Everything had changed between Lee and I after that day when she gave me the gift. A whole new set of emotions was racing through me. I didn't really understand them, or know what to make of them, but apparently Lee did. Funny how love works.

It had been about a week since that day…and when I woke up before the sun came up, I didn't feel right. I was aching all over. Probably just training too hard the night before. Hey, it happens. So I sat up and walked out to the lake and got myself a drink of water, then started to do a few stretches and warm up exercises. When I started doing those, I became aware of how my weighted shoulderpads seemed to feel so much heavier. As if I couldn't pull enough energy into my own body to work out. Even my head felt like it weighed a ton. Kind of like I had a string with a weight attached to it that was hanging from the inside of my scalp and down into the center of my body. Hell, even my damn eyelids felt heavy. What was wrong with me?

"I just need to wake up." I muttered to myself as I slid into the splits and stretched my legs.

When I couldn't get myself into split form, I got very annoyed with myself and grumbled at the sky when it started to rain. Well it was about damn time it rained a little around here. Perhaps I just need more rest was all. So I laid back and closed my eyes for just a moment. The second I sat up again and saw it was getting dark, I started to cuss out loud. Dammit! I'd slept all day! And I was supposed to be keeping watch over Lee. So slowly, I dragged myself to my feet. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I felt a tickle rising in my throat. Like I had something stuck in it, and it was also sore like I was swallowing sandpaper. Oh well, I get that from time to time. But I never coughed for no reason. That is, until just then.

What the hell was going on?

I ignored that thought and flew off towards the city while the rain continued its relentless beating on my face and body. When I landed on the roof across from Lee's home, I felt…cold. So I folded my arms and sat down, not caring how soaked I got. I could see Lee inside, sitting on the edge of her bed with a pair of headphones on. Her mouth was moving and I could hear her singing faintly. She wasn't half bad.

I could say a million things about Lee. She is cute. Really, I mean it. She can be really damn stubborn and annoying at times, but there's something about her that just makes others want to like her. Perhaps it's the way she handles her lack of sight so well.

The rain had started to come down harder, and a breeze was picking up. Lightning flashed brightly overhead, and the thunder battered my eardrums. And it hurt. It was like a shockwave going off inside my head. I also noticed that Lee had heard the thunder and had taken off her earphones. She was standing by the sliding glass door with her ear turned outwards. An idea crossed my mind as I stood up, soaking wet from the rain so that my clothes were sagging and even my cape was clinging to me. There wasn't a car in front of the house. So Lee was home alone. She didn't have anybody that would come and freak out if they saw me there. That meant I could go visit her without having to 'hold back', if you know what I mean; no hiding in the shadows or anything. I came to my senses to realize I was shivering violently, enough so that I could hear my teeth chattering.

Shake it off, Piccolo. I told myself as I bent my knees to take off. A wave of massive dizziness swept over me as I lifted off, and when I came to land on Lee's balcony, I literally fell over. That was the last conscious thing that I think I was aware of at that time, just laying there facedown and too exhausted to even move.

I love thunderstorms. The sound is so awe-inspiring, the way it's so loud and intimidating, and yet it doesn't hurt you. Kind of like Piccolo. Piccolo…my man…he's my Valentine forever. Even when it isn't Valentine's day. The day he kissed me was so magical. I mean, his lips are so much softer then they probably look to a sighted person. But to feel them on my own lips…it was like a dream.

I'm so glad to know that he is capable of love, at least the emotion. Sure, the act of making love makes you feel closer. But that doesn't matter. Just knowing that I love him and that he loves me is fine. To tell you the truth, Piccolo can be really sweet when he wants to be, which isn't very often, but it happens.

Sometimes I even wonder if he really was sent to me from the stars to be my Guardian Angel. After all, he's not from Earth. He has a gorgeous face. He can be very gentle when he wants to be and…this may sound weird to some people but…I think his voice is sexy. Just…I don't know…the way he almost purrs when he talks sometimes, even when he's angry…I love hearing him. And somewhere deep within him there's a soul that's suffered so much. It's like he's this innocent person that's drowning in so much blood that he never really wanted to shed. I know it sounds like I'm talking mush, but it's just how I feel.

