A/N: Hey guys! Just a small announcement before we get right into the story. And that small announcement is:
Ascending is going to be cross posted on AO3 soon! Yippee!
... That is all. Actually no, wait. The hiatus is now over (see, that was short!) but expect longer periods of time between updates. I have final exams to study for and this dank holiday to enjoy.
"Poor dear..."
"How old is she again? Eight?"
"No child should ever have to deal with such a terrible loss." The speaker, a female, clicked her tongue. "No child..."
"That's life. If she can't deal with it, then bully for her."
Caulifla sat in silence as the adult saiyans conversed around her as if she wasn't even there. She didn't know what to say to them. For the first time in her short life, her silver tongue had become lead in her mouth.
Maybe she should make an outburst. Scream at them.
Maybe she should cry. Wouldn't it make sense for her to cry at this stage?
Or maybe she could continue what she was doing right now, sitting pale faced among adults who only pretended to care.
In the gray room, she glanced at the single poster taped on the wall. "No child left behind" it declared.
Already, she knew she would hate it here.
"The documents are all ready, Pepper," a stern looking saiyan said. "As of today, she'll be under your care."
"Of course." Pepper was plump and round faced by it was obvious she has some hidden muscle under her matronly outfit. Her neck was practically thick, ropy muscle after all. She nudged Caulifla and, despite radiating bodily heat, the touch felt cold to the newly orphaned saiyan.
When Caulifla didn't move, Pepper put on her best smile. "Come on dear. We're going to have lots of fun at your new home. I promise."
Promise. The word echoed in her head and she stood up abruptly, causing Pepper and the others to look at her in confusion. After a few moments of silence, Pepper took her by the hand as gently as she could and guided her out of the cold, monochromatic room.
The corridor was no better for Caulifla. White, clinical lights shone brightly, giving it a formal, uncaring ambience. The place was a few doctors short of a hospital.
Pepper seemed to notice her discomfort and picked up the pace, which Caulifla was able to be at least a little grateful for. At least the woman wasn't a complete idiot when it came to handling small children.
But Caulifla was neither small nor a child.
Not anymore.
When they got outside, Pepper started up her car and nudged Caulifla into the backseat before getting into the driver's seat.
"Now I know what you're thinking," Pepper said by way of starting a conversation. "Why don't we fly instead?"
That was not at all what she was thinking but Caulifla simply put on her best poker face and let the woman continue as the car moved.
"But we have a policy here. Not all children are as lucky as you to be taught how to fly by their... parents. The building where we keep all the children your age is near the main office block, where we just were so it'll only be a short drive."
Keep all the children your age. As if she were some animal. Once upon a time, she would have cared. But now she was too tired.
Far, far too tired.
"Most of the children have never met their parents before. You're one of the lucky ones."
Lucky? Was this lady insane? Caulifla lifted her chin to stare at her through the rear view mirror. "No," she said, her voice hollow. "It's the other way round."
Pepper did not argue. More proof that this woman was full of shit. But the pitiful glance that Pepper gave Caulifla through the same mirror showed that the woman was capable of displaying at least some genuine emotion. Even if it was something that was not welcomed.
Caulifla did not need or want her useless pity. She said as much and Pepper's brows knitted together before she replied.
"It's not pity, Caulifla. It's sadness."
That didn't matter. In her eyes, it was the same thing.
A few seconds later, the car stopped and Caulifla stepped outside. The air smelled nothing like what she was used to, having lived in the forest for most of her life. The smell here was... unnatural. Artificial. Unwelcoming.
"We're here," Pepper announced, Caulifla finding it unnecessarily redundant. "Welcome home."
But it wasn't. It wasn't home.
Caulifla shivered.
Home wasn't supposed to be this cold.
As much as Pepper pushed her to make friends with the others, Caulifla only came to befriend one of them, a seven year old girl called Olive.
