THE WEEK AFTER CELL WAS DEFEATED...…

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Piccolo muttered, his words snatched from his mouth by the peeling air friction. He looked absently at the passing ground beneath him. He was flying slowly, which was stupid, he realized. It's not like delaying the encounter would somehow make his task any easier.

The small, mountain community loomed ahead, its air chilled yet friendly. It could have been just a brief pass-by to check on Gohan; something he would have done anyways, something that most likely would have sufficed…

"But you had to take it one more step, didn't you Goku," he brooded. The dull ache of anxiety tightened his chest as he remembered his friend's private words to him via King Kai when everyone else had left. The late Saiyan had hit him up in a moment of vulnerability; in a moment when he'd been so entrenched in respect for the man that Piccolo felt Goku could do no wrong.

"Piccolo."

"Goku?" Hadn't they already said their goodbyes?

"Listen to me," he'd said in a deep, solemn tone as rare to Goku as joviality was to Piccolo. "I want you to help Chi Chi raise Gohan."

He was too stunned to piece together arguments on why that would be a bad idea. It was, of course, but at the time he was incapable of pleading his case. Goku had just given up his life for the earth, of all things. How could Piccolo possibly say no to the man?

And so here he was, descending on Gohan's household to have one of the most dreaded conversations with the most terrifying female he'd ever met in his life.

Chi Chi…

She set his antennae on end. Her rage and power over Goku had always unnerved him. And more disturbing than that was the way she affected Piccolo, himself. She intimidated him, something he'd reluctantly admitted after giving Goku his word. If she said 'sit', he'd sit. If she yelled at him to leave, he would. Her tone carried that much authority.

Well, not this time, you crazy woman. This time I'm on special orders from your own husband, and it involves Gohan. I'm not backing down…

The expressive face of an eleven-year old boy peeked through the doorframe as Piccolo descended onto their property. Sight of the youth, as always, uplifted him.

"Hey, Piccolo!" Gohan came running up to him, stopping just short of throwing his arms around the Namek's legs. Piccolo dropped to one knee, and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Hello, Gohan."

Gohan smiled, but his eyes were heavy. Piccolo could see that the hurt of losing his father was still just under the surface and for a brief moment, Piccolo resented Goku for abandoning the boy.

He winced. Not abandoned… Gave up his life. There was a difference, however ambiguous it was as he painstakingly observed Gohan's dampened spirits. Besides, the boy's father had taken precautions to make sure his son was cared for, right? Even if it was at Piccolo's expense…

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and Piccolo did not miss the underlying words, not voiced, Can you stay for a while?

Piccolo rose to his feet, and looked forlornly at the house. "Is your mother inside, Gohan?"

Gohan frowned at him. "Yes…" Piccolo hadn't realized that his anxiety had somehow manifested itself in his expression. Gohan nudged him, the smile fading off his tender face. "Is everything okay, Piccolo?"

Piccolo took a deep breath, and pursed his lips. "Everything's fine. I need to speak with your mother, that's all."

Gohan looked at him, perplexed. "My mom?"

Piccolo felt his hands tingle in dreaded anticipation. He nodded. "Go play in the river, Gohan. I'll come and get you when the conversation is over."

"What do you want to talk to her about?"

Piccolo quieted the growl resounding in his chest. Persistent kid… "I'll tell you afterwards. Now go."

After a couple more suspicious and scrutinizing glances, Gohan shrugged and smiled. "Okay. Just promise you won't leave without saying goodbye."

Piccolo snorted. How about I don't leave at all? Gohan would be elated, as soon as Chi Chi was dealt with. "Don't worry, kid. I won't."

With that, Gohan raced off as only a prepubescent boy could to frolic in the water. Piccolo knew the conversation was going to get ugly, and the last thing Gohan needed right now was to see his mother and his mentor in a screaming match.

Resolved, Piccolo strode up to the house, and tapped on the door, only to send it shattering inwards, splintering loudly against the wall.

Oops…He cringed. Damn nerves.

