The last episode of DBZ was extremely emotional for me. So fueled by emotion and hope, I sat down and spent the next few days writing this out.
I Still Believe
A lump swelled in my throat as the image of a laughing Goku and Uub shot off towards the horizon and disappeared off my TV screen. There was no 'next time on Dragonball Z'. The credits with the electric guitar music started right away.
It was Monday, the seventh of April in the year two thousand and three, and the last episode of Dragonball Z had just ended. With a heavy heart I stopped the VCR from recording, erased the program set to record it in case I wasn't home when the show was on and turned everything off.
"...and that's that," I whispered with tears in my eyes, "Thanks for the great adventures, guys. But I won't let it go, you won't fade away from me." With my left hand I reached over to pick up my Piccolo action figure - a gift for my twenty-second birthday - and brushed my finger across the plastic scowling face. I always keep it right in front of my computer so I can see it all the time.
My dad's shadow slipped across the wall in the family room. He appeared in my bedroom doorway with a Diet Pepsi in his hand and sat down when I cleared my rear out of the computer chair. I didn't say anything to him.
I exited my bedroom, turned
left and went into the bedroom right next door to watch some more TV. Yu
Yu Hakusho was on, but I couldn't focus on the program. DBZ was over, all
I had were the tapes and reruns. It would never be the same! I felt a knot
of pain in my throat. Another formed deep in the middle of my pelvis, a
fire that tightened my abdominal muscles. Damn cramps, it was the second
day of my period and I was as wretched as ever, emotionally and physically.
My head hurts, my uterus hurts, my butt hurts and all I want is more DBZ,
dammit! Tears threatened to fall, but didn't quite make it to my eyes.
I wanted it to hurry up and be past eight o'clock so I could sneak back
online.
Eight o'clock came slowly and went fast. I returned to my room after the usual evening talk with my dad that he and I do every night before he goes to sleep. I always give him a kiss and paddle his butt - something I've always done since I was little. If he's bent over or not looking I always give him a smack and he'd go 'oof, who paddled my butt?' or I'd say 'It needs a bullseye!' Don't get it in a wrong light, it's something I've done since I was really little and thought the sound of my hand hitting his pants was funny. Sometimes it still is to me.
Upon entering my room again, I shut the door and flipped on the computer while turning on my tape, which held the first episodes of DBZ. The guy who role plays as Freeza was on, his name is James, and I talked to him for awhile. He lamented over the end of our favorite show along with me and made me feel a bit better. I gave him the link to my site where the tale of my adventures with Piccolo sat, waiting to be read again. James liked the site and started to read the story, but he had to go, and told me he bookmarked the site. I laughed and let him go.
Look out, Void, another Believer knows you exist.
I was then compelled by a strange urge to open the site myself and read. I read my own story again, reliving the experiences and feelings. Then I heard my dad sneeze in the next room. Fearing I'd get caught online when I shouldn't be, I shut off the computer and wandered out of my room to take all the medicines I take before retiring at night. I said all my prayers and did all my nightly rituals(this is an autism thing that I happen to do) so I'd be ready to hit the sack without interruption.
But once the lights were out, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. My cramps got worse when I laid down. Not unbearable, but extremely annoying. They say cramps are caused by the uterus contracting too hard or too fast....hell...mine was probably twisting in knots! Hopefully the Tylenol will kick in and relieve me.
Through the pain I started missing DBZ for the millionth time. Watching tapes did nothing to make the empty feeling disappear.
I shut my door again, turned on the bedside light and pondered what to do until I felt tired enough to sleep. Something under the bed drew my gaze, so I reached down and pulled the blue plastic rolling tray out from under my bed. In it were all the odds and ends I've collected over the years:
My mass of buttons in a Rubbermaid container, I still collect buttons if I find them on the ground. Old doll clothes that go on Barbie dolls I don't own anymore(I miss my Mermaid Barbie, she was my fave!). Controllers for the Nintendo, which I no longer have. Old cassette tape cases without labels or tapes. A Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers pencil...the Pink Ranger was my favorite. Batteries for my flashlight. The motherboard of a broken Nintendo cartridge I'd dismantled out of curiosity. Some Jurassic Park pogs and a few slammers from back in the day when milk caps were in. The blue and silver tassel from my high school graduation cap, go Villa Park Spartans! A fake heart I used as a prop on Halloween. Cables for my old stereo that are useless now.
