Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lucky Chance ❯ Tears of a Bleak Future: Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: As always, when writing my fanfics, I make sure I give the rights of the characters and bits of the plot to its rightful owner, Akira Toriyama-sama, FUNimation and other companies who help develop DBZ into the great show we watch almost every day.

Warnings: Most of this story is pretty clean, but at certain chapters, I'll warn you if it's a tearjerker or contains violence. Happy reading!

Lucky Chance 1

It was dark and cold. I could remember running with mother beside me, full of fear. She knew that someone was following us. In the world we lived in, we learned to be paranoid of everything. We had never really had a chance to settle down and stay in once place at a time. We were always running. Even when I first learned to walk. We were like…those people…nomadic. I never really got a chance to go to school. By the time we reached any cities, the schools as well as most of the other buildings were destroyed. And to think, only two people did it. People? They didn't deserve that name! They're things, they're monsters! I grew up hating them with all my heart, never knowing whether they had real names or not. Not that I really cared. They were called Jinzou…something like that. Although I never learned how to count, the only numbers that rang through my ears like a bad song were 17 and 18. Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou. I vowed to hate those…things for as long as I live. They had killed my grandfather. He was the world's champion, maybe even the strongest human alive, but he was killed in a matter of seconds. They would have gotten my mother too, but she managed to out-run them and hide. That's why she taught me how to run. Running was all we had. It was my survival.

As I ran through the empty streets and the bleak night, my mother began to slow down.

"Kaasan!" I cried out. She kept running. I knew something was wrong. I quickly scanned the area for somewhere to hide. There was an ally way ahead, so I pulled my mother towards there. We found some dumpsters and hid behind them. I heard the sound of footsteps. My ears were much more better that my mom's. I could hear the monsters. They were very close.

"Damned humans!" the raven-haired boy yelled. I guessed he was Juunana. I let out a yelp when a can was kick close to my feet. Mom covered my mouth.

"We can't let them hear us." Kaasan whispered. I peeked around the corner and saw the two robots. They had their backs to me. I was pulled back behind the dumpster by mom.

"Don't," she ordered. I was scared. What would you expect? I was only six years old at the time. After a few minutes, the androids gave up and left. My mom breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god! Let's go." She said quietly. We got up and headed out of the ally. "We have a long way to go, Panny." I nodded. For about a year before, we had been searching for a building called Capsule. I thought it was hopeless. Most buildings had been destroyed, but kaasan assured me that the people inside would never let it get destroyed. We kept going down the street until we reached the edge of town.

"I guess this isn't the right city either." Mom said sadly.

"Wait!" I cried out. "Over there!" I pointed to a dome-like structure that said a word, but all I recognized was the letter C. Mom looked over and gasped.

"That's it! That's Capsule Corp! We made it!" Mom cheered. We ran over to the entrance. The place looked pretty roughed up. It had cracks, holes in the roof and lots of broken windows. Mom cautiously approached the door and knocked softly. After a few minutes, a middle-aged woman answered the door. She had short blue hair and blue eyes.

"May I help you?" she asked politely.

"Are you Bulma Briefs?" mom asked.

"Yes," the woman relied.

"My name is Videl Satan. I looking for someone named Son Gohan. Do you know him?"

"Yes I do." Bulma replied, getting a little suspicious. "What do you want with him?"

"I'm a…very good friend of his. I haven't seen him in over six years. I was hoping to find him here."

"I'm sorry. He doesn't live here. He lives on Mount Pazou."

"Oh," mom said sadly. "Okay, sorry to have wasted your time. We'll go." She bowed politely. I watched and mimicked her bow. Bulma looked at me with sad eyes. We were about to leave when Bulma called out, "Don't go! I could give you a ride. Mt. Pazou is very far and it's night out." Mom brightened and smiled. She nodded. "Come inside. I'll get you something to eat if you want." Bulma invited. I jumped at the word 'eat'. For some reason, I had a much bigger appetite than my mom. We followed Bulma inside and waited in the front foyer.

