"Ahhhhh!" Saiai screamed as she fell to the Earth. She waved her arms in a desperate but quite ineffective attempt to stop her
fall. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the fact the ground was quickly getting closer.
She opened one eye slightly as she felt herself quit falling. She was in Piccolo's arms. She hadn't hit the ground. She sighed in
relief, then she glared at Piccolo and crossed her arms. "Why'd you do that!? You said you were going to teach me to fly! Not
scare the crap out of me!"
"I am teaching you to fly. Same way I taught Gohan. Same way he taught Trunks. If you can't learn this way, I'll take you back now and not waste anymore time," Piccolo replied.
"I can learn. I told you that before. I just didn't expect to be dropped from a mile about the ground."
"That's your fault."
"You never told me!"
"You never asked."
Saiai glared at Piccolo. "Fine. I'm asking now. What do I need to do to fly?"
"It helps if you don't focus on the fact you're in the air. Don't see yourself falling or flying. Think of yourself floating through
water," Piccolo explained. Then he smirked. "Don't make me catch you again," he warned. "I may not feel like expelling the
energy a second time."
"Okay. I'll try," Saiai replied.
Piccolo let go of Saiai again. As she feel, she tried to imagine herself floating.
Piccolo watched as her fall slowed. She begin to rise up slowly. He watched as she started going down again, listening to her
mind scream that flying was impossible. "Come on, Saiai. Prove you aren't what I call you," Piccolo whispered.
Saiai closed her eyes as she tried not to notice the ground rushing up at her. There were two voices in her head at the moment.
One voice was screaming that flying was not physically possible and if she didn't find a way down she was going to hit the
Earth and die. The second voice was calming and quietly telling her that if she didn't get her shit together within the next 5
seconds, she was going to prove to Piccolo she was exactly what he thought of her: a weak, incompetent, human female. She
concentrated on the second voice.
As she concentrated, Saiai begin to float back up. She opened her eyes, and watched as the ground grew farther away. She
relaxed slightly.
Piccolo watched with a small smile. Saiai had proved one thing: She wasn't incompetent. Perhaps he'd drop that from his daily
insults.
Saiai floated up to where Piccolo was. She grinned proudly. "I told you I could learn. And you didn't have to catch me again,
either." Saiai felt slightly smug.
He looked back at her. "No, I didn't." He grabbed Saiai in his arms again. "That's enough for today. Next time you can work on
going directions other then up and down." Piccolo took off toward their cave.
"When's next time?" Saiai asked, disappointed the lesson was over.
"When I feel like wasting time again. I have something more important to do now."
"Are you going to go off and leave me in the cave again? I don't want to be all alone," Saiai complained as they landed at the
'door' of the cave.
Piccolo smirked. "Who says you're going to be alone?" he asked, and kissed her lightly.
Saiai grinned as she blushed. "No one." She sighed happily as Piccolo carried her inside, kissing her again on the way.
*******this is rated 'R' in my opinion, if you aren't ocmfortable with sexual situations or are not "allowed" (like we listen to our parents anyway....) please dont read this story, skip down to the next bold title.**************
The Key, SS# 2: Another Night
Saiai sighed in her sleep, and rolled over on the cold, rock floor. Sleeping on the cave's floor didn't bother her. She and her
brother had been sleeping on sidewalks since their parents had died. The bed at Bulma's had been terribly uncomfortable for
her.
Piccolo listened to her from the door way, with a smile. He wasn't asleep. He never slept. The closest thing for him was a deep
meditation, where he was fully conscious of his surroundings, but completely relaxed, as he was now. He was in his usual
floating position, legs Indian-style, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed.
Piccolo thought about earlier that night. He had a lot to learn about humans, females especially, even after living on Earth for so
many years. Saiai was allowing Piccolo to explore, to learn what he didn't know from her. Each time he traced her body and
found something new, she'd giggle or sigh. Early on he'd discovered a few places he'd touch where she wouldn't giggle or
laugh, but her breathing would intensify slightly.
Tonight he'd done something different from their usual routine of exploration: He'd done his tri-form technique and practiced all
the tricks he'd learned so far on her.
Saiai had been slightly shocked when suddenly there were three Piccolos undressing her, but pleasure quickly took over as each
one began to work her differently.
After nearly two hours, the three Piccolos combined back into one. Piccolo knelt by Saiai. She looked up at him, breathing
hard, her eyes signaling pure happiness. She was so tired from Piccolo's efforts, she could barely move. She smiled at him as
he picked her up and carried her to the back of the cave, away from the cold doorway.
