked at his son like he'd never seen him before. "Of course she can do it!"

"Well, obviously not or we wouldn't be here now would we?"

Goku was speechless.

"Gohan? What's going on?" Videl spoke like she'd just woken up. She had pulled the back sliding door aside and was standing in the opening.

"My father was trying to teach Pan to fly. Can you believe that?" Gohan kept his words light and consciously avoided looking at his pained daughter. She was completely out of control of her tears now and her ki was rising steadily.

"Gohan, what are you saying?" Videl murmured, cautiously coming out to the backyard.

"That she can't do it!" Gohan shouted.

Pan exploded. Her face was hot with tears when she lunged at her father, who faced her expectantly. She fired blow after blow at him moving the two around the yard. Gohan kept to defense, ignoring any openings his instincts spotted in her small frame. She was only a third his size and she was proving her emotions to be a dangerous weapon for anyone willing to face her. Gohan caught her every attack, but let her control the fight.

"Is that all Panny? All you've got?" he taunted.

Her ki doubled and she screamed at her father, barreling into him with everything she had. At some point she lost sense of the surrounding world. Her vision had tunneled into a blurry red version of her father before her. He was only fueling her rage as he toyed with her, yet for whatever reason, he wasn't fighting her back. Why wasn't he fighting back?

She stalled.

And Gohan hit her straight down and into Goku's arms.

She blinked, catching her breath. "Grandpa?" He was beaming at her. Confused, she looked up from where she'd fallen, and there, in the sky, was her father.

She'd fought him in the air.

She'd flown.

In one quick swipe, she wipe her tears across her face and darted into the sky, bulleting for Gohan.

"How'd you know, Daddy?"

"You're the strongest there is Panny. Of course you could fly. You just needed the motivation. Sometimes a person's power is linked to their emotions."

Her face was blotchy and her hair was covered in sweat, but Gohan saw the largest smile he'd ever seen on his daughter's face.

And it was perfect.

"Thank you, Daddy."