Val went back to Capsule Corps, still confused about what she had just seen up in the village. She missed dinner, but did not feel hungry. She half-heartedly searched out Bulma, but after hearing she was staying up late working, Val gave up the pursuit. She went back to her room, tired, cold, and distraught. Yet she was not able to sleep or do anything else beyond toss and turn. When the sunrise came up, she sent a quick text of 'where we've trained,' before leaving the room.
She flew slower than she usually did, half dreading what the conversation would be once she got there. She landed in the training area, pacing as she waited. Better there then the village where others could come along and nose unwantedly. She saw Tien come up, making her stop mid step at the sight of him. He looked even more exhausted than she was. She wondered if being hung over on top of not sleeping was worse.
He stepped closer to her. When she felt like he was too close, she jumped back skittishly. He stopped, not really looking at her or anywhere. "How's your leg?"
"Healed," she answered. "With the most bandages I took from Frieza's ship." She remembered back to that day, the fighter from the future, the one whom Aiko said Chiaotzu said reminded him of Val, had come. That and how Val had raided the ship while Tien fought to keep himself in there with her. "It needed a few days to work though," she hummed out, running an absentminded hand over her healed thigh.
He nodded, not saying anything at first. She avoided his gaze, feeling her breathing increase, anticipating what he would say. "Aiko and I kissed," he admitted point blank. She closed her eyes. "Last night, she was really drunk and I-"
Val flinched and covered her ears, not wanting to hear anymore. "I know," she interrupted. She opened her eyes and brought her hands down to either side of her neck. She felt the cord of her hydrangea necklace, holding onto the sides of it. "I saw it. And heard it," she admitted.
"I knew it," he gasped. "I knew I sensed you out there. Aiko said I was crazy for thinking so since you never sent any texts back." She closed her eyes, tightening the grip around the necklace cord. He swore. "You really did hear and see everything then..." he realized. She shivered when a cold breeze cut past them. "You really do hate it up here, too. Don't you?"
She nodded glumly. "Is what she said true then?" she managed to ask. "That you want me to stay up here?"
"Was working my way to ask you, but only after we defeated the androids," he confessed. "But now..."
She shook her head. "I can't. I have the research and..." She hummed. "And I can't leave... him," she went for.
"Vegeta?" he asked. He said the name like the swear he said earlier.
She felt her stomach flip, half hating him, but lacking the desire to be distant from him after years of being forced to live together on the same spaceship. She felt a bit angry with him for goading Tien, but not angry enough to want to get away from him like that. "He knows what it was like. Forced to live under Frieza for years on end. To lose a planet. To lose all his race. To be a refugee on this planet. To take refuge at Capsule Corps, where the least I can do is work them, use what research we got to help them," she defended. "And... and... will need him. Against the androids. Especially if we lose Goku to the heart virus anyway. There's two of them coming anyway. He could defeat one just as easily as Goku could. He could surpass him. He's training so hard day in and day out. He might not be able to become a Super Saiyan yet, but I know he'll be the stronger of the two of them one day. He's so proud. So determined." She felt herself panting as she finished her defense.
"We have Goku, and the rest of us. We won't need him. He's just a spoiled, grown up princeling anyway," he griped.
She bit her lip, not disagreeing with him. "He's the Prince of the Saiyans," she defended. "A warrior race that could rival the Aviarians. He was raised and trained to fight with pride. He wants the fight and I know him. He'll win that fight."
"He really isn't a good influence on you," he concluded.
She felt herself flush temperamentally. "As if Aiko's any better of an influence on you," she snapped. "The drunken, weak, foolish woman whose been spending years pining after you," she attacked, feeling her temper simpering. "She got lucky killing the onikuma." She finally brought herself to look at him. Looking at him made her pull back the bite of her tone. "Maybe she can get lucky with you, too then. Since you seemed quite interested that kiss she gave you." She tempted to go at him for his inability to control himself, but pulled back since he prided himself on his self control.
He looked wounded at that. "You're going to end up with him now, aren't you?" he grumbled out.
She heaved an annoying sigh. "It's not like that between us," she rushed out. She cringed, remembering how revolted she felt when he pinned her down. The idea of living separately from him was hardly imaginable though at the moment.
"I saw the way he carried you," he recalled. "And the fighter, from the future..." he hummed out and shook his head, not finishing his thoughts.
"What about him?" she asked, thinking back on the fighter who went Super Saiyan and killed both King Cold and Frieza.
He clicked his teeth. "I disagree, but Chiaotzu said he kind of reminded him of you, but couldn't put his finger on why since he didn't look like you," he confessed. "Neither of us really got a good look at him though."
She blinked up at him, shaking her head. "I don't understand," she landed on.
He huffed and shook his head. "Never mind," he sighed. She frowned, annoyed that this time he did not try to explain something he said when she did not understand something he said. He finally looked at her. "Just don't end up with him," he requested again.
The very idea sent a chill down her spine. "That's not something you have control over," she ruled. She looked up at him, but he still did not look back at her. She turned to go, walking a few steps.
"You'll still be there, in like, what, two more years?" he called after her.
She turned around and nodded once. "Of course. I am a defender of this planet," she answered, forcing herself to answer in a steady voice.