~ The Legacy of the Saiyaness: Chronicles of Letish ~
* Chapter 7: Girl Talk*
| Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z but I do own Letish and her techniques. |
"Hey, Bulma! What's up?" Bulma heard calling for her. She looked up from her desk and to the stairs, finding a girl leaning over the railing. It was the teen she had seen earlier.
She smiled at her, taking off her goggles. Pushing away from her desk Bulma greeted her. "Hey there! I see it didn't take you long for your strength to be restored."
"Well, with the body of a Saiyan…" Letish hopped over the railing and landed on her feet.
"Wait! Y-y-you're a Saiyan?! But how?!" Bulma stammered, completely taken aback. The Z Fighters had filled her in on pretty much everything; only thing is that they left out the fact that Letish was a Saiyan.
Oh geez, now I'm gonna have to cook for three Saiyans.
"I thought Vegeta, Goku, Raditz and Nappa were the only survivors!"
"Well, yes, the only real recorded survivors…" she began, walking towards Bulma. "My mother had a vision that Frieza was going to destroy Planet Vegeta and told my grandmother about the dream. At first she didn't believe her until my mom started explaining what exactly was going on in her dream; how Frieza wanted to dispose of them out of fear that a Saiyan could rise up and overthrow him. That's when my grandmother started believing that Frieza would have motive to annihilate the Saiyans." She paused in thought. Her eyes drifted off until they reached the ground. "All this time… for twelve years I always thought we were the only survivors…" Letish started remembering something. "Right before I left for another planet, I told my Scanner to search all of the galaxies in the universe for a planet that had any real significance. A planet that a Saiyan like me would enjoy living on, one that I could forget it all… Long story short my Scanner found Earth and I discovered Saiyan life on that planet. So, that's how I got here."
"Wow," Bulma exhaled, sitting back in her chair. "Did your mother see anything specific? I mean… is that all she saw?"
She must've seen the look on my face, Letish observed. I have to be more careful next time. These humans are really beginning to startle me. And I'm a Saiyan.
"Yes." She gulped involuntarily.
Dammit, she cursed mentally.
"She saw the downfall of King Vegeta and all of the victims' reaction to the genocide before they were all killed."
Bulma touched her chin with her hand, trying to take in all of what Letish had already told. But there was just so much to tell, and she knew that Letish wasn't even close to being done. "That must have been hard for her to see. I know I wouldn't be strong enough to bare seeing everyone on Earth die like that."
"Yeah, it haunted her for the longest time." The Saiyan looked around the room to find an excuse to keep her mind under control from thought about her mother. It wasn't always easy talking about her, and it was only going to get harder from there on out.
With a sideways tilt of the head, Bulma inquired something important from Letish. "Was that when she was pregnant with you?"
Letish felt her body tense up she heard those words, but remained calm.
You're among people who care about your wellbeing; there isn't a reason to get defensive. The best thing to do is to relax. No matter how hard it is to get used to their lifestyles.
But that meant almost nothing to her anymore.
"My mother told me she found this Saiyan who she thought could be her mate; he was brave, handsome, smart and always lent a good ear and shoulder. Most of all he seemed like a good friend. She had father issues. Her father never sought out for her and when she found him, he acted as though he'd never seen her. Like she never mattered."
"That's awful." She narrowed her eyes and looked down while folding her arms in frustration and disgust. She had heard many stories about the Saiyans from Vegeta, but hearing it from somebody else was just repulsive. Let alone a kid. "What a—"
"Jackass? Coward? Gutless idiot? I think the words you're looking for are Bastard Father. I know; she'd always call him that around him and her mom. Though my grandmother always told her not to do that." Letish crossed her arms as she pondered over the last sentence she said. "That I never really understood."
"What did he say? I mean about her calling him a… bastard father," the scientist laughed.
"I don't know," she shrugged, taking claim to a lounger next to Bulma's desk and sitting in it. "And besides, what would he have said? What could he have said? She was fully entitled. That jerk," she explained. Instead of letting the fire in her heart grow, she breathed mutely through her nose and decided to speak next time in a somewhat softer and more polite voice. Wanting to be seen as somebody mature, for her age. "That's yet another thing I never understood about the Saiyans. They were never kind to their children and never showed love for them all that much. They may have loved them but they sure did one heck of a job of concealing their feelings. Another main reason why my mother left."
"I thought Saiyans were supposed to see their children?" Bulma questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Occasionally at least."
"Not necessarily. After the Cold Empire took over, the way of the Saiyans was thrown out of whack. The way we did everything was altered to please Frieza and his family and if anyone refused to follow orders, they were killed on the spot. Marriage for Saiyans was almost nonexistent. Males and females had numerous mates in order to spawn more warrior babies. The King of course was the exception to the rule. However, he still had many mates."
