The months seemed to fly by at an incredibly fast pace, leaving just one month before the predicted arrival of the Saiyans. The boy had progressed well in his training, though Piccolo felt it would never be enough, despite what the goddess said. She had not made an appearance since she revealed Piccolo's fate. Piccolo began to shrug it off, not letting the knowledge interfere with his daily life. He was still going to fight his damnedest.
His relationship with the kid was unfortunately flourishing, despite his best attempts. He found he was starting to really like his student, despite his attempts to distance himself. He often found himself watching the boy as he slept, marveling at the feeling in his cold heart, that warmth that spread in his chest whenever the boy displayed any affection towards him, which seemed to occur a lot more often now.
Piccolo couldn't help but feel guilty. If what Tsuki said was true, and he died, well, he couldn't shake the feeling that it'd be like the kid lost another parent. He frowned at that thought. Parent. He supposed that in the grand scheme of things, he had become somewhat of a surrogate father to the boy. Not a good one by any means, but since the boy had no one left, no ties to anyone but him, well, he guessed that was close enough. The boy sure seemed to think so...
"So, Mr. Piccolo, what are you going to do today?"Gohan asked curiously, straightening the ruffled collar of his gi.
"We have to go get some senzu beans from Korin before everyone else depletes the stock," Piccolo replied easily.
"But... won't we be fighting with them anyways? I mean, we're all going to share them, right?"
"Kid, your father's friends aren't exactly a big fan of me. They'll share with you, but I doubt they'll share with me."
"But, aren't we all on the same team now?" Gohan asked innocently.
We're fighting against a common enemy. Once this is all over, things will go back to the way they were," Piccolo answered.
You mean if you survive... he thought before quickly shoving the conversation he'd had with Tsuki to the back of his mind. He was the strongest fighter of them all. Of course he'd survive. The kid would be able to hold his own, he was sure. All the training... that just wasn't going to blow away. He'd at least be able to defend himself. Perhaps one of the weaker, more compassionate fighters would take his place as the sacrifice if the time came. If.
"Mr. Piccolo... what will... I mean... where will I...?" Gohan stammered, unsure of himself.
"Kid, spit it out. You know I hate it when you stutter," Piccolo snapped in annoyance.
"What will happen to me after this fight? If I survive, that is..."
"Kid, you aren't going to die," Piccolo stated matter-of-factly. "That's why I've put all this training into you."
"Yeah but, I mean, you're all so much stronger than me and these Saiyans are going to be so tough..."
"Knock it off, Gohan," Piccolo almost snarled.
"But..."
"No, enough. You will survive this fight," he said bluntly.
"But you don't know that for sure."
"Listen kid, you will not die. I won't let anything happen to you. You got that?"
Gohan looked at him in wonder. "You promise?"
Piccolo sighed. "Yes, I promise." Tsuki wouldn't let you die anyways. Count yourself lucky kid; you've got a goddess looking out for you.
"Okay then. But, when this is all over, where will I go?" Gohan asked.
"With Krillin, I suppose," Piccolo answered simply.
"Oh...but...But I don't know Krillin really."
"Perhaps Bulma then."
"I don't know her either."
"Krillin's your father's best friend. He'll take good care of you. But, if you don't want to live in Kame House with him, the pig, and the old man, Bulma will probably take you too. She's some kind of genius or something. Huge compound. Will probably cater to your intelligence."
"But..."
"What kid? What else could possibly be wrong? I've explained everything to you. What else do you want to know? I'm not an all-seeing omniscient," he said in exasperation.
"But... don't you want me anymore?" Gohan practically whispered, his eyes staring intently at the ground.
Piccolo was taken completely by surprise. "What?" he asked, sounding stupid.
"You don't want me to live with you anymore, after this?"
"Kid... it's not that I don't want you, it's that I'm not able to take care of you like you need to be. You're still a child, Gohan, and you need to be raised in a proper home with someone who can parent you. You need to go to school, have proper clothes and meals, have human company. You can't live out here forever, Gohan. Not like I can. I was bred to be solitary. You're human. You need the interactions that I can't provide you with."
