Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Another Time ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Another Time

By Karete-chan

Chapter 2: We should've seen this coming

If she hadn't been so angry the look on their faces would have been amusing. Something very close to shock featured on all of them. Her sensei's servant quickly turned his to alarm.

She was about to demand to know who the strangers were when she suddenly remembered a very important fact that the day's events had pushed to the back of her mind. ~He's not allowed to be here.~ She crouched into a fighting stance.

For the first time that day she spoke. "You're not supposed to be here, Piccolo." Her voice rang clear and confident across the open space. It was obvious she was used to getting her way.

The tall green man then did the last thing she expected. He smiled. A very small smile. It was short lived as the face of her sensei's servant, Mr. Popo, obscured her vision.

His well-refined voice broke through her anger. "No, you do not understand. Piccolo is no danger."

"What?" Her eyes flicked back to the green giant. "The Piccolo I know is a ruthless killer."

"There are many things you don't know anymore."

~No shit, Sherlock.~ She was in a bad mood but she stayed silent. Mr. Popo never lied. Slowly she relaxed her stance but kept her eyes on Piccolo.

"Mr. Popo", she forced herself to be calm. "What is going on and who were all those people? No-one is supposed to be up here. And where is Kami?"

She allowed her self a quick glance at the short man. His eyes were downcast and he stayed silent. Instead her answer came from the one she least expected.

The child spoke with a confidence that was rarely seen in one so young. "I think that before we give you answers, you should tell us who you are."

"No." The voice of Piccolo fell on everyone's ears. "That won't be necessary. I know who she is."

All three pairs of eyes turned to look at her.

"How can you know who I am? You never came up here."

"Like Mr. Popo said, there's a lot you don't know anymore. Or ever did." He smirked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, giving him a wary look.

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "It was too much to hope you'd changed." The child looked between Piccolo and herself, looking as bewildered as she felt. "I think it's time someone told you what was going on, Kat."

*****

Piccolo sighed. He had talked well into the night and he was tired. ~I never knew that yapping could tire you so much.~ He turned to look at the girl. She was sitting on the edge of the compound, dangling her legs over the side. He knew that this was a favorite place of hers to sit in. Dende was with her. She still refused to speak but otherwise Piccolo thought that she had taken the news well. Though he doubted that she would have believed him had Mr. Popo not been there agreeing with every word he said.

Kami should have told her sooner but Piccolo conceded that he had done a good job with her. Possibly a better one than he would have with Gohan. She was no fool. Which was surprising considering.

His mind flashed back to the previous day. He'd had the surprise of his life when she had stepped out of that doorway. Memories that hadn't been his flashed across his mind about who this strange girl was. ~Yeah Kami did a good job with her but there really were some things he should have mentioned.~

He sighed and began to meditate.

*****

Dende watched. He was good at that. The girl hadn't moved in an hour and no matter how hard he tried to speak to her, she just ignored him. So he watched and took notice.

From what he had seen so far she could get angry very quickly but was able to control it (barely) in the face of reason. She was almost as strong as some of the Z fighters but that wasn't surprising considering the story her just heard.

He studied her face again. Nothing. No emotion played across her features. ~What could she be thinking? How were you supposed to act when you received news like that?~ He looked in the direction she was staring. No, he hadn't missed anything; there was nothing in the clear blue sky. Movement caught his eye.

Kat had bowed her head and shut her eyes. The she sighed.

"You're wondering what I'm thinking," she said without looking at him.

"Yes," replied Dende.

She turned to look at him. "It was Dende, wasn't it?"

He nodded.

"Well then, Dende, I was thinking about how something so unbelievable and far-fetched could possibly be true. Especially when I know that it is."

"How do you know?" the young Namek asked. He watched as her dark eyes studied his face. It was a while before her answer came.

"Because Mr. Popo never lies," she paused. "But also because that far-fetched and unbelievable story explains a lot."

"How?"

She stuck him with a penetrating gaze causing him to sit back. ~How do they do that?~

"You're a nosy one aren't you? Still I suppose it is part of the job description," she smiled sadly. "And you've already heard the rest."

She sighed and the smile vanished. "From what I can understand some, no most, of the things that happened in my childhood, that made me feel so out of place was because of a past I didn't know I had," she shook her head and laughed hollowly. "Next time `round I'll know to ask more questions," she jerked her head up. "Speaking of which…."

Before Dende could stop her she was halfway across the compound striding towards Piccolo. He hurried after her.

*****

As Kat approached, Piccolo looked up.

"Hmm, I'm going to have to teach you how to hide your ki better."

She stopped a few feet from him. "I don't think that lessons are the best way to go at the moment. Besides I did a pretty good job when I was watching the fight."

He shot her a look. "We were a bit occupied," he replied dryly. "And since when do you refuse lessons?"

She ignored him. "You never answered my question before."

"I should think you had been given enough information to last a lifetime."

"But it didn't answer my question."

