Chapter 20
Also entitled: Why do fools fall in love?
Why do birds sing so gay
And lovers await the break of day?
Why do they fall in love?
Why does the rain fall from up above?
Why do fools fall in love?
Why do they fall in love? - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
It took me way too long to write a Krillin/Android 18 fanfic based on watching too many romcoms in my first year at uni.
An awful lot has changed. Some of the earlier jokes and references have already aged - not as badly as some romcoms mind you, but let me tell you, the word Nice Guy has a totally different connotation now. DBZ Abridged brought out their Android and Cell sagas and it was very cool to see someone else had envisioned the Androids the same as me. An entire new Dragonball series has been created. I grew up and I fell in love. I discovered I can't eat grapes anymore. That was rough.
What I'm trying to say is thank you for reading my stuff. As long as I've made you smile, or do that little exhale laugh at the screen - then my job here is done.
xx
Part Two
"Krillin."
"18?"
"Get the fuck out of that chair."
The tape that held Krillin captive for an embarrassing amount of time came off in a single strong pulse of ki and only took a few arm hairs with it.
"I, er, think I just got caught up in the drama," he grinned up at her sheepishly.
18 let out a soft laugh, "...you ok?"
"I'm ok. Better than ok. You came all this way for me?"
"Well 17 missed you."
Krillin rubbed the back of his neck laughing, "I missed 17 too."
They headed out west, away from Majon's home and neighbours that were both nosey and grouchy. Being so close to homes made Krillin nervous, as the void of space at Capsule Corp or Kami's tower never seemed big enough to hold all of Shenron. He felt himself awash with relief – she had come for him.
Sans shining armour, but in her usual denim and resting bitch face. She had fought for him without throwing a single punch.
And he made her happy. Krillin gulped, she must have been really wound up to say all of that stuff. A part of him was worried that 18 would react the way she did at the Lookout; that she'd freak out and leave without another word. What if this time they didn't meet again?
No, he was not going to lose her again through lack of action.
Not this time.
But first, the deal.
The four and a half beings walked quietly towards a grassy hillside not far from Majon's house. As long as no-one was having a picnic or battle to the death on it, it was the perfect place for summoning the dragon. And gave them each a little time to mull things over.
For Spike, there wasn't much for him to mull over. He had succeeded in stopping his sister from ruining a handful of lives and she would be happy at the end of the day. And if they were quick, he could still make Baba's card game. But he wasn't going to mention that to Majon.
No more gambling for her.
Majon, however, was definitely mulling.
This had better work.
A part of her still thought this was a ruse. Were they lying to her so she would drop her guard? Trust them? Would 18 simply wish Krillin away and leave her with nothing?
Well.
Not nothing. Her baby. Her brother. Those who loved her and would love her yet.
That was the coward's way to do it. When she looked at Krillin, she didn't see a coward – but she saw a pragmatist. A smart man who knew when he was beat. Who chose fight or flight when the time came. No, he wasn't a coward, he just knew what he wanted. And it was not her.
Maybe in another life. Maybe if she hadn't won him like a fairground toy. But maybe wasn't good enough here.
What would she wish for - For someone to fall in love with her? Would she wish for a Meet-Cute like in all those films she watched as a girl? How long would it take for them to love her – would it be love at first sight, or a slow burn. Would it be soft and cheesy like a made for tv movie, or the torrid love affair of epic sweeping novellas. Would she wish for a more traditional Mr Darcy type, or a sweet and sarcastic Patrick Verona? Could she even specify, or was the love of her life out there already, just hanging about, getting on with his life, maybe just rifling through his kitchen cupboards trying to figure out what to make for his supper. Were they even going to be a he? What if they were she, or they or neither. Was the dragon going to throw her a curveball. God this was a very short amount of time to try and figure out the direction her life was about to take.
As long as they loved and respected her in the end. Bean's father had never respected her. Maybe that's what she was missing. Mutual love and respect. Maybe. I guess I'll find out.
