Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Therapy ❯ Piccolo Pt.2 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: If I owned DBZ, would I be locked in a hospital with Nurse Bertha? [I shiver at the thought of the devil woman.] Gotta go, Nurse Bertha's coming! (Read my bio for more information on my, uh condition and care takers.)

A/N: Thank you ever so much to Rae George for the reviews. I love you for them! I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, just be glad you weren't reading this on ff.net because they had to wait two weeks to get the second chapter. You only had to wait a day. Anyway without further ado, Piccolo's session.

Last Time: Piccolo visited my home on a dark and stormy night to make an appointment, causing me no small amount of worry and dread. It is now three seventeen p.m. and he is in my room/office.

"H-h-hi, there," I greeted the green alien standing before me. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show."

"I was delayed," came the cold response. "What do we do now?"

"First I think we should formally introduce ourselves. I am hippiechick, your therapist. I've heard a little about you from some of my other patients, but I'd like you to tell me something about yourself and what you're wanting from me."

"I am Piccolo. My origins are my own business and I don't care what you've heard from your other patients," came his firm reply.

"Well, why did you go to the trouble last night of making an appointment with me?" It must be awfully important for him to have braved a storm as intense as last night's. It wasn't so he could just chat with me.

"We will get to that when the time is right," Piccolo responded.

"Does that mean you're not entirely sure of your motives?"

"It mean that time is not now."

"Okay, so what can you tell me at this time?" I asked cheekily.

Piccolo seemed to give in, and decided to give me some much needed information. To this day, I don't know whether he did so out of courtesy, an effort to make me stop whining, or out of respect for my smart comment and courage in standing up to him. (It had to be the last one, right?)

"The Saiyans are coming and we're all doomed. Goku's brother, Radditz, came and I killed them both. Now more Saiyans, powerful aliens like Goku are on their way, and it's up to me to train his weakling son, Gohan. How is that?" He gave me that trademark superiority look he has perfected to an art form.

Okay, I'll admit that I knew all this, except Gohan's training, prior to the Namek's statement. Bulma had been so upset by what had happened that she was unable to function until Krillin brought her by to visit with me. She had been a wreck, so I can't blame her for forgetting all about Gohan. She had only met the tyke within hours of his abduction, and Goku's death had traumatized her. Well, enough of that, on with the session at hand.

"Why did you take Gohan? He's, well wimpy and weak. What's the point in wasting your time with him?" I decided this was as good a place to start as any in my efforts to uncover the truth about Piccolo.

"The child has an unimaginable power, greater than any of us. He must be ready to fight," Piccolo's eyes changed, or was it just my imagination? No, his eyes changed somehow, showed some emotion he quickly hid as he continued, "When the Saiyans arrive."

"How is his training going?" I inquired.

"He's strong, but I doubt he'll be ready," Piccolo answered. I was disappointed. I had hoped that spark would show in his eyes again. Now it looked as though I would never figure out what was going on in his head.

Well, there was nothing left to do but ask more questions. "Why are you helping to save the earth? It wasn't too long ago when you were taking over and destroying the earth, now you're protecting it. What's up with that? What changed?"

"Nothing changed," Piccolo looked down at my ugly mauve carpet that if it were anymore pink... "And everything changed."

"Okay, you just lost me back there somewhere. I'll admit that I'm no Einstein, but you're getting all mysterious on me. Please be a doll and explain yourself thoroughly for the idiot that is supposed to be helping you over here." I don't have any clue why his remarks were pissing me off, but they were. Maybe it was that time of the month. You know, I really wish that certain friend wouldn't....Okay, Teasha I'll quit and get on with the story. I don't know why I'm rambling so badly today.

I looked at Piccolo who seemed to be gathering his thoughts together and most likely trying to find a way to explain what was going on in his mind to a much simpler minded creature, me. "To the outside world, nothing has changed. I still fight and I still plan on ruling the world one day soon, but then again, something is different. I haven't been able to figure out what it is yet, but something has changed. Something deep and hidden."

Okay, I was right. Was that deep or what? Now what to do? "When did you first notice this change?" I asked.

"I guess it was shortly after Goku's death. I was in the wilderness watching Gohan sleep peacefully after having nearly destroyed everything for miles when he became a giant ape. I had just blown up the moon and at first I thought maybe that was what was causing the feelings in the pit of my stomach, but it didn't take me long to realize that wasn't it. I decided to suppress whatever it was," came the rather verbose reply. Well, it was verbose for Piccolo, not for big talkers like me, but that's another story!

