Disclaimer- yadda, yadda, yadda. I don't own the friggin' show or characters.



Chapter 5
"Gohan, how did you do that?" Moji glanced back at Piccolo who was flying behind them with a angry look drawn on his features. Popo was flying in front of them on his carpet. Gohan and Moji flew side by side in between the two.
"Huh? Do what Moji?" Gohan looked over at his new friend who almost had a worried look on her face.
"Get Piccolo to agree to train at the lookout?" Moji whispered so that the big-eared green bean wouldn't hear.
"Oh, that..Piccolo's a pretty nice guy when you get to know him. He just tries to cover it up with his tough act." Gohan grinned and then flew around Moji enticing her to play. Unable to resist the cute kid's playfulness, she began flying circles around him. "can't catch me!" Gohan yelled and zoomed past Popo with Moji close behind.
"You just watch me!" Moji giggled and sped up, letting the wind do most of the work for her as her wings glided her effortlessly over the currents of cool air.
Piccolo glared ahead at them. *She's far too old to be behaving that way....stupid kids.* he thought and continued to watch them circle each other, laughing and shouting playfully as the lookout drew closer and closer.
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Dende finally sensed the approaching ki's. Piccolo's, Gohan's, and the other was the ki signal he had come to know as Moji. He gave a dreamy sigh at the thought of her. *What's wrong with me? I shouldn't feel this way....I never have before. I don't understand.* Dende was confused, but could not suppress the joy he felt in his heart whenever Moji's beautiful face entered his mind. "I can't wait to see her.." He said to himself and watched as 4 figures approached.
"Hiya Dende!" Gohan called happily to his friend as he landed. Popo landed next, then Moji, who was followed by a scowling Piccolo.
"Hi Gohan, nice to see you!" Dende grinned and then looked behind Gohan. "H-hi Moji." Dende couldn't understand his sudden nervousness at seeing Moji. He had longed to see her, and now that she was finally here he was nervous. It made absolutely no sense to the young God.
"Hi Dende! I'm so happy to see you." She flashed a friendly smile that nearly melted the young namekian. " I don't think I could ever repay you for helping me like you did yesterday, or inviting us to stay up here with you." She walked closer and leaned down to his height. She rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "But you have my gratitude." She stood up once more and walked to Piccolo who was still standing at the edge of the lookout with that, 'I'll kick your ass if you so much as talk to me' look on his face. Dende brought his hand up to where Moji had kissed him and again sighed dreamily. Thats all he seemed to be doing.
"Piccolo?..Aren't you going to greet Dende?" She looked up at the taller man.
"Why? He knows as well as you do that I'm here..." Piccolo replied, without so much as a glance down at her. Moji gave an exasperated sigh at his stubborn reasoning.
"Its just being polite...you big crab!" Moji was growing rather tired of his cross attitude and she turned to walk back to Gohan and Dende, who were chattering away(actually Gohan was doing most of the chattering) about recent events in their lives. Piccolo glared after her.
*Why did I let her speak to me that way? Not even Gohan is allowed to do that.* He thought, actually quite confused as to why he hadn't punched her right then and there. Giving up, he walked to the 3 new friends who were laughing over something or other.
"Hey, brats. I thought we came up here to train?" Piccolo growled at his two students.
"Sorry Piccolo-san we were just talking to Dende. But we can start now if you want." Gohan gave his teacher a small smile and stood up. "Thanks for letting us train here Dende...we won't mess the place up too bad."
"Yeah, maybe just a few holes here and there, a couple of burnt trees. Not too much to worry about." Moji went along with Gohan's joke. And the three of them had to cover their mouths to stifle the laughs that threatened to come out when they saw the worried look on Popo's face. Piccolo...who was far too dignified to laugh at such a thing, stood in the background growing more and more impatient.
"Oh...." Mr. Popo sighed thinking that maybe suggesting that Dende invite them here was NOT such a good idea.
"We're just kidding Mr. Popo!" Moji couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a small giggle. "We won't break anything..I promise." She gave him a sincere smile and he grinned back at her reassurance.
"We don't want to get in the way of your training, so Popo and I will go inside. Come and see me if you need anything." Dende looked almost sad as he and Popo walked inside and left the three fighters outside.
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It was late evening when Gohan finally had to leave to go home. He didn't want to make his mother angry. There was nothing worse than making Chichi angry.
"She can't be that bad." stated Moji, who had never met Chichi.
"You're right, she's worse." mumbled Piccolo and watched Gohan fly off.
"BYE GOHAN!!" Moji shouted, nearly deafening Piccolo.He winced and his sensitive ears almost curled in on themselves.
"Watch it!" he growled and gave Moji a thoughtless slap across the face. She gasped and brought her hand up to the red mark that was forming on her pale skin.