Chi Chi came running into the front room. She was dressed in the black garb of a widow, her hair hanging about her face like a veil. "Gohan? What just…" then she saw him, and a her eyes immediately narrowed into a scowl. "What are you doing here?"

He frowned, trying to battle the butterflies that were fluttering in his stomach. "Chi Chi," he paused. It didn't matter how he phrased it. She was going to be pissed. Straight up, then, without adornment or apology…

She folded her arms menacingly across her chest and her left foot had started to stomp on the floor. "WELL?"

"Chi Chi," he breathed. "Goku asked me to…to…"

"Spit it out, villain, I don't have all day."

He swallowed, and took a deep breath. "Goku asked me to help you raise Gohan."

Her reaction wasn't unexpected, but it made him jump, nonetheless. Her eyes widened ferociously and her face reddened. She clenched her fists and crouched into a fighter's stance, trembling.

"He…what!?" Her ki suddenly skyrocketed, and Piccolo found himself stunned at her power level. He blinked stupidly. Leave it to me to bring it out in her.

Piccolo started fishing for explanations. "He didn't want Gohan to lose his skills as a fighter, and asked me-"

"You're saying that my own husband doesn't trust me to raise our only son!?"

Piccolo wasn't one for sugarcoating words, even when the occasion called for it. It was certainly the impression he'd gotten from Goku. He hesitantly met her belligerent eyes, and nodded.

Before he'd even realized she'd moved, a frying pan came whizzing at him and struck him in the shoulder. He flinched and snarled at her. She'd unwittingly aided him in quenching his pathetic nerves. The abrupt gesture sent him basking in a sensation much more familiar…

Anger.

His voice rose, as he ducked and dodged another round of cooking pans. "He needs my influence, woman!" he shouted back, wishing for all the world that they could settle this by a good old fashioned battle.

"He needs YOUR influence like Master Roshi needs more PORNOGRAPHY!" She flung another dish at him, and he swatted it out of the air. "There is no way in HELL I'm going to let him be tutored by a reclusive…monstrous…evil-"

"Enough!" he barked back, wondering why in the world Goku chose him over all the other Z fighters for this task; the one whom she loathed most. "I've changed and you know that!"

"Changed?" She asked incredulously, hurling another chair at him. He grunted as it smacked him in the chest. "You - the fiend who killed my husband and kidnapped my son!?"

He winced. She made it sound so bad. He actually contemplated physically restraining her until she calmed down, but the thought of touching the fuming vixen made his skin crawl. He'd have to talk her into it.

"This isn't up for discussion, Chi Chi," he said lowly, and as dangerously as he could. He powered up for emphasis, letting his energies swell against the walls of the house. "I gave Goku my word."

Her face opened in blatant appall, and two seconds later Piccolo found himself skidding backwards on his ass along with half the doorframe, having been literally hurled out of the house. He gaped at her. Perhaps Gohan's amazing strength couldn't all be credited to his father…

"You come here and tell me I have no say over my own son's upbringing? And then you try to dismiss me like a housemaid?" She hovered over him, her body rigid, her face on fire.

"His talent will go to waste if you raise him alone!" Piccolo yelled from his undignified position in the dirt. "Gohan is destined for greater things than scholastic studies." He jumped up as she charged him, and levitated into the air.

She swung at him twice and then growled as he was out of her reach. "Get out of here!"

"I won't!"

"LEAVE!"

"No!"

"You're coming nowhere near my son, demon. Understand?! I don't care how altruistic your intentions are. I don't want MY Gohan to be influenced by the likes of you!"

That made Piccolo furious. How dare she try to forbid him from ever seeing Gohan. The kid meant more to him than breath. Couldn't she see that?

Then he wondered what the hell Goku was thinking when he married her, the impossible female... No sooner had he thought it, than the words came blurting out. "What I don't understand," he yelled down at her belligerent form, "Is what kind-hearted Goku ever saw in a BEAST like you!"

