Disclaimer: Still don't own it…..DBZ that is
A/N: Wow, another chapter already! I'm quite proud of this one, it's a happy chapter and hope you like reading it as much a I liked writing it. Hopefully another chapter within the next week! ~D.B
And Then You'll Know
Chapter 26
The next morning, as all the slaves began to emerge from their slumber, 18 became vaguely became aware of someone calling her name. Opening her eyes and sitting up, she realized that she must have fallen back asleep after her nightmare. Running her long slender fingers through her disheveled hair she looked up at the one who was responsible for waking her.
"Morning Nison," she said as she shielded her eyes from the strip of bright morning sunlight that was shining right into her eyes, "Sleep well?"
"Yeah. But are you ok, I heard you had a bit of a rough night"
"Yeah" agreed 18, as she climbed out from under the covers, sporting a pair of lacy pink panties and a white singlet top, they had both been a gift from Krillen. The rest of the gifts, which she had opened about half of, were neatly stacked up beside her bed.
Nison watched her as she slowly walked across the cold cobblestone floor, not able to tear his eyes away from her beautiful figure. Her back was turned to him, so she was unaware of what was going on, or so Nison though. He knew he shouldn't be looking and thinking about 18 in such a way as he was right at that very moment, after all she was his best friends twin sister, and she was involved with the prince. Wasn't she? He wasn't really sure. But she just looked so darn hot in her sleep ware.
"Nison, I can feel you staring at me and if you don't stop you'll be able to feel your face smashed against the wall" 18 threatened as she pulled on her tattered black skirt and her dirty faded white shirt.
Nison gulped audibly, he had been busted in a big way, he muttered an apology to 18 and very quickly exited the room.
Grumbling to herself, 18 sat back on her bed and produced her prize possession from under her pillow, carefully removing the letter from the envelope she read it over for the thousandth time, taking in everything it was about and what this all meant for her.
"18" called a quiet voice from the entrance of the room. She looked up and smiled at Tarie.
"Did you get back to sleep alright?" Tarie asked as she sat down next to 18.
"Um…well I woke up this morning, so I guess I fell back to sleep" 18 replied. Tarie chuckled, then her eyes fell to the piece of paper in 18's hand, she'd seen it before and she knew it was important, she just wanted to know what it was exactly. "What is that?" she asked
18 sighed, did she really want to let Tarie see it. The most important thing she had ever owned. Well maybe she should, perhaps Tarie would be able to answer some of her questions. "It's a letter," she said with a sigh, "from Krillen" 18 handed the precious piece of paper over to Tarie for further inspection.
18,
If your reading this, then I've already left for Namek, I'm sorry that things had to be this way I didn't want to leave you, and the second I walk onto that ship, I'm gonna miss you.
I hope you enjoy the room and the gifts. Please enjoy everything and use it all how you see fit, as long as it makes you happy.
I'm sorry 18, I have to admit, there was another reason I wrote you this letter. Basically it's because I'm a wimp. That's right, there are things I want to tell you but no matter how hard I try, I just can't find the right words. Well here goes… don't laugh at me.
18, you are without a doubt the most important person in my whole entire life. You make my day times brighter, my night times filled with beautiful dreams and everyday you put a smile on my face. Just seeing you makes my whole world at ease and there is nothing I want more than to be able to share that beautiful feeling with you every single day for the rest of my life.
Every second I am away from you, I can feel my heart breaking and the further I get from you and the closer I get to Namek, I just know this will all be over soon and I'll be making my way home…back to you.
I'm not going to force you, from here, its up to you. If you don't hate me after reading this, then when I get back from Namek, let me know where you want to take this.
I know no one would approve of it, but I don't care, you mean so much more to me than anything I have ever experienced before.
Love,
Krillen
Tarie looked up at 18, a look of amazement on her pretty features, her eyes were shiny with tears, "that's so beautiful, you are so lucky 18. He's really really in love with you" she said
"Really?" asked 18, who still had no idea what love felt like. Was she in love to? She didn't know.
"Yes really" Tarie replied. She was about to open her mouth to say something else, when a loud grumbling sound interrupted her.
