Many days had passed when Gohan found his father in a secluded part of the garden. It was far from the house, where Chichi declared it a safe place for Goku to exercise and train. Gohan always loved watching his father practice and since he was about 11, he would train with him. It was never real fighting but more of a way to expel any pent up energy. As a half saiyan, Gohan was never short on energy and sometimes would use too much strength on accident.

Through the stretches and focused breathing, he found a balance and made a habit to practice them with his father. However since their move, he hadn't had any time for it. Catching Goku in the midst of it now, he decided to follow along for a while.

"Gohan." Goku greeted with his bright smile once he saw his son taking position beside him. "Great to see you outside. Have you been doing alright?"

"Mostly, yes. Mother's only just let up on the workload I had before Kami's visit. Lighter but somehow still a bit challenging to focus on." Gohan sighed after a much need stretch unlocked a knot in his shoulders.

"And the memories?" Goku inquired.

"I've been handling them fine I think. They come in small waves and today has been especially light." Gohan replied. "Living where we did, I never really had the chance to make friends. But now I know I always had one, a good friend."

"I'm glad."

"I wish I had the time to visit him though." Gohan admitted. "Mom's been watching me and keeping me busy."

"I can help you sneak out later if you like." Goku bore his playful smirk.

"What's your plan?" Gohan asked.

"I've been meaning to talk to her about something and I know she'll have all her attention on me when I bring it up." Goku explained.

"Oh? Is something going on?" Gohan paused mid-punch as a slight worry waved over him.

"I don't know, it'd make a very nice surprise. I might keep it to myself." Goku teased. "Don't worry though you'll love it."

"Alright then." Gohan chuckled.

Piccolo's shoulders sunk as he set an empty tray on the counter. The busy crowd of customers drank their bean water merrily as he kept his back to them, trying to keep a professional and customer friendly composure. Each day was becoming harder. He hadn't heard from Gohan since his visit with Kami. Piccolo was starting to worry he had upset him with the way he acted. Perhaps Gohan remembered something during the day, when Piccolo was too busy to watch his mind, and now no longer wanted to see Piccolo as the namekian feared.

Piccolo forced himself to straighten and breathe, a practice he had used too many times today. If he wanted to see me, he'd have come. He loaded the tray with a fresh pot of coffee, preparing to fill emptied glasses around the room. At the sound of the door opening, he paused; the weight he had been bearing suddenly becoming lighter once he saw Gohan.

"H-hey, Gohan." Piccolo cleared his throat. "Sit anywhere. Would you like your usual?"

"Yes please." Gohan nodded with a kind smile. He made his way to the seat in the back by the window. It was always empty and he started to wonder if Piccolo had any hand in it for him. Piccolo soon returned with coffee, paired with cream and sugar as Gohan liked it. "Is it alright if… I stayed after closing? I'd like to talk to you."

Piccolo didn't show any reaction but knew he stilled just enough and after a silent second, he answered. "Of course you may. You're welcome any time kid."

"Thank you. I won't keep you from work though. I'll wait here until then." Gohan grinned. He only slightly picked up on Piccolo's hesitance… or was it something else he paused for. Gohan turned to look out the window after Piccolo left. Slowly enjoying his drink as the last of the other customers cleared out.

It wasn't much longer before Gohan's attention was drawn to Piccolo sitting down at the other side of the table. His posture straight and arms crossed as always. "I've officially locked the door and closed for the night. What did you want to talk about?"

Gohan took a slow breath and straightened up. He tried to keep his smile, to keep the conversation easy, but he knew his eyes said something else. "The last time I was here at the shop, you seemed like you missed me and I guess I thought it meant we could be friends again and get to know each other again… but at my house I got the feeling you didn't want that. You had said you 'weren't a good character'. Do you… truly not want to be in my life again?"

Piccolo thought a moment. "I want you to be safe. I want you to be able to make the best decision. You can't do that if you don't know the truth."

"Best decision? You want me to decide if you stay or not?" Gohan asked not sure if he was following.

"You're old enough to run your own life, and choose who is allowed to take part." Piccolo replied.

"But what do you want?" Gohan asked.

"What I want doesn't matter." Piccolo answered easily.

"Of course it does." Gohan frowned. "You have just as much right to consent as I do."

"I can't be trusted to make the right choice." Piccolo's eyes sharpened as did his tone.

"Why not? You seem like a level headed, intelligent man to me." Gohan felt his heart quicken as he argued to understand. "Do you really see yourself as a villain?!"

"Yes, I do!" Piccolo yelled, his shoulders and muscles tensing. "I am not a hero. I'm not a good guy!"

"I can't agree with that!" Gohan slammed down on the table as he stood. His eyes burned as he looked down at Piccolo. "I can't see the man who died for me, gave me the best memories in my life, as a bad guy!"

"Don't let my death confuse you! My life doesn't bear the same value as yours." Piccolo started, he could feel himself shake and prayed Gohan didn't notice. "Despite how good things seem for me here, there are still people out there who fear my name. People who rightfully want me dead. And to the person I cared for the most- What I did to you is my heaviest regret… my most offensive of sins."

