Disclaimer: ....-_-;...Do I really need to tell you I don't own it?
A/N: Hi I'm back! Did ya miss me? I want to thank Jesscheaux for the criticism. I mean it people, slap me with what I'm doing wrong, but in a nice way. ^_^
Thankies to Erin, one of my bestest friends, she's like my sister. She hates, I mean *hates*, anime, and she read my story anyway! She's so nice, a little demented since she doesn't like anime, but still really, really nice!
Erin: Anime is stupid. How can you people like it so much?
CG13: Silence!! Ye shant speak of the all wonderful anime in such vulgar a tongue! Snides, you can't realize the beauty of it. Specially Piccy- chan. You need help!
Erin: You're in love with a drawing, and I'm the one who needs help?
CG13: Yea, yea. But if you'd give it a chance, you'd like it!!
Erin: I _highly_ doubt that.
ANYways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I shant waste anymore of thy precious time. Onward to the chapter thine fellow anime worshipers!
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"All right, now lean sideways and lift your left foot up."
Piccolo was teaching Colleen some fighting techniques, now of which was what Colleen thought of as the hardest. Piccolo was behind her holding her waist while she tried to do a cartwheel-type move, and failing miserably. It was supposed to be smooth and elegant, a substitute to a roundhouse kick. But the way Colleen was going about it, it looked suspiciously like a bad attempt at the chicken dance. She could never do a cartwheel in the first place. Every time she tried she almost fell over, only still standing because of Piccolo's hands on her waist. She tried one more time, reaching for the ground and lifted her left foot up. She then, very slowly, lifted her right foot up until she was vertical. She stayed still for a second, them carefully descended in the opposite direction. She let out a sigh of relief when both of her feet touched the ground.
"Very good. You're coming along pretty well." It had only been a few hours, and she was already getting the hang of it. Piccolo, though he wouldn't tell Colleen, was proud of her. She could fly, feel ki, and was getting most of the fighting techniques he had taught her on the first day.
'We could start sparring by tomorrow.' Piccolo thought. 'This isn't as bad as I thought it would be.'
*grumble* He looked down on Colleen who was giggling and holding her stomach.
"Hehe, I'm hungry again. Can we call it quits for a while?"
He looked at her sternly, and she was worried he wouldn't let her eat, but he then sighed and smirked, telling her she wouldn't starve.
"All right. Just don't take too long. I want to star-" He suddenly stopped and looked up to the sky.
"Piccolo?" Colleen looked up in the direction Piccolo was and tried to feel if something was coming. She felt someone, but didn't recognize them. After all, Piccolo's was the only ki she'd ever felt. 'What's going on?' she thought. She looked back at Piccolo to see his handsome face twist into a snarl. She looked up into the sky again, this time to see a figure flying toward them.
'Who could that be?' she wondered. She strained her eyes to get a better look. 'I see blue.....white....and...green. Hey, that looks like, uh-oh. Not good.'
The figure landed in front of them. "Kami." Piccolo said spitefully.
"Piccolo," he replied, "We need to talk."
"No. Now get out of my sight, old man."
"Piccolo, this is not debatable. We must speak," Kami looked over to Colleen. "In private."
"*sigh* All right, but make it snappy." He turned towards Colleen. "Go and get something to eat."
"But I want-"
"Now!" he said harshly.
"All right." She gave one last look at Kami and turned to leave into the woods.
When he know she was out of earshot, Piccolo started their conversation. "What do you want?"
"She cannot be here."
Piccolo looked at him strangely. "Who? Colleen? Why not? What's wrong with this place?"
"She cannot stay with you, Piccolo. I'm afraid for her well being, and I'll be taking her."
Piccolo stared at him with slightly wide and angry eyes. 'He can't take her from me!' he thought angrily.
Colleen concealed her energy and laid on a large oak branch hanging above where Piccolo and Kami were talking. She laid on her stomach and listened closely.
"You come here, into MY forest, and start ordering me around?!" Piccolo, from what Colleen could see from the top of his head, was very angry.
"It is much more complicated than that." Kami defended himself. "She is not of our world. She's very powerful, too powerful. She could be a great threat to us without her even realizing it." Kami continued, "Plus, she has a pure heard. I so not want you poisoning it!"
That really got both Piccolo and Colleen's goat. Colleen frowned. 'He can't talk to Piccolo like that! I know he'd never hurt me!'
"Well what do you suppose we do about her then?" Piccolo said, not even trying to hide the anger in his voice.
"I would put her in an energy based room at the lookout. There she would be safe from herself, and evils like you."
