Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The One Who Comforts ❯ Acknowledgement ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters

 

Chapter 7-Acknowledgement

 

Expanding his chest to take in a deep breath, Piccolo slowly drew in air and then exhaled it through his nostrils. Standing on the edge of a flat-topped butte in the middle of the desert, he watched as the sun slowly started to peak above the edge of the horizon. The day promised to be beautiful in this part of the world, and the early morning sunrise was something that he enjoyed watching. Wryly, he wondered if Chi-Chi had ever woken up early just to watch the sky change colors from dusky indigo to vibrant orange and then finally to light blue. There was no doubt in his mind that she was up before the sun welcomed the day, but he doubted she took the time to enjoy the special pleasures this world offered.

 

Within a few moments, the sun was hanging low in the eastern sky, bathing the surrounding rock formations in a deep shade of orange flecked with dark shadows. As of yet, the temperature was still bearable but in less then two hours, the heat would become oppressive and he'd have to move somewhere else to concentrate on meditating. Still, with what time he was afforded, he settled himself in and levitated about a foot off the ground, his legs and arms crossed as he closed his eyes and lost himself inside the void.

 

A sense of peace and balance washed through his body, something that had been missing for the last few months. Still…he continued to harbor a deep-rooted sense of discomfort. He'd all but made a fool of himself in front of Chi-Chi and then there was the thought of Gohan. What would Gohan think? What would Gohan say? These ideas were still very fresh and new to Piccolo, just as he was trying to adjust himself to finally accepting what it was he had been feeling towards Chi-Chi since he had become much more familiar with her and the workings of her family without Goku.

 

Unconsciously sighing, he separated his mind from the discomfort he was feeling and slowly once again found himself in synch with his body. Minutes blended into one another and he could feel the penetrating heat of the sun as it slowly rose higher in the sky. A slight sheen of perspiration started to bead on his head and neck, yet he did not move from his spot or waken from the deep trance he was in, even when he suddenly felt the presence of an incoming ki and the very audible sound of footfalls hitting the surrounding gravel with a crunch.

 

Not saying anything to the uninvited guest, he waited as they stepped closer to him and then stopped, feeling indecision blaring through the subtle audio clues they unintentionally gave off. Opening one of his eyes, he turned it towards the person who was standing uncomfortably next to him, their foot scrapping away rocks and gravel as it moved back and forth nervously.

 

“What is it Gohan?”

 

The boy stopped his nervous gesture and then blushed deeply before replying to his question.

 

“Umm, Piccolo? If it's not too much trouble…I wanna talk to you about something.”

 

He could have told the boy he was in the middle of meditating, but he was positive that whatever Gohan wanted to talk to him had to do with the nature of his relationship with Chi-Chi. Well, he was still trying to sort that all out, but he knew that he had to be honest with Gohan, especially since the boy had witnessed him when he wasn't himself after that ridiculous blow to the head. Nodding his head curtly, he waited for Gohan to start asking the inevitable questions that would no doubt come to his mind. Yet all the boy did was start to shift the gravel around with his foot once more. Narrowing his eyes, he felt his patience starting to slip as he sat there listening for some sort of response.

 

“Are you going to tell me what the problem is, or are you going to dig a hole in the rock face with your foot? You didn't track me down for nothing and I don't have the patience to sit and wait for you to get your nerve back.”

 

His comments seemed to snap Gohan back to reality as the boy glanced nervously over to where he was glowering at him. Taking a step back, his student pulled back his shoulders and firmed his resolve.

 

“It's…well, it's something important. But it's getting really hot out here and I'd rather talk somewhere else.”

 

With that said, Gohan backed away a few feet and then took off, streaking across the sky and disappearing over the horizon with a sparkle of light. Getting to his feet, Piccolo brushed off some of the dust that had blown onto him from the constant breeze and locked onto Gohan's ki before taking off and following his student.

 

Before long, the desert terrain below him changed to rolling plains and soon, the plains gave way to the expanse of the ocean. Sensing Gohan's ki, he realized that the boy and stopped near the coast. Within fifteen minutes, he found where Gohan was sitting underneath a palm tree and landed near him, walking across the shifting sand as the waves gently rolled in and over his shod feet.