If Chi Chi had an Achilles heel, then that was it. Slapping her face would have had less effect. He watched in surprise as her ki dropped and the rage drained from her body. Her face sagged in anguish, and her eyes teared immediately. She bit her bottom lip between her teeth, and turned her back to him. He'd hit a sore point. A real sore point…

He silently cursed himself. Agh, Piccolo…you ass. The nuances of communication had always eluded him--something that never mattered until now. She just lost her husband a week ago, and here I am telling her she's an unfit parent and that Goku should never have wasted his time on her. He'd never had enough practice in tact, and the result was that he just broke Chi Chi's spirit when he was only trying to make her see reason.

He could hear her trying to choke back the sobs. For all her temperament, Piccolo hadn't even considered that the indignant woman could HAVE a breaking point. Before he could apologize, she ran towards the house.

"Chi Chi…" he went after her, only to stop abruptly as she paused in the battered doorway. "Chi Chi," he held his hands out, and then clenched them into fists. "I...I didn't mean--"

With her back still to him, she held a hand up to silence him.

Piccolo watched in uncomfortable regret as Goku's widow wrestled with her emotions. She obviously had something to say to him before going back in the house, and this time he was going to listen instead of argue. The woman who had given birth to Gohan deserved more respect, something he'd forgotten when he was dodging her pots and pans.

He waited awkwardly until finally she bowed her head without facing him, her words barely a whisper. "You can have Gohan in the afternoons, Piccolo."

He blinked. Did she just…? He replayed the words in his head. Hn. She did… Piccolo's expression sank, feeling worse about the victory than if he'd physically beaten it out of her.

"Just remember," she said as she looked over her shoulder at him; her face flushed and wet with tears. "He's my son before he's your pupil."

Then she left him there feeling regret, guilt, compassion, and a whole slew of other emotions that the Namek had no idea how to deal with.



Chapter 2

It had been six weeks, and Chi Chi held true to her concession. Well, for the most part, anyhow. Occasionally Piccolo would find himself arguing with her when she'd try to cut his sessions with Gohan short, but all in all things were working out. Piccolo stayed on the fringes of their property most of the time, his interactions with Chi Chi being tense, but civil. She even offered him water occasionally. It was almost getting comfortable, which was a good thing, considering that the arrangement was going to last until Gohan became a man.

Gohan levitated up to a rock ledge that Piccolo had been meditating on. The sun was setting, and they'd just finished for the day.

"Piccolo?"

"Hmm."

"Do you really think there's another level?"

Without moving, Piccolo peeked at the boy from the corner of his eye. "It's what we've been working towards isn't it?" He had to give Gohan a goal out of his reach, or else they would come to a plateau in their training. Even if it wasn't possible, it was something practical to strive for. "I believe that you can progress eternally, if you have the means. There could be ten levels above what you reached the day you beat Cell, Gohan."

Gohan's eyes widened at the possibilities. "Wow…" He plopped down on the rock, and sat with Piccolo for several minutes of shared silence as the sun went down. Piccolo looked over at him, and noticed that the boy's large, wondrous eyes had drifted towards the heavens. Thinking about your dad again, eh Gohan? He reached over and clasped the boy's shoulder.

Gohan glanced at him, and then back up at the sky, the stars reflecting in his large dark irises. "I know he chose to stay in the next dimension," he said quietly. "But do you think he misses us, Piccolo?"

Another spurt of anger at Goku washed over him. When the Saiyan had left, he'd done so cheerfully, as if leaving his family and friends was the happiest decision he'd ever made. 'Don't be sad,' he'd said. 'I'm not.'

They were words that Gohan remembered. They were words that the boy had taken to heart, and Piccolo caught himself-on more than one occasion-wishing the Saiyan would materialize back into this dimension, if only so he could slap him upside the head for being so callus. He hadn't even taken the time to say goodbye to his wife, of all things, even though the opportunity was at his fingertips.

Piccolo looked over to the raven-haired kid next to him. His face was as open and pure as his soul. The Namek never thought of himself as being 'happy', but he came darn close whenever he spent time with young Gohan.

If you were my son, Gohan, I would miss you a great deal. Then his thoughts darkened. If you were my son, I wouldn't have stayed in the afterlife, leaving you for someone else to raise…

"I think he misses you very much, Gohan," Piccolo said, finally choosing the right words to say. "He'd be shallow and hollow if he didn't."