Piccolo smiled to himself. "My, you lot are impatient."

"I don't have a lot," she huffed.

"You do. You just haven't met them yet," he paused. "I already told you who they were."

"But you didn't tell me who was who and what they were doing."

He looked at her incredulously. "You couldn't work out who they were yourself? You must be slipping, Kat."

"Give me a break, I've had enough to think about."

Piccolo looked at the girl that he had only met yesterday but had known for almost her whole life. ~She never would have been this rude to Kami.~ He snorted by way of answer.

"I'm assuming the bad guy was the one with the bad fashion sense. The one in green and black?"

"You should never assume anything," he said automatically then sighed. "But yes. They were fighting Perfect Cell. The latest bastard from a long list of bastards who have tried to destroy the Earth. Or at least those who live on it. Well one person who lived here anyway."

"Why destroy a whole world to get at one person?"

Piccolo eyed her carefully. "Gokou managed to make lots of enemies while he was alive," he snorted. "I should know, I used to be one."

"So then that was Gohan who destroyed Cell?" she whistled. "He only looked about fifteen."

"He's only eleven."

"E…eleven?" she sat down heavily. "He…he's just a kid."

Piccolo nodded. He waited for her to process the information. Slowly she turned to face him again.

"So," she said. "Who were the other two with the hair thing?"

"They would be Vegeta and his son Trunks. The `hair thing' as you call it is what they call Super Saiya-jin. And here's a piece of advice kid. Don't refer to it as the `hair thing' in front of Vegeta. Not unless you want to be in a great deal of pain."

"Thanks…I think. And?"

"And what?"

"Well, which one's which?"

"Trunks is the one with the purple hair."

"Right. What about the others?"

Piccolo sighed, this was worse than Twenty Questions. "Yamcha was the one with hair, the other two are Krillen and Tien. Krillen is the short one."

Kat shut her eyes and mumbled to herself. "Yamcha…had scars, Tein…three eyes and Krillen…he was the one with no nose and the crush on…" she looked up. "Who was the girl?"

"That used to be one of our problems. She's an android. Goes by the name of Juuhachi-gou."

"Number eighteen? Why was she a problem?"

"Because she was a contender on `I want to destroy everything' before Cell showed up. I doubt she'll try anything now. Not with Gohan around."

"Oh." She went back to staring into space.

"Piccolo?" said Dende.

"What?"

"Why didn't Kami tell her earlier?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"I thought you fused with Kami," said Kat quietly. "Wouldn't that give you his memories? Of course maybe it doesn't. You certainly didn't inherit his personality."

"Kami and Piccolo had a deal…"

She rounded on him. "You are Piccolo."

"No, I'm not. I took his name and his form for the convenience of the moment. What use would an old man have been?"

"So you do have his memories."

"It's selective. I know things he knows but I don't know the reasons behind the actions."

Sighing Kat stood up. "I need to digest this a bit more. I'll be in my room if you remember anything else that may change my life drastically." She turned and almost walked straight into Mr. Popo.

"Where've you been Popo?" asked Piccolo. Kat scowled at his lack of respect.

"I thought," the small man said. "That Kat may like something to eat before she retires."

Kat's ears immediately pricked up. "Food? Where?"

Mr. Popo beckoned her over to the house and she followed. Piccolo turned to Dende. "Well if we had any doubt about who she is, we don't now." Dende struggled to stifle a giggle.

*****

Kat didn't wake up until the following morning. ~Ugh. I slept too long; I'm all stiff and my head hurts.~ She splashed some water on her face then headed outside.

She found Piccolo and Dende where she had left them yesterday. They were conversing in low voices but looked up when she approached.

"Good morning," said Dende cheerily. Piccolo merely nodded in her general direction.

"Good morning, Dende," she replied pointedly. Piccolo snorted.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" asked the small Namek.

"I think so," she sighed. "I mean, it's a bit pointless learning all about these people and then not going to meet them. Of course I just can't show up and announce who I am. By the sounds of it I'd just get my head ripped off. Which means I'd have to take someone they know with me who knows the whole sorry story," she looked over at Piccolo. "And the only person who does is grumpy here."

"That's Mr. Grumpy to you, smart mouth," came Piccolo's reply. "I'll take you but not today."

"Why not?"

He gave her another one of his looks. "We just fought the biggest battle of our lives and you want to go and annoy them two days later? Some things take time to get over. Besides, you've already waited all this time. What are a few more days? Plus Gohan won't be allowed to see anyone on a weekday. He has to study."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"What?"

"Studying. What's wrong with that?"

Piccolo smirked. "Kid, you're going to fit right in."

*****

Dende watched as Kat performed a series of back flips followed by a flawless spin kick. Just watching her train was giving him a headache. ~How do they move so fast without getting dizzy?~ She stared kicking and punching at thin air. ~I wonder if they know how funny they look when they're not actually fighting anyone?~

"Will you stop gawking?" came the annoyed voice of Kat.

