Hope you enjoy it Yami! I had fun writing it! And to those of you saying, "Hey, this isn't part of Watching!" don't worry. Another chapter will be up soon, I promise!

Piccolo sent another blast straight for the kid's head. Gohan looked up and yelped in surprise before just barely rolling out of the way.

"Hey, no fair!" he shouted, getting up and dusting his dirty gi off. It had only been a few days ago he had finally switched from his father's gi to one more like Piccolo's own. The request had shocked the Namek at first, but he willingly obliged, happy to not have to look at the kid and immediately be reminded of his arch-enemy.

"Always be prepared for the unexpected. You think the Saiyans are going to be fair?" Piccolo sneered derisively. He crossed his arms and stood tall, looking down at the boy impassively.

"Well, no, but…" Gohan trailed off, now slightly embarrassed. He hated it when Piccolo talked to him like he knew nothing. He knew a lot! Just not about fighting.

"But what? You'd better toughen up, kid, or you'll be in for a rude awakening when the Saiyans arrive," Piccolo stated flatly before turning his back and beginning to walk away. He didn't have time for whiny little brats who—

A blast hit him squarely in the back, making him stumble forward a few steps in surprise. The hit had been weak, but still caused a stinging sensation in his skin. He turned around to stare at Gohan in mild shock. The kid had his head cocked to the side playfully, a little shine in his eyes.

"Always be prepared for the unexpected, Mr. Piccolo, or you'll be in for a rude awakening when the Saiyans arrive!" he said tauntingly, mocking Piccolo's very words.

Piccolo growled slightly. He couldn't exactly be angry with the brat for utilizing his training, but he could, however, be annoyed as hell. "How about you come over here and show me more of this unexpected?" he called, removing his ruined cape and turban.

"Aw man," Gohan muttered. When Piccolo took his training weights off, it was never a good sign. It always meant the spar was going to be harder and more painful, and he was already sore. He dropped down into his fighting stance and waited for Piccolo to make his move.

"No, you make the first move," Piccolo commanded, not moving from his position. "You started this, and you're going to finish it."

Gohan straightened and a look of determination crossed his face. If that's what Piccolo wanted, then that's what he was going to get. Without a moment's hesitation, he began running as fast as he could at his mentor. Piccolo readied himself to hit the kid away, but was taken aback as Gohan planted his hands downward right as he reached him and rode a ki blast up into the air. The brightness of the light assaulted the Namek's eyes and for a split second, he lost sight of Gohan. That second was all he needed for the kid dive-bomb him from behind and knock him to the ground.

Piccolo lay in the dust slightly dumbfounded at what had just happened. Gohan was laughing hysterically, making little victory whoops as he danced around. Not to be out-done, Piccolo hyper-extended an arm and grabbed one of the boy's ankles and yanked him down hard. He was over him in a second, a bright blast shining in his hand, poised above Gohan's face.

"Don't ever get cocky," he snarled warningly before standing straight, yanking the kid up with him by his gi.

"Aw, c'mon, Mr. Piccolo! You have to admit that was pretty good!" Gohan said, slightly dejectedly. Piccolo merely grunted and left his student standing in the dust.

Night had fallen and Piccolo had lit a fire up on the mountain he and Gohan currently resided on. The kid sat close to the flames, holding a giant slab of meat over the heat, waiting patiently for it to cook. Piccolo sat just at the edge of the light's boundaries, meditating silently, listening to the rustle of the wind and Gohan's indistinct humming.

"Ah, just right!" Gohan said happily, removing the meat from the flames. He immediately began to devour his meal, and Piccolo couldn't stop the noise of disgust that escaped him. The kid ate like no other. Gohan looked over to him for a moment before looking back to his food thoughtfully.

"Do you want some, Mr. Piccolo?" he asked innocently.

Piccolo snorted. "No."

"Oh. Well do you wan—"

"Shut up. I'm trying to meditate and you're distracting me with your silly questions. Finish up and then go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Okay," Gohan replied. He set his meat down carefully, saving it for breakfast, and curled into a little ball. It was times like this he missed having his tail to wrap around him securely. It was especially cold tonight and he shivered, moving closer to the fire.

Piccolo opened his eyes and glanced over at his pupil. He grunted slightly in annoyance when he saw the kid shudder against the cold wind. Humans were so weak. He barely felt the cold. With a grumble, he stood and removed his cape. He tossed it unceremoniously over the boy before turning away. He didn't like the new feelings of caring that were coming over him. Not at all.

