The afternoon sun was beating down in the valley. A dry breeze stirred dust and small leaves up, creating whirlwinds every now and then. Heat waves made the air ripple to such a degree that the horizon seemed to be little more then a blur in the distance. Animals and insects stayed in the shade, out of the intense sun.

Two green figures were walking through the desert. One was tall, wearing a dark blue-violet sleeveless gi with a navy blue sash, a turban, large weighted shoulderpads and a white cape that danced on the wind. A smaller figure, just a little less then half the size of the first, followed along beside him. He, too, wore a dark blue-violet sleeveless gi with a navy blue sash, a turban, shoulderpads and a white cape. Unlike the larger figure, however, the clothes weren't weighted that much. At most, the turban weighed about a pound and the shoulderpads were probably two pounds. Very light compared to the fifty or so more pounds that the weights on the larger figure wore.

Dressed the way he was, Tategoto looked like a miniature twin of his father. A tiny shadow that would someday be as great as the person that was casting it. Indeed, there was no mistaking who the child's father was.

Piccolo walked along with an almost dancelike grace, his body moving like a well-oiled machine with rippling muscles of liquid steel and cord-like veins visible under his emerald skin. Adding to the almost liquid quality of the Namek's movements was his cape, ever-flowing behind him with a life of its own. Perspiration gave him a sparkling sheen, but mostly on the red-ringed, raised pink muscles that could be seen on his arms. His footsteps were falling in an unbroken rhythm, kicking up only a small amount of dust and making almost no sound at all. Sometimes he didn’t seem to touch the ground at all, the way he could move so smoothly.

There was no particular destination in mind as he led the child through the valley; he was starting to build Tategoto's endurance by walking like this. It was the first time, but even still, Piccolo was a bit amazed that the child wasn't growing tired yet. After all, every loping step Piccolo took, Tategoto had to take three or four, but he kept pace with his father and didn't miss a beat. In fact, he was skipping along to keep pace, able to match his father's steps with each bound. Being a kid, nothing seemed to please him more then to please his father, whom he admired and loved with all his young heart.

However, gradually after several hours, Tategoto's skipping turned to walking as he became slightly winded. Finally, after another hour, he was so tired that he was dragging his feet.

Tategoto tugged his father's gi pants and signed, Father I am tired.

Piccolo looked down at his son's exhausted form with a relatively expressionless face. Try to go a little longer. He pointed to a stream nearby, We'll stop when we get there.

Nodding tiredly, Tategoto flipped his cape over his shoulder, following Piccolo when he turned and headed towards the stream. The younger Namek immediately went to the water, sniffing it out of habit and fear from what happened the previous night before taking a drink. Piccolo just flopped down into his usual cross-legged, arms-crossed position and closed his eyes to relax for a few moments. He could hear Tategoto's childlike sigh of relief as he finished drinking his fill, and wasn't too surprised when the boy came over and climbed into his lap. When Piccolo didn't feel Tategoto's head on his shoulderpad, he couldn't help but open his eyes and look down to see why, and the sight he saw was so comical that he almost burst into open laughter.

Tategoto was sitting in his father's lap with his back to him, imitating the meditating position. So basically he was using Piccolo like a chair, and being so little, the top of his head still only came to his father's chin. The older Namekian allowed himself a soft chuckle, and the movement caused Tategoto to turn his head up and back to see what was going on. A sparkle passed from one black eye to the other as he grinned, and Piccolo's eye got the same sparkle as he grinned back in spite of himself, watching Tategoto turn around again and bow his head. After a moment, Piccolo bowed his head once again, promising himself that he'd never forget the image he just saw as he tried for the billionth time to brush aside the memory of Yasmine's fingers brushing over his lips. He hated to admit it, but he had liked it when she had done that.

Not too far away, a green figure wearing a white sleeveless costume with a blue cape and carrying a wooden stick was standing on the edge of a cliff. This figure was also a Namek, but much older. The marks of age mostly consisted of wrinkles lining his face and especially his scalp, and the top of his head almost resembled a cartoon version of a beehive. Even his antennae were wrinkled, but still seemed just alive as the rest of him, as if the age was only an outward appearance.