Vegeta. Bulma bit her lip to prevent herself from admitting anything confidential to Letish.
She never understood the relationship that her husband shared with his father. He always told her that he loved his father dearly and then would sometimes blame him for trials in his life. As if he were cursed. He always seemed to have a strong respect and hate for him and as the years went by, Vegeta started to respect him less and hate him more.
She always figured it was because Vegeta had grown into more of a family man, and could differ between both of their lifestyles and see so much error in the King's way of living. But the more Bulma thought about it, the more she believed that the King had destroyed a very good part of his early life… for good.
"My mother hated what that monster was doing to our people," Bulma heard Letish carry on. "She knew going against him face-to-face would land her in a heap, so she went against him in secret… by hijacking two of the space pods that would normally be used on missions with my grandmother and escaping off the planet forever. "
Letish paused, taking into question whether she should continue telling Bulma all of this, but she figured what the heck. "My grandmother and grandfather met at the time when the Cold Empire started taking command of course to him it was okay to just abandon them. He had to, it would mean death if he resisted." She looked up at Bulma with hostility in her eyes, which appeared cold and darker than normally, "But that doesn't making everything okay. My grandmother wanted something more for my mom, she wanted an actual mate for her, but again fate was persistent."
"Two generations of this torture for your family. Please tell me you don't have some kind of mate somewhere else."
Letish burst out laughing, almost falling out of her chair. "What?! A mate? Yeah right! As if!"
"Well, didn't Saiyans mate constantly? You know, like you said."
"Heh, well I wasn't raised on Planet Vegeta and my mother didn't raise me with normal Saiyan standards. I'm only fifteen," she chuckled.
"Oh." Bulma felt like slapping her forehead for asking such a stupid question and not thinking before she spoke. "You don't look like you're fifteen, you look more like you're twelve."
"Every Saiyan ages differently depending on how much they train and how much they eat. I've trained constantly on my home planet, so my body I look a few years younger than I actually am."
"Oh, that's very interesting. Even if I had someone in mind, I'd never be stupid enough to let them easily claim me. I won't let this cursed tradition carry on for a third generation," she proclaimed, pointing a thumb into her chest and smirked. "My morals and integrity mean a lot to me. Ironically—since I am a Saiyan-I actually want to know the man who'll be my mate enough to be able to tell if he's really worth being with me."
Her face softened. "Sure my mother used to tell me it can be 'exciting' when you 'find' your mate, but I don't want a repeat of what she had to endure. When you lose somebody you love or used to love, it can sometimes affect the way you live life. She would occasionally lose herself and drift off while she did work. It wasn't always safe for her to do some of the simplest of things, so I took over as man of the house so it was easier on her." She pulled her leg up into the chair and wrapped her arms around them. "But I don't think she ever got over losing my father."
"That's so depressing, Letish."
"The hardest part is when you can't do anything about it, and that's exactly what I went through. But it wasn't always sad." A smile began to form at memories of her mother. "A lot of the time she was so loving, mostly when she was distracted. We shared some of the fondest moments of our lives that I will never forget. Regardless how hurt she was from leaving her people, my mom felt like she had to do it for more than just herself. A decision I respect her for following through with."
Bulma took a sip from her mug as she listened to Letish talk. "Man, my son needs someone like you. He feels the exact same way about women. Probably why he hasn't," she paused, "well, you know." She nudged Letish in the arm while grinning mischievously at her. Of course she would bring up the matter of her son.
"No, I actually don't." Hinting at something won't do anything for this girl.
"Oh, never mind." She'll get the joke later, Bulma though. Can't believe she couldn't follow.
"Hm… say, what's your preference? You know, for men," Bulma asked.
"Huh? Why are you asking?"
She made a funny face, trying not to lose it with a laugh. "No reason."
"Depends, how old is your son?"
So she does know what I'm talking about. Sneaky girl. "He's the ame age."
"Hmm…" Letish knew better than that. Like she would really go for anybody at a time like this. She was so obviously smarter than that.
'How 'bout we play a little game, eh Mrs. Briefs?'
"Okay, but why do you wanna know?" she demanded nonchalantly.
"No reason," she repeated. "Say… do ya wanna see a picture of him?" she persisted.
'Ha, that's what she's hoping for.' She shook her hands out in front of her, smiling uncomfortably. Uncomfortably and in fakery.
"No thank you. Something tells me I'd be playing into your games if I did," she admitted. Letish paused and lifted an eyebrow. "Hey," Letish called, catching Bulma's attention. "You don't know a single thing there is to know about me… and yet you want me to date your son. Maybe even more than a onetime date, eh?"
