Mr. Therapist, (tm DMP,)
comes out.
“Due to circumstances,
Larania has run out of medication, and cannot make the standard disclaimer,
therefore, we, her guardians in good faith, say that Larania does not own the
aforementioned series, and will be able to write this story, because sanity is
not a requirement.”
(A/N: This part will contain
some serious angst, but will have a happy ending, in the next chapter.
Hopefully.)
Gohan woke up, not knowing where he was, and for a moment, not even who
he was. Everything was overshadowed with a haze of pain, and it seemed like
someone else’s vision fell like a curtain over his own, and all that person
could see was darkness.
He whimpered. Mindlessly, he groped outwards, trying to find the
ever-present sense of Piccolo in his soul, but he couldn’t. It was like she was
dead.
Gohan let out a moan.
He had to find her. It didn’t matter that all his senses were screaming
out that she was dead, well, and truly dead. He wouldn’t believe
it until he saw it for himself.
He had to get help.
Flying into the air, he went to find the only other person who knew about
Piccolo-chan. Videl.
Dende paled when he realized what was happening. The thought of someone
kidnapping Piccolo, maybe even murdering her, was incomprehensible. To him, he
couldn’t think of anyone who would want to kill the green giant, or the human
female he had become.
Who would want to kill Ma jr.?
Gohan had flown as fast as he could to get to Videl-san’s house. She was
practicing on her roof, looking for all the world like she was perfectly
comfortable standing on high wire.
If he hadn’t been freaking out at the time, he would have admired
her.
Gotta find Piccolo, gotta find Piccolo,
gotta-
Then the spikes of pain from
his wife and child hit him. Falling from the sky, he expected to hit the ground,
when Videl caught him.
Then he passed out again.
A few seconds later, he came to, sputtering, because Videl had hit him in
the face with a glass of cold water. Literally. Glass and
all.
“Wah?” Gohan asked intelligently.
“You fell out of the sky, muttering something about Piccolo. I take it
something happened?” she asked, all business, even though she was blushing at
holding Gohan in her arms.
Gohan had tears of phantom pain slipping down his
face.
“Someone- something attacked Piccolo, and got her. And that person is
hurting her, and the baby. I wish I knew what to do!” he screamed, nearly
busting Videl’s eardrums.
“Okay, okay, take me to where you saw her last!” Videl screamed back,
trying to calm the hysterical Son. Not working, she went to get another glass.
She thought better of it, and got a pail.
Splash
“Its this way,” he told her,
pointing in a general direction.
They took off.
Piccolo-chan was cold. She had no idea how long she had actually been
there, but it seemed like a long time.
This man who held her was terrifying. He wasn’t cruel the way she would
have expected, but he was insane. How else could he do the things that he did,
yet never show any sign of emotion?
Today was no better than any other time. The man never raised his voice,
never spoke with righteous anger, but he had- he had-
NO! I won’t think about…that…
She whimpered softly, willing the memories of….
“Don’t worry, child, your friends will find you soon,” said that kindly,
old voice. “Then justice will be served.”
“So, no luck so far?” asked Bulma, looking at the new Great Saiyaman I
and II. She had been the first person they had gone to when they’re attempts to
find Piccolo-chan had failed. Bulma had tried using several interesting gadgets,
but they had not worked either.
“So what do we do?” shouted Gohan, about to pull his hair out. Then he
screamed; another flash of pain along to the bond between him and his mate
lashing him.
“Gohan!” shouted Videl and Bulma at the same time. Then he looked
up.
“I know where they are!” he shrieked, and took to the
skies.
Why has the pain stopped? She asked herself, opening her eyes
after what seemed like an eternity.
She was in a regeneration tank. Her mouth was covered in a breathing
mask, and slowly, although it was fast by natural standards, her numerous wounds
were being repaired.
The world outside the tank was blue and unfocused. The blurry face of
Gohan, wearing a ridiculous outfit, peered at her with
worry.
Gohan was shaking with suppressed fury.
