In Search of Oceans

Period 7: Making up for lost time.

#18 had dropped Marron off at her school friend Georgette's house; Marron was immensely excited about going to her first patty alone. #18 advised she would arrive to pick her up at exactly 10 pm, not a moment later. Marron promised to be waiting.
On rout to Capsule corp. #18 needs to speak with Bulma about the tournament, they had no way of getting there on the day. The ship she now flies is on loan from Yumcha for a few days, so they can run errands. Even though Yumcha has many air cars at his disposal, he wants it back as soon as possible. Hoping Bulma will be kind enough to pick them up from the Kame house on the day, she decided to make this trip, they will also need a lift back after. It may be asking much but it's the only way, flying there using ki is out of the question, it would attract unnecessary attention. #18 crystal clear blue eyes spot the Capsule Corp. compound up ahead; she steers toward the closest unused landing pad.

Bulma is in the kitchen, dressed in a violet knee length dress, complimented by a golden chain around her neck. A gift from Trunks for mother's day last year.
Her hair fastened back in a bandana, she scrubs a batch of dirty mugs and glasses. Trunks and Bra had breakfast earlier and didn't bother to clean up; Bra went to the mall with Mrs. Briefs and Trunk took another day off from work to go who knows where.
"Damn those two, if they think im going to be their maid whenever it suits them, they have another thing coming!" She grumbles, scrubbing harder. A computerized voice sounds over the loud speaker in the kitchen, sending an alert that someone is at the front door to the house, not the corporate entrance.
"Who could that be at this time of day?" Bulma wonders, shaking excess water from her fingers. Drying them on a tea towel hanging off the wall, she heads for the front door down the hall.
The voice sounds again, alerting her to someone's presents at the door.
"Alright already im here!" She shouts up at the loudspeaker nearest to her. Reaching the door, she unlocks it and opens it up wide. There in the doorway stands a very elegantly dressed, yet still intimidating android 18.
"#18? Gosh girl, what brings you here? Long time no see!" Bulma exclaims in surprise. She has not seen #18 in years; she can tell right off that the once evil android has become a worldlier person. #18 nods respectfully to Bulma.
"Yes, it's been a while. I need to talk to you about something, if you have a moment." #18 states bluntly, adjusting her bag over her left shoulder. Bulma smiles and steps aside from the doorway.
"Of course, come inside so we can catch up. You can tell me what it's about." She indicates with her hand for #18 to enter. #18 enters in her cool calm manner, walking inside confidently. Bulma still had her doubts about #18 in the earlier years after she joined the z fighters. But the last thing the android needs is her suspicions. After all, she has left the side of evil just as Yumcha, Piccolo and her dear Vegeta had after realizing the error of their ways.

Bulma leads #18 down a long hallway and into the family's living room, the room has two expensive white leather couches set around a square, glass coffee table.
"Did you want a drink #18? Tea or coffee?" Bulma asks her.
"No, thank you." She states, taking a seat on one of the couch. Bulma nods, #18 manner is not something to be taken personally. She takes a seat opposite her on the other couch.
"So tell me, how's Krillin and Marron doing? Gosh I haven't seen any of you guys in so long. Sometimes im afraid we will never see each other again, I mean it's not like we are dead." Bulma exclaims.
"Everyone is fine and they also have the same concern that we may never come to see each other again, especially Krillin." #18 replies, crossing her legs she rests her hands in her lap, leaning back into the couch. Bulma sighs with a nod.
"Oh how's that old pervert doing and that piggy Oolong?" Bulma asks, chuckling as short flashbacks appear to her of her teenage years. #18 roles her eyes, her regard for her house mates the same as Bulma's.
"Roshi is still the same old man he always was, Oolong is still around to, I don't think that pig will ever leave. I have convinced Krillin for us to find a place of our own as soon as possible." #18 mentions.
"We are too far from the city. I need to live closer and so does Marron." she adds.
"Oh I know what you mean; I don't know if I could live out there for longer than a week myself, you have managed so well." Bulma compliments, flinging her hands back at the thought of living with Master Roshi again. Bulma remembers #18 had come to visit for a reason.
"Oh well, enough about everything else, what did you want to talk to me about #18?" She puts forward, shuffling deeper into the soft couch for comfort.