Gohan felt a lump forming in his throat at such a confession. He still couldn't quite buy Piccolo as such a horrid man. He makes it sound so horrible but… maybe what he sees as a 'sin' isn't truly that bad?

Gohan sat down with a heavy sigh. "Fine… tell me what happened."

Piccolo slowly released his held breath. "Finally. You really should hear it from your father though."

"Then don't tell me everything. If you really insist my father tell me his share in it, then tell me your part." Gohan replied. "Videl was right. If I let you tell me, we can move past it and everyone can stop feeling guilty."

Piccolo didn't speak as he set a key in front of Gohan.

"What's this for?" Gohan looked at the simple metal, rust had started eating away in the small nooks.

"The key to the door, so you can let yourself out after I explain what happened." Piccolo said.

"You're so sure I'm going to hate you?" Gohan asked.

"It's the smart thing to do and I've accepted it already." Piccolo closed his eyes as he spoke. The sooner he does push me away, the sooner I can let go of this idiotic hope.

Gohan placed his hands in his lap as he braced himself. "Explain it then."

A small moment of silence passed before Piccolo began. "I kidnapped you… when you were a kid."

Gohan froze. He struggled to breathe as he processed the word. Kidnapped.

"I took you far from home and left you in the wilderness. Alone to fend for yourself at four." Piccolo's voice slowly softened with each word; his shoulders seeming to sink. "For a year I taught you to survive and fight. I trained you… beat into you the strength and endurance of a fighter."

Fighter? Gohan began to recall the stretches he used to do with his father. The practice to control the massive energy he inherited as a half saiyan. Was there more to those exercises?

"Why were you training me?" Gohan asked quietly.

"The fight you remember. It wasn't a random attack. We knew it was coming and I was preparing to use you to fight them off." Piccolo opened his eyes then. He took in the patient and silent Gohan, surprised there wasn't any apparent anger yet. "As young as you were, you had more natural power than any other person on earth. I planned to use you as a kind of secret weapon or trump card. I saw you as the one real chance to defeat them."

"I was a child soldier?" Gohan's mind began to race. Placing this new perspective of those forest days he started to love and seeing what was wrong in them. "Allow me to process this… You intentionally brought, A CHILD, to fight off the men who managed to kill the adults who knew how to fight?"

"Yes. At the time I thought it was the best decision." Piccolo replied.

"How?! How did you come to that decision?" Gohan rubbed his forehead.

"Before they arrived I had fought their comrade and barely succeeded. These men were much stronger than him and I knew I wouldn't be able to gain enough strength in the one year I had. I saw your raw power already ahead of my own. If harnessed properly… at the time I didn't care about what was right. I focused on how to defeat them." Piccolo said. He watched Gohan's eyes glance around as he considered the story.

"You always have a good reason to do things…" Gohan muttered.

"I was much different then." Piccolo sighed.

"Yes, back then I remember you always giving good reasons to do something. 'Meditate. It'll help you focus and feel calm.'" Gohan countered. Piccolo had the very moment he uttered those words bloom in his mind, as clear now as his guilt. It was one of his favorites. "What was your reason to fight them?"

"What does it matter the reason? I shouldn't have brought you, nor trained you as I did." Piccolo argued.

"You want me to make a decision right?! Tell me what I don't know and let me." Gohan's brow furrowed, his eyes seeming to glow in his glare.

"They were going to kill the earth." Piccolo conceded.

"What? That's impossible isn't it? For two men?" Gohan asked.

"It's not. You should know unless Chichi has sheltered you too much." Piccolo explained. "There are plenty of people with the strength and power to destroy planets. A handful here on earth alone."

"I know people with large energies and strength sure, but ending a planet?" Gohan ran a hand through his hair. He brought the memory of his old nightmare, the two men, under deep inspection. As unbelievable as it was, he knew Piccolo wasn't lying to him. "I can understand that then. Needing to apply every tactic, even a child with alien strength."

"There is no understanding it beyond the fact that it happened!" Piccolo's blood burned.

"I can see how I was an asset then, even as a child. The world was at risk." Gohan's eyes were soft as he replied.

"You were five! You shouldn't have been an asset!" Piccolo yelled. "I was wrong to put you through that!"

"I know but-" Gohan began.

Piccolo stood this time, his hands holding him up as he leaned over the table. "There is no but! It's unacceptable! Nothing can excuse it!"

"Piccolo." Gohan frowned as he looked up at the Namekian towering above him. He could see Piccolo trembling, the air becoming more thick with the anger. "I understand. It was a mistake and you regret it."

"Why aren't you angry?! Hit me! Banish me! Something! Don't just sit there and tolerate it!" Piccolo bellowed.

"There's nothing I can really do about it." Gohan explained. "You're already sorry for what happened and… I feel you've repaid me enough when you died."

