It was slowly driving him insane. Not that he didn't like the company... But this was really getting out of hand. The first few times it had only been Gohan. But now he was also taking Videl with him! He could understand that they wanted to escape Chi-chi. But...
"How the hell am I supposed to train the brat when you two come round every time?!!"
When he saw Gohan's startled expression, he immediately felt sorry for yelling at him.
"Piccolo... I didn't know... You should have told us..."
"Its alright Gohan. I... I just..."
He sighed. How the hell was he ever going to explain this?
"Piccolo, it's alright. I should have known. You aren't exactly the right person to come to with these kind of problems. You don't know anything about marriage, let alone about becoming a father."
"It... it must be really hard for you."
"Yeah... you can say that again. My mum is driving us insane. And the only ones I can talk to about father ship are my dad and Vegeta..." Gohan gave a sad grin. "Not exactly the two most brightest and subtle persons."
Gohan stared into the distance for a moment. Piccolo could tell that this father ship was hard for him. Of course, having a mother like Chi-chi wasn't much help... Giggling interrupted their thoughts. A small distance away, Woran and Videl were sitting on the ground, both nearly falling over with laughter. Gohan smiled, a gentle look in his eyes.
"It's been even harder for Videl you know. Chi-chi is fussing over her like she's going to break as soon as she does something. Woran has been a great help for her. I don't have a clue as to what they are talking about, but it really cheers her up."
"Seems like the annoying brat is good for something then. But you didn't come here just to talk. You had another reason."
"Well, uh... yes. I don't know if you want to... but..." Gohan suddenly got nervous. Piccolo raised an eye ridge. Quickly, as if he wanted to get it over with he continued: "Well, it's just... You see, my mum invited both you and Woran over for dinner."
Chi-chi had invited them both... How would she know about Woran? Unless someone had told her...
"Who told her about the kid?"
"Videl did. My mother noticed how happy she was when we returned, and demanded to know who we had talked to. And you know how it goes when she demands."
Yes... he knew all to well. Last time it had resulted in him and Goku taking driving lessons.
"Yes... I understand. Your mother can be very... persuasive. I and Woran will come for dinner then."
A few hours later. In front of the Son house
"Stop gawking kid."
He would never understand women. Woran had been delighted when she heard she was invited to dinner. But now that she was here, on the doorstep, she was to shy to get in. On top of that, she was gawking as if she had never seen a house before.
"Shut your mouth, or it will fall off. Now get inside."
"But, Piccolo! What if... What is they don't like me? What if they think I'm some kind of... freak?"
She looked up at him, a sad and pleading look in her eyes. He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Kid. Trust me in this one. They will not see you as a freak. For them, I'm one of the most normal things in the world. And if a seven-foot tall green man with fangs is acceptable, a kid with white hair and pointy ears is even more. Now get your ass in there. I didn't wait a whole hour until you were finished with your looks for nothing you know."
Even though his last statement had been rough, she still smiled. She seemed a bit surer of herself.
"Well, I had to bathe and put on a clean Gi. It might be Ok for you to go visit someone smelling of sweat and in dirty clothes, but I don't think that's very polite."
"You forgot to mention the hair. You and Videl spend at least ten minutes brushing it."
"I was making a comparison with you. And since you don't have any hair..."
"Kid, shut up and get the hell inside."
She shook her head, suddenly shy again. The movement caused her long hair to slip over her shoulders, framing her face. Loose hair stood her well. He blinked. Where the hell did he get that thought from? Seeing that she wasn't going to make a move, he sighed, pushed open the door and walked inside. Woran stood in the doorway for a moment, then hurried in after him.
He walked into the living room. Goku was sitting on the couch, next to Chi- chi. Videl was sitting in a chair, with Gohan standing next to her. In a corner, Bulma was scolding Vegeta, who had apparently done something wrong again. He didn't see Goten and Trunks anywhere, but before he could wonder where they were, two small forms attached themselves to his legs.
