Piccolo frowned as he watched Goku greet the rest of his friends. He didn't know why he was sticking around; he'd done his part and gotten the Dragon Ball. It had been ridiculously easy, as his had landed in a freshwater lake that was home to some rather angry fin-backed dinosaurs. A few punches to their snouts though had gotten them to back down and let him retrieve the ball. He'd barely gotten wet, honestly.
'If that is how easy it was to gather the Dragon Balls I don't know what gave my… what gave King Piccolo so many problems.'
Sometimes it was so odd to think about his previous incarnation. Some days he saw him as a father. One he didn't know, other than the memories he had inherited from him, but a father all the same. He would do something and just KNOW that his father would not have done the same. Allying with Goku, for one. Or not taking advantage of him being injured by Raditz; King Piccolo would have slaughtered all of them even if it meant his death later, smiling as he finally managed to end his hated foe once and for all. But Piccolo hadn't done that; he had realized that in order to ensure the Earth survived Raditz he needed to work with Goku. Let them determine who ruled over the planet later; far better that than to be King of Ashes.
'Yet there are other times where I feel exactly like him,' Piccolo thought as he stood in the corner of Capsule Corp's main courtyard, Goku and his friends chatting amongst themselves. 'I remember things… memories that I can only have if I were him born again. Did we manage to cheat death through the reincarnation? Or is it something else?' He shut his eyes. 'And why does it matter when that Saiyan will be returning in 13 months? Deciding who I am will not help us win.'
"-very helpful," Goku's wife, Chichi if Piccolo remembered correctly, was telling Bulma. "Thank you for letting Kayos come with us."
"You are more than welcome!" Bulma said before suddenly grabbing the tall blond human's arm and tugging him away from the Son family. "But just remember he is documenting MY life!"
"Come on Bulma, we didn't forget that!" Goku called out. "He asked us a lot of questions about you…" Bulma though didn't respond and after a moment Goku noticed Piccolo and beamed. "Hey! You been here long?"
"Since this afternoon," Piccolo said. The moon was a half full and beginning to rise, marking how late it was. "What took you so long? We have to be training and every second we waste only gets us farther behind."
"Yeah, I know that," Goku said, not taking offense to Piccolo's tone. It was… something that didn't annoy him about his rival; that he didn't get offended over the smallest thing. "We ran into some guy who thought he was the next ruler of Earth. Had to deal with him."
"I hope you did," Piccolo stated. "The earth-"
"Mr. Piccolo?"
He looked down to see Goku's son staring up at him with large bright eyes.
"…what?" he asked coldly.
"I… that is… well-"
"Spin it out, runt," Piccolo said sternly, wondering why the child was gawking at him. 'Want to mock me? Say that his father is stronger? Maybe just stare because I am a demon and he is a oh-so-wonderful human-'
"I wanted to thank you!" he called out quickly, giving him a bow.
Piccolo blinked at that.
"W…what?" he managed to get out.
"Thank you for helping my daddy, Mr. Piccolo. If you hadn't fought with him he would have lost to that mean man."
"Yes," Chichi said, startling Piccolo even more when SHE bowed to him. "Thank you for standing with Goku. I know you didn't need to but I am grateful."
Piccolo looked at them for several moments before turning his head away. "We had a common enemy. It only made sense to help him."
"You sure did!" Goku said cheerfully. "You have gotten really strong, Piccolo! I'm glad you're on my side for this and not against me!" He refused to twist his head towards the Saiyan warrior despite how very much he wished to do so. It… couldn't be true, could it? Goku, the man that had killed his father, a father who had caused the deaths of his friends Chiaotzu, Krillin, and his teacher Master Roshi… admiring his strength and expressing how HAPPY he didn't have to fight him? "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to spar with you again… but maybe not where we had to kill each other?" He smiled big and bold as he rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, fighting is much more fun when you and your opponent can both walk away and train to get even better!"
"…hmmpf," Piccolo muttered, refusing to acknowledge what the other man had said.
"Come on guys!" Bulma called out, waving for them to join her. "We're going to summon the dragon!"