"Yeah," Bulma nodded.
"So answer me this: why would you trust your son with a total stranger? And to top that why would you trust him to somebody who just went through hardship? An innocent kid?" She crossed her arms above her chest. "Tell me that."
Bulma thought for a second then spoke. "Okay then. I know an innocent kid when I see one and you, Letish, are not an innocent little girl," Bulma waved her finger at Letish, smirking. "I can tell there are things you aren't educated on yet," she retorted, "but for the most part you sound like you know what you're sayin' and doin', what with the little information I have. Which is what I really like about you. And you're so far probably the most mature and independent teen I've ever met. I'm sorry if my recommendation ticked you off but what else can I do?" She stopped to lay a warm hand on Letish's lap, catching all of her attention. Smiling at her. "You aren't stupid… you don't look like someone who would stab anybody in the back. The guy never brings home any girls for us to meet, and he's usually training with his father or Goten."
"His friend. One of the other Saiyans is that correct?"
"Yes. Hm, I swear he can be of the strongest fighters on Earth and yet can hardly talk to the female species. Such a shy guy—" Bulma dropped one of her tools that she was playing with in her hands onto her desk, remembering that she was talking to a girl now. "And he is so going to kill me for telling you this!"
"Oh, um, it's alright. I don't have to tell him you said that."
"Really? Phew… Thanks Letish, it would mean a lot. He would totally have a fit if he heard that I told you all that." Bulma sat back in her desk chair; able to relax knowing that Letish would keep that little bit of information from Trunks.
'Hm… If she was able to believe me so effortlessly then maybe…'
Bulma saw a hand extend itself out of the corner of her eye and looked up.
I'm feeling generous, Letish thought, even her brain smiled at the scientist.
"Let me see that picture."
"What? I thought you said..."
She beamed her a smile to get her to hand it over quicker. "Let's just say I'm curious..."
Bulma did what she said and handed the Saiyaness a silver picture frame that laid upright on her desk. "Here you go. Recent, of course. Like a year ago."
She took the picture frame into both hands and studied it. It had Trunks, Vegeta, and Bulma, each smiling at the camera. With the exception of Vegeta of course who smirked at whomever was looking at the picture. Trunks had messy bed hair and was wearing a black tank, grey pants, a belt and gold boots. His hands were tucked away in his pockets. And the more Letish thought about it, the more his smile looked like a smirk.
"I told him to fix his hair for the photo but he said it'd be alright if he didn't this one time. Now he won't even look at the thing. He has enough time to get dressed for the day but not enough time to fix his hair? Yeah right."
A genuine smile spread across her face that she had no idea was there, focused on the photo and the people in it. For example, Bulma had another child, something that so obviously didn't show up on her Scanner before. Bra didn't even exist then and in the picture she was merely three years old.
Bulma saw this and made another face. "Oh, what's that smile for?"
Letish looked up at Bulma. "What?"
"I see that smile," she grinned, pointing at her.
"So?" She shook her head and shrugged. "He looks fine."
Wow, that came out wrong. But that for sure was not her intention.
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She paused. "So, he's cute."
"Huh?" she glanced at her out of the corner of her eye like she was high. "I didn't say that."
"Yes you did," Bulma said confidently.
Letish stared at her innocently clueless by what she meant.
"Think about what you said."
"I said he looks fine. What's the big deal, Bulma?" she demanded, almost losing her cool.
Bulma remembered that she was from another planet so therefore didn't understand the ways of Earthlings. "Oh right." She cleared her throat and laughed sheepishly. "Well, here on Earth when someone says that somebody looks fine, it means they think they're hot."
"Hot what?" she asked. Maybe she didn't know better.
Bulma sighed warily. "Sorry for using Earth slang. Let me put this in a way you'll understand: the adjective 'fine' means he's attractive to you on some level…" She waited, but heard nothing. "You like him—"
"What, no. That's not what I meant; I meant his hair doesn't look bad. Just look at my hair. I wasn't saying I liked him or anything. Gosh, Earthlings are such the assumption makers. Then again you are his mother, so you would think that way." Letish crossed a leg over the other and folded her arms over her chest, looking over to her side.
Bulma made a face again, finding Letish's behavior amusing.
She glanced back at the scientist, uncrossing her legs and arms. "I'm so sorry. I meant your customs are weird. I wasn't offending you—I mean I wasn't trying to offend you. Please don't tell Prince Vegeta about this. I didn't mean—"
"It's okay. And why would he get upset over something like that?"
Letish sank in her chair, pressing her back hard into the cushion. "He told me it was a great sin to insult the spouse of a fighter the way I did. The simplest outburst will result in immediate elimination."