"I'm a Saiyan, too, though..."
"Look how similar your father was to a human though. Other than the immense strength, it appears that a Saiyan needs whatever a human does, and I can't provide that for you. It wouldn't be fair to you, kid."
"But I..."
"That's the end of the discussion, kid."
"It's not fair, though!" Gohan protested, suddenly angry, stamping a foot defiantly into the ground. Piccolo looked at him in surprise. "I know I'm just a kid, but I'm smart, and I know what I need to survive. If you don't want me, just say so, Mr. Piccolo! But you're the closest thing I have to family now that mine has passed on. I don't want to be the orphan child who gets passed on from family to family because they can't handle me anymore."
"Your father's friends won't do that to you."
"They might! I'm a Saiyan, Piccolo, and I know it. I know it down in my bones that one day, something will explode inside of me and someone will get hurt. I feel it every time I'm sad or angry. This...this thing I can't control."
"In time, you will control it."
"It isn't fair!"
"Gohan..."
"No, no, no! I want some control! Mommy and Daddy, they're dead, and I can't do anything about that. But I can control who I want to live with from now on," Gohan argued.
"And what would you have me do, huh? Keep you with me and let you grow into a wild child with no ties to a normal life? I don't have the means to keep taking care of you, Gohan. I just don't. This year is drawing to a close, and then I need to do what is fair to you. You need to live and grow up with people like you. Not with a demon, kid," Piccolo explained gently.
Tears began to fall down Gohan's cheeks, and overhead, the sky began to cloud, and suddenly, rain began to come down in a steady drizzle. Piccolo looked up in mild shock at what had once been a clear blue sky.
Goddess, you KNOW that I'm going to die anyways. Why even give him the false hope? Even if I do manage to survive, I can't provide for him...
The rain increased, becoming a downpour.
"Alright, alright, alright! I get it!" Piccolo snapped quietly. "Gohan...if you so choose... you may stay with me as long as you want, but only if you promise to stay with Krillin or Bulma at least 3 months out of the year."
The rain stopped.
"Do you really mean that, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, brushing the tears and rain from his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I mean it, kid," he said brusquely.
Gohan's smile beamed almost as bright as the newly sunny sky.
"Do we really have to go to Korin's?"
"Yes, Gohan. We do. I told you, I don't trust your father's friends."
"But... I've never flown that far before..."
"Well then I'd say it's high time you've learned," Piccolo replied simply.
"You think I can do it?"
"I'd leave you behind if I felt otherwise," he said, rising to the air. Gohan rose as well and began to follow his mentor at a moderate pace, ensuring the boy wouldn't lose all his energy before they had to make the trip back.
"Piccolo, what's Korin like?" Gohan asked, circling in front of him.
"He's an annoying little know it all. You two should get along just fine."
"Aha! You made a joke, Mr. Piccolo! Not a very good one, but you tried!" Gohan exclaimed happily, clapping his hands. "Got any more?"
"I don't make a habit of knowing jokes. I call it as I see it."
"Okay then, I have one! What do you get when a chicken lies an egg on a steep roof?" Piccolo raised a brow ridge, but made no comment. "An eggroll!" Gohan finished, throwing his hands in the air as he looped in front him.
Piccolo looked at him with a blank expression.
"Get it? Because the egg rolls down the roof...and an eggroll is a food... ya know?" Gohan tried to explain. "That used to be Daddy's favorite joke."
"I'm sure, since it involved food," Piccolo muttered. "Sorry kid, but I don't know what all these fancy foods are. I know berries and meat, and that's it."
"Okay then, let me try a different one. Um... Why are fish so smart?"
"Last I checked, fish were pretty unintelligent creatures," Piccolo said blandly.
"No no, because they swim in schools!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Funny," he replied dryly.
"Now you try."
"Kid, I don't know any jokes. I already told you that."
"Make one up, then!"
"No."