Colleen had never heard Kami talk to Piccolo like this on Dragonball Z. She couldn't take it anymore. She jumped down in between the elderly and teenage Nameks.
"Colleen, I thought I told you to-" Piccolo's words were stopped by Colleen's finger on his lips.
"Can it, Pic. I need to talk to him." She turned to look at Kami and poked him in the chest. "You, how _dare_ you say those things! First off, I know I don't belong here, and it wasn't my choice to come, but I'm stuck. I don't know how powerful I am, but Piccolo will help me control it."
"Child-"
"Did I say I was finished?" Kami shook his head no. "Secondly, how can you say those things about Piccolo? He's like your nephew or something! Sure he's not the nicest guy in the world, but he isn't as cold-hearten as you claim to believe."
She walked backwards toward Piccolo and took his hand in hers, never breaking Kami's gaze. "Piccolo is my friend. The only one I've got here, and I'm not going anywhere!"
To emphasize her point her folded her arms and roughly sat on the ground lotus-style. "Go ahead, try and move me. I dare you!"
Both Kami and Piccolo looked at her, flabbergasted. Piccolo was amazed by how determined she sounded, not to mention being called her friend was like sticking his finger in an outlet; totally shocking. Kami was surprised to hear her stand up for Piccolo. He looked over to Piccolo who was still looking at the girl.
'Maybe if she can see good in him, there ,may actually be some in him.' He let out a long sigh. "All right, child. I shall allow Piccolo to watch you. But, " he directed his attention to Piccolo, "If you harm her, in any way, I will take her to the lookout."
With that, he lifted into the air and flew away.
"Man, I hate that guy! And to think we're part of each other." Piccolo said. "that's what really sucks. I can't kill him because I'll die. And if I get killed, he dies and no more Dragon Balls so I could get wished back. Hn, like anyone would wish me back anyway."
"I would." Piccolo looked down at Colleen and smiled.
"Why don't we continue your training." Piccolo suggested.
"OK, but I'm still hungry. I'll be back in a minute!" With that Colleen took off into the woods again.
"Silly girl. Can't believe she's growing on me." Piccolo said quietly. He sighed. How could a little human girl make him act so funny? "Ah well," Piccolo said. "Not like I'd get rid of her even if I could. I'm getting WAY too soft."
Then he saw a sweet, little, fluffy white bunny rabbit hopping along 20ft. in front of him. A wicked smirk started to form on his lips, and he took aim. A small ki ball formed in his hand while the cute little bunny chewed carelessly on a piece of grass. Piccolo was just about to fire when he felt a tap on his shoulder, making him jump. He turned his head around for his deep onyx eyes to be met with innocent, puppy-dog blue ones.
"You werewen't going to shoot the widdle bunny wabbit, were you Piccy- chan?" Colleen asked in a sweet, toddler voice.
"Uh...." He didn't know how to answer. If he said 'no', it'd look suspicious. If he said 'yes', she might hate him.
"You wanna shoot something bad, don't'cha?" She smiled. Maybe it was safe to say 'yes'.
"Yea."
Her face brightened. "I can fix that. You can shoot at me!"
Piccolo's eyes got wide and he yelled, "EXUSE ME???!!!"
"It'll be part of my training. I need to know how to make and dodge ki blasts."
Piccolo shook his head violently. "No chance, no, no, no! What if you don't get out of the way in time? Or I aim wrong? I don't want to hurt you."
"Piccolo, I trust you. I know I won't get hurt. Pweeeeaaaassseee?"
Oh no, the puppy-dog eyes. 'Must resist' he thought. He shut his eyes tightly. "No."
"Paaleeeeaaaasseee? With ice cream and chocolate and a cherry on top?" She put on her most pathetic face and cutest voice.
Piccolo crept open an eye. Colleen put her hands together under her chin, and made a pouty-lipped face, eyes even cuter that before. "Please, Piccy?"
"Damn."
'No one can resist me... hehehehehe!' Colleen thought happily in her head.
Piccolo growled and said, "But if you get hit once, ONCE, we go back to learning fighting techniques until you're ready. Got it?"
"Yep!" She smiled and ran over to a nearby boulder. She faced Piccolo and took a fighting stance. She smirked. "Hit me with your best shot, Green- boy."
"You do know how to dodge, right?" Piccolo asked.
"Please, you know grow up in my family and *not* know how to dodge. Now come on! Hit me, baby!"
Piccolo groaned and lifted his right hand. A ki ball started to form, not powerful enough to hurt her, just powerful enough to burn her if she were hit by one.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Piccolo asked, hoping she'd come to her senses and quit while she was ahead.