And a little metal box.
Ahhhh, that brought back some memories that made me smile! I lifted the tiny stainless steel box into my palm and flipped it open, revealing the small orange orb and gleaming chain. Fourteen stars glittered hopefully when I ran my finger over the smooth bauble.
"Hello," I whispered lovingly, "It's been a long time since I've seen you...two years? Yeah." Two years for me, seventeen years in the DBZ realm. Did Piccolo still remember me after all that time? Was it worth the risk of going back to his world to see him?
Yes, it was. I needed his comfort...that is if I hadn't become just another face in his memory.
I slipped the necklace over my head, pulled my long hair out from underneath the chain and flopped down onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. The sparkling orb fell to the middle of my chest, right underneath the image of Piccolo on my gray DBZ T-shirt. Small tingling sensations slid through my body, the cool chain warming against the back of my neck. Above my dresser, the mirror shimmered and rippled.
Ever since I'd moved to a new home, I wondered if Piccolo came through the mirrored closet doors in my old place and found it empty. Moving was a nightmare, but fortunately my bedroom is arranged pretty much as it was in the old house. Except my computer is set up on the opposite wall since there's a window on the north wall. My dresser is next to the bed and my Piccolo poster, now in a gold frame, is up on the wall by my east facing window. It's visible from the ground outside, anybody walking past my house at night can see it if I have the blinds open.
I miss having air-conditioning in this little nineteen fifties house. It has central heating. That means the rooms are a little small, but the layout is neat. I can walk from my parents' bedroom to their bathroom, turn right, pass through the kitchen, turn right again and go through the living room and family room to come right back where I started.
But, dammit, I MISS AIR-CONDITIONING! California heat sucks without it, and my room always seems to be the hottest next to the kitchen after mom was cooking in it. It doesn't matter how much I do or don't open my windows, on the hottest days my room is a friggin sweat lodge. Even at night.
There were only three mirrors in my house large enough to travel between realities. The mirror above my dresser, the mirror above my mom's dresser and the mirror on my dad's closet door. I chose my dresser mirror, which was the only one I could use without waking anyone else up.
I cleared off the dresser so I wouldn't break anything, much of what I kept there was irreplaceable. Then I climbed on and crawled into the black, shape-festooned void I hadn't seen in ages. I stood up. Ahead of me stretched a shimmer coming from whatever surface I was going to exit through. I had to be very careful, if I came out the bottom of an airplane or Korin Tower, I would be dead meat.
My tentative steps found me gazing out across the front of Kami's...er....Dende's Lookout. I pushed through the edge of a tall, silver refrigerator and fell flat on the floor. That didn't help my cramps much. Darn it. Well at least I know that Bulma was probably bitchy because she had cramps too, so I can't complain about her complaining too much anymore.
The kitchen was pretty deserted. I helped myself to a gulp of chilled water from the fridge and walked out into the fading daylight. More silence. Then came a flapping noise, a sound I knew all too well.
Piccolo stood pensively at the edge of the Lookout with his head bowed and his arms crossed. All those old feelings I'd been carrying around rushed back to the surface until the world sparkled. I could hardly control the pounding of my heart or my shaking frame as I walked closer to the tall, green figure, my bare feet making no sound on the chilly marble ground. I stopped and stood beside him like it was perfectly normal and no time had passed since we were apart. My hair soon joined the motion of his cape.
He didn't look any different than when I last saw him. Not a day older. Then again, neither did I. My hair got longer. Wow, big deal.
