Little Tsu: Erm...First time actually POSTIN' somethin' from this series, but also, miiight be a long one-shot...Not sure...Will see when I type it up...x.x
Side note: Thumb finally healed. Will try ta start updatin' everythin' gradually.
Also,...wasn' entirely sure towards what other title woulda fit so sorry if it's a bad one. Better than callin' it 'Untitled' at least.x.x"
Growing Up
He was getting a number of stares from the people around him as he stood there with his back leaned up against one of the hallway walls and arms crossed over his chest.
He knew why too.
After all, wouldn't you stare or be a bit uneasy if a tall, green skinned alien came stalking in quickly and demanding to know where a someone is? Someone who happens to be pregnant and about to give birth no less?
Now don't get him wrong about anything by it. The girl about to give birth wasn't pregnant with his child. Oh no; quite the contrary. She was pregnant with his grandchild. Piccolo couldn't help but faintly chuckle at that thought. Despite everything and towards how he knew that he should've expected this to come someday, it had still taken him by surprise. His daughter only looked about seventeen years or so, but that was because of her heritage. She was part saiyan, yes, but that wasn't what kept her from aging physically any further; that blood only would've slowed her aging process.
No, no...What stopped it had been the other part that she was; an ancient race that had been extinct since soon after her birth about twenty-five years ago.
The Waroo...Or Mystics as they were also refered to as due to them being an alien race with the ability to see into the future and have visions even though that gift usually came at a price eventually in their lives if they used it enough; the loss of their sight with the present.
Thinking back on everything, he gently closed his eyes as he continued to try and wait patiantly for the results of his daughter and her unborn child.
~ Piccolo had finally found a decent place to train and meditate. The area had a nice, calm flowing stream with various small waterfalls. He had only just taken his place in front of the middle waterfalls and crossed his legs as he floated in midair to meditate when something caused his eyes to clench tightly shut for a moment in a forced attempt to concentrate. When the sound continued, he finally growled slightly in irritation and pulled himself out of his meditative position to slowly fly to where that infernal sound was coming from.
He had every intention of sending an energy blast at the cause and finally end that increasingly irritating racket. However, as he finally came upon the source, he suddenly stopped as he just floated there about eight feet or so off the ground. Below him at the end of a track that it had created from sliding along the ground along with the broken tree branches further back, was a pod. The glass on the hatch was shattered, most likely from the initial impact with the ground, but it wasn't the pod that had his attention. It was what was inside that had his murderous thoughts suddenly halting as he slowly lowered himself to touch ground.
Walking slowly towards the pod, Piccolo soon peered within it once more at a closer look and within it was a baby; one that couldn't have been more than a few months at the most. Their tiny hands were balled up into fists and resting by their tightly closed eyes as they whimpered and struggled to gain control of their crying. Tuffs of violet hair rested upon their head along with a dark violet, almost black tail, curled around one of their stubby little legs. However, it was when Piccolo rested a hand upon the pod, that the whimpering suddenly ceased and the baby's eyes slowly crept open; shocking him at their intense shade of scarlet against their pale complexion.
Working himself out of his shock, he grunted lightly and gave the baby an irritated look as he regained his sense of control. "Tch...A stupid offspring out here in the wild. You'd die quickly; eaten by the creatures in the area or of starvation...Maybe I should just put you out of your misery now instead of letting you suffer in either of those ways..." With that, Piccolo moved his hand from off the side of the pod and rested his hand within it as he pointed his clawed index finger towards the infant; aimming directly at their heart so that it'd be quick. Just before he could really start to gather up energy into the tip of his finger though, tiny hands suddenly reached up and grasped onto it, causing the Namekian to jolt and tense up slightly in shock again as his eyes widened. "What the-? Brat, you better let go of my finger so I can kill you."
Instead of doing as told, the baby simply released a soft little giggle and pulled herself up with her grasp still on the male's finger before hugging Piccolo's entire hand now. Their eyes were wide now and filled with innocence and a sense of joy as they stared up at him with a bright smile.