What that monster had done… The artistic burns, slashes, and bruises were
more than he was going to say. There was even evidence of…
She had been raped. His eyes shut as he admitted it to himself. This
beast had raped a pregnant woman, and he had no idea why.
It had taken them all of eight days to find Piccolo. When they had, she
had been starved, badly hurt, and unconscious. They had taken her back to
Bulma’s, and she had told then it was a miracle she hadn’t miscarried.
Piccolo-chan, Gohan moaned mentally. This is my fault. You
tried to kill yourself because of the pain you thought you had caused me, but
what about what I have caused you? I don’t know how this person was able to do
this to you, but it’s all my fault. You took care of me, loved me, and you are
carrying my child- I failed to protect you. My fault, my
fault…
Still watching her, Gohan saw her eyes
open with the memories of the past week. Gohan was glad he couldn’t tell if she
was crying.
It was several hours later that Videl and Bulma helped Piccolo to the
recovery room. Piccolo-chan had taken a look at Gohan, and flinched so violently
that they thought it was best if only females tended to her. It was Gohan’s turn
to want to cry.
“Come on, hon,” Videl told Piccolo-chan, who was leaning heavily against
her. The Namek’s pride had taken a beating over the past several months, but
this worse, and Videl felt like something inside her was broken. Piccolo would
never be the same after this. It was all Videl could do to keep from taking her
into her arms and holding her. That would kill any shreds of dignity that
Piccolo had left.
“We’ll get you a bath, that’ll help you feel loads better,” said Bulma,
and they walked her over to a furor.
Unnoticed to all of them was the ki signature of the nameless man… Who
had done his own research, and had found a magic kettle…
Up the steps to the deep, hot water basin. Piccolo-chan wanted to cry at
the thought of a wonderful, cleansing bath. Taking the final step into the
water, and settling in, there was a strange tingle, and-
Her skin turned green, and she became-
“Piccolo?” gasped Bulma, backing away from the huge, green Namek, hot
water that had been displaced sloshing over the sides and soaking her
jeans.
Piccolo’s eyes flew open, shock making him wonder briefly why her skin
had turned green, when another fear made itself known.
Kami- what happened?
Touching his now flat
abdomen, Piccolo gaped in shock, and Videl, also realizing what had happen,
screamed.
Disclaimer:
I can cook, but I do not own the wonderful series that I am mooching off of.
Those belong to really good writers, but I don’t know if they can cook. Where I
got the whole cooking thing, I have no idea, but Piccolo can’t cook
either.
Bulma saw Piccolo sitting in the water that Clarinet-chan had been
sitting in, and recoiled.
She heard Videl scream, and then Vegeta ran in, wondering what all the
yelling was about. He saw a very naked Namek.
“Girl, you see a nude man, an asexual one, and you scream? Humans, you
overreact to everything!” he shouted, his hands waving in the air. Then he
looked around. “Where’s Kakarrot’s brat’s mate?”
“She’s- he’s right there, Vegeta,” Bulma told her husband, dazed. Her eyes were focused like lasers on the shocked Namek, who was rubbing his middle, eyes wide, his mouth frozen in a grimace of horror.
“Nani? What are you talking about, woman?” he demanded, face turning
red.
“I DON”T KNOW!” Bulma roared back, fists clenched, looking like she
wanted to tear into something.
Videl started babbling something about hot water and curses, making to
sense to the scientist. It was then that Gohan blasted in, and looked at the
still dazed, almost catatonic Piccolo. He started to cry as what had happened
hit him.
“You lost the baby? How? Why?” Gohan wailed, looking at his mate. Piccolo
still didn’t respond, but his fists clenched over his middle, the icy feeling of
denial still unbroken within him.
“What is going on? What are they talking about? Namek, tell me!” Vegeta
finally ordered, and his hands reached out to grab the comatose Piccolo. It was
then that the ice shattered inside him.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” screamed Piccolo, and he powered up. His mind was a
maelstrom of confusion, but the memories of being touched, and the person doing
the touching hurting her… him. There wasn’t much a distinction in Piccolo’s mind
of being in his original form now. He was still thinking of himself as a she,
and a male had hurt her-
WHOOM!
