We Are The Same
A/N... I was inspired to write this when I watched Tarzan two times in a row. I watched it alone than a friend came over and she wanted to watch it, so there you go. This is set when the Nameks are on Earth and they are about to go on their new planet, New Namek (very original) So after the Frieza Saga.
Gohan knew something was up with Mister Piccolo as soon as he woke up. Normally the first thing he thought of when he woke up was food, but today was different. This morning his mind was on his Namek mentor. He rubbed his chest as if it was hurting him but it wasn't physical pain, it was emotional but the weird thing was, it wasn't him that was hurting, it felt like an echo. He sat up and he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the sunlight spilled from his window. He glanced at the clock and yawned when he saw that the time was around 5:30am. His mom should be up by now, making a big breakfast for him and when he listen he could hear her soft footsteps in the kitchen.
He looked at the window and focused his intention on his mentor that was about 100 miles away, which lately, was pretty far. He focused on his mentor's ki and noticed that it was pretty low, nothing to worry about though since that normally happened when Piccolo would meditate but this time it was different and he had to find out why. He softly jumped out of bed so his mother wouldn't hear him get up and he slowly put on a different shirt and pant. It wasn't his fighting gi that Mister Piccolo gave him, it was just a normal shirt with two buttons at the collar and his pants were just a pair of black sweatpants. He looked behind him just to make sure his mom wouldn't charge through the door and yell at him for leaving to go see Mister Piccolo, who she called a green demon or monster, but when she never appeared he jumped through the open window and headed off towards his mentor's ki.
As he flew the pain got worse, it felt like there was a hole where his heart should be but yet again it wasn't physical pain it was emotional and now that he was getting closer to Piccolo's location Gohan could feel his ki go up and down very slowly, as if he was fighting something off. Gohan frowned and sped up.
He landed in a forest just a few hundred feet off from where Mister Piccolo was at, he wanted to see what his mentor was doing before talking to him but he silently chuckled to himself since he knew that his mentor would have sensed and heard him by now. But when he got to the edge of the forest he was surprised that Piccolo wasn't standing waiting for him but instead he was in his meditation position in front of a river looking into the water. Gohan walked a little closer and noticed that one of Mister Piccolo's hands was grabbing his chest, just like he was. He walked closer and closer to his mentor but the Namek never said anything. Maybe Mister Piccolo didn't know he was here but ever since the boy knew Piccolo he could never sneak up on the green warrior, and boy did he try and he would get a good beating for trying too.
Gohan stopped when he was directly behind Piccolo, he was so close he could touch him but he didn't. He just stood there and watched as Piccolo touched the base of his ears and moved his fingers out to the very tips of his very long pointed ears. Gohan was worried when he heard Piccolo sigh. His mentor never shown emotions, even when Gohan pretended to sleep during a few nights during the year when they were training to fight Nappa and Vegeta. He shuttered at the thought of that battle but now was not the time to think about the past.
After a minute of standing behind Mister Piccolo he finally spoke up, "Mister Piccolo?" Gohan had to jump out of the way as Piccolo jumped up on his feet and turned around so fast that if the boy wouldn't have moved he would have been hit by one of the shoulder weights Piccolo had on. After a spilt second Piccolo looked down at the boy, crossed his arms and growled, "What are you doing here brat? You know your mother is going to blame me if you go missing again." Gohan scratched the back of his head, something he picked up from his father, "When I woke up my heart hurt, but it felt like an echo pain and I noticed your ki was going up and down so I just wanted to make sure you are okay." After a second, "Are you okay Mister Piccolo?" The Namek looked at the boy and turned around and sat down again. "I'm fine boy, go home to your crazy mother."
