Dragonball Z: Rediscovering Themselves

By: PhinalPhantasy

Chapter 1: Bedside Manner

(A/N: Well, after much thought, I decided to re-title this fic. My original one sounded like it would be a comedy and this story is primarily going to be about Krillin and Eighteen bonding.)

(Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or its characters. They belong to Toriyama-sensei)

The story so far: Android Eighteen was wandering aimlessly through the world, bored and without purpose in her life. With her thoughts as her only companion, she reflects on her brief existence to this point, and the one person who plagues her mind constantly is Krillin. She coincidently came across news of Bojack's defeat and also found out that the one person she has been thinking of is most likely hospitialized, so she turns her search to the hospital to find answers…

"Well, this is it…I'm the only one left here," Krillin thought to himself as he lay in the hospital bed. Gohan and Trunks, due to their Saiyan heritage, healed remarkably quickly and were discharged form the hospital after only a few days versus the week Krillin had to spend here with a broken arm and leg. He enjoyed the company of his young friends while they were all cooped up with him of course, and they liked the time they spent with him, but as soon as they healed up, they left. Gohan at his mother's insistence to make up for the schoolwork he's been missing lately, and Trunks said a final farewell to everyone (Bulma was teary-eyed of course, and Vegeta just harrumphed) before returning to his own time for the last time.

Now however, Krillin was starting to feel lonely with his friends gone. Gohan was too busy with his home schooling, Bulma was too busy taking care of Trunks (the baby version); Tien and Chiaotzu disappeared to who-knew-where; Roshi, Oolong, and Yamcha were busy hitting the single bars lately; and Piccolo was still upset with him, or disappointed was more like it.

It was funny how someone who was once one of his worst enemies was now one of his closer friends, but recently, Krillin wondered if that was still the case. While in recovery, he had asked the Namekian for a senzu bean, but Piccolo refused, "You didn't earn one," he simply said. Now that he was alone with his thoughts, Krillin reluctantly had to agree.

He didn't know why, for sure, whether it was the fact that Goku's death was still fresh in his mind, or if it was how powerful both Piccolo and the Saiyans had gotten lately, or a combination of both, but somewhere in his recent memory, Krillin had stopped trying.

It was during the World Tournament, right after the Cell Games. He and the other Z-Fighters (minus Vegeta) had entered it for some friendly competition with each other. Krillin should've known better, but once he saw that Gohan, Piccolo, and Trunks had entered, Krillin had lost his nerve, and it wasn't even a life-or-death situation…not at that point at least. When he had the chance to challenge Piccolo to a friendly bout, Krillin completely chickened out and his Namekian friend was so disappointed with him, he told him that he was looking forward to fighting someone with heart, then left the arena in disgust, forfeiting the match to the short human, who now, looking back on that moment, felt even smaller than when he was a kid, especially since he had the nerve to actually brag about defeating Piccolo to that beautiful blue-skinned and orange-haired woman…the poor girl. Sure she was part of Bojack's gang and tried to kill him and his friends, but she didn't deserve to go down like that, being used as a human shield by her boss. Krillin wished he could've saved her, but at the time he was in no condition to help anyone and after Gohan had reached Super Saiyan 2, everything was happening too fast to do anything but watch anyways. It's just that she was so darn cute, he wanted to save her. It may have made up for his earlier cowardice that day…no. Scratch that. It would've made up for his earlier failure to save her…Android 18. That was the real reason he wanted to save Bojack's henchwoman. She reminded Krillin of the beautiful android. Heck, if it wasn't for the fact that she had blue skin, pointy ears, and a lot of orange hair, the lovely alien and android could have been mistaken for sisters. Maybe that's when he really started to feel down. When he tried to save Eighteen from being absorbed by Cell, but failed. He decided he wouldn't kill the android with that remote, because he had started to have feelings for her all because of a silly little peck on the cheek. That one event was responsible for all of his current misery in a way. If it wasn't for that kiss, Krillin wondered if he really would've pressed that button. If he didn't, Goku would be alive and everyone would be happy, himself included. But Krillin would never blame Eighteen for any of this. That would be completely unfair. Besides, no one has seen the android since they defeated Cell. On second thought, Krillin thought that he would've destroyed that remote, kiss or no kiss, cause it was the right thing to do.

"Android 18," Krillin whispered, thinking of the elusive woman, tears coming to his eyes thinking about all that was troubling him.

"How'd you know I was here?" came a voice from just outside the window, startling Krillin, causing the little guy to stumble out of bed.

"Yeouch!" he screamed and then climbed back into his bed. He looked at the window and sure enough, the beautiful Eighteen was floating just outside with a bit of a scowl decorating her flawless face, "Is that really you Eighteen?" Krillin asked.

"Yes it is. Now are you going to invite me in, or do I have to break through the window," Eighteen demanded.

"Umm…I'm a little incapacitated at the moment, but the window is unlocked. You could easily lift it open and squeeze inside," Krillin replied. Shrugging, she managed to do as Krillin suggested and as she squeezed in, she had to hug herself and bend down a bit, unintentionally giving Krillin a rare but brief peek down her shirt, causing him to blush.

"What is it?" Eighteen asked, noticing his change in skin tone after she was at his side.

