Tsuki opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the bleariness. It took her several moments to gather her thoughts and when she had, she sighed heavily.
"Lady? Lady, are you awake?" Gohan asked, knocking on the door.
"Well if she wasn't already, she is now," she heard Piccolo mumble.
"Oh, oops."
"It's alright Gohan. I am indeed awake," she called. "Give me a moment to get myself together, and I'll be right out."
"Okay! Breakfast is ready!" Gohan said happily.
When Tsuki emerged, she found both Gohan and Piccolo seated at the table.
"You look awful," Piccolo stated bluntly.
"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan admonished, astonished at his gall.
"Well aren't you the charmer," Tsuki shot back.
"Call it as I see it. You're aware your hair is about as wild as Gohan's was, yes?"
"Gohan, is he always this...bold?" Tsuki asked, choosing to ignore Piccolo as she took her seat beside him.
"No. He's just really cranky this morning."
"Shut up," Piccolo growled.
Gohan looked up, seemingly stricken at the tone Piccolo had taken with him. He had not been spoken to like that since his initial training with the Namekian all those years ago.
"I-I'm sorry..." he almost whimpered, confused.
"Piccolo," Tsuki said softly, reaching out and resting her hand over Piccolo's. He jerked, pulling his hand away abruptly. "I'm sorry. I forgot you don't like to be touched," she apologized. "Gohan, would you excuse us for a moment?"
Gohan nodded, eyes misty, retreating to his room. Piccolo stood, going to the window and crossing his arms, standing stiffly and glaring out. Tsuki sighed and stood as well, moving behind him. She hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder, and though he stiffened, he did not pull away.
"What is wrong, my friend? What troubles you so?" she asked gently.
"Your demon of a brother is out there somewhere, doing who knows what in preparation to kill Gohan, and we sit here in idle chat, as if nothing is amiss. How is that not troubling?" he hissed.
She sighed. "It is troubling. But it does us no good to dwell upon it while there is nothing we can do. We will stand careful guard over our boy, while allowing him to be a child. Do not be angry with him for acting as such. Do you realize that with both of us in the house, it is though he has some semblance of parents again? We should try to allow him, for just this month, to have seemingly normal childhood."
"I do not wish to play such a cruel trick on him. You will leave, and it will go back to as it was: a child who must behave as an adult living with a demon king."
Tsuki's grip on his shoulder became stronger, and she turned him to face her. She raised her other hand and placed it upon his cheek, forcing him to meet her eyes.
"You are no demon king, my friend. You are a Namekian, strong and true. The best thing for him. Never forget that. Now go, bring him back, and let us finish our day in peace."
Gohan had been extremely willing to forgive Piccolo's harshness, and acted as if nothing had happened. They spent the morning inside, with Tsuki working on her dress, Piccolo meditating on the couch, and Gohan cuddled up against his side, reading a book. By afternoon, however, Gohan began to grow restless. His constant shifting against Piccolo caused the Namekian to playfully shove him to the ground, where he landed in a huff. Tsuki chuckled, putting the finishing touches on her dress.
"Mr. Piccolo, can we go spar or something? I'm so bored," Gohan nearly whined.
Piccolo, incredulous that Gohan had actually requested to train, nodded and stood. "Of course."
"Lady, you are coming, aren't you?" Gohan asked, turning to Tsuki.
"I must keep my eye on you, so yes. I believe I am," she answered, smiling. Let me go change into this," she added, indicating to her now complete dress.
"Wow, you finished it already?" Gohan asked.
"Oh yes. While I could easily conjure dresses myself as a goddess, Mother taught me to make my own, as well as other things manually to pass time while overseeing the universe. It does get awfully boring being eternal. You being around is the first thing interesting to happen in a very long time. Sure there were a few hiccups here and there thanks to my meddlesome brother, but you require my full attention." She smiled and stood. "Give me just a moment to change." And with that, she went into her room. When Tsuki emerged, she looked much more like herself. The dress went to her ankles, the sleeves to her elbows. "Piccolo, I don't suppose you could give me a pair of shoes?"
"Of course," Piccolo replied. And just like that, a pair identical to his own and Gohan's appeared on her feet.
"Ah, now these are comfortable. I may keep these when I return to my godly form again."
As the three went outside, Piccolo pulled on his weights and began to rise to the air, Gohan in pursuit. Tsuki stood awkwardly on the ground, waiting for them to remember that indeed she could no longer fly. She cleared her throat and waved, smiling guiltily.
"I cannot fly," she said apologetically.
Piccolo grimaced. She was far too tall for Gohan to carry comfortably. He would have no trouble with her meager weight, but her height would mean she'd be practically bent in half in his arms to be carried properly. He landed beside her and she stepped up to him, slinging her arms around his neck. He grunted, slipping his arm behind her back and the other under her knees. Her grip tightened as he and Gohan began to fly at speed to their normal sparring grounds at the waterfall.