It was close to midnight when he felt the disturbance. Piccolo opened his eyes and looked around warily. The kid was still asleep next to the extinguished fire. He stood cautiously and glanced around trying to seek out the source of the disruption.

Silence.

Whatever it was, it was gone now.

"Boo," said a voice nonchalantly from behind him. Piccolo whipped around and stood face to face with a shadow. There was nothing distinct about him; no color, no definite shape, it didn't even look like he had mass. The eyes glowed a hauntingly pale red.

"What are you?" Piccolo hissed angrily, trying not to wake the boy. Gohan would only make things worse.

"Good question," the shadow said tauntingly. "But my business is not with you. It's with the boy," he said, gesturing languidly at Gohan's sleeping form.

"Leave. Him. Alone," Piccolo ground out, standing protectively in front the boy.

"Oh please. You don't care for anyone but yourself, Piccolo."

"How do you know my name?" Piccolo asked, taken aback. He had never come across this being before, he would have remembered.

"Oh, Piccolo. What does it matter? Just give me the boy, and everything will go back to normal."

"What are you?" Piccolo repeated angrily.

"What am I? I'm the product of a split gone wrong," he answered simply.

"Explain. Now," Piccolo commanded harshly.

"When your father and Kami split, it wasn't entirely successful. Kami kept his purity, and thrust the evil out, not all of it merged into King Piccolo. No, some of it escaped. That would be me."

"Then why show yourself now?"

"Because, Piccolo, I had no need. I was satisfied as long as one of you remained evil, for it ensured my existence. However, now that you've met this boy, your evil has begun to waver. I've begun to fade. Let me destroy the boy, and things will go back to the way they were. You'll never see me again and you can go your own way."

"We need him to defeat the Saiyans," Piccolo ground out. He was not losing his evil. He was evil itself.

"That's what you think," the shadow replied, hearing his thoughts. "That little warm spot you feel when you look upon the boy? That's not evil; that's not hatred. That's caring, and every time you feel it, I begin to fade. I will not disappear, Piccolo. The boy must be destroyed. Now," the shadow snapped, growing impatient.

"Leave him alone," Piccolo said forcefully, drawing up to his full height.

"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan's small and sleepy voice sounded. "What's going on?"

The shadow grinned and advanced towards the boy. Piccolo was immediately in front of him again, shoving the shadow back. "Back off," he snarled.

Gohan was up now, startled and confused. He came to stand slightly behind his mentor and peered around him, staring at his would-be assassin. He cocked his head to the side quizzically before trying to move closer, but he was immediately pushed back several feet by Piccolo.

"Stay back, Gohan. Get out of here," Piccolo commanded, not even looking at the boy. Gohan stayed put, unsure of the situation. "I said leave!"

Gohan jumped in fright and stared up at Piccolo with wide eyes. "Wh—"

"Oh no, do stay Gohan. You're the entire reason I'm here," the shadow said conversationally. "We don't want you to miss out on the fun."

"Fun?" Gohan asked, confused. Fun? In the middle of the night? What was going on here?

"I told you to get out of here!" Piccolo snapped. "I am your mentor, you must listen to me! Leave now!" he shouted, sending a weak ki blast in Gohan's direction, which the boy easily dodged.

Before Gohan could question the situation again, the shadow leapt forward and shoved Piccolo back with immense force. The Namek fell to the ground in a heap, the breath knocked out of him.

"I don't need you alive for me to exist!" the shadow growled angrily, advancing upon Piccolo. "All I need is your evil. I could kill you and just drain it from you, kill the kid, and be on my merry way. You've wasted my time and I'm done with you," the shadow spat before extending his arm and touching Piccolo's chest. Suddenly, Piccolo gave a sharp cry of pain as his life-force began to leave him.

That was all Gohan needed to hear.

In an instant, he was in front of his mentor and blew the shadow away with a well-aimed blast. He stood protectively in front of his fallen comrade and waited for the shadow to make his move.

"That was foolish, boy," the shadow said threateningly before launching himself at Gohan. His power outclassed the boy's immensely, but Gohan had been trained well. And he was angry.

Very

Very

VERY

Angry.

Gohan phased out of the way just before impact, leaving the shadow to skid to a stop with no target. He rounded on the boy, but was punched before he could make a move, flying backwards off the mountain top. He stopped himself just before plummeting to the ground, and stared at the kid in wonder. Head on wasn't going to work with this kid.

Kill Piccolo. Steal his energy, and then kill the kid.

The shadow shot back down to Piccolo and prepared a lethal ki blast. Just as he was about to unleash it on Piccolo, Gohan phased in.

