Dende sat defeated on the edge of the Lookout, silent tears slipping down his cheeks as he watched and felt the destruction happening down on the earth. Mass murder. Genocide. The wars in the Middle East. People killing their own kind along with the enemies. They couldn't see, couldn't comprehend the bigger picture. The pointless violence, the hate, the fear. Thousands of children crying out, dying, losing parents. It was horrid. He could handle a storm by Mother Nature; there was no violence in that. Just the way things were, he could soothe the storm. But this storm of hate he had no influence over, he could not sway the minds of men set on killing their own. He exhausted himself trying to quell the fighting, but to no avail. He knew he had promised to see Rose that day, but he felt he couldn't do it. Not this time. Not when so much hate and anger flowed through his mind. It would destroy her to feel it. He curled up on his side as he looked out over the world, trying to send what energy he could to make it better.
Rose knew something was wrong. It wasn't like Dende to blow her off. She couldn't remember a single incident where he had ever let her down. No, Dende wouldn't do this unless there was a damn good reason. She hoped that it wouldn't be too rude of her to just show up unannounced, but she had to make sure that he was okay.
Rose drove her hovercar as fast as she could to the Lookout, chewing her lip the whole time, a sense of dread growing in her heart the closer and closer she got. She finally landed on the Lookout, capsulated her car, and looked around. She saw his form lying on his side near the edge of the tile. Her heart leapt into her throat. "Dende!" she cried and ran to him. She dropped to her knees next to him, placing her hand on his arm. "Dende! Are you okay? What's wrong?" She could see the tears on his face and she swore she could feel an ache in her heart that wasn't her own.
Dende looked up at her, inwardly cursing himself for at least not calling and letting her know he was alright. The pain in his soul was heavy and it made his own body sluggish. He sighed, looking out over the world again, feeling the pain, and he closed his eyes against it. "Rose, not today. It's not a good day for the world right now. She's in pain that her children would bring harm upon themselves."
Rose sucked her lips for a second before she moved to lay on the tile in front of him, keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Okay," she said softly, brushing her thumb over his bicep. She couldn't stand to see her friend in so much pain. She gently moved her hand to cup his cheek, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall. "I'm here for you," she nearly whispered. "You've helped me so many times, let me try to comfort you. Please, Dende. You're such a good friend, I can't stand seeing you so upset."
Dende sucked in a deep breath as she cupped his cheek, the tender gesture bringing more comfort to him than he thought possible. An umbrella in a chaotic storm. He felt a little bit of weight lifted from his shoulders. He closed his eyes, " I don't wish this pain on anyone, Rose. Certainly not someone as kind as you. I would hate to see what kind of torture this would be on a soul like yours." He couldn't bring himself to send her away. He let his eyes unfocus as he looked out over the world again.
"I would bear it myself if it meant protecting you from it for even a moment, love," she breathed. Her eyes went wide at the admission, a slight blush on her cheeks, but she gave a tiny snort of unamused laughter through her nose and shook her head. Surely Dende was used to her blurting out random things. Or, at least, he should've been by that point. She didn't bother to correct herself, however, because it was true. She stroked her thumb over his cheek again and again, wanting nothing more in that moment than to pull him into her arms and just hold him.
Dende blinked over at her, his chest pounding at the simple word that escaped her lips. It wrapped around his heart, warming him from the inside out. He leaned into her hand, sighing softly, scooting closer to her. "Someone as wonderful as you shouldn't bear this. You do so much." He closed his eyes, drawing in the good energy from her and concentrated on sending it out into the world.
"No," she said softly. "YOU are the one who does so much for so many. You deserve to be comforted and supported more than anyone." She closed her eyes as well, not really knowing what she was doing, but wanting to help him in any way that she possibly could. So she did the only thing she could think of. She concentrated on opening her mind, her heart, her energy to him so that he could take whatever he needed from her, whether it be comfort or love or strength. Anything he needed.
Dense had to suck in a breathe of air as he felt her mind open. Instead of a jumble of mismatched thoughts and emotions, it was clarity. And a peace he had never felt before. It was taking away his pain. He had the uncanny feeling that he belonged there. He wanted to stay like this forever.