"Huh?"

"Stop watching me. It's annoying having someone stare at you for so long."

"Maybe he's staring because he's never seen anyone fight as badly as you before," said Piccolo as he came out of the house.

She turned on him. "There's nothing wrong with the way I fight."

"Possibly. But you could be better. At the level you're at now even Mr. Satan could beat you."

"Satan? Who's he?"

"He's the current Martial Arts Tournament champion. He was at the fight. Didn't do much though."

"But there weren't any other fighters except for you guys. The only other people there were pathetically weak...oh, ha ha, very funny."

"You said it not me."

"You tricked me into saying that. I'm not weak," she fumed.

Piccolo smirked and folded his arms. "I suppose I'll have to bring you up to speed. I've got nothing else to do."

"Oh, I suppose that if you did have something to do I wouldn't be worth training," she said, turning her back on him.

"Did you want to spar or not?" He was starting to get annoyed with her.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" she asked as she prepared her first attack.

*****

Two nights later Kat collapsed on to her bunk. "Damn. I'm never going to move again." There was a knock at her door. She didn't look up. "What?" she yelled. Mr. Popo entered the room. Kat jumped. "Mr. Popo! I didn't realize it was you. I'm sorry for yelling."

He chuckled. "It's okay Kat. You've had a hard day."

"No kidding. I feel like a brick has been thrown at my head." She flopped back onto her bunk.

"Piccolo, I think, is somewhat worse than a brick. He's more like a whole truck full," he chuckled again. "He asked me to tell you that he would take you to see them tomorrow."

"Why didn't he just tell me himself?"

"He mentioned something about trying to remember. Anyway I had to let you know that dinner was ready."

She jumped up all pain forgotten. "You're too good, you know that Mr. Popo?"

He just smiled.

*****

Piccolo found Kat standing at the edge of the compound. "Are you ready to go?"

"I suppose." She had her hair up in a ponytail and it swished around her shoulders as she turned to face him. He eyed her, she looked different today and it wasn't because of the hair. She had her arms wrapped around her and she kept her eyes on the ground.

~She's nervous?~ "Are you sure?"

She took a deep breath, dropped her arms and looked him in the eye. "Yes."

"Let's go then." He took off in to the sky and she followed, pausing just long enough to turn and wave goodbye to Dende. She really didn't feel well. Nervousness was something of a rare occurrence to her. She sighed and followed the small speck in the sky that was Piccolo.

*****

As the domed roof of Son Gokou's house came into view Piccolo suddenly wondered what would happen if nobody believed them. He wasn't so much worried about Gohan but about ChiChi. Sure he had evidence but that meant he had to rely on Vegeta. Now probably wasn't the best time to tell them but Kat had been growing restless and he supposed that she owed it to her to meet them. He smirked as he thought of what ChiChi and Kat would make of each other. As he got closer he could see a small figure waving madly at him. It couldn't be anyone but Gohan. ~Yeah, yeah, kid I see you.~

He landed and Gohan immediately ran up to him. "Piccolo-san!"

"Hey kid."

"I didn't think we'd see you so soon."

"Yeah well someone's gotta look out for you."

Gohan laughed.

"Hey kid, is ChiChi around?"

"Mum? No she went to the market with grandpa…hey, who's that?"

Piccolo turned around in time to see Kat land just meters away. She had her eyes locked on Gohan, looking at him in wonder.

"That is the reason I wanted to know if ChiChi was here."

Gohan looked at him quizzically. "Why'd you bring a girl here Piccolo?" he asked. "Is she yours?" he added mischievously.

"No!"

Gohan fell over laughing at the look on Kat's face. "Sorry Piccolo-san but you should see her face. I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so horrified."

Piccolo growled. "You're pushing it kid."

"Sorry Piccolo-san *giggle*, I'm all right now."

Piccolo beckoned to Kat and she walked over to them. She watched as Gohan turned to get a better look at her. After minute he screwed up his face in concentration.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," he said.

"Hello to you too," she replied.

"Oh excuse me." He held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Gohan."

She took it. "I know. My name is Kat."

"So we have met." His face brightened.

"No, this is the first time."

"But I know I've seen you somewhere before." He studied her face again. "In fact if I didn't know better I'd say you looked like…"

"…your dad," finished Piccolo.

"Yeah," said Gohan slowly. "How did you know I was going to say that?"

"Because she does."

Gohan turned to face him. "Huh?"

Piccolo sighed. ~Here we go.~ "She looks like your dad because she's his sister."

"What!?" Gohan swung around to look at Kat. Her face remained blank. "That's impossible Piccolo-san. I mean Vegeta said there aren't any Saiya-jin left. And look at her. Even if she was from the future like Trunks she's too young."

"Then you're not going to like what I have to say next."

Gohan looked at him. "What?"

"They're twins." There was an audible thump as the strongest warrior on Earth fainted.