"Yes!" Colleen was so excited, but stayed focused. 'Piccolo is actually shooting at me!' she thought excitedly. 'Wait. That doesn't sound right.'
Suddenly Piccolo let the ki ball fly. Colleen quickly ducked down, and rolled to the side as one ball of light came after another. She swiftly moved, jumped and leapt avoiding contact, and actually looking semi graceful. Piccolo started firing them faster and faster, she could hardly keep up.
'And he's the one who didn't want to do this in the first place! Maybe I shouldn't have tried to do this.' That thought would cost her, for she didn't see the beam of energy speeding toward her. It whizzed past her leg, tearing the red cloth and burning the skin there. Her leg momentarily fell out, and she went on one knee on the ground, a ki blast Piccolo fired headed for her face.
Piccolo saw her fall and saw the blast aimed right between her eyes. He panicked and couldn't stop it, so he ran to help her. Colleen knew it was too late to dodge it, especially with her leg hurt. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her energy to either deflect it or destroy it.
Piccolo tried to stop the blast, but halted in his tracks at when he saw Colleen's eyes open. Her eyes were glowing red, like his could. The ki ball slowed down and stopped an inch from her face. Then.....it blew up. Somehow she had destroyed it using her energy. But she wasn't that powerful yet. Was she?
"Colleen, are you all right?" Piccolo ran to her side and knelt beside her.
"Yea, I'm fine. Not broken, just shaken." She tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground as a wave of pain coming from her leg was made present to her. She looked down at her leg. It wasn't bleeding, but it was burned, and was starting to blister. 'Ew.'
Piccolo bent over and touched the scorched flesh on her leg. "OW!"
"I told you you'd get hurt. No more using ki except to fly until you're ready." Piccolo picked her up and let her lean on his chest, since she couldn't reach his shoulder, and started to walk to a spring near a cave.
"I just lost concentration for a second. I know I could do it, if I concentrated harder." Colleen mentally kicked herself. How could she lose her concentration? Piccolo probably thought she was a little weakling now.
"No. You said if you got hurt, we go back to basic training. And that's what we're doing. Sit down here." He led her to a medium sized rock near the bank of the spring. He took his shirt off and ripped it in two.
Colleen looked down as he dipped one half of his shirt into the water. "I disappointed you, didn't I?"
Piccolo looked up and saw her looking down in shame. He sighed. He started to dab the wet cloth on the burn mark.
"I'm not disappointed. Actually, I didn't think you'd do that good. Not even I learned this fast." He wrapped the dry half of his shirt around her leg as a bandage. The purple stood out in contrast to the red of her gi pants.
"Really? Wow." She was learning faster than Piccolo? That didn't make sense. 'Well, it sort of does.' She thought. 'People from the 'real world' created this one. It would be normal for us to be more powerful and to learn faster than them. That's probably why Kami wanted me locked up.'
Piccolo saw her in thought. Thoughts of his own were going through his mind. But they were not as to why she was so powerful, they were to why he felt he needed to protect this little creature. 'Why do I care? I've never cared about anything except to defeat Son Goku and to be the ruler of the Earth as my father wished. How did she do this to me?' With all of this running through his mind, he wondered if his caring for her had something to do with a power she possessed.
"Tell me Colleen, what kind of powers do people in your dimension have?'
The question took her by surprise. "Powers? My people have no powers. Some claim to be psychic, or to speak to the dead, or see into the future using cards, but 99% of the time, it's fake. Why do you ask?"
"If your people have no powers, how can you?" This was getting confusing.
"Well....ah...." Should she tell him? Tell him about the 'real world' and how he was a cartoon character? Did he even know what a cartoon character was?
"Yes?"
"*sigh* This is going to take a while. Well, I'm from what we call the Real World."
"Real World? What's that supposed to mean? This world is real." What was she talking about?
"Actually.......it's sorta, kinda...well, not." Man, this was hard!
Piccolo quirked an eyeridge at her. "OK, OK, let's see. How can I explain this?" How indeed. 'Do what Vegeta does.' She told herself. 'Be blunt. Very blunt.'
"In the Real World, different dimensions like this one are made up from the people in my world's minds. The way the are given life is to be written down, or drawn. You, Kami, Goku, and everyone else in this world and this world is a cartoon in my world. Do you know what a cartoon is?"
"No."
