TUSOKI

18; Tribulation.

a/n; New one-shot, a short one this time but at least it is an update! Enjoy!


"I can't do this anymore."

The words were spoken soft, almost inaudible but she heard them loud and clear and yet if only for a moment, there was a coldness that overtook her without her understanding why.

Until he turned away and his warm touch left her as he dropped her hand.

"Krillin?"

The short man did not turn to face her at her inquiry. Instead, he squared his shoulders before letting out a long sigh.

"I've tried, Eighteen. I've tried so hard, but I just cannot keep up this facade any longer. I've been ignoring the small voices in the back of my head for so long now, just because I'm stubborn and I didn't want to see it, didn't want to believe it. But I can't deny it any longer"

Krillin shot her a look over his shoulder before fixing his gaze back towards the ocean.

"This is not working. We're just too different."

Eighteen clenched her fists, narrowing her eyes at the back of his head.

"Care to explain that one?" She hissed softly, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. The full impact of the scene slowly unfolding before her was about to hit her and she was not ready for it.

Krillin turned around.

"What's there to explain? I think you already know. Why drag this moment out any further and make it harder on both of us?"

Eighteen's breath hitched in her throat and she had to look away from the coldness in his eyes. She had never seen him look at her like that. She shook her head before opening her mouth to speak.

" I thought.." But Krillin held up his hands.

"I know what I said, and I meant it at that time. I really thought we could work out and for a while, I really wanted things to work out too, believe me. But there is always this smidgen of a doubt when it comes to you.

I try to not think about it but it's kind of impossible when confronted with your differences on a daily basis. And in the back of my mind, I just cannot help but think that maybe one day you'll just convert back to what you once were and that scares me."

"I would never..."

"You can say that now, but how can you be sure? After all, you are a fighting machine designed to kill. Even if you're reformed now, there is no way of knowing if or when your programming might turn on you. I can't risk that. You know, deep inside, this is the truth, don't deny it."

Eighteen blinked at the cruel tone of his voice. She pinched herself, this couldn't be real, this had to be some kind of dream, a nightmare perhaps.

"It's just not worth it anymore."

She was wordless as she stared down at the man in front of her. The man who had shown her a whole new world after she had been saved, who had carefully guided her through this new chance at life and who had slowly but surely worked his way past her walls into her heart.

The man who was now breaking said heart in a million pieces and being unnecessarily cruel about it.

Her Krillin didn't have a mean bone in his body and yet here he was, scorching her with every word that came out of his mouth. There was a hotness prickling at the corner of her eyes but she refused to let the tears fall.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in and I really wish I didn't have to do this, but I think it's best for everyone."

"Everyone?" Eighteen could not hide the tremble in her voice.

"Why now? Why didn't...why?" She bit her lip as the tears started to fall.

"I just told you why. It isn't that hard to understand. Honestly, I should have done this sooner. But as I said, I was stubborn."

Krillin turned away from her. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his shorts he started to walk away.

"I won't ask you to leave the island, I'm not that cruel, I know you have nowhere to go. Stay as long as you want. We can still be friends, but for now, I need some space. This is hard for me as well."

Eighteen just stared at him as he walked away from her. She wanted run after him, yell at him, shake him, do whatever was necessary to bring him back to his senses but she just stood motionless as he stepped inside the house and closed the door behind him.

There was a certain numbness that overcame her as she turned away from the house and shot up in the air. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away. But suddenly she just didn't have the drive to fly anymore and descended on an uninhabited island.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she broke down in heart-wrenching sobs that ripped through her whole being. Her mind was in shambles as she tried desperately to rationalize just exactly what happened, the meaning of Krillin's harsh words gnawing away at her conscious as she slumped down against a tree and buried her face in her arms.

She tried to halt her cries but it was no use, the feelings that ran through her were so raw that they almost scared her. Her breathing became shallow. She felt lightheaded and disoriented. It was as if the world had gotten ten times darker around her.

Someone was calling her name, it sounded like her brother yet too distorted to be sure.

She ignored it, thinking it was probably her mind playing tricks on her because she was so distraught. How could her brother know where she was anyway?

"Eighteen."

The voice became louder and there was a sudden warmth that enveloped her. She opened her eyes and blinked in confusion.

She was no longer on the island, but rather in a warm bed with someone next to her, shaking her gently but urgently. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her, they focused on the person hovering above her.

"Eighteen?"

Krillin's voice was soft and his face was a bit pale as he looked down at her. He turned on the bedside table light before gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders to help her sit up.

"Hey, are you okay? Snap out of it please, you're scaring me."

"Huh, what?"

Eighteen wiped at her face, it was wet and her eyes felt swollen.

"You were having another nightmare, I think?" Krillin wiped her hair out of her face.

"Nightmare...?"

Then she came back to her senses and turned to look at Krillin who was still looking at her with wide eyes. She could feel him rub her arm gently, his hand was trembling slightly against her skin.

"Wait, it was just a dream? You're not leaving me?"

"What the...no of course not! Why would I want to do that?"

Eighteen couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her and at once her whole body relaxed as she slumped against Krillin who quickly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.

"I'm so glad." She said softly.

Krillin was confused, to say the least. He wiped away some stray tears from her cheeks. He'd had the fright of his life when he was jerked awake by Eighteen's harsh sobs. When he couldn't snap her out of it like usual, he almost went into full panic mode. His heart was still racing in his chest.

He frowned when he repeated her words in his mind, she had thought he was leaving her. From the way she had looked trashing around and crying relentlessly, he'd assumed she had nightmares of Gero's lab again. Never would he have thought it could have something to do with him.

He felt an acute urge to make sure she knew her fears were unfounded.

"You know you're stuck with me, right? I'm not going anywhere, not now, not ever." He said softly lifting her chin up so he could look at her.

Eighteen bit her lip as she nodded. She buried her face back into the crook of his neck when he let go of her. Krillin squeezed her into him.

"I am curious though, what made you think something like that?"

"I don't know." Eighteen was silent for a moment before continuing. She recalled the words said in her dreams and relayed them to Krillin who abruptly tightened his grip on her.

"I don't think I've ever seen you look at me like you did in my dream." Just the memory of that particular moment ran a shiver through her.

"I can't believe such words came from my nightmare self's mouth. I could never say that. I love you too much, and the fact that you're different. And I sure as hell don't think you'd turn on me and everyone else. That's absurd In fact I..." But he grew silent.

He untangled himself from her grip and gently took her face in his hands. He kissed her slowly, making sure she got the remainder of the message he tried to convey without words. When he pulled away, her face was red once more but there was a smile on her lips.

"It was just a stupid dream, nothing more, nothing less. Forget about it."

Eighteen nodded in agreement.

Krillin dimmed the bedside lamp to a low glow and laid back, pulling her down with him before covering them up with the warm blankets.

"Will you stay awake with me for a little while, I don't feel like going back to sleep just yet?" Eighteen asked as she made herself comfortable against his warm body.

"Of course," Krillin answered softly with a smile.


End.

Did I scare ya with the beginning? ;P Thanks for reading! A review is appreciated, as always!