"What the hell was that?" asked 18 with a bit of amusement in her voice
"That was my stomach" Tarie said through a fit of giggles, "I'm hungry!"
"I figured" 18 said and joined Tarie in a good laugh.
"Ah girls, I hate to interrupt you," called Nison from the archway, "but if we don't head upstairs soon, we're gonna get our heads kicked in"
And that was it, their little bit of time were they were allowed to feel normal was over, and they were quiet harshly forced back into the horrible reality which they called their lives. Though with a life like theirs, they often wondered if it could even be considered a life at all.
***
"All personnel to the briefing room immediately. I repeat all personnel to the briefing room immediately. That is all" called Nappa over the intercom system, scaring Krillen – who had been lying on his bed on the brink of sleep, half to death.
He sat up and ran his hand through his messy black hair, right now it looked like he had some kind of an animal on his head it was such a mess.
"C'mon Krillen!" he heard Kakkarot calling him from the doorway, "you'll make us late"
"Alright I'm coming!" he called back in reply, the he jogged across the room to join up with Kakkarot to go to the briefing room.
Krillen spotted his big brother leaning against the back wall of the room and went to stand beside him, ever since they had had their little chat, their relationship had become much more valued between them, and it was something that they had both desperately needed.
"Hi" Krillen greeted him
"Hi yourself" said Vegeta, "now shut up and listen" he said, though the words weren't spoken with and harsh undertones or malice.
Nappa walked into the room then, he took his place at the front of the room, waited for silence to fall over the men, then began his address.
"Good morning men, I hope we're all feeling well today. As you may or may not be aware, we are getting to the business end of this flight. In fact we will be touching down on planet Namek in only a matter of hours." Many jaws around the room dropped – Krillens being one of them – he hadn't realized that they were that close to their arrival.
"I have been in contact with Namekian officials and the word is that Frieza has not yet arrived, in fact according to the Guru he could be as far as 4 days away – but remember men, just because he could be 4 days away doesn't necessarily mean he isn't only 20 minutes away, so be alert! We will use this time to our greatest advantage, getting to know that land, and the people, but the most important thing to remember is that Namek is a world of eternal light, meaning it has 2 suns, so during our entire stay we will never experience night. I suggest you sleep when ever possible; you'll need all the rest you can possibly get. Now, I want you all to head back to the living quarters and for you all to pack your things. You have 4 hours until arrival, use them wisely. We will meet back in here when I call you. That is all" Nappa concluded his little speech and all the men filed out of the rather small room.
"Krillen…hey Krillen where are you?"
"I'm over here" Krillen called in response to Ari's query. He heard footsteps coming in his direction and looked up. Sure enough Ari was making his way across the busy room towards Krillen and Kakkarot. Krillen waved and flashed Ari a bright smile.
"Have you finished you packing?" Krillen asked, as he folded a pair of sweatpants and stuffed them into his duffel bag. He assumed that since Ari wasn't packing he must have already finished.
"Na mate, I haven't even started yet. I just got out the shower, see" said Ari pointing his light blue hair, "still wet"
Krillen looked up at the clock on the wall, they had about 2 hours left until touchdown, "well you better hurry up and start"
"Hey, do you guys want any chocolate?" asked Kakkarot as he unwrapped yet another candy bar and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Um…no that's ok Kakkarot" replied Krillen, even after knowing Kakkarot for as long as he had, it still amazed him that he could eat so much and never get full. Even though it was true that Sayian men had enormous appetites, Kakkarot's love of food was at the extreme end of the scale
***
It was a beautiful day. The sky was brilliantly blue, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. No one could have asked for a more perfect day. Chi-chi sat out in the garden under a big shady tree, wrapping her arms around herself for extra warmth. It may have been a perfect day, but it was still winter for a few more weeks and the air was crisp and cool.
"Chi-chi, you out here?" she heard someone call her. Standing up, Chi-chi straightened out her white sweater and re-adjusted her long pale pink scarf so it hung evenly.
"I'm coming B-Chan" she called and quickly walked over to her best friend, "You look really great today"
Bulma looked down at her attire, she was wearing a pair of light blue flared jeans and with black boots and a light purple stretchy shirt, "Thanks" she said then she looked at her watch. "Do you wanna go get some lunch?" she asked.
