Disclaimer: DBZ does not belong to me. I am not making any money off this, etc, therefore it would be completely pointless to sue me over this one little fanfic. Also, to answer a question I've been asked about twenty times, no, I had never, ever read Ender's Game before writing this story. Whatever similarities between this fanfic and OSC's writings are purely coincidental, believe it or not.
Fire and Ice
Chapter Six, The Memory
The place was vast, an underground cavern that stretched in miles in either direction. Every sound she made seemed loud, echoing against the walls as she continued to walk down, suddenly feeling small compared to the space around her. She touched the wall on her left. It crumbled a little under her hand. She shook her head. Didn't Alec say that the whole place was granite? Even a Saiyan couldn't damage that by just touching it. She frowned and examined it more closely.
[It's shale...] She realized, [That's why it falls apart so easily.]
"Do you have any lights in here?" She said.
"Yeah."
A flick of a switch, and the whole grotto was lit up, light streaming in from every direction. She shook her head, looking at cavern walls. They were layered with varying colors and soils. She looked at them for a moment, then turned to face Alec.
"The whole place used to be-"
"An underground river. I know." Alec was almost amused, watching her. She didn't notice, or if she did, she made no indication of it as she turned around to look at the walls again. The roof of the cavern was about fifty feet or so above them. Plenty of room for sparring.
"Aren't you nervous about that?" She said, "This means that the rock is sedimentary. Soft. Capable of being destroyed."
"No. That just means you have to be more careful about where you blast, that's all. It's only shale on the surface. A few feet below that and it gives way to granite. Either way, it blocks our ki signatures." She shook her head again, this time at Alec's easy confidence.
"Guard." Alec said.
She looked up, in time to see him charging toward her. For a second she was frozen, then she disappeared. Alec smiled, slowed down, and stood with his back close to the wall, so that she couldn't surprise him from behind when she reappeared.
She materialized a few feet away from him, "You could have given me a little warning."
"The androids aren't going to give you a little warning, remember?" He shrugged, then vanished. She shook her head, but all of her senses were on hyperalert, watching for that familiar ki signature.
She formed a blast in her left hand, and waited, enjoying the feel of her power in her hand once again after so long.
[This could be interesting.]
* * * * *
As soon as Alec reappeared, he was met with blasts coming toward him. So he did the only logical thing. He shot up in the air, letting them destroy the rock beneath him. He could see her beneath him, the dust from the explosion surrounding her. She looked up and almost smiled, then dematerialized.
"Maybe we should stop trying to disappear." She said from behind him, her soft voice echoing off the cavern walls in the silence, "Makes things far too easy."
"Is that an insult?" Alec grinned and clicked up into Super Saiyan mode, letting power waves rise around him as he made the transformation. He turned around.
"Mmm." She said neutrally, that mocking half-smirk on her face, not quite a smile, but the closest to smiling he had ever seen her. Her power level rose, her hair turning golden, her pale eyes darkening, "Guard."
Then he attacked.
* * * * *
[He's quick.] She noted to herself with some admiration, as she blocked blow after blow, waiting for an opening. It almost surprised her, how fast Alec could move when he wanted- she'd thought that the muscle on his body would've slowed him down...
[I need more practice.] She was already feeling the strain on her muscles beginning to show. [Serves you right for slacking off for so long while you were building that gateway. No matter. I'll train more, now that I have a sparring partner.]
She was patient, an odd trait in a Saiyan, but one that was useful in battles. As soon as she saw him hesitate for a split second, she struck out, hitting him once in the ribs, grabbing his wrist, and throwing him over her hip.
He landed on the wall and rebounded off his feet. He looked up at her, grinned with that trademark smirk of his.
[Not too bad. Most can't react to an attack that sudden.]
[Well, then. Onto the second round.]
* * * * *
He rushed her, but she was already avoiding him, evading him neatly, and for the first time, Alec could understand the way she fought.
A lot of combat was brute strength, true, destroying your enemy before he could destroy you, but not everyone was born with that strength. So with people like Ender, they had to make up for lack of power with evasion, speed, reflexes.
[So this is a test to you. See how good I am, neh Ender?]
