Vibrations everywhere. That was all Tategoto could feel as the massive herd of terrified dinosaurs swept around him. He curled up in a ball to make himself as small as possible, whimpering softly in fear as massive feet came within inches of crushing him. At the same time, he managed to crawl to a rock that the large lizards had to hop over to pass, and that offered some cover.

The vibrations stopped, Tategoto took his hands away from his eyes and nearly screamed. Standing right above him was the hungry T-Rex. It's foot came down on the rock he was hiding behind, and one of it's massive toe-claws came within mere inches of his small green face. When the T-Rex opened it's mouth, a massive, bone-jarring vibration slammed into Tategoto's body. Don't look down! Don’t look down whatever you do you ugly lizard…

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Tategoto let a tiny whimper without realizing he'd made a sound and instantly, the giant dinosaur looked down at him with glistening feral eyes. It stepped off the rock and lowered it's head all the way down. Wet, hot and rotting-flesh-scented air billowed out over the little Namek, ruffling his clothes as the T-Rex sniffed at him. Tategoto didn't even breathe, let alone move, and prayed that by some chance the lizard would lose interest or not see him. More vibrations filled the air as the Tyrannosaurus growled softly.

If he moved, he would die. If he didn't move, he would die. That's all Tategoto knew as the dinosaur's head drew back for the final lunge. The little Namekian boy could feel a tingling heat build in his body, and his vision became speckled with white glittery light as something inside him ignited and started to grow.

The T-Rex's slavering maw gaped, its sword-like teeth showing a deadly gleam in the sun as its massive head lunged forward.

In a display much like Gohan's first showing of power, Tategoto screamed a scream so loud that it nearly penetrated his world of eternal silence as he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end. The tingling heat inside of his body seemed to reach a climax, and an almost angelic white light erupted from his body. His cape fluttered around him like wings as the light shot forth from his outstretched arms and slammed into the dinosaur, which didn't even have a chance. When the light faded, the T-Rex's entire upper body had been incinerated, and the remaining parts just dropped to the ground limply. There was no blood because the beam had actually cauterized where it had cut. And the light didn't just take apart the T-Rex, however; it also took out the cliffs behind it for almost a full mile.

Spent and not even knowing what he had just done, Tategoto collapsed into unconsciousness.

Tategoto is OK. He would know to stay under cover…I'll spot him and he'll come running up to me like always… Piccolo thought as he and Yasmine searched. He was carrying Yasmine with him as he flew, searching the ground and bushes with his keen eyes for any sign of his son. A strange fear was pumping through his veins, and Piccolo didn't have the time to sit down and realize that he was feeling worried about another person for the first time in his life.

Yasmine could not believe the look on Piccolo's face when she'd told him that Tategoto was missing. The angry expression had just vanished faster then a lightning bolt can flash. If the situation hadn't been as serious as it was, it might have been funny. She also noticed the way Tategoto's presence would always calm Piccolo down just a tad. Whether it be a look, a touch or a little sound he made, the little boy seemed to have something about him that momentarily pacified the ever-churning storm within his father's heart.

Piccolo jerked his head as if someone had struck him across the face, his senses going into overdrive as he picked up a very high power level somewhere in the southwest. "Holy sh - "

"PICCOLO!! LOOK OUT!!!" Yasmine screamed as a white beam of light erupted from the distant cliffs, obliterating anything in its path.

"Whoa!" Piccolo's heart nearly flipped out of his chest from the shock of what he glimpsed, and he almost froze in mid flight. He got over the shock quickly and was just in time to dive low to avoid the beam of light, and Yasmine was so scared that she buried her face in his neck and practically choked him because her grip was so tight. Nearly hitting the ground from the swift descent, Piccolo glanced back at the beam before it disappeared. The pearly white beam of light had to be at least twenty or so feet in diameter. When he finally regained his minorly lost composure, his black eyes darted towards Yasmine to make sure he didn't hit the ground without knowing it and hurt her. "Are you still alive?" He asked, a cold edge in his voice that often came when he was trying not to sound too angry.

Trembling, her long brown arms still in a death-grip around his neck, she managed to utter a faint, "Yes."

Nodding slightly, Piccolo rose up and turned, his cape rustling around him as he followed the direction he felt the intense power coming from. The closer he got to where the light had come from, the stronger the stench of burnt flesh became, and pillars of smoke were rising from several places on the ground. Especially from the lower-body of a dead dinosaur.

Setting down, Piccolo looked at Yasmine since she still had a vice-like grip on his neck and said, "You can let go now."

Yasmine's chocolate-brown cheeks darkened slightly as she blushed and released her grip from Piccolo's neck. Before she could even raise her voice to thank him, she heard a rustle of cloth as he flipped his cape back over his shoulder and looked around, calling out Tategoto's name once even though he knew there would be no reply.