"Piccolo!" the two half Saiyans exclaimed happily in chorus.
The two boys were smiling brightly, obvious happy to see him after such a long time. Goten suddenly looked very curious.
"Who is that, Piccolo?"
The boy had spotted Woran, who was still standing shyly behind Piccolo's back. Trunk saw her to. Both boys let go of his legs and stepped behind him to take a better look at Woran. Goten's question had drawn the attention of the whole room. Even Vegeta looked interested. With a sigh he reached behind his back, grabbed Woran by the back of her Gi and planted her in front of him.
"Introduce yourself kid."
Woran seemed at a loss for a moment with all those people looking at her. Then she composed herself, scraped her throat and looked everybody square in the eye.
"Hello. I am Woran. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I..."
She was interrupted by Chi-chi, who rushed up to her.
"Oh! So you are Woran! Welcome. C'mon, take a seat, there's a dear. I heard from Videl that you are a great friend of her. That's so nice! Now, what would you like to drink?"
While talking, Chi-chi dragged Woran to a chair and pushed her on it.
"...Eh... Just some water please."
"Water? All right. I suppose you want some too Piccolo?"
Chi-chi didn't wait for him to reply. She just walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed two bottles of mineral water and walked back into the room. She gave him his bottle without a comment.
"Here you are dear." She said to Woran with a friendly smile. Then she walked back into the kitchen again. While Chi-chi had been gone, everyone had been studying Woran. He wondered who would be the first to ask her a question. He didn't have to wait long. Goten stepped forward and tugged her pants to get her attention.
"Are you a fighter? I think you are, because you wear a Gi."
Woran smiled. "Yes, I am a fighter. But I'm still learning though."
"That's great! Would you come outside and train with us?"
"Of course!"
Woran looked rather relieved when the boys dragged her outside. He couldn't blame her though. She didn't like being in the centre of attention, with her odd appearance there were certainly going to be asked all sorts of questions. Woran was of the hook for the moment. But he certainly wasn't.
Vegeta was looking out the window, keeping an eye on the boys and Woran, who were chasing each other trough the backyard. Without turning, he asked:
"Who is she?"
"She is Woran."
"Alright you big f..." Vegeta didn't finish his sentence and suddenly looked a bit pale. He had every reason to. In the doorway stood Chi-chi. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were shooting daggers. Vegeta involuntarily swallowed.
"Vegeta! Mind your word mister! I will not have you swear in my house! Not when there is a baby coming!"
I'm the prince of Saiyans woman." Vegeta half-heartedly protested. "I do what I please. Besides..."
"No besides mister! You listen, and listen good. I forbid you to swear in my house. And I forbid you to..."
Chi-chi continued to scold Vegeta for several more minutes. During a particularly nasty part Gohan drew Piccolo's attention. He rolled with his eyes, and silently mouthed 'overreacting'. Piccolo grinned and nodded. From the corner of his eyes he saw movement. Woran, Trunks and Goten were looking trough one of the windows to see what all the commotion was about. All tree of them winched at some of Chi-chi's particularly loud and shrill shouts. Woran noticed him looking at her. 'Painful' she mounted. 'No kidding kid' he mouthed back. Woran grinned her fangs bare and shook her head. Chi-chi had to stop shouting at Vegeta because she was running out of breath. Bulma immediately seized the opportunity.
"Chi-chi, I will take care of Vegeta when we get home. Let him be. I think he learned his lesson for now."
Chi-chi looked doubtful for a moment. Bulma grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the kitchen.
"Come on Chi-chi. Vegetal will behave. Now let me help you with dinner."
Vegeta lowered himself into a chair and glared at everyone.
"So Piccolo. Please tell me who she is now."
"Alright then. Truth is, I don't know. She doesn't either."
"That's bull..." Vegeta cast a nervous glance towards the kitchen. "I mean, that's nonsense. She must be lying."
