The Saiyan Heritage and the Loneliness of the Warrior [Piccolo x OC]

Chapter 29

LETTIE

I was flying side by side with Piccolo over the vast ocean.

It was about nine in the morning, and we were on our way to the meeting place with the other warriors on the island nine kilometers southwest of South City, as Future Trunks had instructed us. Ahead, Goku was also flying in silence. Gohan, on the other hand, was so anxious that he was flying meters away from us.

I glanced sideways at Piccolo and my heart sank in my chest. Deep dark spots surrounded his eyes, with an expression of dejection, sadness and exhaustion. I bet he hadn't been able to sleep at all after our conversation the day before.

When he picked Naíma and me up earlier, we didn't exchange half dozen words. Thankfully, my conversation with my daughter had had a good effect and she understood that Piccolo wasn't doing well and it wasn't safe to call him daddy yet. However, when we left her with Chi-chi a few minutes ago, Naíma cied softly as Piccolo silently said goodbye to her by stroking her black hair. Just like me, she was worried about her dear father, even though she was so young.

At that moment, all I wanted to do was hug him and tell him that we were both there for him, but I thought it best to remain quiet. Piccolo wasn't ready yet.

To push away my thoughts, I asked my brother, "Do you think we can beat our opponents?"

"I can't guarantee anything before seeing them," Goku replied with a confident smile. "We'll just have to fight to find out. What do you think about it, Piccolo?" He then frowned. "Huh? Piccolo, are you okay?"

Piccolo was grimacing in discomfort, "Oh... I-It's nothing. It's just a headache. It'll go away soon." He took a small waterskin from his belt and took a generous sip of whatever was in it.

"Piccolo," said Goku, "if you find the fight difficult, don't try too hard. If you die, the Dragon Balls are gone."

Piccolo just nodded and remained silent. I tried my best to hide my distress at seeing him in that state. I bet his Enemy was tormenting him. Just imagining what was going on in his head made a big lump form in my throat.

Thank goodness something happened to distract us from that inconvenience: we met Krillin along the way.

"What a surprise, guys!" he exclaimed after greeting us. "Wow, Gohan! You've grown!"

Krillin just externalized what we all thought. Our little Gohan wasn't so little anymore. Now nine years old, he had grown a lot during our Training and gotten much stronger. But one thing hadn't changed: his long black hair, and to add to his look, he was wearing a purple fighting jumpsuit with a red belt, just like his Master, Mr. Piccolo.

Soon, we arrived at the island. It was actually quite large, surrounded by trees and green grass. It had a rounded shape, with a modern city filling its entire length, and in one corner, a high rock formation with stepped plateaus rose up until it cut through the clouds.

"I don't like all these people living here at all." I watched the bustling city alongside my companions in the sky. "It's too dangerous."

"If we don't take the killer Androids somewhere else, these people might die in our fight," added Gohan.

The others agreed, and then we felt the presence of two good Kis in the rock formation and went there. When we landed on one of the plateaus, we found Yamcha, Tien and... Bulma holding a baby.

Since it seemed that only Piccolo, Goku and I knew that Trunks would already be born at that time, the other members of our group were astonished by the presence of that little being.