#18 does not say a word; heavy footsteps approach the family room, coming from the hallway. With her sharp mind, she could easily identify who it is, but that would be a waist of time, there is only one person it could be.
"Woman! Where is Trunks? He is late for that hour of training with me!" Vegeta shouts angrily. Storming into the room he pays no attention to #18 sitting on the ouch in front of him. His arms crossed over his chest he eyes Bulma for an explanation. Bulma knits her eyebrows irritably, looking back up at Vegeta.
"Honestly Vegeta, you come storming in like that when we have a guest. To answer your question, no, I don't know where Trunks is." Bulma answers in an unimpressed tone. Trying not to make a scene in front of #18. #18 sits back and listens, secretly amused by the scene.
After a moment of silence between them, Vegeta turns to look at the woman sitting on the couch; his eyes became slits when he recognized her.
"What brings you here android?" Vegeta asks calmly, he never became accustomed to calling her #18. Needles to say, he is taken back by her knew improved appearance. #18 expression doesn't change, neither does her composure, she simply looks back at Vegeta with a faint smile on her face.
"Nice to see you too, Vegeta. " She replies flatly, looking back at Bulma.
"I came to speak with you about the tournament, we have no travel mean on that day. Yumcha wants his air ship back after I fetch Marron tonight." #18 explains, ignoring Vegeta entirely. Bulma rolls her eyes
"That's Yumcha for you. I'm going to talk some sense into that bozo and make him come and pick up you guys up. He doesn't have anything better to do with his time. The problem is we have to be there dead early on the day, I would have come and gotten you myself otherwise." She explains. Truly, Bulma is not opposed to picking up Krillin and his family to take them to the tournament and back. But because she has family members attending, they needed to be there at dawn.
"You will hear from Yumcha tonight, I promise. I'll tell him to get his butt to the tournament." She advises. Vegeta attention span is stretched listening to the two women organize the day. He has no quarrels with the situation, and no interest in the conversation. Without a word, the Saiyajin prince leaves the room, returning to the gravity compound. As Vegeta goes out of hearing range, Bulma exhales with relief.
"Phew, that man is such a... ohhhh; you don't want to know #18." She says in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest and looking in the direction that Vegeta walked away. #18 expression is blank.
"Your right, I don't." She states monotonously. Vegeta has come down to earth in his arrogance and his authority over others. Frankly though, she couldn't care less.
"Thanks for your time Bulma and your help with Yumcha." #18 expresses and stands up, Bulma does the same.
"Your welcome, ill walk you out." Bulma offers and leads the way.
Arriving at the front door, they pause.
"You take care #18 and say hi to Krillin, Marron and Roshi for us alright. I'm glad you guys decided to come to the tournament. It feels like old times again." Bulma expresses, unsure of how to say goodbye to #18. #18 gives a single nod and heads for her airship.
"Hey #18! I love your shoes by the way!" Bulma calls out, waving. #18 stops, looking over her shoulder she gives a quick smirk. Arriving at the ship she enters, swiftly taking off for home, her errands done for the day.

Bulma watches the ship leave and crosses her arms. As #18 ship vanishes, another form appears in the sky, Trunks.
As he closes in to the ground he spots his mother, looking rather sour.
"Uh oh." he whispers.
"Trunks where have you been!" Bulma shouts up at him before he barely touches solid ground. Trunks bites his bottom lip, landing in front of his mother with his expression full of guilt, knowing well that he had things to answer for.
"Hey mom, who was just here that I saw leaving?" He asks, changing the subject.
"It was #18; she came to ask me about giving them a lift to the tournament... now back to my question, dearest!" Bulma snaps. Trunk's head seems to sink lower into his shoulders.
"I uh... I went to see Goten" Trunks admits in a whisper, afraid of what wrath his mother will inflict on him for slacking off. Bulma exhales a disapproving breath.
"You have more important things to do than hang around Goten. Trunks, you could just call him on the phone, instead you skip a whole day of work and training to go and..." Bulma does not even have the chance to finish, Trunk's eyes widen when she mentions the word training. He runs past her with a great burst of speed into the house.
"Shit! I forgot about the hour I owe dad, he is going to kill me!" He shouts. Running down the hall toward the gravity compound.
"Trunks you come back here this instant! Listen to your mother when im screaming at you! Don't ever use that language again!" She shouts, furious at his hasty retreat.