Whoever the dragon presented her with, Majon would at least know that at eventually, at the end of all things, there would be someone by her side who wanted to be there. She hoped.
"Spike," Majon moved in close to talk in a low voice, "Spike!"
"What?"
"You still mad at me?"
"Yes, you are the bane of my life."
"Do you think she's genuine?"
He looked from his sister to 18 as she walked ahead, "I do."
"Could you … you know. Devilmite beam her and see if she's lying?"
"That is not how it works. It'll just make her explode if she has too much evil in her heart. How will that help us."
"Will it not just set her leg on fire if she's a liar or something?"
"I hope the person you wish for is okay with you being a moron."
"I was just asking."
"Look, she's obviously not an evil mastermind or she wouldn't have been working at you're bar living out of a camper van to begin with. And look. If it turns out that I'm wrong and she's pulling a fast one, I will personally make her explode. Okay?"
"Yeah okay."
The radio crackled to life in 17's vice-like grip.
"JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW I WILL BE EXPECTING A LARGE CASH BONUS FOR RESCUING THE DAMSEL. SAY HELLO DAMSEL."
"HI GUYS! DID YOU MISS ME! ALSO DON'T GIVE HER MONEY."
"I DESERVE A LITTLE BIT OF PAYMENT FOR THIS. AS A TREAT."
"WE WILL PAY YOU BACK IN LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP."
"THAT'S IT I'M GIVING YOU BACK TO MAJON."
17 laughed with delight at the radar in his hands; a collective exhale of relief escaped the others in the room around him.
Ché pushed the button through his fingers, "You got him out alright?"
"OF COURSE I DID. YOU WERE SPOT ON THE MARK, CHE - TURNS OUT TALKING THINGS OUT IS A VIABLE AND SENSIBLE SOLUTION. YOU ALL SHOULD MAKE NOTE OF THAT FOR THE NEXT TIME SHIT HITS THE FAN."
The chorus of replies from the Z fighters in the room included: "noted", "yeah maybe", and "we don't have the social skills for that".
Bulma joined in on another radio, "Krillin are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
"I'M FINE I'M FINE. I'M HONESTLY JUST EMBARRASSED ABOUT NOT HAVING THOUGHT ABOUT THE DRAGONBALLS, BUT OTHERWISE SAFE AND SOUND."
"Did you explain to 18 about all of the traumatic brain injuries?"
"I DID, SHE HAS LITTLE PITY."
"Did the plan work?"
"HELL YEAH IT DID. MAJON IS JUST ABOUT TO GET HER WISH. NOT A DROP OF BLOOD WAS SHED."
"See," said Chichi softly from a chair near the mirror, "Everyone gets a second chance, right?".
The room full of second chances simply nodded quietly in response. 17 felt something that he suspected was camaraderie. Or empathy. Or both.
He and 18 were going to be just fine.
Ché caught his eye and winked.
Maybe better than fine. Even if just for now, for a little while. Thrive even. Maybe they would be content. Maybe happy. Maybe even slightly human.
People crowded around the crystal ball as 18 and Krillin emerged from Majon's front door, followed in turn by the demoness and her Brother only to complain as they immediately exited the orb stage left.
"Ah what, where did they go?"
"Hey Baba, can you follow them?"
The witch was tempted to charge extra, after all – she was only there to take them to where Krillin was being held, but in all honesty, she wanted to see how this played out too.
She cackled, "you might want to get more comfortable there Junior, this could take a while."
She waved her right hand over the orb, and a small cheer went up around the room as their friends came back into the image on the crystal ball.
Piccolo simply grunted in response, which was more often than not, the best you could get out of him on any given day.
They finally stood on an empty hillside overlooking miles of countryside and small Demon hamlets, and stared at the sky as it went black with crackling power and deep deep magic.
One call to Dende had given 18 the 'password' to complete their tiny ruse (the word itself was a Namekian word that could roughly be translated to "wild goose chase" if indeed they had geese on New Namek) and, with Krillin's slightly more experienced understanding of how to summon the Eternal Dragon – it was called.
