A few days later, Val was outside Capsule Corps, sparring moderately with Freight in front of several other Namekians sitting around to watch them. She was taking a much needed break from working on the medical machines she had been helping with. Val looked up at Freight and backed up, going on the defensive when he charged. She raised her arms up and crossed over her face, blocking a strike aimed at her jaw. He still struck her wrists, making them smart. She shook off the feeling, ducking down and charging at him. She met him strike for counter strike, trying to use her shorter stature against him. He blocked and countered in time with her. Val backed up, frustrated. She threw her shoulder down, grunting as she slammed into his chest. It knocked him back, unsteady on his feet. She saw the open and took it, kicking him in the chest to knock him down on his back.
She watched him fall, leaning her hands on her thighs to take a rest. She felt a bead of sweat trickle down her lower back. She straightened up, feeling her joints ache from all the sparring. She stepped over to him, offering her hand down to him to help him up. She grunted, pulling him up to stand.
"I liked it when you were smaller, Sister," he said, sounding half amused.
"I didn't," she replied with a smirk on her face. He hummed under his breath, but stopped it short as he threw a gaze over behind her. "What is it?" she asked, turning her head to look behind her. "Oh, hello," she greeted.
She noticed Bulma and Yamcha, along with and Krillin, dressed in nicer, more human looking clothes, walking over to them outside. Bulma waved at them, cheerfully saying her own hellos.
Krillin on the other hand just stared at them. "Did you just take out out a full grown Namekian warrior?" he asked, jaw slack.
Val looked at him and shrugged. "Uh, yeah," she said, trying to keep the smirk creeping up on her face discreet. Both her father and Asa had always reminded her to be humble in victories, with the later being way better about it in practice.
Freight stepped over next to her, clamping a hand down on her shoulder. "Our sister comes from a long line of Avian warriors. Not surprising once she grew, she grew stronger. Doubled in strength even," he bragged for her. "We often spar when she's not busy with her tinkering with those scientists, or training up at the Lookout."
"Your sister?" Krillin fixated on, looking just at Freight. "Your sister?" he added, looking at other Namekians around the area. "Just how many are your brothers exactly?" he asked her, sounding a little nervous.
"All 89," she responded promptly. Moori nearby cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, 91," she added, forgetting to count Kami and Piccolo.
Krillin seemed to pale at the number, looking around at the other Namekians in the area, with some of them not there at the moment. "Uh, well, I... uh..." he stuttered out.
Bulma elbowed him in the side. "Krillin was wondering if you are free today to go out to dinner, and you are as soon as you get a shower and a new change of clothes of course," she explained.
Val blinked over at Bulma, looking at her rather the now red faced human staring at his feet. "Oh?" she asked, blinking in a bit of confusion. She nodded, and shrugged. "Oh, okay," she said, not sure what else to do or say. She put her hand in her hair, noticing it was sweaty and tangled. There might have even been some grease in it from earlier when she was learning to take apart and clean one of the newer medical machines one of the researchers was teaching her about. She did notice a grease streak on her arm even. She asked to Krillin, "do you know the city well at all? I haven't really been off the Capsule Corps campus, beyond going to the Lookout. I don't want to get lost."
Krillin nodded, not looking up at her yet. She blinked at him, confused as to why he was being so shy all of a sudden.
"Who is he again?" Freight asked, studying him.
Val looked up at him to answer, but he could, Yamcha said, "only the strongest human on the planet!" he bragged. "Home grown. No alien DNA needed to make him ridiculously powerful!"
Krillin seemed to get a bit more red in the face either at Yamcha's words or by how all the Namekians in the area were looking at him.
"How well can you fight?" Hull asked, stepping a bit closer to Val with Loader doing the same, cracking his knuckles.
"Now, now, boys," Bulma chastised gently. "There's no need to pick a fight with him." Bulma stepped over to Val, grabbing her by the hand. "Now, come along. We need to get you cleaned up. But quickly since we don't want to keep Krillin waiting."
"What- but I-" Val started to protest, but Bulma kept walking forward towards the building they lived in and away from all the Namekians and Krillin and Yamcha left alone in their midst.
"He'll be fine. Yamcha's with him," Bulma dismissed.
"You think she might be stronger than me or you?" she heard Yamcha ask.