My thoughts were interrupted by a thud on my balcony. That didn't sound at all right. Piccolo never made a sound when he arrived. I slid the creaky sliding glass door open and immediately tripped on something living. The object moved and I heard a moan. A hand grasped my ankle, and the hands made walking motions up my leg until finally the person stood up. He almost fell again, but I grabbed his arms and pulled him inside.

"Piccolo!?" I said. Holy cow! His clothes were soaked completely. I reached up and touched his face, and felt more heat then normal. "You're burning up!"

I heard a cough and then a thud as Piccolo probably had removed his cape. I could also hear his raspy breathing and then more coughing. Piccolo was sick, and whatever he had it was really bad. And before I could do anything, I heard him stumble towards my bed.

"Unh…Lee…" He said quietly. I don't know what it was; maybe it was the way his voice sounded so weak, or the fact that he had collapsed, but whatever it was, I started to get extremely frightened for my best friend. Piccolo was an alien, and for all I knew he probably had a totally different immune system. The flu might kill him. Who knows?

"Shh, don't talk. C'mon, let's get you out of these wet clothes." I said quietly as I knelt down next to him and reached for his shirt. The moment my hand grazed the cold, drenched fabric, I felt his hand grasp my wrist. The heat he was giving off was almost too hot to bear. Much higher then a fever that a human can survive.

"What's happening to me?" Piccolo asked, finally allowing me to get his shirt off.

"You're sick. Haven't you ever been sick in your life?" I asked, wrinkling my nose. I always seem to do that without really thinking, usually when I'm curious or annoyed. Well at the moment I was curious. As I waited for Piccolo's answer, I found his feet and tugged his shoes right off the way he had done for me that first time.

Piccolo has the weirdest feet! I could only feel four toes. There was a gap between where his big toe and third toe were. Anyway, I tossed his shoes aside and touched listened to make sure he was still breathing. He was so far. I felt myself start to blush. "Piccolo…I hope you won't be offended or anything, but your pants are soaked too and they have to come off so you can get dry."

I didn't get an answer, but a second later I heard wet cloth slapping against the floor. Then I heard my bed creak and guessed that Piccolo had managed to sit down on my bed. I grabbed my blanket and put it over his shoulders, then put my arms gently around him, holding him. I could feel him gasping, his skin hot but not giving off sweat. Piccolo didn't move for a long time, but I finally got him to lie down. I lied down with him, my face probably not more then a few inches away from his.

"When did you start feeling 'not right'?" I asked him.

"This morning…" Piccolo answered, his voice getting even more far off sounding. This was bad. Very bad. That means he'd been out in the rain all day and that is probably what made him so much worse. I could hear him breathing again, still loud, almost as if he felt like he couldn't get enough air. And he was still generating heat like an oven. Frankly, I was starting to get really scared.

"Piccolo, I'm gonna go get something. I'll be right back, OK?"

"I'm not going anywhere." He replied.

I nodded in the direction of his voice and got up. The stairs creaked as I made my way downstairs, the soft carpet giving way to hard, cool tile under my feet as I entered the kitchen, took three steps and faced to my left. There was a cabinet and I opened it and groped around until I felt the small round container of a gel that smells like eucalyptus. Good old Vicks…my mother always has some in supply. Anyway, I grabbed the Vicks and clomped back up the stairs which I knew so well that I could race up and down them in my sleep. Piccolo's breathing was so strained that I could hear it from down the hall. The sound alone frightened me. My mother has asthma, and she can wheeze pretty bad sometimes. And Piccolo sounded just like that, occasional coughing breaking the steady rhythm. There were tears forming in my eyes. He was in pain. I just knew he was when I took his hand in mine to let him know I had returned.