Clenching his teeth at this in frustration and annoyance, Piccolo finally gave up in his attempt to destroy the creature before him and finally lifted his hand out of the pod. When he did, the infant that refused to let go came up with said hand as they hung there on him. Sighing in defeat at all this, he lifted his other hand and grabbed the baby, prying them off his hand, but then resting both hands around their torso. Studying their features closely for a moment up this close, he scrunched his nose up a bit at the different smells. Yes, the baby definately needed to be changed in a fresh diaper or something, but he also caught scent of what seperated the genders.
"Hn...So you're a female, huh? Well, whatever you are, I guess you need a name since I can't constantly call you 'brat'. What to call you though?...Should be a warrior's name..." As Piccolo tried to think of a decent name, which was an ability he seemed to lack, he finally remembered some of the Earth's residents saying a certain name that he had taken a bit of a liking towards. Bringing his gaze back down onto the infant, he nodded lightly as his eyes narrowed slightly. "Kira...That will be your name from now on, got it?"
The infant in his arms only seemed to close her eyes as she cried out happily in response as if she liked the name.~
Come to think of it, the day he had found Kira's pod only a few years before his defeat against Goku during that human tournament...
It had been since that day that he had made the decision that he would raise and train Kira to someday help him to exact his revenge for his humiliating defeat that day.
Too bad that had not been meant to be once that Saiyan, Raditz appeared and ruined it all.
Instead, he had joined up with Goku in order to take down his older brother and save not just his four-year-old son, Gohan, but also my almost eight-year-old daughter. Yes, that stupid monkey had taken my daughter as well, stating how he hadn't seen any female with saiyan blood in them in a long time and that he eventually had plans for her. Just the thought of what he had had planned made his blood boil.
After Raditz's defeat and the warning they were given, Piccolo had taken it upon himself to take Goku's brat under his wing to prepare him for the two other Saiyans' arrival in a year's time.
~"You're what?!"
The three of Goku's friends that had flown in on the female, Bulma's plane were all panicking and freaking out. Piccolo had the out cold Gohan hooked under his arm and had just told them that he was taking the little brat with him for a year to train and get him ready for the Saiyans' arrival. After all, the kid had shown a glimpse of an incredible power whenever he got angry and if these other two that were on their way were much stronger than the one they had just fought, he knew that they would all need that power and then some.
"You heard me so quit your complaining. If you think you can stop me from taking Goku's brat, then feel free to try it though." When he saw the female and two bald males gulp and tense up, but not make any move to attempt to stop him, he smirked and turned his back to them. "That's what I thought. Those two enemies will be here in one year's time. We have only that long to train as much as possible so that we're ready for them. I suggest you send word to your other friends about the situation if they're going to actually offer any help. Till then,...I'm keeping this brat."
With that, Piccolo quickly flew off with Kira following right behind him.
As they flew, Kira casted her scarlet gaze onto the unconcious Gohan that was still hooked under her father's arm in a dangle. "Papa...I know this boy has a lot of power in him when he gets mad, but...d'ya really think he'll make that much of a difference? I mean,...what if we fail ta get him stronger? He does seem ta look pretty spoiled and never even sparred before..."
"I know very well that the brat's obviously had a very sheltered life away from fighting. However, it'll be our job to make sure he's broken in. If he doesn't survive though, then we will know that he wasn't cut out for any of this." Piccolo glanced back behind him slightly towards his daughter out of the corners of his eyes as he said this. Drifting his piercing gaze down to the younger boy in his arm, he 'hmphed' slightly before fully facing the front again as they continued to fly. "Just in case though, you'll be the one to watch him during his survival for the first six months and help him train. I'll be watching for a while from a distance, but I won't interfere and neither will you if he gets himself into danger. You'll make him get himself out of it without your help...Make him learn that he won't always have someone to protect him and that he needs to learn how to take care of himself."
"...Yes papa. I understand completely. I'll do my best ta train the li'l kid and also find time ta train myself till those six months are up. Then we can start our training with you, right?"