They hoped it wouldn't be too freaked out over being summoned on an entirely different plane, but then again, there probably wasn't much that could distress an ancient immutable dragon god.
Thus spoke the Eternal Dragon.
"Well this is less tedious than resurrecting the same group of mortals over and over."
Krillin was sure it was looking at him when it said that.
The dragon had not been summoned since the whole Cell incident. Which had been, now Krillin thought of it, just less than a year ago. He wondered if the recharge time was shorter since Dende reworked them, or if time worked differently in the Demon Realm. Both of which were obviously more likely than the writer forgetting about the time factor until the literal last minute.
"So does this work on genie logic?" queried Majon as she turned to look down at Krillin, "do I have to be really specific?"
"Nah," said the short human, shielding his eyes from the unnatural glow of this cosmic being above him, "Shenron has always been very straightforward. Always seems kinda in a rush."
18 snorted, "He's obviously got places to meet, people to dragon."
Everyone looked at her. "Are you alright?"
"I've had a very long and stressful day."
Majon turned back, yelling up to the sky, "I've been told I can wish for the love of my life - is that true? Um, Eternal Dragon Sir,"
Shenron paused, considering. Their reply was deep and stern, but not harsh. "I cannot create true love nor make mortals fall in love. I can sort the wheat from the chaff, as it were. I can find them for you, and ensure your meeting. The rest will be up to you."
18 hadn't thought of that; she'd only been given the briefest of Bulma's guide to wishing on stars. So it can't create true love, but point you towards each other and hang neon signs around your necks. Not really a matchmaker – but maybe if Majon was ready to put the work in, to not panic and make stupid decisions – it could work? 18 hoped the other woman would see it that way.
The demoness was indeed stronger than 18 thought. Of course she was ready to put the work in. What more could the universe ask from a woman willing to kidnap a superpowered monk from a deadly android for the sake of a happily ever after. This was Majon's wish. And she was going to make it work.
"But there is definitely someone? The right person for me?"
The dragon nodded, slowly and seriously. "There are several. This universe is vast, and there are many who would find happiness with you. There are but one or two who I think would fit your desire for a happily ever after."
"I didn't even mention that bit," Majon mumbled to Krillin under her breath, "Can he read minds."
"We think so, we're not sure. Just try not to think of anything too risqué."
"I can read your hearts desires to help make wishes that would make you happiest. Sometimes it is material, sometimes it is political, often it is sentimental. Cyborg 18 please cease picturing that film."
"I can't it's burned into my psyche."
"And now mine for all of time. Distressing."
Majon took a breath and thought of that night at Baba's where she first won Krillin, what now felt like an ungodly long time ago.
Give me a human man. A nice unassuming, (probably desperate) human boy to fuss over me and be so grateful I'm with them they'll do anything I want. I want someone for me to vent all of my frustration onto, to boss them about and break their heart. I just want my own nice, quiet affectionate guy to use and take for granted and maybe even love a little bit.
She thought of her time with Krillin, and the words of Ché and her brother, and even that lovely Gohan boy. That wasn't really what she wanted anymore.
Give me a human man. A nice, unassuming human to fuss over me, respect me and adore me. I want someone I can talk to, who likes to be bossed around a little bit and will be with me through the highs and lows. I want an affectionate guy to love and love me in return.
Majon was ready for a partner, not a pet.
"Alright then sweetie," she called up to Shenron (Krillin swore he saw a blush of purple on the dragon's face. How many times over the millennia had they been called sweetie?) "I wish for my soulmate – the love of my life - to come into my life – I wish for my perfect boyfriend and partner."
She faltered a little in the face of such old and powerful magic. "Um, please?"
There was a moment as Shenron closed its eyes. Searching. Testing. Reading her.
And then -
"I have found your soulmate. Your perfect boyfriend. Your equal."
As she stood by her rescued damsel, 18 lightly, softly brushed Krillin's hand. Ever so softly.
The dragon continued. "He is earnest, strong, kind and loving. His loved ones find him loud, and a braggart– but he is affectionate, and has proven to be a truly good and brave man in the face of great obstacles."