"I love you," she said as he set her down gently.
"Yeah, I bet you do," Piccolo replied with a slight smirk. "No human male could have satisfied you like that."
"Piccolo," she said, as she drifted off to sleep almost instantly with a smile on her face.
He smiled down at her limp, naked body and covered her with his cape. "I love you too, baka onna. For a human girl, you
aren't too bad," he said as she slept.
He had watched her sleeping figure snuggled under his cape for awhile. Then he had gone to the opening of the cave to think.
Winter was coming soon. There was one thing Piccolo had to do before it came. He'd already begun teaching Saiai how to fly,
now he needed to teach her how to make a ki shield around herself to stay warm. He was going away to train for the winter, and
he knew even if she didn't stay there the whole time, part of the time she was going to be in the cave. He didn't want her to
freeze while he was gone, and he knew his cave would not aid in keeping her warm.
Saiai shifted again, shaking Piccolo from his thoughts. He opened one eye and looked at her over his shoulder. He'd save the ki
shield for another day. Tomorrow, he'd let her sleep. She was obviously wiped out. He'd have to remember that next time, that
Saiai got exhausted much faster then he did. He'd forgotten how weak most humans were.
Piccolo thought about how he called her a 'weak human female'. She hated it, but he knew it was one way to get her to do
something. Piccolo admitted to himself she was physically stronger then most humans her age and height, but he had other
plans for her. If she was going to be with him, he was going to push her hard. He smiled. She'd probably complain at first, but
she'd learn.
She was already learning to deal with the isolation. She'd stay in the cave most of the time, writing. She already had two
notebooks full of stories. Sometimes she'd go out and visit Bulma at Capsule Corp or Gohan and Chichi. Saiai and Gohan had
grown to be very close friends.
Very often, Piccolo would take off for days at a time. During those times, Saiai would spend her days and nights at Gohan's.
Chichi welcomed the girl. She was thrilled about Piccolo and Saiai, because now Piccolo wasn't around as much to distract
Gohan from his studies.
Piccolo watched the sun rise as he continued thinking. He felt bad about leaving Saiai for days at a time, but the closeness was
hard for him. He still couldn't deal with it very well. So he'd take off to be alone. Fortunately, Saiai seemed to understand, and
was never offended or upset when Piccolo didn't come back after a day of sparring. She would simply pack up her notebooks
and head to Gohan's house.
"I'm sorry, Taka. I'm so sorry," Saiai said in her sleep, half crying.
Piccolo closed his eyes. It pained him to listen to her cry for her brother. Every night she cried in her sleep. Gradually, she was
crying less and less, but still she cried.
He walked over to her and sat beside her. She felt his warmth and moved herself closer to him, tears still running down her
cheeks. Piccolo traced the trail of a tear from her eye down. She had to hurt so much, and there was nothing for him to do to
make it stop. He moved a lock of hair out of her face and looked down at her.
By human standards, she wasn't beautiful, or even pretty. But to him, she had some hint of helplessness full of strength, and
that was what captivated him. To the humans, her actions and style caused her to be labeled a 'tom boy.' Her childhood had
made her strong emotionally. She'd been forced to become a mother at 14 to her brother. She'd had to support them both.
She seemed to be everything. But Piccolo knew there was one thing missing from her life. It was her brother, her very joy, the
reason she had kept going through the attacks from the androids. Now she'd put on a happy face, and at times she really was
happy, but Piccolo was watching her fall deeper into depression. She was becoming more reclusive. Occasionally more irritable.
She'd yell about something that had no importance. He was worried about her.
Saiai shivered next to Piccolo. He smiles slightly. He'd forgotten how cold humans got with out their precious clothes. He
projected a ki shield around both of them. She smiled in her sleep. "Warm," she murmured and rolled over closer to Piccolo. "I
love you, Piccolo," she whispered as she dreamt.
***all right, back to our normal PG/PG-13 ratings.*****
The Key, SS# 3: Courage
Saiai struggled up the mountain. She was getting very high. She forced herself to look up instead of down. She couldn't be
afraid, not here and now. She had to prove herself. And she would fall if she looked down. 'Just a little farther,' she thought to
herself. She could reach the top. She would prove herself to Piccolo. Prove that she wasn't a 'weak human female' as he called
her. She admitted he was stronger physically then she was, but she could still do what he could. It would just take her longer.
