"Well, everything seems to be fine. Your baby is growing up beautifully. If you like I can tell you the gender of the baby." the nurse offered.
"No thanks. We want to find out when it's born." Gohan replied.
"Alright then." the nurse replied. "You must be so excited. I bet your daughter is too, right?"
"Mm - hm." Videl nodded cheerfully. She gazed at her husband. "Gohan... our baby's beautiful."
"I know." Gohan replied, also smiling. He kissed her, and placed his hand on her stomach. "We're going to have two beautiful children." *Outer space*
"Mmm..." Leela looked nervously out of the space ship window. She could just about see the planet, but way off in the distance. "Earth is so far away..."
"Just relax, sis. We'll be there in half an hour tops." Silvia replied casually. This was one of the best ships available. Comfort - wise anyway. There was a sofa on the left - hand - side of the room, which Silvia was lying on; A TV opposite it; an armchair on the right - hand - side by the window which Leela was sitting on and looking outside; another window opposite Leela; and a control panel and monitor at the front of the room. There was also a door at the back of the room which led to the toilet. The walls were a pale creamy color, and the carpet, navy blue.
"..." Leela sighed. "I know, I know. She'll be fine. But... I still worry..."
"Just calm down. This is Maple we're talking about. She may have her moments, but she is a sensible girl. She won't get herself into any danger." Silvia insisted.
"Maybe you're right..."
"Of course I'm right." Silvia looked at her. "So stop worrying, okay? Come away from that window."
"Heh." Leela smiled. "Okay, I'll stop worrying."
*Earth*
Bulma answered the door to Capsule Corps.
"Oh, Maple..."
"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. Where's Vegeta?" Maple asked.
"Why?"
"Just tell me. I promise I won't try to kill him." Maple swore.
"..... The gravity room." Bulma finally answered.
"Thanks." Maple walked past her.
"But hey, I don't want any fighting going on!" Bulma warned.
"There won't be."
~
Maple entered the gravity room.
"Vegeta!" she called.
"Huh?!" Vegeta stopped training. He glared at her. "You again?! Come back for another fight?! Listen, I don't care what happened to your brother! Will you just quit bugging me and get l -"
"It's not about you." Maple cut him off. Vegeta blinked.
"Oh?" he looked at her. "Well then... what do you want?! I'm busy!"
"Just tell me where Piccolo is. He's not in his usual spot." Maple said.
"Piccolo? What do you want him for?"
"Oh, nothing..." Maple replied innocently. Vegeta gave her a suspicious look.
"Hm." he uttered. "Well, I don't know where he'd be. And to be honest, I don't care either. Was that all you wanted?"
"Yes, thank." Maple growled, clenching her fist. "Thanks for being so helpful, you're real polite, y'know."
"Well, I try my best." Vegeta answered back casually. Maple glared at him.
"Funny." she mumbled. "Anyway, I don't need your help. I can find him myself!" with that, she left the room. Vegeta continued training.
~~~~~
"Geez, how can a namek be so hard to find on a planet of antennae - less humans?" Maple thought aloud as she flew above the ground and over the trees. She looked around. Hey, wait. What was that in the distance?
"Hm..." she moved closer, and smiled triumphantly. "Piccolo!" she exclaimed. She gave a mischievous smirk. "Gotcha!"
~
Piccolo frowned. That feeling was back again. All this business with Maple had taken his mind off it, but now that he was on his own and trying to meditate, it came back to annoy him.
He gave an angry sigh, and opened his eyes.
"This is ridiculous." he mumbled, standing up. "This stupid emptiness is distracting me from everything!"
"Hey!"
"Whoa!" Piccolo gasped in surprise as Maple landed so fast in front of him, she seemed to just suddenly appear.
"Oh, it's you." Piccolo sighed. "What do you want now?" he had one of those "I've seen it all before" tones. Maple frowned.
"Hey, don't even start to give me that attitude!" she scolded. "I just wanna ask you something."
"Ask me something?" Piccolo looked at her.
"Are those the only clothes you have?" Maple asked.
"What?!" Piccolo jumped back a little. "What kind of a stupid question is that?! What's with you?!"
"Just tell me."
"... Well actually, yes if you must know. So what? I don't care what you think." Piccolo answered sternly.
Hm." Maple smirked. "Just as I thought."
"Huh?" Piccolo looked at her. "What are you - HUH?!"
"Ha! Take that!" Maple exclaimed as she ripped a large part of his shirt off so fast he hardly saw it. Piccolo stared wide - eyed at his torn clothing. He glared at her.
"You little brat, are you crazy or something?! What did you do that for?!" he demanded.
