Piccolo watched Nira's breath fog the plastic instrument covering her mouth and nose as if in a trance. It's been three weeks and she still hadn't woken up. He wasn't about to think the worse had happened but he was concerned for his patient.
He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and sighed. As he stared at her blank face he thought back to that day.
DBZ
Piccolo's mind was far from its usual calm; it was filled with blind anger and, for what felt like the first time in his life, fear. He kept his finer in the bullet wound to keep Nira from losing to much blood but her shirt was still becoming wet with blood. There must be an exit wound somewhere.
Piccolo struggled to keep calm. He had to make sure Nira stayed alive. Her breathing was becoming labored and her eyes were fluttering closed.
"Nira." She didn't respond, "Nira! Please, listen to my voice, don't go!" he pleaded.
He almost didn't hear her wheeze, "Sweet dreams."
"Nira?" he asked, a little shaken. "Nira?!"
She didn't respond.
"I told you to stay awake, damn you!" he cursed, "Check her pulse!" he commanded to no one in particular.
Goku took her wrist in his hand and felt for a pulse.
"She's alive!" he gasped in relief, "But her pulse is becoming weak! Tell the ambulance to hurry up!" he shouted at Krillin.
"I'm trying!" Krillin shouted back.
Bulma was trying not to cry as she continued to look for an exit wound, "Where is it? Where can it be?" she sniffed.
She gasped, "Found it! Its here!"
"Put your damn finger in it, then!" Piccolo growled, losing his patience, "Before she loses too much blood!"
Bulma shivered involuntarily before reaching for the exit wound.
"Away, fool." Vegeta said, suddenly beside Bulma. He waited for Bulma to move before taking her place and putting his finger into Nira's wound.
Piccolo didn't really care about those guys as long as Nira wasn't bleeding as much. He looked at Goku, "How's the pulse?"
"Its fine." He breathed, "Just keep doing whatever your doing."
"The ambulance should be here any minute." Krillin said, standing beside Bulma. His face was contorted in concern and fear, "Damn, these monsters." He sighed, kicking one of the unconscious gunmen away from him, "Poor Nira.
Piccolo shook with rage as he stared at the gunman that littered the ground. Nira had taken out twelve of them single handedly. He had watched her do it. He should have just pulled her away from the situation, thrown her out of harms way but was convinced she would be fine. How foolish can one man be?
DBZ
Piccolo put the back of his hand to Nira's forehead, something a person would do if someone they cared for had the flu and repeated the same thought he had that day in his head.
How foolish can one man be?
DBZ
Nira tilted her head to the side as she studied the picture on the last page of the book her mother just finished reading.
The little girl who had matured to a young woman was standing in the middle of a group of people. The woman who had taken her in was standing by her side, giving her a one armed hug. The short, mean, man was on her other side. He had his arms folded and he looked irritable. The taller man was behind her, smiling excitedly and waving at an unseen person. The Mr., Mrs., and their baby were beside the woman and they were all smiling as well.
"What's she got on her neck, mommy?" Nira asked, pointing at the little girl – turned – young woman's collarbone.
"That's a tattoo, sweety." She explained to her young daughter.
"Whats a tattoo?" Nira's little brother, Corren, asked.
"A tattoo is a decoration for a persons skin." Their mother nodded, "It's a very painful process though and they don't come off easily."
Nira frowned at the young woman in the picture. She was smiling brightly and looked very happy.
"Why are they chains?" she asked.
"I don't know." Whispered Nira's mother, "I couldn't tell you."
DBZ
When Piccolo got up to get something to eat a few days later he felt a tug on his shirt. There was only one other person in the room with him. No, could it be? Is it she?
He turned his head slowly to look down at Nira.
He sighed in disappointment. No, she hadn't woken up. But what's tugging on her shirt then? He looked at his shirt and was surprised to see Nira's fist clenched tightly into his shirt! She was showing signs of life again!
He gently pried away the young woman's fingers away from his shirt before pushing the button that called the nurses.
DBZ
Nira was helping her mother fold socks when she stopped and set the unfolded socks down. Her forehead suddenly felt very warm, she put her hand against her head and frowned. Her cheeks and ears were also heating up and didn't understand what was going on!
"Mommy!" she grabbed her mother's attention, "My face feels hot!" she told her, still touching her forehead.
Her mother gently took her daughters hands away from her face and tested Nira's temperature with the back of her hand.
Her mom hummed, a frown line appearing on her forehead, "I think you have a fever, honey. Com one," she said, taking her young daughters hand, "First a bath then off to bed."
