For several days, Dende kept a close eye on the female. He could still not understand anything she said, but he and Popo were beginning to understand a crude sign language she had taken to using. Piccolo seemed to know what she required without word or motion, despite his lack of contact with her. She only ever tried to communicate when they sought her out, spending virtually no time with Piccolo unless Dende asked him to join them and he accepted. She tried to avoid time with all of them. Her days consisted of eating, sleeping, and sitting in the room Dende had provided her with while she stayed on the lookout.
Dende was concerned by this behavior and decided to ask Piccolo's advice, or at least tell him what he needed help with. He could only hope the large Namek would help him. He found Piccolo meditating, as usual. "Piccolo?" He approached cautiously. The large man could get very agitated when disturbed.
"What is it, Dende?" His eyes did not open as he spoke. He had been waiting on the boy to seek him out. Silently, he had watched from the sidelines as the young Namek had tried to help the female. He knew eventually Dende would ask advice.
"When are you going to see Gohan?" Dende could think of only two people that could really help. While he would rather seek Bulma's aid, the fact that Vegeta was so prevalent in her life kept him from doing so. That left Chi-Chi. He knew the chances were slimmer that she would assist but if Piccolo could get Gohan to talk to his mother... He hoped the woman's maternal instincts would kick in and help a stranger.
Piccolo opened his eyes. "I don't know." He had not been expecting that question. 'Piccolo, what do you think should be done?' was more along the lines of what he had been expecting to hear. "Why?"
"Only Bulma and Chi-Chi will be of much help at this point. Eighteen is not quite humanized enough to be of assistance," Dende explained. "I thought you could speak with Chi-Chi and..."
"What!" Piccolo stood as he stared at Dende with wide eyes. The boy had lost his mind. He was not going to go talk to the demon spawn, though she referred to him as such, for help. "Ask her yourself, kid. No way in hell I'm doing it."
Dende blinked innocently. "I can't unless you bring her here, which means you would have to ask her to come."
Piccolo stared at him in shock then smirked. He put his hand on the kid's head. "You're getting the hang of this guardian thing already. As manipulative as Kami already." He rubbed Dende's head and tweaked one of his antennae in a rare show of affection. "I'll talk to Gohan."
"Thanks!" Dende hugged him tightly before going off. He would check in on the female then see to some things around the lookout.
Piccolo shook his head. 'What the hell have I got myself into now?' He sighed and decided to get things over with sooner than later. He quickly made his way to Gohan's house. He stayed in the air for a moment accessing the situation. Chi-Chi was busy in the back yard hanging up laundry. Gohan was in the house, and he had no doubt the woman had a ton of books piled in front of him.
Chi-Chi about jumped out of her skin when Piccolo landed behind her. "Do you mind!" She shrieked at him, glaring a million daggers as her hand clutched her middle. "What do you want? Gohan is studying and you are not taking him off somewhere!" She poked him in the chest.
Piccolo could never cease to marvel at the nerve and guts of the woman. She let pushing Goku around go to her head. He ground his teeth together. "I'm not taking him anywhere, woman!" He growled at her before walking passed her.
"Stop right there!" Chi-Chi took after him. "You aren't disturbing him either, demon spawn!" She grabbed his arm only to find that did little good. So, she wrapped herself around it and dug her heels in the ground.
Piccolo growled and almost knocked her down before he remembered she was not only Goku's wife, Gohan's mother, but also carrying a child. He ground his teeth again. 'Dende, you owe me so big for this.' "Fine. You are the one I really need to talk to." He turned and towered over her. She stared back, hands on hips, unimpressed. 'Damn infuriating woman.' "Dende needs help with a female we found a few days ago."
She looked at him blankly. "What?" He made no sense to her. Why would the little demon spawn need help with a female? He was just a baby... "What are you talking about? And we don't appreciate the female thing," she informed him curtly.
"I don't know her name. She's an alien. A Saiya-jin half-breed of some sort. She won't come out of her room." His patience, always a thing in small supply, was slipping. Why did he have to do this again?
"What! Another Saiya-jin? Where did she come from?" Was she going to try to kill everyone the way that baka Vegeta had?
"She's an escaped sex slave from what Vegeta said," he answered simply.
"What!" Chi-Chi felt feint, swaying slightly. She did not notice at first that Piccolo hand put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
"Look, just come and see if you can help the kid out, alright." He did not phrase it as a question, more like a command - a very frustrated command.
"Piccolo!" Gohan called as he came into the back yard. "What are you doing here? What's wrong, mom?" He noted his mothers frazzled state and the fact that Piccolo was holding her up.
"Dende's requested your mom's help with something," Piccolo answered simply. He had no wish to go into the full details with Gohan. He was still a boy. The fact that Dende had to know it all did not sit well with him, but a guardian had to be aware of everything.
