DragonBallZ: When Dreams Become Reality

Chapter 15 written by Noble....

The start of a new week and the start of a somewhat normal 'human' life for Piccolo. With his injures finally healed thanks to the constant care of the ever vigilant Nioki at his bedside as always, the young man had made an almost complete recovery. Sadly however even with the bruises gone they left several deep scars over most parts of his body. Now the scars I'm talking about ain't the sort you can just see that appear as clear as day, the scars I mean are the ones that remain a constant reminder in a persons mind after an event that shocks and frightens the soul so much that it stays wedged in the mind permanently.

Let's just say for example your walking on peacefully minding your own business when you decide to cross the road without looking or even caring not to look. The result of that person's carelessness could involve a car crash or the loss of his life. If however the person wakes up in hospital and finds he no longer has his left arm, the brain goes into shock and then grief and then from that day on the individual constantly thinks back to what happened and what he could have done to change that drastic turning point in his or hers life. A 'What If?'...if you will. Certain events like car crashes, the death of a family member, battling in the war or perhaps everyday muggings, rape and beatings leave an emotional scar on the physc human brain. Near enough everyone this day and age has gone through such a phase which leaves them devastated, in shock or overcome with personal grief of the event so much that we can't forget about it even if we had all the willpower in the world to.

Piccolo's emotional scar however was much deeper than others, not because he considered himself to be better than humans far weaker than he was but because the impossibility of him actually getting beaten to death by 25 heavily armed and well built men, with the loss of his unbelievable powers in the process. Powers that would have made the punches and kicks thrown at him feel like nothing more than pin pricks, if even that. Fate that day had decided for Piccolo that the shoe this time was on the other foot and was definetly not in his favour.

But then again Fate is a cruel mistress. She seeks pleasure anyway she can, especially when it comes to entertainment. For countless millenia Fate has toyed with and has been a constant observer to the lives of billions and billions the world, no the entire universe over. She has observed, laughed and even played her hand in events that lead to that would which would most please her most. Because you see Fate and luck are two different things completely. She decides at the top of her head what happens to any individual as she see's fit, whether it be love, beatings, heart break or suicide fate bathes in it all. We as living beings are nothing more than pawns in game of epic proportions, a game that we have our say in or so we think. Do we really decide for ourselves where our lives will lead in the days ahead? Can we truly be the masters of our destiny when none of us can't even predict the future ahead. That's the reality of things sometimes, we don't know what lies ahead from one day to the next because each day is unpredictable.

We can't honestly say to ourselves that tommorrow is going to be a great day, because in the end when it's over you find it turns out to be the worst day of your life. For example you can't go out expecting to get laid and tell yourself that your going to get some, when you could just end up getting a slap in the face for trying and get blown off horribly to the point you feel rejected and that no girl even wants to look at you. That's the funny thing with life, you never know what's going to happen next, it's totally unexpected.

And as for Piccolo, he found out the hard way that not everything is one sided. Not everything goes your way or the way you expected it to turn out. A few weeks ago before the incident started he swore he would beat the crap out of each and everyone of the intruders that attacked the school grounds. Promising nothing more than swift and painful retribution but unfortunetly as the idle chatter between the terroists and him ended the events that occured after were not what he expected entirely. He was shot in the back with a plasma blast of some sort that drained him completely of his powers that he had trained for years to gain, literally shuting down any or all cells in his body that contained Namekian or Saiyan DNA and unfortunetly for Piccolo, his body was full of nothing but the DNA of those two alien species. A total and fatal shutdown occured making him feel weaker than normal, between fatigue and tiredness and before he could even try to get a single punch in, he was stomped to the ground with a boot to his face violently and then reapeatedly after beaten and kicked to death within an inch of his life until the point that it seemed he couldn't even feel any nerve endings his body at all. It left him feeling like an old man; weak, slow and feeble. His body had never felt so numb before in his entire life, he couldn't even move his arms or legs if only barely. It felt like the earth's gravity had increased 100 times more than what he was previously used too.

No, it didn't turn out to be what he expected at all...

That painful day, that very memory of it all was all that Piccolo thought of in his days of rest. Even when he tried to think of something else or perhaps turn his thoughts to Nioki, his subconcious kept on turning back to the very same thing. Over and over again even in his dreams or what is more commonly known as Nightmares. He was sure that Nioki more than anything knew what he was thinking about, what was constantly worrying more than ever and yet then again how could she not? She was at his bedside pretty much 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She refused to eat downstairs and only left when 'nature called' but as always she would hurridly return as if fearing he would dissappear.

Did anything good really come from this tragedy? That closer feeling of friendship and trust deepened a little more than it was previously that's for sure, but could their friendship, therelationship they had between one another actually deepen any further than that? It was a little hard to tell and confusing in Piccolo's mind, he had no idea what would happen if it did, or what to do for that matter. But soon enough as he was dressed and returning to the school gates with Nioki by his side as always, today on his reinduction he would find out shortly how much deeper there relationship would go indeed.

Strangefully and somewhat confused as he entered his old tutor room, the students occupying it rushed to his side, bombarding him with countless questions and if that he was alright.The result of this actually startled him and made him fumble with his words. Piccolo didn't quite know how to take such a response of so many students worrying over him, he hardly knew any of them and knew only their names briefly, if that. Why were they so concerned for his welfare anyway? A couple of years ago when he first entered these school walls and the terroists made their first appearance, everyone including the teachers feared him and kept their distance, and now they were all acting like they were his best buddies?!

