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A Stone by any other Name: A Growing Bond
Krillin hadn't felt a level of heavy-handedness in his mind since holding the remote control Bulma made to shut the Artificial Humans off.
Number 18 stood before him as she did several days ago, only now there was no imminent threat to take her away. When she knocked on the door to the Kame House, it was the last thing he'd expect to see when answering it. He opened it as always, anticipating maybe Yamcha to stop by and play his suave card to help him find a woman he could settle down with and marry. After the wishes were made to Shenron, he was certain 18 wanted nothing to do with him and wanted to spend her life with her brother, whom he assumed was her boyfriend, before she angrily corrected him. He wanted to punch himself for that level of ineptitude.
But here she was, on the island he shared with his long-time martial arts teacher and a sea turtle who looked ageless for a thousand-year-old reptile.
The very same turtle tapped the back of Krillin's leg with his front appendage. "You look troubled."
He had been staring off into the ocean after 18 retreated into the Kame House. He made a sound in his throat but couldn't form words.
The turtle crawled to his side. "Are you worried she won't stay?" he asked.
Krillin knew his hands were shaking. If he could see his heart, it'd show itself beating furiously. Hissing through his teeth, he shook his head. Get your act together, Krillin. The turtle's right; you're worrying too much.
"S-sorry," Krillin said. Speaking after a long pause must have helped settle his restlessness, the shaking in his hands subsiding. "I'm worried I'll make her angry."
If looks could kill, he'd be dead a third time. A beautiful woman with eyes that could freeze a man's soul pierced through his after making the wrong assumption. Even after making a wish on their behalf to Shenron, she didn't look the least bit grateful.
But showing up some time later seemed to imply the opposite. At least, that's what he believed.
"If this woman was angry, she would not have come here, would she?" the turtle said matter-of-factly. Krillin couldn't help but chuckle at the notion. Damn you and your wisdom.
Rubbing the back of his head, he decided he had spent enough time letting the waves soak his sandal-addled feet. "I hope Muten Roshi's not giving her any trouble," he said in passing, to which the turtle hummed, shaking his head. "I would not put it past him."
Krillin opened the front door, expecting a beaten-up old timer on the floor with an it-was-worth-it look of perverse gratitude on his face, but the master was lounging on his sofa, pipe in hand.
"Does she know where to go?" Krillin asked, taking a seat opposite Roshi. "Or even what to do?"
"Well, I told her where the bathroom was. But you gotta consider the whole picture, m'boy. Much as I appreciate the vision of loveliness in this house," Roshi noted, a string of smoke blowing from his nostrils, "it'll take time to decompress after what we've been through. Exorcising the ghosts of Goku's past isn't as simple."
"Yeah."
It was a battle that involved old enemies of the Red Ribbon Army. Everything from Goku nearly dying of a virus to the realization of not having Dragonballs existing until Dende arrived, then the physical and emotional anguish of fighting a monster like Cell who took 18 away were heavy-handed moments that Roshi noted would take time to process. It wasn't as simple as welcoming the woman the future boy warned would bring destruction to the population of Earth. It was welcoming a woman he couldn't get out of his mind. Every gesture of her hand swiping her hair behind her ear nagged him to confess how beautiful it made her look. It was enough to make his hands shake again.
Krillin wrung his hands until he noticed Roshi staring at him through his sunglasses. He paused, rested his hands on his lap, and twirled his thumbs instead. "Maybe there's something good on television…?"
Krillin flipped through several channels until he stopped at a popular game show filmed in Metro Center on ZTV. Varying stages of acrobatic feats were shown, with the contestants hilariously falling off a rolling log. It would've been amusing enough to make Krillin laugh, but he couldn't ignore the tightness in his stomach, which left him hollow.
Halfway through the program, 18's voice called from upstairs. "Krillin."
Krillin blinked, confused. He wasn't sure how his name sounded. Did it sound like a question or an order to summons? "Um, y-yes?" he answered.