Olive was the only one who understood boundaries out of all the other children. She respected Caulifla's personal space while the others pestered her about her past every chance they got. It was no secret who she was, or who her parents had been.
If Olive weren't around, Caulifla swore that she would have gone insane weeks ago. In return for her friendship, Caulifla granted Olive access to all the toys by scaring the other kids away. She was easily the strongest of the bunch, though not as strong as Pepper was.
Olive didn't understand why Caulifla was so protective of her but she was grateful for it. But despite her gratitude, she often pondered on why Caulifla felt the urge to be such a fierce guardian to her. Olive was small and weak. Worthless by saiyan standards. She only had a measly power level of 80. Before Caulifla had come, she had been picked on almost every day.
"Caulifla," Olive said to her one day. "Am I your best friend?"
Caulifla tilted her head to one side in a questioning manner. "Where is this coming from, Olive?"
"I don't know... It's just that I've never had anyone do this for me before... Like protect me and stuff... So we have to be best friends right? Otherwise I don't think you would do this." The logic seemed sound enough in her seven year old mind.
Caulifla stretched an arm around her shoulders and grinned, ruffling Olive's mousy brown hair. "Of course you're my best friend! In fact, we're sisters!"
"S-sisters?" She didn't know why but Olive found the declaration a little disturbing, her unusual perceptiveness coming into play.
"Duh. And as your big sister, it's my duty to protect you, Rutah."
Olive froze.
But she did not question it. Not because she didn't want to - the girl was naturally curious.
But because she didn't dare.
Olive died a few days later from a lung infection.
Caulifla's expression was stern as she watched Kale dip her spoon into her soup and lift the broth to her mouth with a trembling hand.
"Just drink it," she ordered sharply, making the timid girl drop her spoon into the bowl, splashing stock onto the floor. "God, you're so clumsy. How have you survived this long?"
"S-sorry..." Kale mumbled. "I-I'll clean it up. I promise."
"Shut up. Don't make promises you can't keep. It's not like this is my apartment anyway."
"Oh..." She fiddled with her spoon before finally taking a small sip. "Then who's is it...?"
"Hell if I know. I just broke into the nearest empty one."
"Oh."
They went quiet, Caulifla silently observing Kale as she gobbled down the rest of her liquid meal, as if she just realized that she was ravenously hungry. When she finished, Kale set the bowl aside and awkwardly bowed before Caulifla.
"Thank you for the meal."
Caulifla was surprised that she managed not to stutter for once but didn't let that surprise show on her permenantly stony features. "Don't to that." She looked away so that she was facing the window. Not that she could see anything outside. It was still raining - heavier than ever.
"Sorry..."
She quickly grew annoyed. "Don't do that either! It's irritating to see you being such a doormat, especially when you're so..."
"S-so w-what?"
"Strong," Caulifla ground out, growing more displeased. "It doesn't suit you. You have the potential to be stronger than me."
Kale blinked at her in disbelief.
"Don't do that!" Caulifla snapped, "My god, you are so annoying." So why am I putting up with her? It's not just because she's strong, is it? Strength that is only triggered by strong emotions, I might add...
Kale looked like she was about to apologize again but stopped herself. She knew better at this point, something that didn't go unnoticed by Caulifla.
After more uncomfortable silence, Caulifla sighed and turned to Kale. "Sorry. It's been a long day."
Kale had definitely not been expecting the big bad saiyan to apologize. "Oh, um, it's okay. Thank you... for looking after me."
"... It's nothing."
It had been the start of a beautiful story, a beginning where one memory was buried for another. A story that she wished would never end.
She did not know where she was.
She did not know if she even wanted to know.
Caulifla's eyes opened, her vision green. Wha... What happened?
"Hey."
Caulifla narrowed her eyes into slits as a man in a white lab coat walked right past her position and addressed someone else.
"Her vitals are stable. She just woke up."
"Oh? That's excellent news. Not that there's much to do right now. Still awaiting orders from our Lady."
