Finally! I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been going through so many changes in my life that I just forgot about keep writing! I apologize for it. But now I'm back!

This chapter is intended to introduce the complicated situation that will follow in the next one, with Piccolo dealing with the ultimate changes that happened to her body, and Gohan's strong feelings for his former mentor. I hope you enjoy it.

I am currently editing the next one, so I hope I can update soon. (My editing is not so good though, and I'm a little rusted, so be kind to me please -_-U)

Thank you all that are following this story, and all of you that left me reviews. They mean the world to me! =)

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

Chapter 4

Why does he care?

Two weeks. Two weeks without hearing a word from her. Not even a mental note had sounded inside his head, no matter how hard he tried to connect to her mind. There was just silence, and the terrible feeling that something had been broken forever.

There had been questions of course; they didn't even last an hour inside the time chamber. Everybody was wondering whether it was because Piccolo was finally aware that he would spend two years instead of one as a saiyan woman, or if something else happened. Gohan went with the first one as a logical explanation, and no one dared to question it. It was quite logical after all.

However there was one person among all the gang that was wondering about the nature of the wish and its consequences.

It was a rainy day, and Gohan was mind absent at the kitchen, doing the dishes while staring to nowhere in particular, when they arrived.

Goku had teleported to Capsule Corp. to have the whole Briefs' family come home to lunch. Since it was raining, teleporting seemed the best idea. Goten greeted first followed by his mother. Gohan didn't even notice their arrival.

"Is he ok?" Bulma asked with a concern look on her face.

"We don't know, he refuses to talk to us about… you know" Chi Chi answered.

"Gohan" Goku spoke.

"What?" said named boy, turning and finally noticing the new arrivals "Oh, hi" he faked a smile, trying to sound natural at the same time "How are you?"

"As always" Vegeta spoke "only a couple of news"

"News?" asked Chi Chi.

"Yeah" exclaimed Bulma "Chi Chi, guys, I'm pregnant! Isn't that great! I hope it's a girl!"

"Oh dear!" Chi Chi rushed to hug Bulma while Goku congratulated Vegeta for the news. Goten asked Trunks about the feeling it caused the perspective of turning into a big brother, but Trunks wouldn't talk about it. He probably had a chat with his father about it earlier that morning.

Anyway, Gohan congratulated the family, feeling lonely at the same time he felt happy for Bulma. He was twenty years old; by that age, his father was already married and he himself was a baby. That thought turned even darker when he realized that if he was to marry someone, it would have been no other but Piccolo. They never would have had a family, or couldn't if they wanted to; but now the circumstances were other.

'But she won't even talk to me about the kiss, how can I ask her to marry me, or to have children with me, if I am not even sure of her feelings for me? Is this really what I want?'

"Brat, you are making a mess back there" spoke Vegeta to him. Gohan turned in the direction Vegeta was pointing, and noticed he left the water keys open, and it was making a mess on the kitchen floor.

"Oh dear!" he exclaimed, rushing into the kitchen.

"Has he said anything to you?" Bulma whispered to Chi chi.

"Not a word" Chi chi answered, a concerned look on her face. "I'm not sure what to think, he has not even visited Piccolo since that day, and usually he would go once or twice a week… but let's not talk about it now, I am so happy for you both!" and she hugged Bulma again.

Vegeta on the other hand, was staring carefully at Gohan; while the boy was drying the kitchen floor, he just noticed how mind absent he was, and how his movements felt sloppy and some even pointless.

"Have you talked to the namekian?" he asked to Goku in a whisper. Staring by the corner of his eye, Vegeta could catch a glimpse of Gohan freezing by his question.

"Piccolo? No, I haven't seen him. I teleported to the Kami tower this morning, but he… she was in the time chamber. I believe he will be out by tomorrow."

Gohan listened to his father in disbelief. 'So she went inside after all…'

"Well, let's not bother ourselves with that subject" stated Chi Chi, thinking that Gohan might be uncomfortable "Let's have lunch!"

But lunch wasn't as nice for Gohan as it was for everybody else. His mind was flying far away, far into the kami temple, wondering whatever could go wrong that made Piccolo go inside the time chamber again. After what took forever to him, the Briefs family left, and he ran off to his room, put a lock on his door, and refused to go out again until morning.

That morning, two weeks and two days after the wish was made, Vegeta woke up early, and without making a single noise, he reached the back door of the Capsule Corp. house.