"Hn..." Piccolo didn't say anything further on the subject, but he couldn't help the very faint quirk of his lips nor the soft chuckle that rumbled slightly in his chest. Kira calling Goku's brat a 'little kid' was pretty amusing to him to be honest. Especially, since she was still a child herself and only a few years older than him.
Still though,...
A part of himself couldn't believe that he was helping to train his enemy's son; the very boy that would most likely be the one to grow up someday to kill him...~
Slowly opening his eyes slightly with his head tilted down a bit so that when they did, they locked onto the white tiled floors, his sensitive hearing was picking up everything. It was a bit of a headache to have so many voices filling his head, but he used his training to filter them all out for the most part and focus solely on one specific set of voices.
...The voices of the doctor and nurses that were with his daughter.
It was when he heard Kira suddenly start cursing them out and asking the doctor if he'd manage to stay calm if he was forced to birth a baby out of-...
Well, she always did have a mouth on her...A rather vulgar one at that. In fact, the vulgarity and insults started coming during the two other Saiyans' attack. Even though their friends have told him that Kira had a mouth that would've made even a sailor blush, he actually found it amusing by quite a degree. After all, it always reared its ugly head, as they would say, whenever she lost her temper.
And she had quite the short one too...
~"Gah! You let me go you stupid, ugly baboon! When I get free, I'm gonna cut off your tail and shove it so far up your ass that it'll come right back up outta your mouth!" Kira growled and snarled as she thrashed about in a bear hug hold against the largest of the Saiyans, but was having trouble getting herself free to blast him in the face or even free enough to nail him in the crotch with the back of her foot.
"Gahahahah! Hey Vegeta! This girl's really got a mouth on her! Ya think she'd be useful to us? I mean, she is at least half Saiyan even though we don't know what else she is. She couldn' be human cause she doesn't smell like one and she called that Namekian her father even though she obviously doesn't have that in her either."
"Foolish Nappa. What could we possibly want with a child; Saiyan blood within or not? She's certainly too young to conceive or even just give us pleasure. Just hurry up and finish with the rest. Do away with them, but leave the Namekian alive long enough to get the location of the Dragon Balls out of him."
Piccolo gritted his teeth at his as he glared towards the enemies. There was no way he could risk trying to attack the larger one that had been the only one to fight so far; not without risking in hitting Kira too in the process...And considering the fact that the big one seemed to listen to the smaller's orders and such, it was apparent that the one that hadn't entered any of the battle up to this point was much stronger, which made their current situation that much more unnerving and against their favor.
As he was trying to come up with a plan to deal with this and get his daughter free, he heard the sound of a loud cry of pain. Snapping his attention fully onto the scene before him, his eyes widened slightly as he saw Kira now crouched on the ground at the big one's feet while gripping at the back of her head in pain and the large Saiyan standing there with his head thrown back and covering his face; mostly his nose. Smirking faintly, he knew exactly what had happened.
Once Kira managed to quickly get out of the way, he, Krillin, and Gohan all released the best energy blast they could muster at present upon the one known as Nappa while he had still been distracted by his daughter's brash move.
Well,...he suppose she could've done worse than that...~
After his sacrifise to protect Gohan from being killed that day before Goku could arrive in time, he had missed out on quite a bit of time with his daughter. Her journey through space to head for Namek with a small group of their friends in order to collect the Dragon Balls there so he and the others that died could be wished back and even much of their time once ON Namek and all the ordeals that came with it. He didn't regret sacrifising his life for Gohan's because the kid had grown to become his best friend and someone he greatly cherished, but...at the same time, he regreted having left Kira alone for that long. For failing in his promise to watch over and raise her the best that he could.
It was after Freeza had been defeated and they returned to Earth, that he was determined to secure that promise of his to her. Piccolo refused to leave her ever again and he would get strong enough so that neither would have to worry about that happening again.
Unfortunately, it was when Mirai Trunks appeared to them from twenty years into the future to warn us, that really caused him to train far more than he'd ever trained before. If these Androids that Mirai Trunks had spoken of were that dangerous and would cause such destruction; killing nearly every one of the Z Fighters till only Trunks and Kira were left along with his mother, he truly had something to be concerned about. That kind of future meant that he had failed his daughter again in his promise and he couldn't allow that.