They both stopped and charged, the air almost crackling with their powers as they collided in a flurry of blows, then backed off and waited, watching for flaws in each other's defenses.
She caught one of his punches, holding the fist in her hand as he held one of her blows. With a little luck he'd be able to force her down. Their fingers laced together, power crackling
[Almost romantic.] He thought wryly, [Except that we're sparring.]
Her breath was coming faster, harsher.
[She's tiring... Already?]
He smirked, letting fresh power blaze around him. [Good. It'll be fun.] Not to be outdone, Ender did the same, forcing herself to ignore the discomfort.
He yanked one arm back. In order to keep her balance, she let go of him, but he held on with his right hand, still jerking it back.
[Keep her off balance.] He thought to himself, every movement done so often that it was almost instinct. He wrenched her arm down, careful not to break it by accident, and kneed her in the stomach.
Now. Hip against outer thigh, yank arm down, _throw_. The same move she had used against him a few moments ago. Only this time, when she landed on the ground, he immediately pinned her down, not allowing her to escape.
"Out of practice, Ender?"
She wasn't responding.
"Ender?"
* * * * *
{His body was pressing down, his bare skin against hers, just holding her, feeling her struggle beneath him. Instead of trying to stop her from fighting, he just reached out with his power, draining hers in an instant.}
{"Dammit!" She hissed, feeling the last remnants strength leave her body, "You sonuva..." He twisted her arms up behind her with one hand, letting the other hand run over her body. She shuddered. It was short, subtle, but with senses like his, he could still feel it.}
{"Are you scared?" He whispered in her ear.}
{Her breath was coming unevenly as she forced herself to brace for the pain that was sure to come.}
{He smiled.}
* * * * *
"Ender!"
"I'm fine." She said, the voice almost a whisper.
"Hell no, you aren't. What happened?"
"...Sorry."
"Sorry? _Sorry_? What does that mean? What the hell happened?"
"Spaced out."
"You don't ever space out."
"..."
"Christ Ender, you were out for so long! I was about to go and get Bulma to look at you. I thought you had a concussion or something. You have to tell me a little more than just 'sorry'!"
"...I'm fine."
"Yes, you're fine now, but this isn't the first time."
"..."
"The time I went back and met you. You 'spaced out' once then. And then that morning. You had a nightmare." Without a word, she got up, eyes so cold once again as she headed toward the door.
"Ender!" He shouted after her retreating form.
No answer. Just the tapping of her feet against the stone floor, growing quieter as she walked away. He hissed in fury and punched the wall, the frustration within him rising as the rock crumbled around his hands.
[Dammit...]
* * * * *
[You think I want this? You think I like having these replays come into my head all the time? Every time I see eyes like his, hear a quiet, mocking laugh, glance at a person that looks like him out of the corner of my eye, these images resurface, then I remember. Then I have to live it all out again.]
[You think I fuckin' want this?]
* * * * *
[That look in her eyes when she left...So cold.]
[Ice. And fire. Cold intensity. Why does she have to be so damned... Forget it.]
[Forget it before you get ticked off again.]
[...Too late.]
[She doesn't make sense. She's impossible. She's trying to solve her problems by herself. Doesn't she see? Doesn't she understand that, in order to heal, she has to open up to others as well?]
[What's happened to her that's making her close in on everyone like this?]
* * * * *
"Dinner was lively, don't you think?" Bulma said bluntly as she washed dishes. Trunks looked up, a little surprised, then looked away again.
"Talk to me here. I'm your mother. If you can't communicate with the woman who raised you, then that's pretty sad." Bulma said, turning off the water and putting a soapy hand on her hip as she turned around. Trunks didn't say anything. Bulma shook her head and continued to soap the dishes, "You had another fight with her, didn't you?"
"..."
"Trunks..."
"She's so..."
"Stubborn? Opinionated? Obstinate?"
"No. Inverted."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She doesn't say a thing about anything."
Bulma smiled to herself.
"Face it, Trunks." She grinned, and turned away so that Trunks wouldn't see the grin, "You're falling for her."
"She's the coldest loner I've ever met. Why would I possibly want to-"
"Vegeta." She said. Trunks stopped. Ever since he had gone back in time and met his father, he had never understood why his mother had ever been in love with someone like him. He was cold, rude, arrogant, but somehow, his mother had been able to see below all that to find something worthwhile.