Gohan returned his words with a small, sad smile, and sighed.

"You'd better get back, kid," Piccolo said, tousling his hair. No use in dwelling over things they couldn't change… "Your mom will blame me if you aren't home in time for dinner."

Gohan laughed. "Late or early, she'd still find something to blame you for."

Piccolo snorted. It was true. But he'd grown accustomed to her vehemence just as he had grown accustomed to Vegeta's malice. It was just how she was. And truth be told, he had started enjoying the verbal sparring with Chi Chi almost as much as the scrapping matches with Gohan. After all, a fight was a fight.

Gohan got up and dusted himself off when Piccolo noticed that he'd forgotten to change the kid into his training clothes. Chi Chi hated seeing her son dressed like Piccolo, but not half as much as she hated him ruining one of his only three outfits.

"Gohan, wait."

"Huh?" Gohan turned around.

"Your clothes. They've got more holes and burns in them than Frieza's corpse." Piccolo lifted his hand, and let the namekian magic do its thing. The wind drew and whirled around both of them, and in a flash Gohan was dressed in the purple sleeveless outfit after Piccolo's own fashion. The clothes Chi Chi had provided for him were in a tattered heap on the ground.

Piccolo grabbed them and tucked them under his arm. "Mr. Popo is a tailor. I'm going to get these mended before she sees them. If she asks, you left them here on accident. Understood?"

Gohan nodded and blew his breath out in a long whistle. "Whoa. Good thing you caught that, Piccolo. We would have both been in trouble. She's been extra difficult lately, being sick and all."

Piccolo noticed that she'd been more short-tempered. He thought it was something he'd done. "Sick?"

"She's been nodding off a lot lately, like she's exhausted. And she throws up sometimes, too. She doesn't tell me, but," he winced. "I can hear it."

"Hmm." Vomiting was something Piccolo hadn't experienced, and hoped he never had to. It sounded terribly undignified, not to mention uncomfortable. He shrugged. Chi Chi wasn't one to let illness slow her down. She was too strong-willed for that. "Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to stay out of her way."

Gohan smiled, and then his eyes lit up as if he just remembered something delightful. "Oh yeah! We're having cocido tonight, my favorite! She went into town today to get the garbanzos for it." He laughed merrily and hopped into the air. "See ya later, Piccolo!"

Piccolo chuckled inwardly. Such simple pleasures… "Bye kid."

After watching Gohan disappear over the closest row of mountains, Piccolo took to the evening sky with the shredded clothes tucked securely in his shirt. If he hurried, he could make it to the lookout in a half hour.

He soared through the mountain range, letting his glance fall occasionally to the terrain below. Ahead he saw the small town closest to Gohan's house with a few sparse lights illuminating the streets. It was where Chi Chi went to do 'erands'.

The thought of her, as usual, made him frown. Piccolo didn't give most people a second thought, but she on the other hand consumed more of his attention than he cared to admit-be it in the form of frustration or acute aggravation.

Erands indeed… He snorted. She fills up her life with a bunch of made up responsibility, he thought. Gohan was fine when I trained him for that year and he had nothing but the clothes on his back and the food he foraged. It's not like--

His thoughts were interrupted by a subliminal red flag waving in his head. He stopped abruptly, confused. What triggered it? But as soon as he asked the question, he found it. It was a ki. And it was fading…

Piccolo looked at the town below. "Probably another ancient human passing into the other world," he said to himself. He'd felt humans die before, and he let them. Who was he to intervene when nature took its due course?

He powered up to continue his flight, but then it hit him like a blow from the devil. The ki was familiar. Real familiar…

He gasped. "Chi Chi…"

With a muttered curse, Piccolo dropped immediately. He hovered over the treetops, combing the forest floor with his keen eyes. His nails dug into the flesh of his palms. Hang in there, Chi Chi. I'm coming…

Several agonizing minutes passed as he searched. The weak life force grew even smaller, fueling his panic. Dammit woman, where are you…?