"I'll be just a minute with some sandwiches." Bulma said in a sweet voice. I knew immediately that she was a good-hearted and generous woman. She had a sad sparkle in her eyes, though. I wondered why.

"This is my daughter, Pan." Kaasan introduced. Bulma smiled warmly.

"Wow, she looks just like you. How old is she?"

"About six." Kaasan replied.

"Really? You look very young for your age. How old are you?" Mom hesitated.

"18."

"18?!" Bulma gasped. "Sweet Dende! That means you were only 12 when you had her?" Mom nodded. Bulma sighed. "It's so sad to see young girls giving birth." Mom nodded in agreement. They continued to have their discussion and I wondered when I'd get my sandwich. Then, from the corner of my sharp eyes, I saw a young boy creeping around a doorway. His gaze met mine and he disappeared around the door. Out of pure curiosity, I decided to follow him. He was the first boy I had seen in a while and I thought it would be cool if he would be my friend, although he didn't seen to want to stick around. I walked into the next room without my mother seeing and caught a glimpse of the boy's lavender hair. He looked about my age, but there was no way to be sure. He ran down a hall and disappeared around another corner. I grinned, feeling the anticipation of playing tag with this new kid. I followed him to several halls and corridors until I lost him. I found a room with a small bookshelf and a desk. I was about to leave when my ears picked up on something. A soft noise. From behind the bookshelf. Again, my curiosity got the best of me and I examined the bookshelf carefully until I came to a book that was bigger and more pulled out than the others, so I tugged on it and the shelf moved, revealing a small secret hall. I followed it to the end and found a room full of toys, books and other stuff. Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrists. I was taken by surprise. I struggled free and punched the captor in the face, only to be shocked that it was the boy.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he yelled. I blushed deeply.

"I'm so sorry! Gomen!" I pleaded. The boy rubbed his cheek tenderly.

"Who are you and why were you following me?" he asked.

"I'm Pan. I was following you because I wanted to be your friend."

"I don't need friends, let alone girls!" He retorted rudely. "I already got the bestest friend in the whole world named Gohan. Why would I need you?"

"Hey, I can be cool!"

"No you can't. Girls are weak." He sneered.

"Oh yeah, than why is that woman robot able to destroy whole cities?" I demanded. The boy looked shocked.

"That monster isn't a girl!" he finally said.

"It's a thing." I agreed. "She's worse than a pickle spinach sandwich with broccoli!" The boy giggled.

"My name's Trunks." He said. "Sorry I was so rude. I'm not used to guests or girls. Except my mom. We live here."

"I'm Pan. How old are you?" I asked. "I'm six."

"I'm…" Trunks counted his fingers. "Eight!" he said proudly. "So, why are you here?"

"Me and my mom are looking for someone named Gohan. You said you know him?"

"Yep! I've know him my whole life."

"What's he like?"

"Well, he's cool, he's gentle and strong at the same time and his mom can make the best meal you ever taste!"

"Wow, my mom knew him before I was born. He's supposed to be my mom's age."

"Cool. So, I think you're mom and my mom are waiting for you upstairs."

"Upstairs? I didn't even notice we went downstairs."

"I show you the way back. C'mon!" He lead me back to the front foyer where kaasan had a worried look on her face.

"Panny! Where were you, young lady?" she shrieked. "We were waiting here for nearly half an hour!"

"Gomen nasai!" I apologized. "I was playing with Trunks." Mom looked at Trunks and nodded.

"Alright, but I'd appreciate it if you would tell me if you're gonna run off again." We went outside and hopped into the sky car. The trip was about half an hour and I nearly fell asleep. We finally arrived at a small cottage in the mountains, surrounded by trees. I followed Trunks up to the front porch. He eagerly knocked on the door. My mom came up and stood behind me. When the door opened, I saw a middle-aged woman with long, black hair that was tied back in a small bun. She had black eyes and I noticed the same twinkle of pain and sadness that I had seen in Bulma's eyes. She looked friendly and kind. I took an immediate liking to this woman.

