Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Innocence Reborn ❯ Not again! Where's Piccolo gone now? ( Chapter 16 )

Innocence Reborn

Disclaimer: Neither Aura or I own Dragon Ball Z, the Dragon Ball Z characters, or anything that is remotely related to it. We do, however, own this fic. That's about it. ^_~

Kaeli's Note: Hello, hello! Kaeli, here, with another chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Sixteen: Not again! Where's Piccolo gone now?

Vegeta sat upon a rooftop of one of the Capsule Corp.'s buildings, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. He sat with one leg crossed under him while the other was hanging off of the shingles, his back leaning against nothing. He had been there since he had left the Namek where he was, stopping only for a moment to see if he was still there before returning back to Capsule Corp. When the Saiyan returned back to where he had been living off and on since he had arrived from the first Namek planet, he didn't immediately return to his bedroom or any of the other buildings he occasionally stalked in when he couldn't sleep. Instead, he rested upon this very rooftop, unable to sleep or to do anything else, even train.

He opened his eyes, staring across the compound and into the distance beyond. Something inside of him kept him awake at this unsightly hour, quite possibly the natural urge that wanted him to return to where Piccolo was and finish him off while he was still at this age. After all, he was a thorn in Vegeta's side and getting rid of him was the easiest thing he could do besides ignoring him. Then again, if he killed off the Namek, then there went the Dragon Balls and any remote chance he could get some power out of it. He learned of how Piccolo and the creator of the Earth's Dragon Balls were connected, thus knew it would be in his best interest to keep both alive. For now, at least.

He frowned, tilting his head up some. It had been years since he had suppressed any urges to do anything that he wouldn't normally do, this being perhaps the third time in his life. The other two times were when he was still under Frieza's control, the thoughts and wants of killing him raging within the Saiyan. If he had gone up against Frieza before he had gone after Goku, then he wouldn't be alive today to seek out a different life.

That didn't matter now. The Dragon Balls were what he was mostly concerned with, even if he had to find them himself and without the help of the Radar. Vegeta didn't mind going on a search for the Dragon Balls; he just didn't like the fact that he had to wait for two years to get them. Had the wish Gohan made hadn't been wished for, he would have been immortal by now and ruling more then just this measly backwater planet. He would have had a lot more going for him then being in the shadows of a Saiyan that didn't even know who he was.

Vegeta shook his head, knowing that he would possibly never get his wish for immortality. He stood up on the rooftop, placing his arms by his side as he took one last look around him. It was a peaceful place, Earth. Not like some of the other places that he had been to. Oh, he had been to several planets where there was nothing but peace, however Earth didn't seem to have just that. Things were different and he didn't know if he liked it. It wasn't his own planet, if he could remember most of it, as Frieza had been the one to destroy it so long ago and lied about it in the process.

He rose off of the rooftop, slowly moving over to the side as he allowed his body to descend to the grassy ground below. It wasn't a long ways down as this building was one of the smaller ones in the compound. At least, in the Brief's view. The building itself was about three and a half stories high with the others four or more stories high. Bulma kept insisting that more should be added to it, although more then half of the rooms inside the buildings looked like they had gone unused for years at a time.

That didn't matter to Vegeta nonetheless as he landed upon the soft ground and started for the housing building on the other side of the compound. It was time to get at least a few hours sleep before he would start his day over again, leaving out only the surprise visit to anyone outside this family.

****

The night was wearing on, the darkness shrouding any and all dangers that were lurking in the many shadows that danced along the ground. A few lone wolves howls echoed across the untamed wilderness, a light wind moving the sounds farther then they were. The sky kept its darkness, a few stars glittering but did not give off enough light for anyone to see by. Eyes looked out from small holes over and under the miles of space, unsure of what was really out there before all moved back into their homes until the first light of day came.

Piccolo had continued to walk on despite a growing tiredness that had begun to consume him not long after Kami had ended the link between them, ignoring it at first before it had started to become too much for him. He didn't understand why his body had started to feel weak; perhaps the link between him and the one above had not fizzled out completely like it should have. If it hadn't, then there was something wrong with the mind-link that hadn't been foreseen by either one.

If his tiredness wasn't caused by the mind-link, then there was something wrong with Kami or his own body. From what the younger Namek had learned, he was the replica of the Guardian but the evil side of him. If something happened to Kami, then something would happen to him and vice versa. If that was true, then he had to get to the Lookout to see what was wrong and if there was anything that he could do to fix it himself. He couldn't wait for Gohan or Goku to do anything about it or for the Dragon Balls to regenerate. By then, it could be too late for something good to happen.

Piccolo stopped walking, pausing only to look up at the few stars above him. What little clouds moved against the darkened sky, a beautiful night despite what horrors were embedded in his memory. He didn't like the thoughts that he had shared with his sire; if he could, he would have them removed and banished into nothingness. Perhaps, once he got bigger and any threats to him and his friends were gone, the Dragon Balls would be able to take away those unworthy memories forever.

Of course, that would bring in something even worse then what was going on currently. If, by some chance, both Piccolo and Kami survived this wish, then he wanted to be as far away from any Dragon Ball possible. Perhaps even forbid Gohan (or anyone else for that matter) to keep all wishes concerning all Nameks to themselves and not heard by this dragon. That is, if this could happen. If not, then he was possibly doomed to face other such wishes that were not supposed to be wished upon others.

