The Past and Present

The Past and Present

''AN: Hello, I haven’t written anything here in years. But even though I really don’t have a passion for DBZ anymore, I still really love my old OC, Future Panisa. She’s honestly the only OC I care about anymore. And I’ve always had a lot of ideas for her, even after I left the DBZ fandom. Ever since the Future Arc in DBS, I’ve been wondering how she might fit into the story, so I decided to do a short drabble of her and her present day self. Now take note that I don’t know much about the Future arc, or Zamasu or whatever. This is just based off what I know and whatnot. Enjoy! Also, I might just add some more stuff about Panisa here, who knows!''

Panisa stood alone, staring blankly at the vast lively city before her. All her life, she lived in a world where this beautiful city was nothing but a pile of rubble and scattered with small groups of survivors. In fact, the entire world around her seemed like a massive pile of ruins and despair. It had been that way for years, until finally she and her brother finally saved it. It had been quite some time since then, and just when things were looking ok, another evil found its way into their lives and ruined everything. Threw a chaotic series of events, she and her brother were able to go back in time to get help, but at a terrible and dear price. ..

She had been awake for awhile, but her brother was still lying in bed recovering. She decided to wait for him to recover before they told everyone else’s about what the hell was going on in her world. Until then, she wanted to be alone. She stood in an empty guest room staring at the outside world, pondering over what to do next. God, what should they possibly do now? Everything just happened so suddenly, it was impossible to think straight. Her body was still shaking in fear and tense, as though something terrible would happen any second now. Her guard was up like an animal on the hunt.

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Panisa jumped and almost got ready to attack, until she remembered where she was. In the past, safe for now.

"Um, can I come in?" a nervous girl asked. Panisa quickly recognized the voice as her own, but much younger. She stood completely still for a moment, a little shaken from hearing her own voice, though eventually she finally managed to speak.

"Sure, door's unlocked."

The door slowly opened, and there stood a complete copy of Panisa, except much younger. This little Panisa had the same eyes, face, even the same hairstyle as the older one. She even had the same timid expression. It was like looking in a little mirror, and it was completely mind boggling. The two girls stood staring at each other for a bit, unable to really say anything to the other. Never in her life did the older Panisa think she'd get to meet her younger self, nor did she really wish to. She knew if she met the Panisa that lived a happy, destruction free life, she'd only become jealous and bitter of the other's good fortune. After all, the only reason this little Panisa was happy was because of all the hell the older one had to endure for it. Living everyday in fear, losing her teacher because of her stupidity, having to put up with her father's cruelty and apathy, living in an endless white void for a year, watching her older brother die in front of her; this little girl would never truly understand any of it. It absolutely enraged Panisa every single time she thought about it. It was a very deep hurt that she never even told her mother or brother about.

Standing here now after everything that had happened and seeing the girl for the first time, however, all the anger she expected to feel died away, and was replaced with confusion and a little regret. Instead of seeing a spoiled overly happy little child, like she expected, instead she saw a scared, confused, but caring onel. In this girl's face, she saw the face of someone who wanted desperately to help others, even if she didn't know how. It was a face the older one made all the time.

How shallow I was, the older Panisa thought, to be envious of a little girl like this!

"Hi there. . ." The older Panisa finally said, smiling at the younger one.

"Hi. . ." the little one was just as nervous as she looked. Again, awkward silence.

"It's very bizarre, isn't it? Seeing your older self." the older girl let out a small chuckle. "It's pretty weird seeing myself as a kid, as well."

"Yeah, it's really weird. . ."

"So uh. . ." Panisa was already bad at talking to normal people; talking to her younger self was like trying to give a speech in front of thousands of onlookers.

"Is it ok if I call you Panny?" the little girl suddenly asked.

"Huh, why?"

The little one shrugged. "I don't know, just to make it easier to talk maybe?"

". . I guess?"

"Plus it might help everyone from getting confused. It would be weird if everyone was calling us the same thing, y'know?"

"Hm, good point. Ok then I'll just call you 'little me!"

'Little Panisa's' face quickly went from nervous to annoyed. "No you won't! Just cuz I'm younger than you doesn't mean I'm a kid! I'm ten and exactly 4'4, you know!"

"Thanks for proving my point, little me."

"You're just as annoying as my brother!" She stomped her foot angrily.

"Panny" laughed out loud, quite heartily in fact. Despite the terrible things that had happened in the past few hours, somehow this little girl found a way to make Panny laugh and forget about her troubles, even if more a single moment.

"Oh, relax! Why don't I call you just 'young Panisa'? Would that work?"

The little girl pouted, looking out the window instead. “Fiiiine.”

Panny smiled. "So, young Panisa, tell me about yourself. What do you like to do for fun?”

“Well, I like spending time with my family and my friends. Sometimes when my parents hang out with all their friends, I come along with them. All of them are super strong, y’know. And sometimes when they hang out, they having sparring matches, but I don’t like watching them. It’s too scary for me.” She smiled brightly. “I really like anime too!”