“I guess we need a new roof again,” Bulma muttered.
“You married Piccolo?” bellowed Chi-Chi, her black eyes snapping
with rage. Gohan, the focus of her anger was sitting at the kitchen table, eyes
red and sore from crying. He had
searched for hours, but had been unable to find Piccolo. Considering what had
happened last time that he had been this depressed, Gohan was terrified that
Piccolo might take his own life.
“Yes,” Gohan answered her; mind elsewhere, trying to locate his lost
mate.
Videl was sitting beside him, rubbing his back, and yelled back
Chi-Chi.
“Son-san, its my fault, I was the one responsible for getting Piccolo
into the mess with being a girl permanently. They loved each other, can’t you
see that? Now, they’re both hurting, because they lost a child, your
grandchild!”
Chi-Chi hissed back,” I’m grateful they weren’t able to bring that
monstrosity into the world. I won’t have that freak back in my house, and any
child they would have had would never have been a grandchild of mine! Is that
clear?”
Gohan moaned, hearing this, and put his head on the table, and started
crying again.
“Okaasan,” he told her through his sobs,” if you did that, I would leave
and never come back.”
Unknown to them, Piccolo
heard all of this, and flew away.
“PICCOLO!” Gohan shouted, a few months later, trying to find his mate. He
had tried all over the area, but if Piccolo didn’t want to be found, well, you
didn’t.
It was then that he felt it, a faint flicker that told him where Piccolo
was. Reaching out to it, he homed in on it, like it was the northern star, and
dived as fast as he could. Unnoticed to him, the skies went
dark…
Piccolo looked down at the Dragon Balls resting at his feet. He had
stolen the dragon radar; it had been child’s play, really. For the past few
months he had been thinking of what to do, and when he had come to a decision,
it had been a relief, as well as a burden.
“Arise, Eternal Shenlon,” he whispered, barely choking out the words.
This was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done.
As always, the sight of the Dragon God was awesome, as lightening
heralded it’s arrival, and the sky turned inky.
“YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER. WHAT IS YOUR WISH, THAT I MAY
RETURN TO MY FIREY LAIR…”
“I wish
for control of my curse,” Piccolo said first. He had realized that he was still
under the influence of the Springs by reading up on what had possibly caused his
transformation back into his old self. He hadn’t changed back, but he couldn’t
make himself wish the curse away. It had made him happier in many ways that he
had never experienced before.
“I also wish-“ here was where he paused, thinking hard about how to word
it.
“I wish that with the next dawn, all memory of myself as Clarinet, of my
curse, and of how I felt for Son Gohan would be gone from everyone..” he
stated.
“Save me,” he added, not knowing why.
“Your wish has been granted,” said Shen Lon, his voice oddly
subdued.
“I bid you farewell, Piccolo.”
“Piccolo,” said Gohan in a hushed voice, as he found his mentor and
lover, meditating in front of his usual waterfall.
It was obvious he wanted to be found, or else Gohan would never have
sensed him.
“Piccolo, I’m so sorry,” Gohan told him, and the Namek floated down, out
of his usual floating lotus.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know, but-“ he said despairing, looking up into the green face above
him. It was impassive.
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Piccolo again, and this time his voice
cracked.
Gohan couldn’t stand it anymore. He reached out, and wrapped his arms
around the large man, crying into his chest. He cried again, and felt Piccolo’s
arms circle him.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t do anything to help you,” Gohan moaned into his
chest.
For a long time, they stood there, trying to find some kind of
equilibrium. Everything about how they thought about each other, and their
relationship was upside down. Both of their hearts were being torn
apart.
Gohan, Piccolo thought silently, at least I can spare you the
pain of remembering… but I will, our daughter deserves
that…
Piccolo
pulled away then. In the morning, he would be back to the way that he was,
distant, unemotional, and prideful, treating Gohan as a son and student, but for
right now…
He leaned over, and kissed the smaller man on the mouth, trying to
capture the memory forever.