Bulma lead her into the building, up the stairs, and into her room. She gave her a playful shove towards the bathroom. "Go. Shower. Quickly."
Val looked back at her confused, but shrugged and went and showered, wondering what the fuss was all about. She blow dried her hair, still not a big fan of the heat on it as it might dry her hair out. She came out wrapped in her towel and looked over at Bulma sitting on the bed, tapping her foot on the floor. There was a risque dress right next to her. A pair of heels sat on the floor underneath the dress. Bulma head a small clutch in her hand, looking up at her intrigued.
"What?" Val asked, unsure what was so exciting.
"You're borrowing this tonight. Put this on," Bulma said, tossing her the dress.
Val held the dress against her front. "Where's the rest of the fabric? I can't fight in this if I need to," she thought out loud.
Bulma rolled her eyes. "You don't need to fight tonight. You can take the evening off. If someone bothers you, then let Krillin be the hero and handle it."
She looked at her perplexed. "Why would I...?" she questioned.
"Because it's dashing. Dress," Bulma said, nodding over at her. She covered her eyes. "I won't look."
Val huffed, looking down at the dress in hand. She put on undergarments she figured would go unseen in such a scandalous dress before shrugging it on. "There," she stated.
"Now come here," Bulma beckoned her over to the bed. She tapped the bed next to her.
"Why?" Val asked sitting down. Bulma reached her hand up to her face, making her flinch away instinctively.
"Make up," Bulma said, as if that was an answer. Bulma grabbed her chin, pulling her closer. "Just stay still," she instructed as she started to put the odd powders from the clutch on her face.
"What will this do?" Val asked, blinking after a mushier substance was applied under her eyes, making them water.
"Enhance your natural beauty, and you got lots of it," Bulma explained. "Now close your eyes. Sit still."
When Bulma finished touching her face, Val pulled away. She kept blinking, eyes feeling strange, like she could almost see the black ringing her eyes. "I don't know if I like this..." she stated, bringing her hand to touch the sticky substance coating her lips.
"Trust me, he'll like it," Bulma explained.
"I'm doing this for him?" she countered.
"Well, no. You do it for you. Like I said, enhance your natural beauty," Bulma restated.
"But I thought I was..." she started, but did not finish, reaching to be humble.
"Gorgeous, yes, so enhancing it is a cinch," Bulma explained, sounding borderline annoyed. "Now shoes," she said, pointing down at the shoes on the floor.
Val stood up and slipped them into her feet, trying to drive her heels down on the floor, but finding the raised pegged the shoes were on refused let her. "What's wrong with these shoes?" she asked. She stomped her feet on the ground again.
Bulma shook her head. "There supposed to be like that. Making you look taller, leaner, and demure," she explained.
"But I'm already taller than him," she replied.
Bulma took her by the arm and walked her towards the door. "Not the point," she muttered, guiding her out the door.
Val started walking, feeling an ankle twist and taking her down to the ground. She huffed. "How do I walk in these?" she asked, standing up and smoothing down the dress.
"Those are practically kitten heels. Walk on the balls of your feet with them," Bulma explained as Val followed after her.
"For how long?" Val said, feet already starting to protest.
"The whole date. Keep them on, and don't lose them. I want them back," Bulma explained. "Also, ground rules. Best you don't talk about politics or anything intense. Maybe also steer clear of the whole you want kids one day since you're the last of the Anthromorph-"
"But I do want that," she interrupted. "I mean, kind of..." she added, uncertain.
"Well, it could spook him, so tiptoe for now the last of your kind thing," Bulma advised.
She frowned softly. "Can I talk about trying to design a new healing tank, even though human tech is so primitive?" she broached.
"Carefully, with less of a complaining tone. A woman with a job is a catch, especially compared to someone who just eats, sleeps, trains, and complains. Now let's go. You shouldn't leave your date waiting so long. Especially with all those 'brothers' of yours."
They walked down the hallway, just in time to see Vegeta coming up the stairs. He looked Bulma first, Val second. He took a second to look at her face, asking, "what's wrong with your face?"
Bulma smacked him in the shoulder. Val blinked at the sight, thinking not even Vegeta expected that. "You do not say that to a lady," she chastised him. "Come on, let's go," she added, pulling Val along with her.