The blast was released.

And Gohan took the brunt of it.

The boy fell backwards onto Piccolo, his body bloody and broken. Piccolo caught him easily, a gasp escaping him. The kid. Not the kid. Don't let the kid be dead…

With a yell of outrage, Piccolo sent a huge blast towards the shadow, catching him off guard. With a terrible screech, the shadow dissipated in the burst of light, gone forever more. Piccolo growled low in his chest and looked down at the boy. His eyes were closed as if in sleep and he looked peaceful, but he was not dead. Terribly injured, but not dead. He reached into his pouch to get a senzu bean, but was cut off.

That won't work, Kami's voice sounded in his head.

Why not? Piccolo thought back angrily, picking the kid up and cradling him to his chest.

A shadow's power is immune to healers. You're going to have to take care of him yourself. It won't be easy. There could be all kinds of effects; a fever, sickness, I don't know, I've never had to deal with it before.

Why didn't you tell me about this shadow before?

How was I to know this would happen?

Listen old man, I— but the connection had already been broken. Kami had no tolerance for Piccolo's threats. He could figure out what to do on his own. If he truly cared for the boy, Kami was certain the answer would present itself to Piccolo.

"Great," Piccolo muttered to himself. "Okay kid, c'mon, wake up. Gohan, up. Hey," he said, giving Gohan's body a shake.

The boy let out a pained moan, but his eyes didn't open. Piccolo looked around for a moment, contemplating what to do. He never got sick. When he was injured, he took a senzu and was well again. What was he supposed to do with a kid who was badly injured and going to become really sick? He ignited the fire with a blast and bent down to pick up his cape. The kid had been cold earlier, and the wind hadn't died down any. He wrapped the boy tightly in the fabric before setting him in front of the fire again. He looked so…small. Helpless, even. And Piccolo did not like it one bit. He moved closer to the fire, settling himself right beside his pupil. He looked down at him again before closing his eyes in mediation.

"DADDY!" Gohan's pained cry filled the air, startling Piccolo out of his peaceful state. The sun had just begun to rise; the sky just tinted pink and orange. He looked over at Gohan, who in his fit had thrown the cape off of himself. He was sweating profusely. Piccolo reached down to feel his head, drawing his hand away quickly. The kid was burning up.

"Great. What now?" Piccolo had never been at a loss of what to do before, and he didn't like the feeling. It was a helpless feeling, something he had never encountered. Piccolo looked around, sighing in exasperation. The lake might be a good idea. People swam in the water when they were hot, right?

Gohan whimpered pitifully. Piccolo bent down to pick him up, holding him carefully against his chest. He looked down at him with a look of concern before taking to the air, headed for the lake. When he arrived, he looked about, at a loss for how to get the kid in without him drowning and not having to get wet himself. With no other options, he set the kid on the ground, and removed his cape and turban. Grunting, he stripped the boy down to his underwear before picking him up again and going out to stand in the water at chest level.

Gohan sighed in his arms, his face relaxing. "Thank you, Daddy," he muttered in his sleep.

"I'm not…" but Piccolo didn't have the heart to finish the sentence. The kid wouldn't even hear him anyways. "You're welcome," he muttered, more to himself than anything. Using his hand, he cupped some water and brought it up to Gohan's head and let it soak into his hair, washing out some of the blood, sweat, and dust. The filth on his skin was rinsing away on its own. Gohan let out a sound of content, snuggling closer to Piccolo's chest.

Feeling awkward and uncomfortable, Piccolo deemed he had spent enough time in the water and walked out, flaring his ki to dry them off. He made Gohan a new gi, destroying the old one to dust, blasting away the evidence of the kid's sacrifice for him.

A day later and Gohan was finally beginning to show signs of waking soon. While he hadn't had a fever again, he hadn't opened his eyes or said much besides indistinct muttering. Now his eyelids had begun to flutter and the muttering was occasionally forming coherent words. His wounds, however, showed no sign of improvement. While Piccolo had kept them clean and wrapped in a bandage, they held no inkling of healing. If anything, some had begun to look worse, as if they were festering. And that could not be good.

"Mr. Piccolo? W-what happened?" Gohan said weakly, trying to push himself up. "Owww," he whimpered.

Piccolo jerked his head up, a feeling of gratitude warming his chest. "Gohan," he said, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. "Don't move anymore, kid."

"I don't remem— oh yeah! Are you okay?" he asked, his memory suddenly coming back. "Is it gone?"

"I'm fine. I destroyed the shadow, so we won't be seeing it ever again."