Crossing his arms, he sat down next to Gohan and once again found himself waiting for the kid to spit out what was on his mind. He felt uneasy at the prospect of what sort of conversation Gohan was going to bring up, not having had experience in this realm and still not sure about how to put into words what his relationship was with Chi-Chi. And he had a fairly clear idea that this was what Gohan wanted to talk to him about.

 

He watched as Gohan picked up a fallen coconut and fiddled with it in his hands before he decided to open his mouth and talk.

 

“Like I said Piccolo, I want to, um, talk to you about something. I mean, it's more like I want to find out about this thing that's been bothering me for a while. So here it…here it is. What exactly do you want with my mother?”

 

Turning his head slightly, it wasn't hard to read Gohan's expression. His mouth was down turned into a slight frown and there was a wrinkle of concern between his eyes. All in all, he looked more worried then angry, but there was no doubt in Piccolo's mind that Gohan wasn't exactly pleased with what it was he suspected between himself and Chi-Chi. If he had been a typical human, he would have run his hands through his hair nervously and stammered out an apologetic answer. However, he wasn't human and that wasn't his personality. It was better in the long run to get things out in the open and the air cleared before some dangerous misconception took place. And in all honesty, he would have found it strange if Gohan had not had some concern about his mother and the people that she chose to associate with, although it did make him internally feel uncomfortable. Letting out a breath, he shifted his position in the sand before answering.

 

“I'm not going to beat around the bush or tell you some ridiculous story. You should know me well enough by now to understand that I don't say anything nor do anything unless I mean it one hundred percent. I wanted to make sure your mother was taking care of herself and that she was also taking care of you to the best of her ability. That's how it all started, at any rate.”

 

Gohan nodded his head, but the frown on his face deepened slightly.

 

“What can I say, Gohan? I don't have…much experience in the realm of human emotional attachments. You were the first person I came to care about, teaching me that it was possible to want to find companionship with others. And as you've grown, I've changed as well. It's not like I intentionally got caught up in the happenings of your family. It just…happened. And the desire to have more than one emotional attachment happened as well.”

 

Gohan nodded his head slowly in understanding, which relieved Piccolo slightly, but this face still looked unhappy…and perhaps, slightly disappointed.

 

“So, I guess I can ask you this Piccolo. Do you…are you in love with my mom?”

 

Was he in love with Chi-Chi? Catching himself off guard at the bluntness of Gohan's question, Piccolo grunted a non-committal sound before turning to watch as the whitecaps pounded against the shoreline. He was attracted to her, he found he enjoyed her company even though she was temperamental most of the time, and he had found himself making sacrifices in his own life to make sure she was all right and well cared for. But did that necessarily point to the sort of love that humans spouted off their tongues like honey dripping from a honeycomb? He didn't understand, or more to the point, he didn't understand what his own heart was telling him.

 

Thinking briefly, he shook his head no in response to Gohan's question.

 

“I don't believe you. Stop lying to yourself and stop lying to me. And most of all, stop lying to my mother! It was bad enough that dad just left us like he did, but she doesn't need any more disappointment in her life. And in case you didn't know it, she…she likes you a lot Piccolo. Like you're her boyfriend or something!”

 

Piccolo wasn't completely surprised by Gohan's angry outburst. The boy seemed to possess this uncanny knack of being able to decipher the true feelings behind a person's actions, much like his father had been able to. However, being accused of being a liar was unsettling to Piccolo, especially hearing the accusation from his closest friend, for all intents and purposes. Quirking his brow, he observed as Gohan let out some of his internal frustration by standing up and chucking the coconut he had been playing with out into the wide expanse of the ocean before him. Immediately, the water parted as the coconut sliced through the surf, leaving a visible tunnel across the surface of the water. Clearing his throat, he had to come up with something to say that would relieve the boy of whatever worries it was he had in concern over the relationship he had with Chi-Chi.

 

“Gohan, I can tell you're not happy. Well, anyone with a decent set of eyes can tell you aren't happy. At any rate, you want to hear the truth, or at least what you perceive to be the truth. In all honesty, I don't know what it is that I feel and think about your mother. She is…special? She's special to me, just as you are. But I guess she's special in a different way. Bah, I'm not good at talking about feelings. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?”

 

Gohan pulled his fingers through his hair and nodded his head in a negative motion before awkwardly sitting back down in the sand next to Piccolo.

 

“I don't because it sounds to me like you're just trying to skirt around the issue.”

 

“And what exactly is the issue?”

