The Torment 15: Adjustments
Disclaimer: (Insert clever and witty remark, then add
standard disclaimer.)
A/N: Yes, Piccolo and just about everyone else has been OOC.
This is a fanfic, get over it, and I will try to correct my mistakes. Please
review, I don't ask usually, but I want to see if this will affect the number I
get, so, ONEGAI review!
Piccolo was
a Namek, with a very interesting life.
For one, he
was trying to get used to the fact that he was a mother. Long story short, he
got married to Son Goku because of a curse that turned him into a girl with
cold water, the curse got stuck, Gohan reacted to her pheromones, and they
seemed to think that they were rabbits for a while. A madman, who could still
be out there, had kidnapped Piccolo, tried to kill the baby that resulted from
their enthusiastic rabbit performance, and turned Piccolo back into a girl.
Serious angst ensued, and Piccolo wished that they would forget the whole
thing. Literally. Although he did want to remember, himself, and he later
coughed up the previously thought lost baby, whom he named Pan Pipe, nicknamed
Imp.
Burp
Looking
down at the fragile looking infant in her arms, Piccolo-chan gave one of her
rare, true smiles, as the little girl burped at her, and grinned hugely, like she
was proud of herself. Considering whom she was related to, that wouldn't have
surprised her.
To anyone
else, Imp was a small, red, wrinkled mite with a skullcap of hunter green hair,
and a tiny flailing tail. Of course, anyone else wasn't Piccolo, and if Piccolo
had heard anyone else say that, that anyone else would have been sent straight
to Hell.
Do not pass
go; do not collect two hundred dollars.
Said baby
had just burped, and was being set down to sleep in her little nest that
Piccolo had rigged, on her belly. With a last rub on her back, Piccolo-chan
transformed back into his usual self, and stretched.
He decided
on a slow kata, because the gentle movements would let him think. He seemed to
be doing that a lot lately. Not strategic, nothing to do with fighting, but the
kind of introspection that comes with a major event in life, and being a mother
certainly qualified.
He
shuddered.
These
motions flowed lightly, barely touching the ground. The past year had been an
emotional roller coaster, and he hadn't handled it well.
Be
truthful with yourself, green man; badly was an understatement. Of course, it
took me a while to admit that some of those feelings had been there all along-
Humans,
male and female, he realized constantly had to deal with pressures that he had
never before understood. Add hormones to his mix of confused feelings for
Gohan, and the recipe made for a wonderful nervous breakdown. Then he got
pregnant. More fun, and then he was-
Rage shook
along his nerves, making him loose focus.
Admit it
to yourself, you were raped.
The proud
Namek had taken quite a beating to that very pride during this whole mess, but
pride had nothing to do with this.
It was one
of the numerous reasons that he had for having Gohan and the others forget who
he had become. Pity was not something he could have stood, and another reason-
He couldn't have ever really been comfortable with Gohan touching him again.
The night he had said goodbye to Gohan for the last time, it had been a huge
act of will to kiss him, and even now, looking at him was painful. The touch of
a man, even fighting, made him flinch.
The
nightmares weren't as bad as they had been immediately afterwards, but they
still haunted him. The idea of even being male made him gag. While he had hated
his helplessness, hated being hurt the way he had been, being female had not
shamed him. Rather, he was really, really pissed at guys who hurt girls.
Imp gurgled
a little in her sleep. Hearing her made irrational fears that Piccolo would
never voice bubble up in his mind. After she had been hatched, he had decided
not to tell Gohan, at least until there was no other choice. That madman was
still out there, and if he managed to get Imp…it wasn't going to happen.
Not while
he lived.
His kata continued.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Over the
next several days, it seemed that Imp-chan was filling out rather nicely. Of
course, true to her saiya-jin blood, she eating like there was no tomorrow.
Piccolo-chan
sighed deeply as she put the now sleeping baby back in her nest. Eating and
sleeping were all that chibi-Piper had done, but of course, she was the best at
it, Piccolo thought. He hoped that no one would ask, but if you asked him about
which baby could drool the best, well, you know the answer.
Well, most
people don't know, or don't think about, the fact that lactating is actually a
lot of work. Lactating is producing milk, and it can wear on a woman more than
you realize, which was another of those lovely things Piccolo didn't know. He
had been very, very tired recently.
She smiled
again at the infant, who had curled up, and was holding her little tail in a
very kawaii way. She herself had been doing only the minimum of training, due
to the fact that she was worn out most of the time, and that Imp-chan needed
feeding so often. Instead, she had taken to talking to the baby, and holding
her when she was awake. Vague memories of never being touched as a child
stirred within her own mind, and thus, she decided to do the opposite.
Again, she
thought, this was not something she would have usually done. Back in the day,
she would have left the child alone to survive. Well, since she was barely a
week old right now, she would have about a few years grace. The child would
have to be trained, there was no question about, and her parents' blood would
demand no less. In fact, Piccolo thought with pride, this week old could take
down a full grown human already.
Or her
mother, just by nursing, her mind added sardonically.
"I don't
know all that much about human children, much less Saiya-jin ones," she said
aloud, and looked over at the little girl. Some of her irrational fears became
suddenly rational ones. What if she got sick? Hurt? How long did it take
for human children to learn to walk?
Turning
back into his old self, Piccolo pondered what to do about it.