"A cartoon is a drawing on paper. You get a bunch of drawings and move them very fast so it seems as though the character on the paper is moving. The drawings are nothing more than ink, and some computer animation. In my world, you're nothing but a drawing. You aren't real." She saw his face look so confused, and lost. She felt so guilty. She had just shattered his world, basically told him his life was nothing. She wanted to crawl and hide under a rock.
"I...don't....." Piccolo was so confused, his head was spinning. He didn't exist? 'Well, this explains why she knew my name the first time she saw me. And why she isn't really afraid of me. And how she is so powerful. This is all so.....much.'
"Piccolo, are you going to be all right? Piccolo?" He looked distraught. 'I never should have told him!' She lowered her head into her hands. 'How could I have been so stupid?!'
"Colleen?"
She looked up at Piccolo. "Yes?" Maybe he was OK.
"If I'm not real..why do you treat me like I am? Why do you care about me?" It didn't make sense to him. If he was a drawing, why should she care?
This question Colleen could answer instantly. She looked into his onyx eyes. "Because you're *real* to me. You have a heart, you can feel things, you can talk and move. You are a real person to me, and you _are_ my friend. I mean every word." And she did. She loved him like a person for a long time. Some people in her world said it was strange, but she didn't care. She cared about him, and if that was wrong, she didn't want to be right.
What she said made Piccolo feel a little better about him being nothing but a figment of someone's imagination. At least she saw him as real, even if no one else in her world felt he was. It was still pretty hard to swallow, but he figured the rest of the day in training would fix that.
"Let's get back to training." He said. "You should be able to use your leg."
He helped her up, and it was at this moment, when they were at full height, that she fully realized he had no shirt on. She was just the perfect height to admire his broad, toned chest. She blushed and the only coherent thought that would run through her brain was: 'Humina, humina!' Oh, yes, life was good to her.
They both walked back to the clearing and Piccolo, again, began to work with Colleen on fighting moves. Though this time, he started to teach her defense. This was not fun for her. She got poked, hit, smacked, kicked, scraped, cut, bruised, and any other word you can think of for pain would apply here. She blocked, a few punches and kicks, *a few*. But, she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it. Neither could Piccolo. Then again, he wasn't the one getting hit, now was he?
They sparred from noon until the sun went down and the only light was coming from the full moon and the stars. 'Sure hope Goku doesn't have his tail.' Colleen thought. Piccolo had called it quits about 15 minutes ago, and Colleen was on the ground while Piccolo meditated, without a shirt mind you. Normally she'd take the view fully, but she couldn't get up to look up. She was sore all over, especially where she'd gotten burned on her leg. It still had the purple cloth wrapped around it, keeping infection out.
Piccolo opened his eyes and stared at the 5ft. 6in. girl fanned out on the cold dark ground. She'd stayed like that for a while. He was surprised she was conscious after the day of intense training they did. Well, she did. This was a slow day for him. Then again, she started today, and he'd been training twenty times as hard since he was at least 4 years old. How old was she any ways? She didn't look much younger than him. He looked to the sky.
"It's getting late." He said, loud enough so Colleen could hear. "We should turn in for the night."
"Uh-huh." She didn't move.
"Well, get up."
"Uh-huh." Still stiff as a board.
"Colleen, is my skin orange?"
"Uh-huh." Piccolo couldn't help but chuckle. 'She's conscious. Coherent, that's another story.'
He walked over to her and looked at her blank face, now looking pale in the moonlight. Her eyes were shining, though. They always had a mirror type look to them.
"You should get up." He said. "It's getting cold. You could get sick."
"Can't....move...too...sore."
"Colleen, get up. This isn't funny." Piccolo was starting to get annoyed.
She tried to get up, she lifted her head up, then plopped it back down. "Owie."
Piccolo sighed. He bent down and put one arm under her shoulders the other under her knees, and lifted her up in one swift motion. She lifted her head to rest on his chest and her 'scrunchie' fell from her long chess nut brown hail, letting it hand. Piccolo walked back to where the bon fire he recently lit was and sat down with his back to a giant redwood. He was going to put Colleen down to sleep next to him, but she'd already fallen asleep and stirred whenever he tried to put her down onto the ground. She yawned and snuggled closer to his bare chest. "Hmmm, warm." She mumbled. He materialized a white blanked around them and laid his head back against the bark. And they stayed like that all night, Colleen wrapped safely in Piccolo's arms, her head resting upon his heart.
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That's the end to chapter 6. I know I made Piccolo OOC, but he's only that way around me. He's nice and mean around other people. Review please!! I crave it. You always read how authors say reviews are like a drug, and they are! Just, they aren't bad for you like drugs. Oi, it's late and I'm tired. Ja-ne!