Thunder still rumbled outside, and I could hear the rain pelting the roof. All those sounds mixed with the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall and the sound of Piccolo's breathing. An odd symphony of cacophony. I also started to think of how Piccolo could have caught whatever he had when I remembered something. The day after he'd kissed me, I came down with the flu. He must have gotten it and not thought anything of it, and it got worse. Poor Piccolo…

"Piccolo, I'm going to rub something on your chest that will make it easier for you to breathe. It'll feel really cold, but that's what will make you feel better." I told him as I unscrewed the lid and let the scent of the Vicks waft up into the air. Dipping my fingers into the squishy gel, I got a good sized gob out and rubbed it between my hands, then started to rub my palms gently over his chest. I felt him startle slightly at my touch, but then he relaxed again.

I have to admit: Piccolo has a great pecks. I…didn't want to have to take my hands away from him, so I took my time rubbing the Vicks into his skin. I worked my way up to his neck and gently rubbed some against his throat, gingerly passing my fingers over his Adam's apple. That's when I remembered what my mom used to do with the Vicks when I was sick; it always worked too. I got Piccolo to sit up, and I rubbed some onto his back. He was like solid muscle and flesh, smooth in some places, rough and rigid in others, but warm in all.

"Smells almost like that green tea I make." Piccolo finally commented softly as I got him to lie down again. "Feels…good…"

"Yeah, it does." I answered.

We went quiet again, and I think Piccolo slept for a few hours. I slipped into my pajamas while he was asleep. I fell asleep right next to him with my head on the bed. When I woke up, I could barely hear him breathing.

"Piccolo?" I found and took his hand, then shook it. No response. I shook his hand harder, and when that didn't work I tried bodily sitting him up, which was really a struggle. When that didn't get any response, I knew something was seriously wrong. He might have been dying right there, and now I had to choose: Get help, or hope he improved. The way Piccolo was breathing, I don't think he was improving.

So I chose to get help. Grabbing the phone, I quickly dialed 9-1-1.

The vapors from the blue container in Lee's hand really cleared my nose up. The smell was like the green tea I make; just like eucalyptus.

"Piccolo, I'm going to rub something on your chest that will make it easier for you to breathe. It'll feel really cold, but that's what will make you feel better." Lee said. Her voice sounded like it was coming to me from the other side of a long tunnel or canyon. And then I felt her hands on my skin. She was smearing that salve on my chest, but I didn't mind. It felt really cold, but relieving too. See, normally, I wouldn't tolerate this kind of crap. But this…this was different. Lee's touch was so gentle. I mean, I'm used to having people hit me or kick me or whatever; I'm not used to having a hand rubbing over my skin. At least not the way she was doing it. I just closed my eyes and inhaled the smell of the salve she was rubbing into my skin, using every part of my conscious will to keep myself from pulling her into my arms and just holding her. She had me sit up while she rubbed more of this stuff onto my back. By then, it was sinking into my chest and making that cool sensation spread out under my skin as if it was seeping into my lungs. The backrub seemed to end too soon as she helped me to lie down again.

That's where my memory blanks again. Right after I fell asleep.

I became aware of movement, and I dragged my eyes open to see white lights passing over my head. Faces surrounded me, all of them framed with white coats. Damn, I couldn't think then, or I'd have recognized the humans as doctors. Doctors!?

"He's coming around. What's his name?" Said the human male with dark hair.

"Piccolo." Lee answered from to my left as the rolling movement stopped and I had a white light glaring painfully down at me. Something was stuck to either side of my chest. I could hear a contraption above and behind me beeping. I felt a thin object being stuck into my arm, and something else inserted and removed from my ear. A bag of something with a tube running down into my arm dangled on a hook just above my head. Where the hell was I?

"Temp's at…..you won't believe this….one-hundred-ten." I heard a woman say somewhere.

The dark haired doctor looked at me again, but he was all blurry to my sight at the moment. "Hi, Piccolo. I'm doctor Liu Kentaro. You're pretty sick here and I'm going to get you well again."