He couldn't
do what his reflex was, which was to ask Gohan. That went without question. He
couldn't ask Dende either, because he and just about everyone else had
forgotten about the baby. A problem he had not considered before.
Okay, what
he needed was a ready information source; one that would not ask questions
back, about the green person with a human looking baby with a tail.
Uh-
he cast his mind out, trying to think of something…
The
library.
Wondering
about that idea, he shrugged, and split formed into three, one to watch
chibi-Piper while the other two trained.
Me, in a
library. Then he looked over at the baby. Stranger things have happened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Gohan
laughed as Videl made a great joke. Why hadn't he realized how great she was
earlier?
Videl had
been keeping Gohan company the past couple of days, since Piccolo had become so
hard to find. It had been a good thing, in his opinion, because if she hadn't,
he would have been going out his mind with worry.
What is
it with him recently? Nothing has happened-
Or had it?
Piccolo could have been murdered, and he wouldn't know if until he found the
body, or could go on a killing spree of his own. There was absolutely nothing
he really could be sure about with the Namek…
His heart
gave lurch, like it had several times recently. It felt like something had
reached inside him, and pulled out something vitally important.
Maybe that
was the reason he had spent so much time with Videl; she helped with the hurt.
"Hey, what
was the homework for this evening?" asked Videl, looking over at his notebook.
It had the homework neatly written at the top, and Videl's worst fears were
confirmed.
It was a
research paper. One that could not have been drier if it had been sent to the
desert. Videl groaned.
"Do we have
to do this?" she whined, and pouted when Gohan solemnly nodded.
"Kuso, I
guess we have to go the library."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soft coos
came from the white wrapped bundle that Piccolo had strapped to his chest.
Apparently Imp was enjoying this little trip. Her huge black eyes took in
everything, and occasionally a gurgling laugh would emerge.
Although
what made a fire hydrant so funny was beyond Piccolo.
It had been
three weeks since Imp had hatched, and she was already sitting up on her own.
Like any child with Saiya-jin blood, she would develop fast, to try to take
care of herself. Still, it seemed that she enjoyed nursing, and Piccolo winced
at the thought of how he would wean the child.
There was a
swift shift in size, and Piccolo-chan changed her clothing into a plain jeans,
t-shirt and flannel over-shirt combo. Imp was still in her sling. Moments
later, she landed on the roof of the library. Then she climbed down the fire
escape.
"Hmm.
Encyclopedia? Card catalog? Computer? Where to begin…"
Deciding that
getting a lot of books first would be the best idea, then started raiding the
shelves. While she was holding the baby closely, she got in the way of all the
volumes and volumes that Piccolo-chan was hauling. Sitting, and deciding on
going back for more later, she put Imp in a chair next to her. This was fine
with Imp, because she promptly fell asleep.
"Kami
always did say something about attempting the impossible," Piccolo-chan
muttered, and got to work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I hate
research," Videl said venomously, and started swearing as she went through the
card catalog. This wasn't just a homework assignment, she realized. It was the
special brand of torture only history professors would inflict. At times like
this, she wondered if she would go to jail or be given a medal for killing the
yarou.
"You get
used to it," answered the ever-patient voice of Gohan. She gave him the Glare
of Death.
It didn't
make him burst into flames, whither like a dried leaf, or any other unpleasant
things it should have done. Darn it.
They
started to playfully argue over which route they should take for their
projects, like Khan, or should it be Mr. Satan?
Videl
turned around, and stepped out, when Gohan pushed her over.
Falling on
her rump, Videl tried her Glare again, but it didn't work, because he was
looking at something else.
"What did
you do that for?" she yelled, only to be hushed by several not-seen patrons.
Gohan
pointed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Piccolo-chan
sighed as she went back for the fifth time for books. Grinning to herself, she
was pleased with the knowledge she had managed to acquire. Most of it was
repetitive, so she could skim quickly, and get to the new stuff.
It was a
relief that Imp hadn't making all that much noise-
Wait-
Choking
down alarm, Piccolo-chan looked at where the little girl had been sleeping-
"Where's my
baby?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Imp had
decided that she was wide-awake, full, and in an interesting place. This meant
that she had to move, and get to the interesting stuff. Of course, she really
had no idea of how she would do that. So, seeing what her mommy did, which was
walk, she got the notion moving involved your arms and legs. Squirming out of
her warm cocoon of white, the little girl tried what she had seen her mommy do.
It didn't
really work. She fell forward, and went boom.
Taking a
deep breath, she was about to bawl when she found that she could get her
weight on her little hands and knees.
GOODY! Even
better, her tail wiggled out behind her, keeping her balance. Now she could
find interesting and shiny and other really, really neat stuff, like what she
had seen mommy do!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Videl
choked, when she realized what she had nearly done.
Sitting,
and looking at her with curiosity filled black eyes, was a baby girl. One that
she had nearly stepped on.
"Oh, I am
so sorry, little one," she whispered, and looked over at Gohan in apology.
"Hey, what
are you doing here?" Gohan asked, running his hand over the fine, dark green
curls that had jutted up from the baby's head, trying to smooth them, with nil
success.
The baby
didn't answer, just giggled mischievously, in that 'I'm giving my parent a
heart-attack, but don't really care', kind of way that all kids have. Trust me,
they do.
"We need to
find her mom," Gohan said, and then Videl picked the speed crawler up.
Gohan very
nearly had a stroke.
The kid had
a tail.
To be continued…