It was like Rose could feel a calm washing over him, like there was a connection between them that she had never known with another person. And then there it was again, that strange sensation that this had happened before, that she'd done this countless times over when in reality she knew that wasn't true. "I'm sorry you've had to do this alone for so long," she whispered without opening her eyes. "I'm sorry you have to bear this burden."
Dende chuckled, "Is it just me or does it feel like deja vu? I think I've heard someone say those words to me before. All the time. This." He didn't know how to put it into words, "But that's silly. I think you would have remembered me. Green skin is hard to forget." He sighed, feeling a few more tears slipping down his cheeks as he felt a fresh wave of despair and hate wash over the world.
Rose opened her eyes, staring into his. "You feel that too?" She blinked, not knowing what to think. "Wow, and here I just thought I was being weird." She grew quiet as she watched more tears slide down his face. She moved closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly as they laid there on the tiles. "Shhhhh," she soothed. "It's okay. I'm here."
Dende took a deep breath, feeling strangely calmed in her embrace. She was doing something to him that he was having trouble understanding. With her draped over his back like this, he felt that he could easily tackle the world's problems. Her energies bound with his own, helping him focus his power and he tried again. He kept his eyes closed as he held his hands over the edge of the Lookout, addressing the pain that he felt as it came to him. He was, well, he wasn't sure what this meant. What she meant if she could be his anchor during the rough parts of this job.
Rose couldn't explain what was happening. It was as though she could feel Dende's emotions as if they were her own. She could feel them lessening, the pain and stress easing. The tears in his eyes were gone and she watched as a look of determination came across his face. She clung tighter to him as he sat them up and got to his feet. She stood behind him, her arms wrapped around his chest and she closed her eyes, her only thoughts centered on comforting him enough to do his work.
It went on like that, the day passing as they quietly began walking around the edge of the Lookout together. Dende slipped an arm around her shoulders as she clung to him, working her own bit of magick. It war was still raging, but somehow with Rose's aid, they had been able to quell the minds, lower a few guns and kept a few people out of their graves. It was a long day and when Dende came out of his trance like state, he blinked and looked to Rose at his side. He hugged her close, "Thank you. I could not have done that alone." He pulled back from her, his hands on her shoulders, "What did you do? How did you know to come here?"
She gave him a soft smile and shook her head. "I don't know," she answered. "But when you didn't show up, I just felt like I had to come to you." She was tired after exerting so much energy. She hadn't even realized she was doing it at the time, but now she could feel the exhaustion creeping into her body. "I don't know how you do this all day every day," she said. She ducked her head, feeling a bit hypocritical. "Here I was, thinking my job was hard. I expected you and Goku to see that. Yet I didn't see how hard your job is. I'm sorry, Dende. I'm not sure whether I should be the pot or the kettle here."
Dende chuckled before he gestured towards the kitchen, "Today was not one of the good days. Come, I daresay you've earned a hot chocolate. I've never had anyone help me like that before. To be honest, I did not even know that was possible." He said as he pulled a chair out for her to sit down, "Let me fix you something to eat, you must be starving." He said as he went about, getting everything ready, "I am sorry for today. It wasn't supposed to be like that"
"It wasn't your fault," she answered, her expression understanding as she watched him move about the kitchen. She'd never been into this part of the Lookout. As a matter of fact, now that she thought about it, she had only been to the Lookout once before, on the day that Goku first introduced her to Dende. And they had traveled there by instant transmission. She had no idea how she even found this place. She had just got into her car and took off, her only thoughts of getting to Dende because, well, he needed her. She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her forehead on her hand, blinking her eyes widely at the table. "That doesn't make any sense," she whispered to herself.
Dende looked over at her as he dumped the packets of hot chocolate into the mugs and filled them with hot water. He carried one to her and set it in front of her, "What doesn't make any sense? There are a lot of things in this world that are confusing." He smiled at her, his heart pounding in his chest. He reached out and covered her hand with his own, "Whatever compelled you to come to me, I am glad you listened. I needed you."
She dropped her other hand and stared into his dark eyes. "But that's what doesn't make sense," she said in a quiet voice. "I don't know how I got here, how I found you. I just got in my car and drove here. Like it was second nature to me, even though I didn't know the way." A spark seemed to shoot up her arm and directly into her heart as he laid his hand over hers. She looked down at their hands; his was so warm over the top of hers. She rather liked the contrast between her pale skin and his emerald green.