After answering their questions shortly after, the school life that he returned to, resumed it's normal activities. Students went back to their classes and consumed themselves with idle banter and chattering while others ingrossed themselves in their work and education. Yeah, school was definetly back to the way it's always been, bar the students keeping their distance of the young man and his powers that were missing. That's the only signifficant change that happened with school or so Piccolo thought....

Half the day passed and already it was lunchtime. One hour for students and teachers alike to take a break and fill their stomachs with the food provided from the cafeteria. Piccolo would usually use this time to improve his training and learn some new techniques alone in the gym but since his powers were now gone, he decided reluctantly to join the rest of the student body within the lunch hour. Filling his tray with whatever food looked appetizing and then moving over to the table where Nioki and her best friend Alisa sat he began to consume his food slowly while they chatted on old news and ate their meal in the same retrospect. It all seemed relatively normal but didn't go without a technical hitch, something of interest that Piccolo caught out of the corner of his left eye.

Two students, a male and a female sat on a table not far from his were sitting a little too closely and were holding hands and whispering something into each other's ear which made each gender blush profusely. Now don't take this the wrong way, Piccolo isn't dumb when it comes to learning new things and experinces, far from it but he was a little slow on the uptake as he didn't know why those two students seemed so close with one another. Still watching out of the corner of his eye, intrigued and silently questioning he concluded that their friendship was something different from what he had with Nioki. Sure he and Nioki were close but not that close and whatever they were whispering between one another certainly wasn't something Piccolo and Nioki did, nor did they blush when they talked, so what were they doing?

"Hey Piccolo, what's wrong?" questioned Alisa.

"Those two over there, what are they doing?"

"Huh? Ohhhh, don't you get it? Their in love! Ain't it cute?" answered Alisa gushing at the sight.

"In love?"

"Yeah! Pretty much everyone here in school gets that way. Y'know? Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they get to know one another and BAM in no time they develop a crush with one another and go a step beyond friendship, they become partners, lovers who will stay only with the partner they give their undying love too".

"Everyone....is like this? Sounds mushy" quipped Piccolo frowning.

"Well not nearly everyone. Most couples don't stay together that long because their relationship wasn't going well or it just wasn't meant to be. I'm talking major heartache here, they say love hurts but it hurts a lot more when your seperated from the one you love and it really hurts a lot when she ditches you and goes for somebody else" answers Alisa knowingly.

"Humph, doesn't sound like it's worth the risk" grumbles Piccolo thinking about it.

"No sometimes it's not. Once you decide to go past the boaderline of wanting the friendship to go deeper it sometimes proves to have more bad points then good ones. After you split, the heartache not only makes you feel miserable but in the end both partners tend to have a spatz with one another and end up hating each other completely until they come to terms with the breakup or don't bother talking to each other at all. Sometimes love is strange like that y'know?"

"That definetly sounds like it's not worth the risk".

"True, true sometimes going that far for such a thing isn't really worth it, however there are some couples that actually fit togehter pretty well. I mean some couples last pretty much 2 months together in a relationship before splitting up and moving on. But some couples last longer than that, for years and years infact long after they leave school because they love each other so much and never want to be seperated. People like that are happy because they have all they ever need in each other, they take the good points of each other and the bad as well but overcome it, because they were meant to be, sorta like soulmates".

"Years and years? How many years exactly?" questions Piccolo in a low voice, intrigued.

"Well if a person ever finds someone that seems near enough perfect and stay together because they believe they are meant to be soulmates...I'd say give or take 50-70 years or until the day they die. Love really lasts that long between some people because as they say 'love has no boundaries'. That's pretty much it" finishes Alisa beaming.

"That's it? They stay together that long because of love, nothing else inbetween?"

"Inbetween? Oh you mean the se- OW!"

A rough slap at the back of Alisa's head cuts her off from her explanation to Piccolo and she rubs the injured spot while glaring at Nioki who had a deathglare of her own to match while looking slightly red in her cheeks.

"Hey I was just getting to the good part!" growls Alisa at her best friend.

"Forget about that, it can wait till later. Hey Piccolo, I have something I want to show you? Wanna come?" asks Nioki rising from her seat.

Curious and still wanting to know what good part Alisa was leaving out, he stands and follows Nioki down the corridor wondering what it was she wanted to show him until she stops and points to a poster on the notice board. The Poster reads:

'Student Prom'

All Students are invited to the end of school gathering two weeks before the seasons end. All students in the Year 11 margine only. Dress smart and bring a partner or come alone if you like.

Tickets £3.00 a person

Signed The headmaster

Eyebrow quirked, Piccolo turns to Nioki with only one question on his mind, "What's a prom?"

"Argh!"

Author's note: Here ya go peeps chapter 15 up and ready for you to read. Please Review and tell me what you think. All comments are appreciated and no flames please because I will not accept them otherwise, Ok?! *Frowns Vegeta like* If you can't be bothered reviewing my fic just send your comments and questions to: Noblekaleomnislash1@hotmail.com

signed Noble....