A/N: Hi I'm back! Did ya miss me? I want to thank Jesscheaux for the criticism. I mean it people, slap me with what I'm doing wrong, but in a nice way. ^_^
Thankies to Erin, one of my bestest friends, she's like my sister. She hates, I mean *hates*, anime, and she read my story anyway! She's so nice, a little demented since she doesn't like anime, but still really, really nice!
Erin: Anime is stupid. How can you people like it so much?
CG13: Silence!! Ye shant speak of the all wonderful anime in such vulgar a tongue! Snides, you can't realize the beauty of it. Specially Piccy- chan. You need help!
Erin: You're in love with a drawing, and I'm the one who needs help?
CG13: Yea, yea. But if you'd give it a chance, you'd like it!!
Erin: I _highly_ doubt that.
ANYways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I shant waste anymore of thy precious time. Onward to the chapter thine fellow anime worshipers!
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"All right, now lean sideways and lift your left foot up."
Piccolo was teaching Colleen some fighting techniques, now of which was what Colleen thought of as the hardest. Piccolo was behind her holding her waist while she tried to do a cartwheel-type move, and failing miserably. It was supposed to be smooth and elegant, a substitute to a roundhouse kick. But the way Colleen was going about it, it looked suspiciously like a bad attempt at the chicken dance. She could never do a cartwheel in the first place. Every time she tried she almost fell over, only still standing because of Piccolo's hands on her waist. She tried one more time, reaching for the ground and lifted her left foot up. She then, very slowly, lifted her right foot up until she was vertical. She stayed still for a second, them carefully descended in the opposite direction. She let out a sigh of relief when both of her feet touched the ground.
"Very good. You're coming along pretty well." It had only been a few hours, and she was already getting the hang of it. Piccolo, though he wouldn't tell Colleen, was proud of her. She could fly, feel ki, and was getting most of the fighting techniques he had taught her on the first day.
'We could start sparring by tomorrow.' Piccolo thought. 'This isn't as bad as I thought it would be.'
*grumble* He looked down on Colleen who was giggling and holding her stomach.
"Hehe, I'm hungry again. Can we call it quits for a while?"
He looked at her sternly, and she was worried he wouldn't let her eat, but he then sighed and smirked, telling her she wouldn't starve.
"All right. Just don't take too long. I want to star-" He suddenly stopped and looked up to the sky.
"Piccolo?" Colleen looked up in the direction Piccolo was and tried to feel if something was coming. She felt someone, but didn't recognize them. After all, Piccolo's was the only ki she'd ever felt. 'What's going on?' she thought. She looked back at Piccolo to see his handsome face twist into a snarl. She looked up into the sky again, this time to see a figure flying toward them.
'Who could that be?' she wondered. She strained her eyes to get a better look. 'I see blue.....white....and...green. Hey, that looks like, uh-oh. Not good.'
The figure landed in front of them. "Kami." Piccolo said spitefully.
"Piccolo," he replied, "We need to talk."
"No. Now get out of my sight, old man."
"Piccolo, this is not debatable. We must speak," Kami looked over to Colleen. "In private."
"*sigh* All right, but make it snappy." He turned towards Colleen. "Go and get something to eat."
"But I want-"
"Now!" he said harshly.
"All right." She gave one last look at Kami and turned to leave into the woods.
When he know she was out of earshot, Piccolo started their conversation. "What do you want?"
"She cannot be here."
Piccolo looked at him strangely. "Who? Colleen? Why not? What's wrong with this place?"
"She cannot stay with you, Piccolo. I'm afraid for her well being, and I'll be taking her."
Piccolo stared at him with slightly wide and angry eyes. 'He can't take her from me!' he thought angrily.
Colleen concealed her energy and laid on a large oak branch hanging above where Piccolo and Kami were talking. She laid on her stomach and listened closely.
"You come here, into MY forest, and start ordering me around?!" Piccolo, from what Colleen could see from the top of his head, was very angry.
"It is much more complicated than that." Kami defended himself. "She is not of our world. She's very powerful, too powerful. She could be a great threat to us without her even realizing it." Kami continued, "Plus, she has a pure heard. I so not want you poisoning it!"
That really got both Piccolo and Colleen's goat. Colleen frowned. 'He can't talk to Piccolo like that! I know he'd never hurt me!'
"Well what do you suppose we do about her then?" Piccolo said, not even trying to hide the anger in his voice.
"I would put her in an energy based room at the lookout. There she would be safe from herself, and evils like you."
