The Torment 14: Second Chances, and Surprises!
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.
To be continued!