"Don't say it like that, Squad Leader. You could get in trouble."
"Oh? And are you going to report me, Moblit?"
It was only then that Caulifla managed to get a better grasp on where she was. Her body seemed to be suspended in some sort of translucent liquid. Something tight squeezed her neck and, feeling a pinch in places that shouldn't be pinched, she could theorize that there were multiple wires and tubes attached to her.
She tried to move but found herself unable to. She glared, the liquid thankfully not irritating her eyes. Who are these people? Where am I?
Then she remembered. Despite the coolness of the aqua surrounding her figure, she felt the tips of her ears burn in embarrassment. She was sure that if she had a tail like the Universe 7 saiyans once did, it would be subconsciously tucked between her legs in shame.
How could she have let this happened? Yes, it had been her intention to surrender herself in the place of her brother, but not like this! Not... like this.
But it was too late.
She had taken the bait.
And now she would go down in humiliation rather than with dignity. The one thing she had hoped to preserve after certain death was her saiyan pride.
Now Kafara had stripped her of that too and apparently made her some kind of lab experiment.
It was disgusting.
She was disgusting.
"Her heart rate is increasing, Squad Leader. Should we give her another dose of morphine?"
"Leave her be. She can't do anything in her state. Only when her palpitations get dangerously high do we prescribe more."
"Yes, Squad Leader."
"So..." The new voice was nervous and Caulifla managed to catch a disembodied shape move past her. "What now?" His voice grew falsely cheerful. "I propose we go out for drinks! What do you say, guys?"
Nobody deigned to respond to him.
But then another new voice sounded, heavy and tired. "Muto."
"... Sorry. I, uh, didn't think of that..."
"Squad Leader?" The one known as Moblit prompted. "Are you okay?"
"... No. No, not yet." Squad Leader's voice became sharper. "Please mind your own business."
"Squad Leader, with all due respect, this is as much as my business as it is yours. Yvonne was under my command as well."
Caulifla stopped tuning in at this point, uninterested in whatever drama they had.
So she slept.
And she dreamed.
When her ninth birthday was approaching (though she did not know it), she was rescued from Hell.
"Renso," she choked as she saw his face for the first time in months. "You..." For the first time since she had laid in the bed with her parents, she cried openly as she ran into the open arms of her brother.
"I'm here for you, Cauli." His strong, deep voice was a comfort that she had not experienced for those long and lonely months without Olive's presence.
"Don't leave me!" She grabbed her brother's shirt and clenched her small fists around the fabric. "Why didn't you come home, Renso? Why didn't you come home? Please don't leave me!"
She sounded so genuinely terrified and desperate that Renso could do nothing but hug her as tight as he could and rub comforting circles on her back as she cried, demanding answers that he could not give because they weren't worthy enough.
Even when she beat her fists on his broad chest, he could not answer. Instead, he held her even tighter than he thought was possible, ignoring the bewildered stares of Caulifla's housemates.
"I let her down," Caulifla blubbered. "I was the one who told her to play in the pond. I didn't know she would get sick! Honest!"
At that, Renso glanced up at the saddened face of Pepper, who stood to the left of them, watching with a heavy heart.
"I was supposed to protect her! Mom said so! I'm Rutah's Guardian!" She heaved, panting heavily, tear tracks staining her cheeks. "I swore. I swore to her. I broke my promise." She glanced up at Renso, who shivered at her imploring gaze. "Don't you understand, Renso? I broke a promise."
Renso stroked her hair. "Cauli... Rutah's death wasn't your fault. None of it was. Mother would never blame you for something you couldn't control. None of us saw it coming." He clutched her and brought her even closer to him. "Some very, very bad people took them away. Not you."
At last, Caulifla's gaze seemed to uncloud. "I... I see." The words were so cold, so clinical that Renso had to flinch. It was as if she had just reached some kind of epiphany.