Her signal was feint, but it was definitely centralized in the area below. Just as he was ready to call out her name, he saw her.

Her body lay prone on the forest floor, and between her black hair and widow's garb, she appeared little more than just another shadow. If it hadn't been for the wheeled basket of groceries spilled beside her, he wouldn't have seen her at all.

He descended next to her, and turned her over. Her face was ashen, and her lips blue. Her eyes had rolled up into the back of her head, giving no sign of consciousness. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Chi Chi!"

Her eyelids fluttered but that was all.

Shit! "CHI CHI!"

Nothing.

Piccolo pulled off his weighted cape and painstakingly wrapped her in it, hugging her unconscious form closely to him. Exploding into the night sky, he took her to the only healer he knew.

Dende…



Chapter 3

Chi Chi felt consciousness wash over her like a bucket of ice water. Wholly rejuvenated, she perked open her eyes to see two green faces inches from her own, staring at her with unmasked expressions of brow-drawn concern. The larger one's shoulders sagged as he exhaled a breath of relief.

"Piccolo?" She frowned at him, only to see his visage immediately contort in anger. Yep. That's him all right. "Where am I?" She looked at the other green alien who was staring at her as if she had two heads. "And who's the pint-sized you?"

"I'm Dende-" the little one offered, only to be cut off by Piccolo's crescendoing growl.

The larger Namek rocked back on his heels and slashed the air in a furious gesture. "If you were so exhausted, then why didn't you ask for help?!"

Then she remembered. On her walk home from the town she'd gotten horribly dizzy, and had passed out. She gasped. Gohan's dinner! She pegged him with a disapproving glare. "Well, did you feed Gohan in my absence, Piccolo? Or did you let him starve?!"

His eyes widened in belligerence. "YOU ALMOST DIED, CHI CHI!"

"What are you talking about?" she countered, just as irate.

"I almost couldn't find you, thanks to your stupid black garb," he yelled. "It's been seven weeks. Goku is gone. Get over it!"

"How DARE you…" she hissed. "Telling me when it's time to stop mourning…" She flipped up on her feet and got in his face. "I'll mourn until I die, if I see fit!"

"Which was nearly tonight!"

As she opened her mouth to bark back, she noticed familiar clothing sprouting out of the V in Piccolo's shirt. "Hey!" She snatched it out before he could stop her, and let the ruined shirt and trousers dangle from her hand. "Damn you, Piccolo. Look at what you did to Gohan's clothes." She shook them in his face. "These don't grow on trees, you backwater buffoon. They cost money, which is something WE DON'T HAVE!"

Piccolo spat. "Gohan doesn't need clothes. He survived fine with me for that year without-"

"He needs to be able to function in society, and part of that life is having LOTS of clothes and LOTS of money."

"Uh, guys?" Dende interjected, only to be ignored.

Piccolo snorted and batted the air in front of him as if it could somehow switch off her mouth. "Pity Dende healed you," he growled, his voice growing in decibel with each word, "You were much more pleasant when you were UNCONSCIOUS!"

"Excuse me-" Dende tried again, only to be pushed aside by Chi Chi as she went up and jabbed a finger at Piccolo's chest.

"Don't you even think of teaching my Gohan your skewed theories on life, you socially retarded hermit! He's already more influenced by you than I can stomach."

His mouth gaped, and she found herself pleased that she had pushed him beyond words. Then she took in his appearance, and couldn't resist one more jab. "I mean, look at yourself. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look wearing that turban without its cape?"

He flinched as though she'd hit him, and threw his turban to the floor, his fangs gleaming white behind his lips. "I took it off to wrap YOU in-"

"GUYS!" Dende yelled.

Both Chi Chi and Piccolo spun around. "WHAT?" they screamed in unison.

Dende stood there, his face serious and strained. "There's something I noticed during the healing that you need to know." He eyed them both solemnly, no doubt making sure he wouldn't be interrupted again. "When I laid my hands on your unconscious form, Chi Chi, I felt not one, but two life forces…"

Still reeling from the fight with Piccolo, Chi Chi shook her head, not understanding. Dende walked up and pointed to her abdomen, and then frowned up at Piccolo. "She's pregnant."