Chi-chi nodded her head eagerly, "yeah, I'm famished" she replied. Bulma laughed and the two girls shot off into the sky towards their favorite shopping strip
~
A little while later, they touched down in the middle of a busy street. "What do you say we get in a bit of shopping before we eat?" suggested Bulma. Chi-chi quickly jumped at the offer "Sure!" she had been having a great day so far and it only seemed to be getting better. First off, it was a beautiful day, then they had served her favorite food at breakfast, then 18 had screwed up and she had the perfect opportunity to beat her senseless, now she was going shopping. Yep, it was the perfect day.
So the two girls hit the shops for an hour or so, and they both accumulated a good amount of shopping bags and some new items that were to die for. Among Chi-chi's most favorite items was a pair of denim ankle boots that had cost a lot of money, and a blue dress that fell all the way to the ground and had spaghetti straps, it would be perfect for long lazy summer days lounging by the pool.
"Hey B-Chan, you ready to eat yet?" Chi-chi called from across the store they were in.
"Yes!' Bulma practically screamed back, "I'm starving". Chi-chi laughed and walked over to the counter to pay for the items in her hand and Bulma followed suit, then they left the shop and headed towards their favorite café.
"So," Chi-chi began, as she sat down at the table the waitress had ushered them to, "where did you disappear to yesterday? I went to your house and your mum said you had gone out. I thought that was weird cause you never go anywhere without telling me
Bulma was quiet and that was a dead give a way to Chi-chi that something was wrong. Bulma was never quiet; she always had something to say. But not this time, this time silence had overcome her usually chatty friend.
"My god B, what did you get up to yesterday?"
"Well," Bulma looked around the room to make sure no one else was listening in on their conversation, then she leaned in closer to Chi-chi just to be sure. "Promise not to tell?"
"Of course I won't tell" Chi-chi replied sweetly, "but where were you?"
Bulma swallowed loudly before she spoke "I was at Yumcha's"
Chi-chi's eyes bulged and her mouth fell open "What!" she exclaimed louder than she needed to "are you insane? He is a very dangerous man. You know that better than anyone, what were you thinking?"
"He's very very sick Chi. Even right at this very moment, I have some tests running in the lab so I can find out exactly what's wrong with him"
"Wait wait, hold up. I don't get it. Why do you want to help that man…he is nothing but pure evil. You're not – well you know – with him again…are you?" Chi-chi was confused and annoyed at Bulma.
"Ok Chi calm down, I'll tell you everything if you just shut up and listen ok?"
Chi-chi nodded her head, desperately wanting to hear the story.
"Well not yesterday, but the day before I got a call from Yumcha's mother Cama. She fed me this sob story about how sick Yumcha was and how I was his only hope. Anyway, I decided instead of helping him, I'd go down there and put an end to his miserable existence…"
"How?" interrupted Chi-chi
"Well if you listen, I'm just about to get to that. I made up what I suppose you could call poison and I was going to inject it straight into his blood stream…but when I got there…" Bulma began to mumble after that until she eventually stopped talking all together….
"When you got there…" Chi-chi urged her to continue.
"I couldn't do it!" confess Bulma, "I saw him lying there and I thought I was finally going to get my revenge on him, but I just couldn't do it. Knowing that once I'd loved him so much and that I gave up so much to be with him. I couldn't do it." Bulma pulled a tissue out of her pocket and began to dab at her eyes with it. "I couldn't do it and it's killing me, I know that it's something I should have been able to do easily and now I don't know what to think. I didn't kill him, so does that mean I still have feelings for him?" asked Bulma in between her tears.
"B-Chan, you know you don't love Yumcha anymore, that's just silly. You're just too much of a nice person to be able to kill someone." Said Chi-chi, hoping that her words would be able to comfort Bulma at least a little
"I hope that's all it is" said Bulma. She could think of nothing worse than falling for Yumcha….again.
***
"Wow, it sure is….green," commented Kakkarot.