At this Majon's brother pulled an approving face as she spun to him with a little joyous jump. Oh my god it was working! He returned her thumbs up enthusiastically. Oh thank god this was working.
A name appeared in gold, burned into the grass at their feet. Krillin thought for a moment that he recognised something about it.
"However,"
Everyone paused.
"It will be some time before you meet, but meet you shall. He has not reached a point where his heart is open to you, and neither has his child. Both must grow, as you must."
The demoness nodded solemnly, "I can do a blended family, not a problem. As for the growth," she glanced back towards Krillin apologetically, "I can work on that."
Shenron nodded, "Good. Also, he has a moustache, its that going to be a problem?"
"Is he at least bald?"
"Not yet but he'll get there."
"I've waited this long, I can wait a while longer. But wait, how will I know who it is when I meet them?"
"Oh, you will hear him before you see him."
"He really is going to be my match isn't he?"
"Your wish has been granted –It is done."
And with that, it was.
The dragon faded from sight; lightning split the sky and the dragonballs shot off to the far corners of the demon-realm.
Once again the strange sky was bright, demonic birds sang, and they stood on the now rather windswept hill processing what had just happened.
"Well," said Spike, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "That was weird. Krillin, 18. Thank you for not murdering her. I'm going to go have a quiet sit down now. Majon, see you at yours. Peace."
With that, he took off east back to whence he came.
18 picked up the now empty rucksack and swung it onto her back as she watched Krillin head straight for Majon. What now, here, at the end? God, everything she said in the kitchen, it just made her want to crawl into a hole and die. She had lost her cool so quickly, and she couldn't even blame the missing inhibitor.
Even if she didn't fall into her old routine of being un-necessarily cruel to him out of sheer panic, this was going to be a very awkward conversation.
"Majon?" Krillin stood in front of her as she gazed at the sky where the dragon had been, "Are you okay?"
"That was a lot. He was much bigger than I expected. Does his tail even end?"
"I suppose I'm just used to the weirdness now."
"So now I guess I just wait? I wonder how long for?"
"Sounded like long enough for your wish-boyfriend to get himself together? My money is on long enough for his kid not to get upset about a step-parent."
"That'll be a few years then! Don't suppose I can keep you until then?"
Krillin laughed hard, and rubbed the back of his neck, "Flattering as that is, not a chance. You've got a brother who was willing to be kidnapped to support you, and honestly – I really think you've got this in the bag. You don't even need me. You, um, what was 18's analogy, you got to the shore and don't even need to look back at that buoy."
"Thank you sweetie."
"Huh?"
She looked down at him, sharp white teeth on show as she smiled. Her six plus foot frame knelt down to look him in the eye.
"I got my happy ending. I got to meet you. Spike finally told me to sort my life out. And I got an actual magic wish. I think you're right. Me and Bean" (she put her hand on her still mostly flat belly), "are going to be just fine."
"I think you'll be better than fine."
"We'll be fucking fantastic. We just needed that life buoy for a little while," she leant over and put her arms around him, drawing him in for a hug, "thanks for putting up with my early mid-life crisis."
She gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Now go and get the girl."
The girl was watching them quietly.
Majon let him go, and stood with a small groan (as is the curse of the over 30's, even for demonfolk) before walking over to the android, "I got my wish, you get yours. Demon Promise fulfilled. Shorty here is free to ride off with you into the sunset."
"Hey wait, Majon!" Krillin called over to her, "You've got my number, let me know how everything goes!"
"Wait, really?"
"Sure!"
"Ah yes," said 18 to the other woman, "defeat means friendship. That's how they get you."
"Uh oh."
Majon picked up the dragon radar from where it had been placed on the grass, passing it to the android, "you've got him, he adores you, don't fuck it up."
She turned back to Krillin and waved, "right, I'm off to try and search the name the dragon fucking toasted into the countryside. See you next time sweetie!"
With a pat on the blonde's shoulder, Majon, demoness and former antagonist, left.
