Note! These characters are not mine, unless you wanna include Meece. I don't own anything except this eeeevil computer, a bunch of DBZ manga, three…no…two very large pixie stixs and a fridge full of Jolt.. Akira Toriyama is the lucky dude who owns them, but… if I can't own them, can I at least have a tail? ::Looks at producers:: Well, they are making 'no no' gestures, so I guess not. So without further ado, onto the story! Wai.
And yes, I happen to like Piccolo. 1) He's green! (wai wai!) 2) He's got a cool glare. 3) He's emerald colored! 4) Cape…turban, nuf said. 5) Grass colored… 6) He can split in two! (twice the fun!). 7) He's the color of….wait… the producers are telling me if I make another 'green' comment I'm going to get thrown out the window. All well, enough stalling, NOW here is the story.
Touch Tones
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Meditation. It's perfect. It's probably what those foolish humans should be doing if they want to get stronger. None of this 'lifting weights' bullshit. What good do all those muscles do if you can't even scratch your own nose? Piccolo clenched his eyes shut tighter, trying to flush all thoughts out of his mind, unsuccessfully. He could probably blame it on a million different things, the sun being too bring, the sky too blue, or those damn bird chirping too loud, but in any choice he couldn't meditate.
No one to spar with either, Goten was busy with school and Gohan wouldn't have time to fight until the weekend rolled around. While Goku was always free, the saiya-jin had taken to sparring with Vegeta early in the day, and by afternoon he would either be taking a long nap or eating the traditional hour long meal, followed up by desert. Piccolo shuddered at the thought. It made him glad he didn't eat after he watched the saiya-jins go at it.
"The hell with this!" Piccolo growled, dropping from his meditation position and landing on his feet. If he couldn't meditate, and none of the saiya-jin's were free to spar, he could at least train on his own. First he tried to make a copy of himself to spar, but found he was too distracted. Then he tried simple shadowboxing, but couldn't make himself pretend there was an opponent there. In the end he snarled in frustration and blew away several trees.
His mind was a torrent of thoughts. He was irritated, he was in desperate need of something to beat the crap out of, and now his body was telling him his was thirsty. The namek gave up his feudal attempts to train and flew to his waterfall. By all means, the waterfall was practically his. No one lived in the area, no one claimed the land, and he was the only one who stayed by it for any period of time. Piccolo once recalled that Gohan once named it Piccolo's Falls, since there was no other name that would suit it.
When Piccolo got to the waterfalls, he found that he wanted something more than just a drink. For the first time in a very long time, he wanted someone around. He had been fighting, sparing, with Goku since he was a child. He was use to Gohan growing up around him, bugging him with questions. He'd grown accustomed to keeping track of Goten and Trunks. He'd gotten so use to the others, he realized he was lonely.
"What?!" Piccolo roared, startled at the thought. "Nail! Kami! Is this your doing? Putting thoughts into my head again?" He growled.
*You know we wouldn't do that, Piccolo.* Nail responded with a smirk.
*Piccolo, you've been isolating yourself from the others more than usual.* Kami's wizened old voice said. *Normally you'd be somewhere closer to the Son house, but you haven't left these woods for months.*
"Because I like it like this." Piccolo snorted. "Would it make you feel better if I flew into the city and went walking down the streets?" He sneered sarcastically. The other two personalities gave a sigh. It sounded like another mental argument. But something in the lake below made a loud splash, distracting all three of them.
A young child was perched on a tall rock overlooking the water, throwing stones into the lake. He --or maybe she, because children that age look relatively the same-- had short hair that was bordering grass green, and a very dirt smudged face. The child looked distraught, concentrating hard on the ripples of the water. He (or she) didn't even notice when Piccolo had been yelling. Something was wrong, because he knew his yell could scare fully-grown men, and this one child didn't even flinch.
*Well, go make sure the kid isn't paralyzed with fear by your shouting.* Kami said.
"He's throwing rocks, I don't think the brat is 'paralyzed with fear', baka." The namek growled, not wanting to bother with Kami right now. But he found himself heading down to the kid. Floating above the rock by a good ten feet, he watched at the little child tossed a few more stones in and made a strange noise. It was almost like a mewling, or like the crying noises Gohan use to make. But it was strange, almost guttural.
