"What the hell???!!!" he yelped as he pulled her out. He was most certainly not holding her hair, as she was hanging upside down! He was holding a tail! More specifically…her tail. At first, he freaked and dropped her. But he caught her again. "Who…or what…are you?" he asked aloud. Daring to bring her closer to him, he cradled her in his arms and took a good look at her.
Her face was soft and innocent, at that moment. He remembered the scowling look she wore earlier before she killed the bird, which was still in her hand. Her tail and hair were as black as the night sky and her hair was tied up with dragonball bobbles. She looked very…kawaii. His face faulted as he thought of it, and he quickly shook it out of his head. On her forehead, there was a big gash, seemingly from that nasty *crack* he heard earlier. Somehow…he didn't know how…but her fringe reminded him of Goku. "But maybe that's because of the spiky fringe and the bangs." He thought over what he should do before deciding he'd heal her before he took her back to her home. Piccolo didn't know why…but there was something naggingly familiar about her.
~Three hours later~
Gojita rolled over onto her side. Her head was throbbing and she felt sick. It was quite dark, but judging by the little shafts of light, she guess she was in the forest. What was she doing there? Then it hit her as her eye shot open.
"THE CODE!!!" she yelled as she snapped up. But it was done a little too fast as she nearly threw up. "Oooh…my head hurts so much!" she groaned, then shook herself off. It wouldn't do for the saiyan no oujo to be acting like an utter weakling! She got to her feet as she looked around her.
She was in the deepest part of the forest, she knew that much. She didn't know what the time was, or where Vegeta's code was. She wasn't lost. She had learnt how to fly! She flew when she caught the bird and squeezed it to death. But where was it? If she didn't find it…what would Vegeta say? She had already gone into the forest, the deepest depth none the less, and who knows how late it is?! She felt very sick. "Well, if I get the code, then maybe he'll be happy that I went into the forest for it and he'll forgive me!" she muttered to herself. But where was it? She rocked herself back and forth, feeling –for the first time in her life- very, very helpless.
There was a rustling to one side and she snapped her head up. There, a man stood. Well, if you call him a man. He looked pretty much human. Well…maybe except for the green skin, fangs, pointed ears, no eyebrows and antennae. Who was he? She instantly leapt to her feet and slid into a fighting stance.
"Who are you?" she asked in english, doubting very much that it spoke in Saiyanese. The green man looked at her, a little surprised.
"I didn't expect you to get up this soon." He said.
"What did you do to me?!"
"More of what did you do to yourself." He said smoothly. "You flew into a cliff and knocked yourself out." She relaxed a bit, but was still on guard, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Okay…so, who are you? And what are you?" she asked. He stood towering over her.
"My name is Piccolo. I'm a Namek." He replied. She nodded. "And who might you be?"
"Gojita." The girl answered. He nodded. She had left her fighting stance and was now standing wit her arms crossed, looking up at him with a stern look in her eyes. Somehow, her pose reminded him of Vegeta.
"What are you doing here, Gojita?" he asked. She gave a huff.
"Is it any business of yours, Namek?" she snapped. Now she really reminded him of Vegeta!
"No, I was just curious as to what a child would be doing out here in the wild all alone." The comment ticked her off.
"I am not a child, Namek!" she scowled. "I am a Saiyan chibi!" Piccolo's eyes widened for a brief moment before he looked down at her again. "Now, if you'll excuse me…I have to look for something."
"I can help you out…"
"I don't need your help!" She snapped, but stopped anyway. Piccolo got the feeling she was somewhat like Vegeta, so he decided to try and play on her arrogance.
"Okay, if you're scared of me, you only have to say so…" she whipped around at him, tears welling up in her eyes. If she wasn't wearing the death glare, he might've thought she was going to cry!
"For your information," she hissed through clenched teeth. "I am not afraid of you!" For a moment, Piccolo felt some strange wave pass through him. It was the same feeling as when he realised Gohan was his friend, but this was a little more compassion than anything else. He dropped down to his knees before her and looked her straight in the eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly. If she wasn't on the brink of tears, she may have denied that anything was wrong and would've walked away. But here was some stranger, being nice to her and all. She dropped her gaze to the ground as she muttered softly.
