Chapter 14

Months Later...

Katrina tried to land a nice punch to his jaw but he easily blocked it and threw her into the empty clearing. "You're gonna have to do better than that." He growled, wiping the sweat from his temple.

Katrina landed and immediately charged towards him. Right before reaching him, she disappeared from sight and reappeared right behind him. She nailed a kick to his back, sending him flying face first in the dirt. He grunted as he turned over but saw the bright light of an energy orb in his face. Katrina towered over him with a smirk as the energy orb grew brighter and bigger.

"Well, you're definitely getting better at this." Piccolo said and clasped his hand over hers, dissipating the energy in her hand. Katrina pulled him up to his feet with the same smirk on her face.

"You know, I think you're starting to let me win." She said turning from him.

Suddenly, she was lifted into an arm lock with her feet above the ground. "Hey!"

Piccolo laughed from behind her. "Letting you win, eh?" He grunted. "Try and get out of this one then."

"Ok, you asked for it." Katrina replied and rested her upraised hands behind his neck. She gathered up as much energy as she could and threw him down on the ground. He landed with a hard thud. Katrina laughed weakly and walked over towards his side. She gently nudged him with her foot. "Are we done yet?"

Suddenly, Piccolo reached out and grabbed her ankles. He pulled them out from underneath her and she fell with a loud crash. "Yeah, now we're done." He smirked.

Katrina snarled at him and pounced on him, pinning him down beneath her. "That was not fair!" She growled, attempting to be intimidating.

Piccolo just raised an eye ridge at her before starting to laugh. Katrina's glare finally broke and she started to laugh too. She rested her head on his chest and couldn't stop laughing. Piccolo just closed his eyes, draped an arm over her and continued to laugh.

Gohan trotted over towards where his companions lay. "So is it my turn yet?"

It was at that moment that Katrina realized that she was pinning Piccolo beneath her. Her face flushed a bright, cherry color and she immediately jumped off of him. She started to laugh to herself before getting up and scurrying away from Piccolo and Gohan.

Piccolo just stared at her with a curious look. "Teenagers..." He scoffed. He stood up and brushed off his gi.

Gohan looked over at his mentor. "So are you two going to get married soon?"

The loud crash sound that Piccolo made scared several birds away from their resting places and made the rabbits hurry away from their lunches. Even Katrina was curious and stared at her friends for a long moment before turning away.

Piccolo slowly got up. "Where...the hell...did you get that idea...?" Or do I even want to know? He added in his thoughts.

"Well, my daddy and my mommy were best friends, and then they got married." Gohan said as innocently as possible. "You and Katrina are best friends, so when are you getting married?"

Piccolo smacked his forehead as his cheeks blushed. "We are not getting married, Gohan."

"Oh, you're not?" He asked, a little disappointed.

"No, we're not." Where does this kid get these ideas? Piccolo thought, then added, Oh, right, he's got a complete moron as a father. "Let's just...get on with the training."

"But—"

"No more questions now MOVE!!" He shouted as he landed a punch to Gohan's face. Gohan flew backwards and skidded slightly on the ground. He stood back up but was treated to another onslaught. Gohan had been training but he wasn't able to dodge them all.

In the middle of it, Piccolo suddenly stopped and stared off into space. Gohan was curious but saw this as his only chance. He quickly stood up and tried to nail a kick to Piccolo's chest. Piccolo caught it and grabbed the collar of Gohan's shirt. He growled low in his throat and bared his teeth.

Then he suddenly snapped out of it and dropped Gohan on the ground. "Training's over."

Later that night, Gohan was sound asleep near the fire again. Katrina was trying to stay awake, waiting for Piccolo to return. He had suddenly vanished earlier, not telling anyone where he was going.

Katrina had tried to use her intuition like she had done that rainy night, but for some reason she couldn't reach him. Her eyelids were getting heavier by the second, and she wouldn't be able to hold them up much longer. Her head bobbed back and forth and she fazed in and out of sleep.

Finally, she gave in to the sand man's wishes and closed her eyes for what seemed like a few minutes. But when she woke up, she found herself laid out on the ground with Piccolo's cape covering her again. She slowly sat up and looked around for him, but didn't see him nearby.

She stood up and walked away from the dying campfire. Katrina slowly eased into the clearing and saw a familiar figure kneeling by the lake. She immediately recognized him and hurried over.

"Hey." She greeted him as she neared him.