Still the kid didn't notice him, even with his cape whipping noisily in the wind. 'Kid must be daydreaming.' Piccolo thought. The two others in his cramped head were silent, making him wonder just what they knew that they weren't letting on.
"Hey brat." Piccolo rumbled, but there was no sign from the kid. He gave a sigh, figuring the kid had an attitude like Bulma and tried again, "Hello,…err…kid. What are you doing here?" But to his shock, there was still no response. The kid wiped the tattered sleeve against his (or her) nose. He idly wondered just how the kid got out to the middle of nowhere, and why the jacket he wore was so ripped. But then it struck him that he was still being ignored.
"That little bastard! Why I'll-," Piccolo growled, balling up his fists.
*Piccolo!* Nail quickly shouted in his head, leaving him slightly dizzy. *Don't!*
Gritting his teeth, Piccolo spoke a loud, "And why not? The brat is ignoring me, even now! It's like he can't hear me." He pointed a finger at the kid, who was on hands and knees watching the ripples.
*You're right. The child can't.* Kami said, *I believe the youth is deaf.* Another stone made a soft 'bloop' into the water. Silence.
"Deaf? You mean his ears don't work?" Piccolo looked down to the dirty child. Deaf, that would be a reason he didn't hear anything.
*It's a girl* Kami said, his voice sounded like he was smiling.
"How can you tell? They all look the same at this age?" Piccolo folded his arms, surveying the child. The green hair fell over 'her' eyes, not quite reaching to her shoulders in the back and barely touching her ears in the front. Then he noticed what Kami was referring to. Half a small pigtail was still done up on one side, causing the green hair to stand erratically like a saiya-jins. But she had no chest like adult females, and her face was still round with baby fat, hiding any female features.
At least another minute passed before Piccolo spoke to the two other nameks inhabiting his mind. "So what would the girl be doing way out here?"
*Isn't it obvious?* Nail asked, sounded surprised.
"If it were obvious, " Piccolo gritted out, "would I even bother asking you?"
He could hear Nail sigh, *Obviously not. Piccolo, the child has been abandoned.* Another stone, this one made a louder splash than usual. More silence. The kid wiped her face on her sleeve again, this time brushing away tears as well as dirt. She made the same whimpering noise, this time with small squeaks. Yes, she was deaf, she couldn't hear herself crying. That would explain the sounds she made, and they way she ignored him. But… to abandon a child?
"It's none of my concern." Piccolo said suddenly, flying to the short and quickly getting into meditation position. He heard Nail and Kami give a squawk of protest. "What, am I to raise her? Bring her back home so she can be abandoned again? It's not my concern!" He said firmer, ending any conversation and closing his eyes. The little girl was left on the rock overlooking the water, but Piccolo wasn't very far away. Nail would have teased him, asking if he was protecting her right now, but had a feeling it would only make Piccolo leave the area entirely. So the namek began meditation, his senses focusing on the child one last time before turning off entirely.
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At least an hour passed with Piccolo deep in meditation. His thoughts drifted for a moment and he though he might actually be able to reach the second platform of meditation today. He had a feeling that the Son family wasn't going to be visiting, and allowed himself to dive deeper into the astral power. Piccolo could sense the very trees, the birds, the small chi slowly creeping closer…wait…what?
He opened one dark eye and cast his glance sideways. The little girl was, indeed, creeping closer. She had a look of confusion and curiosity written on her face. Apparently she had noticed him, which wasn't to hard since he was only a short distance away. But unlike the other humans, she wasn't stumbling in fear or whimpering. She was actually looking at him the same way Gohan had.
"Stop that. Don't look at me like that." Piccolo closed his eyes tightly, remembering Gohan with pain. When had the young boy changed into the responsible man? While he would never admit it, he actually missed the whining brat. But now this little kid even had the same wide-eyed awe he did. Despite the harsh words he had just said, the kid obviously gave no sign of hearing them and took a few more steps to come to a rest right in front of his left knee.
*Brave child.* Nail noted.
"Stupid brat." Piccolo snorted. The child withdrew slightly, wincing as if expecting him to do something. Piccolo recognized the gesture with a shock, it was one he knew well. The girl was expecting to be hit. "What the hell!"
