Sharing The Dream
Part Six
Sequel to "Different Hearts, Same Dream"
A Dragonball Z fanfic
By Hana Noir
Bulma prepared Chichi some soup and crackers and brought it to her on a tray. She fussed a bit, insisting that she was fine, but Bulma was unconvinced. The two women chatted about people and places that meant nothing to Kyrie, so she amused herself with making faces at the baby, grinning when he laughed at her.
"So, you're Piccolo's friend?" Chichi's voice caught her attention and Kyrie looked up from where she was sprawled on her belly next to the baby.
"Yes," she replied, wondering at the slightly disapproving look on the older woman's face.
"Hmf." Chichi snorted. "Maybe now he'll leave my Gohan be. I know he's been sneaking off to spar with Piccolo. I wasn't born yesterday."
Kyrie blinked, pushing herself up off of the floor. "What's wrong with that?" she asked, not knowing the can of worms that was about to be opened.
"Everything!" Chichi shouted, almost knocking over the tray with the empty soup bowl on it. "My Gohan should have been a great scholar. Instead, he's been forced to fight, time and again. I don't know how many times I sat here waiting, not knowing if he or his father were going to come back alive!!" Bulma moved to sit next to Chichi, trying to calm her down, but it was no use. "I told his father that Gohan was not to fight! But he went off and got himself killed and Piccolo," she spat out the name with venom. "took my baby and I didn't see him again for a year! Then when I did get him back, he was in the hospital!" Her face was flushed deep red and she seemed about to explode.
Kyrie shook her head. Chichi's emotions were overwhelming her mental defenses and she didn't want to experience any of them. Pain, terrible grief, loneliness, anger and bitterness swirled around her, touched with a lurid green tinge of jealousy. She got to her feet, trying to push the feelings back. Her head felt like it was about to split open and with a low moan of pain, she staggered for the door.
Piccolo had been helping Gohan to stack the firewood they had collected when he felt Kyrie's distress. Her ki was rising in an effort to fight off something he couldn't sense, but he dropped the armload of wood and rushed to help her. He could feel her pain and confusion and his fangs bared in an unconscious snarl. Whatever had dared to hurt her would pay…
The front door crashed open and he tensed, ready for battle. To his surprise, Kyrie burst out through the door, clutching her head with both hands. He stopped and she ran straight into him. Breathing in shuddering gasps, she hid her face against his shirt. His arms instinctively folded around her, holding her close. "What happened?" he asked, fighting his temper down. His turbulent emotions would only make her that much more upset. Her hands fisted in the material of his shirt and he could sense her trying to rebuild her mental barriers. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind, then concentrated on their bond. His mind touched hers gently and she welcomed it in and together, they rebuilt the shields that had been so abruptly breached.
She was calm by the time they finished, but she didn't move, keeping her forehead resting against Piccolo's broad chest. "I – I can't stay here any longer," she said, her voice quavering a bit. She pulled away from him, hugging herself tightly. "I'll see you later, okay?"
He nodded, not understanding what was going on, but willing to wait for an explanation. She smiled a bit wanly, then rose slowly into the air. When she had gained sufficient height, she shot off in the direction of the Tenka. Piccolo looked back at the house to see Bulma standing in the doorway, frowning. His eyes were like obsidian ice as he glared down at the human woman. "What happened, Bulma?" he asked, his tone suggesting that she'd best answer.
Bulma frowned as well, glaring back over her shoulder. "Chichi went off on one of her rants again," she said dryly. "I didn't realize it would scare your friend so badly."
Piccolo snorted. "Hardly." He frowned again. "Kyrie's an esper. A powerful one. I understand what happened now."
"What?" Bulma asked, leaning forward, curiosity piqued. "She's a telepath?"
"Among other things," he answered shortly. Chichi had no mental control, so when she lost her temper, she had projected unshielded emotion indiscriminately. Kyrie had probably gotten the full brunt of the explosion. No wonder her shields had buckled. He could feel that she was still upset, but the further away she got, the more calm she was becoming. He turned his attention back to Bulma, who looked fascinated at the idea. "Don't bother her about it, Bulma," he said in warning. "She's had enough of being treated like an experiment. Just leave it alone."
Bulma flinched at the ice in his voice. He was as good as telling her not to even ask the girl about it. Or else. This protectiveness was different than the way he was with Gohan. Bulma couldn't help but to wonder what was going on in the stoic Namek's mind. "Maybe you should go and check on her," she suggested, hiding a smile at the flicker of concern that crossed his face. "She was pretty upset. And there's nothing here that Gohan and I can't handle."
He stared thoughtfully in the direction that Kyrie had gone off in. Bulma had a point. "Tell Gohan if he needs me, call me." She nodded, shading her eyes against the bright aura that flamed up around him as he took off. Grinning, she watched him rocket away, wondering if he realized how transparent his feelings for the girl really were.
He found her by the stream where they had first met. It was too cold for her to enter the water, but she sat there atop the lip of rock that extended out over the pool, staring moodily at the water as it frothed over the little waterfall. She didn't bother to turn around when he landed, keeping her eyes on the water. He wondered that she didn't feel the cold, sitting there in nothing but a thin t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Kneeling down behind her, he placed a large hand on her shoulder. She placed a hand over his, but never moved. They stayed like that for a very long time, neither speaking. Finally, she turned to him. "I don't think I like human beings very much," she said, eyes dark and heavy. "If I never see another one, I'll live happy." He was taken aback by the vehemence in her voice, not knowing what to say. He sat down behind her, and she moved to sit between his knees, leaning back against his chest.
