"You want me to build you a ship?" Bulma asked. She
was staring at the Saiya-jin wide eyed, as if it were the strangest thing
she'd ever heard.
"You can do that, can't you?
I would think that if you're capable of constructing a regeneration
tank that you could build a space ship." Endive stood with her arms folded,
back straight, staring hard at Bulma.
Bulma scowled at her, growing defensive at the faintest
hint of an insult to her intelligence. "Of course I can! But why do you
need it? Are you leaving so soon?"
Endive's eyes glimmered a bit in amusement. "That
eager to get rid of me? Actually, I want to look someone up. But I have
to find him first. I need the ship to do that."
"I'm up for a challenge. How soon do you need it?"
"How soon can you build it?
"A few weeks, maybe a month after the initial planning."
"Good. As soon as it can be done, but don't skip
little details." Endive turned and walked away.
Bulma went to a table and sat down, propping her
head on her hand. Why did it seem like most of the really big projects
came from Saiya-jins?
* * * * * * * * * *
He was a powerhouse. She wasn't even standing that close to him, but still the power crawled and rippled over her skin, and seemed like a heavy weight inside her head when compared to her own. She wasn't that powerful, not yet. In truth, before she'd been captured by the parasitic ship, she'd never been in a true fight before, one where her life was really at stake. Before it had always been spars, dangerous spars, but spars all the same. The worst that would happen was that she might have a few broken bones and a lot of bruises. But this was the kind of power that one could gain in a fight.
This was the kind of power that also had a high cost. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. Maybe she'd ask him about the cost, sometime.
Through all of these thoughts, her face remained still, stony. She stood with her arms folded, staring icily at him, showing nothing. She was impressed, very much so, in fact. She wasn't sure if she envied him that power or not. She did hope to achieve that power herself, but she wasn't pushing for it at the moment. She would spar with Trunks, perfect her techniques and push for new levels of power, but not torture herself. There was a fine line between the two.
Trunks fixed her with an equally hard stare. She noticed that his eyes had turned blue green. It seemed he was waiting for something. She tipped her head back as she studied him, then nodded lightly. "A great accomplishment, I'm sure, for one so young." Her voice was as cool as her demeanor.
"You're about my age," he said.
"In appearance only. I'm actually over thirty years older, and you know it," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
The glow from around him faded. His hair returned to its normal color and fell around his handsome face, and his eyes returned to their normal deep ocean blue. "So you haven't gone Super Saiya-jin yet, eh?"
"No," she said blithely. "The need has never really arisen for me to do so."
"My father was obsessed with it, according to my mother."
"That power hungry, was he?"
"He wanted to be the best." Trunks shrugged.
"I see. Did he ever accomplish it?"
"Not in this time, no."
"What?"
"Long story."
"Ah." Endive sat down on the ground and rolled up the cuffs of the pants she wore. She didn't really like these clothes. They were too loose in places and a bit too long. She didn't like skin tight clothing, but something that fit a little closer to her shape would have suited her well.
It was nearly dark. She and Trunks had spent most of the day sparring, and what she hadn't spent sparring and training, she was watching the work done on the ship. The construction seemed to be going only quite well, and Endive knew it wouldn't be that long until she could leave. She was pleased with it.
Trunks sat down a few feet away, and tipped his head back to look up at the sky. It was fading from blue to twilight blue and the colors of sunset. She didn't say anything to him. She didn't have anything worth saying. Trunks, however, seemed to have taken up the habit she'd seen most humans with. Talking about whatever struck his mind, and saying obvious things.
He said something obvious now. "The sunset is beautiful." Endive made some noncommittal sound. She never really understood why humans felt the need to say such things. Beauty was all a matter of perspective, really. What was beautiful to one might not have been so to another. She wondered whether it was a habit or a need for humans.
He'd been trying to make friends. She realized it for the first time earlier that day. While Endive wasn't too adverse to the thought of having friends, she didn't want to form any kind of emotional bonds, not really. When the ship was done, she was leaving, and chances were good that she wasn't coming back to Earth.
They sat still and silent until the last sunlight faded from the sky. The stars came out and filled the sky with little pinpricks of light. Endive noticed that this planet didn't seem to have a moon.
"Space is beautiful, isn't it?" Trunks asked at last. It seemed he felt the need to fill the quiet with idle chatter.
"I suppose. Why not find out for yourself?" she asked absently.
There was a minute of silence, then Trunks turned and looked at her, something in his face hopeful. She looked at him with an arched brow, then realized what she was seeing. He must have thought she offered to take him with her. She opened her mouth to speak, a snide remark already forming on her tongue, but he beat her to it.
"Do you really think I could?" There was such hope in that it nearly gagged her. She wanted to say something scathing but. . . as much as she hated to admit it, she liked the kid. She nearly laughed to think that she thought of him as a "kid." To anyone that met them on the street, they would have looked the same age.
So burst his bubble and deal with the disappointment, or let him take a trip and see how he liked it? She went with the second choice. She didn't believe that his mother would actually let him go anyway.
Endive shrugged as if not concerned with it at all. "I don't see why you couldn't. . . that is, if you mommy will let you."
It was difficult to even take jabs at Trunks. He was too good-natured to rise to the bait and argue with her. Endive hadn't decided if it was a good or bad thing.
The half-Saiya-jin seemed to think about it for a minute before he nodded. "I don't see how she could stop me, really."
"Don't be so certain. Your mother seems to be the type to use guilt trips, if need be."
"She can try, but I want to see it. She's seen it, and I want to, too." He nodded, seemingly setting his mind to this. Then he blinked at her as apparently something else came to mind. "That is. . . unless you don't intend on coming back."
Endive was silent for a long minute, considering how to word her reply "I don't know. If I don't, then we'll find a way to get you home." She did owe Bulma that much, she supposed.
Another silence, then: "Do you know where you're going?" asked Trunks.
Endive drew a long breath, seeming to consider before she spoke. "I have an idea of where to look. A planet called Ikomia. I just have to find it first. That will be the difficult part."
He nodded. "You do realize that I could be gone for a long time, don't you? Perhaps more than a year?"
"Yeah, I do. I've been gone a long time before, though, and I've probably been in more danger. You aren't planning on getting involved in any wars in space, are you?"
"No, not at the moment."
"Good."