He smiled down at her, "Perhaps the fates were listening to you and your needs. Or to mine. I needed someone to help me today and here you are." He sipped at his own hot drink, "It does not matter, you are here and I am very grateful for it. I would not want to see what the world would have looked like, what the world would have screamed at me if I had not been able to work. You are amazing. I'm glad you are here."
She smiled back at him and turned her hand to wrap around his. Her heart seemed to flutter in her chest as she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She had the sudden impulse to just lean forward and capture his lips with her own. What would it be like? Would he pull away from her? Or would he kiss her back? "You're the one who's amazing," she answered breathlessly as she leaned a little closer to him. But the next second, Paige ran into the kitchen, squealing at the top of her lungs, carrying her father's water flask high over her head as the water dripped down onto her and the floor.
"PAIGE!" Piccolo roared from somewhere outside of the kitchen.
Rose quickly pulled back from Dende and blinked down at Paige, clapping a hand to her mouth and giggling, "Uh oh. Someone's causing mischief."
Dende chuckled and looked down at the little one, "Stole your father's flask again, did you? You know that's the only form of acceptable food he will eat." He leaned down and acted like he was telling her a big secret, "I'll bet if you ask real nicely, Mr. Popo will show you a few of his hiding places around the Lookout."
He laughed as her eyes widened and she ran off. He smiled at Rose, "It's never boring up here, but so hard to find someone willing to share what I do. We must be like two peas in a pod, Miss Rose."
She chuckled at him. "Dende, you don't have to call me 'Miss.' I think we know each other well enough now that that's not necessary." She picked up her mug of hot chocolate and sipped at it. She was disappointed that the moment had been interrupted, but perhaps it was for the better. She didn't want to screw up her friendship with him. A sudden thought struck her the next moment. "Hey, Dende, I, ah, I was wondering if maybe you were free next weekend?"
Dende blinked at her, "Next weekend? I think I might be able to move some appointments around. Baring nothing from the Earth, I should be free. Has Goku decided to plan another party?" He asked cautiously. It seemed more and more he was spending precious time away from the tower, but he couldn't help it. There was just something about this woman that made him want to jump through hoops.
"No, not Goku," she answered with a laugh. "It's my friend, Cherie. The one friend I have from high school that I mentioned before? She, well, she's getting married and she told me to bring a date, I mean, a guest!" Rose's face suddenly burned with a blush and she cleared her throat. "Anyway, I don't really want to go alone and I thought that, you know, maybe you would go with me?" She shifted uncomfortably as she awaited his answer. Did Nameks have weddings? Did they attend such things? Of course, Jenny had referred to Piccolo as her husband, so surely this wouldn't be something too outside of the norm for him.
Dende smiled and nodded, "I would love to be your date." He winked at her, "Perhaps if you let me buy dinner and a movie then it will really be a date. Perhaps I'll even ask Jenny for some dance lessons, Maybe Sabriena." He chuckled, or we can be wallflowers and enjoy the good food and good company. I think a wedding is just what we need to lift our spirits after such a long and trying time. It will be good to feel all the positive energy in one place." He looked down at his attire and then back up at her, "Will I need to get a tux for the occasion?"
"I don't think you need a tux, but a nice suit would be good," Rose answered, her face blushing again and her heart leaping as he accepted her invitation. "And I don't dance, Dende," she giggled. "We can just sit back and try to blend into the scenery, if that's okay with you. Really. I love music, but dancing was never my forte."
Dende chuckled, "We can just enjoy each other's company. It can be a date if you want to call it that." He said, "I really don't mind. What time should I pick you up, my lady?"
"It's an afternoon wedding at the park," she answered. "Cherie's lucky that the weather's starting to get warm again. Anyway, I guess you could come by my apartment around three or so on that Saturday. We could walk to the park from my place."
Dende smiled at her and nodded, "Then it's a date. I will be there promptly and we will be on our way." Another thought struck him and he chucked, "That park again? I'm beginning to suspect something about that park. The best things happen when it is just you and me there. Minus the ice."
She giggled and beamed at him. "Oh, I don't know," she grinned, "I kind of liked that, too." No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop smiling at him. "Alright, then. It's a date."