The Demon King



It is quiet now, as I float outside of his window, peering inside with obvious curiosity. I do this often, checking on him. I guard many of the people on this Earth, for I feel that my duty is to protect, but he is the one that I watch over the most carefully. Now that he has his own life and a family of his own, I try to remain at a distance, but my heart feels that it needs to still protect him. After he relied on me for so long, it feels unusual to know that he does not need me anymore. He sleeps peacefully, his arms wrapped around his wife, who is also sleeping. The satin sheets are wrapped around their ankles in a childlike way as they sleep with their mouths wide open in innocence. Her arms are around his shoulders, glowing white in the moonlight streaming in through the windows, in sharp contrast to Gohan's darker skin.

Satisfied that Gohan is okay, I leave. The warm, summer air tingles against me as I fly through the night, my eyes unfocused my mind falls into thought.

I will never understand the idea of sleeping next to someone like he is now; why would you let yourself be so open and vulnerable to someone? Even the weakest woman could kill a man in a position like that, for they are blinded by this human emotion: love. Love is not something I want to learn, nor something I need to learn. It is just there and like it or not, I have to deal with it. Of course, I knew from the very start that Gohan would be one to fall into the trap of love. He is so different from me sometimes, so caring and open with his emotions. My emotions --- if I have any at all, are buried deep inside of me somewhere; I do not know where they are hidden.

They have compared me to the arrogant Vejiita for this, whose blind rage and pride led him to destruction and often death of many others. They have compared me to the jinzouningen, completely unfeeling and cold to all emotion. Never once however, have they compared me to someone that was actually worthy of comparison. I hold my pride in the back of my mind in a battle; I know when I can win, and I know when it is inevitable that I will lose. I also do have emotion, and I do have feeling; it is just hidden so deep that not even *I* am able to find it.

My cape is stark white and glowing under the stars and it folds softly away from my body, following the wind as I drop down to the ground. I stand just beyond the Son house, staring up at it in thought. I know many humans on Earth, perhaps someone else is awake for me to spar with tonight. My ears pick up a familiar sound in the distance, and I tilt my head and close my eyes so that my heart can hear.

Vejiita is also sleeping, though not peacefully, for I can tell his mind is flooded with dreams of his past, causing him to breathe awkwardly and his wife to open her eyes and stare at him with concern. She cannot see inside her husband's eyes, and I honestly believe that she would not want to if she ever did. Vejiita holds many dark secrets in his soul and has been through many things that he would not like to relive; they appear in his dreams. This happens often, I know; Vejiita's nightmares are somewhat childlike: he always wakes up with Bulma comforting him. Soon after the comforting, begins something else, which happens even more often than the nightmares and makes me wonder why they only have two children.

The jinzouningen, both of them, are sleeping too. Juunana-gou, and I frown at the thought of him, the one that I fought with before, was sleeping alone, far from his sister and any other beings. They are still close however. I have seen her come to him before, bringing the little one along with her. The female jinzouningen was sleeping beside Kuririn tonight, though --- I never would have guessed that would have happened. More often than not, she was awake during the night, her mind flooded with confusion, struggling to remember her past. I feel no sympathy for the two wind-up toys. They should have died long ago in the first place, when they still had their fond memories in their minds.

Tien and Chaotzu are asleep too, not next to each other like the others, but together none the less, in close vicinity. Their love for each other was different; a friendship love, sometimes even more powerful than the romantic. They are strong, brave warriors, both of them, though not as powerful as me. But they believe so strongly in their friendship that I think something good might come of it one day.

Yamucha is sleeping too, after drowning himself in too many cups of sake. He hasn't slept well lately, ever since Gokuu came back from the dead to fight Buu. I may not have a very sharp sense of what love is and what it can make a person do, but I do have a very sharp sense of hearing, and I know that something went on between Yamucha and Gokuu's wife. I do not know much of ChiChi, but I know that she is loyal to her husband, and I believe that the two of them had a disagreement. No doubt that was why we didn't see him too often anymore; he didn't want to see *her* anymore.

Finally, someone awakes. It is Gokuu, alone on the islands where he is training Ubuu. I wait for something to happen; maybe he will want a sparring partner tonight. I would be up for the challenge. Instead, the door below me opens quietly, and a figure steps out into the dark, causing me to retreat back into the shadows. It is Gokuu's wife. Undoubtedly, this is the reason that Gokuu in now awake. She stands just outside the door for a moment, gazing up at the star lit sky, still dressed in a soft blue kimono. Gokuu's ki disappears instantly, reappearing next to ChiChi, who cries out in surprise, throwing her arms around his neck in happiness. I back further away from them into the dark folds of the night and turn my head, allowing them a moment to themselves.

It seems as though everyone had someone to be with tonight. And me? I am alone too, except, unlike others who are alone, I do not have someone that I should be with. I do not have a lover, nor a friend at the moment to share my time with. Gohan was, and always will be a friend to me --- though it is hard for me to admit that, but he is not around now. No one will ever take the time to befriend me and realize that besides my outer exterior, there is a lot more to me. I will never fall in love, and no one will ever fall in love with me. I am a frightening, eight foot tall, cucumber green, alien who threatened to take over Earth more than a casual amount of times, but yet, a warrior of unusual skill, a great help in any battle and a worthy opponent in any fight. I am the person that strikes fear in the hearts of young children and anyone who might cross my path in the daily course of life. I am Piccolo, the Demon King, and I am destined to remain alone.