Piccolo, Gohan, and Goten could only stare. "That’s…that’s not a Namek!" Gohan said.

"What is it then?" Goten questioned.

Piccolo said quietly, "I’m not sure." He noticed that the child was wet from the water. The baby sneezed quite loudly and fell over, having only her chubby body to support her head. Making a cloth in his hand, he attempted to dry the newborn off.

That was when the babe first noticed the figures above her. Being quite small, she was frightened. She tried to crawl away and covered her head. Piccolo draped the small cloth over the infant and stroked her; a bit afraid she could catch cold.

The small lump beneath the fabric moved backwards, afraid of the touch and wanting to be left alone. Piccolo merely continued to rub her and the child felt warmth spread through her body.

Once he was sure she was dry, Piccolo stopped caressing her. The tiny head poked her head out from the cloth, almost demanding attention.

Goten got on his hands and knees, holding out a finger for the infant to investigate. The newborn took it in her hand, shook it, pulled on it, regular baby stuff.

Meanwhile Gohan and Piccolo were talking of how this had happened. "Gohan, it…it looks like a girl!"

"So?"

"So?! So there are NO girl Nameks!"

"Oh, yeah."

Goten continued playing with the child, unaware she was different. "What should we call you, baby?"

Piccolo bent back down and pointed a finger at her. "I think we should dress her before we name her."

A small outfit appeared on her. A turban was on her head, but it had no top like Piccolo’s, exposing her small tuff of hair. Her collar and cape were like Tsuki’s. Her shirt and pants were light blue and the rope round her waist was orange. Her shoes were just like Piccolo’s.

Videl came running up, still clutching Tsuki. "Well? Did ya get the…what the?!"

Gohan laughed. "Yeah, that was our reaction too!"

Startled by so many visitors, Ame struggled to get up and tripped. Looking back at the people, she crawled behind Piccolo’s leg. Piccolo could only chuckle, it was so cute. *I don’t think Piccolo would EVER say this, but he probably thinks it!!* "It’s alright. Come out."

The girl poked her head out from behind. Suddenly, it began to rain. Lightning blazed in the sky and thunder boomed. Tsuki let out a small cry and snuggled closer to Videl, but the girl was fascinated. Looking up, she didn’t mind the flashes of light and drum rolls of nature. Piccolo instantly thought of a name.

"Ameko. Rain child."

Gohan smiled. "Nice name and it suits her too!"

"Yes, it does."

Ameko ignored all of this, staring up at the sky.

Piccolo scooped her up gently, saying, "Keep looking up, and you’ll hurt your eyes, kid."

Ameko looked up at her father, recognizing his voice. Piccolo glanced over at Videl and motioned for Tsuki. Videl walked over and held Tsuki in a close enough distance. "Ameko, this is your older twin brother, Tsuki."

The two twins only stared for a few minutes until Ameko reached out and pulled gently on Tsuki’s antenna. Tsuki giggled and grabbed a tiny handful of his sister’s hair. This continued for a few minutes until both were roaring with laughter, practically falling out of their holders’ arms.

Goten giggled. "They like each other!" Gohan looked at his watch. "Oh, boy! Mom’s gonna kill us, Goten! It’s almost midnight!"

Videl nodded. "Yeah, we should all get home!" Turning to Piccolo, she said, "Congratulations!" and handed Tsuki to him.

"Thanks. I’ll be going to Kami’s tower…but I think I should pay Bulma a visit first."

*****

"I think I figured it out!"

Bulma and Vegeta weren’t happy to be awakened by Piccolo banging by the door, so Dr. Briefs had come out instead, though Scratch was none too cheerful about it. He had done several scans of Ameko and Tsuki, the egg shells, and done a few tests on the shells’ membranes and goop. Tsuki and Ameko slept peacefully nearby on the couch.

"So, why is Ameko a girl?"

Turning to Piccolo, Briefs cleared his throat. "You weren’t feeling well when you…uh…gave birth, I guess, right?"

Piccolo nodded.

"Well, sometimes illness can change a human child’s genes. Also, you dropped her, correct?"

Piccolo blushed slightly. "It wasn’t my fault, but yes, I did."

"Well, this also could have contributed. It seems Namek egg shells are much like bird eggs. No offense. Turning an egg and changing the temperature can and will transform an egg’s DNA. I am sure this is what happened."

Piccolo could feel a fear rising within him. "So…will she be normal?"

"Yes, she is quite healthy."

The Namek let out a sigh of relief. Ameko was alright. "That’s good. I was worried she might have a disease or disability."

"No need to fret. She’s quite fine, as is Tsuki. You should be very proud."

Piccolo picked up the sleeping twins and walked towards the door. "I am. Thank you, Briefs."

Dr. Briefs waved cheerfully goodbye as Piccolo flew up to Kami’s tower.

