Bonds

Akira POV

I catch myself with my hand, and use my strength to push myself to my feet, taking up a more refined and perfected stance that what I had a month ago.

I am currently in a spare with Piccolo, who is really making me push myself. In this past month, I have had drastic improvement, pushing my power level to 940-950 by my estimations.

Piccolo is suppressing his energy, so I stand guard and use my senses to try to find Piccolo. suddenly my instincts flair, and I drop to the floor, dodging a kick. I sweep at Piccolo's feet, knocking him of balance, and with a ki enhanced lunch, I smash him in the face, sending him flying in the direction I sense Gohan.

Gohan's power is much better than in canon due to me training him in out free time, his power now reaching 610-620. I taught him the Kamehameha, as well as Ki Sense and Flight. Piccolo is more focused on physical training, so it's my job to teach Gohan the skills he needs.

I found that Gohan is best suited for Dad's Kame Style, so I taught him all the moves I remember from watching dad train. I have also managed to train my own techniques, coming up with 2 variations of the Kamehameha.

First is my Spiral Kamehameha, has the spinning factor of Spiral Cannon to increase damage to an incredible degree. the other is Compact Kamehameha, which takes all the power of a regular Kamehameha, and compacts it into a much smaller beam, which pierces easier.

I even copied Piccolo's Masenko, but haven't done anything to it yet. My fighting style as also increased dramatically, now that I have been in actually combat, I know what to improve, and with Piccolo's help, have improved my style.

Gohan appears above Piccolo, and give a downward kick, sending Piccolo flying to the ground. he recovers, and lands, flying upwards, going for a punch, which Gohan blocks, wraps his legs around Piccolo, which I smugly thing he picked up from me, and proceeds to distract Piccolo my punching him repeatedly in the face, giving me enough time to get close, and prepare a Ki Blade, and proceed to slice Piccolo's arm off.

Me: '37'.

I think, counting how many arms I've take off this guy. I can be liberal with this because h can grow his limbs back. I proceed to knee Piccolo in the stomach, and wrap my tail tightly around his neck, choking him. I then hood a Ki Blade to his throat, smirking.

Piccolo: "Okay, kids, you win this one."

I feel a burst of pride, as well as exhaustion. finally, we beat Piccolo. I know he held back, as at his max power, I would say he's at 1730-1740, but he kept his power higher than mine.

Piccolo: "from now on, now on I won't fight holding, if you can beat me at full power, I will know your ready for the Saiyans."

I grin excitedly at that. Over this month, my excitement and drive for combat has only grown. my reservations on fighting have all but diminished, but I still don't like hurting people, at least permanently, thinking of Piccolo's arms.

I have yet to use my hidden power, and I still fear it, but since it hasn't flavored up once since I have started training, I give grown to believe that training is okay.

I know I haven't grown as much as I could in this time, because I have been catching Gohan up to speed, wanting him to be on my level power wise before the Saiyans, as I know he will be okay then.

if we fought at equal power, I would easily win, since I'm far more skilled and talented than him. not that he isn't incredibly talented and a prodigy in his own right, but I am just way ahead of him in natural talent.

I have even improved my Healing in my spare time, now able to heal bad wounds, and even restore a good amount of stamina. problem is it isn't like Dende, where it takes minimal amounts of Ki, My healing is just a bastardized version of that, and isn't as good or refined.

I have grown closer with Piccolo, seeing I'm as a mentor/uncle. He is rough around the edges, but a good guy.

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Piccolo POV

The brats are improving faster than I thought I expected, they both have great potential. Gohan is a great fighter, but what really shocks me is Akira.

in the 6 months I gave her, she not only reached a power far higher than mine and her father's were when we started, but she developed her own style, which was good if a bit underdeveloped. She also got incredibly far in using her Ki, created 3 unique attacks, and copied more from her father's stories.

she is a prodigy, theirs no doubt, and immensely talented in the art of combat. From the times when she talks with me, I know she is also a genius, which I can affirm, as she often comes up with clever and unpredictable strategies on the fly.

But she's growing Cocky, I can tell. Her own growth was making her a but arrogant, but with how talented she was, I'd find it weird if she didn't grow a bit arrogant. That will change in the future when she meets someone stronger than her other than me.

But despite her talent, she is afraid of her hidden power, it's obvious she doesn't like it, and from what I can gather, it's because of many incidents were her hidden power caused harm to her family.

I guess it makes sense, but I don't like it. But who knows, with the rate she's progressing she might not need her hidden power for the Saiyans. I hear Akira get up, and walking out of the cave. I feel her behind me, and hear her voice.

Akira: "Piccolo?".

Her question has a slightly nervous tone to it. I guess she isn't much if a people person, like me. I respond

Me: "Yeah kid?".

I hear her walk up to me, and set next to me. I open my left eye a bit, seeing her sitting next to me, he legs dangling of the edge. I don't know what she wants to say, but from her look I can guess it's something she is afraid of telling me.

Akira: "I remember things".

I open my eyes and stare curiously at the little girl beside me. she smiles, looking down while shaking her legs.

Akira: "I'm only telling you cause I know you wont tell anyone. I remember by past life. Or, who I was before this life. I have always remembered. I remembered the life I lived, the the family I had, the good moments, the bad, how I died."

I was suprised by this, not thinking this was actually possible, but from the look on her face, I can tell shes telling the truth. What I don't understand is why shes telling me this. I'm her father's enemy, the person that killed him.

Akira: "I guess we're kinda similar in that way, we both remember out last lives, but we're not really the people in those memories are we. "

I look at her dumb founded. I knew she was referring to my memories before my rebirth, those of Demon King Piccolo, but I always believed I was still him, I was born with those memories, they define who I am.

I start thinking about it. Am I really Demon King Piccolo? I have always believed myself go be the reincarnation of him, still truly him. But what if I'm not, if so then who am I?

Akira: "When I was reborn, these memories were what I had to latch onto, and they influenced who I am, me believing myself to be that person in my memories, when I'm not. We're just not the same people. But I am thankful, because without him I wouldn't he who I am, he made up most of who I am, who I still am, and I'm thankful for that. I just wanted to talk about to this someone who knows what it feels like. "

I stare at her in astonishment, realizing that it's true. We can relate to each other in that way. we're both people with previous lives, born remembering those lives. Those memories influenced us, make is more like them.

But she isn't the same as who she was before, she realizes that, she knows she isn't the person that those memories tell her she is, and in a way excepts that. It makes me wonder, and I really who I remember being, what these memories tell me I am?

If I'm not the Demon King Piccolo them who am I? I ponder this, as Akira gets up and starts walking back to the cave, the light inside glowing against the darkness of night. she stops at the entrance and turn to me with a smile and says

Akira: Thanks for listening to me Piccolo, it means a lot. "

I feel a rug at my heart, a smile slightly.

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3rd POV

as Akira goes back to sleep, and Piccolo ponders who he really is, a new bond is formed, a mutual understanding, as understanding, relating to others, is the first step towards a bond.