HOLY CRAP. Long time, no see! Sorry. Two jobs and a horse. Kills your free time. That is my only excuse.

Years had passed, and the Earth was still at peace. True to Tsuki's word, Gohan had not aged physically, though mentally, Piccolo was able to tell a difference as each passing year, the boy became more articulate, had better planning, and more emotionally stable, just as any child would as they aged. And Piccolo was relieved by that. At least the kid had some semblance of normalcy, if not physically.

One thing remained the same, however. Piccolo was still, and probably always would be, Mr. Piccolo. While he tried to break the boy of this habit, he remained firm on this. And so Piccolo gave up. They lived their days in normalcy, spending most of their time training. Gohan had become incredibly strong, harnessing his ki and becoming completely in control of his ascended form.

In this time, Tsuki had made but one appearance, finally back to her normal amount of power.

Well, as normal as it could be given how much she had given Gohan to save him.

She was still dying, and while her ki was strong, she felt it slipping away slowly every day.

Gohan was sleeping peacefully, his cat curled up at his side, and Piccolo meditating at the foot of his bed, when she made her appearance. A soft light glowed gently, and then she was there. Piccolo's eyes snapped open immediately and he glanced at her and sighed.

"Why do you never come when the boy is awake?" he asked quietly, standing and walking out of the room.

"There are some things I do not wish to burden him with. At least, not yet," she replied, following him into the kitchen.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I do not wish to be burdened with them either?" he mused sarcastically. She merely smiled at him. "So what is it this time?"

"It isn't anything bad, Piccolo," she started with amusement. "I just wished to tell you my power is back to where it should be, given how much I gave to Gohan."

"You're healed?"

"In a way. I'm still dying. But it is happening much slower than it was when I was weak. East has helped immensely, and has graciously given me much of his ki to help me return to my normal self."

"So what, is he dying now? Is that why you're here? We're losing the last Supreme Kai?"

Tsuki chuckled. "No, my friend. He is very healthy. He did not have to will me to life, just gave me strength. His ki is already almost back to normal. I also come bearing good news. Amat is still weak, even after all this time. He has yet to make himself known, meaning he is still healing. Gohan killing Cell greatly weakened him, I think more than he anticipated."

"He's still that weak? Can you kill him?" Piccolo asked, intrigued.

"He is still powerful enough that he is in a realm I have no access to. And Piccolo, I do not wish to kill my brother. He may be misguided, but I do not want to kill my only family. I don't think I could even if I had the strength."

"Misguided? In case you haven't noticed, he keeps trying to kill us. Namely Gohan. I think the word you were looking for is evil. Won't he try to kill you when he's back to normal?"

"He had the chance before. When he made me mortal. And yet, he did not."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he just couldn't figure out how?"

Tsuki's eyes flashed dangerously. "Tell me, Piccolo, if Gohan were to become evil, would you kill him? Would you be able to do that?"

Piccolo deflated. "No. I wouldn't be able to kill him."

"Then you see where I stand."

"Then what are you going to do?"

This time it was Tsuki who looked defeated. "I don't know anymore. My plan was to figure out how to send him to the Darkness, where our father is. But now, I am too weak. That plan was shot the moment I gave Gohan life. Weak as I am now, I will not be able to harness the dark magic required for that."

"Dark magic. Would Amat be able to send you to there, then? You say he will not kill you, but what if he has the same plan as you?"

"He does not know how to access the Darkness."

"And if he figures it out?"

"Then sending me to there is not our biggest worry. There is a monster there, the one who killed the Supreme Kais. He would release it, before he banished me."

"Buu?"

Tsuki smiled. "You remember the name from all that time ago when we last spoke of him?"

Piccolo shrugged. "I remember everything you say."

"I'm flattered."

Piccolo grunted. "Don't be. I remember just about everything everyone says. I have a good memory."

"So it seems."

"So what do we do now? It's been three years since Cell. Amat has made no move, and you say he's still weak. Can't you just start roaming around the realms looking for him?"

Tsuki chuckled incredulously. "Do you have any idea how big the heavens are? How many realms make it up?"

Piccolo crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a goddess. Surely you're able to make it an easy enough task," he challenged.

"The parts I can see without magic, yes. Those I have access to at any point in time. It's the ones that are guarded by magic that make the task difficult. The ones with light magic I can access easily enough. Those with dark magic, I cannot enter. And that is surely where Amat is hiding."

"Well what about Shin? Can he access those?"

"East will not attempt dark magic. He is mortal. It would corrupt him without a doubt. Only gods can remain uncorrupted when delving in it."

Piccolo snorted. "Someone should tell your brother that."

"I said can, not won't. And besides, he's-why is there a hole in your ear?"

Piccolo's hand drifted to his ear self-consciously. "Gohan caught it with a fish hook three years ago. It never healed correctly, for some reason. Why are you just now noticing it?" he almost snapped, embarrassed.