As he thought about what happened when those three years that he told them about were up along with their first encounter with the actual Androids from Mirai Trunks' future, he couldn't help but realize that he should've seen it coming. It hadn't been obvious in the slightest bit, but a barely there hint showed it...
~"Hn...So you guys are supposed to be 'Earth's mightiest heros'? You were all so weak and a total waste of my time." The male Android of the twins, known as Seventeen then smirked as he rested his hands onto his waist and stalked over towards Kira as she was rising back up onto her feet. Once the distance was closed, his ice blue eyes bore into her scarlet and his gaze seemed to alight with mischief. "You though...You gave me some entertainment. I really hate being bored and unless you or any of your friends are willing to tell us where Goku is hiding, I suggest you keep me amused."
Kira's eyes widened slightly at this in surprise and almost blushed, but then a spark appeared in her scarlet gaze before she suddenly lashed out with a fierce and lightning quick left hook. "Fat chance I'll ever cave and give away my friend's location you damn pretty boy!"
Reeling his top half back quickly as he just barely dodged the blow, he jumped back to put a bit of distance between them as he laughed in amusement. "Well, you certainly have a temper on you, girly. Perhaps you'll be more fun to fight and eventually kill than I initially thought."
"Brother, will you stop flirting with that disgusting Saiyan and lets get moving now? I really don't feel like wasting anymore time with these losers than we already have." Eighteen gave her brother a look of pure boredom and impatiance while Sixteen merely stood there off to the side quietly. Unlike the twins, he felt no need to really speak unless it was absolutely nessessary.
Seventeen turned his gaze to lock with his twin sister's as he gave her a look of distain. "You really are no fun sister. And on top of that, you completely read it wrong. I wasn't flirting with her at all; I was playing with my official new 'toy'..." The black haired male then sighed in defeat as his eyes gently closed and he shrugged; shaking his head. "Alright, alright. Fine. Lets move on since these pests won't give up Goku's location. We'll have to do so the old fashioned way." With that, Seventeen began to rise up into the air with the other two Androids, but just before he flew off with them, he drifted his gaze back down onto Kira and smirked cockily once more. "Try not to die until we meet again. I'm not through 'playing' with you just yet."
Watching the three Androids fly off, Piccolo grunted in pain as he had been forced to watch all of this from his place on the ground just as the others were that had been with them. None of them had been a match for these Androids. Not even Vegeta in his Super Saiyan form. Just how powerful were they really? Gritting his teeth, he struggled to bring himself up onto his feet like the others attempted to do and staggered over to Kira's side, who instantly caught him before he fell, though that was a bit of a complicated action to accomplish given their overall size difference.
"K-Kira...Are you alright?"
"Nothing a Senzu Bean can't cure and I'm at least fit enough ta fly and all. Half you guys look like you can barely even stand, let alone fly all the way ta the Lookout...Maybe I should go by myself and-"
Piccolo quickly shook his head as well as he was able to without causing himself too much pain. "N-No. You're not going alone. Those Androids might end up following or kill you if they sense that you're by yourself out there."
"Well, I can't exactly bring any of you with me. One, that'd only slow me down and two, none of you are in any condition ta even put up a damn struggle in a fight even if they did decide ta come after me after all." Sighing softly, Kira helped her adoptive father back down to where he was sitting like the rest of the group had managed to before rising back up onto her feet again. "Listen, I'm the only one still in any condition ta fight and on top of that, I'm fast. If I have ta, I'll get away quick enough ta where I lose them...Papa, I'm fifteen now...You have ta trust me, ok?...I'm not a little girl anymore..."
Piccolo weakly looked up to lock his gaze with her sympathetic scarlet ones. The expression on her face was enough to finally make him cave as he sighed; nodding his head lightly. "Alright, but be careful heading to the Lookout to get those Senzu Beans for all of us."
"Of course! You can count on me Papa!"
"...When did you suddenly become so grown up...?"