He waited for a follow-up, but silence from upstairs meant that she wanted to see him yet wasn't coming down to talk to him. "Excuse me," he said to Roshi.
When he reached the second floor, the nagging tightness in his stomach wrenched even more as he stopped before 18, wearing only a towel around her figure. She had just finished her bath by the looks of her dripping hair and glistening water reflected off the ceiling light.
Krillin swallowed, clutching the ramp. He was worried his legs would buckle under and cause him to tumble down the stairs knowing that a white towel was the only thing keeping him from seeing her curves in full view that framed her natural beauty. Even the sight of her wet blonde locks effectively made his face blush several shades of red.
18 was in the middle of searching the hall, glancing at each door. The bathroom door was still open ejecting stray jets of steam. Krillin was too nervous to ask why she wanted to see him.
"Stop staring. It's weird," she finally told him after realizing he zoned out on her posture. She didn't seem to care that her hair was framing her face, creating a small puddle of water on the floor, yet the glare of her ice-cold eyes was enough to break Krillin's stupefied trance. "S-sorry!"
"So, which bedroom is mine?" she asked. She wasted no time getting straight to the point. She really meant to live here with him and Roshi. Krillin wasn't sure whether this made him feel better or worse.
"The door across the bathroom was Launch's room," he told her. He shook his head afterward. "Er, the old friend of ours I told you about. She should still have some of her clothes in the dresser and closet if you need something to wear for tonight."
18 opened the door to the bedroom. "M-mine's the room right next door. Um, if you're wondering. Muten Roshi is across the hall from mine, though he sometimes likes to sleep on the couch downstairs."
He expected an answer, but 18 instead walked into the room and closed the door. Drumming his fingers on the ramp, he urged himself to go back down to finish watching the program, but another part of him wanted to tug him in the direction of 18's room to strike up a conversation. You'll have plenty of time to talk about anything and everything if she's going to live with you, he nagged at himself. He decided to take a deep breath and approach the door, knocking on it a couple of times. "I'm going to make dinner shortly. Are you hungry?"
It was his original plan to cook anyway, until 18's arrival postponed it. No sooner than he asked whether she was hungry did he start asking himself whether cyborgs even eat anything. "I'm not hungry," came her voice from the other side.
He let his arm drop from the door. "Oh, ok. We'll be downstairs if you still feel like joining us," he told her. Seconds went by without an answer.
If Launch hadn't taught him a few basics on preparing meals should she be absent from Kame House, Roshi would've had to endure a considerable amount of charred delicacies for an indefinite period. Though he's had to hear often from the Turtle Hermit how he considered Chaozu's cooking exemplary, dwarfing anything Launch had ever made. It didn't make Krillin envious of their skill. It only made him determined to satisfy his master's palate, so the experience of living on a small barren island in the middle of the ocean was bearable. He hoped 18 would feel the same way.
Roshi's ability to slurp noodles without soaking his beard and 'stache never ceased to impress Krillin, yet the keen grin behind the white facial hair was all he needed to know that he made something delicious. As they ate, he picked up the sound of 18 descending the stairs. He saw that she wore a large yellow t-shirt that rested just below her hips, covering what he hoped was a pair of underwear beneath. He wondered if Roshi would make a pass or attempt to cop a feel. Her hair still looked damp, but she didn't seem to mind as she pulled a chair near Krillin.
"Have you changed your mind about food? There's still plenty of soup and noodles left," Krillin offered, but 18 gently shook her head.
"I'm not entirely sure, but our infinite energy doesn't let us get hungry. At least, that's how I interpreted the doctor's explanation," 18 explained.
"So you and 17 never get tired or hungry?" Krillin asked.
"Nor do we age," 18 quickly added.
He nearly dropped his chopsticks. Never age? 18 will stay eternally young? If he was dreaming all this, he needed to pinch himself. "O-ow," he said as he pulled his cheek.