"Duh." Maple pointed to the rips in her own clothes. "You did this to me," she held up the piece of material she'd just ripped off him. "I do this to you. Call it even?"
"You - You - You're unbelievable!!" Piccolo protested. "You're well and truly unbelievable!!"
"Ha ha!" Maple grinned. "Hm, actually, this material's kinda nice. And the color is definitely me." she wrapped it around her chin and head. "I think I'll wear it as a bonnett." she smirked. She moved it and wrapped it around her neck. "Or a scarf," she changed position again. "Or maybe a bandanna." she finally tied it around her waist. "Actually, I think I'll wear it as a belt."
"You little - " Piccolo gasped in shock, anger and plain disbelief. "Give me that back!" he tried to grab it off her waist, but she jumped back.
"Ah - ah - ah." Maple waved her index finger in a "no" motion in front of her face. She looked at him, and smirked. "Finders keepers."
Piccolo growled. He clenched his fists.
"Give - me - that - BACK!!" he ordered.
"Ha ha." Maple turned her back to him, and looked at him over her shoulder. "You gotta catch me first." she flew off.
"Oh, I'll catch you alright." Piccolo threatened, watching her. "Little brat!" he took off after her.
Maple laughed as he pursued her. She looked over her shoulder. He was gaining on her.
"Gotta move faster than that, big boy!" she teased, and sped on ahead. Piccolo frowned.
"Oh, so it's a game, is it?" he growled. A smirk appeared on his face. "Alright then, kid. You asked for it!" he also sped on after her.
They zipped around through the woods, over the trees. Flying over mountains and doing loop - the - loops in the sky.
Finally, Maple saw another forest coming up ahead. She dove down, into the depths of the woods. She made sure she was going so fast that he'd definitely lose her even for a second in here. She made a sharp turn and changed direction. As planned, he went straight past her. Maple smirked, and poked her head round the corner of the tree. She expected him to have realized she wasn't in front of him, and stopped. But to her surprise, he wasn't there.
"Huh?" she blinked. She stepped out from behind the tree, and looked around.
"Got it!"
"AAH!" Maple let out a short scream as he took her by surprise. Piccolo took the rest of his shirt off her waist.
"Nice try, kid. You may be able to outfly me, but you can't outsmart me." Piccolo told her.
"Oh, really?" Maple challenged, turning round to face him. She looked at where she'd torn part of his shirt away. Now, half of his muscular chest and a bit of his stomach was showing. She smirked.
"You look real dumb like that."
"And who's fault is that?" Piccolo answered back not in an unfriendly way.
"Yours, actually." Maple reminded him, poking his nose with her index finger. "You shouldn't have made a mess of my clothes in the first place."
"What?!" Piccolo protested. "There's hardly any damage!"
"There is too! And what if I'd been wearing a weaker material! I could've ended up almost completely naked!"
"You're already almost completely naked." Piccolo replied.
"What?! I am not!!" Maple argued.
"Look at you." Piccolo pointed to her clothing. "Your legs are showing, your arms are showing, your stomach's showing..."
"It's the fashion." Maple answered snootily.
"Oh, is it?" Piccolo had a sarcastic tone. He smirked. "Well it suits you."
"..." Maple gave the same smirk back to him, blushing a little. "Shut up..." she turned her back to him.
"Hm." Piccolo folded his arms. "So, how about fight you've got your heart set on? Still want to kill me."
"Well, that depends..." Maple turned around to face him. "You give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you up right now."
"Sorry. Can't." Piccolo shrugged. "So go ahead. Not afraid, are you?"
"What? Of you? I don't think so." Maple replied.
"Oh, really?" Piccolo challenged. "You wouldn't be afraid if I crushed you like a bug?"
"I'd like to see you try." Maple smirked.
"Not afraid if I jammed my fist into your throat?"
"You'd be too slow for me."
"Not afraid if I do this?" Maple's eyes widened as he pulled her to him and kissed her hard, but not without passion.
As soon as she'd adjusted to his sudden outbreak did he pull away from her. Maple stared at him. He just smirked back.
"Afraid?"
"Not at all." Maple replied. They kissed again. Piccolo could feel her antennae against his forehead as she tilted her head up to reach him. He let her have a few seconds longer this time, and pulled away again.
"You're good." Maple smirked. She ran her finger down the center of his chest. "Nice body, too."
"Comes with the good kissing." Piccolo said with a smirk. Maple chuckled.
Their flirting was cut off by a loud, nearby sound.
"Was that a spaceship?!" Piccolo exclaimed.
