I am SOOOOO sorry this took so long! Like, over a month... Anyways, I blame finals. And papers. And presentations...so this had to take a backseat to all that. So, have a fantastic holiday! Love you all!
Piccolo awoke with a gasp, unaware he had even fallen asleep. It was a very rare occasion that he did so, and he was quite sure it had been at least a year since it had last happened. He glanced over at the boy, who was still sleeping, completely oblivious to the world around him.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Tsuki's voice came softly behind him. "But, this is rather important."
Piccolo looked over his shoulder before standing and turning to face the goddess. "It's the middle of the night, and the Saiyans are almost here. I need my rest."
"I know, I know. It's about the boy."
"It's always about the boy."
"Now is not the time for sarcasm. I finally figured out where he came from. Why he slipped under my radar."
Piccolo perked up immediately. "What do you mean?"
Tsuki sighed. "A long time ago, when my mother was still alive, the gods and goddesses did not work alone. My mother advocated working closely alongside the kais, more specifically, the supreme kais. While she and my father still had absolute rule over fates and the cosmos, the kais provided insight to the populations of the worlds they had power over, and my mother would often share her work with them as she trained me, and Amat, in our roles in the future.
"During this time, Amat and I grew very close to the supreme kais, and Amat took a special liking to the western supreme, and I the eastern. However, East and I knew that love between the gods was forbidden. But, love is an emotion of chaos, that which my brother is god of. In a way, he was doomed from the start. In a fit of rebellion, Amat tried to run off, and West foolishly followed him.
"Mother was frantic to find him, for what she had not told us was, in the case of illicit mating, the offspring would be beyond anyone's control. It would have no standing in the fates, with no one able to predict or manipulate its path.
"Unfortunately for everyone involved, my father found them first. With the unbridled rage that my father was known for, he thrust my brother into the darkness and created an evil being by the name of Bibidi, whom he gave ingrained blue prints to create the ultimate in evil, the creature Majin Buu. The monster destroyed all the supreme kais, with the exception of the Eastern. As soon as my mother found out, she recovered Amat, and locked away Bibidi and his monster to a place only she could access. Finally, she banished my father to the darkness, realizing that his rage would one day destroy all she had worked hard to make. It's too bad she had not realized the same for my brother."
"What happened to your mother?" Piccolo asked.
"Her time came and passed. It takes a lot of ki to retrieve someone from the darkness, and even more to banish someone to it. That, combined with the retention of my father's creations, was her final act. As she passed into the realm of gods past, all her knowledge and prowess past onto me. Everything else is history."
"And what does this have to do with Gohan?"
"Gohan is the product of the mating of Amat and West. Once gods mate, the offspring is sent into the cosmos while it waits for the proper host to be borne of. Goku and Chi-Chi were obviously the host Gohan's making had been waiting for."
"So your brother has no idea Gohan is his son? Does this make Gohan a god?"
"No, Gohan is a Saiyan hybrid. The offspring takes on the race of the host. The only god-like abilities an offspring possesses is the ability to elude the fates. No more, and no less. And mother had told us that father had destroyed the offspring. She had foreseen all this coming, but why she decided to keep me out of the knowledge is beyond me."
"Okay, so now we know where Gohan came from and why he's an anomaly. But what does any of this have to do with me? Or him, for that matter? How is this even important?" Piccolo asked.
"Because should he so choose, he can completely change the outcome of this battle. Without me being able to do anything about it."
"But, we knew that already. You already said all this. Many times before."
"I know, but now everything I had told you is forfeit. Before, I had some confidence in my prediction of the fates. Now... now it's just shot to hell."
Piccolo straightened. "You mean, I won't die?" And suddenly, he felt very relieved, like a huge burden had been lifted that he hadn't even been aware was on his shoulders.
"Well, not exactly..."
"Then what the hell was the point of telling me any of this?" he practically snarled.
"Because if Gohan changes the fates, it may not be you who dies. It may be him."
Time seemed to stop, and Piccolo felt like he couldn't breathe. His eyes shifted to the boy, so young and innocent, completely oblivious to the grave matters taking place before him. When he looked back, Tsuki was gone.
Two days was all they'd had left, and it came and went all too quickly. Piccolo drilled Gohan on his defensive tactics, making him as prepared as possible to deflect any attacks coming his way.
This boy would not die.
Not on Piccolo's watch.
Now, the two were seated before the fire for what was very possibly the last time. Piccolo was in a restive meditative state, which he was slowly slipping out of in annoyance as the boy continuously shifted around.
"Would you quit that?" he finally snapped, opening his eyes to glare at Gohan.
"Sorry," Gohan replied plaintively.
"What's wrong, kid?"
Gohan sighed. "I'm scared, Mr. Piccolo. Tomorrow...they come, right? The Saiyans. And they want to kill us, right?" he stammered, sneaking a glance up at his mentor.
"No, they want to kill us, not you. You're one of them."
"But, my uncle tried to kill my dad, and he was his own brother, and a pureblood Saiyan. I'm just half, and I've been training with you."