"You know," he said slowly, the words catching in his throat. "You can't be alone your entire life."
She twisted around, surprise on her face. "But, I'm not alone! There's you, and Dende-sama and Mr. Popo. You're all my friends."
Piccolo closed his eyes briefly, feeling like a knife was ripping into his heart. "Someday, you're going to need more out of life than that." And he didn't know if he could handle the pain if she ever fell in love with some weak human. She shook her head, wrapping her arms around his waist and burrowing against him like a child. He took a deep breath; there was nothing childlike about the way she felt in his arms. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her close, while his free hand stroked her hair. She sighed, relaxing against him.
"You – you don't want me to leave, do you?" she finally asked, looking up at him with more than a small amount of fear lurking in her eyes.
"No!" he burst out, pulling her closer. Never…. He closed his eyes, almost unable to contain all of the strange emotions she stirred up inside of him. He stared down at her earnest face and did something that he never thought he would do again. He caught her face between his hands, running a gentle thumb over her slightly parted lips. Her eyes widened and a soft gasp escaped as he lowered his head to press his lips against hers. One hand made its way down her back to pull her closer as the other cradled the back of her head. She responded ardently, rising up on her knees and twining her arms around his neck. Her mouth was soft and willing beneath his and he struggled to contain the heat that was rising within him. He hadn't expected either of them to react like this.
He pulled away first, gasping for breath. "We – we can't do this."
She blinked, trying to clear her mind. She had felt that kiss all the way down to her toes. "Why not?"
He glared at her for not making this any easier than it had to be. How could he explain? Someday she would want things he couldn't give her. He had come to that abrupt realization when he had seen her playing with little Goten. She had seemed so happy, laughing and carefree. He couldn't deny her the chance to have her own children someday.
Kyrie tilted her head, staring up at him with no small amount of annoyance. "It is completely unfair that you can read my mind at any time you want, but I can't get any more than surface emotions from you." He stared at her, startled by her words. "So, answer me. Why not?"
He sighed, knowing that she was too stubborn to quit without getting an answer. "It just wouldn't work. We're too different."
Her brows drew together and her forehead knotted up as she thought hard. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. Suddenly, her face lit up in comprehension and she gave him a wide eyed look. "You mean, we're not physically compatible?"
Piccolo sighed, a long suffering sound. He had forgotten that she had no sense of what was acceptable to discuss and what was not. Being raised as she had been, she had an almost childlike naivete about some things. He really didn't want to go into the details, but he didn't want to lie to her either. "I never said that."
"But you implied it," she pointed out reasonably. She leaned back from him, watching his face carefully.
He decided that, in this case, honesty truly was the best policy. "I'll explain," he said, sighing again. "It's not that we can't be… physically intimate." He paused for a moment, mortified that he was even discussing, never mind considering such a thing. "But there's no point in it."
She frowned. "I wasn't aware that there was a point in having sex. I thought it was something that was done as an expression of feelings."
Dende, you're an evil little bastard, he thought sourly. I'll bet you're up there laughing your ass off right now. "It can be," he finally got out. "But the main purpose of a male/female relationship is procreation."
She still had that slightly befuddled look on her face, as if she didn't quite get what he was driving at. "So?"
He hung his head for a moment, wishing nothing more than anything to be anywhere else, not having this conversation. "So, Humans and Nameks aren't genetically compatible." Maybe now she would understand.
"But what does that have to do with anything?" Kyrie asked, now completely unable to follow his reasoning.
"Everything!" Piccolo surged to his feet, hands thrown up in exasperation. She scrambled to her feet, watching as he paced back and forth. He was scowling darkly, plainly irritated. "I can't give you children, Kyrie."
She planted her hands on her hips, her scowl as fierce as his. "You big idiot! When did I ever say I wanted children with you? Or anyone, for that matter??" He paused, staring at her as she began to yell at him. "You think too much, Piccolo! I'm barely able to be responsible for myself, let alone a child!!" She paused for a moment, another question coming to her. "Besides, where did you get an asinine idea like that anyway?"
"Watching you with Gohan's little brother," he admitted. "You seemed to be happy playing with him."
She snorted in exasperation. "I'm happy sparring with you, but that doesn't mean I want the shit kicked out of me on an hourly basis! Just because a person enjoys something doesn't mean they want to do it forever. It was something new. I'd never even so much as touched a baby before this morning!" She hung her head, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. "Ye gods, trying to follow your convoluted thought processes has given me one hell of a headache…"
He grinned then. "Taxed your little brain, did I?" The dirty look she gave him rendered the hand gesture unnecessary, but it was a nice touch. He couldn't help but to laugh; he liked it when she was feisty.
She gave him a look that was decidedly thoughtful. "You and I, we're not the kind of people that end up with the white picket fence, mini-van and 2.5 children, you know." He nodded, accepting her point. She stretched up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him tightly. "And I wouldn't want it any other way. Why don't we just take things as they come?" He smiled at that, putting his arms around her as well. The stood like that for several seconds, before she shivered all over. "Can we go home now?" she asked plaintively. "It's cold, and I've missed breakfast and lunch." A gurgling sound from her stomach emphasized her words.
He swept her off her feet, smirking at her surprised gasp as he shot off above the treetops. "I can fly on my own," she reminded him, green eyes wide at his behavior.
He held her even closer, the smirk widening. "I know." She regarded him with no small amount of astonishment before, smiling slightly, she relaxed against him.