Colleen had never heard Kami talk to Piccolo like this on Dragonball Z. She couldn't take it anymore. She jumped down in between the elderly and teenage Nameks.
"Colleen, I thought I told you to-" Piccolo's words were stopped by Colleen's finger on his lips.
"Can it, Pic. I need to talk to him." She turned to look at Kami and poked him in the chest. "You, how _dare_ you say those things! First off, I know I don't belong here, and it wasn't my choice to come, but I'm stuck. I don't know how powerful I am, but Piccolo will help me control it."
"Child-"
"Did I say I was finished?" Kami shook his head no. "Secondly, how can you say those things about Piccolo? He's like your nephew or something! Sure he's not the nicest guy in the world, but he isn't as cold-hearten as you claim to believe."
She walked backwards toward Piccolo and took his hand in hers, never breaking Kami's gaze. "Piccolo is my friend. The only one I've got here, and I'm not going anywhere!"
To emphasize her point her folded her arms and roughly sat on the ground lotus-style. "Go ahead, try and move me. I dare you!"
Both Kami and Piccolo looked at her, flabbergasted. Piccolo was amazed by how determined she sounded, not to mention being called her friend was like sticking his finger in an outlet; totally shocking. Kami was surprised to hear her stand up for Piccolo. He looked over to Piccolo who was still looking at the girl.
'Maybe if she can see good in him, there ,may actually be some in him.' He let out a long sigh. "All right, child. I shall allow Piccolo to watch you. But, " he directed his attention to Piccolo, "If you harm her, in any way, I will take her to the lookout."
With that, he lifted into the air and flew away.
"Man, I hate that guy! And to think we're part of each other." Piccolo said. "that's what really sucks. I can't kill him because I'll die. And if I get killed, he dies and no more Dragon Balls so I could get wished back. Hn, like anyone would wish me back anyway."
"I would." Piccolo looked down at Colleen and smiled.
"Why don't we continue your training." Piccolo suggested.
"OK, but I'm still hungry. I'll be back in a minute!" With that Colleen took off into the woods again.
"Silly girl. Can't believe she's growing on me." Piccolo said quietly. He sighed. How could a little human girl make him act so funny? "Ah well," Piccolo said. "Not like I'd get rid of her even if I could. I'm getting WAY too soft."
Then he saw a sweet, little, fluffy white bunny rabbit hopping along 20ft. in front of him. A wicked smirk started to form on his lips, and he took aim. A small ki ball formed in his hand while the cute little bunny chewed carelessly on a piece of grass. Piccolo was just about to fire when he felt a tap on his shoulder, making him jump. He turned his head around for his deep onyx eyes to be met with innocent, puppy-dog blue ones.
"You werewen't going to shoot the widdle bunny wabbit, were you Piccy- chan?" Colleen asked in a sweet, toddler voice.
"Uh...." He didn't know how to answer. If he said 'no', it'd look suspicious. If he said 'yes', she might hate him.
"You wanna shoot something bad, don't'cha?" She smiled. Maybe it was safe to say 'yes'.
"Yea."
Her face brightened. "I can fix that. You can shoot at me!"
Piccolo's eyes got wide and he yelled, "EXUSE ME???!!!"
"It'll be part of my training. I need to know how to make and dodge ki blasts."
Piccolo shook his head violently. "No chance, no, no, no! What if you don't get out of the way in time? Or I aim wrong? I don't want to hurt you."
"Piccolo, I trust you. I know I won't get hurt. Pweeeeaaaassseee?"
Oh no, the puppy-dog eyes. 'Must resist' he thought. He shut his eyes tightly. "No."
"Paaleeeeaaaasseee? With ice cream and chocolate and a cherry on top?" She put on her most pathetic face and cutest voice.
Piccolo crept open an eye. Colleen put her hands together under her chin, and made a pouty-lipped face, eyes even cuter that before. "Please, Piccy?"
"Damn."
'No one can resist me... hehehehehe!' Colleen thought happily in her head.
Piccolo growled and said, "But if you get hit once, ONCE, we go back to learning fighting techniques until you're ready. Got it?"
"Yep!" She smiled and ran over to a nearby boulder. She faced Piccolo and took a fighting stance. She smirked. "Hit me with your best shot, Green- boy."
"You do know how to dodge, right?" Piccolo asked.
"Please, you know grow up in my family and *not* know how to dodge. Now come on! Hit me, baby!"
Piccolo groaned and lifted his right hand. A ki ball started to form, not powerful enough to hurt her, just powerful enough to burn her if she were hit by one.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Piccolo asked, hoping she'd come to her senses and quit while she was ahead.