"No!" Piccolo said more forcefully then he intended. On a more normal tone he continued "No. She says that she doesn't know, and I believe her."
Vegeta snorted. "So you are taking the word of a complete stranger for granted. A non-human stranger at that. Where's your common sense Namek?"
"I have her word Vegeta. And that's good enough for me."
"Its your funeral Namek. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Piccolo sighed silently and shook his head. Vegeta could be so paranoid at times! Irritated he continued:
"She is not a complete stranger. I know her name, her age, almost her whole past... The only thing we don't know is the species she became."
"Became...?"
"She was human once. I have sufficient prove of that. In some unknown way, she became what she is now."
"And nobody noticed the change?"
"It didn't happen gradually. She went to bed human and woke up in the middle of the night being what she is now."
"And her parents?"
"She ran away from home. Can't blame her. Try to explain something like that to humans..."
"For once I agree with you Namek."
Goku had been listening silently to the entire conversation. From his interested expression Piccolo derived that this wasn't he first time he heard about Woran. Gohan had told him something about her, although it must have been very little.
"I heard you are training her. What made you take up a student?"
"My reasons are none of your business Goku."
"Aw, c'mon Piccolo! Tell us. She must be something special then. She is so slender. There is hardly any muscle on her. And from what I can sense, her power level hasn't even reached 50 yet."
Vegeta joined back into the conversation.
"You are TRAINING her?"
He pointed outside to Woran who was frantically waving her arm. She was trying really hard not to fall, something that wasn't working because Goten had latched himself onto her legs, and Trunks on her other arm. She waved desperately, but it didn't help. With a loud thud she hit the ground. Immediately a wrestling match ensued. Woran was winning, due to some tremendous cheating. She was tickling the boys.
"YOU, are TRAINING, HER?! You f..." Again a nervous glance at the kitchen. "Have you lost you mind? She is weak, obviously has no fightersinstict and she is an alien. You are wasting your time Namek. Training a woman is useless."
"Vegeta, you are talking complete nonsense."
"Feh."
"If you don't believe me, I can prove it to you."
"She is a woman. That's all the prove I need."
"Goku said she has a very low powerlevel. That's true, but it's not as low as he thinks. She's suppressing it. And no, I didn't teach her that. She's doing it instinctively. She is so good at it, that I couldn't sense it at all when I first met her."
Vegetal looked as if he wanted to object. Then he shrugged. "Whatever. But just take a look as those scrawny arms! There cant be any strength in those."
"Her arms aren't strong, I give you that. But you should try one of her kicks. What she lacks in her arms, she has double in her legs. Besides, her real strength lies in speed, not power. She is really fast. If she was on your level Vegeta, you wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her, I'm sure of that."
"In your dreams Namek. Even if all you said was true, it wouldn't matter. She is a woman. At the first signs of violence, she would hide, scared."
"Vegeta, help me remind myself that I ask Bulma to stop hitting you on the head, because you are talking bull... I mean, nonsense."
"You believe your lame excuses. She's a woman, she can't fight, and she will cowardly hide in a corner."
He had been patient while Vegeta talked his bullshit. But now he had gone to far. With two steps he stood before him. Piccolo grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close, so that their noses were nearly touching.
"I will not have you talk that way about my student. She has talent and she has courage."
"Prove it to me." Vegeta spat in his face.
"When I first met her, she was all alone in the forest. She was unaware of my presence. Out of nowhere, 7 men appeared. They were warriors. Warriors that were able to control their Ki. They were strangers, and for reasons we don't know yet, they wanted to kill her. It was obvious that she had never been in a situation like that before. But despite that fact, and the fact that there were no reasons given why, and that she didn't have anytime to prepare herself, she went to meet their attack. She pushed her fear aside and fought them with every ounce of strength that she had. Even when she was near death she refused to give up. Even when their leaders shot Ki balls at her, a thing she was completely unfamiliar with, she avoided them and fought on. She even wanted to attack me, if I had proven a threat. So don't give me that crap about her being a coward. For she is far from that."