 

He could hear Gohan growl in frustration as he clenched his hands into fists and screwed his face into an angry expression.

 

“That you're….that you're in love with my mother! And that you're trying to take the place of my father! I mean, come on Piccolo! I wasn't born yesterday, and the fact that you spent the night in our house in my mom's bedroom two days ago has to mean something! People don't just spend the night like that and then disappear for two days unless something happened. And because of what you did, my mom has started to act funny again, like the way she was after dad died.”

 

Those comments took Piccolo by surprise. Well, perhaps it wasn't so surprising that Gohan had known he had spent the night in the same room as Chi-Chi. And, come to think of it, it probably seemed to Gohan like something significant had happened between Chi-Chi and himself. He supposed that was true, in its own way. He had hashed out some of the things he had been feeling about her and she had admitted to having an attachment towards him. However, now this whole conglomeration of emotions between himself and the shrewish female were entering a new realm of absurdity and Gohan was stuck in the middle. And, as it was turning out, his need to finally put to rest the continual discomfort he had been feeling for the last months before returning back the Son household had apparently given Chi-Chi the wrong idea. Internally grimacing, he could kick himself for just expecting her to understand when in reality, she had always had the tendency to form ideas in her head that weren't necessarily true to the point where she would convince herself of their validity.

 

“Gohan, calm down and think about this rationally. Why would I want to take the place of your father? What point would there be if I did something like that? I'm not Goku and I don't…desire what it was that he had.”

 

Liar. He already accused you of being one and that's just what you are. A liar.

 

“Then if you don't desire what he had, why did you sleep with my mother? How come you've made her fall in love with you? Why Piccolo?”

 

The raw anguish in Gohan's voice made Piccolo visibly wince. He hadn't meant to hurt the boy or his mother. In fact, the opposite was true. Yet, it seemed that the end result of this entire incident had only lead back to pain and suffering for all parties involved. It was turning into a mess of huge proportions and he wasn't sure how to change the situation without readily confronting Gohan with the feelings he had disclosed to Chi-Chi.

 

Well Piccolo, the only way to fix things is to be honest with yourself and with him, just like you said you were going to be.

 

Turning his face towards the water, Piccolo thought of how to explain things to Gohan, including his misconception about what had happened between himself and Chi-Chi when he had given in to her desire for him to spend the night together. Closing his eyes briefly, he brought together his chaotic thoughts, his uneasy feelings, and his need to rectify things for Gohan's sake into one single point. Relaxing slightly, he forced himself to feel in control before finally explaining the truth about how things had shifted since Goku's death.

 

Pulling his eyelids upward, he glanced over to where Gohan was sitting tersely with his arms crossed as he waited for him to make a decision: to either explain things or ignore his concerns. He knew Gohan was sensitive and as he had mentioned countless times in the past, it wasn't his style to skirt around or avoid confrontations over uncomfortable topics of discussion. Or at least, it hadn't been his style until recently. Exhaling slightly, he noticed as Gohan's eyes narrowed expectantly before he answered his concerns.

 

“Gohan, I don't know if what I feel for your mother is…love, in the sense of how a human would categorize it. It's more akin to wanting a sense of community, to being a part of something greater than myself. I tried to explain it to her, how I have come to want to be more deeply entwined with your family the more time I have spent with both you and her. But there is no denying the fact that…I enjoy her company and I have grown to resent how Goku threw away something as significant as your mother…and yourself.”

 

Whatever Gohan had been expecting to hear from him, that hadn't been it. His eyes widened visibly and his mouth dropped slightly before he shook his head to clear away the apparent shock he was going through.

 

“You…you feel that way about my dad?”

 

Shaking his head, Piccolo replied.

 

“I do. But understand this Gohan: perhaps a small part of me…wants what he had and decided to shed. In the past, I never wanted that sort of liability, at least on a conscious level. But underneath the underneath…that apparently is an entirely different story. I can't explain it and I don't expect you to understand, but my desire to make sure you were well taken care of has lead to a blossoming of feelings? Of feelings that I have always had but have never taken the time to explore or understand. I never intended for things to have ended up as out of control as they have become. And your mother…well, she has the tendency to over react. I don't know what stupid idea she's planted in her head about my disappearance, but I suppose I'll have to fix that. Baka, overly emotional female.”

