Chapter Nine
Gohan awoke the sound of crying from the next room. The scent of bacon and eggs drifted through the hallway from the kitchen. His stomach was attempting to pull him down the hall, but his mind and heart pulled him to Saiai's door. He knocked lightly.
The crying quickly stopped. In a few minutes Saiai opened her door. "Hi, Gohan," she said, trying to sound cheerful. *Darn!* she thought. *He heard me crying. They probably all think I'm a cry baby or something.*
"Um, hi. I heard you crying. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Gohan said. *And maybe we can talk about Piccolo, too.* he thought. He was confused, Piccolo was confused, and for some reason, he was hoping this depressed mentally slow girl could shed some light.
"Well, I guess, kinda. Actually, not really. Come in," Saiai said, opening the door wider.
Gohan thought of the delicious food he'd smelled, forced down a sigh, and walked in. He sat backwards in a desk chair.
Saiai closed the door and sat awkwardly on the bed. She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to calm herself. Piccolo had already seen her cry twice, she didn't need to put on a show for Gohan, too. She opened her eyes. "Gohan, how strong are the androids? Is there really anything that can help?"
Gohan looked into Saiai's eyes. "What you did was wonderful. We're very thankful for this opportunity. But I don't know if anything will be gained. All we can do is hope." He felt bad telling her it might be worthless, but he knew this wasn't something to lie about.
Saiai looked back sadly. She knew it was true, but it pained her to know her brother's sacrifice might be worthless. She changed the subject, reluctant to continue because she was sure she'd start crying. "How long have you known Piccolo?"
The question startled Gohan. He hadn't expected her to bring up the subject. "Well, I'm not sure. About twelve years, I suppose. I was about four or five the first time I trained with him. Why?"
Saiai was silent for a minute. She stared down at her hands. Gohan noticed her cheeks were a light pink. *No.* he thought. *She doesn't like him. She can't. Piccolo and a girl?!* He shook the image from his head. He didn't want to think about it.
Saiai looked up, the blush gone now. "Well, I like him. He's easy to talk to. He listens. And something about his nonchalant attitude, I just like it." She smiled to herself. "And he seems to care. My brother has been the only one that has cared about me for the past five years. Our parents started drinking a few months after Taka was born. They would disappear for days at a time. I was always so busy taking care of Taka that most of my friends moved on and forgot about me. The few that didn't were always doing drugs or something and trying to get me to do them too. Then the androids killed our parents. They blew up the house we were in and destroyed the city. I lost all hope of ever having a 'normal' life again. And now, I don't even have my brother anymore. But Piccolo does care. It's nice. I could tell last night that he cared. He was trying to hide it, and doing a fairly good job, but I could see it." She stared into space for a minute, as though she was remembering it. Then Saiai looked back at Gohan. "He's never liked someone, has he?"
Gohan blinked and shook his head. "No. He's asexual. And a Namek. You confuse him. A lot. He doesn't understand it."
"Asexual?" Saiai looked puzzled. "What's that mean?"
"Asexual. It means it only takes one parent to make a child. They don't have a gender. When Piccolo is ready to reproduce, he will cough up an egg, and it will hatch," Gohan explained.
"Oh. Piccolo really isn't from around here, is he?" Somehow, it seemed that just now Saiai was realizing Piccolo was an alien. She really was slow. Saiai looked into Gohan's eyes. "He's sweet though."
Gohan nearly fell out of the chair. Piccolo? Sweet?! He'd never heard that before. "Well, um, let's go eat. I don't know about you, but my stomach is screaming for food."
Saiai smiled again and followed Gohan to the kitchen.
Chapter Ten
Piccolo stared into the sun, as he thought about the night before. There was no logical for his actions. He couldn't understand them. He ran his conversation with Saiai through his head over and over. It just wasn't making sense. He came to a conclusion: The androids were destroying everything, even his sanity. He cared about a human female. He was definitely going off the deep end.
"Piccolo?" Piccolo turned, startled. He cursed himself for getting so deep in thought. He hadn't heard or sensed Gohan's arrival. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"The girl," Piccolo replied.
