Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slumber Party! ❯ A Curse Or A Gift? ( Chapter 8 )

Tori knew she shouldn't have used her pyrokenesis, she tossed on the sofa, kicking the covers to the floor, falling in and out of nightmares like a drowning victim rising and then plunging headlong into the darkness of the ocean, pulled down by their own fear and helplessness.

She did not realize that she had been moving about so fitfully, in her mind were images of terror and pain she could not fathom where they came from. All she knew was that she felt in the grasp of some unspeakable horror and it was all she could do to struggled away from it in her sleep.

"Tori!" She moaned, hearing someone call her name, it sounded so far away, from over rolling hills perhaps, She wondered, in that small spark of herself that still had conherent thought, if it were not just another aspect of the nightmare, "Tori!"

She became aware of hands on her shoulders, shaking her, not roughly, but it enough force to cause her head to whip back and forth. She raised her hands to fend off her attacker and, still cause in the throes of her dream, lashed out blindly at whoever it was that was trying to rouse her.

She heard a sharp intake of breath and then someone slapped her hard across the face, waking her instantly. She blinked, holding one hand to her stinging cheek, and struggled to remove the cobwebs from her mind, she shook her head in confusion, uncertain where she was at first.

Then she remembered. Bulma. The slumber party. Piccolo. Her gaze darted to the candles atop the mantle. The candles.

"You've got a night right hook there." She looked up and saw Vegeta floating a few inches from her, rubbing his jaw, "But, I wouldn't think trying to wake you from a bad dream would warrant such treatment."

"Oh! You.." She faltered, realizing what must have happened, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…Thank you..."

She realized how stupid she must sound, and sighed, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. She was still a bit shaky and held onto the blanket to hide her near nudity, since she realized that she'd not bothered to get dressed or back into her night clothes after the strip poker game.

"What are you doing?" She started as he came up behind her, she hadn't realized that one could be so silent, She was looking through the cupboards in search of something, "If your hungry, there's food in the fridge…"

Her stomach turned at the thought of food. She shook her head and said; "I just want some tea. Do you have any tea?"

"How am I soppose to know?" He snapped, "Do I look like Martha Stewart to you?"

"Nevermind." She said, "I'll find it myself, if you guys even have any…Ah! Here we are…"

"Well, since you woke me up," He said, "I may as well start the day…"

"Sure." She said, dropping the teabag into a cup of water and shoving the whole thing into the microwave, "Have a good day." She said, absently, still lost in her own thoughts. Vegeta made a noise something akin to a snort and a growl and left her.

The sun was coming up. She checked her watch and saw that it was about six in the morning. Everyone else, save for Vegeta, were still abed and she did not wish to wake them. The microwave made the customary dinging sound and she took her tea from it, dumped in about two teaspoons ful of sugar and stirred it with a spoon taken from a drawer.

She carried it outside, out back, and saw down on the dew-damped grass near the little fishpond. She pulled her blanket tighter about her shoulders and held the cup of fragrent liquid under her nose, enjoying the scent and feel of the tendrils of steam that rose to tickle her nose. She lowered the cup and held it in her hands, knowing that to drink it right away would be to risk scalding her tongue, and instead watched the ripples of the pond, the lanquid movement somehow relaxed her and made her feel at peace with herself.

Tori did not know percisely how long she had sat there, holding the cup of steadily cooling tea in her hands and gazing out at the fishpond, but she became aware of someone watching her and slowly came out of her reverie with an inward sigh. She turned slightly and saw Piccolo not far behind her, floating, actually, in the same posision she'd seen him in a few times since her arrival yesterday night.

"Your up early." She said, taking a sip of her tea, she winced, too much sugar, and set the cup down beside her.

"The same could be said for you." He said by way of answering her, she shrugged, and said; "Vegeta woke me."

Piccolo did not say anything but floated down and sat beside her on the grass, not minding the wetness of the morning dew and waited. After a few moments passed between them, Tori said; "Do you ever get nightmares?"

"I see disturbing imagery in my mediations…sometimes." He said, slowly, not sure if that was what she meant.

"No, I mean..." She paused, stumbled, unsure, she shook her head, "I don't know…"

"Are they bad?" He asked, sensing her need to talk, but not knowing exactly how to go about it.

She sighed, nodded and said; still gazing at the ripples in the pond, "I only have them after I've used my power…I don't know why…Sometimes…" Her voice falterd, became small, even with his sensitive hearing, Piccolo had to strain her hear her, "Sometimes I think my power is a curse…"

"It's not a curse, Tori." He said, reaching out to cup her chin in his hand, turning her face towards his, forcing her to look into his ebony eyes, "You just need to learn how to better control it. Then the nightmares will leave you. But, it's not a curse."

"If only I could believe that…" She said, "If only…"

"You will." Piccolo said, releasing her face and standing up, she was amazed at exactly how large he was, all strength and muscle but she felt that his greatest strength did not lay in his physical body at all. "Trust in yourself."

She did not answer, only turned back to the fishpond, watching the tiny ripples as the fish darted back and forth beneath the surface. One dived upwards, snatching a careless fly who had buzzed too near the water, Piccolo was gone by the time it had vanished back beneath the water, hapless fly and all.