X3runner: You always seem to catch the subtle hints I drop in the story about what relationships are supposed to mimic and little things about Ivory that make up her character. I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer: All respective characters, save for ones like Ivory and Kirsi, belong to their rightful creator.

"Can you read this passage for me?"

Ivory squinted at the words in front of her. She tried to pull the book closer to her to see better, but Gohan gently held it away from her. She could see them decently well, some words stood out to her immediately, but others looked just as jumbled as they had before. She wished she could hold the book closer but apparently, it wouldn't help her in the long run.

"For a long time, people have been…fascinated by the dual…duality of good, evil, and human nature. The exi-exist-existence of this condition affects all people."

She felt like a child all over again, but it didn't feel as humiliating or embarrassing as she thought it would. Maybe it was because of how Gohan was teaching her that made it easier.

Two weeks ago, Gohan had approached her and asked to talk to her alone. Ivory had been sure he was going to say that he had figured her out, so she mentally prepared herself for a fight, or to be ambushed at any second. She kept one finger on the emergency button Biamuh had given her in case things went south. What Gohan actually wanted to talk about shocked her to her core.

He asked her about her reading comprehension and Ivory suddenly couldn't speak.

She hadn't even said anything to him about it; he figured it out on his own. He mentioned it to her after school one day, pulling her away from their friend group to talk to her privately. She'd been very concerned when he kept checking the area they were in to make sure it was free of people and she was sure that he was going to attack. But when they were alone, he was surprisingly nice and sympathetic with his words. Ivory could only stand there in shock as he asked her if he had ever learned how to read their language. He mentioned that, although her speech was coherent and eloquent, he noticed that she rarely paid attention in lectures, never volunteered to answer questions on the board, and usually only wrote short answers whenever they took tests. Ivory had been so stunned when he told her all of this that he took her silence for embarrassment and apologized over and over to her for bring up something that he assumed was embarrassing for her. In reality, Ivory had no idea that he had been watching her so closely, so much that he picked up on that detail.

It took her a few minutes to get her thoughts together, but when she did, she finally found her voice. Gohan had still been apologizing so she pressed one finger against his lips to silence him.

"You don't have to keep apologizing to me. You're right. I never learned this language, though I am privately trying to learn on my own. It has been…less than successful." In truth, Biamuh had been slowly trying to teach her as he knew it a lot better than she previously assumed. The only problem she had was that many of the characters looked the same as the ones she grew up reading, but they made completely different sounds. It threw her off every time she tried to read, so she learned very slowly.

To her surprise, Gohan didn't look at her with pity. His face showed sympathy and what looked like admiration. "Wow. Trying to learn a language on your own must be difficult. Do you want help?"

Ivory was going to say no. That would require her to talk to and interact with more people than she had to and she really didn't want to talk to anyone else. She had a small circle of people she interacted with and she had no plans on making that circle any bigger. But before she could answer, he spoke again.

"I'd be happy to help you if you needed it."

She felt like she had struck gold. For a while now, she had been looking for some opening to interacting with him more, had been looking for a way to see him in private without arousing too much suspicion. Yet he practically handed her the opportunity she needed. She didn't even have to do anything; he merely assumed that she didn't want anyone to know about it, so he arranged for private meetings between them. Ivory may have seemed a little too eager to agree but how could she not be excited?

They agreed to keep everything a secret for Ivory's sake and they met up three times a week to study and so he could teach her language. Ivory eagerly showed up to each one, not just because it was a skill she had been dying to learn but because she could learn about Gohan while she did.

It had been three weeks since he approached her, and she learned quite a bit about him in that time. For one, he was much smarter than she had given him credit for, to the point where it astounded her. She found herself listening to him talk even after they finished their session, fascinated in all his theories and ideas and future prospects. As she said before, it wasn't often that she could engage in a battle of wits with someone who didn't just blindly agree with her. And he talked without making her feel like she was inferior, but like they were equals. What they talked about varied from day to day, but with every subject they went back and forth endlessly.

She also learned a little bit about his family. He didn't divulge too much information about his family, not enough for her to glean too much information from him, but she gathered enough. It was him, his mother, his father, and his younger brother. The idea that there were four Saiyans running around concerned her and reminded her of the fact that the Saiyans had been procreating for years before her arrival. She had no clue what Vegeta's family situation was like, but she was sure he had a couple of spawns running around.

Regardless, any information she could get was enough for her.

