It was that dream again, Piccolo's broad shoulders, his lips, his tongue…

It was that dream again, Piccolo's broad shoulders, his lips, his tongue…

Gohan was moaning in his sleep, and Piccolo watched, eyes half lidded as he bent over the boy, whispering. "Gohan.."

"….hai…"

A chill shivered through Piccolo's spine, hearing the boy answer like that. He could only imagine what this dream must be on the other end… Still, he tried vainly to run his fingers through Gohan's hair, and was rewarded with a soft sigh.

His fingers caressing, his soft breath against Gohan's neck, the sweet, sweet heaven that was locked in his arms… "Pikoro-san…" Gohan purred, he was warm and safe where he was, and nothing else would ever matter. Nothing could change this paradise. "You'll never leave me, will you?"

"Never, oh, never."

"Promise…?"

"With my heart and soul, my love, my heart and soul."

With that, the namekusei-jin brushed a lock of hair out of Gohan's eyes and kissed his forehead. "Sleep, kid." It was so tempting to lay back and surrender, and Gohan felt the dream world slipping-

He opened his eyes. Piccolo sighed, realizing the moment of intimacy was over. Sitting back, he watched as Gohan rubbed his eyes and sat back, tiredly. "I'm awake," the boy sighed, as if answering a question.

****

Chi-chi scrubbed tears from her eyes as she desperately tried to read her newspaper, searching for an escape that wouldn't come within the evenly spaced lines of the outside world.

It didn't work. The tears were making her mascara run.

Why did it have to be? Ten years ago she would never have seen herself in this position, trying to console her son on the death of his boyfriend, keeping herself strong though she hated the man, dealing with this horrible guilt inside of her.

What had she done to make him like this, to make Gohan turn to men for company? Surely somewhere along the line she had made a mistake that had warped him so… she couldn't possibly believe that this was the way Gohan was always meant to be. Surely not. Surely.

Folding the paper across her knees, Chi-chi shook her head. Now that Piccolo was dead, Gohan could straighten out.

Literally.

Ah, and Piccolo? She didn't particularly care that he was dead, not after what he had done to Gohan, but still it hurt to see her son like this. And why in the world had Piccolo wound up like _that_? That was the most unthinkable thing for him to do- live through so many battles and then surrender off without a fight…

She shook her head. Who cares? Her son was free. Yeah, he hadn't come out of his room since it happened, he wouldn't speak, he barely ate, and he was getting pale, gaunt and thin, but that was normal. He would recover. He would understand, and somewhere along the line, Chi-chi would introduce him to a forgiving girl who could fix everything, and Gohan would forget Piccolo had ever existed.

The doorbell rang.

****

A knock resounded on the metallic door, though Gohan didn't look up. Piccolo jumped, more nervous in death then he had ever been in life. Ironic, that.

Another thunk-thunk-thunk, then his mother's voice. "Gohan, there's someone here to see you. A young lady." There was no hint of recognition in the sound, and Gohan wondered what girl would ever find an excuse to visit him. There had never been any girls. Never.

"She says you'll see her, she says she has to speak with you now," Chi-chi insisted, banging once more with impatience. Perhaps, Gohan considered, she sees this woman as a possible mate for her ever-so-confused firstborn…

No, that wasn't possible. He had told her. He had told all of them, and they had, in time, accepted the love he felt for Piccolo as genuine. The last time his mother had forced a female friend upon him had been over eight years ago, and that had been-

From the other side of the room, Piccolo watched Gohan's expression suddenly jump, from the tired, empty gaze of a dead man to a shocked, surprised look. "Show her in," the man whispered, unsure of why he was agreeing to see this human.

Piccolo stared hard at the door, listened as Chi-chi retreated down the stairwell and then another set of footsteps neared, pausing outside the door as if the figure was steeling herself for some great task- then the door slid back and he took in her appearance.

Oh, no. Not her…

The woman had long, ebony tresses that flowed freely down her back, pooling at her shoulders and licking at her waist, a living, shimmering border around her face. That face, so familiar-

The eyes, wide, calm, brilliant blue, reflecting the bedroom with the infinite understanding and infinite sadness of one seeing their own pain reflected back at them. She didn't pity the huddled figure on the bed that was Gohan, instead she bowed, clumsily, her pale face bobbing like a lantern in the darkness.

Tight clothing as was the style, black, hip-hugging slacks and a low-cut red blouse, clinging to what Piccolo supposed were ample breasts and slim arms- though, he judged, by the look of those arms, she had to have been a fighter.

The effect on Gohan was visible. He looked like he had seen a ghost- of course, he hadn't, for Piccolo was still there, on the windowsill, watching the pair.

"Son Gohan," the girl whispered, after a short silence.

Gohan swallowed and shook his head, not believing that she was there. Surely not! But…..but… "Videl…?"

Piccolo's mind flashed back to the last time he had seen this woman, sprawled out, belly-up in the dirt, bleeding and battered. She had seemed pathetic then, but now, something about her seemed tempered, forged by whatever she had dealt with in the last decade. She was strong, he realized, for a human…

"May I sit?"

A nod- yes.

Videl moved to the bed, perching there instead of in the chair across the room, positioning herself a mere three feet from Gohan's rumpled form. She stared at him across that gulf, and he stared back- for all the world they looked like twins in sin, partners in some great evil that had suddenly fallen to pieces all around them.