Finally I couldn't take the silence anymore. Just as I was turning to speak, Piccolo released a deep, rumbling sigh and spoke first, "I knew you'd come." Then he turned to me, opened his eyes and curled half his mouth into a smirk. I saw a smile behind his dynamic onyx eyes. Eyes that still captivated me in their endless darkness. My heart started beating a lot faster than it was before.
I made no effort to control the smile pulling at my cheeks and replied softly, "I had to come see you again...I was afraid you'd forgotten about me in all those years that went by and all."
"Feh," Piccolo's smirk made one eye squint, mocking me playfully. Then he broke into a warm grin that flashed his fangs and lit up his whole face. His rare, wonderful smile. He reached into his belt, produced a familiar gold band and placed it on his ring finger where it gleamed brightly in the setting sun. "There was rarely a day that I didn't think about you at least once. I must be going soft."
I giggled and showed him my left hand. Because I was sick on Christmas and lost weight(down to seventy-seven fricken pounds!), I'd shifted the gold band to my middle finger, but it was still there. Then I got serious and hung my head, "So Goku went off to train Uub...and the adventure is over in my world. Now they'll air the next series, GT, I think...but not for a while."
Piccolo heaved a heavy sigh and placed a hand under my chin. He raised my head up and met my eyes fiercely, "Just because you don't see our adventures doesn't mean they don't still happen. You still have Believers out there writing about us, dreaming about us and talking about us. More still come to see the story you wrote about our great adventure with Void - "
"...and that reminds me... Piccolo, let's sit down for this."
The green alien nodded and lowered into the lotus position. I lowered in front of him, our knees touching, and took a deep breath.
I told him all about September eleventh, the constant threat of terrorism and the war going on in Iraq. I told him everything I knew about Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, which wasn't much. I had to explain to him that countries were like giant cities with small villages inside - a concept he understood better - and just how evil Saddam's behavior truly is. I told him about what he did to the Kurds and the rest of his people. Of how he lived lavishly, hogging up money that should be buying food for his country. What a pig! This dictator is just like Freeza was when he was evil. Right down to killing people who tell him news he doesn't want to hear!
" - so that's all I know, and it's horrible! I think it's Void coming back again...seriously! Piccolo, let's go to Iraq and kick Saddam's ass ourselves! We can stop this war together!" I pumped my fist in the air, "We can beat him!"
Piccolo eyed me strangely, a sharply-defined brow ridge pricked higher than its counterpart and raising the perpetual shadow off one gleaming eye. He sobered, inhaled and gave me his matter-of-fact response, "Cyndi, we can't interfere with the war in your world."
My fist dropped. I facevaulted sideways. Then my head grew three times its size, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING?! INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THIS STUPID WAR! WE CAN STOP IT!!!"
"HEY!" Piccolo snarled at me, baring his ever-sexy fangs. Startling me into calming down. He continued when my head was clear, "If you go saving your world from everything that happens to it, the people will never learn to save themselves. Goku had the idea when he trained Goten and Trunks and then went off to train Uub...he couldn't be around all the time, you know. Besides, if you got involved it would upset the balance again. THAT would spawn another Void. And if another Void was spawned, she'd be more powerful than the last one." He closed his shining eyes and lowered his head thoughtfully, "It's funny....Void was right when she said nobody could ever defeat her power. From what you've said, her threat still exists. So you have to stay out of the fight, kid. It's hard, I know, but you have to trust your world's warriors."
I sighed and unconsciously took Piccolo's large green hand in mine. He used his free hand to reach over my shoulder and gently pull my hair perpendicular with my head. All three and a half feet of it. "It's gotten longer since I last saw ya. If you go super, you'll have Vegeta beat." He let it drop again placed his arm back where it was.
"Yeah...human hair grows a lot if it's left alone." I smiled, "At least the length of mine startles people into a second look. It keeps me from being too plain."
The Namek eyeballed me, "Careful, don't get lost underneath it all."
