Disclaimer; I don't own DBZ, or anything else of interest for that matter

A/N; I know…I know, my updates are taking for ever and I apologise, I really really do, but I'm sure you all know what life is like….hectic as anything and all that. I've not been doing anything terribly exciting, just school and work. I'm not going to make any promises as to when the next chapter will be up, but fingers crossed it will be quicker than this one.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who is reading this, it really mean a lot to me that you will continue to support me and give me feedback. It means a lot to me.

D.B

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Serendipity
Chapter Four

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It was late when 18 arrived back home. She stood at the foot of the cracked driveway and sighed a heavy sigh as she looked up at the run down old house. For a moment she shut her eyes, and she was transported to a picturesque little island, with nothing but a tiny pink house on it, and crystal blue water around her as far as the eye could see, and she was happy.

A dog began to howl, and a second later; she could hear the shrill cry of a police siren. Her eyes snapped open and a frown settled on her face.

She walked up the driveway, everything inside the house was dark, but there was no chance that Dai would be asleep. No chance at all. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside, it was cold. She flicked on the light and the small living room filled with a warm golden glow, but the house was still cold.

"Dai?" she called, as she progressed through the living room.

She didn't even need to turn on the kitchen light to see him sitting at the table, a bottle of scotch wrapped tightly in his grasp. She reached for the light switch, but he stopped her.

"Don't turn on the light"

She turned it on anyway, and he squinted against it. He didn't deserve her pity, not now, not ever. She filled a saucepan with water and put it over the stove. Looking at him, 18 shook her head; he looked pathetic, sitting there, hunched over the table with his bottle of Johnny Walker.

"We need to talk" she said, dipping her finger in the water. Still cold.

"I know" was the reply.

18 blinked. Dai was not the talking type. He preferred to discuss things with his fists. He had obviously consumed so much alcohol that he had surpassed his normal violent state of drunkenness and fallen into some kind of a self-wallowing trance. "What?" she asked

"You're right" he mumbled, his head buried deep in his hands, "we need to talk"

"About?" 18 asked, wanting to know what he thought

"About you, 18"

"What?" 18 gasped, he had to be kidding, "Me?"

"Yeah," Dai stood up on wobbly legs and looked her directly in the eye "I don't trust you with Krillen, 18. You know how I feel about you talking with other men"

"Yeah," 18 scoffed, she could feel herself getting mad, "And you have no right to tell me who I can and cannot talk to. You don't own me Dai" she looked up at him, and there was a fire in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that" he muttered. After that, everything around him began to spin and he wasn't sure which way he was facing. It passed though, and when his vision returned, 18 was glaring at him, one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're pathetic" she shook her head at him in disgust and walked away. A few seconds later, he heard a door slam shut, and it sent waves of pain rippling right thorough his whole body.

Krillen lay on his bed and sighed, all he wanted was to know if 18 was ok. Even if he had of followed her the night before, he never would have been able to keep up with her, and she looked mad, he didn't want to get his head blown off.

Rolling onto his stomach, Krillen pulled open the draw on his bedside table. He moved a few things out the way, and then pulled out a little black box. Popping off the lid, he looked down at the shiny gold ring inside and smiled. He had brought it for 18. One day, not that long after Cell, he had been walking in Nikki Town, and he saw it. It was like it was calling him, and he had to buy it. In the hopes that one day, 18 might accept it from him as a token of his friendship.

It was only a simple gold band, and it had a sapphire in it, which shone a million different colours when he held it up to the light. He thought the colour of the stone was the same as 18's eyes. That was why he brought it for her. If he'd ever get to give it to her or not was a different story entirely. She was with Dai. Why, he had no idea, but she was, and he has Ami, his life was perfect just the way it was.

There was a knock on the door. Krillen put the ring back in its box and tucked then tucked it safely away at the back of the draw. "Yeah" he called.

The door opened a little and Ami's head popped in, "you decent?" she asked

"Yeah" he turned and looked out the window, the sky was grey.