 

He smiled wryly over his last statement, an image of a very pregnant Chi-Chi trying to hammer him over the head with her frying pan coming to mind. Schooling his smile back into a thoughtful expression, he turned his attention back to Gohan and the uncomfortable discussion the two of them were having.

 

“Goku is and has always been a fool and an idiot in the extreme. I can't deny that the sacrifice he made was probably done for the best of intentions, but he could have at least taken the time to see how is actions would affect the people closest to him. I don't want to replace him or the memories you have of him or that your mother has of him. However, I care deeply for you and for…your mother and I will always make sure that the two of you will have what you need to survive.”

 

Watching Gohan, he wasn't sure if his message had been clear enough or if the boy's concerns had been waylaid somehow. For the moment, his head was bent over his hands as he fidgeted slightly, his toes burying themselves in the sand as he thought. Slowly, he raised his face and then moved his head slightly towards him before speaking.

 

“I…thanks Piccolo. I mean, for wanting to take care of mom and me...and the new baby when it comes. I can see why you would want to do that, I guess. But I think something has to be made clear to you, at least the way I see things.”

 

Straightening his body upright, Gohan turned his face around fully so that he was gazing directly into Piccolo's dark eyes.

 

“You keep saying you don't know what it is you feel for my mom, that you aren't sure if it's love the way humans feel love. Well, I've known you for a long time and I've seen how you've been acting since dad died. At first, when you started looking after mom, and me, you were really aloof to her and grouchy. But then, it started to change and she started to become…become really happy, especially when you'd show up. I mean, it didn't take me too long to figure out that she liked you Piccolo. And I kinda wondered if you felt the same way.”

 

“I had my suspicions, but you're always so reserved about stuff and when I tried to get you to fess up, you'd just get mad at me. Well, I know the truth now, even if you still can't see it. Or maybe, it's just hard for you to admit to having such…such human feelings to begin with. It's more than obvious to me that you love my mom. It has been for a while, but it's hard for me to get used to the idea of another man taking the place of my dad, even though he made his choice to leave mom and me by ourselves. So, I'm sort of sorry for being angry with you, but you've gotta stop lying to yourself about what you think about my mom. She's convinced she crossed a line by letting you sleep over, although she hasn't told me anything. It's just that she isn't really sure about you, and now she's afraid of losing you too. And even if I don't like the thought of somebody filling in where my dad left off, I'd rather it be you then some strange person I've never met and have no idea what they'd be like. At least with you, I know all about you.”

 

Gohan's words struck a feeling deep within Piccolo's heart. He felt…happy to know that the son of his former rival wasn't completely against his developing relationship with Chi-Chi. And he also felt a certain amount of relief, finally having this much needed discussion even if he had been trying to avoid it because of his own uncertainties. Certainly, there were issues that needed to be resolved, and no matter what Gohan thought about his love for Chi-Chi, he still wasn't sure if that was what he really felt. His own views of human love were tainted with the experience of watching first Yamcha and then Krillin make idiots of themselves over the supposed females they were attracted to. Well, since he couldn't act in that particular way, he had decided long ago that love was purely ridiculous and foolish, even when he could acknowledge love for Gohan such as a father would feel for their offspring. However, it was different with Chi-Chi. He certainly didn't have any paternal feelings in regards to her. Grunting to himself in frustration, he pushed those uncomfortable thoughts to the back of his mind and stood up.

Watching a crab scuttle across the sand from where he had disturbed it with his foot, Piccolo turned towards where Gohan was seated.

 

“Let's head back. I suppose I'm going to have to knock some sense into your mother's head about worrying herself over something stupid. And I'm sure you have studying you're supposed to be doing. It's probably in your best interest to get back to the books, unless you want your ass blistered from that frying pan of hers.”

 

Smiling slightly, he observed Gohan as he stood up and stretched, chuckling slightly over his attempt at making a joke.

 

“Yeah, I guess you're right Piccolo. But I'd be more worried about what she's going to do to you. You're in deep trouble! And I'm not going to feel the least bit sorry when you walk out of our house today bawling your eyes out. Sucker!”

 

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, he was about to slap Gohan in the back of the head when the boy smacked his butt in a lewd gesture and then took off towards Mount Pazou. Frowning slightly, he wondered if this was just a stage of development Gohan was going through or if he was going to have to talk to Master Roshi about keeping his perversions to himself whenever Gohan happened to decide to visit the island. If indeed, those gestures were related to human sexuality. It wasn't like Gohan to act like that, but then again, he was a growing into manhood and he supposed acting like that came with the territory. Shaking his head, he powered up and then followed Gohan's energy trail back towards the place he had unintentionally been avoiding.