Yes, Piccolo, you have come so far. The wise old figure thought as he watched, his eyes studying Tategoto's young face to compare it to Piccolo's. Aside from the natural smoothness and innocence of youth, the young Namek was a mirror image of his dad, just as everyone seemed to say. Piccolo's innocence reborn.

Kami woke from his reverie when an odd clicking noise broke the silence. Figuring it was just an insect, he looked back at the two Nameks just in time to notice Tategoto's eyes had opened and were looking at him. Piccolo paid him no mind when he hopped from his lap, and Kami lifted off from the cliff to float to the ground so he could see the child closer. The young Namekian reached Kami just as he was touching down, and stared up at him in wonder. Kami grinned, the corners of his eyes forming into many wrinkles, and kept both hands on his wooden stick as he squatted down to be eye level with the boy.

Wow! Another man like my daddy! Tategoto thought as he looked at Kami closely, using two fingers to perform what looked like a salute and a wave, signing the word 'hello'.

"Ah, sign language. Can you not speak?" Kami asked.

Tategoto couldn't read lips quite yet, and his brow ridges drew together as he briefly signed, I am deaf. I can't understand you. It was a bit embarrassing at times to admit that he couldn't do something, and it was starting to dawn on him that he was a little different from others. For one, not everyone talked with their hands the way he, his father and Yasmine did. Oftentimes, someone would talk to Yasmine or Piccolo, they would sign to Tategoto, then Tategoto would sign back and they would translate what he'd said.

Upon this new information, Kami was a tad surprised. Piccolo always wanted perfection in everything he did, and had expected it back when he had trained Gohan. Not allowing himself to puzzle over that at the moment, Kami tapped one of his thin, long wrinkled fingers against his wooden stick in thought. Then he got an idea and used his fingers to write in the dirt.

'What is your name?' He wrote.

Grinning, Tategoto bent down and scribbled his name into the dirt. He got his letter 'e' backwards, but Kami understood what he wrote. Kami wrote his name down so Tategoto would know it, chuckling quietly as the younger Namekian spelled out the name with the Manual Alphabet.

Tategoto giggled quietly, suddenly grabbing Kami's hand and moving his large, wrinkled fingers into the letters. Kami couldn't help but laugh himself, feeling quite young again while near the child. The laughter got Piccolo's attention, and he opened his eyes to see what was going on. He saw Kami squatting down in front of Tategoto, chuckling as the boy tried to teach him the Manual Alphabet. Heh, the old fart looks like he'd be Tategoto's grandfather. Piccolo mused to himself as he got up to go over and give Kami a rough time.

"So, what are you doing here?" Piccolo asked as he approached Kami with his arms crossed and his cape dancing on the wind.

"Oh, just paying your son a visit. It's about time I did, after all. I must say that I'm impressed." Kami replied calmly, all-too-accustomed to Piccolo's attitude towards him.

Piccolo reached down and put a hand on Tategoto's shoulder, "Well consider the visit concluded." He sneered briefly, then walked off with Tategoto following close behind. Tategoto glanced back and waved briefly, then turned around so he could see where he was going.

"Well, his attitude sure hasn't changed." Kami mused, watching the two walk away with their white capes flowing like banners behind them. "But the boy is your innocence, Piccolo. Manifested in a physical body." He smiled to himself as he slowly took flight towards his Lookout. "Yes, the Silent One will help complete the change that young Gohan started long ago. Take care of him." With those final words, spoken on the wind, Kami vanished into Zanzoken and finished the journey to his Lookout.

Exhausted from several more hours of working out, Tategoto flopped down on his back to rest while Piccolo got a campfire going. The sun had just gone down, taking the heat of the day with it.

That was hard work. Tategoto signed, the sweat from the workout still glistening slightly on his arms and hands. Indeed, he had worked hard. The young boy had done almost three miles of jogging, over a hundred push-ups and managed two-hundred sit-ups. The exercises had all taken the rest of the day to complete, but Tategoto didn't offer a single complaint about being tired until just then.