Gohan kissed back. His tongue darted in, and they gently kissed,
exploring what was different now.
A sharp, raw memory intruded itself, and Piccolo involuntarily whimpered,
jerking away like he had been burned.
“Oh,” Gohan whispered, and touched his love’s face, his mind trying to
sooth the pain of the memory away.
They spent the rest of the night like that, in each other’s arms, trying
to cope.
“Piccolo-san?” asked a voice, disturbing Piccolo from his
mediations.
“Hai,” he responded, trying to figure out why the way Gohan sounded
seemed wrong.
“What happened, did I fall asleep out here?” asked Gohan, and Piccolo
opened his eyes. He remembered, then, that Gohan had fallen asleep out there
with him, and that he had also dreamed.
Gohan didn’t remember- Piccolo’s wish had been
granted.
When it took several minutes for Piccolo to answer him, Gohan became
concerned.
“Are you alright? You don’t look so well.”
Piccolo kind of choked, trying to answer, but he felt a strange pain in
his sternum.
“I’m fine,” he finally answered, and Gohan nodded.
“I need to get to school, now,” Gohan told him, and smiled at his
teacher. He had spoken to his best friend, he had school, and all was right with
the world.
Piccolo watched as Gohan flew away, the lump in his chest not going
away.
Gohan wondered at the empty feeling in his mind all day at school. A day
or so had passed since he had waked up with Piccolo, and Piccolo had been acting
strangely ever since.
Shrugging if off, he got back to his lessons. Videl had invited him over
for supper, and that meant he wouldn’t be able to see his mentor this
evening.
Well, what could be wrong?
Piccolo wondered about the strange pains he had kept feeling all last
week in his chest. It was like he was being pushed and shoved apart from the
inside, which made no sense to him.
The sharp jab of pain started again, but this time, instead of subsiding,
flared into white-hot agony.
“What- the- hell?” he grunted, and fell over, twisting and
moaning.
It wasn’t long until the pain worked its way into his neck, and a large
lump formed, and he could hardly breath. It was the worst pain he had ever gone
through, including- He didn’t want to think about that.
All he could do was concentrate on trying to force air through his
clogged throat, and into his bruised feeling lungs. He noticed a pattern, as the
pain would suddenly get worse, the slack off for a few moments, then increase
again.
The lump hit his gag reflex, and he started to cough. On his hands and
knees now, head bowed, he hacked, the mass of whatever working its way back up
his tongue. First, he tasted bile, and it oozed out over his lips, spilling to
the ground. He didn’t really pay much attention, as the pain the pain the PAIN
was his entire world could hold. Purple red blood gushed next, then dribbled out
of the corners of his mouth. Coughing and gagging still, the object made him
unhinge his jaw, something he didn’t realize he could do.
And it was out. Without ceremony, the off white thing fell, and landed
with a light thump on the ground.
Shutting his eyes tightly, Piccolo gasped hard, getting his breath back
into his air starved lungs.
Realizing what had just happened, Piccolo’s eyes flew back open, and he
stared in awe at the egg in front of him. It was off white, it was shiny with
slimy green goop, and it was about the size of a melon. The old adage about the
watermelon and the lemon came to mind.
It was also webbed with cracks.
Splintering down the middle, with liquid of some kind seeping out, a soft wail was heard, and Piccolo sat in front of his egg, watching in wonder as his child came into the world…
A couple of hours later, Piccolo-chan sat, cradling a small little girl, with a tail in his arms.
Her mind went through the possibilities of what had happened, and there was only one conclusion that she was able to settle on.
When the man had used the kettle to try to kill the baby, he hadn’t realized that Nameks were asexual. Piccolo was still equipped, although he didn’t know it, to carry a child. The child had come to term inside the place that created the eggs, safe, because apparently there was enough Namekian in her to survive.
“What will I name you?” she asked aloud, and the little quarter saiya-jin, however much Namek and at least half human wailed, her mouth making sucking motions.
