The Z gang stood outside a closed off bedroom, waiting impatiently from the news inside. When the man had been knocked out, Piccolo had carried both the prince and the stranger inside. Then he, the knocked out men, and Goku had walked into the bedroom. Neither word nor movement could be made out behind the closed and locked door.
They were beginning to get a little worried.
*****
" So he's going to be okay?" Goku asked from the seat he had taken in the corner of the room. Walking around from his comforter, to the door, and to their guest bedroom had been too much of a workout for him. Immediately he had collapsed into the nearest chair, breaking into a sweat and had just now caught his breath enough to speak. Piccolo had wrapped Vegeta's head up in a bandage, which was lying in the single bed of the room, and moved to the stranger who lay in another bed.
" Yes," the Namek answered who was
looking over the cloaked figure with a serious expression. Goku, eager to see who this newcomer was,
began to rise from the chair in which he was seated in but Piccolo raised his
stern gaze upon the last Son.
" Stay down, Goku," Piccolo
ordered. Goku complied with a sigh and
plopped back in the chair, slugging down with a teenager expression on his
face. Piccolo seemed stunned for moment
as he watched Goku's face. Lately, it
had been nothing but sadness trying to be joy. Like winter trying to be summer, never successful. But now, Goku had an almost childish pout on
his face; reminding Piccolo of the child in an adult that they all knew was the
real Goku.
Maybe the stranger's coming wasn't a horrible thing after all.
Keeping a blank face where a smile was about to erupt, Piccolo turned back to the sleeping man within the bed. Leaning down, he grabbed the black hood covering the man's upper face. Time to know what you look like, he thought with a devious smile upon his lips and pulled back the hood.
Piccolo knew his heart skipped at least three beats.
*****
" Goku!"
All the Z warriors jumped at the deep growl from within the room. Standing up from the floor where they had sprawled themselves, they watched as the door swung open wide and Piccolo ran out.
" Get the medicine! Goku is having an attack!"
Tein immediately reacted and ran to the kitchen on top speed. Krillin had ran into the bedroom to help his childhood friend and within milliseconds, Tein had returned, throwing the medicine into Piccolo's hand. The Namek returned into the bedroom hastily and ran to where Goku was leaning over on the chair, grasping his heart and screaming silently out most pain.
" Take this…" Piccolo ordered and forced the bottle of medicine to his friend's lip. At first he refused the life saving drink, choking on his own blood that rose into his throat. But slowly he drank it down, coughing and sputtering the two awful liquids in his throat. As soon as all of the medicine was down, along with the blood, Piccolo threw the bottle away carelessly. Goku gasped and panted, whispering out words too faint to hear. Krillin leaned forward to hear the words but they were being muttered to quickly, to soft, so Krillin resorted to the next best thing. Lip reading.
Krillin read Goku's lips, " Impossible…He's saying impossible. Piccolo…what's…?"
" There!" Goku rasped, pointing shakily at the bed. Krillin followed his best friend's finger to the still black form on top of the bed. Getting up from his knees at Goku's side, Krillin walked over to the small bed against the wall. The small man crawled onto the bed and peered over the dark clothing to the face lying against the pillow.
Dark brows fell heavily upon closed eyes, a small nose, dirty cheeks, and small pouty lips, that probably only looked like that in sleep, was all that Krillin saw at first. Black locks, bangs that grew across the forehead, and short hair waved in as a breeze from outside entered the stillroom.
Then Krillin had a small image just as the odd man tilted his head just as the slightest. The rage and hate within a small boy's eyes as he headed forward into battle while he stayed behind, wounded and dying. The pain, Krillin remembered, was even more worse then the hole in his gut as he heard the painful cries of a boy being torn apart and then dragged away…To where, they never ever knew.
Gohan.