"You're still a little kid, Gohan. I doubt they'll see you as a threat. They'll probably completely ignore you."
"But... then why have you been training me?"
"So that you can protect yourself. And you're strong. We'll need you. But will they single you out to attack? Highly doubtful," Piccolo said blandly, as if none of this were a big deal at all. As if it were just a conversation about the weather.
"Are you sure, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, almost pleading.
And Piccolo found he couldn't lie. "No, I'm not sure." Gohan's eyes clouded over. "But, I'm hardly ever wrong, now am I?"
Gohan cocked his head. "Well, I suppose not... Yeah, you're usually always right..."
"Well then, there you go."
"But..."
"Hush now. You need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is the day, and I can't have you tired."
"I'm not tired. I don't think I could sleep even if I were."
"Kid, I won't let anything happen to you. Sleep. Now."
"You promise?" Gohan asked, eyes wide.
Piccolo nodded. "I promise."
Morning came much too early. Piccolo was up with the dawn, though Gohan managed to sleep a few more hours passed that. The rest was a waiting game. No one knew when exactly the Saiyans would arrive, nor where. The other four warriors had yet to make an appearance either. They hadn't even raised their kis to be found.
Piccolo almost snorted in derision. What, were they waiting until the last minute to meet? In annoyance, he decided that he would have to be the one to signal an alliance to form. He flared his ki and Gohan, sensing the increase, flared his as well.
Within moments, Krillin arrived.
"Uh, hey guys," he greeted. "Gohan, you've certainly grown."
"You obviously were close by. Were you waiting for our signal?" Piccolo asked.
"Well, kinda. I didn't want to suddenly show up and have you accidentally shoot at me or something."
"Hardly. You're nowhere near the power level we're searching for," Piccolo said snidely.
Krillin frowned. "I didn't mean you, I meant Gohan. I remember being all gun-ho before battles at his level. Accidentally blasting things when they surprised me because I was all pent-up with nerves... you know?"
"No. And I trained the boy better than that."
"Okay, so we are not off to a good start here... Gohan, how are you?"
Gohan peeked around from behind Piccolo. "I'm fine... you're Krillin, right? I met you before my uncle came, right?"
"Yup, that's me! And boy do you look like your dad when he was a kid." Krillin lowered his voice and motioned Gohan closer. "Now you've got to tell me. How has training with Piccolo been for a whole year?"
Piccolo sneered at this question, but said nothing, pretending not to have heard.
"It's been great! Mr. Piccolo has taught me so much! I learned to fly, and I can throw some pretty good blasts! I can raise and lower my ki intentionally now, instead of it just bouncing around like it used to. And guess what? Mr. Piccolo says I'm actually pretty strong for my age!" Gohan gushed, practically trembling in excitement and pride.
Piccolo's ears pinned back slightly. "Okay kid, quit with the talking. Go fill these up or something," he snapped, pulling the empty water skins from his gi pocket and tossing them to the boy.
"Sure thing, Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan said cheerily, catching the skins and taking off for their water source, his feet skimming the ground.
"Wow, he's pretty fast, huh?" Krillin marveled, scratching his head. Then he smiled, his eyes narrowing playfully. "So, Mr. Piccolo..." he jeered.
"Shut up."
"So the kid can get away with it, but I can't? Piccolo, I am hurt," Krillin exclaimed mockingly.
"Get this straight, monk. We're teaming up to defeat a common enemy. I don't like you. We are not friends. We never will be. When this is all said and done, things go back to normal. We no longer see each other, we go our own ways, what have you. So don't joke around with me." Piccolo growled.
Krillin threw his hands up defensively. "Whoa, calm down man. I get it, I get it. Just trying to be friendly is all."
"Well stop trying. It's annoying."
"Chill out, Piccolo. If the boy likes you, then the rest of us have cause to trust you, at least for now. And that being the case, it's in our nature to be friendly with those we trust. We like to goof around, so relax. You can't freak out on everyone who's trying to be nice. Come on, this isn't ten years ago. We're all allies now, despite what you think. Sheesh," Krillin said forcefully, yet calmly. Piccolo raised his lip slightly, but said nothing in retribution. Krillin planted his fists on his hips and leaned in slightly. "And besides, Gohan-"
A massive ki influx cut Krillin off, and the two warriors looked heavenward. Piccolo turned his head to look down when he felt Gohan suddenly appear behind him and subconsciously grip his pant leg in apprehension. His hand drifted to the boy's shoulder and settled on it heavily, causing him to jump. "Relax kid. I need you here and rational. Your fear will incapacitate you," he said lowly, softly.
"You're sure it's them?" Gohan asked.
"Ki signature reads similar to yours and identical to your uncle's and father's. Definitely Saiyans."
"That's what I was afraid of. They're really strong, Mr. Piccolo," Gohan whispered.
"So are you."
"I'm scared."
Krillin came to stand on the other side of Gohan, also placing his hand on his shoulder. "So are we, kid. So are we.