“Now what?” Piccolo-chan griped, annoyed. Her chest ached…
“Oh,” her eyes went big as understanding hit. “Oh!”
Pulling her gi top down, Piccolo-chan helped the little girl to her breast, where she began enthusiastically nursing.
“Ouch.”
The little one had a strong mouth. A smile lit her face, as Piccolo-chan thought of the fighting potential she had…
“I guess I’ll have to call you something either to do with instruments, or food,” she mumbled. Uh-
“Pan- no, Pan Pipe,” she answered herself, and smiled down at the newly named Pan Pipe. “Although, if you always nurse like this, I’ll have to call you Imp,” she added, wincing again.
Her only answer was Imp grunting happily while she continued her meal.
Disclaimer:
(Insert clever and witty remark, then add standard
disclaimer.)
A/N:
Yes, Piccolo and just about everyone else has been OOC. This is a fanfic, get
over it, and I will try to correct my mistakes. Please review, I don’t ask
usually, but I want to see if this will affect the number I get, so, ONEGAI
review!
Piccolo was a Namek, with a very interesting life.
For one, he was trying to get used to the fact that he was a mother. Long
story short, he got married to Son Goku because of a curse that turned him into
a girl with cold water, the curse got stuck, Gohan reacted to her pheromones,
and they seemed to think that they were rabbits for a while. A madman, who could
still be out there, had kidnapped Piccolo, tried to kill the baby that resulted
from their enthusiastic rabbit performance, and turned Piccolo back into a girl.
Serious angst ensued, and Piccolo wished that they would forget the whole thing.
Literally. Although he did want to remember, himself, and he later coughed up
the previously thought lost baby, whom he named Pan Pipe, nicknamed
Imp.
Burp
Looking
down at the fragile looking infant in her arms, Piccolo-chan gave one of her
rare, true smiles, as the little girl burped at her, and grinned hugely, like
she was proud of herself. Considering whom she was related to, that wouldn’t
have surprised her.
To anyone else, Imp was a small, red, wrinkled mite with a skullcap of
hunter green hair, and a tiny flailing tail. Of course, anyone else wasn’t
Piccolo, and if Piccolo had heard anyone else say that, that anyone else would
have been sent straight to Hell.
Do not pass go; do not collect two hundred dollars.
Said baby had just burped, and was being set down to sleep in her little
nest that Piccolo had rigged, on her belly. With a last rub on her back,
Piccolo-chan transformed back into his usual self, and
stretched.
He decided on a slow kata, because the gentle movements would let him
think. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Not strategic, nothing to do
with fighting, but the kind of introspection that comes with a major event in
life, and being a mother certainly qualified.
He shuddered.
These motions flowed lightly, barely touching the ground. The past year
had been an emotional roller coaster, and he hadn’t handled it well.
Be truthful with yourself, green man; badly was an understatement. Of
course, it took me a while to admit that some of those feelings had been there
all along-
Humans,
male and female, he realized constantly had to deal with pressures that he had
never before understood. Add hormones to his mix of confused feelings for Gohan,
and the recipe made for a wonderful nervous breakdown. Then he got pregnant.
More fun, and then he was-
Rage shook along his nerves, making him loose
focus.
Admit it to yourself, you were raped.
The
proud Namek had taken quite a beating to that very pride during this whole mess,
but pride had nothing to do with this.
It was one of the numerous reasons that he had for having Gohan and the
others forget who he had become. Pity was not something he could have stood, and
another reason- He couldn’t have ever really been comfortable with Gohan
touching him again. The night he had said goodbye to Gohan for the last time, it
had been a huge act of will to kiss him, and even now, looking at him was
painful. The touch of a man, even fighting, made him flinch.
The nightmares weren’t as bad as they had been immediately afterwards,
but they still haunted him. The idea of even being male made him gag. While he
had hated his helplessness, hated being hurt the way he had been, being female
had not shamed him. Rather, he was really, really pissed at guys who hurt
girls.