*Piccolo, some human's can read lips. I think she understood this last part.* said Kami.
*Some bastard probably hit her, called her names. She understood the brat part.* Nail added. Piccolo closed his eyes again, trying to understand humans, trying to understand the girl.
"Hnng." A soft, almost humming noise came from the young girl, causing the namek to open his eyes again. She couldn't be more than five, very young by human standards. She was looking at him again, no longer cowering in fear but that look of confusion and curiosity. "Hnnn!" She smiled when she noticed his eyes were on her. Up close the grime on her face and clothes looked several days old. There was no sign of bruises but there were several small cuts on her lower arm. They resembled thistle scratches, and her clothes were torn at the fringes. Her shirt was several sizes too large, probably an adult's shirt, and her pants were a pair of jeans that had been cut to make shorts. Her tattered appearance only made her seem smaller.
"What are you smiling about?" He snorted, trying not to frown but not bothering with the irritated growl in his voice. In response, the girl began to circle him, examining him as he floated a foot off the ground. Was there something wrong with her eyes to? Didn't she notice he wasn't human?
Kami's voice spoke up. *I don't think she's in a position to care, Piccolo.*
'Stay out of my mind, old man.' Piccolo thought back. 'And keep that other jerk out too, you freeloaders.' The girl giggled behind him, looking up at his ears. Foolish human. And now what was she doing? She was bouncing up and down under that tree. Oh. It had fruit in it. She was probably hungry. He thought, 'Let her get her own food. It's good training.' Of course, he was quickly berated by Nail and Kami, both reminding him she was just a human with little to no usable chi.
Growling, Piccolo rose to his feet and stomped over to the tree. The child didn't notice him until he was directly behind her. He heard a small gasp and her body tensed, preparing for an attack if it came. Wincing slightly himself, almost in empathy, Piccolo reached into the tree and dislodged several apples. The child paused, looked from him to the fruit, and then smiled happily, clumsily picking the apples up.
When he sat back down he found that she was sitting next to him munching on the fruit. She made a happy, 'Mmmm' noise when she noticed his stare, and then continued to eat. She was loud, it was easy to tell she was still there. And the dirty scent was making his head spin. She needed a bath, badly.
"If you are going to stay around here, take a bath." Piccolo turned toward her and spoke, mildly hoping she could read lips a little and would take a hint. But the girl only cocked her head and raised one finger to poke his nose. Piccolo narrowed his eyes, causing her hand to jerk away.
*Try another way,* Nail suggested.
"What?"
*Another way. How many ways do you know to communicate with someone?* It was Kami this time. *She doesn't understand spoken words, and is too young to read, so try something else.* Piccolo growled, realizing he'd have no choice but to do it this way. Closing his eyes, he opened a channel.
'You, child. Can you hear me?' He sent telepathically. It was something he reserved only for Gohan and the other nameks, but now he'd try it with a common human. The girl reeled back, unsure of what she had just 'heard', if that is the correct word. Piccolo was suddenly struck with the thought, what if she didn't know any words? She couldn't hear, so was it possible she was never really formally taught too?
'Hear….' A soft, childish voice came back through his head. She was pointing to her ears. 'No talking?' Now she touched her lips to indicate he wasn't actually speaking.
'No, I am not talking, I'm sending.' Well, the initial try had worked, she understood. But now what was he going to say. 'What are you doing out here?' He knew his spirit voice sounded uncaring, but it wasn't his nature to act all 'maternal'.
The girl's eyes clouded with tears and she turned away, fiddling with part of her shirt, which hung to her knees. 'No wanted.' Simple words confirmed Nail's idea, she had been abandoned. But they also showed that at one point she could either hear, or had been taught a few words. Piccolo nodded, looking out toward the lake. If he were to tell her to bath, this water would be unsuitable. It was ice cold, it would give her hypothermia.
Rising to his feet, the tall namek looked down at her again. She barely was higher than his knee. 'Come. You need to bathe. You smell.' He informed her as polite, and with the smallest words, as possible. The girl raised her head again, her hair falling into her eyes. She nodded furiously, and quickly trotted after him, gluing herself to his side. He could feel her mind working as she looked up at him, not quite asking questions, but full of wonders.