Krillen laughed and jumped off the ramp leading of the ship landing on the soft ground below, "hey your right, it is green," he said "but damn it's good to be off that ship!"
"So this is Namek" commented Vegeta as he looked around, rather awe stricken by what he saw. This wasn't at all like he had expected. No one had been briefed about the lifestyles and traditions of the Namekians, it had been left to their imaginations. And Vegeta had envisioned it to be a lot like his home, a bustling metropolis of people and places. But this was no bustling metropolis, apparently, they had landed on the edge of the small planets main village, the home of the Guru, but this place was deserted, there were a few small dome like houses and then a few more larger ones which Vegeta guessed were used as shops, schools and other places that were thought of as necessities. Also, another things that Vegeta noticed was that there was a large river flowing by the edge of the village, and there were women kneeling by the edge of it, with big baskets of clothing by their side. Were they actually washing their own clothes in a river? That was disgusting.
"It's pretty amazing isn't it Vegeta?" he heard Krillen ask from beside him. He only nodded in reply.
Once the whole group was out of the ship and they all had their luggage, Nappa led them down the grassy hill and into the small village, as they walked through, everything seemed to stop for them. Children stopped playing to gawk at them, women ceased their talking and stared, and all others present stopped to get a glimpse of the new arrivals to their planet who were so very different than they were. For the soldiers, it was a very intimidating experience, and they were very relieved when they arrived at their accommodation for the duration of the stay. They were going to be staying at the temple of Guru, it was only a simple complex, once you walked through the big stone entrance, you were on a big patch of open grass with a water fountain in the middle. At the far end of the grass was a big room with no door - inside was where Guru himself lived. And around the rest of the patch of grass were many small apartments, there was more behind them as well. Plenty of room for everyone.
"Ok men, we are about to meet the Guru!" boomed Nappa, "he is a very old feeble man and wont be able to see you all at one, so I will be sending you in, in groups of 5 or 6. Got it? You are to tell the Guru your name, age and race, if he asks you anything answer promptly and politely! Do I make my self clear?" Nappa asked, though there was no room in his voice or any arguments.
~
'He even the sky here is green' Krillen thought to himself as he lay back on the grass and looked up at the sky. It sure was different here to Vegeta-sei. It just seemed so much more homely and intimate, like the natives here really cared about themselves and each other, the whole planet just had such a good vibe to it. Looking to the side, Krillen had to laugh. He could see little Namekian children peering in through the entrance to the sanctuary, they were whispering to each other and then they would burst into fits of laughter and disappear from Krillens sight, only to return again a few seconds later to see if all the strange men were doing anything different to what they had been doing last time they looked.
Krillen looked towards the big temple, then he blinked and sighed. For him, it still hadn't fully sunken in that this was all real and actually happening. It felt like some school excursion, like by the end of the day he would be snuggled up in his own bed under his own covers ready for another – completely new adventure tomorrow. This wasn't real life, it couldn't be.
"Hey Krillen" he heard Goku call him as he emerged from the temple. Krillen sat up and watched as Goku sat next to him.
"Well?" he asked
"Well what?"
Krillen rolled his eyes, "what's the Guru like?"
"Oh, yeah he's alright, he doesn't do much though. He's old and fat"
Krillen sniggered at Goku's remark. Here he was in the presence of the most powerful and respected man on the planet and all he had to say about him was 'he was old and fat' it made him wonder if people talked about his father like that.
***
It was approaching 5 o'clock, it would be getting dark in only a matter or minutes, and with that blanket of darkness came a chilling cold, it gave life to the saying 'freezing to death' it had happened before, and it could happen again.
18 groaned as she pressed her foot down on a button on the vacuum cleaner and she watched the cord retract, she ticked off one more task from her mental list. Next she had to sweep Chi-chi's stupid balcony. She walked out into the hall and snatched a broom out of the utility closet, and then she took it out onto Chi-chi's big balcony and began to sweep all the crap that had gathered there off the edge. It was only a small job, and took her no more than 10 minutes. Then she was done, well for today at least, come tomorrow, she would have another 4-page list of jobs to complete. It was ridiculous, lately Chi-chi had been getting her to jobs that didn't even have anything to do with her, like cleaning the pool, scrub the G.R's, weed the garden and her most detested job of all, scrubbing toilets in the soldiers quarters. Although since most of the men had gone off to Namek, that job had become much less demanding.
