Author's Note: This is my entry to the March contest of the DBZ Fanfiction club on DeviantArt. The challenge was to write a drabble (less than 500 words) about a DBZ character with the theme awkward firsts, which you could use in any way you like. I chose Piccolo - the first time he succumbed to an act of selflessness.

Disclaimer: DBZ belongs to Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation.

Selfless Sacrifice

"Hey, Piccolo! Leave now! I can take care of this bully by myself until my dad gets here. If we lose you, then the dragonballs will disappear and we won't be able to wish any of our friends back to life!"

I mocked you, but somewhere deep down, something in my heart began to swell. It wasn't until later I realized it had been pride. For my pupil.

The training I had given you had borne its fruits and it was the first time in that battle you'd shown me something to acknowledge that. Seconds later, you were attacked by that bulky muscle-head of a saiyan. I ran to intervene because I thought you helpless, but you surprised all of us again by tapping into your slumbering powers. It was like my eyes were deceiving me when I saw him fly into solid rock that, in seconds, was nothing but rubble. And it was that same sensation that hit me when he flew out from underneath it again – menacingly blocking the light of the sun as he came face to face with you; with an intention to kill.

Blood stained his features but you were only five years old – scared, frozen. You had never faced such evil and there was nothing I could have done to prepare you for this reality.

"Until now, training you was out of vengeance; making you worthy enough to be my opponent. But… something's changed. No matter what happens to you Gohan, I will always be there to protect you."

Those words I had once uttered to your sleeping form in that wilderness in which I trained you were all I knew when I started running to shield you from the horrible, finishing blast he was sending at you – it went against every virtue I had held high all my life, but seeing you there, remembering how I'd watched you grow; your loyalty, determination, kindness…

Giving my life was one of the most awkward things I've ever had to do. And I had to, Gohan; it was like my legs were moving of their own accord. It was the first time in my whole life of bitterness and spite that I'd done something selfless.

"It's ironic, isn't it? After all my years of training to defeat your father, I go out like this, trying to save you, his son."

While I laughed my familiar, cynic laugh I still felt the warm moist leaving my eyes. It was something I'd never experienced before.

"I still remember the first day I brought you here. You were small; helpless. You've changed so much since then. The harder things got, the more determined you became. The more dangers you faced, the stronger you grew as a warrior. I know I was hard on you, but it was for your own good. You're like the son I never had. I'm proud of you."

It was awkward and painful, but the demon inside me left that day. Thank you.