"I lost the code to my tousan's satellite internet link up." If Piccolo's ears weren't so sharp, he might've missed it.
"What happened?" he persisted.
"A bird flew into our house while tousan was out getting his new computer. The bird took the paper and flew away. I chased after it, and then I hit my head. I then got so mad, I found the power in me to fly. But after I hit the cliff…I blacked out." Her lower lip quivered as she sniffed back the tears. "And now I can't find tousan's code! I'm not suppose to go out into the forest, and now that I've lost tousan's code, he's gonna be mad! I can hear him now… 'Gojita, you're a bad girl!'" Her lip quivered again. Piccolo took this as her tousan has never called her bad before, and the thought of disappointing him would just break her tiny heart.
"But won't your tousan understand?" he asked. She nodded.
"Hai…but it's the fact that I didn't get the code that matters!" her shoulders started to shake. "Now he'll have to go back to work and leave me all alone again!" Gojita was trying so hard to keep the tears in, but found it was near impossible. Piccolo, feeling sorry for the tiny saiyan, decided to help her.
"Where was the code the last time you looked?"
"It-it was in the beak of the bird." She sniffed.
"You mean the rolled up piece of paper?" she snapped out of her morbid state and looked into his eyes with her own pools of ink.
"You-you know where it is?" He nodded.
"I took the bird out of your hand after I retrieved you from the wall. The paper is still in its beak." He pointed to where a small, grey-feathered body lay. Gojita ran over, heart thumping as she hoped and prayed that it was still in there. Sure enough, it was. After she pried it from the beak, she opened it and read it, making sure nothing was torn or missing.
Piccolo stood up to his full height, as he watched her.
'I wonder if she can really read, or if she's just recognising the shapes." He wondered. That was his last thought. The next thing he knew, he was laying sprawled out on the ground with Gojita clinging tightly to him, arms legs and tail wrapped around his waist.
"OH! THANK YOU PICCOLO-SAMA!!!!" She cried out happily. He briefly wondered how he ended up on the ground when he recalled getting bowled over by the tiny saiyan shoujou.
'Man! This kid packs a wallop!' he thought as he got to his feet, Gojita still clinging to his waist.
"Now I'll be able to go back home! Thank you so much Piccolo-sama!" she gushed. Piccolo flustered at this comment. He had been called Piccolo-sensei and Piccolo-san, but never Piccolo-sama! She looked up at him. "You know, I should really thank you for what you did. You helped me out and you kept the code. Is there anything I can do for you?" Piccolo thought for a second.
"Give me your dragonballs." Her smiled faded as she hopped down from him.
"Nani?"
"Those dragonballs were made by Dende, the guardian of the Earth. You shouldn't have them."
"But, tousan gave them to me." She muttered weakly.
"You shouldn't have them." He expected her to hand them over, but instead she pouted and crossed her arms.
"No! Tousan gave them to me as a sign that he respects me! He made the bobbles for me with his own hands, and he spent months looking for three of them! I'm not giving them away that easily!" she snapped. Piccolo looked taken back, but he respected the notion. And she looked so kawaii when she pouted! She looked just like a little kitten! Piccolo mentally slapped himself for thinking that before another thought came to mind.
"Well then, can you at least let me see you home." He said. "That nasty gash in your forehead may make you go off balance when you walk home."
"Who says I'm gonna walk?" she smirked. Piccolo shuddered when he thought it looked just like Vegeta's. "I'm gonna fly!"
"All the more reason for me to keep and eye on you. It's probably your first time flying, so I had best keep an eye on you." She nodded.
"Okay." She said, and she took to the sky. Piccolo followed her. While they were flying, Piccolo thought of how much Gojita reminded him of the two saiyans he knew. She looked so innocent and sweet, just like Goku. When she wasn't scowling, that is. Then she looked like a little Vegeta! Even more so when she smirked, or stood in that position with her arms crossed! The reason he was going along with her wasn't because he wanted to make sure she'd get home safe. Well, that was part of it. But he was following her home so he could get a glimpse of her tousan. The way she portrayed him, it sounded like he was a very good father. He probably didn't beat her, and it seemed like he was her hero. Her idol.
'I have to see this guy for myself!'