"What did it want with us?"

"Don't worry about it, kid. It's over and done with," Piccolo said sternly, handing Gohan his water pouch. "Here, you need something to drink."

Gohan took a few sips before handing it back. "I don't feel very well…" he whimpered. "Everything hurts. I feel like everything's on fire." Piccolo grunted, kneeling before the boy and removing the bandages, revealing his wounds. "Oh man! That's disgusting!" Gohan exclaimed, looking over himself. "What's happening to me?"

"Shadow wounds are resistant to healers. I don't know how to fix them," Piccolo admitted.

"The plant! The plant my daddy always uses! Try that!" Gohan said enthusiastically.

Piccolo grunted. "What does it look like?" Gohan went into great detail of the finer physical qualities of the leaves the plant bore. "Okay, fine. Stay…stay right here. Don't even try to stand up."

"Don't worry Mr. Piccolo! You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine!" Gohan said reassuringly.

Piccolo growled. "I'm not worried," he snapped before taking off.

He returned a half hour later with a sack full of the leaves of the healing plant, which he dropped unceremoniously in Gohan's lap.

"There you go, brat. Now heal yourself so we can start training again. We're behind schedule."

Gohan looked at the leaves balefully. "It's going to hurt," he muttered, mostly to himself, as he began to grind the leaves down with a nearby rock. He swiped a bit up with his finger and, holding his breath, dabbed it on a particularly large wound on his leg. He promptly let out a piercing cry, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"Gah! Stop that!" Piccolo snapped, his ears ringing painfully.

"I-I'm s-sorry. It's n-never h-hurt this b-bad b-before!" Gohan said between tears. "I feel like I'm on fire! Mr. Piccolo! Make it stop!" he cried, screaming the last word.

Piccolo was at him in an instant, checking the wound. It looked worse than ever, becoming larger by the second. And then… it stopped. It began to close on its own accord, rapidly and cleanly. In just a matter of seconds, the wound had disappeared, as if it had never been there.

"Well, it looks as if that's the answer to our little problem," Piccolo said matter-of-factly.

"N-no! Not again! Please, not again! It hurts!" Gohan pleaded.

"No pain, no gain, kid. You know that."

"Well I can't do it to myself," Gohan said stubbornly. "You do it."

"Forget it."

"Then I'm not putting any on."

Piccolo growled deeply. "You little… fine," he relented, for the sake of getting on with his training. "But don't scream anymore."

Gohan nodded in compliance, but as Piccolo's hand drew near with the balm on it, he made a move backwards. "Can I hold your hand, please?"

"Absolutely not."

"Please? It'll make me not scream…"

Piccolo stopped for a moment, contemplating. A moment of looking weak, or possibly going deaf? Deaf wasn't looking all that bad…

Gohan grabbed his hand before he could answer and held on tightly. "Okay, I'm ready," he said bravely. Piccolo grunted in annoyance, but placed some balm over several wounds on his legs. As promised, Gohan didn't scream, but tears spilled down his cheeks and he gripped Piccolo's hand so tightly that the Namek had to hold back a hiss of pain.

Once those wounds had healed, Piccolo moved on to the next leg, and they repeated the process until all the wounds had disappeared from Gohan's body. Piccolo tried to stand, but Gohan remain latched firmly onto his hand.

"Let go. You're fine now," he said, trying to yank his hand away. But the kid was a lot stronger than he looked, and a look of determination had plastered itself on his face. "Let go, Gohan," he repeated firmly.

"Not until you tell me why the shadow tried to kill us," Gohan said stubbornly.

"I told you kid, it doesn't matter."

"Yes it does! I wanna know why we were almost killed!"

"It's no longer a threat. The Saiyans are. And they will kill us if we don't start training again now."

"Well then, we're going to die, because I'm not training until I hear why we were almost killed."

Piccolo snarled, finally yanking his hand away. "He didn't want us dead. He wanted you dead. Because you were ruining his plans for existence. When I didn't let him kill you, he decided to kill us both. You happy now?"

"Well why didn't you let him just kill me? You wouldn't have been at risk then, right? He would've left you alone," Gohan asked, puzzled. Then a look of realization crossed his face. "Wait… Mr. Piccolo, do you like me? Am I your friend?"

"As close to one as I'll ever get," Piccolo grunted.

"So you didn't want me to die because you'd be alone again?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, kid."

"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone you like me, Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan said assuredly. "It'll be our little secret!"

Piccolo rested his hand on the top of Gohan's head and gave it a little shake.

"Shut up, brat."