"A spaceship...?" Maple mumbled. She flew up, above the trees. Piccolo followed, just as curious to see what had caused the sound. They could both see a spaceship a few meters away from the forest they were hovering above.
"It is a spaceship." Piccolo confirmed his guesses.
"That ship..." Maple recognized it. She saw the door of the ship open, and her face lit up when she saw who came out.
"Silvia! Leela!" she exclaimed happily.
"Your sisters?!" Piccolo gasped. "What are they doing here?!"
"They must've come looking for me when I didn't contact them. It's just like Leela." Maple explained. "Hey, guys!" she flew over to them, waving.
Silvia looked towards the sky when she heard a familiar voice calling.
"See, Leela? There's Maple, safe and sound."
"Huh?" Leela also looked towards the voice. She smiled, overjoyed at seeing her sister. "Maple - chan!"
"Silvia - san. Leela - chan." Maple greeted her sisters, landed in front of them. Piccolo, unsure of what to do, followed and landed beside her.
"Oh, Maple! I was getting a little worried, where were you?" Leela asked.
"My ship crash - landed and the control panel and radio broke. That's why I couldn't get in touch with you guys." Maple told her. "But don't worry, I'm fine."
"Mm, so I see." Silvia said, eying up Piccolo. "And has this handsome hunk been taking care of you?" she noticed the rip in his shirt. "Oh, we didn't interrupt anything, did we?"
"Huh - uh..." Piccolo and Maple both went bright red, and turned away shyly.
"Hey, are you a friend of my sister's?" Leela asked Piccolo. "What's your name?"
"Uh - no. Not exactly. I mean.... I gotta go. Training." Piccolo flew off, completely embarrassed.
Silvia watched him leave.
"You picked a good one there, little sis. Where'd you meet him? Not a friend of Vegeta's, is he?"
"Not exactly. He's on the same side as Vegeta, but I don't think they're really "friends"." Maple replied.
"He seems kinda shy. What's his name?" Leela asked.
"His name is Piccolo. He's not that shy," Maple frowned at Silvia. "You just completely embarrassed us!"
"Well, can you explain why his shirt is ripped without making it sound like there's something going on?" Silvia asked.
"It's not like that.... I mean..." Maple mumbled, reddening slightly. She looked at Silvia. "Hey, it's not like he's my boyfriend or anything."
"Hey, as long as he's yours it doesn't matter what he is." Silvia replied.
"Ah, you know what I mean, Silvia! There's nothing between us, okay?"
"Okay, I believe you." all three of them knew Silvia wasn't convinced. But she'd just agreed to leave it at that.
"So, what's been happening on Earth?" Leela asked. Her face lit up. "Ah, have you heard anything about Prince Frieza?! How is he?! Is he still single? Hey, maybe now that I'm older he'll marry me!"
"Oh...." Maple looked at the ground. "... Sorry to tell you, Leela.... but.... Frieza died shortly after Zarbon..."
"What?!" Leela gasped. "NO!!!" she burst into tears. "Frieza!!"
"Can't say I'm disappointed...." Silvia mumbled.
"Oh, Silvia! How can you be so cruel?! He was my love! My prince!" Leela wailed.
".... Come on... you don't need him...." Silvia softened her tone. Maple gave her saiyan sister a sympathetic look.
"Leela..."
~~~~~
"Hey, Piccolo!" Gohan called.
"Huh?" Piccolo looked around. "Oh, Gohan. Hi."
"Hey, I've been looking all over for you! Where've you been?" Gohan asked innocently, approaching him.
"Nowhere!" Piccolo protested, reddening slightly.
"Piccolo, are you okay?" Gohan looked at him.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Fine. What's up, kid?" Piccolo asked.
"Take a look at this!" Gohan held a photograph out in front of him. Piccolo looked at it. It looked like something off Aliens.
"Uh.... that's your baby, right?" he tried to sound a little enthusiastic, even though the photo didn't really work for him.
"Yeah. Hey, just think about it, Piccolo. In eight months this'll be a full - grown baby and ready to be born!" Gohan beamed.
"Yeah, that's great. But it looks exactly the same as your first kid." Piccolo said.
"Huh? No it doesn't. This one's totally different!" Gohan exclaimed. He pointed to the photo. "See, Pan didn't have this little marking here. And her arms were a slightly different shape. Oh yeah, and -"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Congratulations." Piccolo shut him up.
"Hey, have you see Trunks and Goten about? They haven't seen it yet." Gohan asked.
"No, sorry. I... er... haven't see anyone today."
"Oh, too bad. Ah well. They've gotta be around somewhere. See ya!"
"Yeah... see ya, kid."