The Little Orphan Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters.

Thank you everyone who reviewed the previous chapter.


Bulma was staring at the blank wall in front of her. She was deep in thought, so engrossed that she did not notice anything else that was happening around her, including the sound of the door slamming shut.

"Repair the Gravity Room, woman," Vegeta said. Bulma did not reply. Vegeta looked at her quizzically, as it was not in Bulma's nature not to reply to a question and actually stay quiet. "Are you okay?" Vegeta asked.

"We'll have to work very hard to gain her trust and be friends with her. We'll have to put a lot of effort to make her open up, to make her feel like a part of the family," Bulma muttered under her breath to herself but Vegeta heard her.

"Yeah, that kid is a piece of work," he said.

Bulma faced him now, her eyes burning with fury. "Better leave her alone, Vegeta. She's been through a lot." "Why will I concern myself with that kid?" Vegeta retorted. "Yeah well, I think you were in a much worse position yourself in your younger years, Vegeta. Maybe, if you can relate to her," Bulma snapped. Her husband clenched his fists. He did not want to be reminded of those bad times of grief, loneliness and slavery. He frowned as he thought about Susie, and how inevitably they were alike in such things.

The sky was a shade of pink that Susie actually liked. The day was just beginning to dawn. It was quite chilly outside and as the fresh air caressed Susie's face she felt as awake as she had ever felt. Her best idea of relaxing was to watch the sun rise while sitting on a thick branch of a tree. Outside her window, there was a branch thick enough for that. Her bedroom's window led to the balcony, from where she jumped to grab that branch. She grasped it and dangled from it for a while, just for the fun of it, then pulled herself up and settled herself. She looked at the horizon, from where the sun would rise. Birds had just begun to chirp, singing in their melodious voice. It was at this time that she felt calm and at peace. She watched the big ball of fire, blazing, its hue a mix of orange and saffron. She smiled. That was really something worth watching.

She sat there for a long time, watching the sky and the garden, and spotting the occasional person on the street. It was after seven that someone knocked on her door. "Susie, are you awake dear?" Bulma's voice came in, soft and gentle. "Yes," Susie replied. "May I come in?" "Of course, of course you may," Susie said reluctantly, though she did not show it in her voice. The blue haired woman entered the room and it was at that moment that Susie swung into the balcony from the tree.

"What do you think you were doing?" the woman cried, "You could get hurt!" "I won't, Bulma," Susie replied, "I have… experience." Bulma did not like the way she said 'experience'. It had a sort of sneakiness and sadness at the same time. "But if it bothers you so much," Susie continued, "You can send me back. I won't mind, I'm an orphan."

"Don't you dare call yourself an orphan again," Bulma said sternly and pulled Susie in her embrace. "We are your family dear. Give us just one chance," she said. Susie did not say anything on that. "She must be one of those lovey-dovey kinds," she thought.

"You can let go of me now," Susie muttered, "You are choking me."

Bulma let go of the child reluctantly and smiled at her. "Sorry Susie," she said.

"So," Susie said, eager to change the topic, "Did you need anything, Bulma?"

The woman replied, "No, I was just checking whether you were awake or not. Get ready and come down for breakfast, dear. We're having waffles today. And you might try the new clothes that I had selected for you. I kept them yesterday in your cupboard."

With that Bulma left the room. Susie shut the door behind her and opened the cupboard. What she saw was outrageous and what she saw made her so furious that she wanted to smack Bulma on the head. She wondered why did not check the cupboard before and cursed herself for it.

There were dresses in there. The last time Susie had worn dresses when she was six. After that it was only T-shirts and pants. And from two years ago only black shirts and jeans. But dresses? She did not own a dress. She did not want to see a dress. She remembered that when her mother had been loving to her, she used to weave dresses for her, beautiful designs that always felt great to wear. She would snuggle against her mother and listen to her stories. That was before her mother had turned to drinking.

She shook away those memories and focused on the scene in front of her. What was even worse was that none of the clothes were black or blue. "Do they want me to run away?" she caught herself wondering. If that was the case, then their method was so bizarre that Susie actually grinned. "If that is the case," she decided, "I will definitely not run away."

When Susie came down for breakfast her first thought was, "Vegeta isn't here again." She wondered what work he did, why he trained all day long and what was so special about the structure that she had seen last night from the window.

Bulma looked up from her chair with a smile which wavered just a bit when she saw that Susie was not wearing any of the dresses she had chosen. At that moment Trunks walked in and flashed a smile at his new sister. Susie did not smile back and Bulla frowned at her brother when he did not smile at her.

