Gohan cradled his mentor's body, whimpering his name over and over in a vain attempt in forgetting the events he had just witnessed. He didn't want to believe he'd heard that awful scream. He didn't want to believe that he had seen the blood coming from that gaping wound in Piccolo's chest. He didn't want to believe he'd seen such a heartwrenching look in Piccolo's eyes before he collasped. He didn't want to believe there was a half-clotted wound on Piccolo's chest.
That's when it hit him.

The wound was clotting. That meant Piccolo's immune system hadn't shut down. That meant that...

Gohan gasped. This meant that Piccolo was still alive.
Gohan's breath hitched and hiccuped with every breath he took. He felt so overwhelmingly happy that his beloved mentor wasn't dead in his arms. Gohan laid his head down on Piccolo's shoulder, not caring if more blood smeared his features. He tightend his grip upon Piccolo's unconcious form, imagining that Piccolo was hugging him back.

Gohan sat up and began the task of hoisting Piccolo up with him. Gohan knew full well that he could not bring Piccolo to Capsule Corp.for treatment, The Lookout wasn't the most friendly place at the moment, he doubted seriously if Master Roshi would welcome Piccolo into the Turtle House, and after the damage done to his apartment, he didn't think his landlord would be gungho on the idea of Piccolo staying there. Gohan frantically searched his mind for the answer to his problem.
A sullen wind blew in from the far west, bringing with it the warmth and comfort of the desert.
Gohan's mind snapped to attention, he now had his answer. With a quick hop into the air, he and Piccolo flew to the west.

"I'm cold." Was Piccolo's first concious thought as he lay on the cold stone floor. He had no idea were he was or how he got there. All he could remember was Daimou's scream, and passing out on the grass. Now he was on his back on some icy stone surface. He lay there in his own darkness for what seemed hours, before asking himself one question;
"Is this hell?"

Gohan massaged the area around Piccolo's wound with the medicinal paste he'd made from various plants. All the while he watched the green face below him for any signs of discomfort, with every movement he made came a glance towards the handsome face below him. He couldn't believe how sexy Piccolo looked...even when he was unconcious. With his other hand,Gohan slowly began to lightly stroke his pecs.
"His skin is so...smooth." Gohan thought whimsicly.
Gohan took one last cautious look up at Piccolo's face,he didn't want Piccolo to wake up to see what he was doing to him. He couldn't help himself anymore.
Gohan slowly lowered his head, and lightly kissed Piccolo's muscled chest.

Gohan froze when he heard Piccolo moan. He ripped his lips back from Piccolo's chest and staring into Piccolo's face, hoping he would not see anger there. He didn't. Piccolo hadn't even opened his eyes yet. Piccolo moaned again, twisting his head ever so slightly, and began to open his eyes.

Piccolo could only see a blurred figure leaning over him. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest forced him back onto his back. He couldn't move, which meant he couldn't defend himself. He could feel panic slowly filling his nerves. It wasn't until his eyes began to focus that his fear subsided. Looking down on him was the cause of both his heartache, and his heartbeat.
"Gohan..."

Gohan watched as Piccolo struggled to speak to him. The wound in his chest was slowly seeping blood, mingling it with the medicine Gohan had placed around it.
"Gohan..." Piccolo murmured.
Gohan wanted to stop him, but he felt glued in his current position.
"Gohan...I...I'm so sorry. I tried to stop him. I didn't want to do those things." Piccolo choked out to him.
Gohan felt an underlying sense of being cheated. He wanted to here those three words he'd wanted to hear since he was thirteen. He almost felt like striking something to take the edge off his anger. What brought him back to reality was Piccolo pulling himself into a sitting position. What startled him even more was that Piccolo had never broken eye contact with him.

The two men sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Unbeknownst to both of them, each was wishing the other would just say the words each of them had wanted to hear for so long. It was Piccolo who finally broke the silence. He looked at the paste surrounding the wound on his chest.
"What's this?" He asked, almost smugly.
"It's for your wounds, sit back while I put the rest on." Gohan responded, sounding harsher than he really meant to be.

He moved closer to Piccolo's form, and resumed massaging the wound with the paste. Gohan could feel thefeeling inside of him growing even more heavy; he had never been this close to Piccolo. He found it alluring how smooth Piccolo's jade lips looked up close.
Piccolo studied every feature he had come to know so well on the young man before him. He decided he couldn't take it anymore, he decided he didn't care whether Gohan was angry at him for this or not.
"Gohan,"
Gohan looked up, anxiously wondering what his mentor would say to him.

Piccolo pulled Gohan's face to his own, kissing him with all the passion he could.

Yeah, another cliffy. I just love doing that to all of you. You're all such great Reviewers. I'd like to give a special thank you to all my 'regulars'. It's all of you that encourage me to get onto here and update these fanfics. They're more successful than I had ever hoped them to be. Thank you.