He let go of Vegeta, who huffed and smoothed his shirt. Piccolo walked to a chair, glaring at everybody who was staring at him. Gohan was the first to recover, and gave him a grin. Piccolo just crossed his arms and sat down.
It was quiet for a minute. Then Goku leaned forward and opened his mouth to say something. At that moment Chi-Chi appeared in the doorway.
"Dinner is almost ready. Can someone give me a hand with putting everything on the table?"
Goku immediately jumped up and ran into the kitchen, totally forgotten what he was about to say. Not that that was surprising. Food was next to fighting the most important thing in Goku's life. Gohan also rose.
"I'll call in the boys and Woran. They will need to clean up for dinner."
It didn't take long. The word 'dinner' had hardly left Gohan's mouth when the tree of them rushed in. When he reached 'is' they were halfway down the kitchen. 'Ready' fell together with the sound of rushing water. Gohan blinked.
"I guess they're hungry then... We should go too. Before they eat everything."
He didn't have to say that twice. Vegeta rushed into the kitchen, immediately followed by Videl, who by now knew that food disappeared fast. Very fast. And after all, she had to eat for two now. Piccolo and Gohan walked in last. The moment they sat down Goku and Vegeta began stuffing their faces. That was the signal for the rest to begin. During the whole dinner everyone was quiet, except for Chi-Chi and Bulma, who regulary had to scold their husbands for messy eating. When the last few crumbs had been eaten, and the bowls of the second desert had been licked clean, everyone patted their full stomachs. Even Goku and Vegata had been sated. A rare feet indeed. Slowly, conversation started to pick up again. Goten and Trunks were discussing what was a better desert, chocolate pudding on strawberry icecream. Bulma was scolding Vegeta for spilling dinner on his new shirt. Gohan was talking softly to Videl.
"Piccolo? Before dinner you were talking about you training Woran. Please tell me. How?"
Chi-Chi's voice was calm. A little bit to calm. Piccolo's mind raced. How was he going to get out of this one without getting the frying pan thrown to his head? He quickly made up some lies and hoped she would believe them. But he wasn't quick enough. Goku answered for him.
"Oh, that's easy. He's doing it the way he did with Gohan."
"Exactly the same? He fights her?" Chi-Chi's tone had just gotten cold.
"Ah... Well... No... Ah... You see... Ah..." Goku was trying to talk his way out of it, but not ever lying made that really difficult. Vegeta smirked at Goku's predicament.
"C'mon Goku. Tell her how he dumped her in the wilds for six months with only the clothes on her back and a Katana for defence."
Everyone was silent and sat without moving. Even Woran had stopped her frantic waving at Vegeta to stop him. The silence lasted, and everyone began to relax.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chi-chi jumped out of her chair, and stood next to Piccolo in a second, grabbing him by the ear.
"You left an innocent and defenceless girl all alone in the wilds for six months?!!! What were you thinking?!!! Kami knows what could have happened!!!!" She grabbed the frying pan. Woran clearly didn't want to know what would happen next, because she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the door before he even had the change to properly stand up. Cries of rage persued them. Not it was him that dragged Woran. As soon as they were outside, he scooped her up into his arms and flew of. Soon Chi-Chi was only a doll, jumping up and down and waving her arms. The rest has also come outside. Woran bend herself over his shoulder, waved at them and shouted: "Thank you for the nice dinner!" When she was back into is arms, she looked at him with a frown. "I knew the story's from Gohan and Videl, but I could never have guessed it was this bad. Is she always like this?"
"No", was his dry reply, "if we hadn't run, I would now have a frying pan embedded in my skull, and you would now be in therapy for the rest of your life."
"It makes me wonder..."
"What kid?"
"You had al those troubles with evil... Why didn't you release her on it?"