Imp gurgled a little in her sleep. Hearing her made irrational fears that
Piccolo would never voice bubble up in his mind. After she had been hatched, he
had decided not to tell Gohan, at least until there was no other choice. That
madman was still out there, and if he managed to get Imp…it wasn’t going to
happen.
Not while he lived.
His kata continued.
Over the next several days, it seemed that Imp-chan was filling out
rather nicely. Of course, true to her saiya-jin blood, she eating like there was
no tomorrow.
Piccolo-chan sighed deeply as she put the now sleeping baby back in her
nest. Eating and sleeping were all that chibi-Piper had done, but of course, she
was the best at it, Piccolo thought. He hoped that no one would ask, but if you
asked him about which baby could drool the best, well, you know the answer.
Well, most people don’t know, or don’t think about, the fact that
lactating is actually a lot of work. Lactating is producing milk, and it can
wear on a woman more than you realize, which was another of those lovely things
Piccolo didn’t know. He had been very, very tired recently.
She smiled again at the infant, who had curled up, and was holding her
little tail in a very kawaii way. She herself had been doing only the minimum of
training, due to the fact that she was worn out most of the time, and that
Imp-chan needed feeding so often. Instead, she had taken to talking to the baby,
and holding her when she was awake. Vague memories of never being touched as a
child stirred within her own mind, and thus, she decided to do the
opposite.
Again, she thought, this was not something she would have usually done.
Back in the day, she would have left the child alone to survive. Well, since she
was barely a week old right now, she would have about a few years grace. The
child would have to be trained, there was no question about, and her parents’
blood would demand no less. In fact, Piccolo thought with pride, this week old
could take down a full grown human already.
Or her mother, just by nursing, her mind added sardonically.
“I don’t know all that much about human children, much less Saiya-jin
ones,” she said aloud, and looked over at the little girl. Some of her
irrational fears became suddenly rational ones. What if she got sick? Hurt? How
long did it take for human children to learn to
walk?
Turning back into his old self, Piccolo pondered what to do about
it.
He couldn’t do what his reflex was, which was to ask Gohan. That went
without question. He couldn’t ask Dende either, because he and just about
everyone else had forgotten about the baby. A problem he had not considered
before.
Okay, what he needed was a ready information source; one that would not
ask questions back, about the green person with a human looking baby with a
tail.
Uh- he cast his mind out, trying to think of
something…
The library.
Wondering
about that idea, he shrugged, and split formed into three, one to watch
chibi-Piper while the other two trained.
Me, in a library. Then he looked over at the baby. Stranger
things have happened.
Gohan laughed as Videl made a great joke. Why hadn’t he realized how
great she was earlier?
Videl had been keeping Gohan company the past couple of days, since
Piccolo had become so hard to find. It had been a good thing, in his opinion,
because if she hadn’t, he would have been going out his mind with
worry.
What is it with him recently? Nothing has
happened-
Or had
it? Piccolo could have been murdered, and he wouldn’t know if until he found the
body, or could go on a killing spree of his own. There was absolutely nothing he
really could be sure about with the Namek…
His heart gave lurch, like it had several times recently. It felt like
something had reached inside him, and pulled out something vitally important.
Maybe that was the reason he had spent so much time with Videl; she
helped with the hurt.
“Hey, what was the homework for this evening?” asked Videl, looking over
at his notebook. It had the homework neatly written at the top, and Videl’s
worst fears were confirmed.
It was a research paper. One that could not have been drier if it had
been sent to the desert. Videl groaned.
“Do we have to do this?” she whined, and pouted when Gohan
solemnly nodded.
“Kuso, I guess we have to go the library.”
Soft coos came from the white wrapped bundle that Piccolo had strapped to
his chest. Apparently Imp was enjoying this little trip. Her huge black eyes
took in everything, and occasionally a gurgling laugh would emerge.
Although what made a fire hydrant so funny was beyond
Piccolo.
It had been three weeks since Imp had hatched, and she was already
sitting up on her own. Like any child with Saiya-jin blood, she would develop
fast, to try to take care of herself. Still, it seemed that she enjoyed nursing,
and Piccolo winced at the thought of how he would wean the child.
