Caulifla smiled as she easily deflected the beam of energy that was meant to hit Cabba. She could hear him whimpering slightly as he readied himself for Kale's attack. From the corner of her eye, she could see him sigh in relief slightly that Caulifla had helped him. Her green eyes flickered towards Kale, her protégé, and she could feel the waves energy being thrown at her as they squared off. Caulifla simply put her hands on her hips, her smiling growing as she looked at Kale. She was so proud of her protégé! Turning into a Super Saiyan and being even stronger than herself, Caulifla could feel her excitement rushing through her veins as she thought about battling Kale as she was now. Yeah she might've changed more than her or Cabba had when they shifted into Super Saiyans but the amount of power flowing from Kale... Caulifla was excited to see what that would do in the Tournament of Power. That kind of power could save their universe after all.
"Kale! You're amazing!" Caulifla said, as she cheered on her protégé.
She was so proud of Kale and what she had just accomplished. She knew that if she was pushed in the right direction, Kale could do anything Caulifla could do! However her sense of pride dropped as the sudden burst of energy Kale was emitting began to dissipate. Caulifla's smile fell as she realized her protégé was falling unconscious. Without a second thought, Caulifla darted towards Kale, catching her in moments. She could hear Cabba saying something but she wasn't listening, seeing Kale in her arms set her worries at ease. She looked so peaceful and content.
"Let's get back to the others." Caulifla said.
It was more of a demand than a suggestion. Before they set off, Caulifla closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate and all the power she could feel from her Super Saiyan form disappeared. Her dark hair falling down slightly as she started to relax more. Her and Cabba then started on their journey back to where the other warriors for the tournament were. Caulifla held onto Kale in her arms as they went, keeping her grip as they flew through the air.
They weren't too far away from where Cabba said the other warriors were. Caulifla looked at the motley crew that was assembled and every one of them looked more weird than the next. She saw that there were a could of Namekians, a Metalman, she recognized Botamo, then there was a weird looking warthog man, along with a couple of other people that Caulifla couldn't quite place what they were. She saw Renso as soon as they landed and ran towards them, looking elated that they were safe and back with them.
"Caulifla!" Renso grinned. "Welcome back."
"Hey!" Caulifla replied. "Who're they? Are they going with us?"
"Yeah, those guys you see Hit talking to ar-"
"I remember them from the baseball game Renso talked about!" Caulifla said, interrupting Cabba. "I bet they're super strong too!"
"Well... they are but we're not fighting them!" Cabba said nervously.
"You can introduce me to everyone later, I gotta make sure Kale's good to go." Caulifla said as she walked off.
She looked around her older brother's place for an empty room. A few minutes of searching and she found a place for Kale to rest. She placed her on a bed and paused for a moment. She couldn't help but smile again, feeling so proud that her protégé had a hidden ace up her sleeve. That would definitely come in handy for the Tournament of Power. Caulifla turned around and left the room leaving Kale to rest while she rejoined the others to prepare for the tournament. Less than an hour before it starts and Caulifla's excitement could hardly be contained.
As Caulifla walked off to get ready, Kale was left to regaining her strength. Resting and dreaming of her and Caulifla together. They weren't doing much, just resting from a sparring together. Caulifla was going on about someone she wanted to fight and got more excited as she continued her story. Kale was just sitting next to her, listening and enjoying how excited the rambunctious Saiyan was becoming. However, the serene feeling from the dream began to fade as an immense roar echoed through the air around them. They both got to their feet and readied themselves for whatever might come next. The world that was bright and full of light began to fade as a shadow of some strange person stood over them. There was something about the stranger that made Kale feel like whatever it was familiar. Though, before she could get a good look of the other person, Kale awoke with a jolt. She sat upright and looked around, panting slightly. Her eyes adjusted as she realized that she was spooked by a dream. With a couple of deep breaths, Kale calmed down. She slid her legs towards the floor and got ready to stand up but fell back down onto the bed.
"Huh?" She mumbled to herself.
Kale began to wonder how she became so dizzy. She knew she was in a room but then she began to ask how she got here. She remembered seeing Caulifla and Cabba trying to get her worked up to turn into a Super Saiyan like them but everything after that was fuzzy... All she could remember was an immense feeling of anger and rage but not much else. She held onto her head as it pounded slightly. After the world stopped spinning and the pounding in her head started to wane a bit, Kale tried standing up again. She was more successful than her previous attempt and she carefully made her way for the door.
"I can't believe you made her cry!" Caulifla hollered. "What kind of person makes a girl cry like that!"
"I didn't mean to make her cry, Caulifla!" Cabba yelped. "She transformed into a Super Saiyan though, didn't she?"
"I suppose so..." Caulifla mumbled, sounding annoyed. Kale looked at them and looked away as soon as they saw her.
"Kale!" Caulifla said, looking elated. She gave Cabba a dark look before he sped away and she looked over to her protégé once more, her face looking happy once more. "You're awake! I figured you might wanna rest some more and didn't wanna bother you." Caulifla walked over towards Kale, helping her find somewhere to sit.