Leaving early from the lunch at his parent's house, Gohan drops Videl off home. He then decides to take a trip to see an old acquaintance, taking Pan along with him. It's still a good couple of hours before his conference later that afternoon, a discussion over education upgrades for the school.
"Papa where are we going?" Pan asks, looking out the window of the air car, the tips of her fingers pressed up against the glass. Pan can never quiet sit still in the air car.
With both hands on the steering wheel, Gohan looks over at his daughter, letting a smile creep across his lips. He knew that what he was about to say would make his young daughters heart fill with delight.
"We are going to see sensei Piccolo, Panny You remember Sensei Piccolo don't you?" Gohan asks, looking back to the bumpy country road ahead.
Pan immediately turns to her father, a wide smile across her face, almost rocking the air car she jumps up and down in her seat.
"Sensei Pico! We are going to see sensei Pico!" She shouts. An endless stream of pet names she has for Piccolo soon follows. Gohan chuckles, reaching over he places his hand on Pans head, stopping her from jumping.
"That's right Panny, now you have to be a good little girl. Sensei Piccolo doesn't like too much noise remember? Can you do that for me sweety, be quiet?" Gohan tells her gently keeping his eyes on the road.
"I promise papa, quick, quick lets get there fast!" Pan shouts giddily, balling her little fists together and looking out the window.

As they drive along the all too familiar landmarks of the forest road, Gohan takes in the sights he had treasured since he was a young boy. He will never forget his days of training with Piccolo in the wilderness. He will never trade away the experience for anything. They go off road, driving along dry ground and grassy fields.
"Look Panny that's where I used to play with Ickaras, when I was your age." Gohan points out his window at the lake off the side of the road. Where he and the pink dragon used to play as youngsters. It sometimes makes him want to cry, when the memories of his childhood come to him. Along with the friendships that he no longer has time to maintain. He sighs aloud, turning the wheel to avoid a group of trees.
"Panny, those were the best times of my life when I was a young boy. I want you to treasure the times you have when you are young, never forget them. They will always be the thing you look back to when you think your life has no happiness, they will tell you otherwise." Gohan articulates, with nostalgia in his voice.
Pan listen, but in the present moment she is so enthralled with their surroundings, that she does not dare turn away from the window, afraid she would miss a single detail. The plants, trees, and animals were amazing to her.
She has never been this far out from her home or the city. The furthest she has been is a field, where she trains with her grandfather Goku and uncle Goten. Gohan in the mean time is in a different frame of mind, his thought on Piccolo. It has been years since they had seen one another.
Not since Pans birth four years ago, had they been in each others presents. Gohan misses his sensei and friend, thing were not the same after the defeat of Buu, almost ten years ago.
No friendship I have in the city can compare to that I have with Piccolo, such ties just don't come and go easily, no matter how much time passes. He thinks to himself, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

An hour later he finally stops the air car, they are on the edge of a dense and rarely seen tropical rain forest. He could feel Piccolo's ki quite strongly in this area, his sensei in the vicinity somewhere. After getting all worked up on the way, Pan has fallen asleep in her seat. Gohan carries her in his arms as he walks away from the air car toward his sensei's ki signal. After a few paces into the dense vegetation, Gohan stops to remove a vine that attached itself around his ankle.
"Piccolo sure picked a creepy place to call home." he utters quietly, continuing through the dense foliaged. He looks up toward the canopy, noticing many animals were in the area. He finds this most unusual; Piccolo never did like animals to invade his personal space. Feeling relief that Pan is asleep, she wouldn't find this place any cozier than he did. After a little while of slow searching, Gohan stops to find himself standing beside the trunk of an enormous and unusual tree.
Leaning Pan against his chest, he removes his glasses and tries to identify this magnificent specimen standing before him. Looking around he notices another of the same trees nearby.
"Hmmm." He inspects, replacing his glasses his on nose he rubs his chin.
"It's swallowed another tree by the looks of it... and it's grown practically higher than any other tree in the entire forest in a twisted fashion, what in the world is this thing?" Gohan asks himself aloud.
"It's called a Bunyan Tree." Answers a voice from behind. Gohan swings around, holding the rim of his glasses so they wouldn't fall. No one stands behind him; he looks up slowly into the tree. Lowers his hand and smiles widely.
"Piccolo!" Gohan uttered, loosening his tight grip on the sleeping Pan.
Standing on a thick branch, leaving against the trunk. Piccolo lifts the right corner of his lip into a gentle smirk, his arms crossed over his chest.
"It's good to see you again, Gohan. It has been a long time." He says peacefully, dropping silently to the ground.