I was about to answer and tell them all to get the hell away from me when someone put something thin on my face, stringing it under my nose and over my ears. And I could breathe much better. I caught a glimpse of the silver-haired female that had put whatever she had put on my face. My eyes narrowed and she backed off real quick.

Another needle was jammed into my arm, and this time it really pissed me off. "What the f*ck do you think you're doing?!"

"Giving you antibiotics." The man answered. It was that Kentaro person again, smirking as he pushed the plunger down and injected the whatever junk into my blood. Great. Just great.

"Doctor…I can't find anywhere to get this catheter in." A nurse said. She sounded pretty embarrassed.

Oh what? Now they wanted my piss too? Sheesh! OK, a lot of people think that Nameks don't have anything between their legs. In a sense it's true. That's because there only is when I want there to be. Whenever I need to take a leak, I just push out a little thin tube where I suppose humans have their so-called 'penis'. Its just a urethra. Nothing more. And just so you know, it's one of the cleanest places in my body so don't get all grossed out. When I need to, I just stick it out, do my business and then suck it in again. No big deal. Heh, anybody that's happened to have seen it have often told me it looks like a pink version of one of my antennae with a hole in the end. Whatever. Those people aren't alive anymore anyway because I didn't let them get away with seeing what they saw. But anyway I don't like people trying to mess with that. Not even a doctor.

"Lady, when I have to piss, I can do it myself." I growled, making her back off. All this crap going on around me was annoying me and giving me one hell of a headache.

"Shhh…take it easy." A hand took hold of mine while another carefully pulled some blankets over me and smoothed them down gently over my chest.

"Lee?" I turned my head found myself face to face with her. Lee was wearing a bathrobe over what looked like a pink nightgown. Concern and worry was crossing her face, and I saw her nose wrinkle slightly for a moment. "Where the hell am I?" I asked.

"Don't get mad at me OK?" Lee started. "You're in a hospital. I…I couldn't wake you up and I didn't know what else to do." She squeezed my hand and I could see tears in her eyes. "You were barely breathing and I thought you were dying." Her eyes blinked and one of the tears that had been threatening to fall finally came down her cheek. I reached up and, as careful as I could, brushed it away. Part of me was just fuming at her. But the other part of me was somewhat proud of her for making such a tough decision. I guess the rest of me was just embarrassed that all these humans had seen me while I was weak. I don't like that.

Anyway, my thoughts were distracted by the weight of Lee's head on my chest as she put her head down right over my heart. She was fiddling around with the little necklace she gave me(I never take it off) while listening to my heartbeat. So I reached my hand over and placed it against the side of her face. There was something that had a red light on it taped to my thumb. A wire ran from it to a machine next to the bed I was lying on. "Hey Lee…thanks for saving my butt." I said to her, unsure of what else to say. I tend to not say anything when I don't really feel like offending anybody, so I resolved myself to silence while I combed my fingers through her soft hair, tucking a few of the loose strands behind her ear for her. Lee smiled, leaned up and pressed her lips against my forehead. Is this what its like to have a mom? I wondered silently, still astonished at how she could care for somebody like me so much.

"Anytime." Lee replied to my thanks after she'd touched her lips to my forehead.

She was bringing her lips down towards mine when someone wearing a gray business suit came through the door. "Lee? You had me so worried and - " The woman stopped. She had blonde hair just like Lee's, but it was cut very short, her eyes were blue instead of green and she lacked the freckles. This must have been Lee's mother, and at the moment she was looking at me in a what looked like shock and perhaps horror. I couldn't be sure since she covered her mouth with her hand, which had manicured nails that were painted bright red. "Oh my God…you're the person that broke the sliding door…" She whispered.

Lee's head turned towards the shocked woman in the doorway. "Mom!" She cried. "Mom, don't be afraid. This is Piccolo. Remember? He's the one that found me out in the valley and splinted my ankle for me." I felt her hands grasp mine again.

"H-h-hello." The shocked woman in the doorway said. I guess she was shocked to find out that I wasn't a figment of her daughter's imagination. I guess I would have been too if I was her. But since I'm not, I guess I'll never know. "I…my name is Amy Jefferson."