18 washed her hands in Chi-chi's bathroom and returned the broom to the closet. She was going to head back downstairs to the dump she had to call home, but she decided that before she did she would pop in and see how her brother and Tarie were doing
She quietly knocked on the door and took a step back. Only seconds later, the door was flung wide open to reveal her brother. A look of pure shock washed over 18 and she quickly stepped into the room and shut and locked the door.
"17! What the hell do you think you were doing?" she asked frantically. 17 looked dumb founded, he didn't know what he had done wrong, "I dunno" he said.
"How could you possibly be so stupid?" asked 18, "you have no idea who could have been knocking on that door. It could have been the King for all you know, and you would have just opened the door, and he probably would of killed you. You know that right?" she just couldn't believe her brothers stupidity
"Calm down sis" said 17 as he led 18 to sit on the bed, "that didn't happen did it. I'll be more careful next time I swear"
18 breathed a sigh of relief and smiled "good," she said, "where's Tarie?"
"Oh she's in the shower," 17 replied, "18 you know, I really can't thank you enough for all you have done for us, and I'm going to make sure that once our baby arrives he or she knows just how truly amazing their aunty 18 is"
18 felt tears well up in her eyes hearing her brother speak those words. It just meant so much to her to know that she was able to help give a tiny life a chance, she didn't care about spending another night in that freezing rodent infested hell hole. She would gladly give up everything she had and more for her brother and his little family to be.
"Hi 18. How are you?" she heard Tarie ask her as the bathroom door swung open and she walked out toweling her long brown hair. 18 looked across at her and smiled, she was glowing she looked absolutely fantastic, better than she had ever seen her look. The dark circles from under her eyes had gone, her hair was smooth and tangle free and it looked like she had already put on some weight from the food Bulma had been bringing them each day. "I'm good Tarie, I'm really good" she said with a genuine smile.
***
The sun had yet to rise over Vegeta-sei and cast it's golden-yellow warmth over everything it touched, but already, the throne room of the palace was alive and buzzing with early morning activity. The proceedings of this morning were so very important and crucial to the Sayian-Namek mission, as it had been so named. Not to mention, it was an excellent opportunity for the King to show off the genius ability of the palace Science department.
"Sire, 5 minute to connection establishment!" called Dr. Briefs from behind the desk he was at. "Bulma dear, hand me that blue cable"
Bulma yawned and passed a dark blue cable to her father. It was far to early for her to be up, but it was her job, to serve the King and cater to his every technological need, if she didn't do that then she would be out on her butt faster than she could say no.
It was only 4.14 in the morning, dawn wasn't even for another hour and 45 minutes, but already she had been up and required to use her brain at full potential for over an hour. It was ridiculous. "Do you need anything else daddy?" she asked
"3 minutes to connection establishment!"
Bulma rolled her eyes and looked up at the big T.V screen that had been set up in front of the throne, she smiled, her and her father had really out done themselves this time, they had headed the team that had made this whole component of the mission possible, there was only one thought running through her head as she sat back, took a sip of her piping hot, extra strong coffee 'Damn I'm good'
"Sire," said Dr. Briefs as he approached the Kings grand throne "Connection will be established in 45 seconds". "Thank-you Doctor, the assistance of you and your team has been invaluable" Dr. Briefs bowed to his King and stepped out of the way of the television screen.
Soon enough the blue screen started to flicker and a fuzzy image began to materialize, once the image cleared up, everyone in the room could see Nappa on the screen. He smiled and waved like an idiot before he addressed the King.
"Sire, good afternoon" he said.
"Nappa my good man, it's barely even 4.30 am here," said the King, "Are all the men well and accounted for?"
There was a pause as the sound traveled through the microphone attached to the Kings cloak to the little receiver in Nappa's ear, then Nappa nodded and replied, "Yes sire, all men well and present".
"Tell me Nappa, what's it like on Namek?"
