Chapter 1: Melancholy

The morning had been as uneventful as ever on Beerus' Planet for the Saiyan Princess. A solidary breakfast was had in the dining hall, after which she went through the entire castle and cleaned every corner. It was simple dusting and sprucing up here and there as the large tree-like fortress only housed the three of them. For the most part, Lord Beerus was asleep and when he was awake Whis was good at cleaning up after the him. Thankfully the Lord had been asleep for weeks after his trip back from the planet called Earth so the task took her no more than three hours if she chose to work fast.

Daily routine called for rigorous training afterwards with Whis which usually took up the rest of her day greatly due to the fact that she had virtually nothing else to occupy her time. Lately, however, she had begun skipping this specific step. That was due to the fact that Whis had been taking trips back to Earth on a regular basis. It bothered her too because she didn't like her master, and really her only companion, leaving her to waste time with lesser creatures. Of course she would never admit to being jealous and only argued that if Beerus woke up and found Whis was gone he would be extremely annoyed. And that was never good.

On this particular day, instead of training she sat herself on the flat top of a tree stump not far from the calm blue waters near the castle. The sun was high and she basked in it, inviting its warmth to soothe her soul. She closed her eyes and focused her hearing. From the water trickling along the stony shore to a fallen leaf gently coming to rest on a bed of dirt in the woods miles away. She heard it all. She was reminded once more, as she often was living on this solitary planet of three, how very much alone she was.

It had always been this way though, just her, the angel and the god on this planet. She was convinced they three were the highest forms of life in the universe so intermingling with others was just a waste of time. Very seldom did she enjoy herself when she did visit other planets. No matter how high the title or what strength they possessed, in her presence all creatures trembled in fear before her and submitted without hesitation. She was utterly disappointed at their weakness and lack of self-pride.

She broke her concentration and she leaned back on her palms, letting out a heavy sigh. She looked out towards the lake where the dozens of moons and planets from above reflected off of its waters. The wind blew and the trees came to life, their violet leaves fluttered across the sky littering the grassy floor. The planets agriculture was truly beautiful due to Whis' centuries of designing. In fact, everything was made to suit its inhabitants. Whis had even brought in one of the universes rarest flowers when she had expressed her liking for them once.

Thinking back, there was nothing she had wanted that Whis did not give her. Since she was brought to the planet as an infant, she had lacked nothing. She had been taken care of by Whis in every way and was never allowed to be mistreated by Beerus when the god lost his temper. She was free to do as she pleased as long as she worked to grow stronger as she vowed to Beerus when he accepted her as the God of Destructions apprentice. This was fine with her of course because growing stronger was really the only thing she cared about anyway. It was like she was made for battle. As she grew older, whether it be wealth or power, there was nothing she couldn't have.

So why then did she feel like something was missing? Why did she feel so empty? It was recently that she had begun to feel unsatisfied in her daily life. She suspected this was also linked to the fact that she had not been able to grow stronger in the past few years which really bothered her. It was like she had hit a roadblock and no matter how hard she trained or how many time Whis and Beerus beat her within an inch of her life, she just couldn't get passed it.

Suddenly, she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of light steps on fresh grass close behind her. Her ears perked and tail twitched at the close proximity of the unexpected guest. No one could have snuck up that close to her without her noticing long before. No one but Whis.

She spun around to see her teacher walking up, looking as pristine as always in his long robs and his staff. She quickly noticed, however, the odd look on his face. He smiled as he usually did when greeting her but something was off. It was subtle but she could tell. His smile seemed forced which was different from his usual relaxed expression. It was the type of look that made her feel like he was hiding something. Her teacher was known for keeping secrets or at least not divulging information before he wanted to. If he was going to tell her, he would. If he didn't it would be a hassle to make him talk. She decided to let it go and jumped down off the stump, joining him on the ground.

With a polite smile and a small bow, she greeted him. "Good morning, Whis."