"Are you sure you should be walking around?" She asked. "That was a lot of energy you had building up like that."
"I'm... I'm fine." Kale mumbled in response.
"Hey you two, we don't have much time until the tournament starts." Champa said as he approached them. "Better get ready for the fight of your lives. There's going to be a lot of tough contenders."
"We'll be ready in a few minutes." Caulifla said. Champa looked between them, one of his ears twitching slightly before he turned around and shook his head.
"Just be ready." He said before leaving. Caulifla looked at Kale, smiling and acting as if Champa hadn't spoken to them a few minutes ago.
"I'm glad you're good!" She said excitedly and looked at Kale for a moment. "Ya know, I'm pretty proud of you! I mean you can turn into a Super Saiyan too! That's amazing! And you looked so powerful too! I can't wait to see you going up against whoever we might encounter in the tournament!"
Kale felt another pang of panic again after hearing about the tournament. She felt scared when Champa mentioned it before but hearing Caulifla mention it again made her feel even more uneasy. She was worried that their universe wouldn't fair too well in the end. If all the warriors from their universe were knocked out or unable to continue fighting then they'd be wiped from existence... Kale could feel her heart racing and her concerns escalating once more. She knew Caulifla wasn't too worried about it however Kale couldn't help but be more worried about it. The future of their universe was in the balance after all. Caulifla continued to talk as Kale thought more about all the "what ifs" if they were to fail. Kale's fear continued to grow and she let out a few whimpers as her imagination got the better of her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Caulifla asked, seeing how uneasy Kale was becoming. "You're not getting all worked up from the compliments are you?"
"Huh? Oh no... it's not that, sis..." Kale muttered quietly. She looked around, feeling more confident as she realized no one was with them. It had been just them together after Champa had left them. She put her hands in her lap, staring at them furiously for a moment as she worked up the courage to talk to Caulifla.
It wasn't that Caulifla was hard to talk to as it was more of a sense of "what ifs" that poked at Kale every now and then. Kale, after all the time she's spent with Caulifla up until now, had grown rather fond of being around the rambunctious Saiyan. She admired everything about Caulifla and wanted to be like her too! Kale loved how she just did whatever was on her mind and wasn't too worried about anything around her. She always encouraged Kale to do her best too whenever they trained or fought together but this was different. Kale more than admired Caulifla, she had fallen in love with her. She remembered seeing her and Cabba talking before everything became a weird blur.
"I have something to tell you, Caulifla..." Kale mumbled.
"What is it?" Caulifla asked, showing concern. Kale looked up to see her looking somewhat more serious than she usual. She knew Caulifla cared for her but she was worried this could ruin it. She took a couple of deep breaths and braced herself.
"I uh..." Kale stammered for a moment, trying to find her words.
Though Caulifla listened to each word, growing more and more concerned about whatever was bugging her. She wanted to just force her to say what the shy Saiyan had wanted to say but decided against it. This could be the last time they'd be together before their lives would vanish before their eyes. Though Caulifla didn't want that to happen she also didn't want to rush Kale, knowing whatever she was trying to tell her would be from the heart. So she listened as Kale fumbled and stammered to find the words she wanted to use. These last few moments could be the most important ones they'd have left after all. Kale, after a few minutes had passed, sighed. She recollected herself and looked at Caulifla with a determined look in her eyes.
"Caulifla, I... I'm in love with you!" She said, feeling her face heat up once the words fell from her mouth. Though, despite how her nerves wanted to get the better of her, she continued. "I wanted to tell you before but after seeing you and Cabba together... It made me really angry. I really felt like he was going to take someone I really care about away from me and that made me feel so mad." She paused for a moment and remembered the tournament. "Then there's the tournament..." She frowned and looked down at her hands as they gripped her red skirt. "Caulifla, if this is our last moment together and our universe does get wiped out, I want you to know that I would do anything for you. And if we... if we..."
Kale could feel her bravado starting to falter and continued to stare at her hands. She was afraid of what Caulifla might say or do next and braced herself for the worst. The silence felt like it continued for an eternity and just dragged on and on. She began to chastise herself for even saying anything but then she felt Caulifla's hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her smiling.
"Kale, I'm in love with you too." She said. "And I'm going to make sure we survive not just for our universe's sake but for our own. I wanna try to show you how much you mean to me one day." Kale felt like time had stopped as Caulifla spoke. Her jaw dropped slightly in shock of her feelings being reciprocated. All the scared emotions she had all vanished as she saw Caulifla's smile. She nodded as soon as Caulifla finished speaking, her words sinking in.
"Then let's go show them who's the strongest!" Kale said, sounding more confident. Though Kale was certain that she couldn't keep up with the other fighters in all honesty but didn't mind cheering for Caulifla. She had no doubt that she'd do well in the tournament anyways. With that in mind, the two got up to join the other warriors that Cabba collected and readied themselves for the Tournament of Power, which was only minutes away.