Author's Notes: Third chapter, go! I am very motivated to write this story. There are a lot of events that could have happened within the seven years between the Cell and Buu saga so it gives me endless possibilities. Again, thank you for the reviews guys. Heck, I even looked at the story status and it shows how many hits I have. The number is impressive and makes me smile. Oh, and before I forget, it is spelled 'Hanna' not 'Hannah' as I mentioned in the previous chapter. Sorry about that!

Silence Speaks Stronger Than Words

Chapter 3 – Nothing Left to Say

Krillin was thrilled to show off his cooking ability. Yes, he may have shown off to his roommates before, but now he had a special guest over. One that he didn't quite expect in a lifetime.

As he cracked egg after egg, he couldn't help but smile reminiscing over the events that happened over the past couple of weeks. He saw a pretty girl, not that this was his first girl that he encountered... He was kissed by this pretty girl. Alright, that was a little unexpected, he admitted to himself. Then he proceeded to save the pretty girl in hopes to win her heart over. Which he realized, of course, didn't make a difference at first for she didn't seem to want anything to do with him.

However, she was now sleeping in his bed. Very, very unanticipated. He thought to himself that even if this didn't work out, he was to never wash those sheets again regardless of how disgusting it may have seemed. Sleeping in his own bed. Who would have thought? He knew that destroying the controller would have benefited himself somehow, ha!

Though, later that day, he knew he had to admit to Bulma what occurred. How else would that Cell creature attain his perfect form? Magic? Nah, she was too smart to believe that. That, and she knew he had a weak heart when it came to females.

"I hope she likes omelets. I made enough to even please an entire Saiyan family for breakfast."

He had checked on her numerous times throughout the night. At first, it was just a friendly gesture to make sure she was sleeping alright, or, in reality, that she was still there. Which she was! Then he made excuse after excuse to peek in. First it was the lightning, then the earsplitting thunder, then when the air condition wouldn't kick in, and then because of Master Roshi's snoring. Hey, it could have woken her!

"I wonder if she likes coffee? Maybe orange juice. Hmm, she seems like she is the coffee type. Wait, am I making a stereotype since she is a little younger? Nah. Maybe milk? No, let's stick with coffee... wait, I don't want her to think I think she is old! Orange juice is a breakfast favorite! Yeah, I will go with that."

He went to the cupboard and found an alarming amount of different sized glasses and cups. "Would it offend her if I have her a big glass? What if she is mad that I gave her too little like I am insinuating that she should lose weight? I would never think that, but... argh!"

"What's for breakfast? You never do this."

Krillin quickly drew his attention at not two, but three of his roommates. Oolong, Master Roshi, and Turtle were all ready to devour in his hearty feast. "So, what's the occasion?"

"I think it's that girl."

"Marron is back?" Asked the Turtle, completely oblivious to the encounter taken the night before. "She's nice and all, but... I don't know Krillin. She kind of scares me." He crawled over and took a deep breath of the aroma that filled the air. "Smells wonderful."

"Just as long as you don't serve bacon this time. You know how bad that looked the one time I almost ate those hash browns? I would have been a cannibal, guys! That is so wrong on so many levels!" Oolong took but one second to grab three plates. "Extra of everything... BESIDES BACON."

As Master Roshi and Oolong grabbed the other two plates, they couldn't help but drool. "Forget the pig, give me everything, m'boy!"

"Me too, please."

Krillin sighed and pointed towards the dining room table. "It is almost done. Just give a few more minutes. I sort of want this to be a bit special, if you catch my drift. And no, Turtle. Marron is not back. This is someone different. She's sort of special to me."

Turtle could only respond with a hearty grin and obediently followed everyone towards the table, not asking a single question. Out of everyone in the household, everyone always knew he was the most polite out of the bunch. He even said, "I don't need anything if it is for your friend."

Roshi and Oolong also proceeded to the table with their stomachs rumbling. Krillin could have sworn he heard Oolong whisper to his master about something that went on last night. Though, nothing happened. Except, of course, a paranoid Krillin checking up on his guest every fifteen minutes... and there was a reason he convinced himself. Remember... the thunderstorm.

"Don't worry, Turtle. I made enough so we could all eat and be friends. Well, hopefully. I kind of want to introduce you guys in not such an awkward was as last night. She, well, sort of lost everything recently. I just want to her to feel that there are people there for her." He flipped over some pancakes and added some vegetables to the omelets he was preparing. "Vegetarian good for you, Oolong?"t

"I said no pig, not healthy!"

Krillin rolled his eyes, and continued with meal. It was such a strange feeling he was feeling at this particular moment. Although, he was used to cooking his roommates meals before, it was a different feeling he was experiencing. A feeling that could almost be described as euphoria, anxiety, and sheer bliss. Not even Marron did this for him.