Denial stole the words from her mouth. But the stunned silence only lasted two seconds, when Piccolo snapped at Dende in the same tone he'd been using with her.

"Don't look at me like that, boy. It's not my child."

Chi Chi quirked an eye at him. Huh? What would make him say such a silly thing? The news of her pregnancy fought for her attention as she looked at the two namekians locked in each others' stare. Some silent communication was going on between them.

"It's not!" Piccolo reinforced.

Imbecile… Chi Chi turned on him. "Of course it isn't yours, ya neutered lizard."

He choked and spun on her, his face ready to fire back.

And then the news finally settled in. It hit her like the side of a mountain.

I'm pregnant… Oh…no…

* * *

Piccolo felt his earlier anger fade away as the Moreno female cupped her hands to her mouth to stifle a shocked cry. Her eyes grew saucer-wide, and she took three steps backwards only to turn her back to them.

Dende caught his eyes, and he shrugged. As if things weren't complicated enough already… His thoughts trailed to the father. Good job, Goku. Use her while you're here, and then don't stick around to take responsibility for the consequences…

Chi Chi's head hung, and she combed her fingers into her wind-blown hair and clasped them behind her neck. Piccolo could hear her labored breathing, but had no idea what to say. This was way out of his area of expertise.

A long, drawn out silence passed as he and Dende watched her struggle for composure. Just as he thought she might cry, he heard a deep, shuddering intake of breath. Chi Chi dropped her hands to her sides, clenched them into fists twice, and slowly nodded. When she finally turned to face them her emotions were hidden behind a shadowed, unreadable expression.

"Piccolo," she said quietly, her voice hoarse. "There's an overnight clinic in town. I need you to take me there."

Piccolo nodded mutely.

* * *

Piccolo crouched uncomfortably in the waiting room of the clinic, trying to ignore the uncomfortable stares of passing staff. The chairs were too small, and the ceiling too low, not to mention it wreaked of those toxic cleaning solutions that the humans used to keeps things sanitary.

I didn't volunteer for this, he thought in numbed indignation. I signed up for Gohan…not his mother. And yet Piccolo had come to the conclusion tonight that even though Goku hadn't phrased it as such, the two were a package deal. He cringed.

And now there was going to be another one… Ugh…

An elderly woman in blue scrubs came out down the hall just then. Her eyes widened dramatically when she saw him, and then her face crinkled in a warm smile. She came up and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Congratulations, sir."

He looked down at her, dumbly. Congratulations?

She continued, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Now, have you ever been around a pregnant woman before?"

Speechless, he just shook his head slowly.

"Okay. Well, she's anemic. That's why she passed out earlier, so she needs to take an iron supplement daily, not to mention get extra rest," she leaned in a little closer and winked at him. "Which means YOU need to help her around the house a little more."

"Help…her…around the house?"

The woman nodded. "And you'll have to be patient with her as she'll be prone to violent mood swings."

"What?!" The news shocked the bewilderment right out of him. He grabbed the woman's shoulders, eyeing her dreadfully. "But she's….already…terrible…"

The woman chuckled at his reaction and pried his hands from her shoulders. "You'll be fine. Just keep reminding yourself that it is temporary. She should be back to her old self shortly after the baby is born."

"No…" Piccolo stuttered on, wondering why this woman found his plight so humorous. "You…don't…understand…"

Just then Chi Chi came out, and stopped when she saw the look on his face. "What are you freaking out for, demon? I'M the one who has to carry and deliver it!" She stormed by him, hooking her hand in his belt as she passed, tugging him behind her. "Now take me home. I've got a son to feed!"



Chapter 4

"Pregnant?" Gohan asked incredulously as he gawked at Piccolo's bowed form. "No way!"

Piccolo nodded solemnly, without looking up. It was the day after, and the boy had just arrived for training. For some odd reason Chi Chi hadn't told him, and Piccolo felt that he needed to know, if only to understand that her recent outbursts weren't his fault.