 

Once again, as he was soaring through the air, he watched the terrain below him change as he moved in a northwesterly direction. The warm air from the coast changed and before long, the temperature was frigid as he moved into the mountain range where Gohan's home was located.

 

Within a few minutes, he found himself standing just outside the doorway of the small house Chi-Chi and Gohan shared. His breath billowed out in white puffs as he stood poised to knock on the door, the cold hair making his exposed skin prickle up in reaction to the temperature. His hand was about to strike the wooden surface, when the door burst open and the woman he apparently needed to talk to was standing directly in front of him.

 

She was bundled up to protect herself from the cold so that only her dark eyes and the pale skin around them were exposed to the air. Taking a step back in surprise, he quickly regained his equilibrium when he snatched the pail she had been holding out of the air before it hit the ground with a loud clatter as she let go of it in fright.

 

Feeling unusually tense, he set the pail down next to him on the stoop and took in a steadying breath before he waited for her to start screaming at him. Instead, all she did was step back into the house, which took him by surprise.

 

“Chi-Chi?”

“I…Piccolo. Gohan said you were coming.”

 

With that said, she tried to sneak around him to pick up her pail, but he snatched her arm before she had the chance to follow up on her intentions.

 

“Piccolo, you can let go of my arm. I have to run out to the chicken coop and water the chickens. The sooner you let me grab my pail, the faster I'll be done. So…”

 

Frowning at her, he didn't release her arm like she wanted him too. Instead, he used his larger stature and height to back her up inside the house before turning around and closing the door behind him. It was freezing outside, and the longer the door was left open, the more heat would escape from the cozy warmth emanating from the inside of the small cottage surrounding them. Besides, he was concerned for her, especially since according to Gohan, she was well into the late stages of her pregnancy. Of what he had pieced together, now was the time were she really wasn't supposed to doing anything in the extreme. Once again, he was caught thinking about how foolish and stubborn she could be when she convinced herself of some of the strange ideas that apparently floated across her mind. And, watching her exposed eyes, she still didn't appreciate it when he decided to take some of her control away.

 

“Just what do you think you're doing? I've got work that needs to be done and I…”

 

He didn't let her finish. Instead, he pulled her closer to his body and then started to take off her hat and scarf, ignoring her sputtering and scathing remarks. As soon as he got to her winter parka, he abruptly let her go and then crossed his arms as he showed his strong disapproval over her actions through a dark frown and the deep creases between his brows and on his forehead.

 

“Take of your jacket and have a seat. You aren't going out there and doing something stupid just because you have some strange idea in your head.”

 

Ignoring her grumbling, he stepped around where she was standing and stood at the bottom of the stairs, glancing towards where Gohan's bedroom door was closed tightly.

 

“Gohan!”

 

He bellowed out his student's name, rewarded when the door opened and Gohan stuck his head outside, glancing down to where Piccolo was standing.

 

“Hehe, you made it back! I'll just…”

 

“Get down here and heat some water up so your mother can have a cup of that stuff you call tea. Once it's made, bring it into the living room and then get back to whatever it is you do in your room.”

 

Hearing the no nonsense sound in Piccolo's voice as well as seeing his friend standing and looking as though he had just chewed through a bucket of nails, Gohan quickly stepped out of his room and ran down the stairs. Whipping past Piccolo he made his way into the kitchen to start boiling water for his mother's cup of tea. Glancing over towards where his mother was seated, he wondered if he needed to revise his previous assessment that Piccolo would be the one crying after surviving him mother's temper tantrum. Shaking his head, he grabbed the tea kettle and started filling it with water as he heard the floor boards creak, indicating that Piccolo was moving over to where his mother was seated on the old sofa in the living room.

 

Meanwhile, Piccolo had walked over to where Chi-Chi was sitting, noticing that she looked upset over his intrusion. Standing in front of her, he moved in close enough so that his calves were touching her knees, making it impossible for her to get up and move should she try to walk away from their much needed discussion. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Chi-Chi, who swallowed uncomfortably and pushed herself farther back against the worn cushions of the sofa.