Gohan walked to the side of his mentor, "But Mister Piccolo, I know something is wrong. It's that bond you told me about earlier, the way how we can feel how the other is feeling sometimes." Piccolo glanced at the boy at his side and snarled, "Go home kid." Gohan crossed his arms, just like how Piccolo does it and shook his head, "You always do this, you lash out at people when he don't know what you're feeling. Like that one time you beat me until I was unconscious when you started to get know me." Gohan sat on the ground next to Piccolo, "So why does my heart feel like there is a whole in it?"
For a few minutes the only thing Gohan could hear as the soft bubble of the river, the animals going along the forest floor and both of their breathing and he just waited. He knew that Piccolo would take his time to form an answer to a question he wasn't comfortable answering, finally, "I don't belong here, I'm leaving with my people Gohan."
Gohan's head snapped around to meet his mentor's look he opened his mouth but nothing came out. He tried again but this time words just flew from his mouth, "But you just came back from the Otherworld and we haven't trained a lot since you came back. We haven't spent a lot of time together." He jumped up as tears were forming in his eyes, "You can't leave Mister Piccolo. Who would train me?" The tears started to fall and he jumped to his feet, "You can't leave. Not again." He wiped the tears away, "Plus they are not your people Mister Piccolo. Just because they are the same race as you doesn't mean you are one of them."
Gohan wiped more tears away as Piccolo just looked at him in silence and he said softly, "Look at me Gohan." He raised Gohan's small head so they could make eye contact, "Look at me, I'm not one of you. I'm not human nor am I a Saiyan, I'm a Namek Gohan. I will never belong on this planet and that's why I'm leaving." Gohan bit his lip and shook his head, "It doesn't matter what you look like Mister Piccolo, you belong here, on Earth not New Namek." Piccolo sighed, and crossed his arms again, "Besides you Gohan no one wants me on this planet, I have caused so much harm on the others that they still hate me for it and would probably still try to kill me if they had the chance too." Gohan blinked, "But this is your home Mister Piccolo. You can't leave."
Piccolo growled, "Look at me Gohan, I don't belong here." Gohan pointed at Piccolo, "I am looking at you Mister Piccolo! I see an Earthling not a Namek." Piccolo snorted, "I am not an Earthling, if you haven't noticed I'm green, boy." Gohan took a deep breath to calm himself, "It doesn't matter what color you are, this is your home. I'll show you." He stood up touched Piccolo's face with his small hand, he ignored the growl that escaped Piccolo, "See? You have two eyes, like mine." He moved his small hand to Piccolo's nose. "You have a nose, like mine." He touched Piccolo's ears, which caused another growl to escape but he paid it no mind, "And you have two ears like mine." A pause, "Well kind of."
Piccolo grabbed the kid's hands before he could go further but the boy moved his hands so their palms where touching and Piccolo could feel how big his hand was compared to the boy's hands.
Gohan looked at Piccolo's hands that dwarfed his own. His small five fingered hand wasn't even in Piccolo's palm and Piccolo's four fingered hand was at least five times bigger. He frowned when he noticed Piccolo look away with a hint of sadness. This didn't get to him like I thought. He grabbed Piccolo's hand and put it against his broad chest, "Forget what you see and now what do you feel?" A moment passed and Piccolo blinked, "My heart." Gohan nodded and moved the hand to his small chest, "Now what do you feel?" Other moment passed, "Your heart." Gohan smiled and hugged Piccolo, "See? We are exactly the same."
Piccolo smiled when Gohan hugged him, since when did this kid so wise? He didn't hug back of course but he didn't push the boy away either. He looked at his four fingered hand again, "Maybe I do belong here." He softly whispered.
A/N... Well this is my first Dragon Ball Z fanfiction EVER so please be nice with the reviews. I know Piccolo is a little OC in this but you know he gets all soft when Gohan is around. I've always wanted to know why Piccolo stayed on Earth when the other Nameks left to go New Namek so here is my take on it. If they did go over this in Dragon Ball Z I must have forgotten it because I haven't seen it since I was a kid but now I'm watching it again but I'm only in the middle of the Frieza Saga.