"It just proves," Bulma continued, "That anything's possible when it comes to something like this." By something like this, she meant love.
He shook his head.
* * * * *
It wasn't hard to see why Alec was mad at her. He had been honest with her from the start, answering, explaining, hiding nothing. Because of that, even after the initial anger was gone, he would still be ticked because she would not, could not explain.
And the reason for Alec's anger was also the reason she couldn't apologize. Because she couldn't explain. Anyway, his anger was unreasonable. He had made the decision to tell her what he did, and she had made her own decision to keep her past to herself.
That was the excuse that she made to herself, anyway.
[I wish I could tell someone. I truly wish that I could. But if I did, I'd lose their respect. They'd never look at me the same again.]
[Since when did you care about what others think about you?]
[Because he's different. He's the only person that I've gotten close to for years. He's the only person who I _think_ can understand, who can possibly comprehend what's made me into... who I am now.]
[Yeah, and you thought the same thing about-]
She exhaled through clenched teeth, forcing her mind into a complete blank. She shook her head and walked into the workroom, making herself focus on the building of the gateway. If she was lucky, she could finish the framework today before she went to sleep.
* * * * *
Bulma was almost fascinated by the way Ender and Trunks refused to apologize.
Ender stayed in the workroom almost all the time, only coming out for meals every once in a while, and sometimes not even then. As soon as she finished, she would walk straight back into the workroom. Trunks would spend almost all his time training. Like Ender, he only came back for meals three times a day. And still, neither of them said a word.
[When will they give up?] Bulma shook her head as she watched the two of them avoid making any eye contact, [It's been a week, and neither of them show any signs of relenting.] She had to smile. [Typical Saiyan stubbornness.]
[They'll get over it.]
[Eventually.]
* * * * *
One week. It had been only one week since their 'argument', as his mother put it, and that little jab of irritation that he felt every time he looked at her was gone. He couldn't understand why he was so willing to forgive her all of a sudden.
[Maybe mother's right. Maybe I am 'falling'...]
[For her?]
For an anti-social creature who refused to talk about anything?
[Yeah, sure...]
* * * * *
She stood in the cavern, and let herself concentrate, her ki rising up around her. As the picture in her mind gave her strength, her now-blonde hair began rising above her head as her eye color changed. She shot up in the air, clenched her fists, and felt the two swords appear in her hands like they had a thousand times before, like they had during the fight with Frieza.
Like they had during those countless lessons with mother.
[Are you watching now, mother?]
[Do you know what I've become?]
She looked at the blades, at her crudely etched name at the base of them. She had written those words herself a long time ago, when her mother had presented them to her as a birthday present.
[I'm not a child anymore...but I'm still your daughter.]
She'd have to get around to polishing those words off and writing in newer, more elegant ones, but even as she thought of it, she rejected the idea. She would leave those childish scrawls, to... remember. A lot of things.
Back then, she hadn't thought much of it. It was a family tradition from her mother's side to give blades to a child on their fifth birthday.
[She must have known, even then. She had to know that something was going to happen, especially since Frieza had been destroying planet after planet, and now, looking back, now I see...]
It was true that those swords were longer and heavier than the swords that her neighbors received, more fit for an adult than for a child, but she adored them from the start. As soon as she mastered them, the blades gave her an edge over the other children her age. She practiced every day. Even up to the day the earth around them seemed to explode, and her parents sacrificed their lives to save hers.
[That was why, wasn't it? That was the reason for the acceleration in lessons, the increased studies, the whispered words between my parents every time they thought I wasn't paying attention.]
[How blind did they think I was?]
She got into position and began her warm-up exercises, the blades cutting through the air. At times like these, she could almost hear her mother's voice in her head, even after so many years, telling her to hold her left arm up more, to get a tighter grip, teaching her the basics of swordsmanship so that she...
[So that I could still expand on these basics even when you were gone...neh, mother?]
[Frieza. I killed you, but nothing compares to the damage you have already done to my life.]