"Why are you up here all by yourself?" Ami asked, as she plonked herself down beside Krillen

"It's cold downstairs"

"No it's not"

"Well then I just wanna be up here" he snapped back, and instantly regretted it. He rolled over and sat up; "sorry" he offered her a sheepish grin as some kind of pathetic apology.

"Are you alright?' Ami asked, resting her hand on Krillen's arm.

"Yeah," he sighed, then quickly changed his mind, "I've got a lot on my mind, that's all"

"I'm sorry" she rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. Listen," he leaned over and kissed her, "what do you say we go out for dinner tonight, somewhere really special, just the two of us"

"Yeah, Ami smiled and kissed him back, "that would be nice"

"Great" Krillen smiled and stood up, "I'm gonna grab a quick shower then, ok"

As the afternoon dragged on, 18 became more and more discontent. She couldn't sit still, she felt like she was going stir crazy and she had to resist every urge in her body that was telling her just to leap into the air and fly away somewhere better.

Dai was sleeping in the bedroom, he had been all day. Sighing again, 18 pushed herself up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

She was formulating a plan. She could leave, Dai would never know, she doubted if he was even alive any more, he hadn't stirred once in over 12 hours. Maybe she would walk into the city; it wasn't that far, half hours walk tops. The city always helped to clear her head. She liked being a nobody amongst everybody; she loved the anonymity of it all.

Once she had made up her mind, it only took her a minute to gather her things and find a jacket, then she was off. As she walked down the street, only one thought occupied her mind. She knew it shouldn't, but she'd given up trying to rid herself of him.

She couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like right now if she was on that little island in the middle of no where. Would she be happy? Would Krillen be happy? No, she shook her head. She had to stop thinking about him, Krillen had his life, and she had hers, that was all there was too it, and she had to learn to deal with it.

Eventually, the houses began to give way to shops, more and more people began to walk past her and before she knew in, she was right in the heart of the city, amongst the hustle and bustle of it all, and for once she felt normal. She felt like for once, she could be who she was, and no one would question her, or chastise her. They would just leave her alone and treat her as just another face in the crowd, it was what she craved.

"Krillen, this place is beautiful" Ami gushed as she looked up at the restaurant.

"Only the best for you" Krillen replied as he quickly ran his fingers through his hair.

"Krillen," Ami turned to look at him, and Krillen smiled, she looked stunning. "Thank you"

Krillen blushed, and a pang of guilt washed over him, all he'd been thinking about for weeks now was 18, he felt like was being so unfaithful to Ami, who had never been anything but supportive and wonderful to him. He felt like a monster.

"Shall we go?" Ami's soft voice brought him out of his trance and back to reality.

"Yeah," he blinked, "Lets go"

Inside, they we're placed right by the window. Krillen watched all the people walking by. Men, women, children, couples. They all had smiles on their faces, they all had places to go, people to see and stories to tell.

"You ok, Krillen?" Ami asked, resting her hand on top of his.

"Yeah," he replied quietly as he looked in her eyes, "great. You ready to order?"

As the night progressed, Ami watched him. She wasn't dumb, not by a long shot, she knew something was up, he wasn't himself, or was he, was he finally letting the real Krillen show through? She'd been used and abused by men before; she knew when she wasn't wanted. But she thought Krillen was different from all those other men. He seemed so sincere. Maybe she was over reacting, she hoped she was. Krillen was different, he had to be.

She knew when it started as well. She could pinpoint the exact time he went funny, and it only added to her theory that there was more to Krillen than met the eye. It was the night she met him after his class. He had been talking to that blonde girl, 18, she'd seen him. He said they we're only old friends, not even that. Acquaintances. And yet, ever since that night, he just wasn't the same. He had said she was gorgeous, she remembered that. It had shocked her a little, but she brushed it off as nothing she should worry about.

He was looking out the window again; it looked like he wanted to escape, she felt her heart sink.

"Krillen," she spoke softy, he turned to look at her, "you don't have to stay, if you don't want to"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Look, if you not happy, you don't have to stay"

Inside, Krillen was panicking, but he tried his best to stay cool on the outside. He didn't want to upset Ami, but all the thoughts running through his head were just getting to be too much to handle, he thought he might explode at any minute. He honestly didn't know what to do anymore. The more time he spent with Ami, doing what he thought was the honourable thing, the more he wanted to be with 18, and the more confused he got.