"Dying is easy. People do it every day." Piccolo looked away and sighed.

"I wish you could see that year the way I do. I remember so much of it now and I don't have regrets." Gohan flashed a small smile before letting it fade. Piccolo glanced back with widened eyes. He hadn't expected Gohan to treasure that time as he did. "I know you well enough now to know you don't do things for fun or some self pleasuring thrill. Therefore you're not the villain you're painting yourself as. You won't hurt me unless it's for my own good and I wouldn't feel right if I asked to never see you again."

"You wouldn't?" Piccolo whispered.

"Now that I have all those moments back I get to say in full honesty that… I've always liked you." Gohan grinned brightly. He rose to his full height, getting as close as he could despite being much shorter than Piccolo and having the table between them. "I barely have any friends and being half saiyan in this world won't make it any easier. I would rather die than lose my oldest and truest friend."

Piccolo held his breath as Gohan pulled him into a hug. He slowly returned the embrace, his eyes closing as he succumbed and glimpsed into Gohan's thoughts. He was enveloped in warmth of golden memories Gohan had of him. It wasn't overshadowed in fear or hate as he thought it would be.

"So you don't want me to leave?" Piccolo asked, his voice soft.

"No. I'd like you to stay if you want." Gohan pulled away only just so he could look up to Piccolo.

Piccolo allowed his heart to soften with Gohan's kind eyes peering into him. And he admitted "I do want that."

"You can keep your key. I trust you to open the door for me to leave later." Gohan grabbed the key and pressed it to Piccolo's chest. A gentle pinkness tinged his face. "Am I really the person you care most for?"

Piccolo stiffened, an almost pallid taste in his throat. He removed himself from Gohan's embrace and put the key into his pocket. Part of him had hoped Gohan wouldn't pick up on his wording. "You are."

"Only knew me that one year and I'm still your best friend?" Gohan asked as he beamed a teasing smile.

"It's more than that." Piccolo huffed and crossed his arms once again. Bracing himself to once again expose his feelings.

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked.

"I didn't care about anyone before I met you." Piccolo explained. "You… you treated me different. Even when I was too hard on you, practically cruel, you would treat me like a person. Like a friend. Today is the same as you stand here forgiving me. You said you owe me your life but I owe you so much more. Although I'm not a good person, I'm a better man now because of that one year with you."

Gohan was stunned. He was slightly embarrassed that Piccolo seemed to put him on a pedestal. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to settle the fluttering sensation. "Heh.. you had that prepared didn't you?"

Piccolo smirked. "I've had nothing but time to think to myself. I apologize if I was a bit word heavy."

"It's fine." Gohan chuckled softly. "I'm thinking though… if we both feel like we owe the other, we just call it even. No more guilt or emotional debt. Will you agree?"

Piccolo released a sigh through his nose as he considered. "What I said tonight might take time to process fully and if you ever decide you no longer forgive me I'll understand. Until then I think I can agree… if that's what you want."

Gohan smiled. He tried to ignore the condition at the end even though it ate at away at him. Piccolo seemed to add it every time he agreed to something. "Is that everything then?"

"I believe so yes." Piccolo nodded.

"Then I should bid you goodnight sir." Gohan grinned with a subtle bow. "I would hate to keep you all night."

"More like your mother would lose her mind if you were out too late." Piccolo replied.

"That is the more likely isn't it?" Gohan admitted with a small wince. He almost jumped at a startling realization and rustled through his pockets. "Oh I don't think I paid today."

"Forget about it." Piccolo shook his head. He wasn't going to accept any coin from him.

"But-" Gohan began.

"Nope we agreed we were even." Piccolo teased.

"This is different." Gohan frowned.

"Really it's fine. We can just count it as another after hours drink like the last time." Piccolo smirked.

"If you say so." Gohan gave up the fight and headed to the door. Piccolo followed and swiftly unlocked and opened it for him. "I'll try to come by more often, even if I have to sneak out again."

"You had to sneak out?" Piccolo asked.

"In a way." Gohan chuckled. "My mother's been watching me all the time and keeping me to study at home in case anything happens. I think she's expecting my head to just explode."

"That's because last time you kept screaming and weren't aware of your surroundings. You fought anyone who tried to calm you, even I couldn't help. We had to knock you unconscious until Kami blocked your memories. It's not a fond memory we have and no one wants to see that happen again." Piccolo explained his expression solemn. "It's the one thing Chichi and I share opinion on."

Gohan could only nod. He knew how they all felt, how they were all worried. He had no intent to make light of it but his mother's restrictions were normal to him. He always lived under them and, though he now knew why, he still wanted to escape sometimes and not feel watched. "Goodnight Mr. Piccolo."

"Goodnight." Piccolo replied a soft purple threatening to flush his cheeks at the title. "And Gohan.. Thank you."

Gohan only smiled before turning and heading home.

I apologize if this and the last chapter were low quality I wrote them while under one heckin fever and cold... I did try to polish this one before posting but no promises that it was as good as it should have been.