"How dare you....." Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at him. "I didn't do a damn thing to you!!" Moji extended her long claws to their full length, which was about 6 inches, and held them up to Piccolo. "I'm not afraid of you......if you EVER hit me again, I won't hesitate to use these on your hateful ass." She spat out.
"Why don't you go ahead and try your luck now?" Piccolo returned her glare. Moji bunched up her muscles and prepared to leap at him, but stopped when she heard Dende's voice behind them.
"Hey you two. You can stay here tonight. I know Gohan had to go home..but there is no reason why-" Dende paused when he saw the evil glares that were being exchanged between the two. "Guys? Whats wrong?"
"Why don't you ask the brat?" Piccolo snarled down at Moji once more before flying off in the opposite direction.
"Piccolo! Wait!......" Dende tried to stop his fellow namekian, but his efforts were in vain, because Piccolo continued to fly away. Acting as if he hadn't heard the young God. "What just happened here?" Dende questioned Moji who had stopped snarling and now looked as though she might cry.
"I.....he...." she faltered and looked at the ground to gather her thoughts. She inhaled deeply and forced words out of her mouth. " You said I could stay here?"
"Yes of course Moji. I would love to have you stay with me." Dende gave her a warm smile, assuming that she didn't want to talk about the events that had just occurred. "I'll take you to your room now if you like."
"Yes...thank you Dende." She tried to smile back but barely managed a weak grin. Dende gave her a worried look.
"Are you alright Moji?" He questioned as they walked inside together.
"Yes Dende...I'm fine. I just have alot on my mind..." She couldn't hide the forlorn look on her face. Dende stopped her in front of a rather large door.
"This is it. Your room is inside. Would you like to talk?" He took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I think I need rest...Thanks again for letting me stay." She gave his hand a small squeeze before releasing it and pushing against the large door.
"No need to thank me...I'm happy to have you here. Just call for Popo if you need anything. And I'm always here too." Dende stayed until Moji clicked the door shut after saying goodnight. *If only you
knew Moji....* he sighed inwardly and slowly walked away from the door.
Once inside, Moji looked around the room. Which was by no means small. A full bed in one corner with a table beside it. A desk sat in the corner opposite the bed and to her surprise it had a small computer on it. The last thing she expected to see here was a computer. A decorative rug covered the floor, which would have been beautiful with or without the rug. 3 doors also took up space in the room. Moji assumed one was the bathroom, the other was the closet. And the third didn't need a guess as it visibly led to an outdoor balcony. Moji walked to the balcony and gripped the railing that surrounded it, staring out over the lookout and into the darkening night sky. The stars were beginning to twinkle, but even their beauty could not cheer Moji's heavy heart. She had come here to escape fighting, and it ended up drawing her in anyway. *Am I destined to live a life of hate?* She questioned no one but herself. *Why did I let my temper get away with me? Now it seems I have lost Piccolo....and he saved my life. He was right when he called me a brat. Thats all I am. A selfish, ungrateful brat....* A small tear trickled down her face and landed with an audible drip to the tiled floor. "I'm sorry......."
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Piccolo sat in the clearing where Moji had spent the previous night. Thinking over what had just happened. *Maybe I was too hard on her...she didn't mean to, after all.* Piccolo realized this was leading to guilt and so dismissed all thoughts of Moji. But she kept creeping into his mind.
"What is wrong with me? I'm getting soft..." he grumbled and tried to turn his thoughts back to meditating. Every now and then stopping to feel for Moji's ki. As if his harsh words might have caused her to dissapear. * I've got to stop this..Why do I even care about that stupid brat.* He sighed and got up to swim in the lake. Maybe the cool water would help clear his mind.
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Even as all this happened, a stranger approached from space. Unknown to all the Earth's inhabitants. The dark ship hurtled through the black void, crashing into asteroids and grinding them to dust as though they were pebbles.
"Moji.......I know you're out here. I sense your dark thoughts. Try as you might, my dear Moji.......I will have you. You have responsibilities. And I will see to it that you complete them." A raspy voice echoed throughout the large ship.
"Master?" A small form approached the larger one. Their faces and figures concealed by the darkness. "We are approaching a small planet....."
"Hmmmm.....yes. Land there. This is the planet we seek." The raspy voice took on a commanding tone and the small form scurried away. "Moji.....you cannot hide. This is your destiny. Don't try to hide from me.....You can't escape." A long evil laugh followed the raspy voice's rambling.
"Beware....it will consume you."
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(WAH! not much of introduction to the bad guy.....sorry. But there is more on the way __ Please r&r.....Oh and by the way...the last line was one I got from a book called 'Keep of Fire.' So its not mine. I just thought it sounded cool. *Vacant look* Well enuff of my idle chattering! Thanks fer reading.)