What surprised her the most was just how patient he was. Ivory was learning to read fast, but she dumbed herself down in front of him just to extend their time together. He didn't seem to pick up on it, but no matter how much she struggled, he never berated her whenever she made a mistake. He acknowledged that she only had a basic understanding of the language and didn't make her feel like a child whenever she misread something or misspelled something. Her previous tutors sometimes made her feel incompetent for not grasping something simple, but she didn't feel any of that around him.

Things weren't always that easy though.

There were a few hiccups in their meetings but Ivory excused them. Now and then his watch would start making noise and Gohan would suddenly need to leave. He'd give her an apology and a rushed excuse for why he needed to go and then dash out. She never questioned him about it and simply let him leave without trying to wrestle an explanation out of him; he still didn't know it yet, but Ivory knew about his other persona and guessed that he was leaving to fight crime. She had Biamuh on the scene, tailing him as far as he could, and Biamuh confirmed that Gohan would indeed play superhero when he left. Ivory planned to follow him herself one day, she just didn't know how she would accomplish that without casting suspicion on herself.

"That was exactly it! You're picking this up surprisingly fast."

She smiled at him. He didn't skimp on praise with her and he always got so excited when she picked up on something. And she wasn't going to lie, but she found herself thriving on the praise he gave her. She enjoyed it. "It's thanks to you too. You're a good teacher."

Gohan chuckled nervously. "I doubt it. Anyone could've helped you."

Ivory didn't know when she started noticing it, but he seemed to have a hard time accepting genuine compliments; he always doubted himself no matter what she said. This wasn't the first time she had praised him and he seemed to downplay his abilities. He was intelligent and talented and should recognize it for himself.

"You tend to sell yourself short. There aren't too many people who have the patience to teach someone else something so basic. You also haven't treated me any differently for not knowing how to read this language nor have you mocked me for it. It isn't something anyone could do but I'm glad you've taken the time for me. You possess traits others would only dream of having; you are admirable for that."

Gohan paused and looked down, his face a dull red. This expression was different from any of the ones she had seen before. Not the smile she was used to and not the normal look he gave her when he was embarrassed. This one was softer…shyer…vulnerable... "T-Thank you."

She decided to change the subject, tapping on the cover of the book in her hands. It was supposedly above her reading level but Gohan quickly realized that she was learning faster than he assumed, so he let her try reading passages from it. Even though she stumbled over some of the words, what she gathered from the book was…thought-provoking. "Where did you find this book? It's interesting."

"That? Oh, it's called Theories of Human Nature. My grandfather bought it for me a couple of years ago. I don't study philosophy but it was great to read."

She could tell he read it over and over again. The spine of the book showed signs of wear from constant handling and some of the pages had tiny smudges on them. She wondered why a Saiyan would ever find philosophy interesting but she was starting to see that Gohan was different. Her father had once spoken of rumors of Saiyans that were surprisingly intelligent, who were actual scientists and tacticians, with high intelligence despite their passion for fighting. Saiyans that preferred inventing new strategies or inventions or simply learning as much as they could for the sake of learning. They were mere rumors of course and neither she nor her father believed them, but she was starting to see that the rumors had a basis somewhere. It was the best explanation for why Gohan was so peculiar compared to other Saiyans. "I'd like to read more of it if you don't mind. May I borrow it for a night?"

Gohan seemed unsure about the request and she understood why. It was a high-level book, but she had been faking it for a while and having Biamuh teach her at home. She knew she was more than capable of reading it, but he didn't need to know that. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

Even if she couldn't and got stumped, she would have Biamuh read it to her. He knew this language a lot better than she did. "I've been practicing at home with the exercises you gave me. I'm sure I can read the majority of it. If not, I'll ask about it tomorrow while we walk to school. It would give us something new to talk about, which is good for me since I like talking to you."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ivory wanted to take them back. She had no idea why she said that or where that came from, and she wished she had simply said "yes" instead of rambling.

"…I like talking to you too."

'What?' She froze. He had said it quietly but she was sure she had heard him properly. Did he enjoy their time together so much or was he just humoring her? When she turned to look at him, he was red again but refused to look at her. Ivory looked down at the book in her hands, which suddenly felt so much heavier.

"Let's continue."


Gohan had to cut their session early, but that was merely because neither of them could focus after their…confession (if that's what it could be called). Things had become awkward between them and Ivory kept stuttering without meaning to. She hadn't even been faking it that time; her voice had trembled and her hands were shaking. Gohan hadn't been able to look at her without blushing and he stuttered more than she did. Whatever progress she made had halted after that, so they both called it quits.