"I will not drop you, Goddess," Piccolo muttered.
"I know, however, the feeling of flying is a bit disconcerting when you know you cannot catch yourself should you fall."
Suddenly, Gohan stopped short before them. "Vegeta and Krillin are there," he said, turning to face them.
Piccolo felt them too, then, and sighed. "So much for keeping you secret. If we turn back now, Vegeta will only follow us."
"I had hoped this would not happen. Oh well. Stay on course," Tsuki relented.
Upon their arrival, Krillin and Vegeta stood from the rocks they had been sitting on. Vegeta's eyes narrowed, while Krillin's eyes bugged slightly at the sight of Tsuki, before he smiled slyly.
"Piccolo, my Namekian! Got yourself a girlfriend?" he exclaimed jovially as Piccolo set Tsuki down.
Vegeta promptly smacked Krillin upside the head. "You idiot. You really don't recognize her? From all the shrines? Weren't you a monk?"
"Oh yeah? And how do you know who she is, hm? You don't study our culture!"
"Because she was our goddess too. Goddess Tsuki," he said, turning to her and bowing.
Both Gohan and Krillin looked as though their eyes were about to pop out of their skulls. Tsuki smiled and approached Vegeta, laying her hand on his armored shoulder.
"Prince Vegeta," she said, smiling. "I see your mother's teachings did you well."
"She taught all Saiyans to respect your will."
"Queen Tama was a wonderful woman. I was very distressed at her passing. Lift your eyes, Prince. I am no goddess here," she said, lifting his chin.
Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "Pardon?"
"It is a very long story. All you need worry yourself with is all will be well again when the moon is full again."
"Are we in danger again?" Krillin asked, almost whining.
"Not that I am aware of. Of us, the only ones in potential danger are myself and Gohan. My brother does not wish me dead, or at least, I do not believe he does. He would have killed me already in my mortal form. It is Gohan we must watch out for."
"Why would the Sun God want Gohan dead?" Vegeta asked.
Tsuki looked at him. "He is my brother's offspring."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Hang on. Gohan isn't Goku and Chi-Chi's son?" Krillin asked, bewildered. "Then how the hell did he turn Super Saiyan if he's not actually Saiyan?"
"Gohan is very much their child. But he is also my brother's. It's complicated, but basically, a god cannot bear a child. So when they conceive, the soul of their child waits for a host suitable to be borne of. Goku and Chi-Chi were the most suitable."
"You know what? I'm not even going to attempt to process that," Krillin said, throwing his hands up.
"That's probably for the best."
"Sorry for the whole girlfriend jibe. I imagine that was pretty disrespectful."
"It's alright."
A moment of silence passed before Gohan broke it. "So, what are you guys doing here?"
"Oh, Dr. Briefs accidentally broke the gravity room trying to install some new settings for Vegeta. So Vegeta needs to train with someone because god forbid he take a day off. No offense, Goddess," Krillin replied.
"None taken."
"I require a suitable spar companion. Only one of you is passable," Vegeta said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Not anymore. Gohan's ki has doubled. He is far stronger than you now," Piccolo replied smugly.
"I am aware of that, Namekian," Vegeta snapped.
"Oh man, you guys should've seen it! When Gohan first powered up, Vegeta went ballistic! We were just sitting in the living room eating some food and watching TV while Bulma was feeding Trunks, and then we just feel this immense power! It actually took us a minute to figure out it was the kid. Anyways, Vegeta punched a hole in the wall, grabbed me by the back of my gi, and made us train for three hours straight in the gravity room. He was so mad!" Krillin laughed.
Gohan smiled somewhat guiltily. "I uh... I see. I guess we can spar, Vegeta. I just won't power up to my full-" he stopped abruptly when he saw Krillin frantically making a slicing motion over his throat. "Uhhhh... I mean... um..."
"I have an idea," Tsuki interrupted. "The water in the tropics is still warm this time of year. Why don't we go swimming? A good swim can work the muscles just as well as a decent spar."
Krillin let out a sigh of relief. "I like this idea!" he agreed eagerly. "Vegeta, what do you say, huh? We can train tomorrow. Bulma should have the gravity room fixed by then. I have an extra swimsuit at your place, so let's go get changed and meet you guys at the island about ten miles past Kame House, yeah?"
Vegeta shrugged noncommittally. Gohan, however, was enthusiastic.
"Yes yes! We'll meet you there!" he said happily. Vegeta and Krillin nodded and left them.
"There, crisis averted," Tsuki said as Piccolo began to pick her up. "Just one slight problem: I can't swim."