'What is your name?' Piccolo asked, not bothering looking at her. He was searching for a small pond nearby. The girl cocked her head in confusion. Kami! Didn't she even have a name?!
'Brat?' She asked, not quite sure. Piccolo shook his head. That couldn't be her name. Suddenly she brightened and pointed to herself. 'Meece!' Her dark blue eyes fluttered up to look at him. A pang of pity, or was it sadness, hit him. Piccolo blamed it on Kami and continued to walk though. The child wasn't even used to her own name?
Her hand tugged on the edge of his cape, causing him to snap his head down. 'Name, name?' She asked, or the closest to asking she could get. She probably wanted his name in return, like the silly custom of exchanging names that humans do. A small voice, neither Nail nor Kami, told him to humor her.
'Piccolo,' He grated, looking blankly ahead at the small pond. Meece grinned, showing she was missing one of her front teeth. Didn't that mean she was growing new teeth? It sure looked silly, like someone had slugged her. A wave of alarm hit him, what if someone did? Meece seemed to expect to be hit a lot.
*In this cause, you are wrong.* Kami informed him. *That is a natural tooth loss. And while she does appear abused, it does not run that far.* He stated. As much as Piccolo hated Kami butting in, for some reason he needed to hear that. When he looked back down at Meece and listened in on her thoughts he developed a sweatdrop.
'Piccolo Piccolo piccolo!' She repeated, nearly a song, but chanting it over and over, 'Piccolo Piccolo. Piccooolo. Pickle…..PICCOlo.' Meece corrected herself. She was learning a new word. Snorting, the namek raised his arm to point at the small pond and fired a small ball of chi. The energy blast quickly heated the pond up, bringing it to a warmer, nearly bath water temperature. The girl was in awe at what he did, and he could feel her question in his mind.
'It was just chi. It won't hurt you. Now get in and take a bath.' He commanded, crossing his arms again. Meece jumped over to the water's edge and tested it with her finger, crouched over like a frog. Finding it amazingly warm for a pond, she decided to get in.
But of course, all children can be rather frustrating. Meece slogged into the water, clothes an all. 'Wet. Fun.' He heard her mind say. Growling, Piccolo shook his head and turned his back on her, listening as her clothes rustled and the water began to splash. A happy noise came from the pond as she waded around in what sounded-like hip deep water. She made a verbal noise, not a word but more like a yowl for attention. Meece was submerged up to her neck, probably half crouched over in the water. Piccolo didn't know if she could swim or not, but the pond wasn't very deep. Keeping his back turned, he listened as she splashed around in the warm water, making shrill noises verbally and nothing else. She sounded happy, but what reason did she have to be happy when she had been abandoned and treated badly.
Curiously, Piccolo poked at her mind and found it had no barrier. Her mind was an open book for anyone who was telepathic. He began to read her thoughts, the jumbled mess they were. It was mostly pictures, like Gohan's when he daydreamed. Very few words, excluding his own name, danced through her head. Normal humans would have their head crammed so full of numbers and words it was hard to search for desired information He probed for images on her family, wanting to have a few questions answered. Instead he found nothing but pictures of himself, and the apple in her mind. He could only catch a few swatches of others, mostly a tall, imposing man and a rather meekish woman. But they were dwarfed by raw emotions.
Never had he felt such despair, even while fighting Freeza or Cell. Meece's life seemed to be full of waiting and sorrow. Waiting for someone, anyone, to notice her, be it her father or mother or an absolute stranger. And once she had waited long enough, the results were never what she wanted. Constant sorrow and fear and loneliness peppered her mind, but even her five years of sadness were overwhelmed by her happiness right now. The band of black and white was broken with a large, colorful gold swatch in her mind.
Meece's dark green locks were still dirty after ten minutes. All she was accomplishing was making a racket and splashing water all over. Piccolo gave an aggravated snarl and waded into the water. He had barely put one foot in when Meece suddenly whirled, eyes wide. He raised one eyeridge. How did she detect him coming when she couldn't even hear him standing behind her? That little rat, she could feel the waves of the water change, she 'felt' him coming. Piccolo once again opened the telepathic link.