"Hi." I said. Well what else could I say? This lady was already scared as hell of me.

"Lee, can I talk to you for a minute?" Amy asked. Lee nodded and put my hand down gently like it would break if she dropped it. She flashed me a small grin and then walked to her mother. Amy pulled Lee to the other side of the room and whispered to her, thinking that I couldn't hear her. She had no idea how sensitive my ears are. I can hear whispers from up to fifty feet away if it's quiet enough. "Lee! What is he?!"

"He's a Namek, mom." Lee whispered back. "Remember that sculpture I made? It's him."

"He's green…" Amy muttered under her breath. Lee didn't answer that because obviously she had no idea what green was. To her it was a word and nothing more. I just pretended to be asleep while they talked about me. Amy's comments didn't bother me at all until she said, "He could hurt you."

"Mom!" Lee hissed, sounding angry, "Piccolo would never hurt me. And I would never hurt him." She came back over to the bed. Her voice lowered to a whisper once again as I felt her hand come to rest on mine, her fingers tracing a path gently across my palm. "He's my friend."

"Lee," Amy whispered as she stepped closer to the bed, "Darling, if you could see you would think differently. He looks…I don't know…evil." I almost blew my cover because the urge to burst out laughing at that comment swept over me so fast. I managed to disguise it as a cough. However, Lee surprised the hell out of me once again with her next comment.

"Is that all you see, mother? An alien? Is that all? Why is it that everyone I know seems to base everything on appearances and what they see on the surface? Then they come after me all shocked when I say something different to them? Look at his face." She whispered, and I felt her gentle hand come to rest against my cheek. "To me…this is beauty and perfection. What he looks like to you means nothing to me."

Me a beautiful thing?! THAT was new. I heard Amy sigh. Lady, if I wanted to hurt Lee I would have done it the instant I saw her. I said silently. I'll never hurt her. Ever. Amy didn't say anything for a long time. "Lee, why are you being like this?"

Lee's voice lowered as if she were speaking a soft little secret that she'd had for a long time. "Because, mom…I love him." She paused and her hand slid off of my face and took hold of mine again. "You may go by what you can see. But ever heard the phrase 'See no evil, hear no evil, touch no evil'? Well I can't see evil. But what I can 'see' is how I feel. And not even you can change that." Soft lips touched the side of my face and then Lee's hand withdrew from mine, one finger gently brushing against my lower lip and then moving away.

I heard Amy let out another sigh and then she said, "OK…" with a flat tone of voice. I heard her rattle a bag around and then she said, "Here, I brought some clothes. Get dressed in the bathroom. I also found these. I guess they're his. There was a cape in there but it was too heavy for me, so I guess he'll have to get it himself when he's well again." I felt something being flopped onto the bed. Definitely my gi.

At that moment a nurse must have come in. She stuck that thing in my ear and took it out again after it beeped. It finally occurred to me that it was a sort of thermometer. "Temp's down to 99.9 degrees. I guess he responded well to the antibiotics. That young lady that had him brought in was very brave, handling the situation on her own like that."
Lee giggled in the bathroom. "It was no sweat, actually. Panic only makes things worse." I heard the door close and chose that moment to 'wake up'. The red-haired nurse looked at me.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

I smirked a little. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Hi Piccolo! How do you feel?" Lee asked, smiling.

"Better." I answered her, glancing over at Amy. Amy smiled slightly at me and then stood up and politely left the room.

The nurse took the needles out of my arm and peeled the tape off my thumb, along with the little red light. The wire dangled for a moment, but she coiled it up and set it down on top of the machine it was attached to. Then she reached to my face and removed the plastic thing that had been strung there. I later found out it had been oxygen or something like that. "You…" said the nurse as she listened to my chest with a stethescope real quick, "…have been discharged. You can go now. You're fever's gone and your chest is clearing up nicely. Apparently your body responded rather fast to the antibiotics when they were given." She patted my shoulder. "Quite a recovery. You had double pneumonia pretty bad there. Now, when you do get outta here, you take it easy for a few days OK? You're well enough to leave but not at one-hundred percent."