There was a swift shift in size, and Piccolo-chan changed her clothing
into a plain jeans, t-shirt and flannel over-shirt combo. Imp was still in her
sling. Moments later, she landed on the roof of the library. Then she climbed
down the fire escape.
“Hmm. Encyclopedia? Card catalog? Computer? Where to
begin…”
Deciding that getting a lot of books first would be the best idea, then
started raiding the shelves. While she was holding the baby closely, she got in
the way of all the volumes and volumes that Piccolo-chan was hauling. Sitting,
and deciding on going back for more later, she put Imp in a chair next to her.
This was fine with Imp, because she promptly fell asleep.
“Kami always did say something about attempting the impossible,”
Piccolo-chan muttered, and got to work.
“I hate research,” Videl said venomously, and started swearing as she
went through the card catalog. This wasn’t just a homework assignment, she
realized. It was the special brand of torture only history professors would
inflict. At times like this, she wondered if she would go to jail or be given a
medal for killing the yarou.
“You get used to it,” answered the ever-patient voice of Gohan. She gave
him the Glare of Death.
It didn’t make him burst into flames, whither like a dried leaf, or any
other unpleasant things it should have done. Darn
it.
They started to playfully argue over which route they should take for
their projects, like Khan, or should it be Mr. Satan?
Videl turned around, and stepped out, when Gohan pushed her
over.
Falling on her rump, Videl tried her Glare again, but it didn’t work,
because he was looking at something else.
“What did you do that for?” she yelled, only to be hushed by several
not-seen patrons.
Gohan pointed.
Piccolo-chan sighed as she went back for the fifth time for books.
Grinning to herself, she was pleased with the knowledge she had managed to
acquire. Most of it was repetitive, so she could skim quickly, and get to the
new stuff.
It was a relief that Imp hadn’t making all that much
noise-
Wait-
Choking down alarm, Piccolo-chan looked at where the little girl had been
sleeping-
“Where’s my baby?”
Imp had decided that she was wide-awake, full, and in an interesting
place. This meant that she had to move, and get to the interesting stuff. Of
course, she really had no idea of how she would do that. So, seeing what her
mommy did, which was walk, she got the notion moving involved your arms and
legs. Squirming out of her warm cocoon of white, the little girl tried what she
had seen her mommy do.
It didn’t really work. She fell forward, and went
boom.
Taking a deep breath, she was about to bawl when she found that she
could get her weight on her little hands and knees.
GOODY! Even better, her tail wiggled out behind her, keeping her balance.
Now she could find interesting and shiny and other really, really neat stuff,
like what she had seen mommy do!
Videl choked, when she realized what she had nearly done.
Sitting, and looking at her with curiosity filled black eyes, was a baby
girl. One that she had nearly stepped on.
“Oh, I am so sorry, little one,” she whispered, and looked over at Gohan
in apology.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Gohan asked, running his hand over the
fine, dark green curls that had jutted up from the baby’s head, trying to smooth
them, with nil success.
The baby didn’t answer, just giggled mischievously, in that ‘I’m giving
my parent a heart-attack, but don’t really care’, kind of way that all kids
have. Trust me, they do.
“We need to find her mom,” Gohan said, and then Videl picked the speed
crawler up.
Gohan very nearly had a stroke.
The kid had a tail.
Disclaimer: AHHH! They tried to pay me, but I escaped, MWHAHAHAHA! Never, never shall I be paid for this work, which belongs to the great ones, Who Must Not Be Named!
MWHAHAHAHAHA!
(cough)
Gohan stared in awe at the baby that was in front of him. The idea that there might be more Saiya-jin half-breeds was shocking.
Videl grinned down at the cooing baby, babbling baby talk, not yet seeing
the appendage that was giving Gohan a fit.
“That can’t be-“ Gohan kept repeating to himself, until he saw it start
to twitch with happiness at the attention Videl was giving
her.