I caught the gleam in his eye and smiled, Piccolo actually made a joke! "Very funny...I could get naked and ride a horse like Lady Godiva."
He sweatdropped and obviously didn't have a clue who I was talking about. I shook my head to dismiss it and scooted over, curling up in his lap. The stupid cramps were back again with a vengeance and Piccolo's lap was the perfect place to weather the pain. I wrapped part of his cape around myself and cuddled my cheek against his chest. I still think his cape is made out of the same material as bedsheets, or something extremely similar.
Poor Piccolo was in such an awkward spot! He grumbled under his breath and placed a careful arm around me, although I'm sure he just wanted to disappear in embarrassment. "Are you...uh.... what's wrong with you?"
Now it was my turn to sweatdrop. "It's um....ah....a female thing. Too gross to explain. You remember those certain days in the time chamber where I was completely miserable and getting blood everywhere? Same thing."
He shuddered at the memory, as did I. There weren't any pads in there(and I didn't think to go buy a whole bunch before going in) so everything I sat on, slept in and wore was a bloody, nasty mess! Yuck indeed! Even my Namekian friend over there was disgusted with it because he had to keep making me a new gi every day. I laugh about it now, but at the time it wasn't much fun.
I also remembered that wonderful day when Piccolo and I made love in the bath pit, and blushed profusely. Unable to contain myself, I cooed, "You're still as sexy as ever, you know."
Purple gathered in his cheeks and he chuckled at me, shaking his head. I felt his chest bounce under my cheek. "You haven't changed one bit, have you?" He seemed pleased at this. His intense gaze bore into my skull and I looked up to meet it.
"Glad to know someone appreciates me for staying as I am." I gave his hand a pat and climbed off his lap before he removed me himself. One thing I learned about Piccolo is he doesn't mind affection as long as it doesn't go on for too long. I missed his warmth already. "I wish I could've met Goku. I probably should have the last time I was here, but he was kinda busy with Vegeta and all..."
Piccolo smirked and shook his head, "Goku is as reliable as the weather. He's so into helping other people that he'll ditch a party just to go save some eggs."
"I saw that!" I laughed, "And you tapping your foot at the party...and ChiChi throwing her back out....heheh, it was good seeing you get out and have some fun." I took hold of his muscular arm and went on with my jabber, "But it bothers me that Goku and the other Saiyajins grew so strong and you fell into the background. You haven't given up fighting completely, have you?"
"You forget that those guys are a powerful race of fighters. I don't have the appetite for power that I used to, so no, it doesn't bother me as much as it would have years ago." The tall, green man shifted and peered down at me after absorbing the last part of my question. An old glint shimmered through his slanted eyes, "Me? Give up fighting? Never! I still do if I really have to."
"But you said you were getting too old for that when you went to the Tournament. You're not THAT old, Piccolo! You're what? Thirty-one in Earth years, I think...my math still sucks. Sheesh that makes you older than I am now." However I couldn't avoid giggling, if Nameks aged two years for every Earth year, that meant he was sixty-two in Namek years! And he was only fourteen Earth years old when I met him! Twenty-eight Namek years. Yikes! Okay, maybe he was a little on the middle-aged side.
He snorted and looked away again, over at the horizon where the sun was riding low in the sky. "Actually I didn't see the point in entering a competition I knew I wouldn't win."
I nodded and fell silent again, unable to find anything else to speak about. Finally, though, I asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where village is that Goku went with Uub, would you?"
Piccolo shook his head, frowning, "But I'm sure I'll sense him when he and Uub really get heavy on the training. Don't worry about Goku, Cyndi, he'll be fine. He knows what he's doing."
My lips curled into a half smirk and I nodded my head. Again came the silence. I linked my fingers together behind my back and wandered a few steps closer to the edge of the Lookout. Close enough to see over the edge, but not so close that I could look straight down. Thousands of feet below me stretched the glorious expanse of soft green forest and puffy white clouds. Piccolo stayed where he was. I got the feeling that he was watching me, but I didn't peek over my shoulder to check. I watched the bright sun turn orange and dip under the horizon in a splash of gold, red and pink.