Behind them the blue grass of the demon realm had been burnt away by ancient magic to reveal the name of Majon's future pet boyfriend/partner.
18 and Krillin looked at it, then at each other.
"Mark, huh? What a weird name."
They were alone. It was quiet.
Until it wasn't.
"I'm sorry." 18 began.
"...huh?! Sorry? You saved my skin!"
The android shook her head gently, "I'm sorry for yelling at you on the roof. You're not useless. I… didn't mean to get angry. I was worried and everything told me to yell at you? Because I was worried? Is that a thing?"
"Oh yeah that's totally a thing. Welcome to the full, vast human experience, it sucks and you're going to love it."
"I will not."
"Apology accepted."
It was still humid, and the weird adrenaline of her negotiations (could it have still been called a boss-fight with no blows landed?) was ebbing away. 18 felt suddenly and superbly tired.
She wondered if Piccolo could hold the door open long enough for her to just sit for a while, tired of the chaos and drama of this whole silly debacle. Of dancing around her own words and thoughts and feelings. Tired of feeling too warm and too self-conscious and too full of ...everything.
He was here, beside her, wanting to be beside her, and here she was, tired of herself. The day is won, and she doesn't know what to do next.
18 doesn't really know what to say next either.
She finds herself full to burst with too many emotions. She can't even name a couple of them. They're bubbling up from her core, filling her head with fizz and air and electricity. She's felt them before, separately of course; muted and dull. All but one. This one is new and has been haunting her for months now.
Following her around like a puppy – full of wonder. Sweet. Small at first, but ever growing. Getting bigger and braver by the day. She can't remember what her life was like before it came to her. The feeling wasn't quite fully grown yet.
But it was getting there.
What if she wasn't ready for this? What if it grew too big and she couldn't control it, herself? What if it died and she had her heart broken?
What if this puppy metaphor had gotten slightly out of hand?
18 loved having nice things, and being in nice places, and doing what she wanted. 18 loved her brother. She loved 16.
She enjoyed being treated like a queen – but god, she loved being treated like a goddamn human being. She loved the way he talked to her. How it had changed as she did. How the fear melted away to familiarity and friendship. How after everything Majon had put him through, he was still unbearably kind to her.
She loved how he laughed and made her laugh. How he sang and danced and was kind and clever. How he schemed. How he worried. How he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking. How he looked at her when she did.
What was it he had said he would wish for? Healing and happiness?
She thought, she hoped, that she had helped him too – made him happy, even for a short time. He made her happy, and she was better for it. And wasn't that enough? Wasn't that just...human?
18 had fallen in love with Krillin, and she wasn't even mad about it.
Krillin let out a little cough, which snapped 18 out of her reverie. "It's getting dark. Should we go?"
"Huh? Sure."
18 followed as Krillin started walking further west, away from Majon and her family, and towards the sunset of the Demon Realm. They passed another couple of dwellings and carried on in silence until they found themselves by a large, uncanny tree.
Krillin turned to his companion, "I have no idea where we're going."
The blonde let out of soft laugh and sat herself down on the grass with a thump, "We have a ride," she smirked, and wiggled the dragon-radar/radio at him, "we can call them anytime."
And yet neither of them did as the seconds passed.
They were not finished here.
The monk slumped down next to her, the grass crunching under him. He picked a blade and let the warm breeze take it from his fingers.
"Thank you for coming for me."
"I couldn't not."
"Coz I'm important to you?"
"I'll throw this tree at you."
Krillin couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with 18. There were so many of them.
He had once assumed that he had fallen in love with 18 at first sight. As she stood over him, golden and pale in the desert sun. A face carved ten thousand times into statues of ancient goddesses and queens. He was blinded by her beauty. Smitten? Sure. Loved? Not then. Not yet.
Was it when she kissed him? When he saw the fear and shock and hope in her eyes as he crushed the remote and doomed the world? Was it when she turned back to look before she left the Lookout after that wish?