 

“What foolishness have you convinced yourself of? Gohan said that you have taken up some strange ideas and seeing you trying to go out and feed the chickens or water them, or whatever the hell you were trying to do to them makes me concerned. Haven't I already told you that you need to look out for yourself? What makes you think I would go back on my word? And since you're so ready and eager to revert back to the way you were right after Goku died, I wonder if those things you told me were just that…things.”

 

Part of him wondered if she would indeed rally against him, her anger and frustration over his own inability to make things clear between the two of them becoming her focal point. Instead, her reaction wasn't exactly what he expected.

 

Instead of yelling at him or pushing against him in typical Chi-Chi fashion, she didn't move. She just sat on the couch and lowered her face, her hands clenching and unclenching as she just…sat there.

 

Taking an uncertain half step back, he tried to think of something to say, but she beat him to the punch. Her soft voice broke through the silence, although it was obviously clouded with pain.

 

“You left Piccolo. I mean, what I asked of you…what I told you. Do you think that was easy for me? It was hard Piccolo; really, really hard. And then you just took off like Goku would do when things would get too intense. At first I thought you just didn't want to bother Gohan, that you weren't ready for what he would do if he found you in that sort of position with me. I thought you'd come back like you always do. But then one day passed, and then another. I thought I had scared you away, that I had ruined yet another chance of having a good relationship with someone. I try to put up this front that I'm indestructible, that I'm impervious to pain. But the more I try, the more I realize that I'm only just fooling myself. I'm…weak. And the weak part of me is afraid that you decided…”

She stopped talking suddenly and he realized immediately that they weren't alone. Without turning towards Gohan, he motioned him to set the tea down on the battered coffee table.

 

“Gohan, just leave it there and go upstairs to finish your studying.”

 

He could hear Gohan's soft footfalls and the subtle creaks and groans on the wooden staircase as the boy followed his directions, leaving him alone with Chi-Chi to finally sort out the mess they found themselves in once again. Turning around slightly, he picked up the cup and sat it down next to Chi-Chi on an end table before he came to a very un-Piccolo like decision and sat next to her on the couch. After all, he had lain next to her on her bed, so sitting next to her on the sofa was fairly insignificant compared to that. Trying to hold back a blush that was forming on his cheeks, he gently took his hand and put it under Chi-Chi's chin, pulling her face towards his own so that she could see how mistaken she was about her thoughts regarding herself with him.

 

There were tears in her eyes, something that he'd witnessed so many times in the past few months he wasn't terribly surprised. However, he was puzzled over the fact that for the first time, he could perhaps understand why she would let herself show such a weakness like tears in front of him and seeing them didn't anger him like they had in the past. Instead, it made him feel guilty that he had left to restore his own sense of balance without thinking through the significance of Chi-Chi's statements and actions and how his behavior might lead her to think something other than what it truly meant.

 

“You thought I decided to just leave you? Do you think I would have listened to your professions and then made my own confession just to leave you as though nothing happened? I've been a cold bastard in the past, but I'm not…not really like that anymore. At least, where it concerns you and Gohan, I'm not. I've given you my word Chi-Chi and I won't go back on it, no matter how things change.”

 

Letting go of her face, he was relieved to see her scrub away her tears and take in a shuddering breath before she looked up at him with a watery smile on her face. Feeling uncomfortable and still unsure of things, he tried to look away from her obvious relief, wondering how he had ended up so high on her list of people she esteemed above others. How she could admit to…loving him when he couldn't understand or admit to the same thing.

 

He was about to stand up when he felt the soft skin of her hand brush along the underside of his jaw before turning his face back towards hers, just as he had done to her. Her eyes were luminous, the remnants of her tears sparkling along her dark eyelashes. Not for the first time in recent months, he was struck by how lovely she was when she wasn't screaming, crying, or making faces of frustration and anger. And not for the first time, he could somewhat understand what it was that humans felt when they found themselves attracted to another being. This gut wrenching feeling like stepping off a precipice without a parachute, knowing with certain clarity that your doom was sealed yet willing to pay the price just for a look or acknowledgement from the one person that made you feel such a sense of headiness. That was exactly how he felt when he caught himself peering into her deep, brown eyes.