"What about her?" Gohan asked, hoping to get Piccolo talking. It would really help Piccolo if he would let Gohan help him. Gohan had a much better idea about this kind of thing.
"I don't know. She confuses me. She's female. And I care," Piccolo said.
"Well, yes, she is female. And it's okay for you to care, Piccolo. She cares about you, too. It's not bad," Gohan said, trying to make Piccolo feel better.
Piccolo turned to face the sun. *No.* Piccolo thought. *It's not possible.* He thought about him comforting her as she cried. He thought about how she hugged him. How she talked so openly to him. *Is it possible?* he asked himself. He couldn't be falling for her. And there was no way she was falling for him. Was there? Piccolo looked back at Gohan, saying nothing.
"Piccolo-san," Gohan said smiling, "I think you are falling in love with her. The way you care about her. It shows love. The way you talked her into staying here. Love. But, you're having problems with it because you have never felt love, or anything like it. You don't recognize what you're feeling."
Piccolo remained silent. He'd watched love from afar: Goku and Chichi, and Bulma and Vegeta, but now he'd been pulled into the circle. Could he really love Saiai? It was absurd. But he didn't see any other reason for his actions. "Love," he said. Foreign to his tongue. How could he, of all people, love someone?
"I think she loves you, too, Piccolo. She definitely cares about you. You know, it's okay if you love someone. Love isn't bad. It's good." Gohan hoped his words were helping Piccolo. "Maybe you should tell her. I bet she'd like to know."
"Tell her? Why?"
"Well, it's sort of part of love, to know you both care about each other," Gohan tried to explain. Love was harder to explain that he had thought.
Piccolo didn't say anything. It was hard enough for him to admit it to himself he cared. And harder to admit it to Gohan. How would he admit it to a human girl?
Chapter Eleven
Saiai sat high in the tree. She'd climbed up as far as she could, about 30 feet high. The height terrified her, but she was determined to over come it. And in the back of her mind, she was also up there for another reason. Piccolo was about 100 yards away, floating over a creek.
Piccolo knew he was being watched. Saiai hadn't been exactly quiet as she'd tramped through the forest and climbed the tree. As he floated, he thought of how obvious it was that Saiai at least had some sort of feeling for him. He smirked. He could have fun with her there. He could talk to her telepathically and really scare her. *Saiai.* He listened to her as she nearly fell out of the tree. *Don't fall now.*
Saiai looked around, wide-eyed. Her friends had told her she was crazy, but she'd never actually heard voices. Was she really losing it? She hugged the tree tightly. Whether the voice was inside her own head or from somewhere else, it was right. She better not fall. As she looked around, she wondered if she could talk back to the voice. *Um . . . Hello? Who are you?*
Piccolo opened his eyes slightly. He hadn't expected her to answer. *Piccolo.* he replied simply.
Saiai sighed in relief. *Piccolo, you scared me. I thought I was hearing things, going crazy.*
*You don't have to go crazy, you're already there.*
Saiai couldn't tell if Piccolo was making a joke or serious, so she shrugged. *How come you say that?*
*You're high in a tree. You hate heights. You're in the tree spying on me. You're spying on me because you like me. As far as I'm concerned, that classifies you as crazy.*
She blushed. *Is it that obvious?* she thought to herself. Then it clicked where she was. *Yes, it is.* she thought, as she realized all she was missing was a big neon sign over her head. She started to climb down to avoid any further embarrassment
*No. Stay there.*
Saiai paused. *Why?*
*I want to talk to you. It's easier for me if you stay there.*
*Well, okay.* Saiai settled back into her place in the tree. *How'd you know I was getting down? You're facing the other direction.*
*I have good hearing. You're not quiet.* Piccolo was silent for a few minutes. *You like me, so you spy on me?*
*Well, yes. I don't know. It just seemed like a good idea. Why?* she asked, wondering what Piccolo was getting at.