* * * * *
Even before he was anywhere near the cavern, he could already tell she was training. That ki signature was much weaker than his, the margin between their powers now greater than ever, but that was to be expected. She hadn't been keeping up in her training while she was building the gateway. He had.
He found himself heading in the direction of the cavern, through the twisting maze of tunnels. He stopped, shook his head. What the hell was he doing? Still... what did he have to lose?
[We need to talk, anyway. She and I.]
* * * * *
[It's pathetic how little I know of my past.]
[The basics. That's all I know. The basics. What planet I came from. What race I am. How old I was when they died. Things like that that leave so much blank space to be filled in. Now, I can only guess.]
* * * * *
[She doesn't know I'm here.]
He had been hiding his power level, true. He had to, otherwise she would have sensed him from a mile off, but if she had been concentrating, she would have still been able to detect him. He knew that.
[What's on her mind right now?]
[A year ago, I'd have given anything to have her memories, to know how she thinks. Now, I still would.]
* * * * *
[How did they meet? Why was I taught swordplay, something that Saiyans rarely learn? Why was the only Saiyan child on my planet?]
[Well, I wasn't Saiyan. Demi-Saiyan. But still...]
[Don't be ridiculous. You've asked yourself this question a million times and you've always come up with the same answer.]
[...It's almost ironic, actually.]
[The race of most amazing fighters, perfected by nature over time to be virtually indestructible...]
[...are also incredibly, stupidly, life-threateningly stubborn..]
[And being the arrogant beings they are, Saiyans don't often bond outside of their race. So, in the few cases when they do, it means that they're often banished from their home planet and forced to live on their mate's world.]
[My father was strong. He had to be, to love my mother enough to accept imminent exile from his own family and to join her on an alien planet. When Frieza began putting pressure on the Saiyan planet Vegeta, that was when many Saiyans began marrying interracially, that was when they began leaving their worlds for others. But Frieza got them all in the end, didn't he? They were cowards.]
[My father...my father was different.]
[He left his planet for love.]
[Not for safety.]
* * * * *
He didn't know how long he had been there. But he didn't care. He regarded her from the shadows of the entrance, those twin blades arcing through the air, freezing that moment in his mind. At that instant, he felt as if he could stand there forever, just watching that body move.
Author's Note: What d'ya think? Please review, people. You have no idea how much it helps.
Fire and Ice
Chapter Six, The Memory
The place was vast, an underground cavern that stretched in miles in either direction. Every sound she made seemed loud, echoing against the walls as she continued to walk down, suddenly feeling small compared to the space around her. She touched the wall on her left. It crumbled a little under her hand. She shook her head. Didn't Alec say that the whole place was granite? Even a Saiyan couldn't damage that by just touching it. She frowned and examined it more closely.
[It's shale...] She realized, [That's why it falls apart so easily.]
"Do you have any lights in here?" She said.
"Yeah."
A flick of a switch, and the whole grotto was lit up, light streaming in from every direction. She shook her head, looking at cavern walls. They were layered with varying colors and soils. She looked at them for a moment, then turned to face Alec.
"The whole place used to be-"
"An underground river. I know." Alec was almost amused, watching her. She didn't notice, or if she did, she made no indication of it as she turned around to look at the walls again. The roof of the cavern was about fifty feet or so above them. Plenty of room for sparring.
"Aren't you nervous about that?" She said, "This means that the rock is sedimentary. Soft. Capable of being destroyed."
"No. That just means you have to be more careful about where you blast, that's all. It's only shale on the surface. A few feet below that and it gives way to granite. Either way, it blocks our ki signatures." She shook her head again, this time at Alec's easy confidence.
"Guard." Alec said.
She looked up, in time to see him charging toward her. For a second she was frozen, then she disappeared. Alec smiled, slowed down, and stood with his back close to the wall, so that she couldn't surprise him from behind when she reappeared.
She materialized a few feet away from him, "You could have given me a little warning."
"The androids aren't going to give you a little warning, remember?" He shrugged, then vanished. She shook her head, but all of her senses were on hyperalert, watching for that familiar ki signature.
She formed a blast in her left hand, and waited, enjoying the feel of her power in her hand once again after so long.
[This could be interesting.]