"Wow…" Then Gohan did something totally unexpected. He burst out in laughter and tackled Piccolo to the ground. "I'm gonna have a baby brother…or sister! WOO-HOO!!!" With that he leapt off and started doing summersaults in the air.

Piccolo watched him, stunned. He'd been so immersed in the terrifying concept of a pregnant Chi Chi that he'd neglected to realize that this just might be good news to young Gohan who had spent his entire life around adults. The boy could use a comrade, and truth be told, his merry reaction was a great deal more appropriate than Piccolo's own. It was almost humbling.

Gohan's honest delight rubbed off on him, and Piccolo found himself smiling internally as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position from Gohan's playful attack. What a kid. This baby couldn't ask for a better older brother.

Finally the boy settled, his face threatening to split in two from the grin that stretched all the way to his earlobes. He descended next to Piccolo. "She doesn't even look pregnant," he said. "Maybe it's because she doesn't let it slow her down any."

Piccolo perked, alarmed. "She should. The doctor said-"

"Pssht!" Gohan rolled his eyes. "Like mom will listen to a doctor. She just took off into town again to run some more errands."

"She's supposed to be resting!" Images flitted across his mind of finding Chi Chi half-dead like the night before, and valiant efforts to fly her to the lookout only to lose her on the way there. He thought of what would happen to Gohan if his mother died, along with his potential sibling. It would ruin the boy. Foolish, inconsiderate woman… Piccolo jumped up. "Start training. I'll be back."

With that, he burst off without waiting for Gohan's bewildered protest.

* * *

It only took him a few minutes to track her down. She was standing in line outside a building with a big plywood sign that said, 'La Caridad de San Lucus'.

Better stay hidden until she's done, he thought grumpily, hoping that Gohan was training while he was wasting his time babysitting the boy's mother. He hovered in the air behind the nearest building.

The line shortened, and he watched curiously as Chi Chi took several items over the counter, and plopped them in her basket, cloth and food rations being the bulk of them.

Something about the scene bothered him, and it was more than just the sadness in her eyes, or the sag in her shoulders… But try as he may, he was unable to put his finger on it.

Her basket overflowing with goods, she thanked the lady behind the counter and started to take off down the street. Shaking himself, Piccolo flew over to her and plopped down in front of her, his arms folded tightly across his chest.

She gawked up at him, her face open in naked surprise. "What are you doing here?" She was even too stunned to throw her usual bite in her tone.

"You're supposed to be resting," he growled, trying his best to keep his lips from snarling up over his fangs. "And you're supposed to ask for help!"

She shook the shock from her frame and scowled up at him. I'm pregnant, you dolt. Not handicapped!" She stormed past him. "Now get out of my way!"

Piccolo grabbed her wrist, and she spun on him, appalled. "I did this before without any assistance. And I'll do it again!"

"Last time you had Goku!"

She snorted. "What makes you think he was any help? That man wouldn't know someone was in trouble unless they had a machete sticking out of their head."

Without further ado, Piccolo yanked the basket from her with one hand.

"HEY!"

Then he bowed down and threw her bodily over his shoulder with the other, bracketing his arm across the back of her knees.

"What are you doing?!" She screamed, her words muffled in the material of his cape.

"I'm taking you home." Just as he was about to ascend in the air, a big yellow truck rode by and stopped in front of the building where Chi Chi had purchased her goods. On it, in big sepia brown letters read 'The Goodwill'.

And the thing that had nagged at him earlier about the scene made itself manifest now. "Chi Chi…" he said, more disturbed than molested. "That place you were just at. It's a charity…"

She slugged his back with her fists as she tried to break free. "Of COURSE it's a charity, you numbskull! How else am I going to provide for my family? It's not like my husband ever bothered to get a job!"

That bothered him. It bothered him a lot, but he kept tight-lipped as he ascended into the air with the furious woman slung heftily over his shoulder.

"Dammit, Piccolo," she grunted. "This pressure can't be good for the baby, you know!"

He startled. His shoulder was digging into her gut, after all. He quickly shifted her to his front, positioning her against his chest with his forearm. She squirmed.

"This…isn't very...comfortable...either..."