"I try to give you and the boy privacy, but I suppose I should watch you two more often. I apparently miss out on some amusing things."

"Not as often as you would think. He's growing up. Mentally, at least."

"I must warn you, Piccolo, that he will never fully mentally mature. He isn't going to have an adult mind in that child's body. At some point, it will stop. Be prepared for that."

"I think that is a small mercy, then. He'd probably go mad."

"Most likely."

They remained silent for some time.

"I have a question," Piccolo finally said.

"I will do my best to answer."

"Gohan fears being alone. You and I both know one day, he will be. Provided I'm not killed by someone, how long do I have? I don't know much about Namekians. I know I have a long time, much longer than human or Saiyan, possibly hundreds of years, but..."

"But you wish to reassure him with an exact amount?"

"Well, yes, I suppose. To Gohan, hundreds of years seems like a short distance away. Maybe with a more concrete number..."

"You'll probably live to be four hundred to five hundred years old."

He winced. "I promised him he'd never be alone. That I'd never leave him. In the scheme of things, five hundred years isn't forever..."

Tsuki looked at him with cool eyes, appraising him. "It's not, you're right."

"What do I do? I don't know what to tell him," Piccolo said, sounding lost.

"Five hundred years is a long time. Do not despair yet."

Piccolo looked to the ground. "I think about it every day. I know he does too. He's just a kid."

Tsuki reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "I must leave now. Do not worry. I will...think of something. We will make sure he's never alone. You have my word."

"Thank you."

It had been little more than a year since Tsuki's appearance.

Ever since Trunks was able to form questions, he had constantly barraged his parents with them. Vegeta ignored him mostly. Bulma had done her best to answer them, but some she promised to tell Trunks that on the day he turned five, he could hear the answers.

Well, as of today, Trunks was now five, and he fully intended to make good on her promise.

Trunks sat at the kitchen table while his mother cooked him breakfast. He mulled over his questions in his head, picking which ones he wanted answered first.

"Mom, whatever happened to Uncle Krillin?"

Bulma still tiptoed around that one. "A very bad man killed him."

"Oh. But, Dad said Gohan..."

"Dammit Vegeta..." Bulma swore under her breath. "Honey, the evil man made Gohan do it. So, yes, I suppose in a way, Gohan did do it, but he's not at fault. Please, don't bring it up to him. It makes him very sad."

"Okay. Well then...how come Gohan never looks older?"

"Well, to put it simply... he's cursed. He'll never grow older than he is now. In fact, he hasn't aged in nearly five years."

"Oh. So one day, I'll be older than him?"

"Yes."

"Weird. What about Piccolo?"

"His species grows very slowly."

"What about Dad?"

"Saiyans retain youth longer because they are a warrior species, or so he says."

"But aren't you and Dad the same age?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you look so much ol-"

"Trunks."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want dessert tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Then don't finish that question."

"Okay. Are Gohan and Piccolo still coming over for dinner?"

"Last I heard, yes. What did you want for dinner, birthday boy?"

"Whatever I want?" Trunks asked excitedly.

"Whatever you want."

"Hotdogs!"

Trunks excitedly opened the door when he heard knocking. Standing before him were Gohan and Piccolo.

"Gohan! Hi!" Trunks said enthusiastically. He dove in for a hug, which Gohan gladly returned. Piccolo noted with some chagrin that there wasn't a huge difference in height between the two anymore.

"Hi Trunks! Happy birthday!" Gohan greeted happily. "You're getting so big!"

"Yeah, I'm almost as tall as you now! Come on in! Mom's cooking hotdogs for dinner! Five hundred of them!"

Piccolo felt his stomach flip. Disgusting.

"That's... a lot of hotdogs..." Gohan said.

"Well, Mom needs like two, Grandma and Grandpa need four, I need probably near a hundred, and Mom said you and Dad can fight over the rest. Piccolo, aren't you going to eat any? Because I don't think Mom made any for you. There's salad though..."

"I don't eat."

"Why?"

"Namekians don't eat food."

"That's really weird."

"Hm. Here," Piccolo said, changing the topic, thrusting the small blue package he had been holding in Trunks' direction.

"Oh wow! Thanks! Can I open it right now?" Trunks asked giddily.

"Sure! It's not much, because Mr. Piccolo and I can't really afford anything, but I hope you like it!" Gohan explained.

Trunks ripped off the colorful paper and reverently took out the small picture frame Gohan had painstakingly carved all on his own. In it was a picture Bulma had given the boy on his request, one Trunks had yet to see: a photo of Krillin holding an infant Trunks with Vegeta standing beside him, the two conversing without a care in the world.

"Wow. Where did you get this?" Trunks asked, brushing his thumb over the picture.

"Your mom took it a couple days after you were born. Then she hid it because your dad would've destroyed it if he knew it was taken. You should be safe with it now though..."

"Don't worry, I'll still hide it. He never comes in my room anyways!"

Vegeta walked past the doorway at that moment. "That's what you think."