'Your hair is still dirty. Either wash it, or I do.' He tried to threaten, but all verbal or mentally voiced threats went right over her head. Meece simply turned around, showing her hair to him, letting him wash it. Giving a disgusted snort, Piccolo was tempted to dunk her under the water to dampen her hair. But instead, and to his shock, he was very careful with the human girl. She had already gotten her hair wet earlier, and it only took a good scrubbing to clean it all out. Her green hair was actually soft for being neglected, and when wet took on a pine green shade. Meece's clothes were mostly cleaned by the splashing she did, but she were shabby and far too large for her. They'd have to be replaced.
Piccolo sent a command, 'Out,' and Meece splashed out of the water to stand on the shore. He heard Nail make a smart-ass comment about actually being maternal, and he promptly told him to shove it. Then, placing one enormously large hand on Meece's forehead, he began to concentrate. With a slight 'poof', Meece's old clothes had vanished, and something close to his fighting gi replaced it. Just as Goten wore Goku's colors, only with a long sleeve shirt under it, Meece wore his with a blue shirt under that. The deaf girl looked in amazement at her new clothes, making a gurgle of surprise. He could hear little words coming from her, one being 'magic' and the other being 'kawaii'. Piccolo quickly turned around. She looked very much like Gohan had when he first asked to wear his own fighting colors.
All the way back to the waterfall, he could hear Meece following him. Piccolo cursed out loud. He didn't know why she was following him, after all, he did just feed and clothe her so she could be on her way. Not so she would stay. The young girl bumbled behind him, trying to step around or through the brambles. By the time Piccolo reached the waterfall, he realized that he had left the girl somewhere behind him, and he couldn't hear her.
*Don't just sit there, go get her!* Nail commanded. Piccolo ignored him.
*Nail has a point, my son. You cannot just leave her alone.* Kami interjected. *At least bring her to some sort of village if you are not going to watch her.* Piccolo growled again. But before he could even get to his feet to find the brat, she came running through the bushes. Her arms were loaded with flowers, even tucked down the front of her gi like a large pocket. Meece smiled brightly at him, and then dumped the flowers on the ground before her and sat in the same style he was. He watched with mild interest as she sorted the flowers by color, tucking them in a rainbow pattern. When she was done, she made another little humming noise and crossed her arms, just like his.
Wobbling to her feet, she selected three flowers, a white, a purple, and a red one, and offered them to Piccolo. The namek looked at them, then glanced at his own clothes. The flower colors were all the colors on his gi; she was offering him his own colors back. Piccolo smirked and held out one hand to take them, and Meece giggled. Then for the next ten minutes she began arranging her armload of flowers around him in another rainbow pattern.
'Alright Kami, I'm curious. What is she doing exactly?' Piccolo asked, raising an eyeridge as he watched her work. The old Kami of earth was silent for a while, studying the girl through Piccolo's eyes.
*I believe she is playing. Or possibly creating art with the flowers. But the act of giving flowers to someone is a sign or respect and love.* Piccolo could almost see his wrinkled green face grin. *I believe she is rather attached to you.*
"Yeah, like a leach." Piccolo said aloud. Meece yawned, stretching her arms. "And now the little bra…kid is tired." He didn't want to use any words that would make her think he was going to hurt her. After all, he had better things to do than go around scaring young humans. The sun was already setting much to his surprise, and it was getting rather cold. He gave a sigh and decided it would be for the best if he lit some sort of a fire. After all, wet children tended to complain, he learned that from Gohan.
*Meece can't talk though, so how could she complain?* Nail questioned, annoyingly.
Piccolo didn't respond, but aimed his hand at a pile of lumber. Then with a small discharge of chi the whole thing burst into fire and formed a flaming pyre. Meece gave a squeal and dove into his side, clutching his arm in fear. She'd never seen something quite like it before obviously, but Piccolo wondered if it was the towering fire or the chi blast.
'Sleep.' He ordered. But Meece bit her lip, shaking her head. Piccolo noticed she was jumping from one leg to the other, partially hunched over. What was this strange ritual. Looks like she's almost trying to hold in chi or something.
