Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its products nor anything associated with it.
Piccolo sat against one of the palm trees in Popo's gardens, a sour look on his face and his cape and turban discarded in annoyance nearby. The Namekian drummed his clawed fingers against his propped up knee and glanced towards the edge once more. Dende, the young Guardian of Earth, kneeled amongst the flowers opposite of him with his staff lying next to him.
"You're the one who told him to go," the younger alien said calmly.
"Be quiet, Dende," Piccolo snapped. Dende sighed and rubbed at his temple as he tried again, "You knew it wouldn't be some quick trip."
"He could've at least stopped in by now. It's been three years since I saw him! A quick training session or even a simple 'I'm alive' is not asking for much", Piccolo continued to grumble.
With his patience at their end, he stood and marched towards the edged yet again. Dende groaned but stayed where he was, knowing the battle was lost for the moment. Piccolo stood at the edge with crossed arms and eyes closed tight as he viewed his apprentice with his mind.
Far below The Lookout, and far away from Korin's tower, a fifteen-year-old Gohan was jogging through what appeared to be a deserted village. His black hair hung low on his shoulders while his clothes were in absolute ruins from days of the teenagers rough and tough lifestyle. His destination was a low squat concrete building just ahead, seemingly the only structure not constructed of wood.
He marched through the door and was immediately greeted with a gun barrel being shoved in his face. He sighed and grabbed the barrel while turning and heaving, the strap from the gun was still around the criminal and caused him to closely follow his firearm straight through the still open doors to crash into the side of their getaway SUV.
"Wha…", the next two crooks began to stutter but were quickly silenced as Gohan sent a weak surge of energy out to smack the two aside. With the immediate threat taken care of, he headed for the open vault door where the last one was busy stuffing a bag with stacks of Zeni.
"There's just no end to people like you," Gohan muttered as he entered. The man spun around but was quickly pinned against the far wall with Gohan's palm pressed flat against his chest, exerting a tremendous amount of pressure on the poor man.
"You're lucky, those other guys had guns so I couldn't take any chances with innocents around, but I'll give you the chance to march outside to the sheriff peacefully if you won't try anything," he offered.
Instead of an answer, the man jerked a small pistol from his pocket and emptied the clip into the side of Gohan's head. The young warrior watched it all happen in what felt like a boring speed but decided to let it happen it seemed.
In an exaggerated and over-all pathetic attempt at acting, he screamed and fell to his back clutching at the side of his head. The armed man stood frozen and began to panic as reality set in.
"Shit, shit, shit, I shot him! I killed him! Fuck, he was a kid! Why...what?", the bank robber ended as he heard laughter. Gohan was laying on the floor, laughing between exaggerated groans of pain, and mockingly saying, "'Oh, woe is me! What have I done! However, will I live with myself!' Damn, you are pathetic, you aren't even a good criminal!"
"You're not dead?", the man asked backing against the wall once more. Gohan stood, still chuckling, and shook his head as he said, "Not even a little."
"I, um, I surrender..?", the man half said and half asked. Gohan grimaced and shook his head, "No can do, you resisted."
A heartbeat later found the man tossed through the doors with a lump already forming on his jaw. Gohan stepped out, wiping the man's spittle off his hand, and looked at the sheriff who had cuffed the first three already and asked, "You got this from here? I sort of ran out without paying for my lunch."
The sheriff chuckled and said, "Yes, Gohan, I believe we are capable of doing our jobs. Believe it or not, we were quite successful at it before you showed up."
Piccolo returned to his mind as his friends face split into a wide grin. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back from the ledge. With his mind at ease, headed for the open area in front of the palace and began to meditate.
Dende watched the older, stressed Namekian relax and act like himself once more and smiled to himself. The young guardian stood and brushed the dirt from his robes while picking up his staff and heading back into his palace where Mr. Popo stood to wait for him.
"Is everything okay?", the genie asked. Dende nodded, "I think we'll be good for a few days this time, maybe a week even."
"You think he'll spy on young Gohan again?", Popo asked. Dende nodded, "I think he'll keep an eye on Gohan no matter how much time goes by. Even if Gohan stopped in every week Piccolo still wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him alone."
"I suppose Mrs. Chichi's death had an effect on more things then we counted on," Popo reasoned.
Dende shook his head, "No, he kept a close eye on him even before that. It's a bit harder to stay close to Gohan now with the excuse of meditating by a waterfall all day."
The two laughed and went to enjoy their break from the Namekian mother hen.