:::Dream Maker:::
Chapter 4: No Dreams For A Dreamer


(Shiga)


Piccolo had named me... an insulting name, but I didn't really mind. I didn't really mind anything at the moment, actually. "So..." Gohan said speaking up, breaking the awkward silence. "Would you like to come inside?" I nodded, mostly for the sake of being polite, and Gohan showed me in. Only now had a realized how dark it was getting outside, the light inside of Gohan's house made me want to shield my eyes.

"Gohan, honey, who was that at the door? It wasn't that Piccolo again was it?" I heard a light voice holler from what looked to be the kitchen. Well... at least I could remember some basic things. "Yeah, mom... it was Mr. Piccolo. He brought a friend!" Gohan said in response, and not long afterwards I heard a gasp from the light voice.

"A FRIEND? I've GOTTA see this..." The voice said, and was then revealed wiping her hands on a cloth towel... coming into the living room to take a look at me I suppose. She was very pretty in my opinion, and I could see the resemblance in Gohan. It was obvious that this was his mother.

"Well hello there young lady! I'm Gohan's mother, ChiChi." She said, and reached out her hand to shake mine, and I shook it politely.
"Might you have a name...?" She asked in a kind comforting tone.

"Well... sort of." I said now, speaking up. "Piccolo has named me Shiga." ChiChi looked at me curiously, cocking her head. "Shiga...? That's an interesting name... what do you mean Piccolo named you?" I explained to ChiChi that I couldn't seem to remember anything, and she continually attempted to comfort me by patting me on the shoulder, saying how sorry she was. I eventually met her husband as well... a fighter named Goku. I was amazed that all these people seemed so STRONG. Yes, Goku was strong... and friendly, I discovered. But not too bright. I caught him saying some... odd... things. But then again, who was I to talk of odd? I couldn't even remember my real name.

"So!" Goku said to me, getting an all-too goofily looking smile on his face. "How do you like our friend Piccolo here?"

I swear I almost turned completely pink. The question in general wasn't embarrassing... it was the way he said it, and how he was grinning. And it's not like I really CARED for Piccolo, so his question almost sounded absurd to me.

"Um, well, he saved my life. And I'm grateful for that. Although he isn't the most social guy on earth..." I heard a chuckle from Gohan, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of me. I was sitting on the couch. "Yeah... but once you get to know him, he's really a swell friend. He's saved my life so many times, I can't count them all." That interested me. "You mean he's not just a big grouch?" "NO WAY! He's really very nice, it just takes a while for anyone to get close to him." Gohan seemed to put a lot of emphasis on what he was talking about... he must have meant every word.

Later ChiChi agreed to let me stay in Gohan's room, but only for one night. She said she'd try to get a hold of some other friends and see if I could stay with them... she also added that she had way too many mouths to feed. Though she was kind enough to loan me some of her old sleeping cloths... they were a little big, but I wasn't about to complain. I thanked her for her generosity, and found my way to Gohan's room. "Good night, Shiga!" Gohan hollered from the couch before I shut the door. My word... his room looked like a library. Made me wonder what he could possibly do with all those books. While I lay in the bed, I thought about the many possibilities of why I couldn't remember. Just IMAGINE what it would be like to forget every vital part of your life... your parents, your first day of school, your best friend, your siblings perhaps, if you have any. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.





(Piccolo)



I flew back to the usual area I go at night to do my deep meditation. I didn't normally get any real sleep, after all. I was glad to get rid of the human girl now called 'Shiga'. She was REALLY cutting into my meditation time. In fact... she still was. I couldn't help but try to relate my own life to hers, and think about her disability to remember. I personally wouldn't have minded that much to forget my past... it wasn't all pink clouds and marsh mallows after all. I had seen a lot of things I would have rather not... including my entire child-hood, if you could call it a child-hood at all. But Humans seem to cherish memories more than I... so I actually felt a little pity for her. Which you can imagine, is quite rare for me. So I thought a lot about Shiga that night. Out of pure pity of course... nothing more. I would refuse to believe I was somehow becoming attached to this human, like I had with Gohan. That was one thought I didn't allow.





I opened my eyes slowly, getting out of my meditation for about the billionth time that morning alone. Why couldn't I simply forget about Shiga? Usually I'd be able to brush any Human off like dust... but for some reason her memory loss kept popping up. I'd fall into a deep meditation, and all of a sudden a picture of her would emerge, sometimes crying... This didn't please me, I could tell you that. I had myself to take care of, I didn't want some weak Human invading my thoughts. Grinding my teeth, I got back up. If I couldn't forget her, I'd find a way to. I powered up slightly and lifted off, once again towards the Son residence.