"Then help me out and hold onto me, you obstinate female!" he reprimanded. "I've only got two hands and your basket is in my other one!"

Scowling, she did as he said, and clasped her hands securely behind his neck. It put her face awkwardly close to his, and he glared ahead, growing increasingly uncomfortable with her proximity.

After a minute of strained silence, he flicked a glance down only to see her staring up at him in scrutiny. Her mouth was still frowning, but her eyes were crinkled with amusement.

"What?" he growled.

A slight pause. "You," she mused. "You fight back."

He snorted. "I'm not Goku."

Piccolo half expected her to get emotional again, like the first day when he'd called her a beast. Instead, the smile in her eyes finally caught up to her mouth and she looked absently at the passing ground below. "No," she said. "You're definitely not Goku."

She'd never looked at him without that hard edge before. It caught Piccolo completely off guard, and he felt a flush begin to tinge his cheeks. Thank Kami they were already at the house. Landing softly on the grass, he plopped her down and dropped her basket.

He headed in the opposite direction of his training grounds with Gohan, and quick on the uptake, Chi Chi called him on it. "Hey! Where are you going?"

Piccolo paused and looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to run an 'errand'." With that, he hopped into the sky and shot towards his next destination.

Hercule City.

* * *

Hercule was busy hanging the most recent media poster of him in his trophy room, when the balcony doors burst open, sending shards of glass splintering across the floor.

He jumped back as a tall green fellow with pointed ears, and a white cape appeared in the room. The low-drawn brow was easily recognizable, as was everything else about him.

He was one of the fighters…the REAL fighters that destroyed Cell that fateful day seven weeks ago. It was a victory that had saved the world…a victory that Hercule had stolen from them and used to his own advantage.

"I'd heard you turned our win into a money pit, you slovenly coward," he grated in a deep, demonic voice. "But naming the city after yourself?"

"Oh…shit…" Hercule stumbled backwards, tripped and farted when his butt hit the floor. The green man grimaced, and snarled his disgust. Hercule continued to stammer. "Please don't kill me! No one saw how Cell was defeated, and I thought it w-w-would be a grand opportunity for my career-"

"You sit here living like a king while the real hero has to get his sustenance from a charity." The powerful fighter suddenly appeared at Hercule's side and lifted him up by his afro. "A charity!"

Hercule cried out in pain. "I'll give you whatever you want! I'll confess it wasn't me!"

"We don't want your fame, you pathetic weakling. You can keep that." He dropped him none-too-gently and Hercule rubbed his head vigorously where his hair had been ripped out. The mysterious warrior continued, "I was thinking more along the lines of a deal…a business deal."

Hercule timidly met the stranger's narrowed eyes, daring to believe for the first time since the warrior burst into his trophy room that he just might survive the encounter after all. "I…I'm sure that whatever it is," Hercule stammered stupidly, "Something can be arranged…"

* * *

Chi Chi was leaning over the sink, washing the dinner dishes when Piccolo swung open the front door. She turned around and frowned at him. She'd just put on a new yellow sundress, and shredded her heavy black clothes. But the last thing she wanted the egomaniac to think was that he'd influenced her decision to stop wearing widow's garb...

Even though he had.

"I was going to stop mourning around now, anyways. It was nothing you said," she huffed. "And just where have you been? I let Gohan go play with Icarus-"

Her words caught in her throat as he dropped a heavy, black duffle bag on the wooden table.

"What's that?" she asked, stepping away from the sink.

Without excuse or explanation, Piccolo turned to leave when she noticed a small metallic gizmo latched onto the Namek's belt.

Chi Chi choked. "Why, Piccolo… What on earth are you doing with a cell phone?"

He stopped in the doorframe, and said quietly without turning around, "The strongest being on the planet should not have to live off the charity of others." Then he looked over his shoulder and met her stare, his expression rueful, if not kind. "And neither should his mother."

With that he swooshed out, closing the door behind him. Stunned, Chi Chi turned her focus to the bag in front of her, clumsily struggling with its zipper until it peeled open. A small cry escaped her mouth.

It was full of money.