"Oh nothing nothing!" Krillin said, waving his good arm in front of him, "More importantly what are you doing here?" he asked.

Eighteen looked at Krillin sharply for a moment, but then noticed his tone sounded more curious than angry or scared like she expected, "I came here to see you Krillin," the android replied simply.

"Really? Why me?" Krillin asked a little cheerfully, "Better not get my hopes up though," he thought to himself.

"I heard what happened to you on the news…well sort of. Anyways I thought this would give us the chance to talk."

"Of course, the battle against Bojack was at least partially televised," Krillin thought. Out loud he said, "Well I've been here for a while. Why didn't you come earlier?"

"I wanted to see you alone," Eighteen replied, "I didn't want to run the risk of meeting up with your friends, knowing what they'd probably do to me." "Funny," she thought, "I came here for answers and yet he's asking all the questions," "So I've been observing this area quietly for the past several days, waiting for them to leave."

"She's scared of them," Krillin realized, "But not of me. Well I guess I can understand her fear of the others…at this point, if either Gohan or Vegeta or even Piccolo were to go all out, I'm not sure if she'd survive a fight with them…" "Okay. I promise I won't let them know you're here," Krillin smiled, hoping to reassure his impromptu guest.

"Is he…smiling?" Eighteen observed, "Strange…I actually believe him. He really is different from the others." "So. On to why I'm here. There's been something that has been bugging me and only you can help me."

"Okay…I'll try my best to help…" Krillin responded.

"Why did you do it?" Eighteen said, "Why did you destroy the remote. It makes no sense to me. Using it would've been the smartest move you could've made. I would've died and Cell would've been weak enough for your friends to defeat without too much effort. All you did was made things harder on them and yourself by not destroying me."

"Well…It was the right thing to do," Krillin responded. The android's eyes widened and she turned on him with anger

"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! What is so 'right' about saving your enemy and putting the world at greater risk by doing so?" Eighteen fumed, "Why did I even bother coming here? He really is a fool, but I'm even more foolish for thinking he'd give me a smart answer." "I guess I wasted my time here," she turned around to leave, but Krillin said something that she really didn't expect.

"I don't consider you an enemy," he said quickly, "Not anymore. Not since Cell was stalking you."

"What?" now the android more confused than ever, "Why? I don't understand. It's not like I've repented or made peace overtures or anything like that."

"Because I could tell. You experienced genuine fear for the first time," Krillin replied slowly, "I saw how afraid of that monster you were."

"Are you calling me a coward?" Eighteen said threateningly.

"No. It's just that Cell was an enemy that you really couldn't deal with. Don't feel bad though, myself and most of my friends, even the stronger ones, couldn't take him either. My point is, once Cell had his eye on you, you stopped being an enemy and become someone else who needed to be protected."

"And you thought that if you all defeated Cell and I survived, that all would be forgiven ad I'd be your new best friend?" Eighteen replied, "How ridiculous."

"Okay I'll admit it. Yes that's what I hoped. I mean look at some of the other Z-Fighters: Tien, Piccolo, and Vegeta. They all used to be the worst enemy of the rest of my friends at some point, but they're all among my friends that help protect the world now…well 'friend' is definitely a stretch in Vegeta's case…we really don't get along," Krillin chuckled nervously, "but I honestly hope you'll be the next one to join our ranks."

"I see…well thanks for your honesty…but don't hold your breath. I don't think your friends will like me, and I'm not sure I'll like them. And I'm not sure I'm interested in protecting the world. I've done a bit of…traveling in the past few days. Nothing I've seen impresses me. To tell you the truth, I'm bored with life and I don't know what to do anymore. Anyways, thanks for the talk, but I think I'm done here," Eighteen turned once again to leave, but then Krillin spoke up again.

"I have a crazy idea," Krillin chimed in again, "What you need is a vacation. A chance to get away from all that's bothering you."

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear," Eighteen said, "I have literally examined every inch of the earth. I can't see myself at the big vacation spots."

"So you're bored here on Earth," Krillin said lightly, "Fortunately, I have access to other options."

"What do you mean?" now Eighteen's curiosity was starting to peak.

"I mean that Bulma's built an interstellar spaceship! You want to get away from the earth, I can make it happen," Krillin smiled.

"You want me to go on a trip to outer space alone?" Eighteen asked.

"No…I want to come with you," Krillin smiled some more, "Besides, you'll need someone who knows how the ship works and where another world would be along with someone familiar of the dangers of space."

"You don't look like you're in any shape to deal with the 'dangers of space,'" Eighteen pointed out.

"Well…if you're willing to wait a few days until I heal up, I'll be willing to help you."

Eighteen looked up in thought, "Alright then, you have a deal. But where can I meet you?"

"Hmm…Let's say Kame House in a week. I'll be sure that no one else will be home."

"Alright, I'll be there," Eighteen said, "See you in a week."

"Then it's a promise," Krillin smiled. Eighteen simply nodded and left through the same window she entered, causing Krillin to blush again when he saw her pants hugging her bottom, "Maybe this vacation is what I need to get out of my own rut. And this will be a chance to get to know Eighteen better. I can't wait." Krillin smiled.

(A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter, Krillin takes Eighteen to Bulma's place to ask to borrow the spaceship she owns. How will she react to Krillin's new companion?)