Val was amazed herself that she did not trip as she walked down the stairs after Bulma, who was setting a clipping pace. They went outside and over to where Krillin and Yamcha were waiting with the other Namekians, standing off to the side of them. Krillin did a double take at the sight of her. "Whoa," Yamcha breathed out, looking her up and down with raised eyebrows.
Yet the other Namekians looked at her a bit confused. "You need to wash your face," Hull commented, breaking the silence.
"You will get cold wearing just that," Loader added.
"Those shoes are impractical for fighting," Freight added last.
Bulma groaned, rolling her eyes. "Some men just don't know what they're talking about," she sighed out. She gave Val a playful shove towards Krillin. "Go on, have some fun with a man who will appreciate the effort we made."
"He's not the only one," she hardly heard Yamcha mutter.
Val stepped over to him, shyly, cautiously, in these heels. "Uh, shall we go?" Krillin asked, offering his arm to her.
"Are we walking?" Val asked in surprise.
"Uh, yeah," he answered. "Flying is not the best idea outside of Capsule Corps. Hardly anyone on this planet can fly, so we flew, we'd be seen and might cause a scene."
She frowned, half a thought to cancel the date then and there rather than walk in these ridiculous shoes. She looked down at them, turning her ankle so she could see the peg raising her heel up. She looked back up at him, seeing a hopeful look in his eyes. "I'm going to need to walk slowly then," she determined, feeling a bit grumpy at the idea. She reached up to her neck, but when no collar was in reach on the low cut dress, she put her hand down.
"Yeah, that's fine, totally fine," he rushed out. "So, shall we go?" he asked again.
She nodded, walking with him slowly to ensure she did not topple over again.
She walked next to him, determined to keep pace with him, even in the shoes she could hardly walk in. When they left the Capsule Corps compound, she noticed other human women around, themselves walking around in the same kind of shoes she was wearing, some with a higher, thinner pegs than she was wearing, and walking with ease. They looked confident, moving like the shoes would not bother their feet at all. She tried to stand up a little taller and to mimic the confidence, but felt one ankle threaten to give way when she put her foot down on the ground wrong.
"Are you okay?" he asked, drawing her attention right to him.
"I'm not used to these shoes," she admitted, reaching down to take them off.
"Well, the restaurant I made a reservation at isn't too far," he explained. "Uh, you would do better to keep those on..."
"Why?" she asked, one shoe in hand.
"Well, the ground is really dirty, dirtier than you would believe. Plus, no one goes around barefoot her," he added.
She looked around at some of the people nearby who were looking at them with passing glances. "Oh," she hummed, putting the annoying shoe back on and continued to walk. She wondered if she would ever be able to walk with the ease the other women she saw. It certainly felt like a painful process.
"Those are at least better than when you had to go barefoot on Namek," he added.
She nodded, thinking back to that time limitedly. "Yeah, fighting against Reacoom was bad enough," she shuddered. "My feet were rather cold those few days. I almost enjoyed wearing the battle armor just so I could put on those boots."
"What happened to the shoes you wore before you grew?" he asked. "You kept the other clothes from then."
She shook her head. "My mother said the shoes were the only thing ungrown Anthromorphs had to remove before they grew. They could not be made to adjust with us like the other clothes we wore. Mine had to be removed right away when I started growing because they started hurting my feet," she explained. Afterwards she wrapped her hands around her waist, not quite wanting to remembering about the time she grew.
"Yeah, it can be difficult being shorter," he commented. "At one point, Goku was the same height I was, but then..." he finished with a shrug.
"My father said height does not determine a fighter's ability, even though he was probably one of the brawniest fighters with the widest wingspan on the whole planet," she shared. "When no one wanted him to train me when I was old enough, he'd tell them that. If that did not work to convince them, he'd challenge them to fight. If he won, he got to train me to do whatever he wanted to that day, where ever we happened to be. He told them if they won, he swore to stop training me ever again."
"Whoa, those are pretty high stakes," he responded.
She gave a small laugh. "Either they backed down or he won," she bragged. "My mother said the only fights he would not rise to was against King Vegeta, King Cold, or any others connected to them."
"Fights he couldn't win?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Probably, but were fights my mother forbade him to get into. As for me, I was forbidden to pick any fights with anyone. And got in trouble for fighting back in fights others started."
