He is After All My Soul

By BlueRaven

Disclaimer: Never owned it...

A/N:A short Piccolo fic... I just love Piccolo... and Gohan too... this is a Piccolo POV reflecting over his feelings for Gohan... NOT GAY (YAY!!) as a father/son relationship rather... ^_^ yay the second one I write where they're not a couple...

Enjoy and review!

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I don't know when I started being so desperate for feelings to be able to feel anything other then hate, anger and occasionally pain of wounds... Ever since I made the decision to take that blast for Son's kid and died for him, ever since I trained him and promised to always protect him I've been like this... needing to feel... to have that hole in me completed and filled with something more satisfying then Hate.

I've always thought that I never needed anything else then power and my Hate but then the kid came along and I've changed... I yearn to feel, to have that kid smiling at me and tell me that he love me and that I'm his best friend. I like that... it warms me inside to know that.

He sleeps here beside me, loosely wrapping his small but strong arms as long he can reach around my waist and smile content in his sleep. He had sneaked out from his studies, despite his mother constant nagging, only to visit me and spar. He's so small, my precious, my Gohan. He's the carrier of my feelings if I would loose him I'd... I'm not sure what I'd do if it ever came to that...

I shouldn't worry though he is the strongest fighter of us all and I'm sure he can take care of himself. Sure he has just lost his father but I'll help him deal with that as much as I'm capable, as a friend or a father, whatever way he likes.

He is after all my soul.

He is the closest thing I'll ever have to a real son. My Gohan. I pat him on his head and ruffle his black hair. Watching as he smiles in his sleep... that is a miracle every time I sees it. I mean, that my slightest touch can bring a smile to those small lips, I like that too...

I know that I and Goku are the only ones that can bring that peculiar smile to decorate his childish features. That must mean he loves me as much as his father... maybe that's why he has saved me so many times... maybe he would loose it as bad as when his father died at the hands of Cell if I did as well... I wonder.

I hope that anyway. It would be an honour if he would. I can hear him whisper softly in his sleep so soft that not even a saiya-jin would be able to hear this... what's he saying..?

"Dai... suki... Piccolo-san... lets spar..." I feel the corner of my mouth rise a bit higher then before and I chuckle softy not to wake him from his slumber. I must be kinder in his dreams then in reality... I guess he sees beyond my stoic visage. I would never be able to hide anything from him if he would ever ask me for the truth in anything. I love him too much to risk our friendship to ever do that. I was so full of fright for his life during the Cell Games that I almost lost it... I couldn't believe that Goku let his SON fight. A eleven year old boy, to let him fight the universe's, at the time, strongest being.

Gohan's life has been hard, since he was four he has been forced to fight to survive. First there was Garlic Jr. And then Raddiz then I forced him to train for half a year alone in the desert on that island, then I ruthlessly trained him and changed then we fought the saiya-jin's and I was killed then he and Kuririn fought alone on Nameksei for almost a month... Against Freiza and Vegeta then there was Garlic Jr again and the androids and... Cell. That must have been the hardest fight ever in his very young life. Especially afterwards when he found out that Goku didn't want to be brought back to life... I saw then how he suffered by himself, in his own little way by acting as if all was all right and that he was fine... but I saw and suffered with him.

But then he came and told me... I wonder how long that's been? Two weeks ago, more or less, and he'd cried and told me how much he missed his father and that it was all his fault. I couldn't blame him from what he felt... and I couldn't do anything else but listen to him and let him cry. I had to swallow my arrogant pride and ridiculous dislike of showing emotion and let the boy cry without telling him off and calling him weak. Gohan had stayed with me for two days after that... I'm sure he'd got quite a scolding from the hellcat he call his mother when he came home.

I rise my eyes to the sky and watch the stars twinkle in the distance. I let my eyes wander to an painfully empty spot amongst the randomly spread diamonds, that's where my home planet should be but... Nameksei are no more.

That memory of the home I never known always make me hurt inside. I feel Gohan stir beside me and I look at him to see a frown on his small childish face. I can't help but to wonder what's wrong. I dive into his mind with ease as I always do when he has nightmares, I do this to fix whatever ill- dream that might be plaguing his mind. As I feel my mind merge with his I can feel that he's already sensing mine... that's why he has that frown on his face. He has sensed the stab of pain that I felt for seeing that hole in the sky. ** I'm sorry, Gohan. I weren't supposed to let you feel that, kid. ** I tell him with our mental bond. ** Oh, okay, Piccolo-san. I just got worried for you... I guess. ** his sleeping mind answer me.

** It's all right, kid. Don't worry I just wanted to see Nameksei again... ** I tell him, feeling suddenly talkative. He's quiet now I guess he's back to sleep...

** You would go there if you'd been able to, right? ** I hear him utter in my mind and I can sense the sadness and dread he feel for my answer.

** No. You are here on Chikkyu aren't you, Gohan. ** my answer shock both me and him, him so bad that he actually wakes up and stare at me.

"What... did... I am the reason for you to stay on here on Chikkyu, Piccolo- san? I-is that true?" he whisper and stare at me for a long time then he smile. Kami! I've never thought about how old he really is... he's thirteen now and start's to understand things better then before.

"Yeah, kid. It is." I say and I feel him in his mind leap with joy, so I chuckle softly and pull him closer keeping my voice commanding but with a smile on my face, "Now go back to sleep or I'll beat you unconscious, kid!!"

"Hai Sensei!" he say with a giggle and settle for sleep again. I love this kid.

"I love you too, Sensei... Dai... suki..." and he falls asleep. Yes Dai suki, my little mind spy.

My soul-keeper.

**/OWARI\**

A/N: Did ya enjoyed it? Well I enjoyed writing it. So there!

Review or I'll kill you... That's Piccolo... ^_^

**/BlueRaven\**