Again there was a pause before Nappa's response, then he smiled and said – "It's too green. The nativities are nice though. It's a shame to know that Frieza is going to come in and wreck the place". The King nodded in agreement, "How are my boys?" he asked.
"Good" said Nappa, "If you would like I can fetch them, they are both awake".
Bulma felt her heart flitter, she would be able to see Vegeta, granted he was over 70 thousand kilometers away and the image was rather unclear, but it would be him none the less, hopefully it would be just the thing she needed to take her mind off Yumcha.
"Yes, fetch my sons please Nappa"
"Uh sire," called Bulma from where she was standing next to her father, "do you think Chi-chi would like to be present for this?"
"I think she would, would you mind fetching her?". By the time the King had finished his question, Bulma was halfway to the door.
~
"Chi," Bulma called as she pushed open the door and quietly crept into Chi-chi's dark room "are you awake?"
There was no reply. Bulma slowly walked towards the bed until she was looking down on Chi-chi, who was sprawled out on the bed, the covers only half covering her and using one of her pillows as a teddy.
"Hey Chi-chi!" Bulma called, not so quietly this time, "get your lazy ass out of bed!"
"What in the hell do you want Bulma?" Chi-chi uttered as she rolled over and buried her face into one of the many pillows adorning her bed.
"I want you to get your lazy butt out of bed and for you to come and talk to your brothers" Chi-chi sat up and rubbed her head in confusion
"B-Chan you idiot, my brothers are on Namek"
"I know" Bulma gloated inwardly at her incredible genius self, "Now get up, get dressed and go to the throne room" she continued, then she disappeared out of the room just as quickly as she had bounced in. Leaving Chi-chi in a state of total sleepy confusion, wondering if she had just experienced the most vivid dream in history or not.
She pulled herself out of bed, and groaned when she saw the time. It was 4.30 in the morning, far to early to be awake. Though she was still half asleep, she pulled on a pair of white track pants, tied her hair back in a messy ponytail, fished her fluffy pink slippers out of the closet and headed of towards the throne room.
She entered the brightly lit, noisy throne room with a loud yawn. Bulma had obviously been telling the truth.
"Daddy, what's happening?" she asked as she padded across the big room towards the Kings throne.
"We are about to speak with Vegeta" he replied.
"How?" Chi-chi asked as someone handed her a cup of hot coffee, she graciously took a big sip.
"Magic" he said with a grin.
Chi-chi looked at the T.V screen in front of her, nothing was happening, all she could see was a wooden chair, and in the background was a wall with an archway that lead outside. That was it. Very boring.
A few more minutes passed, and then Vegeta walked in through the arch and sat on the chair, he connected the microphone and put the receiver in his ear. "Hi" he said
Chi-chi waved like a maniac, Vegeta shook his head and waved back, "Hello Chi-chi" he said
"Hi Veg-head!"
Vegeta frowned.
Bulma could feel her heart racing, Vegeta was wearing a sleeveless blue spandex, he looked tired. She wondered how long they had been there for, but at the same time, he looked so damn hot. Seeing him and knowing he was so far away made her miss him 10 thousand times more than she already did. She wasn't going to cry, she wouldn't allow it, no, no crying for Ms. Briefs today.
"How is Namek?" asked the King through a yawn. Vegeta waited for the sound to come through, then said "everything here is very simple, but I can't say that I don't like it"
"It's good to see you again son, was your flight satisfactory"
"The food tasted like dirt"
"Any signs of Frieza?"
"The guru says he could be as far as 4 days away" seethed Vegeta; he wanted Frieza to be right here, right now, so he could kick his sorry ass all the way to H.F.I.L, then burn the corpse.
"I see," replied the King, "Is Krillen going to be joining us?"
Vegeta blinked and looked towards the opening in the wall that lead outside, "Krillen was just finishing with lunch, he should be along shortly" he said turning back to the camera. Just then, as if on cue, Krillen came jogging through the door, he switched places with Vegeta and connected himself to the microphone and receiver.
Looking at the screen, he could see transmissions of his Father and Chi-chi, he could do without her there, but he decided to be nice for the sake of the King. Besides, if he was nice, they might let him talk to 18, he was dying without her, he needed to see her. Krillen feared that his very life depended on it
"It's good to see you, Krillen" said the King with a smile.