Soon the stars were peeking out all around us. I stretched my hands up as if to touch them and smiled, they seemed so close!
Behind me, Piccolo chuckled and I pulled my hands down. Heat flooded my cheeks. For a moment there I'd forgotten I wasn't alone. "Um...I can't help it! The sky's so pretty!" I turned to Piccolo and smiled shyly, "Why don't we go fly around for awhile? It'll be like old times! Dende wouldn't mind, would he? I mean...well you know...he can take care of himself for a while, can't he?"
The tall, sexy Namek shrugged his cape-festooned shoulders and tilted his head at me, "He's a grown Namek now, I'm sure he can handle this place on his own." Piccolo uncrossed his arms, letting his hands fall at his sides while he gazed down at me.
"Then let's go..." I put my hands on his chest, tried to give him a shake and grinned. Trying to shake Piccolo is like trying to move a redwood tree - impossible. "Please? For old time's sake," to ensure a more positive response, I made sure my eyes were as wide and anime-ishly innocent as possible. If anything it'd ANNOY him into doing it!
Piccolo heaved a large, dramatic sigh through his nose and mouth. "You're impossible," he rumbled coolly, but he went along with it. I felt him bend down to slide a hand under my hair and onto my back, and the other arm reached behind my knees. Without effort he lifted my small body close to his. I wrapped my arms securely around his neck and nuzzled my forehead against his smooth cheek. He still had a scent of salt and the outdoors about him.
"Ready?" He asked, his whispery voice right near my ear.
"You bet," I whispered back, still unable to contain the silly smile plastered to my face.
With that, Piccolo approached the edge of the Lookout. He pushed off with his feet and glided across the open air like a boat on water. It was such a rush to know that we should have been falling and his ki was the only reason we didn't both drop to our deaths. I clung a little tighter to Piccolo's neck as he banked right and flew for a while, carrying me over the well-lit Satan City. Some of the stars must have fallen to create all those twinkling little lights on the ground.
Then, out of the blue, Piccolo pulled up and yanked me into a giant loop. I screamed in surprise and clutched him in a death grip. "AAAAAH! Don't do that without telling me!"
"What?" He did it again, faster, and then for good measure he pulled a corkscrew turn and a barrel roll. All within the space of thirty seconds. I was effectively dizzy, spiral eyes and all. "This?" he added on, his tone mocking as his cape untangled from around us.
I regained my composure and laughed out loud, "You ass...okay NOW I'm ready! Since when did you get a sense of humor, anyway?"
Piccolo just shook his head and turned around, heading the way we came. "I dunno. Maybe it's from hanging around Goku so much." He scowled ahead, obsidian eyes reflecting sparkles from the sky and city below. Those gorgeous eyes still held my universe within them. Another turn, not quite as sharp as before, and then suddenly.....down again! Back up! Around and higher still!
"WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shrieked with the thrill.
Next thing I knew, Piccolo and I were floating above the half-thrashed World Martial Arts Tournament arena. Piccolo took me down and I was able to stand barefoot on the, rough, cold stone arena floor where all of the Z fighters fought in the tournaments. It was pretty neat to see just how huge the place really was, probably around the size of a baseball stadium. Hard to tell since stadiums are round and this arena was a large square like Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
I walked forward to inspect the craters Goku and Uub left behind. The biggest one went down underground, but it was too dark to see how far. It stretched from one side of the arena floor to the other. I picked up a small piece of stone as large as my fist and stuck it in my shorts pocket as a souvenir.
"Wow! A TV just doesn't do battle damage justice!"
Piccolo smirked. "No kidding," and swept me up in his long arms once again.