A beautiful woman with incredible strength and combat capabilities that will stay the same age and look the same every day forever. He was smitten, for sure, but there was still so much he needed to know about her before he knew his feelings were genuine and not a short infatuation. Getting kissed twice by her seemed to point him in that direction, at least.
"I guess she's like you, Roshi," Krillin said to the Turtle Hermit, who paused mid-slurp. "You're several hundred years old, so it must be nice to have an unlimited lifespan."
"Doesn't mean we can't die," Roshi replied after swallowing. "I don't see myself dying off naturally, but I can still die by other means."
A memory of Tenshinhan recapping to Krillin what he had missed since Tambourine killed him years ago made him realize that being ageless doesn't equate to being immortal. That little chestnut he witnessed first-hand on Namek when he had to handle both Vegeta and Freeza vying for that coveted prize via Namek's Dragonballs.
"Don't forget you could've easily pushed the button on the remote to shut me down and destroy me afterward," 18 said. It nearly made Krillin snap his chopsticks in half. How could she casually blurt something out like that, knowing the painful decision he had to make at that moment?
Another thought dawned on him that if Cell hadn't spit her out, Gohan would've eventually killed him, ending both cyborgs simultaneously. The wish to Shenron would've brought 18 back to life, but she would not have been on the Lookout when it happened. And he would not have had to let her know in some way how much he cared for her well-being by wishing their bombs were removed.
"You said you don't get tired, but do you still sleep?" Krillin asked. He furrowed his brow. Stop asking stupid questions!
"Dunno, maybe," 18 said after a pause. "Gero placed us in hibernation cycles in our capsules when he shut us off with his remove, so I wouldn't consider that sleep. It was more like imprisonment."
The look on her face made him want to apologize profusely, but she relaxed her face a moment later. "I have no memory of my previous life before I became a cyborg. Maybe I had a comfortable bed somewhere."
Her tone was casual, yet Krillin wanted to believe there was some degree of sadness beneath it all. No memories of what their life must have been like would be sad for anyone to hear, yet watching for any of those signs in 18 yielded nothing.
At some point, while he ate, he kept catching her looking at the bowl he ate from. He paused to offer her a bite. "Are you sure you're not hungry…?"
Her cheeks went a slight shade of pink from the unexpected question. She glanced at his hand, offering her his chopsticks. He then gently slid the bowl towards her with an expectant look. At least he hoped it wasn't too expecting. Also, he was glad he didn't polish off all the noodles.
18 handled the utensils with remarkable ease, almost professional, even. Krillin noted that being an artificial human with cybernetic upgrades could not have entirely robbed her of her humanity. Subtle things like how to handle basic objects, eating, drinking, bathing, and so on would still have to be hard-wired in her brain. But whether cyborgs eat or not seemed not as far-fetched as he thought.
She sniffed at the noodles before slurping them into her mouth. Krillin waited for a reaction, wondering if she'd enjoy it too. "Is it good?" he asked, taking a chance.
"It's edible," she replied, not realizing she had another few ready to go to her mouth. "I recognize the flavors and textures, but I don't remember how they make me feel. I suppose that's the best way to explain it."
She suddenly pressed her hand to her stomach and went a shade redder in her cheeks. Krillin chuckled. "So you were hungry."
He filled a separate bowl for her, along with a fresh pair of chopsticks and a spoon. "Glad you like it."
"Thank you," 18 said.
One thing both had in common for the next hour was their knowledge of the Red Ribbon army, though each breached it from their own point of view. Krillin narrated his time spent as a kid traveling with Goku and Bulma fighting off General Blue in search of the Dragonballs, which 18 described as a flamboyant moron from what Gero noted. She never met the elites of the army but would often hear stray comments now and then from the Doctor as he operated on them. Roshi put in his two cents on the matter and expressed gratitude towards his pupils for how well they handled the once-powerful army.