"Please give me a chance, Eighteen," he thought quietly to himself. "I could give you the world."

-/-

Eighteen was in a different place than everyone else at that particular moment. The once snug covers were balled up on the edge of the bed with all of the other sheets that were once fitted on the mattress. Once clean and crisp, the sheets were now soiled and dampened with sweat as the young woman tossed and turned in her sleep.

Her breathing and heart rate was elevated as she battled with her imaginary enemies. Slight whimpers and groans were the only thing you could hear out of the young cyborg's mouth as she battled through the battlefield of dreams.

"Krillin, don't let him do this to me."

-/-

"Come on, guys. I need to save some for Eighteen!"

As if he never existed to hear a word he said, Oolong and Master Roshi continued on with the feast only to pause in between to mumble with a mouth full of food, "this is great!" "You should cook like this more often!" "This really hits the spot!"

Krillin could only sigh and grab one remaining omelet and some sausage for his unexpected roommate. He decided to wrap it and throw it in the fridge until she woke up from her longed slumber. "So, you guys hitting up Bulma's today? She is having a get-together in honor of Trunks's departure."

"Eh, never met the guy."

"She always hits me."

"Suit yourself. Well, if Eighteen is still sleeping, can you remind her that I made her some food and stored it on the bottom of the fridge?" He asked, while kicking the refrigerator door shut. "This food was sort of for her, you know."

"Wait, there's more you're holding out on us?" Oolong made it towards the fridge only to be blocked off by a very irritable Krillin.

"Come on, stop. She needs some food. You have no idea what she has been through, lately."

"Hrmph."

"Whatever. Well, I am going to get dressed, so this is the last opportunity you get if you want to go or not."

"I'll pass."

"Eh..."

"Whatever. Anyways, while I am gone, please be quiet so she can sleep. Whatever you do, please don't do anything to her. I already promised my life you guys would leave her alone."

The two looked at him with the most unconvincing innocent faces they could have pulled. Turtle, however, came crawled to Krillin to politely hand him the plate. "Thanks again Krillin. If you want, I will keep an eye out for them."

"Thanks Turtle," he replied while taking the plate.

He made his way up the stairs and stopped in front of his door once again. He gave a gentle knock and whispered, "Eighteen? Are you awake?" He didn't get a response so he quietly opened the door.

To his relief, she remained there all night it would have seemed. Though, the once snug covers laid in a ball on edge of his bed while she remained on her stomach, fists on each side, and her jaw clenched tightly. "Looks like she had a rough night," he thought to himself.

He reached down to grab some of the sheets in attempt to cover her again. This time, however, her eyes slowly opened. "Hey, you're awake." He took a step backwards in fear that she would be angry and decide to hit him. "How, er, how did you sleep?"

"What time is it?" she grumbled as she buried her face in her pillow.

"It's actually nine...AM." He swallowed hard. There was nothing in agreement that would stay here for the night. All she wanted to do was shower and go. "Please don't get mad. You must have fell asleep after your shower and you looked like you could really use it."

She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "It's fine. I need to go."

"Well, before you go, I made you some breakfast. Afterwords, I can even help with the search if you want. I can't be out all day since Bulma invited all of us to see off Trunks. But, if you want."

As if completely ignoring the last sentences, she cocked an eyebrow and asked, "food? Where?"

-/-

"You sure you don't want to cook that up first?"

"I am fine." She took down hefty portions of her plate and almost swallowed it whole.

"So, do you want a little help before I go? I know the exact locations of where Cell was and it might be a good start to start searching at."

She swallowed thickly. "Sure, that's a good idea. Do you have anymore?"

"Geeze, and here I thought Goku was distracted by food. Who would have known?"

"Yeah, let me go heat it up." He threw the contents in the microwave and turned his back to lean up against the counter. "That offer is still there for you to stay here, you know. If you don't find your brother tonight, you can stay the night. I don't want you sleeping out side or anything."

"I told you, I am fine. It was a mistake that I stayed here last night," she said staring down at her empty plate. "If he found out about me staying here, he would have killed me. We don't belong with you and your friends."

He crossed his arms and gave a slight frown. "That isn't true you know. Anyone can get along with one another. It is those willing to try."

She shot him a glare. "Trying would be a waste of my time. It wouldn't give me any benefit at this point."

"Sure it can."

"How?" she snapped. "What could I possibly get out of any of this?"

"For one, Bulma is the the daughter of the man who founded Capsule Corps. With that, she access to the most innovative of inventions such as the dragon radar which can easily spot all the dragon balls. Master Roshi, as strange as he can be sometimes, has secrets to unlocking your full potential and has a sister that can see the future. Dende, as you learned, has the power to heal."

