The Little Orphan Girl

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

I want to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. They mean a lot.


Susie had expected a lot of things. This certainly was not one of them.

Whenever anyone said the word 'school', she visualised an old grand building with long corridors, classrooms where there were different desks, a blackboard and a strict teacher everywhere who would tell students off for running in the corridor. She had imagined a playground where there were too many trees but not a proper field. She even imagined the old ways where a teacher would sit cross-legged under a tree and the students would surround him, gaining knowledge. She had thought about discipline.

But this? Never!

The school building was gigantic, built in a modern style. The corridors were too long, the lighting too ambient. And the classrooms… every desk had its own computer, the blackboard had curtains on either side which just drew themselves in, covering the blackboard, when a presentation had to be shown. The whole school was air conditioned. And there was certainly no children's playground there. The school had a proper football field, a tennis court, a badminton court, a basketball field, a swimming pool, a recreational room and an auditorium. The students were all 'upper class elegant' people and the teachers were all quite knowledgeable in their fields.

Susie would have liked it slightly better if it had been the way she had imagined. Of course, she was really thrilled to see the laboratories, wanting to just get down to experiments. And the library had astounded her. There were so many books there that she could not read them all in her whole life time, even if she gave up everything else. The best thing there, however, were the Physics reference books. There were so many of them! If she could only gain all that knowledge!

Maybe her enthusiasm showed on her face because the next moment Pan was smiling at her. "You can issue all of them. The library's really useful."

On other days, Susie might have ignored Pan, or hid her emotions. But not today. She faced Pan and actually grinned at her. "You're right! I'm really excited!" And then she faced Bulla and gave her a genuine smile. "It must be great here, right?"

Bulla was taken aback by this sudden change in Susie's demeanour. The girl looked much younger now and for once she did not have a frown. Bulla smiled back hesitantly. "Yeah it is great. You'll love it when you attend the classes."

"I'm looking forward to it!"

With that Susie again turned towards the thick books of Physics and Biology. There was a hunger in her eyes and that was when pan realised why Susie was acting in a much friendly way.

She has forgotten about her troubles. She's weighing the opportunities and wants to grab them all.

Pan and Bulla were showing Susie around the school. The principal was a really friendly man in his middle ages and he was really sweet and kind towards Susie. She had to give an interview and Mr Joseph Reeds was really with the girl, giving her admission instantly. Susie was sad about one thing though. She wanted to write the admission test and then get admission, so that she could try for a scholarship like Pan. And through all the excitement there was one thing bothering her. The students, they were all rich, very rich. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had an inferiority complex but she made it stay in the back of her mind.

The class was really intriguing. They had started with Physics. Refraction of Light. Susie understood every word the teacher said and answered questions sincerely. The teacher really liked Susie and told her that she would help her cover up the classes she had missed. In fact all the teachers liked Susie. And the girl, on her part, liked all the teachers and found it really compelling to respect and obey them.

Discipline, however, was something very rare at Dew Drop School. The children did anything they wished to do. Some of them even climbed over walls and ran away, skipping classes. Susie found that to be a really negative point about the school, and these antics made her frown return, though she did not voice her thoughts.


"How was your first day?" Pan asked.

"It was really great. I loved it, Pan! I loved it," Susie said and smiled at the younger girl. The two had sat next to each other, Pan explaining everything to Susie under her breath.

Pan thought about pushing her luck further.

"Can we… can we be friends, Susie?" she asked slowly and cautiously. Susie's smile ceased as she looked at Pan. Already, the walls in her mind were beginning to rise. This time though, she tried to suppress it.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, "But I will try."

Pan smiled at her and the two girls shook hands.


Susie returned home with Bulla, and they actually conversed on the way.

"What is your favourite subject?" Bulla asked.

"Physics. Science in general, actually. Yours?"

"English and History. Did you like the school?"

"It was fine. Though I do think you guys are a little short on discipline."

"Discipline isn't fun. And school life is all about having fun."

"I thought it was all about learning."

"You can learn while having fun. Instead of reading so many books, you can just watch the presentation and videos based on that topic. Learning is much faster when done while having fun."

Susie did not say anything on that, partly because she really disagreed and partly because she was not in a mood to argue.

Upon reaching home, Bulma took her in an embrace with a kind smile.