Panny chuckled at the girl’s spirit. “Anime huh? I know a few kids who like that too. It’s pretty hard to watch it where I’m from, though. They like the comic book form of it; what’s it called again, mango?”

“No, it’s called manga.” Something about that mango comment seemed to touch a nerve in the younger girl.

“Right, of course! I knew that!” Of course she didn’t. “Anyway, what do you think of your family? Do you have fun with them? Is your dad nice to you?”

"Hmm. . .well, my mom is super nice to me, but she can be kinda sassy. And my dad is cool, but all he does all day is train all by himself. Sometimes he's gone for months at a time! And my older brother is just sooo annoying!" The younger girl’s voice rose a bit. "He likes to boss me around all the time, cuz he says that since he's older, he's the boss of me. But he's only a few minutes older! I hate him sometimes! And sometimes he and his stupid friend gang up on me and make me train with them, even though I TOLD him over and over I hate fighting! But one time I got so mad at him I punched him in the face and gave him a bloody nose! Mom got super mad, but dad seemed really proud of me."

Panny snorted. Even if they grew up in two very different worlds, this little one had the same spunk the older Panisa once had. "Yeah, I can remember a few times my brother would boss me around when they were little as well. Even if the world was a mess, there were plenty of times we'd fight like normal kids would. Every time ended with both of us crying. We were upset we hurt each other, y’know? But we wouldn’t fight over toys or games, we’d fight over more serious thing. And of course, mom would scold us and. . ."

The word "mom" hit Panisa like an arrow to the heart. She went completely silent as she remembered her beloved mother’s final wish to her children, to live on and save their world. And just like that, everything she had worked so hard for died with her in that massive explosion. Like a movie on an endless repeat, all her worst memories began playing one after another. Her mother’s death inside that exploded building, Mai’s sacrifice, her brother covered in blood lying lifelessly with a gaping hole in his chest, training for a dreadfully long year in an endless white void, her beloved teacher Tamera’s death, the first time she ever saw a child’s dead body, the day the Androids came closest to killing her, the cold smile Cell have her after he viciously killed her brother, her horrible breakdown and painful recovery after her brother died for her-

“Panny, are you ok?” Young Panisa asked, grabbing her hand tightly. Panny snapped out of her traumatic trance and looked down at the small girl. The spunk from earlier had died, and now down poor thing looked horribly worried. The older girl sighed softly.

“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about it.” She looked out at the bustling city outside. Even from all the way up there she could see the happy smiles on people’s faces, like they had no idea of the monster crawling earlier closer to them. “I’m just. . .thinking about some things I shouldn’t be thinking of. If my brother were here, he’d give me a big long lecture about how all that stuff is in the past, how I can’t change it, and how I should be looking towards the future, and whatever.”

“Oh. . .” Young Panisa looked down at the floor. “Hey, Panny. . .can I ask what’s your world like?”

It took a minute for her to find the right words. “It’s hell. There’s always something horrible happening where I’m from. First it was the Androids who nearly wiped out our entire civilization, now it’s this copy cat monster. My family and I have been fighting so hard to give people hope and a good future, but for what? Just when we think everything’s ok, just when things were starting to get better, this has to happen. . .” She looked down sadly, holding her face in her hand. “I’ve never been able to save anything or anyone, I’m such a damn failure. .”

The room was absolutely silent for a while, as both Panisas had absolutely no idea what to say to the other. One was too deep in her own pain to think of anything else, and the other too scared to say anything.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, you two are the reason why everyone’s ok in this world” the little girl whispered, still holding the older one’s hand. “I mean, think about what a mess this world would have been if you and your brother never showed up. I’d never get to know my dad or any of his friends, or get to go shopping with my mom, or get to fight with my brother everyday. You two saved us, and I’m real happy you did.”

Panny was still quiet.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? I-I can go if you want.”

“No, no, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t even be telling you about all this scary stuff. You’re too young to know about all of this. . .”

“It’s ok. Y’know, my friend Tamera always talk about you and your brother. How the both of you risked so much to give us a chance at a happy world. . .all of us are so thankful for what you two did. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you guys.”

Panny looked down at her younger self and smiled weakly, tears poking out of her eyes.

“You’re right. Even if things are difficult now, I’m glad to know you at least got to have a good childhood.” She looked back at the big city. “I’m glad to know I helped all these people have a normal, happy life. I have to admit though, I’m a bit envious it’s not like this in my own world.” She looked back down. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have to see all of this. I’m just so worried about my world. Things just suddenly got so bad, and I didn’t know how to handle it all. . .”

“Well, no matter how hard things get, just don’t forget how happy my family is because of you.”

“I know. . .” Panny rustled the younger one’s hair. “Thanks, little me. I’ll definitely be sure to remember that.”

The little girl smiled, soon wrapping her arms around her older self and hugging her tight.

The older girl returned the hug. “Now, how about you and I go check on my brother? Then we can go annoy your’s together.”

“Good idea, big me.”