Bulma choked on a laugh she held in and burst out laughing. "Did he?"
"Yes."
"I think he was pulling your leg on that one; that isn't a real rule. It's just something he made up to get you to behave."
Letish's face went blank for a second and then she became furious, turning red in the face. "That jerk lied to me!" she shouted with no regard if anyone heard. "To my face! I can't believe he got away with that! I should have known he was lying! Now that calls for elimination!" She got out of her chair, standing with her back arched. "Where is he? I must see him immediately," she demanded of her.
Bulma blinked, returning from her high. "Wait what?"
"I need to see him; apparently he thinks it's okay to lie to somebody's face without consequences to pay."
"Wait, Letish." She grabbed her arm, stopping the enraged Saiyan in her tracks. Though she allowed Bulma to stop her. "It was a joke, nothing personal. Really. Sometimes humans joke with each other, sometimes to break the ice," she shrugged. "Though I think he might've frozen your lake."
Letish scolded her.
"He was just playing with you," she said a little more softly.
"Well, I didn't come to Earth to play," she spat. "I came here…"
What did I come here for…? Mostly relax and get away, but certainly not to play with a bunch of Earthlings.
Bulma frowned. "I get the feeling you take honesty to heart; I can see it in your eyes. Did something happen on your home planet?" Bulma asked while her drifted off in thought, leaving her body momentarily or what it felt like to her.
The color started to drain out of Letish's face, which worried Bulma. She went to shake her when she finally snapped out of it. Letish reached up to smack her hand away but then became distracted by something else again.
"Letish, say something! What's going on with you?"
She opened her mouth to speak however wasn't able to say anything.
"Please say something! Do I need to get the guys for you?"
"Ah… n-no. It's alright."
"Ah! Oh my gosh!"
"What now?" Letish whined.
"You're… bleeding, Letish!" the scientist exclaimed finally.
"What!?" She checked herself all over to see where the blood was coming from. "Oh no, not again! Where is it coming from!?"
"Right there…! Wait a minute." Bulma hesitated for a moment. "Letish, are you on your period?"
"Wait-what? What's that?" she asked, suddenly her attention was averted by Bulma's question.
"Oh my, you're serious. Letish, every girl gets one. It's a part of growing up for them. See—"
"Ugh! Spare me the gory details for now! Just tell me how to make it stop!"
"You really can't make it stop, but I can go to the store and get you some pads. Gosh, Letish, you said you were obviously educated. Didn't anyone teach you about puberty—"
"I was only twelve when I left so I didn't have anyone to teach me the functions of my body! I was under a lot of stress before I came here! It's not like my mother wasn't going to teach me this stuff, which she was going to do until—!"
Letish's mouth hung open as words immediately stopped flowing from her mouth. She had completely lost it and almost spilled the beans about her past if she hadn't caught herself in the act. She thanked God that she was born with a clever brain and could save herself from almost saying something personal, even when she did stupid things.
Bulma had no words for what she had just witnessed. She didn't mean to upset Letish but she had no idea that she had left her planet right before her body started to go through puberty. The emotion that was in her eyes spoke for itself but was still incredibly hard to narrow down to a specific thing. Yes she could see so many of her feelings in her eyes and yet it was as though she had put up a barrier. That said "poker face"? She was lucky enough to have put it into good use before she regretted saying anything more subjective about her past.
All she knew was that if she didn't drop things right then and there, it would possibly have dire consequences.
Letish backed up and quickly regained her composure. "I think I'll just take a shower while you pick me up something to help with this bleeding issue."
Bulma struggled to say a word until she got to her feet, remembering that she did need to pick up pads for Letish. "Yeah. You go do that and I'll return with what you need in just a little while."
The Saiyaness patted down her dress once before walking out of the room. She stopped in the doorway after a thought came to her.
"Oh, and Bulma?" Even with everything that happened, Letish managed a believable smirk. She had her back turned towards her. "Regardless of what you've told me and what you might think I'm thinking… I'm nowhere near ready to date or like anybody. Not even your precious prince of a son, and nor will I be for a very long time."
Bulma's eyes shot wide. She had thought that showing her a picture of Trunks and talking him up would make him seem attractive to Letish, but her intuition was way off. For once.
Letish's smirked widened. Game. Set. Match. I win.
Letish hurried to her room to the shower as fast as she could, not wanting to mark the tiles around the house with her blood. She tried crossing her legs while rushing but not only did it make her look incredibly stupid but ticked her off the further she walked. So she stopped and decided to use her "Time Delay" technique until she made it to her bathroom. She definitely needed that shower now more than ever.
But even a shower can't stop the questions from popping up. What is to come of their dinner celebration later that night, and will she be able to take seeing severyone gather around her?