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." I muttered while staring at an odd wall poster that described parts of a woman's body. Very strange how humans reproduce. It takes two of them to make one person. Down under the picture of the female parts was one of male parts and more lables and crap. Next to that was a diagram of how the sex act was performed and how a human egg cell is fertalized by sperm and all that stuff. Until then, I seriously did not know how humans 'did it'.

Very interesting concept. Two people becoming one for a short period of time. Two become one. I finally understood it. Apparently this 'making love' thing was describing this closeness. I guess I can say now that it's not as sick as I thought it was.

"You can stay at my place to rest." I heard Lee say, snapping me out of my thoughts. I sat up and was starting to get my gi back on. As the nurse had said, I still wasn't at a hundred percent. A small wave of dizziness swept over me as I stood, but it went away.

"Thanks, Lee." I answered her as I pulled my shoes on. "So I'll meet you there." Before anybody could protest, I got up and walked out of the room. The hospital was a maze, but I managed to find my way out. A lot of people stared at me, but hey, I kind of stand out. So I just ignored them as I took off and flew to Lee's house.

Piccolo was awake when I went back out again. There was good news too: He was being discharged. I heard his clothes rustling as he put them on again. Then he took off, and was waiting at the house when my mom and I got there. Well, at first I didn't know he was there because he was waiting on the balcony outside the sliding glass door in my bedroom. My mom wasn't too happy about it. But where else could Piccolo stay?

Piccolo had apparently either gone to sleep again or was meditating, so I left him alone, turned on the water in the bathtub and climbed in to relax under the nice, warm water. In there, I could think in peace with a washcloth over my face. Don't ask why I like to do that, I just do. I was thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days. How close I came to losing Piccolo and how sick he'd been. Footsteps approached from outside and then the bathroom door clicked and creaked open. The light switch clicked as it was flipped

"Oh, I didn't know you were in here." Purred the voice I love hearing so much. I heard his feet scrape the tile floor as he turned to leave. "I'll just use another bathroom."

"Hey Piccolo, it's OK." I said to him and smiled, really not minding him being there. In fact, I wanted him to stay. "You don't have to go running off." I dipped my head under the water to get my wet hair out of my face, the world momentarily drowned into a gurgling noise as my ears were submerged and then surfaced again. I heard Piccolo close the door again and then the sound of the toilet seat being put up.

The sound of the usual tinkling that happens when a person takes a pee filtered through the air as Piccolo casually asked, "How did you manage to handle what happened to me so well? I mean…as far as I know, you were a lot calmer then I expected you to be."

I shrugged and smirked with half of my mouth in his general direction. "I guess you underestimate me. Seriously, I just know that panicking will just make the situation worse then it already is. Better to fall apart when it's over then in the middle."

Piccolo snorted as he put the toilet seat down again and sat down on it(he NEVER flushes the toilet. It's annoying but funny.) "I guess. I just keep a cool head period." I heard him fiddling with a toothbrush and then drop it back onto the edge of the sink.

I reached over and flushed the toilet while he was still sitting on it. "I always thought you were a hothead myself." I sniffed and giggled some more, then I smelled something. "Piccolo…you really really need a bath." P.U. I love Piccolo dearly, but I don't love smelling B.O..

"Now?"

The question hit me like a lightning bolt. The thought of being so close to him while I was completely exposed was probably one of the most erotic thoughts that had ever come to my mind at that point. I mean, I really wanted him to say yes. But he never answered me. Instead, I heard him pulling off his gi and shoes. Then I heard soft plops as he put his feet in the water. I scooted forwards and he sat down, sliding his legs out as far as they could go. His rigid skin brushed against mine as his legs came to rest on either side of my own. I felt more of those odd, rough patches on his thighs and calfs as well as his lower legs as they brushed my skin. Now, I could guess his height by the way he was laying in the bathtub. If Piccolo could lay down in the bathtub and have his head and chest out of the water and the bathtub was about four and a half feet long, then that put him about about six feet tall. Pretty tall compared to me. I'm five foot three inches tall. I was also aware that there was absolutely nothing that I could really feel between his legs. Not that I went feeling down there. After all, his…pardon the term…crotch…was right up against my rear end. Piccolo went about washing himself off, apparently familiar with soap. Or he used something similar to it out in the valley. Who knows? Anyway, he just washed himself off and then settled down again in the water with a soft sigh. Oh Piccolo…you're so close and yet still so far…