Kami spoke up, *Excellent guess. I believe she has to use the bathroom.* Piccolo could feel his jaw drop. The little brat had to use the bathroom!? Great, well he should have expected it. But without her ability to speak or complain it wasn't as obvious as he would have thought. Hoping she'd catch the hint, he turned his head toward a dense cluster of bushes. But Meece was more than a little naïve about it. Her mind kept sending pictures of toilets as she whimpered.
"For Kami's sake, do I have to show her what I mean?!" The namek roared. Meece noticed his lips moving, but didn't seem to understand any of it. 'Use the… bush.' He sent. Meece's eyebrows raised almost comically as she processed this. Still dancing from one foot to the other, she gave another whimper and then decided she did have no other choice. Her footfalls were very light and fast as she vanished from the fireside.
Only a few minutes passed before Meece returned to Piccolo's side. "A shame, I was hoping she'd get lost."
*You don't mean it.* Nail said bluntly. Piccolo tried to shut them off, but the two of them began to converse rather loudly.
*You need her as much as she needs you, Piccolo. You were lonely and she needs someone to take care of her.* Kami declared. No really, the old namek declared it like it was the solution to world peace. *Your problem has been solved.*
Nail began to ignore Piccolo and speak directly to Kami, loud enough for the host namek to hear. *He likes her. Normally he would have left or done something to scare the humans away.*
"I do not!" Piccolo protested harshly.
*Sometimes I think he just needs a big hug.* Kami smirked.
*Or a smack upside the head.* Nail added.
Piccolo growled ominously, his eyes clenched shut. "I swear, I will find a way to get both of you out of there, and then I'll-,"
"Pi-ki-oo?" This caused all three of them to fall silent. Meece had just spoke. She was kneeling on the ground in front of him, looking curiously at his face. When she noticed she had caught his attention she smiled widely and tried again. "Pi…ki-roo?"
Jaw hanging slightly open, Piccolo sent a message to Kami. "I thought you said she was deaf?"
*Deaf, yes. Dumb, no.* The old God told him. *Because you told her your name telepathically, she is now trying to say it. Which is amazing, considering she can't hear her own words.* While Piccolo almost never agreed with his other personalities, this one time he did. Speaking without being able to hear was like fighting a strong opponent without being able to sense chi.
Opening the mental channel again, Piccolo began to give her corrections. 'You are saying it wrong. Picco-lo. Pi…co…lo.' He slowly sounded it out for her telepathically. Then after a moment's pause, he added more. 'Meece. Can you say your own name? Me-s.' He sounded out for her.
"Meh-ce." She said her own name proudly, "Picco-ro." It would appear that 'L's were difficult for her to say.
Giving a sigh, Piccolo allowed her errors to slip. 'Close enough.' He crossed his arms again. 'Now go to sleep.' He commanded again. This time she didn't jump to her feet having to use the bathroom, and she didn't complain. Meece simply scooted across the ground on her rear and leaned her head against his leg, closing her eyes. She was trying to be as close to the fire and Piccolo as possible, probably both for warmth and safety.
He knew what was coming, just start the count down. Five… four… three… two, *Awww, how cute. Looks like you have a new friend.* A nice biting comment from Nail, right on time. It might be a long night…
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As daylight rolled around, Piccolo was still awake and sitting in the same spot. That was because sometime during the night Meece decided that just resting her head on Piccolo's leg wasn't a very good pillow nor very warm. She had crawled into his lap, clutching part of his cape as a blanket. He didn't move, complain, or throw her off when she did it, figuring she was more asleep than awake. Instead he watched her sleep all night.
It had been a very long time since he had been close to a child like this. Gohan was the last and only one who had tried to get so close to him. Goten was more interested in sparring and playing with Trunks. While Piccolo had pushed Gohan away when he tried to get close, he couldn't do the same with Meece. It wasn't fair, she was only a human, a human who didn't have her full potential given to her on a silver platter. She had to struggle to do the most menial of tasks, but she did it with a silly grin.
Once the sun had just crested over the horizon, Meece began to stir. Piccolo could hear her mind coming to life, slowly babbling small words. But most of the words she knew were part of a two-year-old's vocabulary. She didn't know what 'fire' was, she didn't know her colors by name, and she couldn't tell you how to count. Her vocabulary was mostly dominated by emotions, Piccolo discovered as he probed her mind.