"How was the day, dear?" she asked.

"It was good," Susie, though she did not return the embrace. Bulma was used to this by now so she released her and beamed at her.

"I'm so happy you liked it. And how was your day, Bulla?"

"Same as usual," Bulla said.

"I think you two should go in and meet Trunks in the lab."

Bulla scowled at that, remembering her fights with her brother. He had called her mean and selfish. Bulla was not selfish! She had already done a lot for Susie! But Trunks, Trunks would never understand. He just wanted to be Susie's older brother, not hers. Abruptly, Bulla was really infuriated. Trunks cared only about Susie. He did not love Bulla anymore. What kind of a brother was he?! Giving up on his real sister for just some any orphan kid! All her good mood dissipated. She was angry at Susie again.

As for the said girl, she turned rather pale though she did not show or say anything. Trunks had really annoyed her. He was too friendly for her taste, and tried too hard to be the older brother she could never have. Susie appreciated his concern but it was getting under her nerves. She almost felt sorry for Bulla. Almost. But not completely.

The two girls looked at each other in the eye and said no more for a few seconds.

At last the two simultaneously said, "I'm tired," and went off to their respective rooms.


That night was really different. Not because the sun was still up or Bulla had apologised for being so weird. But because Janet called the Briefs' residence.

She wanted to speak to Susie. For a second, the old love and friendship for Janet filled the child's heart and she almost ran to grab the phone. But she stopped in her tracks. "She did not want me to be with her. That's why she left me," she thought. Her anger and coldness returned, her fists clenched and her lips quivering with rage.

"Susie!" Bulma called out to her.

"I don't want to speak to anyone," Susie said. She did not yell or scream; her voice was actually quite calm but anger and hatred dripped from her words. With that she slammed the door shut with so much force that it startled poor Bulma.

"Why did she have to call?! Why?! Why now?!"

Susie grabbed a chair and hurled it across the room. It was followed by a glass and then a pillow. Susie grabbed her head, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Tears of anger were streaming down her face, her face had turned red, her eyes too.

"Janet!" she spat furiously, "My 'friend'!"

With that she punched the wall. After that she leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down, letting her face fall in her hands. Her tears had dried up now and she was very still.

She heard the door open.

"Leave me alone," she said.

Someone stepped into the room. The lights were flicked on.

"What a mess."

Susie lifted her head to look at Vegeta, who was looking down at her. The two looked at each other for a few seconds then Susie sighed.

"Come on. Scold me already," she said.

"I'm not here to scold you."

Susie looked at him carefully, perplexed. Vegeta was telling the truth, he did not look angry at all.

"Stand up."

Susie stood up quietly.

"You're angry with her for leaving you."

No reply.

"Answer me."

"Yes. I'm angry. Happy?"

Vegeta smirked. "You earthlings are so foolish."

"Why do you live with so foolish people then?" Susie retorted.

Vegeta had his sly smile on his face.

"You are right to be angry," he said, "But have you ever thought what could be the reason?"

Susie laughed dryly. "Because she was tired of me. Because she wanted to give me a 'better life'. Because she cares so much about me. And because she's my 'friend'." Her throat was really dry now.

Vegeta walked up to her and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him.

"You know what you should do when people are walking over you?"

Susie shook her head.

"Make sure they don't do it. And to do that, you have to be powerful. Strong. Weaklings never survive, girl. Never."

"I'm not weak," Susie said.

"Then prove it. Prove it in any way you can."

With that Vegeta withdrew his hand and turned to walk out of the room.

"Wait!"

He came to a halt, his smirk back on his face as he turned to face her.

"Is that why you train? To prove that you're not weak?"

"I train to become strong. I'm the prince of all Saiyans. And the Prince of all Saiyans cannot be weak."

"What should I do?" Susie asked softly, "I'm not a Saiyan like you."

"Use your brain."

"What good will it do? Janet has already…"

"Independence. Don't you want to be free? Happy? Strong?"

"I do… You're right. Freedom. I want my freedom."

She walked up to Vegeta and sort of smiled at him, though she was sure it looked like a grimace.

"Thank you. I know just what to do."

Vegeta nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Susie stared at the door for a while then smirked.

"Power. Strength. Liberty. I'll have them all."

And now that she had decided it, she would get it at all costs.

And she knew how she could get it.