(Shiga)



I heard a loud beeping filling my ears and out of pure instinct, slammed my hand where a bed-table should have been. No bed-table. Air. I opened my eyes groggily and sat up. Figures... the bed-table was on the right, not left, side. Good naturedly, I SLAMMED my hand on the 'cancel' button. My eyes still only half open, I stared at the numbers on the digital clock. 5:00... did they ALWAYS get up this early? Not seeing any real reason to get up yet, I examined my wounds, now that I was able to examine them at all. They seemed to be healing up pretty quickly... before I went to bed ChiChi gave me a light snack while she patched them up... which seemed to help a great deal. Although my body was still wracked with pain... and whenever I moved my ankle I had to restrain from screaming. But at least I knew I could trust these people... that's what I was most worried about before. Though Piccolo seemed to be a smart one, something told me he's had some rough times in his life. Which wasn't exactly comforting to think that I was with no one but a giant pickle who had a bad past.

After a while, I decided I better get up. Couldn't seem to get back to sleep, and I hadn't dreamed at all last night. Nothing that I could really dwell on but my own self pity, and I would prefer not to do that. When I reached the living room I spotted Gohan still slumbering away on the living room couch... thought I spotted some drool there. Not long after my observation ChiChi came in and woke him up, saying that breakfast was almost ready. Yeah, I could smell it... Bacon and Eggs? Pancakes perhaps? She headed back to the kitchen, and I followed her in.

"Need any help?" I asked, trying to be good company.

"Actually, yes... could you do me a favor and get 20 more eggs out of the refrigerator?"

I swear my eyes must have bulged. 20!? What FOR? But I nodded anyway and started counting.

1, 2, 3... "How come you need so many eggs, anyway?" 4, 5, 6, 7...

"Oh, the eggs are just the first portion of the meal."

SHOOT! I lost count. "What do you MEAN the FIRST portion!?" Oh well, back to the drawing board. 1, 2, 3, 4...

ChiChi chuckled, "My boys eat a lot... all Saiyans do, actually." The conversation lasted a while, and it took me a while to count the eggs... kept losing track. Even dropped one at a point of the talk about Piccolo's past. I had purposefully asked her about that. Hey, I was entitled rights to know about my savior, right? ChiChi finally finished whipping up breakfast... she seemed to move at super-human speed. Maybe she was afraid that it wouldn't get done in time and her 'boys' would go crazy or something... I kind of got the impression she put up with a lot. Although when she saw Gohan and Goku wolfing down the food, she looked pretty pleased with herself. I myself was amazed. Intrigued even... they ate the portions of about 20 growing teenagers - like myself - each. Simply amazing. Though watching them... I kind of lost my appetite. Then I heard a grunt from the door-way.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" Piccolo... what was he doing here? Man, couldn't he have knocked...? I decided not to answer his question, the look on my face said all. And for once, Piccolo actually laughed... which caused Gohan to look up in shock.

"Hiya Mr. Piccolo! Want some grub?" Or at least that's what it sounded like Gohan said... just imagine his mouth mostly full - and fully visible - with buttery pancakes.

"NO." Was Piccolo's only response. I slowly and cautiously walked over to him, basically tripping over my sprained ankle. "Um, Piccolo, sir?" Piccolo just stared down at me with dead eyes... it made me feel uneasy, like I shouldn't have been there. And though he didn't say anything, I continued to stare back, just as un-easily eerie. "I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Although I acted like a snit and if anything just annoyed you, I'm thankful that you saved my life." I did not enjoy saying that. I kept a straight face, and didn't twitch... but Piccolo did. A little.

"Whatever."

WHAT!? 'Whatever' !? Here I had thanked him and he didn't CARE!? "So I'm just sorry I was an inconvenience, that's all." I said through hopeful, but gritted teeth.

"Yeah, whatever."

Okay, NOW he had TICKED ME OFF. I even said I was SORRY for goodness sakes!! What was with this 'whatever' business!? So with these angry thoughts in my head, I did something I knew he would hate.




(Piccolo)


I flew to the Son residence and went inside, not even bothering to knock... they'd just invite me in anyway. And came in just in time for Gohan and Goku to start eating. Disgusting. In fact, it was so gruesome I voiced my opinion in the form of a question. 'Shiga' seemed to be the only one to notice me, and her faced turned white for some odd reason or another. Humans are so odd... though I couldn't help but laugh at her expression. Gohan had finally noticed me and asked if I cared for some 'grub' as he put it. I responded with a firm 'NO'. The usual answer. Then Shiga came over. What did she think she was doing, just COMING UP to me?

"Um, Piccolo, sir?" I stared at her coldly, purposefully trying to make her nervous... but she just stared back, equally poker-faced.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Although I acted like a snit and if anything just annoyed you, I'm thankful that you saved my life." What WAS she talking about? She was... THANKING me? Well to be entirely truthful, that actually made me feel pretty good. I had made her at least get past that STUPID attitude of 'stuck-up clumsy teenager who fell in the river and won't except help'. But I kept up my masquerade, mostly to annoy her.

"Whatever."

Her face turned purple, then gritted through her teeth: "So I'm just sorry I was an inconvenience, that's all."

"Yeah, whatever."

THAT was my downfall.