"Hello kiddo!" he said and patted Susie's shoulder. "I don't remember my name being 'Kiddo'," Susie said. Bulla rolled her eyes and looked at her mother with 'What did I tell you?' expression. Then she muttered under her breath, "She's so uptight."

"It's just a nickname, Susie," Bulma said gently.

"Yeah, just a nickname," Trunks said quickly, "But if you don't like it, I'll just call you Susie. Is that okay?"

"Better," Susie replied plainly and sat down. Trunks sat down next to her and in front of Bulla, who glared at her brother and clenched her fists under the table. She quickly masked it with a smile. Susie glanced sideways at Trunks and wished he wouldn't try to make her feel comfortable by acting the loving big brother. Loving elder brother, she corrected herself. She was certain that they would reject her, then what was the point of acting so caring towards her?

As they ate, Bulma told her that she would be joining her school from Monday. She would be going to the same school as Bulla and would be a year junior to her. The word 'school' sounded alien to Susie. She had never been to school. There had been classes in her orphanage, sort of like home-schooling, but she had never been to a real, proper school. She had never lasted in any of her foster homes to attend one, and this one word made her even more certain that she would not last here as well. The thought of going to school… it was a dream too good to come true. However, she often thought on what subject she would enjoy the most. She was certain it was Science and Shadow Ridge Orphanage's staff was not really very good at Science, so they did not focus on it much. On the other hand, Susie would get her hands on all the Science books she could. It was all basic things but she loved it anyway. Inevitably, a longing sigh escaped her lips.

"What happened dear?" Bulma asked.

"Nothing," Susie replied.

"And on Sunday, we'll go to visit a dear friend and his family, the Sons. They'll love to meet you. Are you okay with the visit?" Bulma asked.

"What is the point of it?" Susie thought but she said, "Sure, I'm fine with everything."

"I guess you'll be friends with Pan. She's a nice child, and she'll be in your class," Trunks said.

"Nice…like Bulla?" Susie asked slyly.

Bulla's eyes and lips twitched as she struggled to keep her anger in control. "No, she is quite different," Bulla forced herself to reply. She stood up and walked out of the room saying, "Nice waffles but I'm not hungry."


Chi Chi was heading to make a call to Bulma. It had been a long while since the two spoke to each other, if you consider three days a long time. Just as she was about to the telephone, it started ringing.

"Hello? The Son's Residence," she said.

"Hello Chi Chi!" Bulma's voice came through.

"Hi Bulma! I was just about to call you myself since we haven't spoken to each other for a lot of time," Chi Chi replied.

And then Bulma asked Chi Chi if her family could visit them on Sunday. Chi Chi agreed immediately and was then told that Bulma had adopted a girl. That made Chi Chi feel a pang of jealousy. If only she had a daughter! She was looking forward to meet the new girl; she was looking forward to next Sunday.


Susie was standing outside the dome shaped structure in the garden. Trunks had called it 'Gravity Chamber'. He had told her that the gravity of the room could be adjusted to five hundred times that of earth and that was how his dad trained. Susie could not understand how any human could survive that much gravity or how such a room could be constructed. She voiced her thoughts to him but he only smiled sneakily in reply. "Yeah, a human won't be able to survive it. You're right."

Apparently the chamber wasn't 'working properly' so Trunks and his mom were repairing it and Vegeta was pacing the garden, cursing under his breath.

"Are you not human?" she asked abruptly then went silent, chiding herself for her stupidity. Such a silly thought! Why would Vegeta not be a human? However, the man smirked at her.

"You figured it out quick enough," Vegeta said, "I'm not human."

"But how is that possible?! You are joking."

"Oh, but I don't joke around much, unlike you weak earthlings."

Susie laughed dryly. "Okay then. What are you?"

Vegeta walked up to her. "I am a Saiyan, the Prince of all Saiyans!"

Susie laughed again in that dry way but she did not convince even herself that she did not believe him. She thought that it might be possible as Vegeta had a… different aura; she could feel it, she could feel his strength. She became serious again as Vegeta looked at her sternly.

"What about Bulma? Is she not human too?" she found herself whispering. "She is a human all right," Vegeta replied. With that he walked away to get updates on the repairing and Susie left too, feeling wary and excited, worried and strangely better, nervous yet hopeful. This was the first time she had spoken to Vegeta but she felt close to him for some reason.

Maybe… just maybe, she might survive.