She looked up at the top of the cliff. She could make out Piccolo's shadow over the edge of the cliff. He was meditating. She
knew he would wait for her, but he would not offer her help. She remembered her earlier argument with him. She'd pressed and
pressed till he allowed her to come.
"You can't make it up the mountain. You'd only drag me down." Piccolo had told her. "I am not going to have you following
me around, asking for help every five minutes. I have more important things to do than baby-sit a weak female."
"I'm not weak. I won't drag you down. I'll do it myself. Just let me come with you," Saiai pleaded.
"No. You're staying here."
"No, I'm not. I'm going to follow you, whether you want me to or not. We can do this the easy way and you just agree now, or
you can be difficult and fight with me the whole way there. I'm coming. Period."
Piccolo had stared at her for a minute. He half-smiled. "You can come. We'll see if you have the talent to back up your words."
As they had started climbing, he'd told her "You're going to climb it all yourself. I'll wait for you at the top." With that, he
climbed up in a matter of minutes. She stared up at him, sighed, and begun her own ascent. As she reached the half way point,
she noticed Piccolo standing at the edge watching her. She smiled to herself.
Now Saiai was about three fourths of the way. She was beginning to lose her focus. Her right foot slipped as she climbed. She
fell a few feet before she caught a branch. She pulled herself back up and found a sturdy foot hold. She looked up again. Piccolo
wasn't in sight. She glanced below her to see how far she was. A second too late, she realized what a bad idea it was. She was
*high* up. Her fear of heights was starting to come through. Her hand slipped. She was going to fall, and Piccolo wasn't
around. No one would save her. She'd hit the rocks at the bottom. She started breathing hard.
Then a warm feeling flowed through her. 'Courage' she heard inside her head. Her heart calmed. Her breathing slowed.
'Strength' she heard. She looked around, and saw only trees. She started climbing again, her focus regained. She reached the
top, and pulled herself up. Piccolo was on the opposite edge, looking down. She walked over to him.
"I told you I would make it."
"You almost didn't. You lost your focus. That's a dangerous thing to do. You nearly fell."
"You saved me though. Even though you said you wouldn't."
"I couldn't very well let you fall. What would I tell your Gohan? I let you fall?"
She thought for a minute. "That's not the only reason you helped. There's something inside that closed off mind of yours.
Something you don't like to say."
Piccolo looked down at the girl. He did have another reason. He cared for her. She already knew. "I don't see the point in
repeating something you already know."
Saiai smiled. "The point is, it's nice to hear."
He smirked back. "I love you. Even if you do have me repeat pointless things."
"I love you, too," she replied. They sat down next to each other. He put his arm around her and they watched the sun set over
the edge of the cliff.
The Key, SS#4: Curiosity
Vegeta smirked at his mate. "They're both idiots."
Bulma glared at him. "They aren't idiots! How do I get it through your thick skull?!"
"You don't." Trunks glared at his father and walked out.
Vegeta rolled his eyes and looked at Bulma. "At least I use my head for something other then stupidity."
"I AM NOT STUPID!!! You're the bakayarou lacking intelligence!!"
Vegeta smirked again. "Oh, really?" he said, dripping with sarcasm. "And who's the one screaming her head
off?"
Bulma drew in a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and glared at Vegeta. "Shut up. Just once, in your pathetic
existence, shut up."
"No."
"Yes!!!! SHUT!! UP!!"
"I'll shut up when you start using your brain." Vegeta paused, then smiled evilly. "Oh, wait. I forgot. That
will never happen."
"You are such a jack ass!!" Bulma yelled as she stormed out. Vegeta heard her door slam at the other end of
Capsule Corp.
Vegeta headed out the opposite door into the back yard. He took off flying toward a place deep in the
forest. A small meadow where he went when he needed to think, far away from people.
As he set down in the meadow, he searched around, making sure no one was near. He didn't need anyone to
irritate him.
Vegeta ran the past few weeks through his head, starting with the day Piccolo had first protected Saiai.
"She's mine." Piccolo had said. Vegeta had barely been able to hide his surprise. Piccolo had taken someone
as, well, Saiai couldn't exactly be called a mate, Piccolo didn't need one of those. Perhaps she was a
companion to him. Vegeta smirked. He had a better name: pet. Saiai was Piccolo's pet.