 

He sensed her hand as it shifted along his jaw and then moved to his lips, tracing their outline with her index finger. He was about to move away when her hand abruptly dropped away, surprising him before he noticed her face moving towards his own. Swallowing audibly, he watched as her eyes closed slightly before he found his own eyes narrowing in on her lips as they progressively came closer to his face. Internally, he told himself that he needed to move away before she did something stupid, but instead, he just sat frozen, like he had the first time this had happened between them. Not moving away, there was no mistake when her soft lips touched his own, nor was there any mistaking in the back of his mind that he didn't really want to move away from it. He shouted names at himself, but they did little good as he closed his own eyelids in response to the unusual, yet comforting sensation. It seemed to convey so much between the two of them that words would only muddle up. Yet it also added to the turmoil within, warning himself that he was only becoming more embroiled than he had ever wished to be, that it had gone far beyond simply taking care of her and Gohan. That he was just as the boy said…in love.

 

Slowly, he could feel her pull away from him and he opened his eyes, only to see her sitting in front of him with a deep scarlet blush across her face. Looking away briefly to regain a sense of equilibrium, he felt her push away slightly from where he was seated.

 

“I'm sorry Piccolo. I just keep doing stupid things around you and now I've probably just made it…”

 

“Just stop Chi-Chi. Am I angry with you? Am I leaving the room? Take a look around before you jump to some ridiculous idea. I honestly have no idea why you just did that, but I've come to the realization that with you, I have to be ready for the unexpected. Now, have you come to your senses? If I catch you doing something stupid again, you won't be able to sit for a week and you'll be under house arrest. Gohan will be more than willing to make sure you listen to reason, so don't think I'm not serious.”

 

Satisfied when he saw her nod he head in acceptance of his terms he stood up from the old sofa and stretched his arms over his head before turning around to watch her. Her actions still made him nervous and uncomfortable, but it wasn't in a bad sort of way. It was just one more experience he was going to have to get used to as he continued his second journey through life. Making a decision, he was about to go and finish whatever ridiculous chores she had been about to undertake on her own when her voice stopped him yet again.

 

“Piccolo, about that night…”

 

Waving his arm in a dismissive gesture, he cut her off before she could make some blanket statement that could be either true or untrue.

 

“Just…it happened. I didn't leave because it offended me in any way, although I will admit, it was strange. I just had to…I just had to clarify things for myself and Gohan also played a significant part behind my decision to leave before you or he had woken up. But, in the long run, it was a foolish idea on my part because he ended up deciphering certain things on his own and you…Well, it seems my decision did more damage than good. I'm not good at this Chi-Chi, and perhaps I never will be.”

 

Without delving deeper into his own psyche, he was relieved to see her move her head in understanding.

 

“Did you…talk to Gohan? Does he know?”

 

Curtly nodding his head yes, he sense Chi-Chi's feelings, that an apparent weight had been lifted now that her son had an idea what was going on between the two of them.

 

“Look Chi-Chi, as I told you before, I'm not Goku. And this…this relationship that we apparently share, I've never been part of something like this. There are going to be times where I might just take off and leave, but it won't be like what Goku did to you. It's just that sometimes, I need time to myself where I can rebalance and rearrange things so that they make sense to me. I think that all Nameks are like that. This isn't something I've ever bothered to share with anyone else, so I hope you understand the significance behind it. So stop doing the thinking of others before you understand all of the facts. And I'll try…to be better at letting you in on some of the behaviors I engage in.”

 

Taking in a deep breath, he felt slightly shaky and ill at ease. He had never opened up in such a manner to anyone, not even Gohan. Yet in the space of three days, it seemed he had told Chi-Chi more about the inner workings of his mind then he had ever intended. All because of his attachment towards her and her family. It wasn't easy, this acknowledgment of his developing and changing understanding of human emotions and how they fit into his life. But seeing how things were, he wondered if he went back in time to change it all, would he even be able to? Most likely, the answer would be no.

 

Turning around fully, he made his way to the door, opening it up fully before stepping out into the bitter cold of winter. Grabbing the bucket, he internally laughed at himself for becoming such a weakling as to water chickens for the insufferable woman. However, in the whole scheme of things, doing something so menial for someone else wasn't actually a bad thing. It just meant that he was changing and gaining wisdom along with his understanding of why he would make such sacrifices for the people he cared about. Accepting this facet, he trudged through the snow and picked up where Goku had left off.

 

Please let me know if I made Piccolo too OOC or romantical. That wasn't my intention, but I'm not really sure if I like how the ending turned out. Anyway, I hope you like it and let me know what you think!