Disclaimer: I do not own dragon ball Z or any of it's characters...this plot and direction I take as I borrow these characters are mine however...no freaking copying this...

Summary: This fic is a Piccolo and Dende fic. Piccolo's daily routine is interfered with one morning. Read and find out what happens to him on this backwards day. Dende's refuses to do something and if he doesn't do it soon he'll die. Piccolo is caught. He'd do anything to save Dende...but just what exactly does anything entail and does he think it's going too far? No one ships these two at all and I think that is so totally wrong, so I'm giving it a go. There is NamekxNamek (which is a league all its own) in this fic hence the rating. Oh, I think you readers can guess what kind of hurt/comfort I'm talking about here...

A/N: So Nameks are so totally asexual and they remain so in this fic. I have written very few adult scenes (a.k.a detailed intimacy) but I'm not exactly new at it. This isn't mindless rutting around! There is a plot and specific reasons why things happen here. Here's a WARNING for you...Nameks are aliens and I don't think their anatomy is 100% in matching exactly with ours so they aren't going to be here...if there's a possibility you won't like it just remember that your the one making yourself read. If your not mature enough for this don't read it please.

. . 0 . .10 . . 9 . . 8 . . 7 . . 6 . . 5 . .4 . . 3 . . 2 . . 1 ...and so begins the fic..

What would you do for the life of a friend: chapter 1

Something was most definitely wrong. But whatever it could have been Piccolo couldn't quite get his finger on it. Why did it bother him, this foreboding feeling? Because it freaking messed with his daily routine! That's why. He went over in his head the events of his morning...

Wake up. Check.

Morning meditation. Check.

Drink glass of water given to him by Mr. Po Po. Check.

Greet Dende (his favorite by far). Che-...oh...

Now he knew what was amiss. Piccolo hadn't seen the Guardian yet today. Swiftly and with an expeditious manner he made his way through the Lookout. Checking every room and hallway in his search for the teen. When Dende was nowhere to be found Piccolo simply figured he could skip that one part ,regarding the smaller Namek, on his list. Just for today though!

The seasoned fighter took to the sky to train and later meditate in the grove by his waterfall. He'd almost cleared the Lookout when he felt it. Dende's Ki. ' Poor kid,' Piccolo thought, ' Why is your signal so weak Dende? Are you sick?' He followed the weakly flickering Ki to a balcony seldom used at the back of the big home of Earth's guardian.

The sight that greeted his eyes made his heart feel like it was taking a plunge down thirty stories in a malfunctioning elevator. The smaller Namekian was slumped over, his back against the white wall. Dende was deathly pale, his eyes wild, and his entire body trembled violently. He perspired profusely making difficult to discern his tears from sweat. Piccolo could tell though and Dende was indeed crying.

Piccolo shook off an ominous feeling nagging at him in the back of his head (He didn't have time for Nail's expectoration right now) and floated down to land near Dende. The shaking young Namek didn't notice his friend's presence till Piccolo cleared his throat. Dende stared at him wide eyed, his hands knotted in his robes, which were torn in multiple places.

" P-Piccolo?" Dende's voice came out sounding forced and raspy. He seemed to be having trouble believing Piccolo was really there. " Picc...olo...help. It's t-too...soon. I c-can't..." Then Piccolo could smell it. Immediately the warrior was overcome with sympathy for his fellow Namek. ' Shit!' Piccolo swore mentally, ' Dende is too young for this. Hell, I'm too young for that!'

Dende was the victim of an early Reproductive Cycle and by trying to fight it he was causing himself great pain.

" Dende," Piccolo said aloud, kneeling down and stroking his friends forehead, "It's alright. Don't fight this. It will all be okay." Dende shuddered under Piccolo's touch and gasped. Piccolo yanked his hand away instantly and cursed himself. Dende was ten times more sensitive right now. " Picc-P-Piccolo...it's not f-fair!...If I were to...relent..an-any child born...wouldn't be whole..they'd live a h-half life," Dende was giving it his all just to talk, " M-my baby...would die...p-prematurely. I c-can't..it's not fair!...I-I'm not r-r-ready." Piccolo nodded his agreement sadly.

When a Namek is born it takes some of the talents and skills it will have from it's parent's experience. Because Dende was so young he hadn't finished growing, maturing, and mastering all his mage magic yet. Any offspring born now would never have full healing ability's or even a full life span. It was sad, painful, and rare but not unheard of. Piccolo knew Dende would rather die than subject any child to that horror...and if he stayed on path he was on...he would die.

' No! Not like this! Dende can't go like this!' internally the hulking Namek could feel pieces of his spirit chipping away. Finally Nail broke through the mental barrier Piccolo held him behind. ' Piccolo,' Nail said, addressing the shaken warrior, ' You can save him.' Piccolo snapped out of his grief. ' How? Tell me!' he pleaded.

Nail showed Piccolo how through memories of a case like this back on planet Namek before Freeza demolished it. What Piccolo saw made him cold all over and he swallowed hard. ' There has got to be another way dammit!'

' No,' Nail pressed, ' There isn't.'

' I can't do that! He's my friend and I-'

' Look at him. Look at Dende Piccolo.' He did.

' Okay, okay Nail...it's for him. I'll do it for him.'

' I knew deep down you were smart. I just knew you had it in you.'

' Shut up, Nail! Just shut up!'

Piccolo sighed. ' Kami forgive me.' he prayed and he gently hoisted Dende into his arms. Dende struggled and his sobs began anew, " No! Don't make me! Please don't force me to give birth!" " I'd never do such a thing," Piccolo assured him, " I'm going to make the pain go away. Your gonna live through this-"

" But-"

" -and you won't give birth! Okay? …..Now relax Dende."

Dende ceased fighting and let his head loll back as Piccolo carried him, bridal style, to his chambers. As they walked Piccolo became aware of the foreign scent wafting off of Dende and he noticed just how drenched the lower parts of his guardian robes were. Again Piccolo swallowed, trying to shake a strange feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Dende was incredibly wet and...he smelled really good. Piccolo winced. He shouldn't think that way about Dende. The younger Namek was his friend. 'Get a grip on yourself! Don't let your thoughts drift that way!' Piccolo buried his nose into the front of his white cape hoping it would help.

Nail took this inconvenient time to barge in where he didn't belong. ' A Cycling Namek is near impossible to resist when they refuse to reproduce this long. It's only natural to feel this way...especially with what your about to do.' Piccolo growled, ' So help me Nail I will rip my own freaking head off to silence you. You good-for-nothing git!' Nail backed off , but he noted smugly that a part of Piccolo was losing control of it's reason. Dende was so ripe in his arms...Piccolo snarled and made his way into his room and over to the bed.

. . . end . . of . . chapter..

A/N: So that's the first chapter if you like and review I'll have the next one up lightning fast. It was meant to be a one shot but..hehehe.. I can't help myself...