Taking in a deep breath, Piccolo turned his head back forwards to the area that surrounded him. He knew it was time to move back to the Son household and that was exactly what he was going to do, even if he wanted to up to the Lookout again. He knew he would catch hell (mostly from Chi-Chi) if someone knew that he had sneaked out again; Gohan would probably crack under the strain of his mother questioning him about the Namek's whereabouts. That is, if Chi-Chi didn't find out for herself first before anyone else said anything. Nothing got past her, even small bugs didn't scurry without her noticing.

He turned around, ready to go back to the home that welcomed him in without much questioning other then if he had done his homework yet. Yet, he didn't take more then four steps when he suddenly fell to his knees, his legs failing him as though they had lost all strength in the muscles. Piccolo placed his hands upon the ground, his eyes closing tightly as his head felt like it was spinning. Something came over him like nothing before, as if the tiredness and weakness he had felt not too long ago was too much for his body to bear. He knew now that something was wrong and that he had to get to someone before something drastic happened.

But how was he going to get back so soon? The Son homestead was many hours away and he didn't think he could easily fly there without someone with him. Oh, he knew he could fly without much help (at least, the help that he voiced), but he was still unsure in that ability and the dizzy feeling was becoming worse by the moment. Walking was out of the question since he had gone so far and not realized that he had to turn back until now. His only chance was to have someone come after him and face that hell he knew he would receive from everyone.

It didn't matter now as his arms gave out as well, his body lurching forwards to meet the ground beneath him. All he remembered was the cool air surrounding him before he blacked out.

****

Hours Later......

Chi-Chi yawned, placing a hand over her mouth as she sleepily moved from the bedroom she shared with Goku and moved towards the kitchen. It was the beginning of a new day even though the sun had not even risen from the East. It was the very early morning, perhaps even before 4 o'clock, when she had awoken despite going to bed later then she should. Normally her soul and body would be up at 6 o'clock, no earlier or no later then such a time, yet this morning she was up sooner then she would have expected.

She hadn't slept as well as she would have liked during the night, her normal sleeping patterns disrupted by nightmares of what would happen to her son and husband. This occurred every so often, mostly when some big battle was looming ahead that her family was stubbornly taking part of. Yet, at times of peace, images of what could happen to the two important things in her life would spring up whenever they wanted to, giving her something more to worry about then feeding them.

Her first normal of the day thought moved to the kitchen, where she would attempt to find anything that hadn't been eaten by her son or her husband. She was thankful that Piccolo didn't eat as much as the two Saiyans did, although she very rarely saw him eat anything. Her perspective of Nameks eating was that they didn't have to, drinking only water for what their bodies needed. Perhaps it was only Piccolo (as she knew only him and perhaps one other), yet she swore on several occasions that she saw him eat something.

As she passed her son's room, her eyes moved to the closed door. Chi-Chi paused, her ears listening to the sounds of the morning to make sure that everything was okay and nothing was out of place. After listening to nothing but the house creaking and the breathing sounds coming from the room, she started to move on. However, not a moment later did she stop, her head moving back towards the door as if something had sounded in Gohan's room.

Her instinct was to keep on moving to the kitchen, but something else told her to stay where she was. It was perhaps a mothers instinct to look into things as she backed up to the doorway and sidestepped to it. With her body turned fully towards it, she reached out to touch the knob carefully. Any extra noises and someone on the other side would wake too early to do anything. She wouldn't mind having Piccolo woken since he had little desire to eat anything and everything in the house and didn't seem to have much desire to train anymore.

As she turned the knob, Chi-Chi closed her eyes for a moment then opened them again, pushing the door open slowly. She peeked in, her eyes moving over to where Gohan was asleep, half of his covers off of his body and was softly snoring. Her eyes then moved to where Piccolo was laying only to find that place empty and looking as though no one had even bothered to be sleeping in it. This didn't register with her at first, the door closing some before it was nearly thrown upon wide. She managed to keep the other side of the door from banging the wall as she let go of the hand and step in.

Only Gohan's body was visible to her, Piccolo's body no where to be seen. Furry engulfed her as she contained it the best way that she could before that fury turned into worry. There was no telling where the young Namek was or how long he had been gone; there was, however, a known way that he could have gotten out: the window. Chi-Chi slowly moved over it, careful to keep herself from falling over stacks and stacks of books and other things before she got to the window. She glanced out of it, looking all around for any signs of small child-like creatures.

Her lips moving into a thin line, she turned around and begun to walk out of her son's room. Right now, she would have to wake her husband in order for him to go look once again for a lost Namek. If this had been any other time in which Piccolo had chosen to leave, she would not have worried about it as much as she did now. However, this was a different situation that called for a different strategy and she would be damned if she would let Piccolo get sick again.

Glancing over at Gohan as she moved through the doorway, Chi-Chi made a mental note to wake him up sooner then she wanted him to. Even if he started to whine about how early it was, he was still going to get up to help Goku if he couldn't find the Namek on the first run. Gohan would know what happened to him even if he isn't willing to tell. There is more at stake then just getting extra homework out of this, She thought to herself, moving back towards her bedroom. She left Gohan's bedroom door open, rather having it open then it slamming against the wall later and knocking something over.

Right now she was more worried about where Piccolo had run off rather then having to ground someone for it.

To Be Continued

Kaeli's Note II: So sorry for this being short. I didn't have much of an idea as to what should happen next. :P So, anyways, go bug Aura now and give her this pizza, okay? *hands over pizza and walks away quickly*