"Our enemy's might have been evil, but not so evil to deserve that."
"Hm... I can see your point."
"How the hell am I supposed to train the brat when you two come round every time?!!"
When he saw Gohan's startled expression, he immediately felt sorry for yelling at him.
"Piccolo... I didn't know... You should have told us..."
"Its alright Gohan. I... I just..."
He sighed. How the hell was he ever going to explain this?
"Piccolo, it's alright. I should have known. You aren't exactly the right person to come to with these kind of problems. You don't know anything about marriage, let alone about becoming a father."
"It... it must be really hard for you."
"Yeah... you can say that again. My mum is driving us insane. And the only ones I can talk to about father ship are my dad and Vegeta..." Gohan gave a sad grin. "Not exactly the two most brightest and subtle persons."
Gohan stared into the distance for a moment. Piccolo could tell that this father ship was hard for him. Of course, having a mother like Chi-chi wasn't much help... Giggling interrupted their thoughts. A small distance away, Woran and Videl were sitting on the ground, both nearly falling over with laughter. Gohan smiled, a gentle look in his eyes.
"It's been even harder for Videl you know. Chi-chi is fussing over her like she's going to break as soon as she does something. Woran has been a great help for her. I don't have a clue as to what they are talking about, but it really cheers her up."
"Seems like the annoying brat is good for something then. But you didn't come here just to talk. You had another reason."
"Well, uh... yes. I don't know if you want to... but..." Gohan suddenly got nervous. Piccolo raised an eye ridge. Quickly, as if he wanted to get it over with he continued: "Well, it's just... You see, my mum invited both you and Woran over for dinner."
Chi-chi had invited them both... How would she know about Woran? Unless someone had told her...
"Who told her about the kid?"
"Videl did. My mother noticed how happy she was when we returned, and demanded to know who we had talked to. And you know how it goes when she demands."
Yes... he knew all to well. Last time it had resulted in him and Goku taking driving lessons.
"Yes... I understand. Your mother can be very... persuasive. I and Woran will come for dinner then."
A few hours later. In front of the Son house
"Stop gawking kid."
He would never understand women. Woran had been delighted when she heard she was invited to dinner. But now that she was here, on the doorstep, she was to shy to get in. On top of that, she was gawking as if she had never seen a house before.
"Shut your mouth, or it will fall off. Now get inside."
"But, Piccolo! What if... What is they don't like me? What if they think I'm some kind of... freak?"
She looked up at him, a sad and pleading look in her eyes. He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Kid. Trust me in this one. They will not see you as a freak. For them, I'm one of the most normal things in the world. And if a seven-foot tall green man with fangs is acceptable, a kid with white hair and pointy ears is even more. Now get your ass in there. I didn't wait a whole hour until you were finished with your looks for nothing you know."
Even though his last statement had been rough, she still smiled. She seemed a bit surer of herself.
"Well, I had to bathe and put on a clean Gi. It might be Ok for you to go visit someone smelling of sweat and in dirty clothes, but I don't think that's very polite."
"You forgot to mention the hair. You and Videl spend at least ten minutes brushing it."
"I was making a comparison with you. And since you don't have any hair..."
"Kid, shut up and get the hell inside."
She shook her head, suddenly shy again. The movement caused her long hair to slip over her shoulders, framing her face. Loose hair stood her well. He blinked. Where the hell did he get that thought from? Seeing that she wasn't going to make a move, he sighed, pushed open the door and walked inside. Woran stood in the doorway for a moment, then hurried in after him.
He walked into the living room. Goku was sitting on the couch, next to Chi- chi. Videl was sitting in a chair, with Gohan standing next to her. In a corner, Bulma was scolding Vegeta, who had apparently done something wrong again. He didn't see Goten and Trunks anywhere, but before he could wonder where they were, two small forms attached themselves to his legs.
"Piccolo!" the two half Saiyans exclaimed happily in chorus.