And slowly, painfully slowly, Gohan breached that gap. He lifted one hand, reached out, brushing the fingertips through the hair that shone around his classmate's form. Twisting the lock about his fingers, he sighed softly, surprised.

"I haven't cut it," she whispered, "because you liked it short."

"Well…." Gohan swallowed, pulling his hand back though his eyes stared, mesmerized by the tresses. "It's beautiful long, as well."

Something passed though her face, but it was gone in a moment. Piccolo recognized the look for what it was- something that, years ago, would have been anger or pain, but was now nothing more than a shadow of those emotions- the same look when a sailor steps 'just so' on an old sea-wound and flinches for a heartbeat, filled with the remembered pain of some long-ago storm.

She licked her lips to speak. "He was a proud man, your Piccolo."

Gohan looked sulky, as if he wished to say 'How dare you speak of him, he who hated you so!' though no words passed his lips.

"Please, don't look at me so balefully, Gohan…" Videl nearly cried, seeing the expression on his face. "Can you really dislike me so, can you hate me so much after ten years have gone by and I have done my best to forget?!"

He looked away.

"No, no, that's not why I'm here," Videl pressed her eyes closed, as if recalling to herself a promise for her own ears alone. "I want to….oh, Gohan, I'm so sorry…"

That caught the saiya-jin off guard and he looked up, surprised. "I…"

"No, please. I have worded and reworded this for years in my mind, give me peace to speak it in." She whispered, hopefully. "Just that, only that."

Quickly Gohan nodded, lips pressed in a fine, thin line. Piccolo had to lean forward to hear her words, and after a moment, he stood and half leapt, half floated to the empty half of the bed- the half where he had always slept.

"I'm sorry, Gohan. Let me explain…. I spent the first few months after I battled your mentor…your lover…. Trying to justify why I had lost. Because he was stronger, surely you still loved me." She looked towards the place Piccolo had just vacated, her gaze piercing the glass and taking the moonlit yard in. "That was before I really understood. You never did love me, did you? Not in the way I loved you…"

He licked his lips and watched her plead, thinking. Shock, yes. That first week of highschool, having her uncover his 'Saiyaman' scheme, watching her attach herself to his mother and brother, the way Gokou had so quickly guessed them a couple…. Oh, she had been a friend, and he had thought it was love- but how could he know, with nothing to base it on? It had been nothing like what Piccolo had given him for so many years. He had dated her for almost a year, but only because he was expected to. A strong young man, popular, smart, dating the famous, beautiful star of the school's academic heaven. A perfect match, judged so on Valentine's day, but…

Look how it had ended. One kiss with Piccolo, and Videl was nothing. One kiss and Gohan had thought of nothing else but his mentor, and Videl had disappeared.

No, that was no romance.

"No," he shook his head, regretfully.

She sat back, almost relieved. "Thank God. Gohan, just…. When I read that Piccolo was gone, I couldn't help myself, I had to come see you. It's because… Well, I did love you. I honesty did, and everything about you back in those days appealed to me. How could I have known you had greater love elsewhere? I don't even think you knew what you felt for him…for Piccolo. I saw what I wanted to see- a perfect boy, in love with me. I didn't ever notice how you were so content to walk alongside me, how the kisses were always initiated by me… and then, that look in your eye when you were near him, a look I tried to ignore but never, never quite succeeding…"

Gohan watched her, face more animated then Piccolo had seen it in days.

"I understand now. I'm wiser for loving you, stronger for being beaten by your soulmate… I don't begrudge you anything, and….if it's possible, Gohan….I would like….." she took a breath, "I'd like to ask you something. But-"

She trailed off, watching him reach out and stroke her hair again, looking like a lost child fondling a bit of shiny ribbon. "I remember that day…" There was no need to say what day- they both remembered. "And I remember how bravely you fought. I watched you pull yourself up, I called your name but you wouldn't back down. Monster, you called him, but I didn't know how to make you stop, how to tell you that yes, he was a monster, but he was so gentle to me, so kind…"

Videl found her breath lodged in her throat, stuck somewhere between her lips and her breast. Even Piccolo was moved- Gohan never spoke of that day, never… and now, to hear that sweet voice speaking again after days of silence…

"I wish I could do it over again, I would never have hurt you, I would have flung myself between you and told you, but I just couldn't, I felt frozen, shocked by what I was seeing…And look, I ruined you, and now I've ruined him…"

Piccolo blinked. Ruined?

Evidently Videl was surprised as well, because she raised her brows, and then asked in her gentlest, most motherly voice: "Gohan, how did Piccolo die?"

Piccolo leaned forward, listening keenly. He had been trying to remember that so desperately, and now his question would be answered…

Tense seconds, as Gohan tried to find the will to speak. Finally, after a small eternity, he managed to choke out a quick answer, as tears stained his cheeks once more. "I found him in the old valley," the words were clumsy, blurring into one another as he spoke. "He was sitting by the stream where we used to camp….my old, old sword, the broken one he gave me when I was first pulled into his training…"

"Yes?" Videl prodded, when Gohan paused, pale with memories.

"His wrists were slashed, both of them, and the sword was still in his fingertips."