"It's odd hearing your side of the story," 18 told them. "Gero revered the Red Ribbon army, yet I hear nothing but praise for Goku's heroics from you two."
Krillin and Roshi exchanged looks. "Um, you don't share Doctor Gero's sentiment, or have you ever?"
She stopped midway through drinking the rest of the soup from the bowl to lay it down gently. "Couldn't care less what happened to the army. The only thing that bothered me the most was the programming he installed with the command to kill Goku when we saw him."
"But didn't you go along with 17's claim that searching for Goku was like a game to you?" Krillin asked. He would never forget that moment, nor that kiss.
18 grinned, unnerving Krillin once again. "If y-you don't mind me asking…?"
"We learned to tolerate it. We would've still done it had Cell not been around," she said. Krillin's face sank. She still grinned when she said it, too, which gave him mixed feelings. 18 has an opportunity to be herself and act more human now that Cell's gone, but she spoke as if she still wanted to fulfill Gero's goal of killing Goku – not that it mattered now.
"If that happened, we might have ended up fighting," Krillin said, staring at the table. He didn't want to look her in the eye and state matter-of-factly that his friendship with Goku superseded anything else in the world, even the feelings he's been unable to suppress toward 18.
It still didn't feel normal. Goku sacrificed himself to save the world and chose to stay dead this time. He always had to acquiesce to Goku's selfish choices: between sparing Vegeta to granting his requests when it mattered the most – notably each time he wanted to fight his opponent one-on-one – was in Goku's very character, whether it was a Saiyan trait or a friendship trait. His lament was cut short when he felt 18's hand on top of his. "Don't worry about it."
Don't worry about it. What was she going on about? "I don't understand," he said.
18 shook her head. "I'm saying that Goku's death erased the programming in our brain."
He couldn't bring himself to scold her, no matter how tempting it was to tell her not to speak of Goku in such a fashion. But Roshi's pensive stare, coupled with the thought that Goku likely would've enjoyed the fight against her and 17 had he not been sick, made him rethink his reaction. He reminded himself that it's only been a few hours since she arrived on the island and that he'd have to accept that she wasn't going to be agreeable with everything.
He quickly changed the subject. "Uh, here, let me clear the table for everyone."
"I'll take care of it. You two kids go on and get to know each other," Roshi interjected, which let the heat rise in Krillin's cheeks. 18 had an amused look, though Krillin thought she might have gone red as well. Was the old man pushing a romantic encounter with them?
"So, um," Krillin said as he sat on the couch. He turned the television back on. "Got any favorite shows you'd like to watch?"
"I wouldn't know," 18 said, adjusting her posture. She casually brushed her hair back as she watched Krillin flip through channels until he found a movie that had already started an hour earlier. "Ugh. Though I won't forget Gero watching old war movies on his TV whenever he took breaks."
The current movie was a martial arts flick, which Krillin didn't mind. But he lifted the remote to change the channel. "Is this bringing back bad memories?"
"Not really, no."
They said nothing else as the rest of the movie played. Roshi had ventured outside for a nightcap and a light of his pipe, which Krillin could see from the embers and streams of smoke rising outside. 18 had little reaction from watching the movie, occasionally glancing at Krillin whenever an intense moment happened or his face indicated disagreement with the fight choreography.
When the movie ended, Krillin switched the television off. "I'm gonna turn in. I hope the bed's not too uncomfortable for you," he said to 18 as he rose.
He turned, paused, turned to glance back at 18, paused again, then ascended the stairs. He half-expected her to follow him, but she gave him that same look from earlier about staring at her. He added it to the list of things that upset her that he wanted to commit to memory so he would never make her angry.
After his bath, he stood clad in boxer shorts in his bedroom, staring out the window at the peaceful ocean scene, soft waves calmly ebbing into the beach below.