The two boys were smiling brightly, obvious happy to see him after such a long time. Goten suddenly looked very curious.
"Who is that, Piccolo?"
The boy had spotted Woran, who was still standing shyly behind Piccolo's back. Trunk saw her to. Both boys let go of his legs and stepped behind him to take a better look at Woran. Goten's question had drawn the attention of the whole room. Even Vegeta looked interested. With a sigh he reached behind his back, grabbed Woran by the back of her Gi and planted her in front of him.
"Introduce yourself kid."
Woran seemed at a loss for a moment with all those people looking at her. Then she composed herself, scraped her throat and looked everybody square in the eye.
"Hello. I am Woran. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I..."
She was interrupted by Chi-chi, who rushed up to her.
"Oh! So you are Woran! Welcome. C'mon, take a seat, there's a dear. I heard from Videl that you are a great friend of her. That's so nice! Now, what would you like to drink?"
While talking, Chi-chi dragged Woran to a chair and pushed her on it.
"...Eh... Just some water please."
"Water? All right. I suppose you want some too Piccolo?"
Chi-chi didn't wait for him to reply. She just walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed two bottles of mineral water and walked back into the room. She gave him his bottle without a comment.
"Here you are dear." She said to Woran with a friendly smile. Then she walked back into the kitchen again. While Chi-chi had been gone, everyone had been studying Woran. He wondered who would be the first to ask her a question. He didn't have to wait long. Goten stepped forward and tugged her pants to get her attention.
"Are you a fighter? I think you are, because you wear a Gi."
Woran smiled. "Yes, I am a fighter. But I'm still learning though."
"That's great! Would you come outside and train with us?"
"Of course!"
Woran looked rather relieved when the boys dragged her outside. He couldn't blame her though. She didn't like being in the centre of attention, with her odd appearance there were certainly going to be asked all sorts of questions. Woran was of the hook for the moment. But he certainly wasn't.
Vegeta was looking out the window, keeping an eye on the boys and Woran, who were chasing each other trough the backyard. Without turning, he asked:
"Who is she?"
"She is Woran."
"Alright you big f..." Vegeta didn't finish his sentence and suddenly looked a bit pale. He had every reason to. In the doorway stood Chi-chi. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were shooting daggers. Vegeta involuntarily swallowed.
"Vegeta! Mind your word mister! I will not have you swear in my house! Not when there is a baby coming!"
I'm the prince of Saiyans woman." Vegeta half-heartedly protested. "I do what I please. Besides..."
"No besides mister! You listen, and listen good. I forbid you to swear in my house. And I forbid you to..."
Chi-chi continued to scold Vegeta for several more minutes. During a particularly nasty part Gohan drew Piccolo's attention. He rolled with his eyes, and silently mouthed 'overreacting'. Piccolo grinned and nodded. From the corner of his eyes he saw movement. Woran, Trunks and Goten were looking trough one of the windows to see what all the commotion was about. All tree of them winched at some of Chi-chi's particularly loud and shrill shouts. Woran noticed him looking at her. 'Painful' she mounted. 'No kidding kid' he mouthed back. Woran grinned her fangs bare and shook her head. Chi-chi had to stop shouting at Vegeta because she was running out of breath. Bulma immediately seized the opportunity.
"Chi-chi, I will take care of Vegeta when we get home. Let him be. I think he learned his lesson for now."
Chi-chi looked doubtful for a moment. Bulma grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the kitchen.
"Come on Chi-chi. Vegetal will behave. Now let me help you with dinner."
Vegeta lowered himself into a chair and glared at everyone.
"So Piccolo. Please tell me who she is now."
"Alright then. Truth is, I don't know. She doesn't either."
"That's bull..." Vegeta cast a nervous glance towards the kitchen. "I mean, that's nonsense. She must be lying."
"No!" Piccolo said more forcefully then he intended. On a more normal tone he continued "No. She says that she doesn't know, and I believe her."