~Back at the Ouji's Residence~
When they arrived at her house, Piccolo recognised it as the one he flew over earlier that day. She looked to the sky and a worried look was cast over her face.
"Uh-oh! It's about six o clock!" she looked back to the house. "And tousan's home! I hope he won't be too mad…"
"I don't think he can be." Said Piccolo gently. "You went all out to retrieve that piece of paper just for him." She cast an appreciative glance up at him.
"Thanks, Piccolo-sama." She walked up the front steps. "You had better wait here. Tousan is a really strong warrior! I don't know if he'll either beat the living daylights out of you or faint!" Piccolo chuckled at some huge, burly man with a shaggy beard and wild hair fainting at the sight of him.
"Okay. I'll wait here." She smiled gratefully as she entered.
Gojita looked around nervously. He was home, she knew he was. She could feel him. Where, she had trouble pinpointing until…
"GOJITA!!!!" she whipped around to be smothered in a tight embrace.
"T-t-tousan?" she asked nervously.
"Where have you been??!! I was worried sick about you!!!" Vegeta yelled as he went down on his knees, hands clutching her shoulders. Gojita tried to back away but he held her close.
"I-I went into the forest…a bird took you code and I went to get it back." She quickly said. Vegeta pushed her back and was about to reprimand her for going into the forest when he noticed the gash in her forehead.
"Gojita…" he breathed. "What…what happened?"
"I ran into a thick branch while I was chasing the bird." She said. Vegeta took a good look at her. She was looking him dead in the eye, smudges of dirt streaked across her face and her dress was torn.
'She isn't lying.' Vegeta brought her close again before the tears started to fall.
"D-do you know how worried I was…" he cried. Gojita was…shocked. Never in her whole life had she seen her tousan cry. He was always so strong, so brave…
'And now he's crying because I've made him worry…' she thought. 'Tousan…really loves me…' she stood stock still in his arms, feeling very guilty.
Vegeta knew he was crying, but he didn't care. He had been so worried when he couldn't find her! When he came home that afternoon with his new laptop, he couldn't feel her. Shrugging, he went into the living room to set up the computer.
"Hmm…good thing I listened to her when she told me to give those classes a go." He said. Now he could work at home; provide for her while he spent time with her. But when he tried looking for the code, he couldn't find it. "Hmm? Where could it have gone? Gojita wouldn't hide it, she knows how important it is…" Vegeta had searched the house, high and low. But he still couldn't find it. Feeling upset at Gojita, he sat down at the table, wondering where she could have been. He looked up at the clock.
'Three o clock. Hn. Well, I'll wait for her then." But came four, he was getting very worried. By five, he had enough of waiting, and went out to look for her. But as he flew over the forest, he couldn't feel her ki at all! Now he was really worried. Thoughts of her in mortal danger clouded his mind, and he went mad with grief. By six, he had returned, and was feeling very, very stressed out. It wasn't the code that he wanted to find anymore…it was Gojita!
And now that she had come back and was alive…well…I guess any parent would cry like that. Especially if your child is only three years old.
"Tousan…?" she asked. Vegeta let her push him away as she looked up at him. His eyes were still closed but he could feel her tiny hands wipe away the tears. "D-don't cry tousan. I-I'm really, really sorry…" He opened his eyes to see Gojita looking at him very worriedly. He knew he shouldn't have gotten so emotional, but she was his daughter! He had left his life long time ago, and she was all he had left! He sniffed and wiped away the rest of the tears.
"Well…erm…" he said clearing his throat. "At least you're okay." She bowed her head down.
"I'm really, really sorry for scaring you like that…" she apologised again. He chuckled as he drew her in for another hug. Even with his small and lithe body, he still held her in a bear hug.
"It's okay. I forgive you." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm just glad I haven't lost you." Then something occurred to him. "How did you get back home?"
"I flew!" she declared happily. He pushed her back and rested his hands on her shoulders.
"You-you what?" she rolled her eyes.
"Honestly Vegeta…must you heard everything twice today?"
"The apologising you did on you own." He smirked.
"I said: I flew!" she said as she hovered above the ground. Vegeta stared at her for a few moments before realising she wasn't touching the floor anymore.