"Look!" Yasmine pointed to a faint shape behind a curtain of smoke. The breeze parted the smoke long enough to give a glimpse of a green hand.

That was all Piccolo needed, but then he saw Tategoto wasn't moving and a wave of dread briefly washed over him as he held his breath to see if he would get up or not. When the small form didn't move, Piccolo almost felt like he wanted to throw up as he walked over and knelt by his son's side. Yasmine came and got onto her knees next to him, waving her hand to disperse the smoke so she could see and breathe.

With the most gentle care he had ever displayed, Piccolo lifted Tategoto into his arms and shook him a little. At first, nothing happened except for the boy's turban falling off, but then Tategoto stirred slightly, coughing on the smoke as he opened his eyes.

"He's alive." Yasmine breathed, relieved. She wiped the damp sweat from her forehead and pushed her dark hair over her shoulder.

"Dah!" Tategoto trilled happily and grabbed a handful of his father's cape when he realized that he wasn’t dreaming.

The relief was so evident on Piccolo's face that there was no way to deny it as he signed to Tategoto, Are you OK?

Yes. The younger Namekian signed back before reaching for his turban. Then his eyes fell upon the obliterated T-Rex and cliffs. The large black orbs doubled in size as he signed quickly, What did that!?

Piccolo extended his index finger and pointed it right at Tategoto's chest, then signed, You did. I know you don't remember doing it, but with practice you will be able to control that power. I always knew it was sleeping inside you.

Secretly, so only Tategoto would see it, Yasmine signed, Your father is very proud of you.

Tategoto grinned quietly, then his eyes slid shut and he started to snore quietly as he drifted back to sleep. Piccolo just placed his hands under the small child and lifted him, feeling a small lump in his throat for a reason he couldn't name at the time. He looked down at his son for a moment, then turned his head to check out the damage one more time. Something glittered in the corner of the tall Namekian's eye, and Yasmine noticed it right away.

"What are YOU crying about?" She mused.

"…Wha?" Piccolo wiped the tear out of the corner of his eye with the back of his large green hand and frowned. "Shut up! It's the damn smoke!" He lied, walking over to Yasmine and wrapping his long arm completely around her waist, catching her by surprise. Then he lifted off and started flying back to where the campsite was, his white cape flapping in the wind behind him.

"Are you sure he's OK?" Yasmine asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

Piccolo glanced at the sleeping Tategoto in his other arm and nodded. "He's just used up all of his energy. It's a common thing when ki powers first make their presence known."

"What causes it to 'come out' like that?"

"Usually extreme rage or fear can do it. Have you ever gotten so pissed off that you felt like you were gonna explode, or at least rip the head off the next person that even thought about looking at you wrong?" Piccolo asked, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice as he kept his eyes turned to the horizon ahead.

"A few times." Yasmine chuckled to herself.

"Well, get someone like Tategoto that angry and they'll shoot a beam just like he did. But I think fear set this firecracker off." He glanced at Tategoto and allowed a small smirk of pride to curl the corner of his mouth upwards. When they were about ten feet from the campsite, Piccolo released his ki, allowing gravity and momentum to carry him to the ground and leaving Yasmine quite amazed when he still managed to touch down as gently as a feather.

"Hey, wait a sec." Yasmine commented, noticing the wound on Piccolo's hand from earlier. It was still bleeding a little, and the mark stretched all the way across his palm.

"What!?" Piccolo scowled briefly as he carefully put Tategoto down near a log so he would be in the shade until he woke up. Tategoto murmured in his sleep as he curled up on his side and continued to snore quietly.

Without answering, Yasmine took a handkerchief out of her pocket and walked over to the stream so she could dip the wispy white material into the warm water. She wrung it out, strode back over to Piccolo and gently took hold of his wrist with her long brown fingers as she pressed the moist cloth to the wound.

Piccolo didn't know what to do, or what emotion to feel for that matter, and just stared down at the brown hands holding his wounded green one. The same tornado of emotions that had overcome his mind when Yasmine hugged him was coming back as she gently wiped away the purple blood and tied the handkerchief around his hand to cover the wound once it was clean.

Yasmine feigned applying pressure over the bandage so she could hold onto his hand a little longer. Amazing as it seemed, she thought that he had relatively soft skin. That is, softer then it looked. There were a few old scars on the large arm that the hand was attached to, of course, but there were no calluses or blisters on his palm, and usually a person like Piccolo that lived outside all the time would have at least one or two. The only marks on his smooth green palm were the natural folds and the purple wounds that had just been covered.