Kira's eyes softened as a gentle smile crossed onto her features while she slowly began to rise up into the air. "...Since I decided I wanted ta become strong enough so that I'd never lose my Papa again..." With that, she quickly flew away before the Namekian could even respond; leaving him with a look of honest surprise upon his beaten features.~
Up till that moment when she said those words and flew off, he always thought that it had been something he had been waiting for. A time where his daughter would finally show that she had grown up, but when he heard those words, even though he was both surprised and proud,...a small part of him had caused him to find himself wishing that Kira was a little girl again. One that looked to him in awe and in need of his guidance and protection...
Piccolo had come to realize right then that he hadn't been as ready as he thought for the very girl he raised to no longer need his hand to hold...
Those years had gone by far too quickly for him...
When the Cell Games had finally ended and Gohan had finished off Cell for good, they had immediately gone to the Lookout to summon Shenron in order to make their wishes to bring everyone back that had been lost at the hands of Cell. It was upsetting that Goku had refused to return though for all of them, but Kira took it in stride and actually joked with him about it. She had actually laughed with Goku all the while King Kai, who had died as a result of Goku's actions, was yelling at them both in a scolding and complaining manner, which had only made the two laugh even more.
Piccolo couldn't help but smile at that memory. Seeing Kira actually laughing again after all that carnage caused by Cell was pretty much like a breath of fresh air for him.
...It was after that, that he suddenly began to feel a bit of unease once the first wish to bring everyone back was granted...
~As Mirai Trunks had life breathed back into his body and began to push himself up into a sitting position, a look of surprise and confusion on his features, someone else came back to life on the Lookout. Seventeen materialized before them right in front of the Dragon Balls as he lifted his hands to gaze down at his palms in sudden confusion. He was either unaware or simply flat out ignoring the Z Fighters that suddenly became guarded at him appearing before them.
After a moment, Seventeen finally knitted his dark brows in further confusion still as he lifted his head to lock his icy blue gaze onto the group. "...What exactly has happened? Last I remembered I was dead so why is it that I suddenly find myself standing in front of all of you?" He then turned around slightly and glanced up, only to find himself staring up at the Eternal Dragon. "...Well!...That explains everything then..." Resting a hand onto his waist, he brought his bored gaze onto the others. "Oh stop acting like you'll fight me. None of you were able to beat me last time. I doubt you can now; especially with those injuries."
"Brother, these people destroyed Cell and apparently used this dragon to wish everyone that that monster killed back from the dead. That obviously explains why you're back." Walking over to the male, Eighteen managed to cast him a faint smile before she suddenly turned in slight confusion and surprise at the second wish; the one that the bald human had decided to make the decision on himself.
"Shenron, I wish for the bombs inside of Seventeen and Eighteen's chests to disappear! Or at least be deactivated if you can't take them out!"
"It shall be done. That was your final wish...Till next time when I might be summoned." With that, Shenron vanished in a flash of light and the Dragon Balls all shot up into the air before firing off like bullets into different directions all around the world.
"Krillin, what were you thinking with that sort of wish? We could have used it for something more wisely." Piccolo narrowed his eyes at the small man, but when he casted a supposedly secret glance over towards Eighteen before quickly glancing down as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, he knew exactly what he was thinking about when he made that wish. Krillin was so foolish! Did he honestly think these Androids would become good? Either one of them? And even moreso, the female of the two actually take an interest in him romantically?!
He had been about to say more on the subject and scold him further, but all other words suddenly caught in his throat as his daughter jogged right passed him and over to the Androids. Or rather, more specifically Seventeen. This?...This truthly shocked him into silence.
Kira smiled deviously as she rested her hands loosely behind herself against her lower back as she bent forward slightly. "So Seventeen. You never did 'play' with me again...And you are alive again rather than in the belly of the ugly bug so ta speak..."
Seventeen glanced down at the teen before him and arched a brow at her before a cocky smirk played onto his features. However, a playful, mystievious glint appeared in his gaze as he locked his icy blue with her scarlet. "Hm...So I didn't. Guess we'll have to change that, now won't we 'princess'?" The tone he spoke in was smooth, but very teasing as he actually took enjoyment in their back and forth remarks.