"Yes!" Colleen was so excited, but stayed focused. 'Piccolo is actually shooting at me!' she thought excitedly. 'Wait. That doesn't sound right.'
Suddenly Piccolo let the ki ball fly. Colleen quickly ducked down, and rolled to the side as one ball of light came after another. She swiftly moved, jumped and leapt avoiding contact, and actually looking semi graceful. Piccolo started firing them faster and faster, she could hardly keep up.
'And he's the one who didn't want to do this in the first place! Maybe I shouldn't have tried to do this.' That thought would cost her, for she didn't see the beam of energy speeding toward her. It whizzed past her leg, tearing the red cloth and burning the skin there. Her leg momentarily fell out, and she went on one knee on the ground, a ki blast Piccolo fired headed for her face.
Piccolo saw her fall and saw the blast aimed right between her eyes. He panicked and couldn't stop it, so he ran to help her. Colleen knew it was too late to dodge it, especially with her leg hurt. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her energy to either deflect it or destroy it.
Piccolo tried to stop the blast, but halted in his tracks at when he saw Colleen's eyes open. Her eyes were glowing red, like his could. The ki ball slowed down and stopped an inch from her face. Then.....it blew up. Somehow she had destroyed it using her energy. But she wasn't that powerful yet. Was she?
"Colleen, are you all right?" Piccolo ran to her side and knelt beside her.
"Yea, I'm fine. Not broken, just shaken." She tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground as a wave of pain coming from her leg was made present to her. She looked down at her leg. It wasn't bleeding, but it was burned, and was starting to blister. 'Ew.'
Piccolo bent over and touched the scorched flesh on her leg. "OW!"
"I told you you'd get hurt. No more using ki except to fly until you're ready." Piccolo picked her up and let her lean on his chest, since she couldn't reach his shoulder, and started to walk to a spring near a cave.
"I just lost concentration for a second. I know I could do it, if I concentrated harder." Colleen mentally kicked herself. How could she lose her concentration? Piccolo probably thought she was a little weakling now.
"No. You said if you got hurt, we go back to basic training. And that's what we're doing. Sit down here." He led her to a medium sized rock near the bank of the spring. He took his shirt off and ripped it in two.
Colleen looked down as he dipped one half of his shirt into the water. "I disappointed you, didn't I?"
Piccolo looked up and saw her looking down in shame. He sighed. He started to dab the wet cloth on the burn mark.
"I'm not disappointed. Actually, I didn't think you'd do that good. Not even I learned this fast." He wrapped the dry half of his shirt around her leg as a bandage. The purple stood out in contrast to the red of her gi pants.
"Really? Wow." She was learning faster than Piccolo? That didn't make sense. 'Well, it sort of does.' She thought. 'People from the 'real world' created this one. It would be normal for us to be more powerful and to learn faster than them. That's probably why Kami wanted me locked up.'
Piccolo saw her in thought. Thoughts of his own were going through his mind. But they were not as to why she was so powerful, they were to why he felt he needed to protect this little creature. 'Why do I care? I've never cared about anything except to defeat Son Goku and to be the ruler of the Earth as my father wished. How did she do this to me?' With all of this running through his mind, he wondered if his caring for her had something to do with a power she possessed.
"Tell me Colleen, what kind of powers do people in your dimension have?'
The question took her by surprise. "Powers? My people have no powers. Some claim to be psychic, or to speak to the dead, or see into the future using cards, but 99% of the time, it's fake. Why do you ask?"
"If your people have no powers, how can you?" This was getting confusing.
"Well....ah...." Should she tell him? Tell him about the 'real world' and how he was a cartoon character? Did he even know what a cartoon character was?
"Yes?"
"*sigh* This is going to take a while. Well, I'm from what we call the Real World."
"Real World? What's that supposed to mean? This world is real." What was she talking about?
"Actually.......it's sorta, kinda...well, not." Man, this was hard!
Piccolo quirked an eyeridge at her. "OK, OK, let's see. How can I explain this?" How indeed. 'Do what Vegeta does.' She told herself. 'Be blunt. Very blunt.'
"In the Real World, different dimensions like this one are made up from the people in my world's minds. The way the are given life is to be written down, or drawn. You, Kami, Goku, and everyone else in this world and this world is a cartoon in my world. Do you know what a cartoon is?"
"No."