Vegeta snorted. "So you are taking the word of a complete stranger for granted. A non-human stranger at that. Where's your common sense Namek?"
"I have her word Vegeta. And that's good enough for me."
"Its your funeral Namek. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Piccolo sighed silently and shook his head. Vegeta could be so paranoid at times! Irritated he continued:
"She is not a complete stranger. I know her name, her age, almost her whole past... The only thing we don't know is the species she became."
"Became...?"
"She was human once. I have sufficient prove of that. In some unknown way, she became what she is now."
"And nobody noticed the change?"
"It didn't happen gradually. She went to bed human and woke up in the middle of the night being what she is now."
"And her parents?"
"She ran away from home. Can't blame her. Try to explain something like that to humans..."
"For once I agree with you Namek."
Goku had been listening silently to the entire conversation. From his interested expression Piccolo derived that this wasn't he first time he heard about Woran. Gohan had told him something about her, although it must have been very little.
"I heard you are training her. What made you take up a student?"
"My reasons are none of your business Goku."
"Aw, c'mon Piccolo! Tell us. She must be something special then. She is so slender. There is hardly any muscle on her. And from what I can sense, her power level hasn't even reached 50 yet."
Vegeta joined back into the conversation.
"You are TRAINING her?"
He pointed outside to Woran who was frantically waving her arm. She was trying really hard not to fall, something that wasn't working because Goten had latched himself onto her legs, and Trunks on her other arm. She waved desperately, but it didn't help. With a loud thud she hit the ground. Immediately a wrestling match ensued. Woran was winning, due to some tremendous cheating. She was tickling the boys.
"YOU, are TRAINING, HER?! You f..." Again a nervous glance at the kitchen. "Have you lost you mind? She is weak, obviously has no fightersinstict and she is an alien. You are wasting your time Namek. Training a woman is useless."
"Vegeta, you are talking complete nonsense."
"Feh."
"If you don't believe me, I can prove it to you."
"She is a woman. That's all the prove I need."
"Goku said she has a very low powerlevel. That's true, but it's not as low as he thinks. She's suppressing it. And no, I didn't teach her that. She's doing it instinctively. She is so good at it, that I couldn't sense it at all when I first met her."
Vegetal looked as if he wanted to object. Then he shrugged. "Whatever. But just take a look as those scrawny arms! There cant be any strength in those."
"Her arms aren't strong, I give you that. But you should try one of her kicks. What she lacks in her arms, she has double in her legs. Besides, her real strength lies in speed, not power. She is really fast. If she was on your level Vegeta, you wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her, I'm sure of that."
"In your dreams Namek. Even if all you said was true, it wouldn't matter. She is a woman. At the first signs of violence, she would hide, scared."
"Vegeta, help me remind myself that I ask Bulma to stop hitting you on the head, because you are talking bull... I mean, nonsense."
"You believe your lame excuses. She's a woman, she can't fight, and she will cowardly hide in a corner."
He had been patient while Vegeta talked his bullshit. But now he had gone to far. With two steps he stood before him. Piccolo grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close, so that their noses were nearly touching.
"I will not have you talk that way about my student. She has talent and she has courage."
"Prove it to me." Vegeta spat in his face.
"When I first met her, she was all alone in the forest. She was unaware of my presence. Out of nowhere, 7 men appeared. They were warriors. Warriors that were able to control their Ki. They were strangers, and for reasons we don't know yet, they wanted to kill her. It was obvious that she had never been in a situation like that before. But despite that fact, and the fact that there were no reasons given why, and that she didn't have anytime to prepare herself, she went to meet their attack. She pushed her fear aside and fought them with every ounce of strength that she had. Even when she was near death she refused to give up. Even when their leaders shot Ki balls at her, a thing she was completely unfamiliar with, she avoided them and fought on. She even wanted to attack me, if I had proven a threat. So don't give me that crap about her being a coward. For she is far from that."