"Hey, Piccolo? Would you mind washing my back off for me?" I asked as I picked the soap up and got some lather onto my hands so that I could wash my feet and toes. I didn't expect him to do it. Part of me cringed the moment I asked the question, and I feared he would become angry at me for whatever reason.

"Fine." His hand came around and gently took the soap from my fingers. Water sloshed as he sat up a little more, and then I felt his smooth, warm hands against my back. I felt his breath in my ear as he whispered, "Just tell me if you don't like it and I'll stop." As he spoke, Piccolo slid his slick hands over my back and spread out the soap. I just smiled while he did that because he was so gentle; his gentle side was showing consciously and he wasn't trying to hide it from me.

Piccolo put the soap down on the rack beside the tub and dipped his hands in the water to rinse them off. Then he lightly splashed my back to rinse it off and picked up the soap again. He rubbed it between his hands and put it down yet again. I was confused as to what he was doing, I figured he was washing some part of himself again, until his hands returned to my back, sliding up around my shoulders and neck. Smiling slightly, I put my head back and allowed him to wash the front of my throat as I allowed my cheek to come to rest against his. I could hear him breathing softly in that silent, methodical way, and timed my own breaths to come when his did. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Like the waves crashing on the shore, our breathing seemed to match pace with the gentle disturbances in the water we were in.

My mind wandered into blissful thoughts as I wondered if he had become as lost in his own thoughts as I had. I felt Piccolo's hands moving over my shoulders again, then back down and around my middle. I waited for him to stop so that I could tell him it was alright for his hands to go wherever he wanted to place them. He must have read my mind in advance, because his hands, still slick with the soap, slid right over my chest, around and between, over and across my breasts. I don't think he knew he was arousing me, but maybe he did. Maybe he did.

The water splashed slightly as he dipped his hands under the water and began to rinse the soap off my skin. The water droplets that ran off his fingertips and onto my skin felt like a thousand little tiny kisses cascading down my body. I loved every moment of it. I felt one of his hands come up and his fingertips brushed my lips softly, his other hand sliding down between my legs. Piccolo's gentle touch sent a ripple of pleasure through my body, and this time I couldn't stifle the moan that passed between my lips as his fingers probed me gently, softly and curiously.

I turned my head until my lips found his, or his found mine. We apparently turned our heads at the same time. When Piccolo kissed me this time, it was with passion. Like his fingers, his tongue gently probed inside my mouth, and I was literally drowning in the sensations he was sending into me. Without breaking our passionate kiss, I moved his hand away and turned so that I was facing him, lying down on top of him. Skin on skin, warmth against warmth, body against body. I felt Piccolo's hand return to where it had been before, but this time there was something else too.

Some…part of him…seemed to slide out from a hidden place between his legs and into me. It was thin, and just kept sliding into me until it finally ran out of room to slide, or it had reached maximum length. And his fingers continued their motion while our tongues mingled and glided together. I could feel something new as well. I felt like I was aware of something opening in the back of my mind. There was a heartbeat that wasn't my own…like there was another consciousness in my mind.

Then I heard Piccolo's voice. But as strange as it sounds, I heard him in my head! < Lee…Focus your thoughts and you can talk back. I will hear you. I have linked our minds. What you feel, I feel. What I feel, you feel. > The rise and fall of his chest increased slightly beneath me as our hearts seemed to thunder together like two out of control drummers in a band. The motions of our lips stopped and we just lied there for a moment with our mouths slightly open, breathing each other's hot, moist breath.