"What do you see, Cauli?" He had to fight his own brewing storm of emotions to keep his voice even. It was useless - it wavered anyway.
"I spent the first month with Rutah," Caulifla said, trying to sound as firm as she could. "But it was Olive who died instead." She paused before blinking. "I won't make the same mistake again. Olive was nothing to me. She didn't play with me. Rutah did. Right, Renso?"
Renso could not find it in himself to reply.
Instead, he just burst into mournful tears.
And cried.
And cried.
"Big bro, I'm cold," Caulifla said, rubbing her red nose, her upper lip raw from sandpapering it with low quality tissues.
Ever since Renso had brought her back from foster care after months of signing all sorts of documents, Caulifla had taken to calling him 'big bro' at the most random times. He didn't want to think that it was a coping mechanism. It isn't, he constantly told himself. She was just learning the values of family... right?
Truthfully, he did not know and was content with his ignorance for the time being.
"Sorry, Cauli, but you know there's no heating." Renso passed a hand through his hair, which was getting longer by the day. He never found any time to cut it, especially now that he was legally responsible for his sister until she came of age. Right now, he was focusing on moving everything from their old home to their new one, which Renso had built with his own two hands.
"Right," Caulifla grumbled, scowling. "Of course there isn't. There better be at least a fireplace at our new home."
"Don't you worry about it Cauli. We won't have any electricity but we can make do. The stove there is great!"
"It better be..."
"Have you packed all your clothes yet?"
"... No."
"Huh?! What are you waiting for then, go pack everything you want to keep!"
"Yeah, yeah! Chill out, big bro."
"If I chilled out I'd be frozen to death."
"Wow, cynical much."
"Do you even know what that word means?"
"Sh-shut up you dork!"
Renso laughed as his sister stormed off, hopefully to pack.
In her room, Caulifla was halfheartedly sifting through her closet. "Yes, no, yes, no..." Her hand brushed against something plastic as she stopped. "Huh? Now what's this...?"
She pulled out a plastic package. Inside, there was a maroon sweater just waiting to be worn. Just from a glance, Caulifla could tell that it was made with the softest material and knitted with the utmost love and care. Perhaps it was something her mother had left behind for her?
Caulifla flipped the parcel so that she was facing the back. It turned out that it wasn't from her mother after all, but instead from a family friend called Fennel who, in the note attached to the plastic, claimed that she knitted it for Caulifla to wear when her body was mature enough.
Like every other child, Caulifla felt that she was plenty mature enough to wear the sweater, not really grasping the fact that the sweater would be three sizes too big for her. Smiling eagerly, she tore open the package and took out the sweater.
"Cool!"
She wriggled into it, the material keeping in her body warmth. She sighed blissfully, thankful to be relieved from the biting cold. It was only then she realized just how large the jumper was. She tried rolling the sleeves up so her hands could actually be seen but they just kept slipping down again. Unbothered, she merely shrugged and made do with what she had.
"Cauli!" Renso called from the other room. "Are you okay? You're being pretty quiet and it's creepy!"
"What do you mean creepy?!"
When Renso burst into peals of laughter, Caulifla groaned and hid her face in her oversized sweater even though she knew Renso couldn't see her. She had taken the bait. Damn, when would she stop being so foolish?
Today, it had been Renso who one upped her.
But tomorrow it could easily be someone far more dangerous.
A/N: Hello, dear readers! I have returned. Not that I would leave permanently if given the choice. You guys are like the blood in my veins. The thing that keeps me going. Every single review I get is precious.
You know what I was thinking? Fan art. I really want to make fan art for DBS and maybe my fic but I couldn't draw a stick figure if I tried. Whenever I do circles in functions, my circle graphs always end up looking like a very misshapen potato.
That's too bad... Oh well, I still have my skills in... uh... eating. Yeah, I love eating.
I have a new oneshot up in the Super category called The Moonlight Express and would really love it if you left a review or two!
Have a nice day everyone!~