Nira took her bath in silence. She was feeling really off, and her face wouldn't stop flushing. She didn't even calm down when her mother messaged her head the way she does whenever Nira was ill. IT was the one surefire way of making her feel at least a little happy when she was feeling down. Her mother washed her daughter with concern etching itself into her features.
When Nira was being tucked into bed, her medicine already taken without quarrel, she asked her mother a question, "Mommy, will I be okay?"
The question took her mom by surprise. She pushed her daughters hair out of her face and stroked her cheek tenderly, "Of course you will, sweety. Of course you will."
Something stirred in the back of Nira's mind, "Of course." She repeated.
Her mother smiled kindly, "Do you want to hear a story before you go to bed?" she asked softly.
Nira nodded, "Yes, please."
"Okay." Her mom sat at the foot of Nira's bed and pulled a book out from the toy box, "Here's one." She chirped.
"How about: The Green Haired Hero?" she asked her daughter.
Nira nodded, she didn't remember this one but she was willing to listen to her mother read it to her.
Her mother coughed into her hand before opening the book and reading," A long time ago, there was a man with green hair.
This man wasn't very good at making friends, he didn't really talk all that much but when he did it was low and rough and kind of mean.
This man had a rival, a man with black hair. The two used to always be at each other's throats when they were boys, the man with green hair always wanted to be stronger than him. No matter how long it would take him.
So he traveled to all sorts of different lands, finding ways to get stronger. Then, one day, the man happened past a small boy, crying in the woods. The green haired man almost passed the child by but when he turned around to look at the boy something in him wouldn't let him leave the child.
So the green haired man began his journey with the little boy. There were many times when the little boy annoyed the man and there were times when the man nearly abandoned the child but he never did.
One day the man passed by a house and the little boy gasped, "That's my house! That's my house!" and he ran to the little home.
The green haired man almost didn't follow the boy but the child yelled at him to please come inside and meet his parents. The man sighed and followed the boy in.
And there was his rival and his wife! They were hugging their son and crying out in relief that he was safe.
At first the wife and the rival didn't trust the green haired man but when their son told him how he had taken care of him they had warmed to him and accepted him into their family if he was willing.
The man politely declined. He didn't believe he was strong enough to stop training.
But when he left that small home that day his heart was just a little kinder."
"What about the boy?" Nira asked when he mother paused, "Don't you think he would have liked the boy enough to stay. He could have been his uncle, right?"
Nira's mother blinked in surprise at the thought, but she soon smiled at her daughter and ruffled her hair, "Yeah, that's a really good question. But lets keep reading, okay?
The green haired man traveled to many more places for many more years. There were times when he traveled into towns that were overrun by bandits or bad men and he had to get them away. He hadn't known it but he was beginning to be known as a hero all across the lands. And who would have known that the grumpy man with odd hair would be considered as such, not he!
One time he walked into a village and was surprised to see a family being held at hostage! A young woman with black hair was pleading with the bandits to let them go, but they wouldn't hear of it.
"How dare you!" the mother of the family yelled at them, "You've already stolen all of our valuables, now leave us alone!"
One of the bandits slapped her for talking to them in such a way!
The black haired woman stilled as she watched the woman she called mother fall to the ground, obviously hurt. Then she roared a mighty roar and attacked them!
The green haired man watched the woman attack the large group of bandits with wide eyes, he thought the woman might just be able to take care of it by herself when a bandit shot her with an arrow!
The man felt anger surge through him when the woman fell to one knee, holding her side where she had been shot, and he attacked!
After he defeated the bandits he helped repair the village to its proper state. As it turns out his rival lived nearby and helped as well, the green haired man was happy to see the boy again, although now he was a young man.
Piccolo stayed with the young woman as she healed. She was very grateful to him for protecting the village and her family and the man was impressed by her bravery.
After the village was repaired the man had the choice of staying or going away again. But when he turned around and saw the young woman's face something in him wouldn't let him leave her." She closed the book, "The end."
Nira stared at the book; she was clutching her sheets in her small fists.
"Nira? Nira whats wrong?" Her mother asked, she cupped her cheek and wiped away the tears that were suddenly falling down the girl's cheeks.
The world around Nira was fading to black and her mother's voice was becoming muffled. Nira didn't know what was happening around her, her heart was beating a mile a minute and tears flooded down her face.
"Mommy!" She cried out, "Mommy, I'm scared!"
But her mommy was gone.
And Nira was awake.