DragonBallZ: When Dreams Become Reality

chapter 16 written by Noble...

Oh, that sort of prom. After about 3 days and several hours later Piccolo finally understood what a prom was, but unfortunetly for Nioki he didn't like the sound nor the idea of going to the school prom. Heck it even scared the crap out of him just to even go there and wear a black tuxedo but only a little. It's not that wearing a suit bothered him, it was just being in the same school hall were assembly took place with seemingly hundreds of students as couples as dancing partners, lovers or couples who just came together for nothing more than just to be there and to drink the punch and have a good time. This was definetly not one of the top things he wanted to particapte in on his 'Things to do' list, since when did a social gathering have to involve being mushy or luvy dovey with your partner? That of all things was never Piccolo's style when it came to staying in Nioki's company, he would be polite, seem a little distant at times with his thoughts invading every corner of his mind and naturally he would converse and enjoy their time together whether it was in school learning or spending some time together at lunch. Everything between the two just seemed downright normal, however...

Piccolo knew that somehow this prom would drastically change things between them. For 3 days after being told what a prom was by Nioki he decided to go into detective mode and frequently hired some books out of the library to learn more about proms and what occassionally happened or what was most likely to happen before, inbetween and after the prom. It turns out that after absorbing the knowledge from the books and from getting the low down from Alisa on what she knew it turns out that a prom isn't just some social gathering, it's bigger than that.

You see when a gender of the male or female species asks someone to be their partner for the prom, their not just asking that, their asking you to be their 'date' for the prom. Now when Piccolo allowed that to run through his head for a few minutes all he could think of is "WOAH!" and then "WHAT?!" Because the young warrior knew that when your asked to the prom, your asked to be with them and only them from start to finish and it's all about pleasing your partner and making the night memorable for years to come. That means you have to makesure that the night is to be the best from the minute you greet your date at the door, to when your getting your picture taken and then after when the prom ends? What is supposed to happen after that? All he could remember from Alisa was that she had this chesher cat like grin on her face and that she was giggling a little evilly. Whatever that was all about must have been some form of encoded message..."Woman, I'll never understand them" mumbles the youth musingly.

True, true Piccolo may never understand them but that's the way the world works for the rest of the male population. And even when you think you know still do they act differently and change in a way you never really expected. It was confusing at times even for Piccolo who had a hard time really understanding Nioki or Alisa, besides they were women...any kind of women is a mystery and a puzzle of sorts to unravel. Perhaps someone should write a book on 'how to understand women' in any case it would be a best seller for the poor saps that have trouble asking out a girl more over than trying to keep a steady relationship with one.

Big shock number two: "I have to wear WHAT?!"

"You heard me, if you want to impress your 'date' you have to wear a suit" answers Alisa smirking with that knowing smile.

"Forget it! I don't remember that being part of the deal!" mumbles Piccolo, eyebrow twitching nervously.

"Aw come on! Don't tell me the big bad fighter is afraid of looking dignified for once?" she asks teasingly.

"I'm always dignified. Wearing a stuffy black suit has nothing to do with it".

"Oh and what do you suggest to wear for the big night? Don't tell me it's your gi outfit because if you do wear that then you'll be the only one going in fancy dress!" chuckles the girl coaxing him into defeat.

"WHAT? my training gi isn't some stupid fancy dress outfit unlike some morons that dress up as that dumb purple dinosaur on tv!" he retorts grumbling folding his arms.

"Then explain to me what's wrong with wearing a shirt, a tie, a suit jacket, black trousers and shoes? Everybody who's anybody wears respectable clothing like this at a prom. You don't want to embarrass Nioki now do you?"

"Alright, ALRIGHT! FINE! I'll wear the stupid suit! But if get so much as a glare from anybody then you'll be sorry".

"Sheesh fine, it's a deal! Alright follow me it's time to do a bit of power shopping!" the girl shouts running with Piccolo being dragged along by his hair.

"Shopping?!"

Needless to say Alisa and Nioki had planned this to the smallest detail albeit without Piccolo's consent. If he wouldn't agree willingly to going to the prom in a proper clothing attire then they would do it by teasing and coaxing him until he gave up. However it seems he gave up a little too easily, especially to Nioki's standards when Alisa told her everything about the plan going too well. One trick after another and Piccolo was clueless all the way the minute he was bribed into wearing the suit to the hours after that Alisa dragged him into the City grounds to fetch him the things he needed the most for the prom.

After going in several shops and with Alisa sort of going off track to look at stuff that only women would find interesting the minute it catched their eye, they finally stopped at a clothes shop in particular, that Nioki had mentioned to her best friend, it was supposed to be a shop based soley on flashy outfits and business wear called 'Next'. Smirking Alisa grabbed Piccolo and dragged him inside. From left to right all the young warrior could see was suits and shirts galore of every size and colour, not to mention a few breif cases staked upon various shelves made out of leather and far too many students that commute at his school that were here as well getting their measurements and clothing tailer made. Mumbling in an almost constant and frowning quite frequently Piccolo stayed rooted in his spot at the side, idly looking to some suits that actually looked good. Not that he would admit it to Alisa or Nioki but he was interested at some of the suit jackets that caught his eye.