The sky was starting to change colors by the time they left, the once bright blue colors now bleeding into something a lot warmer. Ivory found that she liked the sky on earth, how the colors just seemed to blend no matter the time of day. It was much better than the green or purple skies she was accustomed to seeing, or the darkness of space. There was a lot of color on Earth, shades and hues that she had never seen before. She had been to countless planets that she thought were beautiful, but she had never seen colors such as these.

"I didn't realize it had gotten so late."

Gohan's voice drew Ivory's attention and she once again found herself curious about him. She had always had a mental image of Saiyans in her mind; images of big, hulking barbarians with blood dripping from their limbs, standing over a pile of dead bodies. She saw brutal men and women who laughed as they tortured beings weaker than them, tearing apart anything in their way just for the sake of it. Monsters that only cared about themselves.

But then she would see Gohan and talk to him and her image crumbled in front of her. He was so different and she couldn't help but constantly try to find his flaw. She wanted to get closer to him so that he would finally let his guard down and show his true nature but she didn't know if she was wasting her time. She wasn't finding anything about him that confirmed what her father had told her. Everything she thought about Saiyans just seemed like exaggerations, they…seemed like lies.

But saying they were lies meant that she was calling her father a liar.

Her father wasn't a liar, he couldn't have been. He didn't keep secrets from her no matter what they were. He always told her his every move and told her things that even her mother didn't know about. He was honest with her about why he eliminated the Saiyans in the first place, why he sold certain planets yet destroyed others, why he had the soldiers he had. He was always honest with her, more honest than he was with her mother and even her grandfather.

Her father couldn't have been lying about the Saiyans.

Gohan had to be deceiving her. That had to be the only logical solution to all of this. Gohan was lying to her, pretending to be an earthling to fool her and possibly expose herself. He was in cohorts with Vegeta, who already knew she was here and wanted to kill her just like he killed her father. All of this was a clever ploy.

And it sounded absolutely unbelievable.

A part of her just knew her father was telling the truth, but another part of her didn't want to believe that Gohan was lying to her. She didn't know why but she was starting to think that he was completely different from a Saiyan, someone who was kind, someone who played "hero" for those weaker than him, someone who was honest and open. Maybe he was just an extraordinary human.

Or, maybe the damn books he had her reading were just messing with her head. The only reason she started having these thoughts was that she listened to his stupid theories all the time and let him talk to her about the books he was fond of. All his ideals were slowly starting to contradict everything she knew and she hated feeling like she was wrong about how she was raised.

This was all his fault.

"…sorry we keep cutting this short. I feel like I'm wasting your time."

Ivory blinked and shook her head. She had missed almost everything he had been saying because of her internal rant. "What? No, no it's alright. You must have other priorities and had to make time for me. I'm grateful you continue to do this for me."

"You seem happy when you learn something new and I just like helping people. Though sometimes, it gets me into a bit of trouble."

She chuckled. "But what's life without a bit of trouble?"

She expected him to blush or stutter like he was prone to do it, but instead, he smiled in a way she had never seen before. Not the stupid smile she had come to know well and not an embarrassed one. She couldn't quite place what his expression was but it made her cheeks start to feel warm. 'What does that look mean?'

"We should be getting home. As you said, it's late."

"I could walk you home if you'd like?"

As much as she wanted to say "no", she didn't feel like getting caught up in her thoughts again. Gohan was a welcome distraction from it all even if he was the source of everything. But being alone with turbulent thoughts would be a decidedly bad thing if she got frustrated enough to take it out on whoever was around her. It'd be better for the world if she let him accompany her.

"I'd love that."


Ivory hadn't seen anyone take so much joy in simply walking around.

She had been around Gohan enough, walked with him every morning, and spent hours in a classroom with him. It was common knowledge to her that he was highly intelligent, friendly, and he tended to get flustered very easily. But she never saw someone who took merely enjoyed taking a walk. She would glance at him out the corner of her eye every now and then and he constantly had this smile on his face. It never dropped and it didn't seem forced; he was just happy for whatever reason and smiled because of it. She wasn't sure she had ever seen someone who had just enjoyed themselves like this.

For a moment, she almost felt bad about what she came to earth to do. She very much enjoyed their time together and enjoyed talking to him; she'd miss it if he were dead. Maybe she could keep him as a pet instead of killing him. She would take very good care of him and give him everything he would ever want. He would have to be trained of course but she could manage that. It could work.

