Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Birthday Vegeta ❯ Homeward Bound ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, I am not making money from this story.

Author's Note:

Happy Birthday Vegeta

Chapter Ten

They trudged in silence to the beach. Gohan grabbed the capsules from Bulma's belt and tossed them to Krillin.

"One of those is the jet." his voice rang hollow with exhaustion.

After some searching, and general complaining about the contents of the other capsules, the jet was unencapsulated, and they were on their way back to Capsule Corp. Gohan sat with his legs stretched out in front of him, Bulma curled, asleep on his lap. He frowned at her, worried. The dim cabin lights exaggerated the ragged haircut and the pallor of her skin. His fingers curved around her wrist, surreptitiously checking her pulse. Satisfied, he let his eyes droop closed, and then nearly groaned as he felt Piccolo take the seat next to him. Admittedly it was a comfort, that he could sense his friend, but he was in no mood to talk. There was too much to assimilate before he could talk about it. Hell, he couldn't even think about it until he knew Bulma was going to be okay.

Piccolo sat next to Gohan, stretching his legs out in the opposite direction. His pupil was trying to look relaxed, but he radiated barely leashed tension. Something had definitely happened. But what? What could have challenged Gohan's strength?

"Hostile natives huh?" Came the quietly teasing voice of his Sensei.

"There are different types of hostility." replied Gohan without moving.

"Like the one you are exuding now?"

"Maybe I'd like to be left alone." Gohan said very softly. Piccolo marveled at the veiled threat.

"I'd just like to know what happened." he prodded.

"You're not gonna let this drop are you?" the demi-saiyan snapped angrily. When Piccolo gave no sign of surcease, Gohan changed the subject.. "What happened to you when you went after the fifth ball?"

Silence hung heavily between them, then Piccolo spoke.

"The person holding the fifth ball, was an old friend of Kami's. She wants to renew their acquaintance, and so does Kami."

"What?! I thought Kami sort of died when the two of you fused."

"No, his consciousness is still very much there, she had no trouble reaching him at all...through me." Piccolo's voice was subdued as he recalled a not unpleasant kiss.

"Um, Piccolo? Are you saying she was Kami's," he laughed, an embarrassed sound, "lover?"

"Mmhmmm." he nodded to himself.

Gohan wrestled briefly with curiosity and propriety. Curiosity obviously won because a moment later he opened his mouth again. "I thought Nameks were asexual." He expected Piccolo to hesitate, or yell at him, he did not expect a lecture.

"We choose to reproduce asexually, for a number of reasons, most of them safety related. Namekian sex for non-procreative purposes is fairly similar to human sex, just less, constrained."

Gohan swallowed. Piccolo had only talked with him about this once before, when he was much younger, and not as quick to pick up the subtle inflections in the Namek's voice.

"Less constrained?" he had to ask.

His Sensei snorted. "Fewer moral issues." was his reply.

"What?" Confusion reigned in Gohan's voice.

Piccolo sighed. Only because he loved Gohan like a son would he try to get through this.

"Most humans have self-imposed limitations, restrictive ideas about where sexual pleasure 'should' come from. Meaning, 'the opposite sex.' " Gohan was stunned, but far from speechless.

"Are you saying Nameks are Gay?!" he hissed.

"No." Piccolo growled in frustration. "In fact, that word is a perfect example of those 'self-imposed limitations' I mentioned. I'm saying that Nameks are not hung up on the physical sex of their partners. We appreciate that pleasure comes," he smiled slightly "in many forms."

Gohan was finally quiet, and beginning to relax, just a little.

"Now, will you tell me what the hell happened on that island?"

He started to speak, uncertain that he could put any of it into words.

"I've never been without my ki before." His voice told tales of indescribable vulnerability. "It was like being blind and deaf."

"I noticed." murmured the Namek almost inaudibly.

"They were able to ambush us because I was unable to sense them!" Guilt and frustration raised his voice.

"They were silent, and fast, and they have one hell of a poison dart." Piccolo waited while his son gathered his thoughts.

"I think that's why Bulma's still out - Kami I hope so - I think she got more than one dose, and she's only human."

He continued, "It's effect on me was fairly short-lived, it put me out just long enough for them to tie us up. When I came to we were being taken somewhere, they were talking...I let them think I was still unconscious because I wanted a better opportunity to get us out." His speech halted and he swallowed painfully.

"When they took us to the Queen, I thought I might could negotiate. Even then, Bulma couldn't stand, she was semi-conscious...and the Queen, fell in love with Bulma's hair." His voice cracked. "The color you know? It's pretty amazing." Gohan took a deep breath.

"She ordered the guards to cut off Bulma's head, and bring her the hair." Gohan felt an incredulous, slightly hysterical laugh escape. "I think the only reason the guard disobeyed Mav, was because he wanted Bulma for himself." Piccolo noted his familiar use of the name 'Mav', and he was hard put not to pounce on the significance.

"Were you able to negotiate with the...Queen?" Gohan's body was strumming with that tension again.

"In a manner of speaking." Piccolo inclined his head toward Gohan, in an unseen gesture of encouragement.

In a very small, strangled voice, Gohan said,

"I slept with her."

"What?" It was Piccolo's turn to be stunned. Possibly proud in some perverse, masculine, parental sense, but stunned nonetheless. A completely uncharacteristic grin formed on the Namek's face.

"You, slept...with her." Gohan nodded.

"And this solved things, how?" Piccolo prompted.

Like a recalcitrant child, Gohan's answer was mumbled, and cloaked in tones of humiliation.

"I'm sorry Gohan? What did you say?"

"It rendered her unconscious...and I just walked away." That last part squeaked out in shame, and Piccolo roared.

The Namekian warrior, half-demon, half-god, and surrogate father to this boy, laughed until he cried.

Gohan could have cried himself. As it was, he blushed furiously, greatful that Piccolo couldn't see his mortification. If Bulma didn't get well, he was going to need therapy.

With an odd feeling of relief and a trace of a smile still on his thin lips, Piccolo said,

"Go to sleep Gohan. We can talk more about this later."

Gohan let his head rest on the back of the seat once more. Physically he felt unbearably heavy, his muscles twitching from over exertion. But maybe, it had been okay to talk to Piccolo.

"Piccolo?"

"Hhmmm."

"Can we keep this between us? I can't stand the thought of Krillin and the others..."

"Gohan. This doesn't concern anyone else." The Namek responded irritably, annoyed that Gohan didn't think he would keep his confidence. A companionable silence wrapped around them, and Piccolo finally felt the last of that tension slip away from his son. Thinking him asleep, Piccolo was startled when Gohan spoke.

"Piccolo?" His voice was the soft-quiet of a child almost asleep.

"Hhmmm."

"Are you gonna sleep with her?"

Once more Piccolo was stunned, and then amused.

"I don't think so Gohan. It would be like...sleeping with my brother's wife." Piccolo mused almost to himself.

"But you and Kami...fused...so, you are Kami. Right?"

"That's what Sirabi thought. But he's a whole, separate awareness in my mind Gohan. With his own memories and emotions..."

Kami - It doesn't have to be like that Piccolo.

Piccolo rolled his eyes at the words gently whispered in his head.

"Sirabi huh? Nice name." Gohan teased.

"Go to sleep Gohan."

"Yes Sensei." As Gohan's energy slipped into a deep sleeping pattern, Piccolo rested, with visions of Sirabi dancing in his head.