He jumped slightly hearing her voice. He finished what he was doing and stood up. "Hey." He grunted and walked passed her.

Katrina automatically knew that something was up. She was about to follow him when she saw something reflecting off the moonlight in the grass. She kneeled down and touched the substance but already knew what it was by the scent.

It was blood.

Katrina stood back up and rushed after him. "What happened?"

"Nothing." He replied and kept walking. "I need to go meditate for a while, I'll see you in the morning."

Katrina suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what happened."

But he shook her off forcefully. He turned around and growled, "I said it was nothing." His eyes widened a bit as if he was amazed at his own tone, then he turned back around and took off.

Katrina was speechless. I haven't seen him that angry since when he— She cut herself off and looked at the fading light of his energy trail. She took to the air and tried to follow it, but when she reached it, it was too faded to tell where he went. "Damn it." She mumbled and looked around her.

Everything was covered in darkness below her. She sighed sadly. "Damn it, Piccolo. Where are you?"

Then she closed her eyes. She could feel her power level rising and a soft aura glowing around her. Using her telepathy, which Piccolo was still teaching her how to control, she tried to extend her senses and picked up a weak signal.

Her eyes snapped open. "He's trying to mask his life force, but I can still sense him." She then took off in the direction of the faint signal.

Katrina landed a little distance away from where the signal was coming from. She walked cautiously, trying not to make a sound.

But when she saw him, she accidentally stepped on a small twig and snapped it in two. Piccolo's ears twitched and he turned his head. Katrina stepped out of the darkness of the forest and stopped.

"How did you find me?" Piccolo asked, speaking quietly so his tone wouldn't get out of control.

Katrina answered by tapping her temple. "Since you were under meditation, I could sense where you were," She said walking closer towards him. "Even though you were trying to mask your life force."

Piccolo nodded and bowed his head grimly.

Katrina stepped in front of him and sat down. She tried to look into his eyes but he hid them. "Piccolo, I'm here."

"I know you are."

"No, I mean I'm here if you need me."

Piccolo remained silent.

"Please tell what's wrong." Katrina asked. "Please..."

Piccolo still didn't respond. Instead, he stared down at his hands.

Katrina looked down at his hands. Cautiously, she reached out to take them into her own. He wanted to pull them away, but didn't.

Katrina looked at the back of his hands and saw that his knuckles were scraped and bruised pretty badly. Then she turned them over and saw that his palms were cut too, some of them were still bleeding.

"Why?" She whispered, her throat tied in a knot. "Why did you do this?"

Piccolo still would not answer her.

"Piccolo please!" She begged, her voice cracking. "Please just tell me why."

Piccolo hesitated, then sighed in defeat. "Because I heard him..."

"You heard who?"

Piccolo paused a long moment before saying, "My father."

Katrina stiffened. She was about to reply when he cut her off.

"I heard him in my head, but that doesn't matter..." He said. "It was still him..."

Katrina leaned closer towards him, trying to see into his eyes, but he bowed his chin deeper into his chest. "What did he say?"

This time he looked up at her. His eyes were so hurt and full of pain. "He told me to kill everyone...he told me..." He turned his head to the side. "He told me to kill you and Gohan..."

"But you didn't...so why—"

Piccolo suddenly stood up and walked away from her. He leaned on a nearby tree and stared out into the darkness of the forest surrounding them. "I almost did." He replied.

Katrina stood up and walked over towards him. She gently rested her hand on his back. "What do you mean?"

"When Gohan and I were training...that's when I heard him. Gohan thought that I was faking something, so he tried to attack me. My...my instincts took over...at one point...I think I wanted to kill him..."

Katrina stepped in front of him. "Don't say that..."

"Why not, it's the truth." Piccolo snarled and walked away from her again.

"You're lying." Katrina said, walking after him.

"No, I'm not."

"Then it wasn't you!" She said. Piccolo stopped and turned slightly to see her. Her hands were locked in fists down at her sides and she had a hurt expression on her face. "I refuse to believe that you wanted to kill Gohan."

Piccolo looked down at the ground beneath him. "Why don't you go back to—"

"Because I want to help you." Katrina interrupted. "I won't leave you..."

Piccolo looked up at her as she came closer towards him. "I don't think anyone can help me now..."

Katrina stopped right in front of him. "I know how I can help."

Piccolo was a little confused but then remembered what he had taught her a little while ago. "Kat, no. It's too da—"

But before he could finish, Katrina laid her hand on his forehead and entered his mind.