We passed the Lookout and dove towards the desert where he trained Gohan so long ago. Feeling the cool night wind rush over my skin and hearing it swirl through his cape, as well as knowing I was safe in his arms, gave me a great sense of peace and satisfaction.
I shut my eyes and inhaled his scent, "This is what I missed the most...flying with you."
His angular green features softened a little, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, me too." Then he glared at me and hardened his tone. "But that doesn't mean I'm going soft, either!"
It made me laugh, that was so typical of him! I craned my neck up and kissed his wind-cooled cheek. "I'd be worried if you went soft. No, seriously! But you look pretty cute when you laugh like you did at Mr. Satan that one episode. Go champ!"
Piccolo snickered loudly at that, "I was laughing at the stupidity of the people. They'd buy anything with Mr. Satan's face on it, and they still do. Even though he's getting balder and uglier by the day, his fans just don't give up."
"Piccolo, your fans are the same way in my world." I burst into giggles against his shoulderpad, "Except you're not even close to getting ugly."
That got another chuckle from him, though faint and noticeable only by the movement of his chest. "Thanks...I think." He banked right and carried me through a wispy cloud that chilled me with cool mist.
I sighed, unable to stop myself any longer. "Oh, just come here," I grabbed his furthest ear and pulled his head around so I could kiss him full on the mouth. Then I pulled back and said, "Now don't tell me you forgot how to do this in your 'old age'."
Piccolo wrinkled his nose at me and let go of my legs so he could grab the back of my head. He yanked my face nearer to his and ravaged my mouth with his tongue. Then he pulled back and grabbed my legs like before, smirking smugly at my flushed face, "Does that answer your question?
"Yyyyyyyyyeahhh...very much so...wow..." I replied blissfully, completely in Piccolo-overload, starry eyes and all. My heart pounded so hard I thought it was about to escape my chest and my body became a giant wad of jelly. I don't think anyone in the universe can kiss like he does.
Piccolo just shook his head at me again and slipped me to arm's length, his large hands wrapping completely around my five-and-a-half inch diameter wrists like they were twigs. He bent one leg and twirled me around, then pulled me up and flipped over until I was dizzy yet again, but this time in a good way. "Had enough yet?"
"Never!" I hugged him again when he eased me back to his chest. Flipping me around in a stomach-turning ride won't make me sick unless I just ate a big meal, which I hadn't done before I came here. Once again I'd run out of things to say. The awkward silence returned, but I don't think Piccolo minded it that much. Just being in his presence was enough to make me happy.
I let my head fall back so I could see his handsome face at the edge of my vision, and beyond it the stars flickering like diamonds on blue-black velvet. They hung just out of reach. So close and yet so far. Up here with the one I dream of, nothing can touch me. It was so wonderful to be flying high in those strong arms again. A place where the rest of the world couldn't reach me.
"Piccolo?" My voice came out small against the wind, we were turning around a mountain and drifting higher up again.
His head turned, those hooded black orbs fixing onto me, urging me to continue.
"Do you ever get scared? I mean....scared of everything just crashing around you and you won't be able to do anything to undo it?"
Piccolo squinted at me and raised his gaze ahead again, but I saw that he was pondering his reply carefully. He rose up through another cloud and gave me his soft response, "Sometimes, but I don't think about it all the time. Besides," there was that smile again, so rare and wonderful, "I know there's always people like you and the Believers around to help me keep everything in line."
I picked my head up and grinned back at him, "True...I feel safer knowing you're around to protect me. I know it sounds stupid but...sometimes if I'm in a situation where I'm really afraid or upset, I just imagine you standing behind me like you were when we fought with Void, and I don't feel as frightened."
My Namekian friend shrugged one shoulder allowed himself another smirk, "Visualizing is good exercise for your confidence. I use it all the time."
"Ahh." I placed my head against his shoulder and covered my mouth, a huge yawn overcoming me. The gentle motions of Piccolo's body as he flew were slowly making me drowsy. Spots and glowing thatch patterns danced in front of my eyes, the kind I see when I'm pretty close to falling asleep on the spot.