*****

Piccolo floated just over the edge of Kami’s tower, basked in the sun’s first light. Last night’s events were still having an effect on him. Such as the fact he checked on the tiny children every five minutes or always made sure that they were completely covered by the bed sheets and that they were comfortable.

He felt a slight tug on his cape. He looked to the side, saw no one around.

Another tug. This time, Piccolo looked down. Ameko stood there, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"What are you doing up, Ameko? You should be in bed."

She only scowled, apparently something she inherited from him, and climbed up into his lap via cape. She had done this several times and was very fast at it. She sat cross-legged and folded her arms, looking up at him. Piccolo wondered what she was thinking, since she did not seem to want to talk just yet.

"Seepy."

Piccolo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What?"

Ameko yawned. "Seepy."

Her first word, even if it wasn’t a real word. She yawned and Piccolo could see baby teeth tips coming in. She muttered, "Seepy…" and fell asleep, clutching tightly to his shirt.

If my father can see this, he must be having conniptions from hell.

Piccolo unfolded his legs and walked inside Kami’s tower to the guest room that now belonged to Tsuki and Ameko. Setting her on the bed, he realized how tiny she really was. She was only about half the size of a throw pillow, as was her brother. The bed was like an island.

"At least they can’t roll off." He muttered under his breath.

An hour later.

Mr. Popo, yawning and sipping some coffee *I’ve always wondered why he’s so cheerful!!*, walked by and noticed Piccolo in the room. "Oh, Piccolo! You’ve returned!"

"SHH!"

Mr. Popo was stunned, and then noticed the small figures in the bed. "Oh." Tiptoeing over, he leaned over and looked down on the tiny children. "They’ve hatched!" He whispered excitedly. "They’re beautiful, Piccolo."

The genie yawned. "I should go get breakfast started, now that I’m up." He wandered out the door towards the kitchen, leaving Piccolo with the sleeping children. Ameko moved occasionally in her slumber, while Tsuki was stock still.

Piccolo pulled up a chair. He felt no desire to leave these defenseless babes. It was odd, he had been born, knowing his name, having all of his sire’s memories, able to fight and kill. But these infants…they knew nothing save a handful of people, one of them a single word, and the sound of their father’s voice. If he left them alone, who knew what would happen.

His sensitive ears picked up Dende’s footsteps through the palace.

Mr. Popo telling him the news.

The young Guardian running down the hall.

"Piccolo is it true! The eggs have hatched?"

Dende screeched to a halt in front of the door, staring at the two bundles and the fighter watching them. "Piccolo…"

The teen walked over, leaning over the bed like it was the first time he had ever seen a baby. "That one is…is a girl!"

"Yes. Her genes were changed when I dropped her."

"Unbelievable. Wait till the others find out!"

Piccolo smirked and closed his eyes, amused at the thought of the Z warriors’ faces when they saw Ameko. THAT would be interesting indeed!

Tsuki’s eyes fluttered, and then looked up. Piccolo leaned over and picked him up, cradling him so Tsuki had his head to Piccolo’s chest and his chubby legs dangling over the arms.

"Wow." Dende murmured as Tsuki pulled his boots off, playing with his toes. "He looks a lot like you, ya know."

"I’ve been hearing that A LOT lately. YEOW!"

Piccolo looked down at Tsuki, who had his father’s hand in his mouth. Tsuki put on a face of complete innocence, one that looked a good deal like one of Gohan’s expressions.

Dende chuckled. "It looks like he’s hungry! I guess hatching can be tiring." He looked at Tsuki and said soothingly, "Mr. Popo made breakfast for us, do you want some?"

Tsuki giggled. "I’ll take that as a yes then. Let’s go!"

Piccolo gave Tsuki to Dende and watched the two walk off. He heard a soft grunt behind him and turned to see Ameko looking up at him. "You just went to sleep, kid."

Ameko ignored him completely and proceeded to climb up his cape and crawled onto his shoulder.

"Hungry."

Piccolo was a bit shocked. She had said her second word, but is sounded like a demand than a remark. "Hungry, are ya?"

Climbing on to his collar and putting her tiny feet to his chest, she repeated, more forcefully this time, "Hungry."

Piccolo grabbed her by the collar and put her on the ground. He had seen that look before; one he had seen staring up at him from a river before he had encountered Gohan. It also reminded him of Vegeta for one reason or another.

He scowled and she scowled right back. "Now look, Ameko. If you’re hungry, you’re not going to demand if of me, got it? You can ask properly, or not at all."

Ameko stared up at her dad *she only comes up to his ankle, at the moment.* …then nodded.

"Now repeat after me: Can I eat something?"

Ameko stared a bit more, then said *in baby language, of course*, "Cun I at sometin?"

"Close enough. Let’s get you filled up; I have a feeling we’re gonna have visitors…"