"Sugoi! Did you learn this when you were in the forest?" he asked as he stood up and held her in his arms again. After being frightened like that, he wanted to keep her close so that it wouldn't happen again.
"Yeah! I did it when I got really mad with the bird, after I knocked my head on the branch." She said, pointing to the gash in her forehead.
"Well, I should think we should clean it out, don't you?" she cringed a bit, but nodded anyway.
"Oh! And I met someone in the forest too!"
"Nani?"
"Hai, and he flew me home! Well, I flew. He just trailed along to make sure I didn't fall out of the sky."
"Oh…and who might this be?" Vegeta queried.
"He's standing by the door…there!" she pointed behind him. Vegeta turned around and got the fright of his life!
"PICCOLO!!!!" he yelped, eyes bugging out
"V-VEGETA!!!!!" Piccolo yelped in return. Vegeta stood dead still as millions of thoughts swam through his mind.
'It can't be! Is it really him? Did he help my Gojita? Did he see me cry??!!! Oh Kami, please say he didn't see me cry!!!'
Piccolo had, in fact, seen Vegeta cry. He had stepped in when he heard him shout in fact. He was standing outside, waiting for Gojita to come call him to meet her tousan when he heard a yell. He quickly stepped in…and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Vegeta holding Gojita close! His eyes bugged out so much; they'd make dinner plates look like microscopic dots! And they got even bigger when he saw Vegeta crying! Piccolo saw the Saiyan no Ouji crying!! He rubbed his eyes to make sure it was Vegeta. He had the same flame hair, lithe but well built figure and the same voice. But they were both speaking in a different language. He still stood dead still, very unsure whether it was Vegeta or not. But when he turned towards him, it was confirmed…it was Vegeta!!
Gojita looked to Vegeta, then to Piccolo, then back to Vegeta.
"Tousan? Piccolo-sama? Do you two know each other?"
"T-T-TOUSAN???!!!!!" Piccolo freaked. Vegeta flushed a deep shade of crimson.
"Uhh…G-Gojita…? C-could you please leave the room for a few moments?" he asked stuttering.
"But…why?" she asked. "Please don't beat up Piccolo-sama! He helped me!" Vegeta blushed even more.
"I-iie…I'm not going to beat him up…"
"Well, could you at least tell me what going on?" Vegeta didn't nod, and for some reason, his mouth felt…heavy.
"I'll tell you later. Just…please…go." Gojita glanced quickly at Piccolo and Vegeta before she jumped down and ran up the stairs.
There was a long, painful silence that seemed to gnaw at both warriors'.
"Vegeta…" began Piccolo, finding this suddenly amusing. "Is that your…daughter?" Vegeta regained himself and put on the scowl he used to wear.
"Hai, she is. And what's it to you?"
"What about Bulma?"
"What about her?"
"Why isn't she here with her?"
"Because she's not her daughter." He said bluntly. Piccolo's amused smile was wiped off his face, but was quickly replaced with a highly amused smirk.
"Really?" he questioned. "So…who's the highly unlucky woman?" Vegeta scowled deeply at him.
"Feh! Don't give the females of the planet more credit than they deserve!" he snapped. "If you must know…she's a full blooded saiyan." Piccolo's smirk faded as he though of all the pure-blooded saiyan females he knew.
"But…there aren't any other pure-blooded saiyan females left. And the only other pure blooded saiyan is…" his face faulted as it suddenly clicked. "Not…" Vegeta slowly nodded as a deep red tinge revived itself on his cheeks.
"As Gojita would say; no duh, Namek! Why do you think I spent so much time around that third class baka?" he said.
"I-I thought you guys were just sparring…" he mumbled. Vegeta gave a low growl.
"Feh, figures. You were always naïve when it came to matters like that!" Piccolo frowned.
"But if it what I think it is…how the fuck did it happen?!" they both flustered at the double meaning.
"Well," coughed Vegeta. "I don't really know, all I know is that I has to be his child as well! I mean…look at her features! And the name! It's our fusion name changed a bit to make it more feminine!!" Piccolo nodded.
"Yeah…she does have his hair and his soft face. Other than that, it seems you're the more dominant of the gene pool." Vegeta went an even deeper shade of red.