* * * * *
As soon as Alec reappeared, he was met with blasts coming toward him. So he did the only logical thing. He shot up in the air, letting them destroy the rock beneath him. He could see her beneath him, the dust from the explosion surrounding her. She looked up and almost smiled, then dematerialized.
"Maybe we should stop trying to disappear." She said from behind him, her soft voice echoing off the cavern walls in the silence, "Makes things far too easy."
"Is that an insult?" Alec grinned and clicked up into Super Saiyan mode, letting power waves rise around him as he made the transformation. He turned around.
"Mmm." She said neutrally, that mocking half-smirk on her face, not quite a smile, but the closest to smiling he had ever seen her. Her power level rose, her hair turning golden, her pale eyes darkening, "Guard."
Then he attacked.
* * * * *
[He's quick.] She noted to herself with some admiration, as she blocked blow after blow, waiting for an opening. It almost surprised her, how fast Alec could move when he wanted- she'd thought that the muscle on his body would've slowed him down...
[I need more practice.] She was already feeling the strain on her muscles beginning to show. [Serves you right for slacking off for so long while you were building that gateway. No matter. I'll train more, now that I have a sparring partner.]
She was patient, an odd trait in a Saiyan, but one that was useful in battles. As soon as she saw him hesitate for a split second, she struck out, hitting him once in the ribs, grabbing his wrist, and throwing him over her hip.
He landed on the wall and rebounded off his feet. He looked up at her, grinned with that trademark smirk of his.
[Not too bad. Most can't react to an attack that sudden.]
[Well, then. Onto the second round.]
* * * * *
He rushed her, but she was already avoiding him, evading him neatly, and for the first time, Alec could understand the way she fought.
A lot of combat was brute strength, true, destroying your enemy before he could destroy you, but not everyone was born with that strength. So with people like Ender, they had to make up for lack of power with evasion, speed, reflexes.
[So this is a test to you. See how good I am, neh Ender?]
They both stopped and charged, the air almost crackling with their powers as they collided in a flurry of blows, then backed off and waited, watching for flaws in each other's defenses.
She caught one of his punches, holding the fist in her hand as he held one of her blows. With a little luck he'd be able to force her down. Their fingers laced together, power crackling
[Almost romantic.] He thought wryly, [Except that we're sparring.]
Her breath was coming faster, harsher.
[She's tiring... Already?]
He smirked, letting fresh power blaze around him. [Good. It'll be fun.] Not to be outdone, Ender did the same, forcing herself to ignore the discomfort.
He yanked one arm back. In order to keep her balance, she let go of him, but he held on with his right hand, still jerking it back.
[Keep her off balance.] He thought to himself, every movement done so often that it was almost instinct. He wrenched her arm down, careful not to break it by accident, and kneed her in the stomach.
Now. Hip against outer thigh, yank arm down, _throw_. The same move she had used against him a few moments ago. Only this time, when she landed on the ground, he immediately pinned her down, not allowing her to escape.
"Out of practice, Ender?"
She wasn't responding.
"Ender?"
* * * * *
{His body was pressing down, his bare skin against hers, just holding her, feeling her struggle beneath him. Instead of trying to stop her from fighting, he just reached out with his power, draining hers in an instant.}
{"Dammit!" She hissed, feeling the last remnants strength leave her body, "You sonuva..." He twisted her arms up behind her with one hand, letting the other hand run over her body. She shuddered. It was short, subtle, but with senses like his, he could still feel it.}
{"Are you scared?" He whispered in her ear.}
{Her breath was coming unevenly as she forced herself to brace for the pain that was sure to come.}
{He smiled.}
* * * * *
"Ender!"
"I'm fine." She said, the voice almost a whisper.
"Hell no, you aren't. What happened?"
"...Sorry."
"Sorry? _Sorry_? What does that mean? What the hell happened?"
"Spaced out."
"You don't ever space out."
"..."
"Christ Ender, you were out for so long! I was about to go and get Bulma to look at you. I thought you had a concussion or something. You have to tell me a little more than just 'sorry'!"
"...I'm fine."
"Yes, you're fine now, but this isn't the first time."
"..."
"The time I went back and met you. You 'spaced out' once then. And then that morning. You had a nightmare." Without a word, she got up, eyes so cold once again as she headed toward the door.