Maybe. Maybe it was from the start? Or maybe he really, truly started loving her when he saw she wasn't perfect. Or terrifying. Or Pygmalion's bride upon a pedestal. She was just another person. Another chaotic and mixed up human being on this silly green and blue rock.
She's human. Full of anxiety and anger and affection, and really, who isn't?
There was still part of him that saw her as utterly out of his league. And what could he offer her – he didn't own a house, he wasn't particularly highly educated, and he couldn't parallel park.
She did find him funny though, so he had that going for him.
All he really wanted, was for her to be happy. Wasn't it enough for them both to be happy and to be better people than they had been? Maybe they could even be that together, making each other happy, and making each other better. And wasn't that enough?
He inhaled and 18 knew he was about to say something that he wouldn't be able to take back.
"So that stuff I said in Majon's kitchen about you wanting me to see you be better?"
"Yup," she groaned, fighting the instinct to shoot off into the sky, "what about it?"
"Did you...did you mean it?"
"No, that was all lies."
"It was very convincing, I was convinced."
"Well stop being convinced."
"Nahhh," he said with a grin, "I think I'll believe it for a bit longer."
"How dare you."
"You make me happy too."
"Do you think they know we can see them?" Ché pondered aloud.
Bulma shook her head, her eyes not leaving the crystal ball. Everyone was bunched up around it now, watching the scene unfold.
Krillin shifted to sit closer to 18.
There was an intake of breath.
"I'll be damned, I think he's going for it."
"Vegeta what the hell are you doing here?"
"I wanted to be here for the finale."
"Urgh, fine. Just shush and watch."
Yamcha squinted at the figures, "What do you think they're saying?"
18 ran her fingers through her hair and turned to the monk, "Krillin, what do you want me to say?"
Krillin lay back and propped himself up on his elbows, "I guess maybe just say it again? You know, without the demons and the imprisonment and the yelling."
She looked down at him. His dark eyes and darker fuzzy hair that was slowly hiding his scars, his past as a monk. Moulding him anew. Embracing the mutable future.
She didn't want to turn tail and run this time. How 'bout that?
"You make me happy, and I want you around to see how you make me happy, and see me heal and change and be a person and be proud of me. And I think you would be happy if I did the same for you."
He sat up, face to face with her, grinning that stupid grin of his.
"Haa haa you love me. Now who's the loser."
"Krillin! I-"
Ardently and joyfully, he kissed her.
And with that, chaos erupted in the peanut gallery of the Capsule Corp lab. There was a chorus of: "well its about time!", "Thank Dende, that was killing me" and "didn't think he had it in him". It wasn't quite the heavy applause that followed a slow clap in the romance of a race through an airport, or a crowded subway, or even on top of a skyscraper – no, for Krillin and 18, the warm grass and birdsong of another world would have suffice.
Bulma grabbed Yamcha and Roshi's shoulders and gave them a little squeeze, "Eeeeee! He's getting his happy ending!"
Her ex patted her hand, grinning, "If he's really lucky, I think it might be more like a beginning."
17 resisted the urge to spoil the moment. It wasn't really his.
It was only when Krillin's strong and careful hand left her cheek as she was kissing him back that 18 realised he had taken her earlier advice and ran with it.
Commit to it. Make your move. She had said to him. Well, that was one way to do it.
For once, she was glad the inhibitor was gone. God, she wouldn't have missed this feeling for the world.
"I, er, turns out this is significantly better when you're not paralysed with fear."
Krillin laughed, as he pecked her on the cheek. He stood up in one fluid motion and held out his hand to her, "Looks like we're both losers then. Come on, we still need to finish our daring escape."
She took his hand and hoisted herself up, brushing grass off her backside. Krillin looked around, trying to get his bearings and failing.
She passed him the Dragon radar, and started walking East back towards where she had come through the portal. She paused for a second and turned to ask,"Hey, um, after this...do you want to go do something?"
"...like… a date something?" His voice seemed to break a little there. She pretended not to notice and tucked her blonde tresses behind her ears, but kept moving.
"Sure, a date something," she called back.