"Well, he did a horrible job," she interrupted. "I feel like crap today."

"Well, his powers can only go so far. Same with a sensu bean. We usually follow up with some therapeutic techniques. I have some analgesic balm if you want it."

"Fine."

"Here, it may be a little hot. If you want any more food, let me know. I am just going to grab that ointment for you."

She gave a nod and continued with her food. Her stomach had felt so empty and drained that every piece of food felt like heaven going down her esophagus. In a matter of seconds, she finished her next plate, making sure she even got the crumbs.

"Keep that up and you won't be able to keep that doll-ish little figure."

Her head snapped up to see Oolong chuckling to himself. "What the Hell did you say, pig?"

He snorted. "Don't worry about it."

She gritted her teeth together and tried to keep her mind elsewhere.

"Ready to go?" Krillin asked coming down the stairs and tossing the tube at her. She caught it effortlessly with one hand and nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here before I kill that horrible excuse for a house dog."

"Hey!"

-/-

While flying, Eighteen applied the ointment religiously all over her arms. "God, this stuff smells and burns."

"You're only supposed to apply a small amount."

"How would I know?"

Krillin didn't want to say what he was thinking, but it unfortunately came out, anyways. With a frown, he said, "it says so on the bottle. You know, right there on the bottom." Even with the death-look Eighteen flashed him. "You can overdose yourself with that stuff."

"Ugh." She tossed the tube over her shoulder only for it to disappear into the endless ocean below them.

"That wasn't very nice."

"Can it."

There was a good fifteen minutes or so of awkward silence between them. Krillin decided to try to make conversation as they approached the main land. "So, the first place I want to check is the arena that Cell held his tournament."

"He held a tournament?"

"Yes. In order to test out his new power and drown everyone into fear, he held what was known as the Cell Games. This way, everything could be broadcasted across the air and people would be able to see the destruction before their very eyes."

"I see," she responded focusing her view back to the ground beneath her. "Here's a question that has been bothering me, how did I get out of that thing?"

Krillin nearly fell out of the air when she asked that question. He was hoping that it would have never been brought up. Rubbing his neck nervously, he tried to search for the appropriate words. "Well, you see... how do I put this? Gohan gutted Cell pretty good in his Super Saiyan 2 form which had enough force for him to... expel you?"

"Expel...?

"He kind of, sort of, threw you up."

"That...is disgusting." She made face of disgust and shook her head for a bit. "So then, why did you do it?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"Those things... according to your friends, you stayed with me after that. Then you tried to wish me back fully human and then the bombs." She stopped in mid-air and eyed Krillin up and down who was now beet red at the question. "I understand you like me...which is obviously no secret, but why? You don't even know me."

"Can we just get going now?"

"Answer the damn question, Krillin."

Krillin could feel his legs shaking out of control and beads of sweat rolling down his neck. "The truth is, well. Can we talk about this some other time? Please?" She merely crossed her arms and stared him down, waiting for him to finish. "That kiss on the highway sort of started it. I thought about it a lot and if it really meant anything. But it wasn't until I saw those pale, innocent eyes while you were with Sixteen hiding from Cell. You looked so frightened. It made me notice how human and fragile you were. Not saying that in a bad way, but... I don't know. I think it was the first time I saw the real you and fell for it."

"Interesting," she blankly replied. "Alright, let's go."

If he didn't know better, he could have sworn there was a blush of red across her cheeks as turned her body to start flying. He could still feel his whole body quivering from that conversation as they continued to their destination. "Real smooth, Krillin. Real smooth. I wonder what she thinks of me now?"

After about ten more minutes of flying, they reached the dusty wastelands. "There! Down over there is where it was held." They descended together and landed only take a hard gaze of what was before them. It brought back too many memories.

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" Krillin asked as he started look around. Eighteen didn't even reply to the question as she stood there almost shell-shocked.

The craters were gigantic in size. You could easily tell which craters belonged to which attack. "This is almost overwhelming," she whispered to herself. "They are so big... it's almost unreal."

"I know."

The two walked almost zombie-like for the next two hours trying to find anything that would have shown the slightest existence of Seventeen. They looked everywhere from the burnt rocks, to the endless craters.

"Hey, Eighteen!" Krillin cried across the field. "I need to get going. Are you sure you will be alright here."

"I am not a child, just go!"

Krillin just rolled his eyes and flew off to Bulma's. "Wait until they hear this."

Author's Notes: It may be a little slow right now, but I plan on having ups and downs, periods of absolute melancholy to areas of the show that are extremely dark. I hope you liked the third chapter! I am working on the forth as of right now, so look to see that coming out in the next couple of days.

Thanks everyone!