Chapter Eleven

17 quickly caught up to Bulma.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know what happened to Vegeta? Why was he on the ground?"

Bulma smiled mischievously.

"I screamed in his mind," she whispered.

"You what?" 17 tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Oh... you have a mental connection to Ava, right?" Bulma looked at him, waving away the question in his eyes. "You do or you wouldn't be here. Well, I took advantage of the connection and screamed in it."

"Ok, but how would that incapacitate Vegeta?"

"Well, you know saiyans have delicate hearing, no? Well, they do. It's bad enough I scream at him in person but when I do it in his mind, it stays there, and echoes, rendering him temporarily paralyzed for about five seconds."

17 looked at the blue-haired woman with heightened esteem.

"You are more dangerous than you look."

Bulma preened like a peacock under the praise.

"You had better believe it, buddy! I have beauty, genius, and a hint of danger all in one delectable package, a rare find indeed! Vegeta is of course, the luckiest man... err alien on Earth, to think he just happened upon little ole me."

Bulma clasped her hands to her heart as she sighed dreamily.

"Of course, that goes both ways, to stumble across a guy with his wicked mentality, intelligence, and that body! Hot damn!"

17 frowned, that was a bit more than he wanted to know. He shook his head as Bulma turned on her heel and began calling Vegeta's name, with an obviously different reason to see him.

He couldn't help but smile though, he too felt incredibly lucky to have happened upon Ava that afternoon. Hot damn, indeed.

**

17 ignored his growling stomach.

This was his last day to meditate and that very night he would reunite with Ava. Though, in truth, he had almost no idea what to do. Yes, he knew he had to dance but he didn't know the steps. All Vegeta had told him was that the dance had to symbolize who he was, and not to concentrate or worry about Ava's reaction because the first part of the dance is all about him. Ava should eventually join him and he was to react accordingly. Ava would show him what to do next.

17 frowned. The first part of the dance is all about me... but who am I?

Well, there was always the logical answer. He was an android, made up of both mechanical and organic opponents. He was the perfect android created to destroy and to enjoy doing so. But was that all he was?

No... it wasn't. He had been rejected many times for containing mechanical components by organics and a fancy piece of technology had never done anything for him. He was too much of a human to be a machine and just enough of a machine to be considered not human.

It was times like this when he really envied his sister. She had found her knight in shinning orange gi while he stumbled around in the dark, hopelessly searching for a damsel in distress. Though, when he thought about it now that type of woman would have never made him happy, he would have been gone in a week.

Vegeta was right, he needed Ava to make him feel alive again... Make him feel more of a human than a machine. He had been on an emotional roller coaster since he had met that pesky female saiyan... and he was almost grateful, she made him realize he was more than a machine when he had almost given up hope.

And if that wasn't enough, she ignited all his senses, managing to keep him guessing, and staying true to herself at the same time. There was nothing he hated more than a fake. Ava was more than that, however, she was blunt and if you didn't like it, then you could go to hell in a hand basket. and she still wouldn't care. She would never be a damsel in distress if she could help it, and would probably gut the guy who tried to rescue her.

17 figured he could never have been more in love.

He grimaced, he had to stop thinking about Ava and start thinking about how he was going to dance. He had to come up with something more than being an android or he would be stuck doing the robot.

What makes me, me?

He liked to the wilderness, thrived in it, truth be told... He loved Ava... He liked to laugh... He was extremely curious... He liked to have fun... Hmmm, he actually lived to have fun...

17 brightened suddenly. That's it! 17 felt a mischievous grin cross his face. His dance would be wild, playful, fun, while also being seductive and mysterious. He was an android but he was a fun loving android.

"Finally, you're ready," Vegeta's voice floated into the room.

"Yes, I have found myself," Android 17 smiled pleased with his epiphany.

**

17 sighed as he fidgeted, wearing no shoes was going to take getting used to, he straightened his vest over his shirtless torso. Great, when did he become vain?

17 turned to see Vegeta placed a round stone on his pillow.

"Give that to her, and your problems will end, for now," Vegeta glanced at him.