Gohan walks up to him, placing a hand on the namekian's white shoulder pad.
"Too long Piccolo. Too long." He utter, patting the shoulder pad of his former sensei repeatedly. Even though it had been years, Piccolo looks exactly the same.
Piccolo nods in return with the same feeling of joy that he would normally never feel, looking into the face of his dearest friend. The young boy had become a man in so little time, now a father himself.
"You haven't changed one bit Piccolo, you have no idea how glad I am to see that." Gohan said.
"You have changed Gohan; you are a scholar now, right?" Piccolo asks raising an eyebrow at Gohan's glasses and impeccable clothing. Gohan looks down at himself and chuckles.
"Yeah well, I guess you have to do something with your life, especially when you have a family. Can't fight for a living." Gohan explains, looking down at Pan asleep against his chest.
"Hmm, I personally can't imagine." Piccolo says, walking past Gohan, he indicates for them to follow. Gohan does without question.
"We will talk in the open here is too... creepy for you." the Namekian says, underlying sarcasm he eyes Gohan from the corner of his eye. Gohan chuckled nervously, continuing to follow though the thick flora.

After a brief walk down a path Piccolo had carved out over time, they arrive at a thin stream. He stops by the water, taking a seat on the soft dry grass, Piccolo prepares to meditate. Gohan does the same, sitting opposite him as he always had.
"What brings you out this way, Gohan?" Piccolo asks, his eyes closed.
"I came to talk to you, about the tournament in a few days time. We would all love it if you came along. Dad, Goten, Vegeta, Trunks, Majin Buu and Pan are going to be competing. "Gohan informs. When Piccolo hears a certain name mentioned, he opens one eye and looks at Gohan strangely.
"Pan?" Piccolo asks, opening both eyes. It's utterly absurd that Gohan's tiny daughter compete in the tournament. Both of them look down as Pan begins to stir from her sleep. The little girl stretches her arms up above her head, slowly she opens her eyes.
"Sensei Pico!" She shouts out, shocking them both. She reaches her little hands out toward the Namekian warrior. Piccolo leans back ever so slightly, avoiding her touch.
"Whoa Panny remember what I told you about Sensei Piccolo and quiet?" Gohan says quietly. Trying to avoid the outlandish glare Piccolo is giving him. Pan relaxes, remembering what Gohan had told her earlier, sitting back against his chest.
"I'm sorry papa." she says sadly, hanging her head.
"Its ok, sweety. I'm not mad at you." Gohan says, giving her a kiss on the back of her head.
"She is strong Gohan; I can see why you would allow her to enter, considering her age." Piccolo observes, keeping his eye on Pan as she stares up at him, worshiping his every word. Gohan suddenly sees something incredible happen. Piccolo reaches his hand out, placing his large open palm on top of Pans little skull. Ruffling the child's short wild black hair gently, he makes her laugh and chuckle. Gohan is astonished.

Piccolo has warmed in his attitude toward youngsters; well at least to Pan, he was never that way toward Bulma or Krillin's children.
Piccolo nods offhandedly.
"I will be there Gohan, it will once again be a day to remember with your father and Vegeta competing. It's long overdue to watch a good fight between true warriors." He declares. Gohan gives a relieved sigh.
"Great Piccolo, it just wouldn't have been the same without you. You need to be around for these kinds of thing to have them make sense." Gohan expresses.
"I had better be going; I have a meeting to get to" Gohan states. Piccolo snorts a chuckle.
"Yeah, I figured with the suit." Piccolo states. Gohan stands with Pan in his arms. Almost forgetting one extra detail.
"Oh and Piccolo, could you talk to Dende and Mr. Popo? See if they would like to come along? It would be a dream to have everyone come." He asks.
Piccolo is silent; he takes his time answering.
"I can't promise you anything Gohan, but I will talk to him about it." He replies. Gohan accepts this and says his goodbyes, walking back through the path Piccolo pointed out for him, he reaches his air car.
Strapping Pan into the passenger front seat, he sits in the driver's seat and goes back the way they came to the main road. His thought turning to the meeting ahead. Piccolo watches from afar as they leave, he wonders if Dende would be willing to go to the tournament. Considering the extra burden on his shoulders.

thankyou for reading and your kind reviews!