"Okay, I'll tell you how to make one then. First you gotta-"
"Too late. We're here," Piccolo cut him off, relieved.
"Wow..." Gohan whispered in awe as he stared at the tower that seemed to stretch into the heavens themselves. "Do we have to fly all the way up there?"
"Only part way. Come on then, enough delaying. We get in, get the beans, and get out. We still have training to do," Piccolo said, beginning to fly up the height of the tower, the boy trailing in his wake. As they neared Korin's platform, Piccolo slowed his ascent, landing lightly on the floor. Gohan landed beside him, but at the sound of approaching footsteps, he retreated slightly behind his mentor, peeking out from behind his cape.
A short, fat man with wild black hair appeared. "Aw geez, what? What could you possibly want?" he barked, but notably took a few steps back in apprehension.
"Who is it?" a gravelly voice called from within the small enclosure.
"It's Piccolo."
"Tell him I'm not here!"
"I can hear you, you stupid cat," Piccolo snarled loudly.
"Cat?" Gohan whispered in confusion. As Korin walked out into sight, clutching his wooden staff, the boy exclaimed softly, "Korin's a cat? Wow..."
"You're here for senzu beans I presume?" the cat asked, peering around Piccolo. "There's a child behind you."
"I'm aware," Piccolo snapped, reaching behind him and shoving Gohan out beside him. "Gohan. Goku's son. Surely the others have told you he has been with me for almost a year now."
"Ah yes, young Gohan. Spitting image of his father as a young boy. How old are you, Gohan?"
"Five, Mr. Korin, sir," Gohan answered softly.
"We aren't here to chat, cat. The beans now."
"I don't have many, Piccolo. Not many at all."
"The others have already come and taken some?"
"No, not yet. You know these beans grow off of ki from the life forms on Earth and well, since Goku died, it seems quite a few beans perished with him as well. Which doesn't make any sense. Any one being, no matter how powerful they are, shouldn't cause the destruction of this many beans..."
The sky darkened considerably, though no one beside Piccolo seemed to notice.
Yajirobe stepped forward with a small pouch. "Two is the best I can do for you. One for you and the kid. The others need to be saved for Krillin and the rest."
"Fine," Piccolo snapped, snatching the bag from the man and storing it in his gi. "Come on, Gohan. Time to go."
"Okay, Mr. Piccolo. Thanks Mr. Korin!" Gohan said politely before taking to the air after his mentor. "Hey, Mr. Piccolo, what's at the top of this tower?" he asked, staring up in wonder.
"Hm?" Piccolo grunted, looking up. "Oh, that's the remains of what used to be the Lookout."
"The Lookout? What's that?"
"Nothing more than a remnant of my and your father's past," Piccolo said dismissively.
"Oh wow... Let's go check it out!" Gohan exclaimed, bolting upward before Piccolo could stop him.
"Gohan, wait- great."
"Wow, what a mess." Gohan said quietly. And it was. Time had ruined the structure further, the sanctuary barely standing, the floor crumbling in unsteadiness. Piccolo winced as he took a clumsy step on a piece of delicate matter that gave a fragile crunch. Gohan snapped around to find the source of the small noise, and Piccolo groaned.
"Hey wow! An egg! The pterosaurs must've had a nest up here! This is an awfully big one though... and there's only one. I thought pterosaurs had at least three per clutch, and that they didn't fly this high..." Gohan rambled.
"It's not a pterosaur egg," Piccolo snapped in annoyance. "It's mine."
"Yours? But... you mean, you hatched from an egg?"
"Yes."
"Like a lizard? Hey, is that why you have green sk-"
"God help you if you finish that sentence," Piccolo cut him off. "You know, sometimes you're too smart for your own good."
"My momma taught me well," Gohan said proudly. "So you hatched up here? Who were your parents?"
"Listen kid, because I'm only going to say this once. Your father and my father were enemies. They had a big fight, destroyed this place, and in the process, my father killed himself with his stupidity. Just before he died, he willed all his life into me, and spit up my egg. I was born to hate your father. The end."