"Gohan?"

"Yes?"

When he turned, Ivory could vividly imagine a pair of ears perking up in excitement and a fluffy little tail wagging at the call. If only she had a collar to place around his throat and let everyone know that he belonged to her and her alone. He would look so cute with a collar.

Maybe she would bring it up to Biamuh later but the final decision was hers. And though her mother had never let her have a pet before, Gohan would make a very good one. She rather liked the idea of him sitting at her side instead of dead with his planet. She could teach him obedience and manners and she would never have to harm him.

She shook her head and laughed. She'd discuss this later. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."


The walk to her house took less time than Ivory expected but before she knew it, they were just outside her door.

"I'd like to thank you again for today. You've no idea how grateful I am for your help. And-" she gestured to the book in her hands. "I'll be sure to take good care of this tonight."

"Uh, yeah. Of course. I mean- you're welcome."

Ivory could sense that there was something else he wanted to say and she wanted to do the same. Words rested on her tongue but she couldn't find her voice, so she simply smiled and turned to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Gohan."

"Ivory, wait-"

Something warm slid into her hand and she tensed, turning around to face Gohan again.

That was his hand.

He was holding her hand.

He was holding her hand.

"Wha-"

"I…um…I was thinking that maybe I could make up for today? It really isn't fair to you that things kept interrupting."

"It's not necessary for you to do that. You can't control when situations occur."

"I know but…I promised to help you and I wouldn't be a very good friend if I kept letting this happen and not making up for it. So, how about we have another session together this weekend?"

Why was her heart racing so much? He wasn't proposing anything out of the norm, just make-up day for their botched study session. There was no reason for her to react this way! But…the way he asked just seemed different than before. Like he was proposing something else.

No. She was looking too deep into things again.

"Yes. Of course."


Ivory closed the door behind her and sighed, looking down at her palm. Nothing was wrong with it but it felt significantly warmer now. Gohan's hand had been much bigger than hers, and warmer. Much warmer.

How strange.

She would focus on that encounter later; for now, she needed to focus on why her dear mother had been spying on her. Ivory had noticed Kirsi's curious gaze from the window out the corner of her eye but she didn't want to cause a scene in front of Gohan.

"Spare me whatever excuse you have ready Kirsi. Why were you spying on me?"

Kirsi emerged from the other room, trying and failing to pretend that she had no idea what Ivory was talking about. "I don't know what you mean."

"I saw you Kirsi. I didn't acknowledge you but I knew you were there. Answer the question."

Kirsi huffed. "Fine. You've been coming home late and without Biamuh so much that I became curious about your whereabouts. Biamuh refused to tell me and you don't talk to me as it is. Excuse a mother for being worried."

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Who was that Ivory?"

"It's none of your business."

"Ivory, I am your mother. I have a right to know who you're with, especially when you're so deep in conversation with them.

"He's a good conversationalist. Can you fault me?"

Kirsi hummed. "I've never seen you interested in someone to this degree before."

There was a sudden shift in Kirsi's tone that drew Ivory's attention. "Well…I…enjoy his company to a degree."

"Do you now? Then why have you never invited him in if he's such good company?"

"I have reasons for everything I do. Why are you suddenly invested in my relationships?"

"Well…" Kirsi smiled in a way that started to irritate Ivory. She knew that smile. "I've just never seen you keep the company of anyone so…handsome."

She felt rage building up inside of her. The look Kirsi had in her eyes coupled with that smile on her face…Ivory had seen that look so many times before and it usually resulted in her mother bedding whoever she had her sights on. The fact that Kirsi was having those thoughts about Gohan of all people pissed her off. "What does that mean?"

Kirsi laughed. "Nothing, nothing. I'm just surprised. When you decided to mingle among these earthlings, I thought you'd be strictly bound to your vendetta. But then you come home with such an exquisite creature and-"

"Shut your mouth."

Ivory's blood was boiling. How dare Kirsi say such things and think Gohan in that manner? She had no right to him and Ivory would be damned if she let Gohan anywhere near her.

"That was the Saiyan I had gotten a lead on Kirsi. Whatever thoughts you're having about him, cease them immediately. He's my target and that means that he's mine." Ivory seized Kirsi's chin with her fingers, pulling her mother down to her level. She could see the fear in her mother's eyes and she relished in it. "For your own safety Kirsi, you'd best leave that Saiyan alone. If you even think about interacting with him, your death will not be swift nor will it be merciful."