"Hmph!"
"Does he know about his third chibi?" he asked.
"Baka Namek…of course he knows! He's the one who left her by me!!"
"Y-you mean…he gave…oh my good god!!!!" Piccolo was now very shocked and surprised by this news. Vegeta nodded. "So…does Chichi know?"
"No, I wouldn't think so. That evil harpy hasn't knocked down my door yet, so I presume he didn't tell her. I don't think he's told anyone. I certainly haven't!"
"Didn't you tell Bulma, or even Trunks?" Vegeta shook his head.
"The onna wouldn't have understood. Even though she was the one who was going out with that scar faced hentai behind my back. And…I didn't want to get Trunks involved in this."
"So…you just left?" Vegeta nodded.
"Hai. Right now, Gojita is all I have. I have to work to provide for her." He sighed. "It's the first time I ever felt like I was truly a parent." Piccolo nodded. He always thought that Vegeta had his true personality hidden under that scowl, and he was right.
"But what about Goku?" He noticed Vegeta suddenly tense up.
"What about him?" he asked haughtily.
"Why haven't you kept in touch with Goku?" Vegeta paused.
"Because that baka left me!" he snapped. "And it's his own fault! After he broke up with me, I never kept in contact with him. And Gojita is a totally different person! Just because she's in the picture doesn't mean Kakarot and I should get back together! He left her with me, so therefore he gave up his claim on her!" he took in a few deep breathes after that little rant while Piccolo stared at him wide eyed.
'Seems like he's been wanting to say that for a long time…' he thought. "Well…I've seen her home as I requested…so I shall be going now…"
"Piccolo-sama?" came a voice from the top of the stairs. They both looked to see Gojita standing with her hair down, a thick cloth smelling of surgical spirits, holding the dragonballs in her hands. She walked down to him and pressed them into his big hands.
"Gojita?" asked Vegeta.
"Take the dragonballs…just…please…don't make my tousan upset again…please?" she pleaded. Piccolo looked down at the tiny saiyan. He could see his own reflection on the surface of her ink pools, and deep inside, he could see that she truly did care about her tousan. He gave them back to her.
"Keep them." He said. He picked her up, and she didn't protest. "Vegeta…I have a preposition for you." Vegeta's brow quirked up.
"Oh really, and what would that be?" he asked.
"I want to become her guardian. You know, as in taking her to places where the others might spot you." Vegeta nodded. He had never taken her out anywhere, and he knew that it wasn't healthy to keep her cooped up near the house.
"Fine…but what's in it for you? I will be training her."
"Something personal." He said. Piccolo put her down and walked out the front door. They watched as he flew out into the night sky. Vegeta smirked, as he knew why Piccolo wanted to become her guardian. Ever since Gohan had met Videl, he felt out of place. He had avoided contact with everyone else, but it seems he was once again interested in a young one.
~Later~
"Tousan?" asked Gojita as he tucked her into bed.
"Hai, my little oujo." He sat next to her.
"You said you'd explain to me how you know each other." He nodded.
"Well, you see," he began. "You know I kept telling you about that we are both aliens from another planet? When I came down to Earth, I was under the command of Frieza. An evil warrior who used me as his tool to get other planets to join his empire. I came down to Earth to find the dragonballs to get my wish for eternal life and immortality, but in order to do so; I had to fight against the Z Senshi. I met Piccolo there, and after a little trip to Namek and back, I joined the Z Senshi."
"Are you still one of the Z Senshi?" he asked. Vegeta shrugged.
"I'm not sure myself." He muttered.
"But what happened at Namek?" she asked, trying to stifle a yawn. Vegeta chuckled.
"I'll tell you that tomorrow when you're wide awake and you won't fall asleep as soon as I start the story!"
"I won't fall asleep!" she tried to pout, but found her eyelids were rather heavy and her lips refused to purse together.
"Really?" he smirked at her. She nodded sleepily. He just shook his head as he gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Oyasumi my utusukushi oujo." He said.
"Oyasumi, my kawaii ouji." She whispered as she fell into a deep sleep. Vegeta sighed as he got up off the bed, silently closing the door as he switched off the light and left the room.
'Why do both of them think I'm kawaii?'