Still can't believe you're gone, Goku. I would've loved to stop by your house and see what a great time you're having eating Chichi's cooking and having a sparring match for old-time sake. I'd tell you all about my new friend, 18, whose actual name is Lazuli.
Lazuli. He just remembered her telling him her real name. He wasn't sure whether telling him was her way of trusting him or she couldn't care less about the fact she told him her name. Only he wasn't comfortable enough to say that name so casually while addressing her, knowing her still as Number 18. Maybe after some time, he will consider saying her real name, which he believed kept her humanity in check. Maybe after some time has passed, more of her original humanity will come back, and all that will be cyborg will be her fighting capability and strength. At least she'd make for a good sparring partner to maintain his training regimen.
Settling into his bed, he began closing his eyes when a knock was heard on the door. "May I come in?"
18's voice was more involved than when she addressed him earlier. "Krillin" came off as more a statement than a question, but this time it definitely was a question. He rose to sit against the head of the bed frame. "Uh, sure."
18 opened the door, the light of the hall spilling into the room. "I tried to close my eyes and sleep on the bed, but I'm not sure it worked. Mind if I keep you company for a while?"
Krillin went to open his mouth. "And before you say anything, no, this isn't an invitation for what you humans call 'sex.'"
"Uh, I-I wasn't," Krillin stumbled through his words. Part of him thought that was something she came into the room for, but it wouldn't make sense given the timeframe. He never even broached the subject in his mind the whole time she's been on the island. "I was surprised you'd come to my room at all."
"Didn't feel like being alone," 18 said, sitting on the opposite side of the bed.
Krillin hiked up his blanket to above his waist. "I-I see. I thought you didn't mind being alone."
His anxiety came back when she moved to sit next to him on the bed. "I don't. Tonight feels different, though. You've been interesting so far."
"Eh?"
Was that a compliment? Krillin could see her smiling as she said it, which must mean she meant every word. "I've never had anyone call me interesting before. Th-thank you…?"
"What I mean is that you're not boring. I don't feel bored when I'm around you," she explained, which to Krillin was a huge weight off his shoulders.
"Forgive me for asking, but," Krillin said. He was curious but didn't know if she wanted to answer. "Is it possible that you can't sleep because you're afraid to?"
"I don't understand," 18 said. Krillin winced out of reflex. "I don't think I'm afraid."
"Are you perhaps worried you might have a nightmare-?" Krillin said, then swallowed. "—about Cell?"
18's eyes widened. Could that have been the reason? Krillin shifted in his seat. "I mean, I don't know how complex your emotions are being artificial humans, but I can see how frightened you were of Cell. I heard you scream while we were blinded."
He would never forgive Cell for taking her. He still wasn't sure whether he'd forgive Vegeta for allowing Cell to absorb her to test his pride and strength as a Saiyan. That scream still pained him, and he clenched his fist tightly without realizing it.
He looked to 18, who was searching for an answer but could tell that the whole experience still bothered her. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It was stupid of me to bring it up."
"I'll be fine," 18 told him as she stopped darting her eyes around the room. Her smile was hesitant but forced in a way to assure him that she could tough it out.
Krillin glanced at her hand. "You're shaking."
18 turned her hand over. Her smile looked more relaxed this time. "So I am."
"I know it's awkward of me to ask, but if you want to stay here for the night, I have enough room on the bed. W-we don't have to do anything, just k-keep each other c-c-company…?"
18 pressed her hand against her chest. "I'll be fine," she repeated, "for real this time. Cell's dead; you and your friends confirmed that. Gohan killed him, so I'm relieved."
She then turned to him, tapping his hand. "Go ahead and get some sleep. I should be fine to return to my room now."
"Uh, s-sure."
She left the bed and turned to face him before she exited the room. "Good night, Krillin."
"G-good night," Krillin responded. He held back from saying Lazuli knowing it wasn't the right time yet.
What he was certain of, however, was that one of the pieces of her humanity did come back.