He looked up at her, pretending to mull it over. Look at her, glowing in that sunset. He imagined her ki signature to be honey and cinnamon and jewel-toned. This was his chance and he wasn't going to mess it up. For once in his life, he wasn't going to mess it up. She was letting him see her free and whole and unafraid and she deserved the same from him.
"Sure, why not. I was supposed to be in the clutches of a demon so my diary is pretty free for a while."
They were almost at Majon's home when the radio crackled to life. "GUYS, UHH, BLUE LEADER TO JESSICA RABBIT. OVER."
"Its Krillin, do I get a cool code name?"
"WE HAD YOU DOWN AS PRINCESS BUTTERCUP. OVER."
"I can't say I didn't earn that. What's up? I think we're nearly back at the portal now."
"STUPID QUESTION BUT HAVE YOU GOT THE DRAGONBALLS ON YOU RIGHT NOW?"
Krillin checked his pockets in a very redundant manner, and 18 clutches at the rucksack she had over her shoulder and shook her head.
"...We do not."
"SOOOOOO WE'RE GOING TO NEED THOSE BACK IN OUR DIMENSION. I'M GUESSING THEY DID THE SHOOT OFF IN ALL DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS THING THEY DO."
Krillin rubbed his temple, "You know they did Bulma."
18 leaned in and pressed the Krillin's finger on the button, "Are you asking us to go and get them?"
"….YES PLEASE."
"What's the plan with the Portal? Can Piccolo hold it open for that long?"
A deeper voice answered, "JUST USE THE RADIO TO TELL US WHEN YOUR DONE, AND I'LL GET YOU OUT."
"Hey Piccolo, what's your radio name? Velvet Thunder? Lieutenant Worf? Sauron?"
"DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YOU THERE."
"No sir."
"HHMPH. I THOUGHT SO. I'M HERE IN CAPSULE CORP UNTIL YOUR FINISHED, SO TRY NOT TO TAKE FOREVER. IT'S...LOUD."
"We'll be swift, don't worry buddy."
There was a grunt and the radio when silent.
On the other side, Piccolo slowly moved his hand from the mirror and let out a sigh. It rippled for a second, and then their reflections slowly returned to its surface.
As he looked up, everyone was still watching the two figures in the crystal, utterly absorbed.
He coughed, and Chichi looked up.
"Oh! Yes, I think we should switch off the crystal ball now – give them a bit of privacy."
There were a couple of boos, but Baba caught on quicker.
"Yes! Yes! Away with you now. I've spent too much of my valuable time with you lot! Leave them be and let me go home."
As they dispersed, Chichi saw 17 linger a little longer on the image as it faded away to white.
She caught his eye, and he smiled softly at her, all of his impishness washed away for a brief moment, "She looked happy, didn't she?"
"You both do sweetheart."
"So when we do something, what were you thinking?"
"I dunno. I need to get more practice at baking?"
"Want to watch a movie?"
"I could watch a movie."
"Something fluffy. A romantic comedy maybe?"
She laughed, "Oh yeah?"
"Sure – what do you think; a strong leading lady, unresolved sexual tension, some deadpan snarker characters, beta couples, a dated soundtrack and maybe even a juicy little misunderstanding leading to an anguished declaration of love?"
"I mean if there's nothing else on."
A sparkle of light caught their eye a few yards away and they watched as the portal rippled in the setting sun. It glittered for a moment, then dropped to the ground like a popped water balloon, mirrored liquid disappearing as suddenly as it appeared. The door was shut.
Krillin put his hands on his hips, "looks like that movie will have to wait."
18 shrugged, a nigh unknown sense of peace washing over her. Fuck the inhibitor. She felt human, and she loved and was loved in return. And for now, for right now, that was all she wanted.
"What do you think?" she mused out loud, soft voice full of promise, "Is traversing the depths and dangers of the demon realm in search of Dragonballs an acceptable date to you?"
He smiled up at her, "Buy me an ice-cream and you're on."
-fin-
Exit stage left, pursued by bear.
Cue credits.