Vegeta could see why Piccolo might choose Saiai though. She may have been an idiot, but mentally she was
very strong. From his understanding, she'd had a rough childhood and had to depend on herself mostly. She
could quickly understand a situation, and what was needed to make the best of it. She'd done would she
could to improve the Z Fighters' situation with the androids. And she'd also wanted to stay and help fight,
but Piccolo had picked her up and flown away with her screaming to be put down to help. She seemed to
be as stubborn as Bulma at times. Their fighting was as loud and his and Bulma's.
Vegeta stared into the forest. He could see what Piccolo liked in Saiai, but what that girl saw in the Namek
was beyond him.
They obviously cared for each other. But why? And Vegeta had doubts about who the Namek cared more
about, Saiai or Gohan. He showed emotion more openly with Saiai, but perhaps that was due to that fact
she couldn't defend herself like Gohan could. All it would take to shut that baka onna up was one weak
blast.
Vegeta's face grew thoughtful. She was strong, for being a weak human. By Saiya-jin standards, she
obviously wasn't, but compared to the rest of her pathetic race she was considerably stronger. She was also
quite different from her race. Vegeta often found himself comparing Saiai to Bulma, since that was the only
female he had much experience with. Bulma always wanted to be there, watching the fight, in the way.
Saiai, on the other hand, wanted to be in the fight.
Vegeta smirked again. Ignore her stupidity, and she was almost tolerable. Without her stupidity, though,
there wasn't much to notice. It seemed to make up her entire being.
Saiai was a weak, incompetent, idiotic, female. She tried to be more, but she always ended up proving her
stupidity and weaknesses, at least in Vegeta's opinion. She was improving, slightly. Piccolo was pushing
her past what most humans were. She was learning to fly quickly. And last Vegeta had heard, she was
learning how to make a ki shield. Vegeta smirked. Next, that Namek would probably be teaching her to
fight. That would be sight.
He looked at the setting sun. He'd been gone a few hours. When he got the urge to go back to Capsule
Corp., his woman was going to start up with her pathetic, obnoxious yelling again.
Vegeta smirked. It was cute when Bulma did that. It was the perfect way for them to know the other cared,
without showing it. To Vegeta, showing he cared was a weakness. He didn't show weaknesses. He played
on other's weaknesses. And some people had a lot to play on. *Baka onnas like Saiai.* he thought.
Vegeta suddenly took off flying toward Piccolo's cave. He'd never had a reason to go there, but now he
wanted to know just what those two were living in.
He flew toward Piccolo's ki. As he neared, he sensed Piccolo becoming more alert to him. *He's not as
much of an idiot as he comes off as.* Vegeta thought.
Piccolo relaxed slightly as he determined that it was Vegeta flying toward him. Although, why Veggie-baka
was flying this way, he wasn't too sure. Vegeta slowed as he neared the cave. His eyes searched through
the darkness, looking for the opening. He floated in front of the cave.
"What, Vegeta? If you've come to irritate me, wait till the morning. Don't wake Saiai up with it," Piccolo
said, glaring at the 'door'.
Vegeta looked around the cave, his eyes stopping on Saiai and Piccolo. Piccolo was sitting cross-legged on
the ground. Saiai was curled into a small ball under Piccolo's cape, her head using Piccolo's lap as a pillow.
"Me? Irritate you?" Vegeta smirked. "Now why would I do that? As hard as it is for you to comprehend, I
didn't come here to torment you. I came out of curiosity. It isn't often you see some genderless alien with a
human female."
Saiai shifted and moved closer to Piccolo. He glanced down at her, before looking back at Vegeta. "If you're
going to be curious, do it quietly. I don't want you to wake her up."
"Fine. I'll leave. I won't wake up your precious pet." Vegeta thought for a moment, then he looked at
Piccolo with almost caring eyes. "Take care of her. She's more then you realize at the moment." He took
off back to Capsule Corp.
Piccolo watched the Saiya-jin Prince fly away, slightly shocked. Vegeta had been sincere with that last
comment. Piccolo ran it through his head again. "She's more then you realize." What the hell was that
supposed to mean? He looked down at the sleeping girl in his lap, and traced the outline of her face. He
sighed as that feeling came over him again. The undeniable aching he felt in his heart for her. Maybe that
was what Vegeta was talking about. Her ability to captivate him even while she slept. Her importance to
him, even though he'd only met her a while ago. He smiled, and ran his fingers through Saiai's hair. "I'll take
care of her, Vegeta. You take care of yours," he said, as he closed his eyes, relaxing again.