Piccolo remained silent. He himself wasn't sure what he was getting at. He couldn't possibly tell Saiai what he felt.
*Um, Piccolo?* Saiai asked, interrupting his thoughts. *Can I ask you something?*
*You can ask. I can't guarantee you an answer though.*
*Well, okay. Um, okay, you know I like you. How do you feel about me?*
Piccolo smiled to himself. He didn't have to bring it up. But how should he answer? He was uncertain if he wanted her to know. He made his decision. *I care. I care about you very much.*
As Saiai thought about that, she lost her grip on the tree. She tumbled down about 10 feet before she caught a branch and pulled herself back up. She sat there and stared at Piccolo's back for a couple minutes. *You don't like sharing feelings, do you?*
*No. But it would have been pointless to hide such strong feelings. I don't do pointless things.*
*Oh. So you don't think it's pointless for, say, us to be together?*
*Pointless? No. Slightly odd? Yes. Material for Veggie-baka to thoroughly irritate me with when he returns? Yes.*
*Veggie-baka?*
*Vegeta. Bulma's husband.*
Saiai's face had a look of confusion on it. *How would he know?*
Piccolo said nothing. Saiai would get it if she thought hard enough. He waited for her to understand.
Saiai repeated it to herself over and over. Material for Vegeta to annoy Piccolo with? How would he know? Unless he saw it ... It clicked. *You mean, um, he's going to see you with me?*
Piccolo smiled again. *Most likely.*
Saiai thought about it. *But, wouldn't it bother you to have people know? You don't seem like the kind of person that's too open.*
*I'll be fine. You should worry about yourself right now. It will be a long, painful fall for you if you lose your grip again.*
*Oh, getting down is easy when I want to. I just jump.* Saiai stood carefully on the branch she'd been sitting on, balanced herself, and jumped. As she hit the ground, her knees bent to absorb the landing.
Piccolo listened to her land, slightly surprised she'd jump from so high. Most humans he had encountered would have asked for someone to help them down. But he'd already determined Saiai wasn't like most humans. Perhaps that was why he'd grown to care about her.
Chapter Twelve
"Did Geru program you to be this stupid or were you always like this and it just progressively got worse? He was obviously pulling that crap out of the air. I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for it," Juuhachi-guu told her brother.
"He was not 'obviously' making it up. You know as well as I do, it was impossible to tell whether he was lying or not. I'd rather us be prepared and have it be a lie, then to automatically ignore him, storm in there, and be beaten. Unless you think defeat is 'entertaining'," Juunana-guu replied.
"No, your stupidity is entertaining. How your idiocy plays through every one of your actions, and somehow you still exist. Somehow you haven't screwed up badly enough to give some the opportunity to dispose of you."
"You should have been disposed of long ago. Geru made a mistake keeping you around. You never shut up. Your mouth runs forever." He quieted for am minute, then smiled. Juunana-guu pulled out a little remote control from his pocket.
"What's that supposed to do? Turn the TV on?" Juuhachi-guu asked sarcastically.
"No. It turns the TV off. And guess where the TV is? Right there," Juunana replied, indicating his sister.
"Oh, really? And how do you propose to turn me off without shutting yourself down?"
Juunana-guu smirked. "Easily. Geru made three remote controls when he made us. One that will shut us both down. One that will shut me down. And one that will shut you down. You and I destroyed the first one. I destroyed mine. And here's yours. Pressing this button won't effect me in the least."
For the first time, Juuhachi-guu looked worried. She quickly shoved it away though. Her brother wouldn't do anything. He wasn't that stupid. He knew he couldn't beat them without her. She was the stronger of the two. "You wouldn't dare. You can't beat them alone. You know that."
Juunana-guu stood there silently, then pressed the button. Juuhachi-guu's eyes flickered. They locked onto her brother, sending him one last glare before she completely shut down. Juunana-guu kicked her lifeless body. "Ah. Silence." He aimed his hand at Juuhachi's body, and ki blasted until there was nothing left. "There now. One dirty job out of the way. One left," he said, and took off for Capsule Corp.