What is he thinking now? What goes through his mind? She asked herself silently, glancing up at Piccolo to see what he was doing.

Piccolo had turned his head to the side and his dark eyes were fixed on the stream so he could look at Yasmine's reflection in the water. Her loose hair reminded him of the feathers of a raven, and her eyes were coal black, almost as dark as his own. The most startling thing about her, to Piccolo at least, was her height. Never had he ever known a woman as tall as she was. Usually, he liked to use his height to intimidate people, and that was hard to do with her.

"What are you thinking?" Yasmine asked quietly, her voice waking him from his reverie.

"Not much. Just that you seem to ask a lot of questions." Piccolo muttered, glancing over at Tategoto to make sure he was OK and keeping his head turned so he didn't have to make eye contact with Yasmine. He had forgotten for the moment that she still held his hand in both of hers.

Chuckling quietly, she said, "Well, it's kind of hard not to ask a guy like you a lot of questions." She tilted her head to the side so that some of her hair covered one eye while she looked up at him with the eye that was still visible. "Last night…you told me to find someone that can love me back, and made yourself sound as if you can't love. If that's true, then how come you were leaning in like I was? I mean…we did almost kiss each other…"

The unexpected question that was like having ice water dashed into his face. Piccolo frowned slightly as he searched his mind for an answer that he couldn't find. The frown deepened as he cursed himself silently and replied with a simple, "I don’t know why."

"I think you're too afraid to ruin your 'bad-ass' image." She mused, putting one hand over her mouth and giggling quietly for a brief moment, then became serious when he scowled at her. "Or could it be that you don't know how?"

Dammit Yasmine! Shut up and stop figuring me out! Piccolo gritted his teeth silently, deciding not to mention the time he sacrificed himself for Gohan and glanced at Tategoto when he saw that he was waking up. Tategoto grinned as he rubbed his onyx eyes, got up and walked over to where Yasmine and Piccolo were.

Yasmine tapped on Tategoto's shoulder to get his attention, and when he looked up at her, she signed with her back to Piccolo, Let's show your father what a big hug looks like, OK?

OK. Tategoto signed back, smiling as Yasmine bent down so he could hug her around the neck and gently curled her long arms around him.

She grinned up at Piccolo, who just stood there looking at them with his arms crossed, the wind gently ruffling his white cape and making it ripple like water. Looking back at Tategoto, she signed, I'm going to go away for a little while. When your father sits down, I want you to give him a big hug like you gave me, OK? She kept her back to Piccolo so he couldn't see what she was signing. Not that he was paying much attention to the sign language anyway.

Tategoto nodded, releasing his hold around Yasmine's neck. Yasmine stood up again and looked over at Piccolo, flashed a brief smile at him and walked off to her car, which was still in its hidden location. Once there, she got her camera and took up a spot where she could see them and watched to see what would happen.

Having nothing better to do, Piccolo huffed to himself as he headed over next to a large rock, sat down indian style and crossed his arms. His eyes closed, his face lost all expression and he let out a noisy sigh as he started to let his mind go blank so he could focus on one part of his consciousness.

The moment he saw his dad sit down, Tategoto walked over to where he was and stood in front of him for a moment to admire him. Piccolo sensed the presence and opened his eyes to look at the miniature version of himself. "What? What do you want, kid?" He asked aloud, then signed the question out with his hands.

Tategoto's reply came when he got on his knees in Piccolo's lap, grunted softly and wrapped his small arms around his large neck, his little arms being just long enough to make it all the way around. Piccolo was left at a loss for what to do, just as he had been with Yasmine. His son had never hugged him before. Sure, Tategoto would cling to his father's clothes or cape when they flew, but he'd never hugged him before. Not like this.

Yasmine watched the change come to Piccolo's expression, got her camera ready and started snapping pictures.

What do I do? Push him away? The Namekian asked himself in shock as he felt Tategoto give his neck an affectionate squeeze.

A strange new feeling seemed to ignite in Piccolo's heart as he felt Tategoto's little heartbeat against his chest, throbbing with life, and a new realization came to his mind. This was his own flesh and blood, a being that he had created; this new young life that was part of his soul, so warm and alive, was there in his arms. His life came from mine…

Closing his eyes again, the Namekian slowly uncrossed his arms and left no more room for doubt in his mind. With a moment of hesitation, Piccolo extended his arms forward, slowly wrapped them around Tategoto's warm body and held him, bringing that small throbbing heartbeat closer to his own. Tategoto responded with a happy murmur as his grip tightened a little. Peaceful contentment momentarily come over Piccolo, and he smiled slightly as he experienced the joy of hugging his child for the very first time in his life.

For a brief moment in time, the endlessly churning storm in his battered soul had been stilled.