'Hungry.' Meece said, sending a word directly to his mind. That was a shock, it had always been him speaking to her for a response, never her sending to him. In fact, unless he though she had something to say, he never heard a word from her mind.
*Well, I was wondering when she would show it.* Kami said in a slightly smug voice.
"Show it?" Piccolo touched her hair gingerly as Meece pulled the cape up to her chin.
Nail informed him of the change. *When children are young, they all possess the ability to be telepathic. But they either must be born with the ability, or have someone train them. With all the speaking you did to hear, you just taught her how to communicate with you.* However Nail learned this information, he was more than happy to share it. Meece sent another word to him, this one was his own name. She was slowly gaining her bearings.
Deciding what to do quickly, Piccolo decided she needed to be taught something. Taught more words, taught stronger telepathy, or even taught how to read, she needed to learn. Communicating with such simple words was getting irritating. He stood up quickly, rolling Meece to the ground. She gave a high pitched squeal, but like most of her other noises it had a guttural hint to it. The small girl rubbed her eyes furiously, yawning. It didn't take her long to wake up, most young children are awake and ready to go within seconds.
He stood by the bushes where Meece vanished into, knowing she had to do her 'business' before calling out to her. 'Meece. Come. We are going.' The girl gave a humming noise, probably in affirmation, and came out of the bushes tying her gi back up. Or at least, trying to tie it up. He noticed that she hadn't properly tied it from last night, and seemed to try to wrap it around rather than knot it. With a frustrated snort, he dropped down to one knee and quickly pulled the wrap around her correctly. Meece watched with interest as the fabric was looped around knotted once, tucked in, and then wrapped around again to cover it. Once he was done he quickly hoisted her up to his shoulder and stood.
Instead of speaking, Piccolo simply began to fly into the air, heading for a familiar destination. Her heard Meece give a choked gasp as the ground began to grow father away. Her mind poked at his, calling for his attention. She could find no words to describe flying, not quite sure whether she liked it or not yet, and sent a simple questioning stare at him.
' This is flying with chi.' Piccolo said. Meece blinked and nodded.
'Chi?' She asked. It was a word she had heard him use several times, but still didn't know what it was.
*Ahh, here comes that wonderful child curiosity. Piccolo, prepare yourself for the 'why', question someday. It will try your patience to the maximum.* Kami sighed.
With a quick explaining of chi, Piccolo was sure most of it had simply bounced off her mind. She simply didn't know enough words to comprehend what he was saying. But hopefully he could help with that problem. Along the way Meece would point to something and say 'Name name?', wondering what it was she was seeing. And he would carefully explain; city, tree, birds, clouds, Goten….
"Piccolo-san?" The demi-saiya-jin had been heading towards the city himself, only he had come from his home. "What are you doing going into the ci… whoa! Who's the little boy?" He noticed Meece tucked under Piccolo's arm.
"Girl."
"Wha…She's a girl?!" Goten blanched. "Oops! I'm sorry there, kid, didn't mean to-,"
"She's deaf too. She can't hear you." He said again in a monotone. By now Meece had latched onto Piccolo's shoulder armor, peeking curiously at Goten and forming a strong telepathic question for Piccolo, asking him 'what what?' repeatedly.
'He is a friend. Goten. He thought you were a boy.' Piccolo told her as Goten sputtered. Meece giggled, clasping one hand to her mouth and nose.
'Silly brat.' Meece said, obviously not knowing may words for 'youth', 'teen', or even 'boy'. Apparently 'brat' was a word she knew very well though, probably from the people who abandoned her.
Piccolo smirked. 'Yes, very silly brat.'
Scratching his head in common Son manner, Goten shrugged. "Well, what are you doing with a kid? Hey! Is she wearing your fighting colors? Is she your new student?" Ahh, it was that good old, perceptive Son genes. But Goten did bring up an interesting point. Could she be trained just like he trained Gohan?
*Sure, why not. Just remember she's a human.* Nail said brightly.