"And why was that...?" he asked.
"I was half or two-thirds of their size," she explained. "They stopped when either I won, or, if I lost, my father went after their father."
"Whoa, that's a little harsh," he blew out.
"Warrior planet," she said with a shrug. She looked around the area, noticing how people would stare at her for a few seconds and look away. "Why are they staring at me?" she asked in a softer voice.
"Uh... probably because you look a little different..." he wheezed out. "I'm sure it's harmless."
"Do I not look human enough to blend in?" she asked nervously. Bulma had insisted she looked human enough to pass for one. She looked down at her hands. The burn scars were so muted that she could only really tell they were there because she knew where to look. Her skin was darker, but not green like the Namekians, whom Moori advised to stay on the Capsule Corps Campus because of their overly different looks. She had been an exception to that rule.
"No, you do. There are humans who look like you, well humans who you look like," he flustered out.
She hummed, but said nothing back. They kept walking, farther than she would have preferred, and talking. He asked about her training at the Lookout, seeming to kind of understand it, even though she had yet to work it out completely under Kami's supervision yet. She was glad to finally reach the restaurant and sit down to get off her feet. The menu was confusing, hard to understand. Usually she just ate whatever the chefs employed at Capsule Corps made, so being given a variety of options was unexpected. She ended up ordering same thing he did, only to be disappointed by it. She picked at it, trying to finish most of it, being hungry as she was from working and sparring earlier.
"You don't seem too hungry," he commented after a long lull in conversation.
She hummed, making herself take another bite. "It's just not as good as I was expecting," she said passively.
He gave a split second sour look, looking down at his cleaned plate. "Well, you do eat more than your Namekian brothers do, and a lot less than Vegeta does I bet," he said with a fake sounding laugh.
She nodded. "He does eat a lot...," she commented, recalling haven seen him eat on several occasions. "Namekians, the Dragon Clan anyway, so long as they can get in the suns, well sun here, having fortified water or hydrangea tea is enough."
"The one you were sparing with earlier doesn't eat? And he's that strong?" he asked.
She nodded. "Freight's probably the strongest one of the Dragon Clan. Is a bit of a friendly competition between him, Hull, and Loader for whose stronger."
"And you can compete with them?" he asked, sounding oddly nervous.
She nodded, making herself take another bite. "Yeah, but this Namekian needs to eat. I ate a lot of fish on Namek because that was what plentiful. And vegetables that grew well alongside the hydrangeas," she explained, now wishing she had ordered something like that off the menu instead.
"Piccolo and Kami need to eat, too," he explained. "Seen it on occasion."
She kept her face neutral on talk of one of those two. "For Demon Clansmen, that's not uncommon," she answered, sounding almost withdrawn in her tone.
"Hey, you know, speaking of the Namekians and how we used their dragon balls, which I am really grateful for by the way. Are you going back with them to New Namek when they wish for it in like three or four months?"
"Huh?" she hummed. She blinked, looking down at her half eaten plate, and then looked around the restaurant they were in. She thought over the question. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it," she answered honestly.
"Well, being you're one of them, and the Great Elder makes the wish, then you'll with them," he figured. "We're you planning on doing that? Or are you planning on staying on Earth?"
She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. "I don't know," she repeated, frowning.
"Well, dating doesn't make sense if you were just going to leave and go to New Namek," he half choked out.
"Dating?" she reacted. She blinked more, thinking without saying anything back. She looked around the restaurant again, and even out the window at the scene on the streets. "I haven't thought about it," she said longingly. "No one has asked me that question. Earth is much more like Aviary. More primitive in technology, but more advanced than Old Namek had been. At Capsule Corps, another scientist and I have been trying to replicate the healing tanks like the ones I worked on on Frieza's ships, but," she shook her head. "We have made some progress in imagining technology. He hopes we can bring it to market in a few months or years, whatever that means." She paused, thinking about Moori, Dende, and the others. "But the Namekians... It would be hard to never see them again..." She hummed, opening up, "Piccolo did tell me to stay on Earth as it would be safer..." She held back a cringe at the memory, even if it did smart less than it had over four months ago.
"Well, he is pretty smart about that. He's planning on staying here after they leave. I'm sure Kami will, too, being Earth's guardian and all," he inferred.