"Krillen," she spoke more directly this time, "Go. Do what ever it is you need to do"

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I feel terrible leaving you when I promised you a night out"

"Don't worry about it. I'll call some of the girls and we'll hit the clubs. You're making me miserable too with this mood of yours"

The bluntness of the statement made Krillen snort, but his serious mood quickly returned. "Thank you, for understanding. I'll call you, ok"

"Ok" she nodded as he stood up, placed money for the cheque down on the table and quickly walked away.

Krillen wasn't sure how long they had been in the restaurant, maybe half an hour or so, but it had been enough time for it to get cold and dark. Pulling his jacket around him, he walked down the street; he wasn't really sure where he was going. He was on a street full of pubs, restaurants, cafes. The nightlife of Nikki Town was something to envy, there was live music floating out from everywhere, people we're laughing and having a good time.

And right now, Krillen couldn't get far enough away from the happy people.

He walked for some time, and eventually he found a quiet little coffee house. There was a neon light in the window, which flashed the word 'open' and so he took up the offer and walked inside. It wasn't much, there were a few sets of tables and chairs scattered around the place, about half a dozen people were seated around and a male clerk stood behind the counter reading a magazine.

Krillen quickly scanned the room, looking for an empty seat away from everyone, and it was then he saw something that made him do a double take. He had to stop, rub his eyes and look again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He wasn't.

18 was sitting at a table against the wall, reading a magazine and sipping her coffee. He didn't even need to give his next thought one moment of consideration; he went over to her table and made his presence known.

"18" he greeted her, "hi"

18 looked up and Krillen felt his breath catch in his throat, something that never happened when he was with Ami. She smiled, and to Krillen, it was like the whole room lit up. "Hi. Do you want to sit down?" she motioned to the spare seat.

"Sure" Krillen gladly took up the offer, a waiter came over and he ordered a coffee.

He looked around, something was missing here "where's Dai?" he asked.

18 snorted "at home, sleeping off a hangover"

"Oh, sorry"

"Yeah, sorry he didn't die of alcohol poisoning" 18 rolled her eyes.

Krillen couldn't help laughing, even though he knew it wasn't appropriate.

They were quite for several minutes, it wasn't awkward though, like Krillen had imagined that it might be, they were content to just sit peacefully in one and others company, it was 18 who spoke first though, several minutes later.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing" Krillen replied, raising an eyebrow, as if he was expecting an answer.

18 sighed, long and deep, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes as she spoke "I don't know what I'm doing here. It seemed empty, I guess"

"Needed to think?" Krillen asked

18 nodded.

"Me too" he replied

18 looked up now, "what's on your mind?"

Now it was Krillen's turn to sigh, "its complicated" he admitted.

"Ahhh, I see," she paused for a second and sipped her drink "you look like you haven't slept"

Krillen laughed dully "I haven't, well, not properly. Not for weeks..." he trailed off, he felt bad talking about himself all the time, "it's weird how we keep running into each other like this, don't you think?" he asked

"Yeah," 18 nodded, and Krillen couldn't help but be mesmerised by her soft, sweet voice. He wondered if she ever let anyone else see her like this. He hoped not, he liked the idea of being her refuge.

"It's getting late" she looked up at the clock on the wall, "Dai will be mad if he finds out I'm gone" her eyes fell, and with them, so did Krillen's heart, he didn't want this to end, but she was right, it was getting late, even if he flew as fast as he could, he wouldn't get home until after 10.30 now.

"Maybe we'll meet up again?" he stated, though it was really more of a question.

"Maybe," she replied slyly, indicating that the odds of that were pretty high. She stood up, and threw Krillen one last, fleeting glance, "Bye"

"See you" he replied, and prayed to God that he soon would.

A/N; Well there we go, chapter 4 done and complete. Feedback would be greatly appreciated, I love to know what you guys all think of this stuff. I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. Stay safe and God bless.

Deadly Beauty