A half hour later found the group on the small island in the tropical heat. Gohan, Vegeta, and Krillin had changed into swim trunks, while Piccolo remained in his gi. Tsuki had changed into the gi Piccolo had provided her with before, determining it suitable for water activities. The two Saiyans and monk struck out into the water almost immediately, and it was not long before they were in water over their heads.
"Come on, Mr. Piccolo, Goddess! The water is great!" Gohan called.
Piccolo sighed and removed his shoes, Tsuki doing the same. "I don't even like swimming," Piccolo muttered.
"Anything for the boy though," Tsuki teased, walking out towards the swimmers. "I do believe we should still be able to touch the bottom there."
"Most likely."
Sure enough, while the others were treading the water, Piccolo stood with the water up to his chest and Tsuki up to shoulders.
"Who wants to race?" Gohan asked suddenly. "First one onto the shore, around the island, and back here wins!"
"I'm in! What are the rules?" Krillin asked.
"No flying, no phasing, and... no blasting each other! Oh, and I guess no Super Saiyan..."
"Alright, sounds fair enough. What do you say, Vegeta?"
"Absolutely not."
"Oh, come on. It's good exercise. Consider it a spar. The goal is to beat me and Gohan!" Krillin pressed.
Sure enough, that pushed at the Saiyan's competitive drive. "Okay, fine. But there are no do-overs , got it? And we have to train an extra hour tomorrow."
"An hour? Oh, come on, Vegeta!" Krillin whined. "You know what, fine. I'm on if you are. Piccolo, you in?"
"No."
"Alright then... Then can you count down from three to zero?"
"No."
"You're such a party pooper. Um, Lady Tsuki?"
"Yes, I can. Are you ready?" The three lined up evenly, eyes on the shore. "Three, two, one, go!"
They struck out quickly, creating a great wave behind them that pushed Tsuki into Piccolo, who righted her once the waves had passed. Gohan and Vegeta quickly out-distanced Krillin, who once he reached land, flopped backwards into the water, as the Saiyans were already a quarter of the way around the beach. He backstroked lazily back towards Piccolo and Tsuki, breathing heavily as he approached them.
"Shouldn't...have even...tried... Two Saiyans... No way..." he gasped, out of breath. Suddenly, they felt two kis raise substantially. Then, two golden blurs came barreling around the island. "So much for no Super Saiyan. Typical."
The two Saiyans hit the water at the same time, though Gohan very quickly began to pull ahead. Vegeta boosted his ki and caught up til they were dead even. Then, at the last second, Gohan surged forward and crossed the designated finish line by a hair.
"And it's Gohan by a nose!" Krillin announced, holding Gohan's hand up victoriously.
"Two extra hours," Vegeta said snidely.
"What? How is it my fault you lost? Gah!"
The group spent the rest of the afternoon in peace. Vegeta began practicing sets in the water while Gohan and Krillin tried to teach Tsuki to swim. Every time she began to sink, Piccolo would grab her and hoist her up. Eventually, Vegeta recruited Krillin to block his sets for a better workout, and it was just Piccolo, Tsuki, and Gohan. Gohan had led them out over both the Namekian and Goddess' heads. Tsuki latched her arms around Piccolo's neck as Piccolo treaded water and held both their heads above water easily. Currently, Tsuki was laying on her back with Piccolo's hands under her back, holding her up.
"Okay, so try to lay on your back. Yeah, like that. And arch your back... yeah, like that! Okay Mr. Piccolo, let go," Gohan directed. Piccolo gladly did so, wondering how in the hell he had been roped into this impromptu swimming session. Surprisingly, Tsuki remained floating. She smiled up at the blue sky before the arch in her back gave out and she dropped below the surface. Piccolo snatched her up again as she coughed out a bit of water. "Okay, so that was better!" Gohan said enthusiastically. "You stayed up longer!"
Tsuki coughed. "Yes, well, I think I'm going to call it a day now. There's only so much sea water I can take in. I imagine this is what a drowned rat feels like. Piccolo, can you take me back to where I can touch?"
Piccolo nodded and gathered her up. "Come, Gohan. It's time we get home," he said.
"Oh, alright. Bye guys! We gotta go!" Gohan called to Vegeta and Krillin.
"Bye guys! Vegeta and I should head back too..."
"Forget it, Baldy. We've still got an hour to go."
"Oh come on! Fine. If you guys feel a ki suddenly go from existence, it was me, because this Exercise Nazi won't give it a rest! Hey, watch it!" he exclaimed, ducking as Vegeta's fist just narrowly missed his face.
On shore, Tsuki stood close to Piccolo so that his ki flare would dry her off as well as himself. Gohan waited patiently in the sky for them, and then the trio headed home.
Okay, so yeah, a filler chapter. But next chapter we get into the action again! Thanks for your patience!