"I'm taking her to Gohan's." Piccolo said, ignoring Nail's comment. Training a human… feh. "The kid needs to learn how to communicate. She knows less than Goku." Meece twisted about in his arms, looking at the ground far below. "Your brother is a teacher, maybe he can teach her some words or something."
Goten nodded, scratching his chin. "Well, I think Oniisan could teach her to read, but speaking? Isn't that hard if you can't hear?"
"Picco-ro!" Meece chimed. Dende's strange sense of humor kicked in at the most inopportune time. Goten got a shocked look on his face and stared at Meece while Piccolo cocked one eyeridge to look at her. It only took a moment to explain to Goten how Meece was learning through telepathy, and even less time to get to Gohan's house. The demi-saiya-jin tagged along, wanting to see his old sensei off. When they got to the house, Meece was dropped to the ground to follow Piccolo.
Well, that's what he wanted her to do. But Piccolo was in a little bit of a shock when her small hand latched onto one of his huge fingers, barely able to close all the way around it. She didn't notice his stare, and skipped along beside him. For a change, Nail made no comment. Goten was banging on his brother's door…with is head.
"Gooohan! Are you home? I'm hungry and there is no food at Mom and Dad's house!" He whined, banging one more time. The door swung open to reveal Gohan still in his work clothes. It was a drastic change from the little boy who use to wear Piccolo's colors to the grown man who had glasses and wore a suit every day. Piccolo wasn't sure if he liked it yet.
"Piccolo-san!" Gohan noticed his old sensei immediately, greeting him before his own brother. After all, it wasn't every day, hell, every month, that Piccolo came to visit. "It's great to see you again! I was just going to stop by and visit you this weekend and…hello. Who is this tyke?" Gohan's eyes fell on Meece. For a minute they were full of old memories, sadness and fondness at the same time, but then they blinked and the emotions vanished.
The namek grunted, not missing the signs in his old pupil's eyes. "This is what I came about." He tugged on Meece's hand, causing her to trot in front of him. She smiled widely, showing off her gap-toothed mouth. "She needs to be taught."
Piccolo was invited in and quickly retold the story, with as few words as was needed. Meece was watching TV, obviously a treat she had never been allowed judging by her expression. A ripple of anger hit Piccolo for a moment on the girl's treatment before he returned to the conversation. Gohan listened intently and nodded when he should have. Finally he came to the conclusion. He would teach Meece how to read, but Piccolo would have to teach her how to 'say' the words in her mind and the pronunciation.
"You do have a point. Just giving her to the proper authorities would probably be worse for her. She obviously has very limited knowledge of basic words and without teaching she won't learn them properly." Gohan sipped his tea, setting a cup out for Piccolo if he should want it. The namek didn't, but Meece showed an interest. She sipped at the cup, finding it slightly sweet. Using her newfound telepathy, she sent the question of 'what what?' to Piccolo's mind.
Gohan could tell his sensei had just received a message from the girl. The way his antenna stiffened slightly and he looked down at her proved it. 'It is tea. With sugar in it.' Piccolo informed the girl. Then he decided to tell her the news. 'Ok, child, you need to learn some new words. I can't keep talking with you if you don't understand me. So Gohan here is going to teach you the names of things.'
Meece's face clouded with tears. 'No leave!' She commanded, clutching his and quickly.
'No, I won't leave. I will help teach you, but once you learn then that is all. You will go back to the humans.' He pulled his hand free from her grasp, only to have her grab for the other. It took several minutes before Piccolo was able to assure Meece he wasn't abandoning her and would come back later that day. Gohan wasn't able to use his low-level telepathic abilities with anyone but Piccolo, but was confident he could teach her with pictures and printed words. She was awfully young to be learning to read, but unless another choice was presented they had to do it this way. None of them knew sign language.
It was scheduled that every day for a week Meece would be dropped off at Gohan's house after his work shift ended and he would work with her for a while. Videl, who had just entered the room, was enthralled with having such a cute, young girl at her house. But Meece refused to stay the night, insisting she stay with Piccolo. A second agreement took place. Piccolo would stay at Gohan's house for Meece's sake, allowing her to sleep in a real house instead of outside. Piccolo growled, saying the kid was strong enough that she didn't need a house, and HE sure as hell didn't need one, but stayed anyway.