"Where do you think you are going?" asked his wife behind him.

"I thought you were sleeping" he answered, turning around.

"I woke up and didn't see you there. Where are you going at this ungodly hour?"

"There is something I must do. I'll be back in a couple of hours"

"Are you going off training again?" she asked, although by the looks of it, he was going somewhere else. He wasn't wearing his usual training clothes, but blue jeans, a black polo shirt, and a black leather jacket with the Capsule Corp. logo on the back. The black boots were new…

"No" he turned to the door and opened it, and then a guilty feeling crossed is heart. He took a deep breath before talking again "I… I'm going to the kami temple."

"To the Kami sama temple? What for? Wait… Are you going to challenge Piccolo?" she asked with disbelief on her voice.

"What? Of course not! It's nothing like that. I just… have to ask her something. Go back to sleep. I'll be back soon enough."

"Vegeta!" and off he went, far into the sky, leaving his lovely wife wondering about his intentions. She couldn't fall asleep again afterwards.

Up in the Kami temple, there was Dende, waiting patiently for Vegeta to arrive. His telepathic skills had developed strongly enough to know that.

"Morning, Vegeta" he greeted as the saiyan landed next to him "Quite early for you to visit, don't you think?"

"Were you waiting for me?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes" Vegeta made a face. He hated when anyone was spying on him.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"At her meditation spot, behind the building. She just came out of the time chamber, and she didn't look happy".

"So?"

"So… be gentle. Don't piss her off. I quite like the Temple the way it is now"

"I'm not here to challenge her" he answered, figuring out that's what Dende meant.

"I know" he answered.

He didn't waste a minute more with Dende, knowing it was a lost cause to figure out his green mind, and moved quickly to the place he indicated. Dende stood still for a few seconds. By this time he had seen inside Vegeta's mind, and knew what he was about.

"I hope he doesn't mess things up too much" he mumbled to himself.

Vegeta walked along a hall decorated with stone lotuses that were piled so they would work as columns. He finally reached a room, or rather a look out, with four flowery fountains, each apparently pointing into a cardinal point. In the middle of them sat the former namek, sitting in a lotus position on a large, green cushion.

Piccolo already knew he was in the building. Her senses became stronger since the year she spent inside the time chamber had made wonders on her powers. She was sure she could stand a fight with Vegeta if she wanted to, although she couldn't become super saiyan just yet.

Vegeta stared at her for a few moments before she spoke.

"So? What do you want?" said the soft voice.

Vegeta chuckled. He still could feel the namek inside that body, the energy coming from it still feeling quite green to him, but the voice took him completely by surprise.

"Looks like your training worked out" came the rough voice in response. Piccolo didn't know why, but Vegeta's voice caused he to shiver a bit "your ki level is stronger than ever, and you are not even doing anything"

"If you came to fight go away" she answered in a cold voice "I can't turn super saiyan, so fighting with me is pointless"

'Well that's something' Vegeta thought to himself 'she is still an annoying green alien after all'

"Well?" she asked.

"I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to talk to you"

Piccolo raised an eyebrow and hesitated before standing up and facing the saiyan. "About what?" she asked, now fully facing him.

Vegeta took a few moments to take a look at the female in front of him. First time he had had a good look to her cleavage and now she was wearing that closed gi with a white turtle neck, and a long white cape that covered her almost completely. No shoulder weights, nor turban, only her long black hair with bright green highlights… wait…

"You changed your clothes" he said "it seems that the brat made you aware of the over exposed skin in the regular outfit".

"Shut up!" she said, blushing violently and crossing her arms around her breasts, although the cape covered her almost entirely "what do you want, Vegeta? Tease me to death?"

Vegeta smiled. Despite the namek trapped inside, the girl in front of him just acted like one of those female children that followed his son everywhere he went.

"What the hell happened to your hair?"

"I…" she hesitated for a moment "I'm not sure. I recall you saying that saiyans had dark hair though. I guess it just took time for my body to fully change into a saiyan female's one… my ears are not as pointy either" she waved a lock of her hair so Vegeta could see the pointed change "and my fangs have… nearly disappeared" she turned her back to Vegeta. It was obvious now that loosing the last pieces of her previous appearance was extremely disturbing to her "What do you want? I'm not asking again."