Piccolo nodded as he added some twigs to the fire and replied, It will get easier as time passes. Sleep now, you will need your rest. As soon as he completed the last gesture, Piccolo put his hand gently on Tategoto's forehead and pushed his head down. Tategoto complied, closing his eyes and yawning so that his fangs were shown off briefly.

Sighing to himself, Piccolo kept his hand on Tategoto's forehead so he'd know that he was still close by, and his fingernails slightly dented the white fabric on the younger Namek's turban. When he was sure the child had fallen completely asleep, he moved his hand away, scooted back a few inches and settled down against a tree. The glow of the campfire made his skin look almost a golden color, and the dancing flames were clearly reflected in his endlessly black eyes.

He's getting stronger already, and it was only his first day of training… Piccolo slowly tilted his head back and looked up at the sky to see if there were any clouds coming or not. He was greeted with a starry chandalier that went on forever, as if each little crystal was a glimpse of the past. His eyes slowly lowered to Tategoto's sleeping form again, and a crease formed in the corner of the left one as he smirked with half his mouth, The sky's not even the limit for this kid.

Piccolo closed his eyes, and almost immediately, the memory of Yasmine's fingertips on his lips came to mind. Snapping his eyes open again, he cursed out loud, "Dammit! Why can't I get that out of my head!? I can't even close my eyes anymore!" He hissed once more in irritation, baring his pointed incisors, then forced himself to relax and settle against the tree once again.

For the entire four years that he had known Yasmine, Piccolo often saw her as his and Tategoto's sign language teacher. She had also gradually worked her way into being called 'friend' occasionally, and it was clear that she loved Tategoto a lot. Piccolo had also caught her looking at him when she thought he didn't know it on more then one occasion. That often led him to wonder what she was thinking. Ever since she had touched his lips that way, Piccolo had a feeling like her fingers passing over his lips was like someone opening a zipper, but what she had opened remained to be seen.

"Feh. Humans are just complicated." Piccolo muttered, breaking a twig and tossing it aside as he settled and crossed his arms.

If his mind hadn't been so full of thoughts, the large Namekian would have heard the rapid clicking of a camera's shutter not too far away.

A dark figure was squatting behind a tree a short ways away and had been snapping photos ever since Piccolo had settled down with Tategoto. The same figure had also been snapping photos of Piccolo and Tategoto together during the day, especially when the boy had been sitting in his father's lap. However, upon seeing that the brief show of affection had passed once again, the dark figure packed the camera up, walked to a black hovercar to deposit the camera and used film, and retrieved something else from the back seat.

Turning back to the circle of light from the campfire, the figure walked directly towards where the two Nameks were settled down. Long black hair fluttered slightly on the wind. Dark brown eyes flickered in the light. Smooth chocolate brown skin seemed to fit in with the darkness.

Piccolo heard the sound of footsteps and blinked, coming to full alert when he realized they were coming his way. Then he turned his head and was just in time to see Yasmine emerge from the shadows, carrying a small battery-operated boombox in her left hand.

"Sleepless night?" She asked casually, stopping at the edge of the circle of light cast by the fire. She had one hand on her hip and used her free one to set the boombox down.

"What the!? What the hell are you doing here?" Piccolo asked, a bit startled to see the person he was puzzling over suddenly just appear out of the blue.

"I came to check up on you. You were in pretty bad shape yesterday and I wanted to make sure you were doing OK." Yasmine replied as she moved closer to the campfire's warmth, the goosebumps on her brown skin more then enough to show that she was cold.

"Humph." Piccolo growled, crossing his arms even tighter and looking away from her, somewhere off to the side, "Why do you care?" He muttered in an undertone.

"Because I can." She muttered back, and Piccolo turned his head back to her with a frown creasing his brow. "If you can't sleep, let me try something that will help. No drugs or anything like that. I can guarentee that it'll help."

"What is it?"

"I can't explain it. Trust me, OK? I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried." Piccolo mused, rolling his eyes. "Try your little 'thing' on me." He snorted, "I doubt it'll work anyway."

Yasmine smiled as she knelt by the fire. "Don't be so sure of yourself. My dad once taught me how to do this little trick, and it works on anybody…"