[Chapter Three]
"Hair... skin colour... height... eye ridge... gah!" Bulma pounded the desk in frustration. "It's too much! And it still looks nasty."
Bulma frowned at her computer. She currently had running a program of her mother's design, called the Makeover 03. It was designed to take a simple photo, analyse a person's features, and allow the user to make cosmetic changes.
Bulma clicked 'undo', and Piccolo returned to his original appearance.
Magazines scattered Bulma's desk, open to pages full of the cutest guys. Some pages had been ripped out and stuck up with blu-tak, some had writing all over them and others were circled.
Bulma glared at the magazines, then at the image on the monitor. Back to the magazines, then the monitor. Magazines, monitor. Magazines, monitor. Magazines, monitor.
A loud screech was heard through Capsule Corp.
"I! Can't! Do! This!" Bulma wailed, bashing her keyboard. "There is no way!"
"Coffee?" Mrs Briefs asked from behind Bulma.
"Eeeak!" Bulma yelped, leaping from her seat.
"Maybe not." Briefs placed the tray on a stack of Cosmos.
"Mom? Don't scare me like that!" Bulma slumped into her seat.
Briefs smiled warmly, then turned to the computer.
"Oh! You're using Makeover!" she giggled.
"It's for a bet, Mom." Bulma sighed. "I should just quit. It's impossible to make that man good-looking."
"What have you tried?" Briefs asked.
"Well..." Bulma clicked 'redo'. "Everything."
Briefs made a face.
"I know." Bulma lay back in her chair.
"You know, Bulma, I've always taught you that everyone is beautiful if they believe it." Briefs said thoughtfully. "Beauty is within. If you can find it, you can bring it out."
"Inner beauty? Piccolo? The man's an ass."
"Atchoo!"
"Does everyone think that?" Briefs asked.
"Pretty much." Bulma yawned.
"Everyone?"
Briefs smiled knowingly, and softly walked out of the lab.
Bulma felt like a light had been turned on in her head. Slow realization came, and pushed her into action. She tapped the keyboard and picked up her phone.
"Now, what was Gohan's new number?"
"Why'dya want to know about Piccolo?" Gohan asked.
"Oh, you know." Bulma waved off the question from down the line. "So?"
Gohan held the phone to his ear with his shoulder, typing away on his work computer. The poor young man had been shoved into a suit and tie by a baby-weary Videl. Dark circles under his eyes revealed just how young baby Pan really was.
"It's a tough question to answer." Gohan mused. "I like Piccolo for a lot of reasons."
"Such as?" Bulma pressed.
Gohan paused his typing.
"Well... I guess the most obvious is he's saved my life many times." Gohan paused again. "He looked after me, when we were training. Taught me stuff, like strength, bravery. And... I guess I still consider him my best friend because of how he makes me feel when I'm around him. Safe, y'know? And like I can be me. He listens, and always gives me an honest opinion."
"You admire him?" Bulma prompted.
"I might be better than him at fighting now, but yeah. I guess I do. He just does what he has to do, forget what he needs; it's one for everyone else." Gohan smiled. "Besides, he's a good cook."
Bulma laughed. "Serious?"
"No." Gohan chuckled. "He's hopeless in that area."
Gohan started typing again.
"Is that all you need?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks Gohan. See you again sometime. Bring Pan."
"Sure." Gohan rubbed his eyes. "Bye."
Bulma put down the phone, and looked at the picture that had been taken at the picnic. Now that she thought of it, he did look quite relaxed. Sitting on a rock, one knee to his chest, smiling at Gohan. Oh, it wasn't a big smile; Bulma hadn't noticed it before.
Bulma looked at her computer screen. Piccolo's image was enlarged, soft eyes looking at an invisible boy, sitting by a pond that couldn't be seen.
Soft eyes?
"Bingo." Bulma smirked, and began clicking.