"Yeah, he's staying," she said, nodding. Her hand traced over one of her bracelets. "He won't abandoned the Earth until after a new guardian is found. He offered it to Goku once, but he turned it down. He wants someone pure enough in heart to take over, even if they aren't as worthy as Goku."
"When did you see Piccolo? I heard he was avoiding Capsule Corps. Something about a row he had with a few of them up at Kami's Lookout. Followed by an argument with the new Great Elder."
She blinked up at him, frowning. "Back when I first arrived here. And, yeah, I was there at the Lookout that day," she admitted, cringing at the memory. "What argument with the Great Elder?"
"Oh, well, I saw him right after I got back, too. I, uh, told I was going to go visit Capsule Corps and he mentioned the arguments, but not like in a lot of details," he flustered out. "He's certain he's staying on Earth, even if he did fuse with that other warrior. Kind of glad he did, otherwise we would have all been slaughtered by Frieza before Goku could get there."
She nodded, picking at her food. "That was selfless of him," she managed to say.
"Oh yeah, that was the guy one the one protecting the old Great Elder," he remembered. "The one who tried to train you to sense people." She nodded, feeling her bracelets grow a little warm around her wrists. "We're you and that brother close, too?"
She hummed, admitting slowly, honestly, "we were actually bonded." He looked at her, brow knitting together. "Bulma said it was like being married here on Earth." His eyes went wide at the admission. She rushed out, "but it's gone because he's gone. I get the feeling the argument had with the Great Elder was over not taking over the bond." She pushed away her plate, not finding it even a little appetizing anymore.
"Oh, jeez, I probably shouldn't have said anything," he muttered. "Looks, it's not a problem. You've got weeks to decide if you are staying or going, and like we can try and take it slow or whatever. It's not a big deal." He reached his hand over to hers on the table, but she pulled it away and onto her lap, annoyed at how temperamental she was feeling all of a sudden. The bracelets on her wrists felt warm, and she worried he might get burned by one of them. "Maybe we should just go," he suggested. "Just give me a minute or two to pay the bill. Wait here, please."
She watched him get up from the table and go over to the register. She got up and followed after him, balls of her feet still swollen from walking in the shoes earlier. He glanced up at her while he paid, took his card back, and put it and his receipt into his wallet, which he pocketed. She crossed her arms over her chest as they walked out of the restaurant, deep in thought.
They walked down the street back towards Capsule Corps, with her wishing she could just fly, or even just ride in one of the multiple cars zooming by on the road. She kept her arms crossed, worried about how warm the bracelets had stayed, thinking as soon as she got to Capsule Corps, she would need to empty the energy from them to be on the safe side, like Kami had advised her once. She did find her arms were a little cold, rubbing the bracelets over them to warm them up a little.
"Hey, I said, do you want anything else to eat?" he asked, drawing her attention back to the present. "There are other places on the way. Can get something as take out," he suggested. She shook her head. "Figured I'd ask..." he muttered.
"I think just getting back would be good," she determined, wanting to go talk to Moori about more than one thing.
"Uh, yeah, hey. No problem," he responded. His tone seemed to convey otherwise though.
She looked over at him, and not at her feet. Her shoe landed on a discard food wrapper on the ground. She stumbled, ankle twisting with a painful pop. She landed on the ground, feeling the side of her calf and the palms of her hands scrap on the uneven sidewalk. The shoe fell off, rolling an inch or two away. She swore under her breath.
"Whoa, are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down to help her up. She could feel more than just him watching her. She shrugged herself out of his grip, picking up the shoe and throwing it in the street, feeling a bit better after doing that. "Uh, that's Bulma's shoe. She's going to be pretty mad if you don't return it," he informed her.
She huffed. "Fine," she rushed, feeling anything but. She stood up by herself, going to walk over to the thrown shoe, but felt unbalanced by the one still on her foot. She took that one off, eyes tunnel focused as she walked into the street to grab the other one.
"Val, stop!" he exclaimed behind her.
"What?!" she shouted and turned back, bracelets growing even warmer.
She heard the screeching of tires on the road, looking up before seeing the delivery truck right before it hit her. She let the shoe in hand go. She dropped her shoulder, stopping it before it knocked her down. She felt a flare of energy leave her bracelets in the process. She left a wide dent in the front of the truck. She kicked it in the dent, sending scooting back a few feet and into the car behind it. The driver got out of the truck, and started yelling at her.