"Do you know what you were feeling at that moment?" I probed.

"Strangely enough, pride," Piccolo answered.

That was it! I knew what was going on and it was unbelievable! For the first time in his life, Piccolo cared for someone other than himself. He was unable to recognize the emotion of love!

"Piccolo, I think I've figured out what's going on, but just to make sure, I have one more thing I'd like to ask you about. Why is it that having Gohan around as your pupil, and well, a son, bothers you?" I asked, hoping that his answer would confirm my suspicions.

Piccolo turned his head and looked in my eyes before looking at my feet. "The truth is....I'm not ready to be a father!" he wailed.

"What?!?" I couldn't believe what I had just heard. "What do you mean?"

Piccolo looked up at despair filled eyes. "I'm not ready to raise a child. I haven't been around much longer than the kid! I don't know anything about being a parent!"

Okay, I was definitely right. This demon was starting to feel for the boy and didn't understand what was happening to him or how to handle it. As he so aptly put it, he wasn't ready to be a father.

"Let me try to explain what's going on with you right now," I started my explanation.

"I sure wish someone would," he broke in before I could finish.

"Okay, here goes. You are starting to feel emotions unfamiliar to you. Most notably, love. You feel pride when you look at the boy because like a father, you feel a sense of accomplishment when you think of what you have taught him and how hard he has tried to make you happy and proud of him. You really have become a surrogate father to him and like a real father, in his case that would be Goku, you care for him, yea even love him," I elucidated (explained).

"You really think so?" he questioned me with hopeful countenance.

"If I didn't think so, I wouldn't have said so. Cheer up buddy, feelings are a good thing as long as you practice moderation with them. I mean, they can be bad when let's say, some idiot guy does you wrong, but you think you love him, so you contemplate forgiving him, or when," I quit when I noticed the look I was receiving from my patient. "Never mind. The point is that this is wonderful news for you. Maybe if you work real hard one day you and Goku can be friends, and maybe you and Kami can even be rejoined. That would be great. Until then, work on trying to put these new feeling you've found into words. Wait, I have an idea!"

I got up and dug through a deep pile of papers and books until I found exactly what I had been looking for. "Here it is!" I cried in triumph. Once again, my room and I had done battle and I had emerged the victor! I handed a book to a confused and well, amused Piccolo.

"What is this and why do I need it?" He opened the book. "There's nothing written in here. What good could it be to me?"

I don't know why, but I was shocked, once again, at the stupidity of one of earth's greatest beings. You would think I'd be over that after dealing with Goku all those years. "It's a journal. Mine is almost full so Mom bought me a new one. Unfortunately, I think you need it more than I do. Just write about what happens everyday and how things made you feel. You need to practice putting emotions into words, and I can't think of a better way than a journal. I expect you to be much better at this little task when you come back in a week."

"A week?!? Why? I don't need your help anymore now that I know what's wrong with me!" Piccolo started to argue.

"I hate to break this to you. We made a lot of progress today, but you still have one HFIL of a long way to go. Plan on visiting me once a week for at least a month and then we'll talk about a different schedule if I think you're ready."

Piccolo looked dejected, but agreed with a nod of his head. Then without speaking another word, he stood up and walked out. Without paying!

"Oh no you don't!!!" I yelled after him. "You are one of the hardest cases I've ever had! You will pay me for my services! Did you think they were free or something?!?"

As he was about to exit my home he turned and glared down at me. "Wouldn't you call saving this planet from the Saiyans payment enough?"

Dang it! He had me with that one and now I felt guilty. "I guess so...But don't expect every session to be free!"

Piccolo just shook his head at my antics and walked out the door, taking flight as soon as he was outside. I guess he was going to the wilderness where he had left Gohan.

I went back to my room and reviewed my notes to prepare for my next session. Who'd have ever thunk it? Piccolo has emotions. If that can happen, I guess, defeating the Saiyans is possible as well, and once again, that's another session/story.

A/N: You won't believe it, but this chapter was so hard to write even if it was a labor of love! When I came back from vacation, Teasha (my therapist) demanded to have a story as payment for her taping DB and DBZ while I was gone, then there was school. I hated chemistry in high school, I cower in fear at the thought of the ways they can torture you at the college level, but I finished the story! As a warning, severe writer's block has attacked, so I have no clue when you'll get the next chapter. I've decided it will be on Krillin since I have one started. I just have to find the time to finish it. Just please be patient with me. Chem class is bad enough, I don't need hate mail or IMs coming from you too. (Although I love talking to people through IM.) Oh well, R&R. Now!