He let go of Vegeta, who huffed and smoothed his shirt. Piccolo walked to a chair, glaring at everybody who was staring at him. Gohan was the first to recover, and gave him a grin. Piccolo just crossed his arms and sat down.
It was quiet for a minute. Then Goku leaned forward and opened his mouth to say something. At that moment Chi-Chi appeared in the doorway.
"Dinner is almost ready. Can someone give me a hand with putting everything on the table?"
Goku immediately jumped up and ran into the kitchen, totally forgotten what he was about to say. Not that that was surprising. Food was next to fighting the most important thing in Goku's life. Gohan also rose.
"I'll call in the boys and Woran. They will need to clean up for dinner."
It didn't take long. The word 'dinner' had hardly left Gohan's mouth when the tree of them rushed in. When he reached 'is' they were halfway down the kitchen. 'Ready' fell together with the sound of rushing water. Gohan blinked.
"I guess they're hungry then... We should go too. Before they eat everything."
He didn't have to say that twice. Vegeta rushed into the kitchen, immediately followed by Videl, who by now knew that food disappeared fast. Very fast. And after all, she had to eat for two now. Piccolo and Gohan walked in last. The moment they sat down Goku and Vegeta began stuffing their faces. That was the signal for the rest to begin. During the whole dinner everyone was quiet, except for Chi-Chi and Bulma, who regulary had to scold their husbands for messy eating. When the last few crumbs had been eaten, and the bowls of the second desert had been licked clean, everyone patted their full stomachs. Even Goku and Vegata had been sated. A rare feet indeed. Slowly, conversation started to pick up again. Goten and Trunks were discussing what was a better desert, chocolate pudding on strawberry icecream. Bulma was scolding Vegeta for spilling dinner on his new shirt. Gohan was talking softly to Videl.
"Piccolo? Before dinner you were talking about you training Woran. Please tell me. How?"
Chi-Chi's voice was calm. A little bit to calm. Piccolo's mind raced. How was he going to get out of this one without getting the frying pan thrown to his head? He quickly made up some lies and hoped she would believe them. But he wasn't quick enough. Goku answered for him.
"Oh, that's easy. He's doing it the way he did with Gohan."
"Exactly the same? He fights her?" Chi-Chi's tone had just gotten cold.
"Ah... Well... No... Ah... You see... Ah..." Goku was trying to talk his way out of it, but not ever lying made that really difficult. Vegeta smirked at Goku's predicament.
"C'mon Goku. Tell her how he dumped her in the wilds for six months with only the clothes on her back and a Katana for defence."
Everyone was silent and sat without moving. Even Woran had stopped her frantic waving at Vegeta to stop him. The silence lasted, and everyone began to relax.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chi-chi jumped out of her chair, and stood next to Piccolo in a second, grabbing him by the ear.
"You left an innocent and defenceless girl all alone in the wilds for six months?!!! What were you thinking?!!! Kami knows what could have happened!!!!" She grabbed the frying pan. Woran clearly didn't want to know what would happen next, because she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the door before he even had the change to properly stand up. Cries of rage persued them. Not it was him that dragged Woran. As soon as they were outside, he scooped her up into his arms and flew of. Soon Chi-Chi was only a doll, jumping up and down and waving her arms. The rest has also come outside. Woran bend herself over his shoulder, waved at them and shouted: "Thank you for the nice dinner!" When she was back into is arms, she looked at him with a frown. "I knew the story's from Gohan and Videl, but I could never have guessed it was this bad. Is she always like this?"
"No", was his dry reply, "if we hadn't run, I would now have a frying pan embedded in my skull, and you would now be in therapy for the rest of your life."
"It makes me wonder..."
"What kid?"
"You had al those troubles with evil... Why didn't you release her on it?"
"Our enemy's might have been evil, but not so evil to deserve that."
"Hm... I can see your point."