I focused my thoughts. < …Piccolo… >

The second I made the thought, I felt Piccolo's lips pull into a smile against mine. < Yes…you're doing it…just focus. > He whispered. His fingers were still moving against me, that part of his body that he had slid into me still deep within me. Along with the motions of his fingers, I felt that part of him start to move slightly as well. Not in and out, but in slow, small circles, seeing as it was thin enough to do so. I moaned again as ripples of pleasure fluttered up my body, making me tighten my legs against his hips.

Oh Piccolo…you're so close now…don't ever stop… I focused my mind again. < Piccolo…what…why are you doing this? > I asked as my breathing started to deepen, and his did as well. I swear that we were breathing and our hearts were beating in exact time together. In unison.

I felt Piccolo's lips move away from mine and to my forehead as he placed a kiss as soft as a rose petal there. He didn't answer me until after he'd moved his lips away from my forehead and back against mine. < I'm making love to you. > The words were spoken simply, and his lips moved away from mine again and by my ear as he spoke physically, whispering in that purring tone only he can reach, "I love you, Lee…I wanted to show you…and for you to show me…"

I put one of his antennae in my mouth and played with it gently for a moment and then let it go again so I could return my lips to his. Piccolo's fingers changed direction, still moving gently while that other appendage continued to work it's way in circles while deep within me, and his other hand slid down my back and back up again. I was trembling, breathless, pulsations starting to go off between my legs. His fingers continued, a little faster and harder, but still gentle, and the entire time, my head was spinning at how gentle he was while he did this. A being, never meant to show gentleness and love, was lying with me, in my arms and making love to me in his own way.

The pleasure was at it's peak now, it would release any second and I knew it. So I wrapped my arms around Piccolo's neck and kissed him again. I felt him begin to tense along with me, a ripple moving up his abs. And all of a sudden, that pleasure that was trembling deep within me released itself, throwing me into my climax. My hips arched and my body tensed as my fingers dug slightly into Piccolo's skin, my face buried in the curve of his neck and let out a sob of pleasure.

"Oh God!" Piccolo cried in a breathy moan as he tensed with me, his hips arching up against mine while he clutched the sides of the bathtub with such force that I could hear the porcelain cracking slightly, allowing only that one appendage to stimulate us. I could hear and feel his breath coming swift and hot against my ear. He let out a soft moan, and one escaped my throat. His arms moved from the edges of the bathtub and encircled me. Piccolo was trembling, still breathing hard, his chin slowly coming to rest on my shoulder as he pressed his lips against the side of my face. Tears were on his face, and I knew they were tears because his face never went into the water, and wouldn't have without me knowing it.

Slowly, I felt Piccolo break the link between our minds and the sound of his heartbeat slowly faded out of my mind. It felt almost as if he were physically letting go of me, but he wasn't. I turned my head and found his lips again. "I love you…my Man of the Stars."

He brushed his cheek against mine and said, "I love you, my Angel." Then I felt his lips pull into a smile again because I was smiling with him.

I reached over and pulled the plug in the drain and allowed the water to gurgle and swirl as it drained from the tub. As it drained away, all the worries about the past I had in my head seemed to go down the drain too. Piccolo slowly slipped that strange appendage out of me and put his arms around me as he lifted me up out of the tub. He carried me down the hall to my room and we both collapsed on my bed and laughed for a moment because my sheets were now very, very, very wet. Oh well. We wouldn't get cold.

Oh, I could stay in his arms forever. Longer then forever.

Exactly two days after Piccolo and I did what we did in the bathroom, I made a small sculpture of Piccolo and I joined at the waist like we had been and entered it into the annual art contest. It was very abstract. And it won.

First Prize: Lee Jefferson, for the sculpture titled 'Closer Then Close' Said the braille tag attached to the blue ribbon. When I told Piccolo, he just chuckled and told me that he knew I'd win.

With Piccolo, anything is possible.

______________________________________________________________________________________