"What's he need her help for?" Gohan looked up at him puzzled, curious.
"Not a word!" Chi-Chi shrieked, covering Gohan's ears. "He doesn't need the details about the woman!" She never thought about the fact that her voice could carry passed her hands.
"What woman?" Gohan looked up at Piccolo in question. "Why would Dende need help with a woman? Can I do anything to help?" So innocent even after defeating Cell. He was a lot like his father.
Piccolo smirked at Chi-Chi. "What you get for having such an annoying and loud voice." Her voice, when loud and shrieking, went straight into his ear drums and stabbed his nerve endings.
"Who asked you!" She shrieked again. Piccolo was standing on her last nerve. The feeling was mutual. Chi-Chi did not understand why Piccolo had to be her son's best friend/mentor. Piccolo wondered why she had to be the boy's mother.
"Mom, calm down. Let's go see Dende to see what is going on." He looked up at her with his father's innocent and earnest expression. "Please?" He added for good measure.
Chi-Chi looked at him with her stern maternal look for about thirty seconds before crumbling. "Alright, Gohan." She turned to Piccolo. "But no mentioning of what she use to do!" She poked him in the chest with a pointed finger.
"Very well. I won't say a word." He had already had no intention of telling Gohan, but he was not going to give the woman the satisfaction of telling her that. "Let's go." He wrapped his arms around Chi-Chi without thought and took to the air. Only when she squealed in his ear did he think about it. "Woman!" He growled down at her.
"A little warning next time! Why couldn't Gohan..." She cut off at the look Piccolo was giving her.
Because I know just how many I'm carrying. He answered. "I've got you now so don't bitch about it." He headed for the lookout, leaving Gohan to follow. The boy did so, watching his mentor and his mother curiously. He sensed he had missed something.
Dende was awaiting them when they arrived at the lookout. "Thank you, Miss Chi-Chi, for coming." He smiled at her kindly. "Did Piccolo tell you about the situation?" He sounded much older than he was, than he looked, in Chi-Chi's opinion.
"In part. And not a word in front of my Gohan!" She added the last loudly, making Dende cringe as it hit his ears.
"Of course," he agreed. He motioned her to follow him, leading her inside and down a few halls to where the female spent all her time. "She's just inside." His little hand opened the door as he motioned Chi-Chi in.
Inside, the female sat on the bed like a statue. Her eyes were fixed on the wall opposite her but jerked up as they entered. She stood quickly at the entrance of a new person, eyes downcast. She did not know this woman or her purpose for being there but she was not about to invoke any wrath from any of them, not when it would do her little good to fight back. She had been lucky before.
Chi-Chi gasped. "She's a baby!" She rounded on Dende. "A child! How could they have done such things to a child!" Chi-Chi was outraged and Dende's ears were paying the price. She quickly turned back to the female. "You poor thing!" She rushed forward making over her as though she had known her all her life.
The girl had no idea what to do or how to react to the actions of the woman. She looked to Dende but he seemed satisfied. Her eyes then moved to the door. The loud woman was not hurting her but this attention was foreign. She did not know if she should flee or see what the woman was up to. Figuring that the large green one was outside somewhere close, she decided to take her chances with the little green one and the loud woman.
"Oh you poor thing. We'll go see Bulma and everything will be alright. Between the two of us we'll have you fixed up." Chi-Chi spoke gently, the loudness gone for sympathy. "Get the demon spawn," she spoke to Dende without turning around.
"I think it would be best to bring Bulma here. Vegeta is violent toward our guest," Dende explained. "Or he was when he was here before."
"What! That vile contemptuous man!" She shrieked so loud Dende had to clamp his hands over his ears.
The young girl noted that the loudness hurt the little green one. He had been awfully kind and was just a child, not much younger than herself really. She placed a tentative hand on the woman's arm. She was shocked by the concerned kind expression that was turned on her. "You are hurting him," she tried in her own tongue. The obvious confusion from Chi-Chi was apparent. She motioned to Chi-Chi's mouth then mimicked covering her ears motioning to Dende. The puzzled look Chi-Chi gave her made her pause then she covered her ears again and made a face of pain.
"What is she going on about?" Chi-Chi asked Dende a bit sharply. "Can't she speak like us?"
"No, she can't or at least won't. She's trying to tell you that your loud shrieking hurts my ears, I think. It's the first concern she's shown for anyone, including herself." He turned. "I'll ask Piccolo to retrieve Bulma. I only hope Vegeta doesn't follow them. That's why I didn't ask her to begin with." He left the two females alone, knowing full well Piccolo would not be happy about being errand boy again. Maybe he could send Gohan...