Piccolo frowned at me when I yawned three more times within thirty seconds, "Are you up putzing around when you should be asleep?"
"Mmhmm," came my sleepy answer.
He seemed to ponder a minute, while I shut my eyes and fit my forehead against his cheek again. In my half-dozing state I felt him pull a hairpin turn and head back the way we came from. By the time we reached the Lookout and Piccolo spoke to me again, it was far away and echoing, "Where did you come from when you came here?" I was jolted from being almost asleep. It gave me that rushing, swirling sensation of a moving elevator.
I picked my head up to stay awake a little longer. "The uh...fridge...from the mirror above my dresser. It's a tight fit. Best to tuck your legs up and fly through my side."
Piccolo nodded his turban-adorned head, his face stoic. He took my suggestion and I soon found myself in the warm darkness of my room. The door was still shut, nobody would look in on me so I had nothing to worry about. Piccolo moved to drop me on the bed, but I clutched onto the front of his purple gi and gazed at him.
"No...please, just hold me until I'm asleep, okay? Please, just this once, Piccolo?"
Hot breath rushed over my cranium, ruffling my bangs. Broad shoulders heaved under several pounds of cloth and metal. "Sure," the tone was apathetic. In my room he knew nobody would come along and catch him being gentle.
Piccolo sat down in the lotus position, facing my bed with his back against the wall. I curled up in his lap, my head against his chest so I could hear his methodical heartbeat. In the light from my bedside lamp, I got a great look at his face.
Gone was some of the perfect teenage smoothness that I saw when he first entered my world. He had a few lines starting around his eyes. Otherwise he looked exactly the same - perfect. I stroked his cheek with my palm, kissed my fingertips and touched them to his moist lips. Then I gave him another kiss with my mouth. "I still love you, you know. Always will."
Piccolo's reply? A faint grunt that hid a smile. I watched him squint at the bedside lamp, using his mind to turn it off. The room became instantly dark. He shoved a hand down into my pocket, removed the piece of stone I stuffed in it before it jabbed him in a bad spot, and dropped it next to his foot. Then his palm passed over my scalp, smoothing my hair down. He eased my head back onto his chest. Back to the heartbeat I discovered had picked up its tempo a little, "Shhh, sleep now." I felt him lean back a bit and wrap both edges of his cape around me so I'd be more comfortable. It was like being wrapped in the wings of an angel.
Piccolo, forever my guardian angel.
It was getting harder to stay awake. The warmth of the Namek's muscular body against mine gradually took away the chill of our flight. My eyes were so heavy and focusing them grew more difficult. I stopped trying, letting myself go limp. Just before drifting off, I felt his warm lips touch mine. His kiss followed me into my dreams.
That night, tucked safely
in Piccolo's arms, I slept better than I'd ever slept in my life.
Morning found me curled up under the covers of my bed, hugging my stuffed Wile E. Coyote. It was ten o'clock. My mom had already put the cordless phone in my room and left to do her volunteer work at the church. The bedroom door gaped open, my cat Cutie Pie was asleep on the foot of the bed and the other two cats were chasing each other through the short hallway. Dickens galloped into my room and slid under the bed before Susie could catch her.
Piccolo was nowhere to be found. Was it all a dream?
I glanced over to see everything was back on my dresser, not one little trinket was out of place.
Sighing bitterly, I threw my covers off and hopped out of bed on the side near the wall where Piccolo sat with me. It wasn't the usual side I got up from, but I didn't want to chance getting clawed if Dickens decided to swat at me from her hiding place.
Before I could even take two steps, I smashed my toe against a piece of white stone laying on the floor by the wall. I reached down to pick it up, tossed it in the air and caught it in my fist, grinning with relief at my reflection in the rippling mirror.
Piccolo was right! Just because the series stopped doesn't mean the adventures are over. They're just beginning.
And I still believe.
Do you?