"I don't think I have ever witnessed you get so aggravated with your mother before." Biamuh made sure they were safely away from prying eyes before speaking. No one would dare bother Ivory in her own room, but after the fallout with her mother, the soldiers would likely tread very lightly around her. Not that they had anything to worry about but Ivory knew they would be extremely cautious.

"Today was just a bad day for me."

They both knew that was a lie but Biamuh knew better than to question her or call her out on it. Instead, Biamuh turned his attention to the book Ivory had placed on her night table when they entered. "Where did you get this book from?"

"Don't touch it!" Ivory snapped.

Biamuh immediately put his hands up in a placating manner, taking two steps backward just in case. "Apologies Princess."

"No. I should not have snapped like that. It's just…" How was she supposed to explain herself? She could easily tell Biamuh that it was Gohan's book she had borrowed and that she was keeping it safe for him. But that begged the question on why she was so protective of it. She hadn't let go of the book once, not even when Gohan surprised her and taken her hand. Throughout everything, she still held onto his book until just now.

And she found she just couldn't explain herself.

"It is no business of mine Princess."

"I'm sorry."

She needed to calm down but she had just gotten so angry. The thought of Kirsi taking interest in Gohan was infuriating and the fact that she was so shameless about it grated her nerves. Ivory didn't normally care about who Kirsi pursued but because it was Gohan.

Ivory swiped the book from her night table and clutched it to her chest. It was warm to the touch, just as his hand had been. It was...comforting to her. "He's mine."

"I'm…sorry Princess. What did you say?"

"He's mine. That Saiyan is mine. I won't let Kirsi have him! I won't let anyone else have him!"

"…of course Princess."

She never opened the book once the entire night. It stayed in her arms the rest of the day and no one dared question her about it. Kirsi had tried and Ivory had broken two of her fingers for it. After that, all hands stayed away from it.

Even as she drifted off to sleep that night, the book remained in her arms.


Kirsi hissed as a medic set her fingers back into place. There was no rejuvenation tank or liquid she could use at the moment so everything had to be done manually. It was painful and annoying when these things happened and she hated how temperamental Ivory was being. It was just a book for goodness sake! Why was it so important to her? It hadn't looked like anything her father had bought her.

So it must've belonged to that man she had been talking to.

Kirsi had never seen him before. Ivory was selective of who she kept company with and she only ever went places with Biamuh. That man was decidedly not Biamuh and not one of their soldiers either. Whoever he was, she noticed something about him, about his interaction with Ivory. He had done nothing wrong but Kirsi had seen the way that Ivory had reacted.

She had been blushing.

Kirsi was sure that it wasn't a trick of the light or her eyes deceiving her. Ivory had been blushing when that man had grabbed her hand. And that was supposed to be the Saiyan? Ivory should have known better than to mix her personal goals with an outside relationship yet she was showing signs of attraction to that Saiyan.

She knew her daughter wasn't as perfect as she made herself out to be.

The thought of her daughter with a Saiyan disgusted her but…what would be the biggest humiliation for Ivory? Falling for the enemy would definitely be one. She'd be disgracing the family by doing so and disgracing herself. Everything she worked for would crumble. Kirsi could rise from her daughter's mistake and take control of everything by proving how unfit Ivory was to lead.

She would have to plan this carefully, but what if she could make her daughter fall for the Saiyan? If she got them to fall in love, Ivory would be so swept up in her first serious romance that she would forget all about her little plan. And if her heart got broken, she'd run crying to her mother, who would help her pick up the pieces and make it all better.

Her plan would need to be polished. And would have to go completely unnoticed by Ivory. But if Kirsi could pull this off, she wouldn't have to worry about her daughter making a fool of herself nor would she worry about staying on this infernal planet for too long.

A/N: How lewd. They were holding hands.

As you can see, Ivory is having difficultly balancing the things she learned from her father and the things she has been observing while she's on Earth and learned about Gohan. She knows that she has to kill Gohan but now she isn't sure that she wants to because he defies everything she learned from her father. To further complicate things, she's become very possessive of him. This doesn't bode well…

But this is perfect for Kirsi. If Ivory falls for Gohan, she won't want to hurt him or the planet. Kirsi can prove how unfit she is as a leader and take her rightful place as Queen of the empire. She just has to come up with a solid plan to execute.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading!