disclaimer: .... I don't know who owns dbz, I know I don't and that no one else here owns it either..... I think that Toriyama guy owns it...
However.... I do own Ruika
My Fault (part 3)
They saw a vast city on the horizon. "So much like home," Piccolo heard the girl mutter. She looked very tired. The sun was just setting. 'She only got one or two hours of sleep earlier today so she could still be exhausted from her journey. Or it could be because days were shorter back where she came from.'
"Would you like to rest? You look tired."
"I'll be fine. I know you don't want to deal with me any more than you have to."
"No. We'll rest for now. My... friend may not want to be bothered now." He knew he was just stalling.
"Oh, ok." They landed a few miles away from the city where there were still parts of forest. Piccolo set Ruika down and then took off to look for wood. When he came back he put the wood down and used a small energy blast to set it on fire.
"Cheater."
"What?"
Ruika shook her head. "Nothing." Shivering, she laid down next to the fire.
"Here." Piccolo forgot that humans were much more temperature sensitive than Nameks were. He took off his cape and took the weights out then handed the cape to Ruika.
"That's fine. I should be able to stand this cold. I've been in worse."
'Should? Been in worse?' "I insist. I don't need it." He wondered why he didn't just create something for her.
"Thank you," she said as she wrapped it around her.
"Would you mind if we talked for a little bit?" All the questions in his mind were starting to overwhelm him.
She laughed a little. "Not to be rude, but you don't seem like the kind of person who likes to talk a lot. You want something. We can talk in the morning if you like."
"I just... We'll talk in the morning."
Ruika tossed and turned, trying to find a position that would make her as warm as possible. She felt Piccolo's hand on her arm. She turned to look at him. He lifted up slightly on the cape. "Do you... mind?"
She smiled a little then shook her head. "Cold?"
"Yeah... sure..." A tiny blush was beginning to form. He was glad she didn't say anything about that. He was more worried about her being cold. He got underneath the fabric and laid next to her. 'I just can't figure you out Ruika.'
He heard laughing. He went to get up. 'It's ok. It's me.'
'You're telepathic?'
'Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you. Normally I don't just go into someone's head like this without asking, but I wanted to know why you were blushing like that.' Piccolo felt himself get warmer. 'Nevermind. I'll leave that one alone for now. You still want to talk?'
'Don't you want to sleep?'
'I can sleep and talk to you like this. I won't dream, and I'm easier to wake up when I'm like this but it's still sleep. What about you?'
'I can just go into a meditative state. It's not sleep--'
'But it works. I know, I've done that before too. I don't blame you for thinking that. I've heard that before from many other people. I'm a contradiction to myself.'
'What do you mean?'
"Well... for example, you can't figure out why I piss you off all the time and yet still care about you... And why my power level seems so low and yet you haven't managed to land a single hit yet.'
'Yeah... Could you explain that to me?'
'I kinda figured out how to hide my power, not just suppress it like most others do. I can make my level appear to stay at a stationary level even when I power up.'
'Impressive. I'd like to learn that.'
'I wouldn't mind teaching you... as long as you teach me something in return.'
'I knew there was a catch.'
'You could teach me how to fly. I'll teach you a few different things for that.'
'I'll think about that one.'
The next morning they headed towards the city and went to Bulma's house. Piccolo knocked on the door and Bulma answered it. "What the hell do you want?"
"I need a favor. Could you fix something for me?"
"What?" she asked, clearly irritated at the namek's presence.
"A spaceship."
Bulma burst out laughing. "Oh really?" she said sarcastically. "Where the hell is it?"
"I have it," Ruika said calmly.
"And who do you think you are?"
"This is Ruika. She crashed here yesterday and needs someone to help her fix her ship."
"Why are you asking me anyway?!"
They heard a voice yelling from within the house. "Woman! Just tell them to go away already!"
"I am trying to Vegeta! Why don't you come out here and get rid of them yourself if you're so damn concerned!
He appeared in the doorway. "Why the fuck are you here?! And who is this with--" Vegeta was cut short as Ruika had playfully pushed him down and was hugging and nuzzling him.
"It's me, Ruika."
"Ruika?" 'Why does that name sound familiar?'
"Get the fuck off my husband!!" Bulma had now lost all patience with Ruika's affectionate gestures.
Ruika's face was beat red. She quickly went back to her place next to Piccolo. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."
" 'I'm sorry' won't cut it!"
"Back off Bulma. I know her."
Piccolo's and Bulma's mouths went wide open. "H-how?" Bulma asked.
He looked at Ruika. 'Go ahead.'
"Before I came to this planet to look for the Dragonballs, I was trying to find a way to defeat Frieza. I heard that her home planet was filled with strong fighters much like Saiyans. I went there and asked the King if he would let me... borrow some of his fighters to help me destroy Frieza. He had heard of his tyranny but did not believe he was much of a threat."
"He never thought anything could threaten his own little world," Ruika added with hostility in her voice.
"He would've let me have some of his men had it not been for the war that currently paralyzed his country. He told me that he didn't expect for it to be very long before the war was put to rest. So I stayed and trained."
"But you still haven't answered my question. How do you know this girl?"
"The enemy planned an assassination attempt on... the children of some official on the king's council. They managed to kill the son, but I was able to stop them from killing the girl."
"That girl was Ruika?"
"Yes. You've changed so much. I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner."
"That's ok Vegetasan." She hugged him again, forgetting what Bulma said earlier.
He smiled. "You don't need to call me that anymore. You're grown up." He turned to Bulma. "If she says she needs help fixing her ship, then you will help her. Where is it?"
"Here." She looked to an open spot and stared for a moment. Her ship began to rematerialize.
"You've certainly been busy since I left."
"I kinda had to Vegetasan."
"This looks a lot like a Saiyan ship."
"It's very similar in structure to one as well."
"Then I'll have no problem fixing it."
"Thank you Bulma."
"Where are you going to go now?"
"Maybe back to the Lookout... If that's ok with you Piccolo."
"Yeah, that's fine. You can't do too much else."
"Would you mind if I came by tomorrow? I'm sure a lot's happened since I left."
She sighed. "You don't know how right you are."