Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball, Dragonball z, or Dragonball GT. Akira Toriyama and Toei animation does. So please don't sue me.
He stared at the young raven-haired girl who was sitting by
an oak tree with legs crossed. He loved looking at her -- her every movement
fascinated him. But he can only observe her from a distance. He didn't dare to
go closer to her or talking to her, for he was sure that he was going to say
something stupid and make a complete fool out of himself.
Confidence was never one of his strong points, especially when it comes to girls. He had been told that he was good looking by a lot of people but somehow the whole concept of walking up to a girl, striking up a conversation with her, then asking her out just seemed impossible to do.
Sometimes he wondered if he was destined to be alone for his entire life. He was 35 years old, yet thanks to his Saiyan genes, he doesn't look a day over 21. But still… he knew he should settle down and start a family now. His mother tried to set him up with a several "suitable" girls but he refused them all. He knew that there's only one girl for him and that's her.
He remembered the year when he was 28, and he had gone on that adventure with her to search for the Dragonballs. Back then she was 14 years old -- still a child. He didn't even think about her as a girl. She was like one of his buddies; they ate together, joked around, fought side-by-side and etc. He never had any romantic thoughts about her. Besides, what normal 28 year-old-man would fall for a 14 year-old-girl? It was just unthinkable.
But last year at her 20th birthday bash, his life was changed forever. He hasn't seen her for a couple of years but he didn't think a lot about her. Basically, she was labelled inside his head as "my best friend's little niece" and tossed to the back of his head. But when he stepped up to give the birthday girl his present, he could feel is jaw drop to the floor. The immature, tomboyish little girl was gone, in her place, was a beautiful, mature young lady. It was then that he realized that he was in love.
Ever since then, he started to watch her. Of course, he never did inappropriate. He just liked to see her face and hear her voice. Sometimes he even took the long way home just to catch a glimpse of her coming out of one of her classes at the university that she attended. Every now and then, he would muster up the courage to say 'hi' to her when her family came over for dinner. She would always respond and gave him one of those smiles of hers that just seems to make him melt.
Come on, go talk to her. He instructed himself
sternly. Just go and say 'hi' and relax. Remember the days when you
guys were searching for the Dragonballs? You can talk to her just about
anything! So why can't you do it now?
But I can't… A little voice inside his head argued
back. I can't. The chances are that I will make a fool out of myself and
she'll hate me.
Chicken! Come on, it's worth a try!
Just when he was debating inside of his head whether or not he should go and talk to her, a hand suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and a familiar sweet voice said:
"Hey."
He whipped around and found himself staring into her beautiful dark eyes. This left him speechless for a minute then he quickly regained his posture. "Um, hi." The second the words left his mouth; he wanted to smack himself on the head. What's more dorky sounding then "Um, hi"?
She smiled. "So… I noticed that you've been looking at me for a while now. I'm surprised that you didn't fall asleep. I'm really not that interesting to see."
He swallowed. She's a blunt one! Girls he knew usually beat around the bush, giggle, beat around the bush some more, until they forgot the point they're trying to make themselves. "Um, how did you know that I was looking at you?"
She laughed softly. "Well, next time, maybe you should try to hide your ki and wear a disguise. There aren't a lot of purple haired people around, you know."
"Right," a light blush appeared on his cheeks.
"So… are you trying to stalk me, Mr. President?" she teased.
"No! Of course not! I…" He racked his brains for a good reply.
She sensed his distress. "Okay, there are three reasons why a person would stare at another person. One: they really like that person. Two: they really hate that person, and three: that person has an extraordinary appearance. Which category would you fall into?"
"One," the answer slipped out of his lips before he could think. The blush on his cheeks grew deeper.
"Really?" the expression on her face was unreadable. He knew he couldn't trust himself to speak anymore so he nodded meekly.
"You like me? But why?"
"Why not? You're the most perfect girl I ever met! You're smart, kind, and beautiful. You're also a strong fighter. Heck, what guy in his right mind would not like you?" those words were stashed inside of him for a long time and it felt great to let them out.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But you didn't like me when I was 14."
"Of course I did," he protested. "We were good friends."
"Yeah…but you didn't like me this way before. Why now?"
"When you were 14, I was 28 years old. It didn't seemed…proper for a 28 years old man to be going out with a 14 years old girl. I never dare to think about you in that way. I…" his voice trailed off. After an awkward pause, he mumbled an apology.
They were both silent for a while. Then she spoke up again. "You know, I was staring at you too back there. Do you know why?"
"No," he looked down at his shoes.
"Come on, just guess."
"You hate me?"
She sighed. "Wrong. Guess again."
"I have an extraordinary appearance?"
"Well, you do but that's not the reason. Guess again."
He froze. Wait, that could only mean one thing. She…likes me. ME? His head was reeling. He felt like jumping up and down and cheering but he fought to keep calm. He looked up at her face. "You like me?" he whispered, not daring to believe this fact.
"Yep," She bobbed her head up and down, causing her silky black hair to fly all over the place. "For a long time now."
"Wow…" a big grin broke out on his face. He was smiling so hard that his face muscles hurt but it didn't matter. "So…um, would you go out with me?"
"What do you think?" she laughed and hit him on the head.
"Alright, then I guess you don't mind me doing this either." He reached up with his hand and gently tilted her chin up towards him. Then he slowly leaned down and pressed his lips on hers.
Author's note: Hope you enjoyed the story. Now can how 'bout
writing a review for me, hmm? Thanks. Oh yeah, flames are welcome too.