"A cartoon is a drawing on paper. You get a bunch of drawings and move them very fast so it seems as though the character on the paper is moving. The drawings are nothing more than ink, and some computer animation. In my world, you're nothing but a drawing. You aren't real." She saw his face look so confused, and lost. She felt so guilty. She had just shattered his world, basically told him his life was nothing. She wanted to crawl and hide under a rock.
"I...don't....." Piccolo was so confused, his head was spinning. He didn't exist? 'Well, this explains why she knew my name the first time she saw me. And why she isn't really afraid of me. And how she is so powerful. This is all so.....much.'
"Piccolo, are you going to be all right? Piccolo?" He looked distraught. 'I never should have told him!' She lowered her head into her hands. 'How could I have been so stupid?!'
"Colleen?"
She looked up at Piccolo. "Yes?" Maybe he was OK.
"If I'm not real..why do you treat me like I am? Why do you care about me?" It didn't make sense to him. If he was a drawing, why should she care?
This question Colleen could answer instantly. She looked into his onyx eyes. "Because you're *real* to me. You have a heart, you can feel things, you can talk and move. You are a real person to me, and you _are_ my friend. I mean every word." And she did. She loved him like a person for a long time. Some people in her world said it was strange, but she didn't care. She cared about him, and if that was wrong, she didn't want to be right.
What she said made Piccolo feel a little better about him being nothing but a figment of someone's imagination. At least she saw him as real, even if no one else in her world felt he was. It was still pretty hard to swallow, but he figured the rest of the day in training would fix that.
"Let's get back to training." He said. "You should be able to use your leg."
He helped her up, and it was at this moment, when they were at full height, that she fully realized he had no shirt on. She was just the perfect height to admire his broad, toned chest. She blushed and the only coherent thought that would run through her brain was: 'Humina, humina!' Oh, yes, life was good to her.
They both walked back to the clearing and Piccolo, again, began to work with Colleen on fighting moves. Though this time, he started to teach her defense. This was not fun for her. She got poked, hit, smacked, kicked, scraped, cut, bruised, and any other word you can think of for pain would apply here. She blocked, a few punches and kicks, *a few*. But, she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it. Neither could Piccolo. Then again, he wasn't the one getting hit, now was he?
They sparred from noon until the sun went down and the only light was coming from the full moon and the stars. 'Sure hope Goku doesn't have his tail.' Colleen thought. Piccolo had called it quits about 15 minutes ago, and Colleen was on the ground while Piccolo meditated, without a shirt mind you. Normally she'd take the view fully, but she couldn't get up to look up. She was sore all over, especially where she'd gotten burned on her leg. It still had the purple cloth wrapped around it, keeping infection out.
Piccolo opened his eyes and stared at the 5ft. 6in. girl fanned out on the cold dark ground. She'd stayed like that for a while. He was surprised she was conscious after the day of intense training they did. Well, she did. This was a slow day for him. Then again, she started today, and he'd been training twenty times as hard since he was at least 4 years old. How old was she any ways? She didn't look much younger than him. He looked to the sky.
"It's getting late." He said, loud enough so Colleen could hear. "We should turn in for the night."
"Uh-huh." She didn't move.
"Well, get up."
"Uh-huh." Still stiff as a board.
"Colleen, is my skin orange?"
"Uh-huh." Piccolo couldn't help but chuckle. 'She's conscious. Coherent, that's another story.'
He walked over to her and looked at her blank face, now looking pale in the moonlight. Her eyes were shining, though. They always had a mirror type look to them.
"You should get up." He said. "It's getting cold. You could get sick."
"Can't....move...too...sore."
"Colleen, get up. This isn't funny." Piccolo was starting to get annoyed.
She tried to get up, she lifted her head up, then plopped it back down. "Owie."
Piccolo sighed. He bent down and put one arm under her shoulders the other under her knees, and lifted her up in one swift motion. She lifted her head to rest on his chest and her 'scrunchie' fell from her long chess nut brown hail, letting it hand. Piccolo walked back to where the bon fire he recently lit was and sat down with his back to a giant redwood. He was going to put Colleen down to sleep next to him, but she'd already fallen asleep and stirred whenever he tried to put her down onto the ground. She yawned and snuggled closer to his bare chest. "Hmmm, warm." She mumbled. He materialized a white blanked around them and laid his head back against the bark. And they stayed like that all night, Colleen wrapped safely in Piccolo's arms, her head resting upon his heart.
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That's the end to chapter 6. I know I made Piccolo OOC, but he's only that way around me. He's nice and mean around other people. Review please!! I crave it. You always read how authors say reviews are like a drug, and they are! Just, they aren't bad for you like drugs. Oi, it's late and I'm tired. Ja-ne!