"A rock?" 17 lifted an eyebrow.

Vegeta glared at him.

"A moon stone."

17 picked up the rock and looked at it critically.

"You're giving this to me?"

Vegeta looked at 17 with a horrified expression that was usually reserved for Mrs. Briefs before he covered it.

"No, I would never give it to you."

"How am I supposed to give the stone to Ava if you don't give it to me first?"

17 was confused by the disgust in the saiyan's tone.

Vegeta looked at him enigmatically.

"I am not giving the stone to you but I have no need for it anymore, you do."

"But--"

"I didn't put the stone on your pillow, you found it there."

Vegeta turned on his heel and left before 17 could question him further.

**

17 soared over the forest he would soon call his home. The sun had set, it was time. He closed his eyes briefly in anticipation. They would dance and become one.

He frowned as he fingered the round stone Vegeta had let him 'find' to give to Ava. It was very odd. A moon stone... he mused, maybe it's a saiyan version of a diamond. He turned it over in his hand feeling the smoothness, the rock was a pretty thing despite itself.

He paused in mid-air as he spotted a fire.

Is that her?

17 slowly lowered himself to the ground. He felt a smile edge it's way onto his face as he spotted the elusive saiyan meditating by the fire. He fidgeted again, he still wasn't sure about his ensemble. With a resigned sigh he landed in front of her.

Ava continued to meditate, seemingly unaware of his presence.

17 frowned. How was he supposed to make flirtatious eye-contact if she was oblivious.

Flashback. "The first part of the dance is about you." End Flashback.

17 gave an exasperated little sigh, he would have to rethink his strategy.

The fire... 17 gazed into the flames and wondered... He remembered her dancing in front of the fire... She had been as bewitching and deadly as the hungry flames...

Confidence, he thought, I must have confidence. This is who I am, except me or reject me...

He listened to the beating of his heart and he started to move. At first he was awkward but slowly and surely his movements became smoother and began to flow.

I am an android... 17's eyes drooped a bit, but there was more to him than that...

Ava watched him and felt warm. He's dancing for me... She smiled, she hadn't expected him to dance for her, mates were precious, thus all of one's heart and soul were poured into them. She stood up slowly and began to dance to the beat of her own heart.

17 almost tripped when he finally noticed Ava had joined him, but she wasn't exactly dancing with him.

Oh, I get it... 17 let out an amused smile. The dance was symbolic of their lives. First, they danced independently, their lives before they met. When they danced together, their lives when they cross paths.

17 stopped analyzing when Ava met his eyes. He really couldn't think anymore. Almost without effort they danced around the fire and somehow closer to each other.

Ava smiled mischievously as they both started to synchronize their movements to each other, he was perfect and he was going to belong to her alone.

17 eyed her a bit wearily as they both stopped their movements a scant inch away.

"What does this mean? When we stop?"

Ava's smile never wavered as she looked up at him.

"It means that we die side by side."

17 blinked at that. Ok... maybe I should give her the rock now...

"I have something for you."

Her eyes hardened.

"What?"

17 bit the inside of his cheek as he took the rock and pressed it into her hand.

Ava's eyes widened and became vulnerable at the feel of the object in her hand. Her gaze dropped to confirm what she felt.

"A moon stone..." she breathed as she raised sparkling black eyes to meet 17's, "Where did you find one?"

"Your brother," 17 whispered back, not wanting to break the moment.

Ava blanched.

"Did he give it to you?" Her voice was strangely urgent.

17 shook his head slightly and studied Ava curiously as she regained her color.

"No, I apparently found it on my pillow. Tell me, why would it matter?"

An embarrassed flush crossed Ava's face as she looked down.

"A moon stone can mean many things... It doesn't matter as long as he didn't give it to you, all that matters is what it means when you give it to me."

An amused half-smirk played on 17's mouth.

"And it means?"

"When you defeated me in battle, you made me yours," Ava looked at him from under her eyelashes before wrapping her arms around his neck, her tail around his waist. "When you gave me this stone... that makes you mine, alone." She whispered against his lips. "Now we will be equals."

Then she kissed him.