"You too father," he replied after the delay caught up with him "Chi-chi" he added with a nod. No smile for her though.
"Krillen" she said in a monotone voice, then she disappeared from the screen. Krillen smiled, "How are things on Vegeta-sei?" he asked
"Fine fine, everything is going good"
"That's good, I miss being there, I never knew I was the type to get homesick" he said with a chuckle, though he knew full well he wasn't home sick, he was 18 sick. God he missed her, but at least now he knew what he felt for 18 was true love, if it had only been infatuation then she would be the last thing on his mind right now, but she was far from that, she was on his mind every second of every day and when he slept, she joined him there to – in his dreams.
"Well if there is anything I can do to help reduce the homesickness son, then let me know"
Krillen jumped at the perfect opportunity that had just been presented to him, "actually father, there is someone I would like to speak to" he said. Krillen had to be careful in the way he went about asking if he could speak with 18, as his father had no idea of their friendship, let alone their pending relationship
"Of course son, to whom do you wish to speak? I shall have them summoned here immediately"
"I wish to have words with one of the slave girls, Chi-chi's assistant, I believe her name is 18" the King smirked, he knew 18 well, from her days back in the harem, he had yet to see a better girl come through than 18, he often wondered why he ever let her go
He looked around the room, which was very quiet and called out to the first person who's name he remembered.
"Bulma!"
Bulma's head snapped up in attention, she looked up the her King before bowing deeply before him, "Yes sire, how may I help you?"
"Fetch me Miss 18, and do it quickly"
"Yes sire" replied Bulma and she fled the room.
Back up on Namek, Krillen tilted his chair back and sighed to himself, he was going to be able to see 18, his heart felt like it was about to overflow.
"Father," he said "would Chi-chi like to speak to Kakkarot for a minute?". He wanted to be the last one to speak to 18, that way, he would be able to talk to her for the longest without holding anybody up. All of a sudden, Chi-chi's face was replacing that of his fathers "Where's Kakkarot!" she demanded.
"Alright, alright, I'll get him. Calm down" said Krillen and he left the room
***
Bulma wrapped her arms around her torso and shivered. It was freezing down here, and she was sure she was lost. Moving the flashlight she was holding around so she could see, she watched the light bounce off the walls, floor and ceiling. Eventually she found the big wooden door that lead to the slave quarters. Being sure that she breathed through her mouth to avoid the foul smell, she pushed the door open and crept inside the complex.
"Right" she whispered, "Now to find 18". Bulma really had no idea where to look, there was at least 50 people sleeping in here. Walking past each of the beds, she quickly shone the torch on each of the sleeping figures, determining if they were 18 or not. As she walked into the next room, Bulma felt her nose begin to tingle, and she knew she was going to sneeze, and before she even had the chance to stop it, it had happened.
On the other side of the room 18 groaned and rolled over. Who had sneezed? Was it Nison? The blonde beauty hadn't really been sleeping, she had been drifting in and out of sleep all night thanks to the disturbing dreams of Krillen she kept on having, they had scaled down in their intensity since that first one, but they still unnerved her anyway.
"Ah" Bulma smiled as she noticed 18, or what she thought was 18, and she seemed to be awake to, that was a bonus "pssst, 18 is that you?"
18 slowly forced her right eye opened, was someone talking to her? She sat up and looked around the room, and saw Bulma clutching a flashlight and looking completely disheveled. Upon seeing her, 18's brain went into overdrive, something must have been wrong with 17 or Tarie, why else would Bulma be down here when the sun hadn't even come up yet.
"What's wrong?".
Bulma smiled as she approached the bed, "Nothings wrong, but you need to come with me. I'll explain on the way"
18 climbed out of the bed, took the blankets and wrapped them around her petite frame. She didn't know where Bulma was leading her, but for some strange reason she trusted her.
