Disclaimer: Over herez! Over herez! Arkitekt skit! -points to chapter 2-

Hoookay. I believe that last chapter gave mixed signals, ne? I couldn't help but chuckle at Jin being called a slut. I even entertained briefly saying something like "OH, you did NOT just call Jin a slut!" for humor's sake, but I digress. It's chapter time.

Tossing aside his pride and his previous humiliation, Piccolo did the only thing that he felt he could do in his situation: he disjoined the training group and went after Atsarute. He could sense that she had already reached the palace before he even set off, but it didn't matter. He was going to get answers to all these stupid questions somehow, and he didn't care if he interrupted her conversation with this Lord.

Throughout his flight, he ran situation after situation over again in his head, trying to make sense of it so that he would at least know which question to ask first. He wasn't having much luck; he had spent so much mental energy trying to avoid the topic that he had little left to actually assess it. At the very least, I at least know enough to not make myself into too much of a fool to her.

His landing in the royal courtyard was quick before he sprinted into the castle, bumping into people in the more populated main floor while searching for Atsarute's ki. It's like looking for a needle in a fucking haystack; her whole family has huge power like her. She should be in that room with the machine again… I think that I remember where that is. He ran up steps and bolted down halls before he felt he was coming close.

That's when he almost bashed into his father.

He stopped just before Piccolo Sr., who looked wide-eyed back at him, surprised to see his son in such a manner. "What's with you?"

"What's with me?" The younger growled back. "What's with you! What are you doing here? I thought you stayed back on Katatsu-sei to speak with Mollosuki."

"Goku brought me over here as demonstration a little earlier to show his Instantaneous Movement off through the Three Twenty-two. I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier."

I must have been too busy avoiding everyone to notice, Piccolo groaned in his own head. "Where's Atsarute? With the Three Twenty-two?"

"Hmm? Yes, she is. Talking to some guy… Lord Sanatoasu or something like that. Why?"

"I need to speak with her immediately."

"Oh?" The older man sniggered and crossed his arms smugly. "Immediately, is it? Don't tell me… you've just admitted to yourself that you still love her. Hmm? Am I right?"

"Damnit, old man!" he barked back at his father, "How can I still love her after we've been apart for almost 20 years! I haven't even thought about her for ten years… twelve if you count when I was in the Room of Space and Time."

Piccolo Sr. sighed. I guess I shouldn't expect the impossible here. There's no way he'd admit it.

There was a long pause before Piccolo continued softly, "Besides… it'd be more accurate to say that I fell in love with her again."

"Huh?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Toniko nearly bashed into Neil when he stopped running right in front of her. Training had recommenced, and the chamber's landscape began to mutate rapidly again, with its weather once again staggered and unpredictable. Neil had stopped briefly for rest, relieved that he managed to land on a calm square of area. He must have stood there two full minutes before the ground under him churned again and signaled for him to go for the run again.

The girl Namek, however, didn't get much time to contemplate his sudden stop; she had to quickly get around him and continue her sprint when her own step threatened to knock her over.

Arufuredo tossed up his Atlas Orb and quickly pulled his glasses from his face and wiped them on his jacket for the first time since starting the session. Steam, water, dust, and whatever else kept getting on the lenses, clouding his vision quickly. Instead of cursing in annoyance the situation and angrily wiping it off as he had the last session, he accepted it as a hindrance to train on.

He quickly replaced the spectacles over his nose and felt the crushing weight of the Atlas Orb crash back down on his back. A sneer came to his face, but he had no time to dally on the spot that he had briefly stopped; the ground turned again and he had to, once again, go on the run. With his vision clear now, however, he looked around. Now, who is missing? In the distance, he could see both Neil and Toniko hopping around, but there was no third Namekku-sei-jin like there was before. Piccolo-sama has left again? "Oi! Derosen-sama!"

Derosen looked up from the console, looking terribly bored. "Huh?"

"Did Piccolo-sama return to the palace?"

"Piccolo-sama? Oh, you mean that other Namek. Yeah, he said it was urgent for him to speak with my sister."

"Urgent?"

"Yeah. I don't know what that was about. He's one of the stronger among you guys, right? Maybe he's just gotten cocky and decided that he could spar with her instead of do the basic training with you guys."

The exchange of words reached Gohan. Something suddenly began to bother him, like he was stricken with an itch in the back of his head, and the abruptness made him unprepared for the hard blast of wind that assaulted him. He was thrown sideways, hitting the far wall of the room with a loud thud.

"Gohan!" Videl dropped her Atlas Orb and without delay ran to accompany her boyfriend. "Are you all right?"

Derosen sighed and flipped some switches. A plot of land with a decent circumference around Gohan stopped moving and the weather in that area calmed down.

"Ite!" The young half-Saiya-jin cried, rubbing the side of his head. "I should really watch what I'm doing."

"Did you get hurt?" Videl asked.

"No… I'm fine. But, I got this weird feeling."

"Eh?"

Gohan rose and picked up his sphere. "Well, Piccolo-san came over here to find the cure for that thing he had, and he found it. But something… I don't know. Something seems wrong."

"Do you think that she didn't heal him completely?"