It was a real tail, all right. That meant that she had to be the daughter
of Vegeta or Goku, because they were the only two left. The baby didn’t look
like she was more than a year old-
That meant she had to be Vegeta’s. Yet there was no way. Bulma would
know if her man was cheating.
Which left it being an unknown Saiya-jin. This could be
bad.
He had to find this kid’s parents.
“Imp-chan?” whispered a feminine voice, fiercely.
There was a rustle, and Gohan turned around to see a beautiful young
woman, his age, snatching the little girl from Videl’s
grip.
“IMP!” she yelled, and held her up, and started babbling about how
worried she was.
“Don’t you ever, ever do that to me again!” she finished, while Imp
giggled.
Gohan wondered if he could get a cavity from the
cuteness.
Then he remembered what had gotten him so upset, and reached out his hand
to put on the woman’s shoulder.
“Miss-“
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she screamed, spinning around to face
him.
And promptly choked. The world spun for a moment, as she tried to regain
her balance.
“Miss, I’m sorry, but I need to ask-“
It was then that Gohan realized this woman knew what he was. She
knew that he was a Saiya-jin. Then she ran. Ran out of the building, and into
the street.
“Oh, kuso,” Gohan grunted, seeing that he couldn’t find her. He had tried
to catch her, but she had run like the hounds of hell were chasing
her.
“Who was she?” Gohan asked, wanting to swear.
Piccolo-chan gasped as she landed again, in her safe bit of
forest.
“Well, Imp. That was your daddy,” she told the baby. Imp, who was not all
that happy about being taken from all the interesting stuff, and the nice
people, and now she was hungry! So she did what all babies do: she
started to cry.
“Oh, no,” Piccolo-chan mumbled, and checked her diaper. Yup, it was
wet.
“I don’t know how humans do it and stay sane,” she
groused.
“Gohan, will you stop with the whole, ‘Who was that girl?’ bit? Its
getting kinda old.”
Videl was getting really annoyed with how Gohan had been acting ever
since he had seen that girl and the baby with the tail. It was like he was
obsessed, and be damned if there was anything she could do about
it.
“I know what I can do!” he said, nearly shouting. “I can ask
Piccolo-san!”
Thankfully, Imp was done nursing by the time Gohan got
there.
“Mr. Piccolo!” Gohan yelled, seeing his mentor.
“Oh, shimatta,” Piccolo groaned, seeing his lover.
He was his old self, but there was nothing he could do about Imp. She had
been giggling while he had dangled a pretty gem that caught the light in front
of her. She had tried desperately to snatch at it, while Piccolo made faces. He
was profoundly grateful he hadn’t degenerated to cooing
yet.
Gohan blinked at the sight in front of him. Piccolo was tenderly holding
a baby that- Oh, crap.
It was her baby.
The little tail made it obvious, but if Piccolo had
it-
There was dead end.
“Uh, Piccolo-sensei? Where did the kid come from?”
Piccolo drew a blank after his first urge to curse.
“She’s my new student.”
“Your student? Do you know who her parents are?”
Maybe the mysterious teacher bit will work-
“They
asked me not to tell.”
Gohan looked like he wanted to rip his own hair out. Then he shook his
head.
“Have you been okay recently? You’ve been acting
funny.”
Piccolo had to resist the urge to laugh
hysterically.
“Maybe I’ll tell you someday, but not today Gohan. Not
today.”
Time passed. The Z fighters defeated Majin Buu, and Goku was returned to
the land of the living.
All this time, Piccolo was training Imp, and in general, being a parent.
Then…
“Hey, Piccolo, how ya doin’? asked Goku, who had decided to
visit.
Imp was grinning as she came over to see who this strange person was. He
looked like her friend Gohan!
She was an adorable toddler now, but with
this awful talent for getting into trouble. Piccolo constantly had to fish her
out of streams, holes in the ground, and out of trees. Yet, she came out all the
tougher for it.
“Goku,” Piccolo acknowledged, not opening his eyes. “What are you doing
here?”
“I came to visit my granddaughter!”