After gathering carefully his thoughts, Vegeta decided it was time for some truth. He took a deep breath, and decided not to push the subject of her appearance.

"I'm here to talk about Kakarot's brat" he waited for an answer, but only got a blushing face in return "and how things are between you two".

"That is not of your freaking business" she said, looking uncomfortable and blushing even more "Whatever happens between Gohan and me is our damn business and nobody else's. Especially you!" she gave Vegeta a defiant look, one of those that were saved for stubborn saiyans to use "You have nothing to do here; Gohan is not even your son, so why do you care? Did Bulma send you? Did Goku send you? Wait, I really couldn't care less" she turned her back at the saiyan prince, elegantly waving her right hand at his face "Please make yourself out of the freaking temple before I force you to, and as things are now, I can't have better chances to do so" she added with a smirk, crossing her arms again.

"As tempting as it might sound" the prince began, turning his back and pretending to leave "I was just in the understanding that you cared for that brat, so I thought you might be interested to know he is been sick for the past few weeks" he stopped for a moment, feeling the tension in her body "he doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep… I believe he actually doesn't even study anymore, and you know how much he enjoys that stuff" he made a last pause, before he started to walk the way he came "but if you are not interested in talking well… I'll make myself out"

"Wait" she said. Vegeta stood on his place, waiting for her to continue "why do you care? Why would you take the time to come and tell me this, of all people? Not even Goku has…"

"Kakarot came here to talk to you yesterday, but you were inside the time chamber" he explained, slowly turning around to face her "and about your question, it's not like I care about Kakarot's brat, or you for that matter"

"Then why are you here?"

After a few minutes of careful consideration, he turned his gaze towards the blue sky and mumbled "I don't know. I guess it bothers me seeing that brat so depressed, and Kakarot was in such distress… don't get me wrong, I don't care for them I just find it annoying" he turned so his back was facing her, so he could hide the slight blush now covering his cheeks.

"Right" she said, not pushing the issue anymore "well, you are worrying for nothing. Nothing is happening between me and Gohan, and nothing ever will. He is just dealing with it, and he better get over it quick".

Vegeta paused to look at her for a moment before speaking again, carefully thinking his words "So the brat does have feelings for you…"

'Dammit!' came the curse inside Piccolo's mind. "Like I said…" her voice sounding venomous now "It's not of your bloody business, now get the hell out of here or I'll be in the damn necessity to show you out"

"Hum.." Vegeta gathered carefully each thought, like the strategy man he was "You feel the same for him. He suffers cruelly because of your rejection" at this point he couldn't believe the crap that was coming out of his mouth "Why do you push him away?"

"That's enough!" a ki wave made Vegeta stumble backwards "You don't need to know anything about my reasons, and for the last time, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

"I don't need to know… NAMEK" he made sure to emphasize the last word "but the brat does. For whatever feelings you may have for him he deserves to know." He waited for an answer. When all he got was a grunting noise he continued "They would be visiting Capsule Corp. today. I'm pretty sure he is not attending. Stop by his house, talk to him. Like I say, I don't care about any of you…" here he paused, taking in a deep breath "but I owe Kakarot… If not being for him I'll be death by now…" the obvious implication being 'and I wouldn't have met Bulma…' "you owe him pretty much the same… If not for me or the brat, do it for him." He made an attempt to leave, turning slightly to face her "and if you change your mind about sparring, let me know"

That being said, Vegeta took a step and flew away into the sky.

Piccolo remained still for a couple of minutes before she was able to move again. Gohan had being sick, miserable, probably because of her. The fact that Vegeta took such time to come and tell her that… he must be pretty bad. It was true that Vegeta had changed a lot, but that itself wouldn't have made him come all the way to the temple just to communicate such thing. Gohan must be suffering too much. She had taken a vow long ago to never hurt him, and spare him from any pain, and now there she was, doing exactly that, avoiding him, and denying him the love that she also felt. She debated with herself if it was a good idea to fly to his home and face the truth... could she handle it? Would she be able to control herself?

Mind absently, she traced the line of her pink lips with her fingers, the fire of that kiss still burning on them despite the time. What if Gohan tried to kiss her again? Could she refuse to him this time? And most importantly, is that what she wanted? Refusing?

'What have you done to me Gohan?' she thought, taking a deep breath, preparing herself to leave.

'Gohan…'

Well, there you go! Let me know what you think in a review please! See you again as soon as possible!