In Search of Oceans
Period 2: Peace of Mind from an Old Keeper
In the main building of the Lookout, Popo reaches over and takes the small child out of Dende's hands. Dende passively hands the baby over and watches curiously as his assistant takes charge of the situation.
"Dende, could you please fetch a couple of towels for the young dear and me?" Popo asks. Dende blinks as if in a dazed state, being around a small baby has a dampening effect over him. "Oh yes, of course Popo," he replies, trotting off to the linen cupboard in the next room. Popo cradles the infant, one arm supporting her head and the other beneath her lower half. He watches as her tiny fingers coil at his clothing. Dende returns, quietly, carrying two white and gold towels in his arms. The genie lays the child down onto one of them, and then puts the other aside, he will need it later.
"May I ask you what you are doing?" Dende inquires, watching the genie work.
"I am going to check to see if she is healthy, and in case she needs to be changed," Popo responds, inspecting the rags bound tightly around the baby's body. Only her face and fingers are visible past the wrappings. Dende cringes at the thought.
"Agh, changing babies was the worst back home, I doubt humans enjoy it more than we do" He exclaims, backing away. His attention is stolen back to Popo as he removes the wrapping from around the baby's head. Rich, dark red hair appears, fairly fine and short but very vivid to the eye.
"Wow, that's a colour you don't see everyday, huh Popo?" Dende ventures closer. He observes her small, finely carved nose and generously shaped lips, and couldn't overlook her long black eyelashes.
"Amazing. Do all infant girls look like this? They are so pretty." Dende surveys. Popo chuckles.
"No, Dende. All children have their own individual colours, shapes, attitudes and personalities from the day they are born. No two are alike. Even identical twins are never absolute in their likeness." He explains, unwrapping the tightly knit clothes from around the baby's legs. Dende leaves to prepare a room for the baby to sleep in during the day, night or whenever she would need it.
Popo finishes removing all the tattered rags, happy to find she is in good health but in an appalling state of cleanliness. He bathes her in a small white porcelain tub, using a soft yellow sponge to clean her of all the dirt and dust. In the meantime, she has opened her eyes to the world, almost startling Popo with their amazing appearance.
"Dende! Please come and see this!" Popo calls out, lifting the soaking baby out of the tub. Placing on the second towel brought to him earlier by Dende. Dende runs into the room, afraid something was amiss.
"What is it?" he asks quickly, eyes open wide and ready for the worst.
"Look." Popo says, lifting the child up to Dende's eye level. Dende is momentarily breathless. The girl's eyes are not the largest, but have the most incredible shade of green. The same as Dende's skin.
"That is just amazing. I never would have suspected such a colour to be possible in the eyes of a human." Dende gently takes the baby out of Popo's hands, holding her up higher in the air. He starts bouncing the infant up and down in his hands. She starts to cry, bawling her eyes out at Dende's play. Dende frowns, afraid he has hurt her.
Popo chuckles slightly.
"Dear me, she must be tired again. Come with me, dear," he says, taking the infant from Dende's hands and cradling her in his arms. She calms down almost immediately once in the secure arms of the genie. Popo heads for the room that Dende had prepared earlier, but notices Dende's unhappiness. "Don't be upset, Dende. Infants become stressed so very easily. Let us not forget we are strangers to her, we must be patient until she feels comfortable around us." Popo tries to make him feel better, but doesn't achieve much. "I know Popo; I hope you can take the time to teach me how to at least hold her correctly. I need to learn that first and foremost." Dende says with a smile, rubbing the back of his hairless head gawkily.
Popo nods. "Of course Dende, don't worry it is quite easy to learn to care for an infant.
It's when they grow into children that the work hard." Popo walks from the room and down the hallway toward the baby's bedroom. Dende has a question and leaps forward, hoping to catch him before he disappears.
"Wait! Popo, how do you know so much about children?" Dende asks, leaning out the doorway, watching Popo walk down the hallway. Popo turns
"I have been assistant upon this Lookout for a great many years, Dende. I have seen my share of children come to this place to visit the past guardians, what wonderful children they were," he answers, and then retreated through the door where he would put the baby to sleep. Dende shakes his head contently. He should have realized such a thing; almost forgoting that he was not the first guardian to encounter human children on the Lookout. Kami had met many children, one of them the great man himself... Goku Son.
I wonder how Goku has been keeping these past few years? Dende wonders. He has not seen the Saiyajin for several years now, not since the birth of his granddaughter Pan. That was the last time he had seen Gohan as well.
"One of these days I shall go and see them, just to check on their progress. After all we are still the best of friends," Dende says aloud to himself. Heading towards the guardian's throne room to meditate and survey the evolution of the world below. Just before leaving the room, Dende spots a twinkling upon the table where the baby had been cleaned and changed. He walks over and looks at the shiny object. It's a piece of jewellery, an earring of solid gold with a ruby coloured stone dangling from its bottom.
Dende grasps it between his forefinger and thumb. Unsure of what to make of it, he walks over to one of the cupboards in the kitchen wall. Placing it inside. He will ask Mr. Popo about it tomorrow. He leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
Piccolo has flown a while, arriving at his home of the past year. It is, incidentally enough, an old moss coated cave located deep inside a lush tropical forest, several hours from any civilization. He drops down from the sky, landing between a pair of Banyan trees, he looks up at the twisted trunks of the magnificent foliage, they seem to go on forever and ever above the canopy.
I have craved this for so long, finally I have it. he sighs, sucking in a deep, humid breath of the unpolluted air. He walks to his cave.
Stepping over the various coccoloba shrubs, he pushes aside vines hanging from the branches of the above trees. He can't ignore the tickling sensation in his throat any longer, he walks to the nearby shallow stream of mountain spring water.
--This will satisfy the masses.-- He reflects, taking seconds to reach the thin clear stream, trickling down the side of a large boulder and to the ground.
Down onto one knee, holding his hand out beneath the trickle he watches the clear gold fill his cupped hand. Bringing to his lips he drank it slowly, feeling the cold fluid run down his throat. He wipes the excess away from his lips with the back of his hand, wiping his wet hand across his forehead, coating his skin in the cool liquid.
That guardian is going to have his hands full by the time that kid can walk. He will regret taking the brat on. Piccolo speculates.
"Then again, it might get his sense of responsibilities up to distinction. He's been lacking lately in concentration and focus." Piccolo said aloud.
Shutting his eyes he stands, remembering the day he sensed Dende's shift in focus. Dende's constant trouble is with keeping interest in one subject at a time. Having more interest in enjoying of the moment, this had been especially true after the Cell Games when they had nothing to fear or be concerned about. That changed after Buu's appearance no doubt, but thanks to Goku, he also was defeated and the Earth brought once again to a peaceful existence.
His concern now is that Dende never took his advice of being prepared at all times seriously; even in a time of peace, the guardian might let the distraction of this infant get the better of him.
Piccolo crosses his arms over his massive chest and sighs. "There isn't much that I can do for you, Dende. If you need my guidance, you know how to ask for it, but I do not offer it for pastime purposes," he states aloud. The young Namekian has proved his worth as guardian; but missing so much of his childhood has had an effect. Piccolo has faith that Dende will take. But now, being at the peak of his Namekian teenage years, he would be changing in other ways, meaning he may resent his constant duty to all the lives of those on Earth.