"Hello Trunks." she said sweetly. "What brings you here? And you brought guests." She looked at me and kaasan. "My name's Chi-chi." She extended her hand to mom, who took it and shook hands.

"My name's Videl, and this is my daughter Pan." kaasan said. Chi-chi smiled.

"Videl? I think I've heard that name some where. Hmm? Bulma, you're here too? Come in, you guys."

"Konichiwa, Chi-chi." Bulma said. We were taken inside and lead into the living room.

"I was hoping to find Gohan here." kaasan said. Chi-chi eyed her suspiciously.

"Gohan? He's upstairs. I'll go get him." Chi-chi hurried upstairs. I made myself at home and me and Trunks started playing bloody knuckles until Bulma grabbed Trunks' hand and warned him not to play. He smiled sheepishly. Chi-chi finally returned and behind her was a man with dark spiked hair and wore an orange gi with a blue shirt underneath. I quickly assumed he was Gohan. He had a gentle face as well as a well-built body, not that I was looking.

"So what the big news?" he asked Chi-chi. He froze when he saw kaasan and his eyes went huge. "V...Videl? Omigod! You're alive!" Mom stood up and embraced him.

"It's been so long, Gohan-kun." she whispered. I, as well as everyone else, had shocked faces on.

"I must be missing something." Bulma said. Trunks was probably the most shocked of us all. Mom turned around.

"I'm sorry. I haven't fully explained this. Not even to my daughter." mom said. Gohan's eyes went even bigger, if that was even possible.

"D...daughter?" he stuttered. Mom nodded.

"Our daughter." she whispered. The whole room seemed to freeze in shock. Chi-chi broke the silence by fainting. I was confused beyond belief. The man standing in front of me was my tousan? Trunks looked at me, then Gohan, then back at me, then back at Gohan. He blinked and shook his head in confusion.

"Let me explain." mom started. "Back when I was twelve, my father took on the androids and was killed. They were about to kill me too, but I was able to out-run them. I hid in an abandoned shelter, and then I met him. He helped me escape from the androids. We became good friends, until one night, we became something more than friends. One day, during an android strike, we got separated and I got lost in a ruined city. Later, I found out I was pregnant, so I settled down at another shelter with some people until she was born. I taught her how to walk, to run and some of Gohan's fighting techniques that he had shown me. Once she was old enough, about 5 years old, we moved away from the shelter and went on our own. For one year, we've been looking for you. I can't explain it. I just feel so...attached to you, like I couldn't stay away." When she had finished, Chi-chi was wide awake and Gohan had a sad expression on.

"I'm so sorry. If I had just kept looking for you." he said. "I gave up after about two years after you disappeared and I assumed that you had been killed. I got really depressed and nearly let those damned androids kill me. Even though you were gone, I still felt attached to you." He closed his eyes. Mom walked up to him and hugged him. "So, I'm a father? What's her name?"

"Pan." mom murmured.

"Pan, it sounds beautiful." He looked over at me. His gentle eyes met mine. "She looks just like you."

"Hello." I said in my friendly voice. "You're my tousan? Nice to meet you." I bowed respectfully and Gohan chuckled softly.

"She was the only thing that kept me going." kaasan said. "Every time I looked into her little eyes, I saw you, Gohan-kun. It was as if you were in there, encouraging me that I had to keep living."

"Videl, are you going to stay?" he asked, hopeful. Mom nodded. "Great! I want to get to know my daughter. Wow, it sounds weird to me, saying 'my daughter.' It's gonna take some getting used to." He laughed. The others were still a little surprised. Chi-chi finally spoke up.

"I can't believe this. I have a grand-daughter!" she cried. She came up and hugged me. I felt safe and wanted, nothing like I had just two hours ago. I was happy that I wouldn't be moving around anymore. And I had even made my first friend, Trunks. Life was beginning to brighten up, even if the androids were still rampaging outside.