***
Krillen stood just out of the view of the camera, holding a glass of water in his hands, listening to Chi-chi and Goku ramble on about how much they missed each other, the only interesting thing about it was the fact that even though Kakkarot was talking with Chi-chi the woman who was supposed to be the most important thing in his life, he was still stuffing candy bar after candy bar into his mouth, and only talking to Chi-chi in between mouthfuls and sometimes half way through them. It was horrible
"Hey Kakkarot man, you almost done?" Krillen asked as he ran his hands through his shaggy black hair
"Done what?" Kakkarot replied, "Eating candy, or talking to Chi?"
"Both"
"Oh, um yeah, I suppose I'm almost finished"
"Finished what?"
"Talking to Chi".
Krillen shook his head and gulped down the remainders of the liquid in his glass, "I'll be back in a minute man ok" he said and he walked out the room to top up his glass.
~
Chi-chi sat in her fathers throne and stared wide eyed at the screen in front of her, sure it was a somewhat fuzzy image, but it was him nonetheless, her Kakkarot. It seemed like it had been an entire lifetime since she had seen him last, when in actual fact it had only been 14 days, exactly 2 whole weeks, half a month, one 24th of a year. She could have kept on going, but she chose not to, it was far too early in the morning for such complicated thinking.
All she knew was that she missed Kakkarot, and seeing him here only made it 10 times worse. She could feel the moisture on her cheeks and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand.
"Aw don't cry Chi, it's ok. I'll be home soon" said Kakkarot, he felt horrible for making Chi-chi cry
"I miss you" she whimpered.
"I miss you to"
Just then, the door to the throne room creaked open and Bulma popped her head in. Chi-chi quickly wiped her face and tried to look cheery, "can we come in?" Bulma asked
"Sure you can B-Chan"
Bulma smiled at Chi-chi and pushed open the door, allowing 18 entry to the room, 18 shuddered, last time she had been in here was after the Son ball and she had gotten into a lot of trouble over that.
Chi-chi saw 18 walk through the door and suddenly her eyes ignited with a type of fury, "what is she doing in here?" she hissed
"Your brother wants to speak with her"
"Who Krillen?"
"Yes, Krillen. So you should say good bye to Kakkarot and come down the hall with me and get some breakfast"
"Fine" Chi-chi grumbled, she did not seem impressed. She said goodbye to Kakkarot and blew him a kiss, then she stomped across the room towards Bulma, being sure to knock 18 to the ground on her way past. 18 fell to the ground with a thud.
By the time 18 pulled herself up off the ground, stumbled across the throne room and sat herself down on the throne in front of the camera. An image of Krillen was already on the screen. She waved to him as she connected herself up to the microphone and receiver.
"18!," Krillen exclaimed, "I can't believe it. You've got no idea how much I've missed you!"
18 couldn't reply, she was to overwhelmed. Seeing Krillen and hearing him just made her want to cry, and that was exactly what happened. Her vision became clouded and misty, then she felt the fat tears rolling down her porcelain cheeks and try as hard as she did, she just couldn't stop then, "Krillen" she chocked out in between her sobs.
Krillen reached out and pressed his fingers against the camera, "Shhhh, don't cry 18, it's ok, it'll all be ok, I promise. 18 reached out and touched the T.V screen, where a huge image of Krillen fingers currently resided, it was as close as she was going to get to him in a long while.
"Krillen," 18 said as she sat back down in the throne, "when are you coming home?"
Krillen shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know 18, I really don't know"
18 wiped some tears off her pretty face and was about to say something, but Krillen spoke first "Have you been using my room?" he asked with a smile
"No," 18 shook her head "Tarie is pregnant, so I let her and 17 use it. They needed it more than me. You don't mind do you?"
Krillen felt tears well up in his eyes "That was a beautiful thing for you to do. You're such an amazing woman"
"I got your letter"
Krillens face paled, this was it, his moment of truth, the moment that would determine the rest of his life. Whether he would spend all of his days in bliss or misery, "and?" he asked
"I don't care what anyone thinks either," she sobbed, "I want you back here with me"
***
A/N: So, what did you all think? I'd love to hear in a review. Tell me if you liked it, or hated it or whatever, c'mon, fill my inbox with reviews, I'll give ya a cookie.
Well, hope you liked the chapter, I'll try to update soon
~Deadly Beauty