As they tossed remarks back and forth at each other a bit more before finally taking to the skies to head somewhere with more room to fight, thus actually leaving Eighteen and everyone else behind on the Lookout, Piccolo could only stand there and watch as his daughter flew off with someone that had been their enemy only recently. He had a bad feeling this would not end well...~
"Um...E-Excuse me?"
Piccolo snapped out of his thoughts at the nervous tone and glanced up, only to see that it was a nurse speaking up to him.
"Y-You're the one that b-brought in the young lady, yes? Um...K-Kira?"
Piccolo straightened up further at this and nodded his head. "Yes, that's right. She's my daughter. Is she going to be alright?"
The nurse forced herself to calm down somewhat when she realized that the strange alien wasn't going to hurt her and that he had also mentioned the girl, who she thought was human, was his daughter. Obviously not by blood, but this alien before her had apparently been kind enough to take care of and raise her as his own. That meant he was good hearted, right? "Um, yes. She'll be just fine. You can go see her now actually, if you wish. She's on the third floor in room 219." She then began to walk away to continue her duties, but halted for a moment and glanced back at the Namekian. "She has another visitor though already. A handsome young man came bursting in while she had been in the middle of labor and demanded that he remain at her side. He...sort of threatened us if we hadn't allowed him to..." With that, the nurse quickly scurried off.
Piccolo didn't even need to think to know who that someone was that was with her already. Walking steadily through the halls as he made his way to the third floor and the room Kira was in, he allowed himself to try and calm the slight nerves that he was feeling. When he finally arrived outside of the room, he slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside. What he saw actually made him freeze slightly. Sitting while propped up by a mass of pillows behind her and in a pale blue hospital gown was Kira. Her hair was a bit of a mess and it was easy to see how tired and drained she was, but despite that, she still held a loving, but slightly tired, smile upon her features as she stared down at the blue bundle in her arms.
Sitting on the edge of the bed at her side was none other than Seventeen in his usual, prefered attire, while in his arms was a lavender bundle that he was staring down at with a look of faint wonder on his features. They actually looked happy together. It was only when Piccolo lightly tapped the back of his knuckles against the door that they both lifted their heads and locked gazes with him. A smirk fell onto the ageless Android's features in slight amusement. "So you finally decide to show up. I'm surprised that they didn't let you in here during her labor and birthing, but then I suppose you didn't threaten them to let you either..."
"Seventeen."
Drifting his gaze to Kira, he saw the tired, yet still slight glare she shot at him for his tauntings. Rolling his eyes playfully at this, he nodded his head faintly as he gave in for his wife's sake before motioning with his head slightly since his arms were full. "Just get in here already and say 'hello' to your grandchildren Namek."
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then Piccolo slowly stepped further into the room till he was by the bed on the other side, opposite of Seventeen since he was on the side by the window. Gazing down at both of the bundles, he was still slightly shocked at the sight before him. In Kira's arms was a baby boy with tuffs of black hair like his father's and in Seventeen's was a little girl with tuffs of hair that was a deep shade of violet like her mother's. Neither surprisingly had a tail despite having Saiyan blood in them, but what surprised him more was when they opened their eyes simultainiously at apparently sensing his presense in the room. The eye colors were reversed; icy blue on the girl and scarlet on the boy; both possessing slightly sharp styled eyes like their parents.
...They had had twins...
He was stunned silent for, he wasn't sure how long, but when he did finally speak, he did so softly.
"What...are their names?"
Kira and Seventeen exchanged glances with one another before they finally smiled and brought their gazes back onto Piccolo as they spoke up at the same time. "Shugo and Trinity."
Piccolo smiled faintly at the names.
It suited them.
...Maybe Seventeen was good for his daughter after all...
End.
Little Tsu: Yes, the boy's name is Shugo. It's short for 'Shugosha', which means 'guardian'. I thought that was suitin' since he'd grow ta be a warrior & protector of Earth someday like his twin sister would too.