"Good afternoon miss, can I help you?" questions a sales clerk.

"Me? Do I look like I need help? Nope, check out that guy over there. His name is 'Piccolo', I believe you were informed by a friend of mine to check his measurements and find the perfect suit for him" Alisa answers half smiling but winking knowingly.

"Ahh so that is Piccolo is it? Our client informed us that you would arrive today. So what's the occassion and what suit and colour do you think you friend would like for him to wear?"

"Well he needs a suit for the school prom but we need an outfit for all occassions as well. Y'know the usual: 21st birthdays, weddings, funerals and for fancy restaurants etc, etc".

"Ah I see, then it'll have to be a black suit and trousers with a tie of the matching colour and a white shirt. How does that sound miss?" the clerk asks.

"Perfect, that will do nicely..."

(Sheesh what did I ever do to deserve this?!) grumbles the half breed namekian/saiyan in his mind aggitated.

It's not that he minded shopping it's just that he didn't like it period! It was just a crowded city filled with even more crowded people spending their hard earned cash on trival things that had little or no interest to him. Besides wasn't shopping mostly enjoyed by the female gender more over than males? That's one thing that actually made sense. In any case shopping was another thing that Piccolo wasn't fond of, as well as huge crowds, suits that were now added to his list of distastes. For someone as young as he, barely a teenager he was definetly showing the signs of a stubborn, grumbling and moody 30 year old. He didn't like being in places where people were in their thousands populating the area, he most certainly didn't like shopping and he hated wearing a suit of any kind with a passion! He was not of all things a business man! Plus he knew very little about what girls whispered about and the hints they were showing so even if he was acting like someone who was alot older, he in truth was just a loner at heart pure and simple and really he knew very little.

Why was he going through this whole routine again? Oh yeah, Nioki! He was doing this for her so he could look at least distinguished and respectable, but what's wrong with wearing his gi outfit and where the hell was he going to get the cash to pay for all this stuff? It looked a little too expensive even for him and Piccolo never carried cash on him, nor did he even have a Alisa suckered him into this and he knew it. Perhaps he was just here to try on a few things? Yeah that must be it, probably just to see what Alisa thinks of seeing him in a suit was like. Mind you if he still had his powers though this whole ordeal could have been avoided in seconds. He would simply look at a suit, focus his thoughts onto the image of it and to his size specifactions and voila; an instant suit. But unfortunetly thanks to the terroist faction he now had to do things the normal way, or in his case the 'human' way and doing it this way sucked! Going from one shop to the next, looking at clothing, trying it on. It all seemed like hard work and too much effort.

"Alright Mr Piccolo. This suit is to your exact specifications and should fit you well, please step into the cubical and try it on" asks the clerk politely.

(Where the hell did they get my measurements from? Oh well)

After the curtain was drawn closed, Alisa and the female clerk waited outside patiently hearing a few grunts and mumbles and the small sound of rustling as clothes were removed and replaced. Inside the cubical Piccolo finally placed on a pair of black shoes with a silver buckle of some sort on the top and glanced up to look in the mirror. Consiously a smile began to make it's way on his lips as he admired himself in the mirror, doing a few small poses to see if it actually looked good and silently he had to admit it did suit him.

"Hey Piccolo does it fit?" questioned Alisa on the otherside of the cubical.

"Y-yeah it does" he mumbles walking outside.

"Heeyyy good lookin! See it does suit you! Nioki is gonna love this!"

"Are you sure miss?" the clerk asks.

"Yeah we'll take it!" Alisa says proudly.

(WHAT?!)

The clerk dissappears once after Piccolo removes the suit and back into his regular clothing leaving him with Alisa once again, "How are we supposed to pay for this? Oh wait don't tell me where supposed to take whatever we can grab and run right? Thanks but no thanks".

"It's all paid for" she answers flatly.

"Say what?"

"I said, 'it's all paid for'. Nioki knows you don't have a job and besides she wants you to look your best for the prom".

"What am I supposed to do in return? Just say thanks?" frowns the youth.

"No. This night is very important Piccolo do you understand? A school prom may seem meaningless to you but to Nioki this one night with you is everything. You've got to make her feel special and let her know that she is special otherwise there's no point in your going to the prom. She thinks your special y'know?"

"She does...?"

"Yeah. Usually when your not around we talk about things; what's important to us, who we like, what hopes we have for the future, stuff like that. But near enough every conversation that we have your mentioned along the lines and she gets this look in her eyes that looks distant, like she's day dreaming. I can't believe that after nearly two years that she would like you this way, you two always used to argue remember?"

"Yeah...I remember. So how do I make her feel special then?" Piccolo asks, his interest perked.

"It's hard to say or to put into words for that matter. You've just got to suprise her. How about this? Once the suit is paid for how about we go around the town and get a few more bits and bobs but at the same time I want you to think about the last 2 years or more importantly what happened inbetween that time with you and Nioki and when your done express those feelings to Nioki when you see her tonite".

"I thought you said it was hard to put into words?" he questions raising an eyebrow.