"Ender!" He shouted after her retreating form.
No answer. Just the tapping of her feet against the stone floor, growing quieter as she walked away. He hissed in fury and punched the wall, the frustration within him rising as the rock crumbled around his hands.
[Dammit...]
* * * * *
[You think I want this? You think I like having these replays come into my head all the time? Every time I see eyes like his, hear a quiet, mocking laugh, glance at a person that looks like him out of the corner of my eye, these images resurface, then I remember. Then I have to live it all out again.]
[You think I fuckin' want this?]
* * * * *
[That look in her eyes when she left...So cold.]
[Ice. And fire. Cold intensity. Why does she have to be so damned... Forget it.]
[Forget it before you get ticked off again.]
[...Too late.]
[She doesn't make sense. She's impossible. She's trying to solve her problems by herself. Doesn't she see? Doesn't she understand that, in order to heal, she has to open up to others as well?]
[What's happened to her that's making her close in on everyone like this?]
* * * * *
"Dinner was lively, don't you think?" Bulma said bluntly as she washed dishes. Trunks looked up, a little surprised, then looked away again.
"Talk to me here. I'm your mother. If you can't communicate with the woman who raised you, then that's pretty sad." Bulma said, turning off the water and putting a soapy hand on her hip as she turned around. Trunks didn't say anything. Bulma shook her head and continued to soap the dishes, "You had another fight with her, didn't you?"
"..."
"Trunks..."
"She's so..."
"Stubborn? Opinionated? Obstinate?"
"No. Inverted."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She doesn't say a thing about anything."
Bulma smiled to herself.
"Face it, Trunks." She grinned, and turned away so that Trunks wouldn't see the grin, "You're falling for her."
"She's the coldest loner I've ever met. Why would I possibly want to-"
"Vegeta." She said. Trunks stopped. Ever since he had gone back in time and met his father, he had never understood why his mother had ever been in love with someone like him. He was cold, rude, arrogant, but somehow, his mother had been able to see below all that to find something worthwhile.
"It just proves," Bulma continued, "That anything's possible when it comes to something like this." By something like this, she meant love.
He shook his head.
* * * * *
It wasn't hard to see why Alec was mad at her. He had been honest with her from the start, answering, explaining, hiding nothing. Because of that, even after the initial anger was gone, he would still be ticked because she would not, could not explain.
And the reason for Alec's anger was also the reason she couldn't apologize. Because she couldn't explain. Anyway, his anger was unreasonable. He had made the decision to tell her what he did, and she had made her own decision to keep her past to herself.
That was the excuse that she made to herself, anyway.
[I wish I could tell someone. I truly wish that I could. But if I did, I'd lose their respect. They'd never look at me the same again.]
[Since when did you care about what others think about you?]
[Because he's different. He's the only person that I've gotten close to for years. He's the only person who I _think_ can understand, who can possibly comprehend what's made me into... who I am now.]
[Yeah, and you thought the same thing about-]
She exhaled through clenched teeth, forcing her mind into a complete blank. She shook her head and walked into the workroom, making herself focus on the building of the gateway. If she was lucky, she could finish the framework today before she went to sleep.
* * * * *
Bulma was almost fascinated by the way Ender and Trunks refused to apologize.
Ender stayed in the workroom almost all the time, only coming out for meals every once in a while, and sometimes not even then. As soon as she finished, she would walk straight back into the workroom. Trunks would spend almost all his time training. Like Ender, he only came back for meals three times a day. And still, neither of them said a word.
[When will they give up?] Bulma shook her head as she watched the two of them avoid making any eye contact, [It's been a week, and neither of them show any signs of relenting.] She had to smile. [Typical Saiyan stubbornness.]
[They'll get over it.]
[Eventually.]
* * * * *
One week. It had been only one week since their 'argument', as his mother put it, and that little jab of irritation that he felt every time he looked at her was gone. He couldn't understand why he was so willing to forgive her all of a sudden.
[Maybe mother's right. Maybe I am 'falling'...]
[For her?]
For an anti-social creature who refused to talk about anything?
[Yeah, sure...]