"So you never met your daddy?"
"No, I never met my sire. I hatched alone in this place, taught myself to fly soon after, and left this place. I haven't been up here since."
"That's really sad, Mr. Piccolo. I'm sorry you had to grow up all alone. I at least had my mom and dad four years, and now I have you. But you had no one all this time?"
"Kid, I had no one before you fell into my life."
"Well, now you have me, and that's all that matters now, right? And we'll be together forever, right?" he asked, looking up at him with big black eyes, almost pleading.
"I...right, kid. That's all that matters."
Gohan lay beside the fire, fast asleep. Piccolo's ears pricked at the sound of the grass rustling behind him. "Goddess," he greeted casually, standing.
"No, I do believe my sister is a bit busy at the moment," a distinctly male voice replied.
Piccolo whirled around. "Who are you?"
"My name is Amat. The Sun God. My dear sister never mentioned me?" he asked, smiling toothily.
"No, she did."
"Then you know I am a god, and it is only polite to kneel before me, Namekian."
"I kneel before no one," Piccolo snapped, taking note of being called a Namekian again. Strange, Raditz had called him that as well...
"Proud, you are. No wonder my sister favors you. Tell me, why does she visit you so often?"
It struck Piccolo then that the god had no idea Gohan existed, even though the boy lay just feet in front of him. The charm Tsuki had bestowed upon him was powerful indeed.
"Apparently I make good company. Which, if she only has you otherwise, would make sense," Piccolo answered sarcastically.
"Oh, that was a good one. I almost feel offended," Amat said, his golden eyes dancing in the fire light. "But in all serious, I require an answer to my question."
"I gave you one. Leave. Now," Piccolo snarled, raising his lip.
"Do you really intend to threaten me, mortal?" the god asked, laughing.
"I am. You may be a god, but you're in my territory. I'm asking you nicely. Leave."
Amat cocked his head and smiled dangerously. "You think my sister is powerful? She is nothing compared to me. And she isn't here to protect you. In fact, you should be thanking me. It was my doing that your sire and his counterpart fused again. I led him into that decision. Without me, you wouldn't have been created..."
"Oh, dear brother, must we go over this again?" a feminine voice Piccolo knew well asked serenely from behind him.
"Tsuki. You have a knack for ruining my moment," Amat said evenly, smirking. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a conversation? Don't you remember what mother taught us?"
"Indeed. And didn't mother also tell you not to interfere in my work?" Tsuki asked levelly.
"You know I never listened to mother," Amat laughed.
"Yes well, perhaps you should listen to me then. Off you go, brother. Your business is done here."
"It's done when I say it is," he snapped, his pleasant demeanor fading instantly.
Tsuki looked upon him passively before flicking her wrist at him, and he flew back several steps. He stared at her for a moment before smirking mischievously and giving her a mock bow. "As you wish, goddess..." And with that, he disappeared.
"Well, that could have gone a bit better," Tsuki said.
"Your brother is an asshole," Piccolo said bluntly.
"Well, yes. I don't think I've ever heard it put quite that way, but I'm inclined to agree. However, he is my brother, and he is powerful. You must be careful interacting with him."
"I had not intended to."
"Yes, I know. I had not thought he would even bother with speaking to you. It's not his way. He usually just meddles into my affairs in other ways. I don't know why he made an exception for you. You're hardly the first mortal I've had extended contact with."
"Well, don't I feel special then," Piccolo stated sarcastically. "I take it your brother is the one who meddled with the growing of the senzu beans?"
"Ah, you saw that then, hm? Sometimes my emotions get the best of me. Not a good trait for a goddess to have. Can't have the weather changing constantly. People will start to become suspicious," she replied, smiling.
And then, she was gone.
Finally! I felt like I was cheating you guys with such short chapters, so I cranked this bad boy out, so hopefully you like it! We are getting very close to the Saiyans! And by that, I mean the next chapter. So, you know, stay tuned, and what have you. Everyone have a fantastic Thanksgiving!