"For me yes, but not for you. Nioki is just my best mate and besides your taking her to the prom not me".

"Alright...I'll think about it".

And so for another hour or so both Piccolo and Nioki walked around the endless shops of the city picking out the last few vital things that would make the night and his attire perfect for his date but the most important thing that Piccolo got for Nioki was a golden necklace with two miniture keys dangling from the middle and then after he bought one very exquiste red rose. Alisa suggested that he should have the clerks to ingrave it with some writing and the only message Piccolo could think to leave on it was, "you have the keys to my heart". Touching and gentle were not the youth's strong points but he made up for it with a lot of deep thought.

Indeed Piccolo had given his thinking about Nioki a lot of attention. Alisa was right; it was hard to put into words how he felt about her. She had done so much for him over such a short amount of time and only now does he realise why. At first when they met they just plain argued and didn't get on much, always bickering about pointless things about each other that would cause the arguments to become more heated but as usual Nioki always won because Piccolo simply gave in as he was not gifted with the gab as they say. And then things between them changed slightly, on that very day when Piccolo's origins were revealed and inbetween the whole ordeal he saved her life. Then after that whole incident was seemingly closed he went to the grave site of Victor Torez, the school headmaster and the only life he failed to save until it was too late.

On that bleak and rainy day, she was there the entire time watching him silently and only revealed herself when she saw him in pain, the pain of his own guilt for letting someone down. And so on that day she sat with him beside their former teacher's grave and she mourned with him, feeling his pain and sharing it with him as he silently accepted her help, even though he wouldn't openly admit it. She was there at the assembly too when all the students wanted him expelled for being 'different' and because they feared his powers. She alone stood up and acted as his defense, preaching that they were no better than the terroists or any other bully that would harrass someone just because they were different. She pleaded against them all the while sounding self righteous and true, saying that she was possibly the only one out of the entire school that trusted him and not fear him. She offered him friendship and he accepted while others decided to avoid him like a plague. That was their choice be as judgemental as they may, he accepted their views but didn't give any who thought they had the right to judge him a second glance. The only real friends he needed were Nioki and Alisa...

2 years after that when Piccolo had reached the tender age of 15, his supposed teenage years. He still was in the company of Nioki. Their friendship in the time that passed grew and was completely cemented together. They each knew about little quirks that they both had and Piccolo was always an open book for Nioki to read, seemingly she knew his personality or habits all too easy. She had declared that she wanted Piccolo as her Valentine, Nioki even gave him his first small kiss and he even had a christmas dinner with her parents and slept in the same bed as her, albeit reluctantly because he was pushed into it by her ever noticable amount of sarcasm. He inturn gave a Christmas gift unlike any other that she could recieve and in the short amount of time that he was with her in those few short days, he taught her how to control her ki and manipulate it with a means to fly. That's the only gift he could have really given her, it was priceless just to see the look of joy on her face when she finally did it. It's the sort of look you can only get when you feel that you have accomplished something of a great importance, leaving you feeling very satisfied and proud of your hard work. Piccolo had definetly trained her well for her to accomplish such a feat in 4 days.

Then came the dark times ahead that threatened to destroy the peaceful lives of the couple. The terroists returned and this time left their mark forever imprinted in the mind of Piccolo as they used some sort of weapon to strip him of his powers and then after all 26 of them started beating him to a bloody pulp in earnest. Never in Piccolo's young life had he experienced such pain and never does he want to feel that sort of mental depression ever again just from such a huge beating. He really hates Simon and the terroists for what they did, he lost so much blood and was left crippled and helpless, It honestly registered in Piccolo's mind that his body felt like every bone was broken. When your used to being the strongest man on the entire world you think your invincible but because of that much confidence in your abilities it tends to act as a downfall or weak point. The thing with having so much power is that you think that you really are invincible and that nobody can touch you. Nobody is invincible, just like nobody in the entire human race is perfect.

After all this time does Piccolo fully realise how many times Nioki has been there for him. Through all the hard times, all the pain, the mourning, she has been there for him through thick and thin and never once has left his side when he didn't want her there. In her own way, Nioki was just as stubborn as he was and that was a quailty he could begin to admire. But no matter how hard it seemed for him to put into words he will however make sure that their time at the prom before and after will be a memorable one, all he has to do is trust his instincts and the memories and hopefully everything will go fine...hopefully...

Author's note: Ah life is good! Dude, I rock! Its been quite an eventful 2 weeks for me! I've gotten to see The Scorpion King and Resident Evil the movie and I can get to see them as many times as I'd like for free *grins* Plus I start a new job tommorrow, data entry keyer for a postal faction so here's hoping I do well and prove my worth after the two days drinking binge I wasted on celebrating heh! Answering a question from a reader, no this story has nothing to do with the DBZ world hyperthetically. This is just my own story that came to me in a dream one night, none of the DBZ characters will be playing any part in this other than the the main character being called Piccolo and that he is made up of namekian and saiyan dna...DNA of two DBZ characters namely Piccolo and Vegeta...

So read my fic and don't get to review dammit! Or do otherwise and send all questions and comments to Noblekaleomnislash1

Signed Noble...