* * * * *
She stood in the cavern, and let herself concentrate, her ki rising up around her. As the picture in her mind gave her strength, her now-blonde hair began rising above her head as her eye color changed. She shot up in the air, clenched her fists, and felt the two swords appear in her hands like they had a thousand times before, like they had during the fight with Frieza.
Like they had during those countless lessons with mother.
[Are you watching now, mother?]
[Do you know what I've become?]
She looked at the blades, at her crudely etched name at the base of them. She had written those words herself a long time ago, when her mother had presented them to her as a birthday present.
[I'm not a child anymore...but I'm still your daughter.]
She'd have to get around to polishing those words off and writing in newer, more elegant ones, but even as she thought of it, she rejected the idea. She would leave those childish scrawls, to... remember. A lot of things.
Back then, she hadn't thought much of it. It was a family tradition from her mother's side to give blades to a child on their fifth birthday.
[She must have known, even then. She had to know that something was going to happen, especially since Frieza had been destroying planet after planet, and now, looking back, now I see...]
It was true that those swords were longer and heavier than the swords that her neighbors received, more fit for an adult than for a child, but she adored them from the start. As soon as she mastered them, the blades gave her an edge over the other children her age. She practiced every day. Even up to the day the earth around them seemed to explode, and her parents sacrificed their lives to save hers.
[That was why, wasn't it? That was the reason for the acceleration in lessons, the increased studies, the whispered words between my parents every time they thought I wasn't paying attention.]
[How blind did they think I was?]
She got into position and began her warm-up exercises, the blades cutting through the air. At times like these, she could almost hear her mother's voice in her head, even after so many years, telling her to hold her left arm up more, to get a tighter grip, teaching her the basics of swordsmanship so that she...
[So that I could still expand on these basics even when you were gone...neh, mother?]
[Frieza. I killed you, but nothing compares to the damage you have already done to my life.]
* * * * *
Even before he was anywhere near the cavern, he could already tell she was training. That ki signature was much weaker than his, the margin between their powers now greater than ever, but that was to be expected. She hadn't been keeping up in her training while she was building the gateway. He had.
He found himself heading in the direction of the cavern, through the twisting maze of tunnels. He stopped, shook his head. What the hell was he doing? Still... what did he have to lose?
[We need to talk, anyway. She and I.]
* * * * *
[It's pathetic how little I know of my past.]
[The basics. That's all I know. The basics. What planet I came from. What race I am. How old I was when they died. Things like that that leave so much blank space to be filled in. Now, I can only guess.]
* * * * *
[She doesn't know I'm here.]
He had been hiding his power level, true. He had to, otherwise she would have sensed him from a mile off, but if she had been concentrating, she would have still been able to detect him. He knew that.
[What's on her mind right now?]
[A year ago, I'd have given anything to have her memories, to know how she thinks. Now, I still would.]
* * * * *
[How did they meet? Why was I taught swordplay, something that Saiyans rarely learn? Why was the only Saiyan child on my planet?]
[Well, I wasn't Saiyan. Demi-Saiyan. But still...]
[Don't be ridiculous. You've asked yourself this question a million times and you've always come up with the same answer.]
[...It's almost ironic, actually.]
[The race of most amazing fighters, perfected by nature over time to be virtually indestructible...]
[...are also incredibly, stupidly, life-threateningly stubborn..]
[And being the arrogant beings they are, Saiyans don't often bond outside of their race. So, in the few cases when they do, it means that they're often banished from their home planet and forced to live on their mate's world.]
[My father was strong. He had to be, to love my mother enough to accept imminent exile from his own family and to join her on an alien planet. When Frieza began putting pressure on the Saiyan planet Vegeta, that was when many Saiyans began marrying interracially, that was when they began leaving their worlds for others. But Frieza got them all in the end, didn't he? They were cowards.]
[My father...my father was different.]
[He left his planet for love.]
[Not for safety.]
* * * * *
He didn't know how long he had been there. But he didn't care. He regarded her from the shadows of the entrance, those twin blades arcing through the air, freezing that moment in his mind. At that instant, he felt as if he could stand there forever, just watching that body move.
Author's Note: What d'ya think? Please review, people. You have no idea how much it helps.