"Iie, he's healed, but it has to do with Atsarute-san. There's something about her; it's like her shadow is heavy... I feel that something bad is going to happen."

Among the copious, warm drops, Videl felt a single bead of cold sweat roll down her temple at the grim oracle.

"What really worries me," Gohan said, "is that it seems to get heavier when Piccolo-san's near her."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"In friendship, we snapped right back to where we left off. When we were catching up, it was just like when we talked back in North Capital on Earth. Her attitude since then didn't change a bit. But… but after she told me what happened that Valentine's Day, I realized that I was falling for her again," Piccolo summarized.

His father looked at him in astonishment. "And you're confessing it?"

The younger man grumbled. "Well, I tried to ignore it at first, but her damned suitors keep snapping me into jealousy. I can't help it."

"Her suitors?"

A door opened, and Atsarute stepped out, her arms crossed and eyes closed, looking deep in thought as she walked towards the Piccolos' direction.

"Atsarute, have you finished your conversation already?" Piccolo Sr. said.

"Yeah. I'll be setting off immediately."

The younger man felt a small panic come over him. "Setting off?"

"You didn't expect me to baby-sit you and your silly friends while you trained, did you? I'm going off by ship to Karigo-sei to drop off some goods. After that, I'll be going elsewhere and I do not plan on returning to Sui-sei for some time."

"Do you intend to go alone?" Piccolo said, forcing his voice to stay calm and not stammer.

"Probably. Why?"

"Please let me come with you."

The request earned a stare from both of them for Piccolo. "Are you sure you want to leave with me, Piccolo?" Atsarute said.

"Positive."

"But you'll be leaving your friends behind, who, if you recall, came all the way from your universe to retrieve you."

"Do you think I care?"

She kept the air of uncertainty, but she nodded anyway. "Fine. You may accompany me."

His father tightened his brows. "Piccolo, think about what you're saying. My father told me about what Atsarute does and where she goes when she leaves like this. You may very well not return."

"This is my decision," Piccolo said coolly, "and I'm sticking by it."

"But it's a hasty decision. As much as I have to commend the thought, it's unlike you to go ahead on something without much forethought like this."

"I'm going to have the cargo loaded," Atsarute interrupted, resuming her pace down the hall, "You take this time to think about whether or not you really want to come with me."

The two men were silent until she had disappeared down the steps, and the older man resumed his tone. "Look, it's one thing to admit your feelings to yourself about her, but it's another thing to go running off without thinking after her!"

"I have to go! Do you realize that the Sanatoasu she's planning to see is one of her suitors?"

The comment made him pause to think a moment. "I see… but with the way she is about marriage, why should you be so concerned?"

"Sanatoasu apparently already had sex with her."

There was another pause, this time much longer. "You better hurry and help her pack the cargo on the ship, then. Your stuff is already on her ship, right? So, you don't have to stop to pick anything up. Hayaku! You don't have time to say goodbye to the others!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Derosen stopped the training early, mainly because he was tired of watching a bunch of lesser fighters jumping around with balls on their backs. He parted, saying that he would send in a soldier later to man the console. Besides that, he felt that it would be more productive to take over the Three Twenty-two and speak to his pregnant wife.

Granted a period of rest, even the most bullheaded and ego-driven of warriors (viz. Vegita) slumped outside and relaxed their muscles. A few struck up conversations, but most of them just leaned against the training chamber's outer walls or lay on the grass.

And now they were able to confirm that Piccolo and Atsarute's ki have left the planet.

The itching feeling didn't leave Gohan; it only got more irritating. During the training, he was able to ignore it, but now he fidgeted and squirmed from the uncomfortable feeling it gave him. "Otou-san?"

Goku turned his head to his son. "What is it, Gohan?"

"Did you notice it, too? The weight of Atsarute-san's shadow?"

"Yeah," Goku said in a somber tone, which was quite unusual for him to take, "I felt it even back when I first saw her in that cage. I thought that it had to do with her killing so many people at first, but when I saw it react with Piccolo's presence…"

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know… I'm surprised that Piccolo didn't notice it himself," Goku sighed, "Gohan, tell me. When she's quiet and not moving for a long time, have you heard a weird sound come from her?"

"A weird sound?"

"Like her shadow is breathing, or something like that?"

Gohan shook his head. "I never heard such a thing. Did you?"

"Yeah. I was surprised that no one else ever seemed heard it. It was pretty loud when she still had that talisman in her throat."

"Why didn't you mention it before?"

"I thought it had to do with that curse that she was talking about, and it seemed to disappear after Piccolo helped her remove that talisman. I figured out later that it really only got a lot quieter."

"Hmm…" Gohan bowed his head.

"Is it bothering you that much?" Videl asked, still breathing heavily from the training.

Gohan nodded. "I can't help it. I know that something bad is going to happen. I can feel it."

Room of Space and Time – The English name for this is "Hyperbolic Time Chamber", I believe.
I got exactly 2007 words in this one, which is less than most of my chapters, but it fulfills my personal 2000 word minimum. I can't put in more because jumping so quickly to the next situation would be undesirable (personally, I think that putting in the last bit of analysis from Gohan and Goku was pushing it).
Still fast, though. Yayz.