She moved to go up to the driver, ready to yell right back at her when she felt Krillin come up right next to her, yanking her arm back. "Ow," she complained, finding her forearm was sore from being hit by the car.
"We have to go, now," he said, voice shaking. He pulled her back, but her ankle buckled. He brought his hand to his face. "Oh, we have fly," he groaned.
"What, but-" she started to protest.
"Just come on," he snapped, sounding mad for the first time all night. He flew off, pulling her with him. "I really hope no one filmed that."
"What about the shoes?" she protested, following after him at a fast speed away the scene. They were back at Capsule Corps's campus in no time, negating the reason for walking in the first place.
He landed swiftly on both feet while she landed on one, injured ankle protesting at the very idea of her putting any weight on it. It was hurting more now since she was foolish enough to kick the delivery truck with it. He pressed the heels of his hands on his forehead, muttering to himself so lowly and so quickly that she could not understand what he was saying beyond, "I have to go back... I can't just leave it... how do I explain this...?"
She looked down at him, waiting impatiently for him to stop. When he did not, she asked, "what about the shoes? What did that woman call me? And what's a foreigner? How come we flew away then, but couldn't possibly earlier?" He kept muttering to himself. She bit back the desire to snap harsher at him. She brought her hands up and then thrusted them down, flames burning into nothing on the ground. She felt her temper cool down a little after she did that.
"Look, I need to try do some damage control back there. We probably shouldn't have run... I panicked, I-" he huffed, looking her over, gesturing with his hands up at her. "Ugh, but you're injured and I don't have any senzu beans on hand. And Korin's place is really far away."
She blinked at him, annoyed that none of her questions were answered. "I can just go ask Dende," she said, pointing up at the dorm where the Namekians lived. "He's a healer after all." She started to limp towards the dorm, annoyed at how much it hurt, but figured it was only temporary pain.
He raised his hands up by his face. "If even one of your brothers see you like this, I got a feeling I'm toast," he groaned. "Oh, wait," he called after her. "No need to do any more damage to your leg than there already is." He stepped up behind her and scooped her up unexpectedly. She gasped, sinking into his arms nonetheless since it hurt far less to be carried. "I'll take you to Dende, and then go see what I can do about the truck and truck driver. I'll probably see if Bulma can come with me. Or her father. They're both pretty good at smoothing things over. Claim it was a Capsule Corps experiment gone array," he said as they walked into the building. "Look, can you make sure you let your brothers know I didn't lay a hand on you. I like living, and if they killed me, the Earth's dragon balls won't be able to wish me back."
She nodded up at him, "okay, sure." She straightened up in his hold, bringing her arms around his neck to do so. "Dende's room is on the second floor. 207," she informed him. He seemed to get a little redder in the face. "I'm not too heavy?" she asked, worried he might be straining himself. He ankle throb with each step he took.
"No, no. You're fine," he responded. He went to the stairs, taking them as quick as he could carrying her. "I just really need to get back to that accident scene."
He took her to Dende's room, but they were seen by two Namekians as they moved, with one following them into Dende's room while the other said he was going to go find Moori. Krillin kept carrying her in the room, with a surprised Dende telling him to set her down on his bed so he could heal her. He was healing her up while she was explaining what happened best she could.
She looked over at Krillin, standing in the doorway uncertain. He tapped his foot impatiently, looking down the hallway. "You can go," she permitted. "You said you wanted to get back there anyway. Although, I don't get why considering we flew off," she added. "Oh wait, the shoes..."
"Yeah, I suppose I should," he griped, turning to go. He froze midturn however when he saw Hull blocking the way with Freight and Loader right behind him.
"What did you do to our sister?" Hull asked, louder than necessary.
Val sat up, even as Dende pushed her to lay back down. "He didn't do anything," she rushed out, explaining. "I fell because of those shoes and human truck hit me. Let him go and sort it out since he wants to." Hull stepped back from the doorway reluctantly. Krillin looked back her in amazement that Hull backed down based on her word alone. "See you later," she said, not sure what else to say.
He blinked at her. "Uh, yeah, sure," he responded before turning to rush down the hall towards the nearest exit.