"Good morning, Vino!" Whis sang his greeting with his usual cheerfulness. Whatever forced expression he was wearing before was gone now without a trace. Had she just imagined it? She wondered as his eyes traveled behind her. "Are you enjoying the view?"

"Mm," she shook her head and shrugged. "Just thinking."

"I had been standing here for quite some time before you noticed me." He leaned in and asked, "What has you so distracted, child?"

Could he read her mine? She knew he couldn't, or at least he never had before, but his insight was uncanny. Any other time she would openly tell him what was on her mind but for some reason she felt she wasn't ready to tell him how she was feeling. She didn't even know how she felt exactly. For now she would try to keep it to herself.

"To be honest…" There wasn't much she could hide from Whis but she always tried her best. "I have a question for you."

"Oh?"

She raised a slender finger and pointed to his head, eyes falling on his. "Exactly how long are you going to keep your hair like that?"

Her teacher frowned and took a step back. "Hm? What's wrong with my hair?" Using the sphere on his staff as a mirror, he gazed into it and studied his reflection. "You did this for me."

"I was a child."

"You are still quite young," he said as a matter of fact.

"Only compared to you, of course." He eyed her and she shrugged. "What I mean is that I was immature. I was just playing around."

"You said I looked beautiful." He gave a sort of dejected frown and in his own way he was pouting.

She chuckled inwardly and replied, "Fine. Keep it that way. I don't care." After looking over her handy work, his hair styled high with a curl on top, she crossed her arms and nodded. "You still look pretty good actually."

"You don't care?"

"Not really. Why should I?"

"Ah, so that wasn't what you were thinking about so diligently then?" She froze. He smiled proudly and waved his hand. "You don't have to tell me. Anyway, the reason I found you was to tell you that I am going back to Earth now."

Her face dropped. "Again?"

"Why don't you come along with me this time?"

By now the young girl was very much aware of her teacher's whimsical nature. Taste testing Earth food had been the latest in his odd hobbies and she decided she did not wish to have anything to do with it. "Why should I?"

"I am going to taste the delicacies that are Japanese food the human female Bulma-san has offered." Bulma, she thought. The girl had heard of this woman from her teacher often but was told of her species devastatingly low power levels and had no further interest in said woman. Her master continued, "However, I thought you might be more interested in meeting your brother for once?"

"Brother? You mean the Saiyan that Beerus-sama beat with a mere flick of his finger?"

"It's hardly fair to compare him to a god, don't you think? That same flick would still pose a threat for you too."

For a brief moment she wondered if he was inadvertently talking about the stunt she was currently in with her training. She shrugged and chose to ignore the comment. "I'm not interested."

"I see." Though he sounded disappointed, he did not push the subject further. "Well then, I'm off."

She considered what she would do once he was gone when a thought caused her to call after her teacher. "Oh! Will you be bringing back any more of those, how do you call them? The brown bitter sweets?"

"Ah." Her teaches brow quirked. "You mean chocolate?"

"Chocolate…" The word rolled off her tongue as smoothly as the sweet delicacy had melted in her mouth the first time she tried the Earth treat. Her mouth watered just thinking about it and she licked her lips. "Yes."

"Perhaps," he said in a mysterious tone that made her ears perk up in an attempt to better discern his meaning. "It is much better fresh though."

Eyes wide and nose twitching, the young woman was now unconsciously inching forward. Her complete attention was on her teacher. He smiled, clearly amused that the confection could stir such an interest in the melancholy girl.

"What do you mean fresh?" she inquired, tail swaying back and forth. "What is the difference between normal chocolate and fresh chocolate?"

"Chocolate, at higher temperatures, is creamy and rich and can be used to cover other sweets in its velvety goodness!" Her teacher could hardly contain himself as he spoke, clapping his hands together. "It is simply a delightful experience, my dear! You must try it for yourself!"

She clutched at her teachers robe and declared, "I'll go!"