Val flew off towards the snowy mountain village, stopping briefly to put on her warmer clothes out of her capsule pack. She felt a bit hot and stuffy in them, but knew once she reached the village, she would be cold. She flew slower, wind buffeting her more than usual as she flew. She landed at the center of the village midday. She saw villagers milling around, ones that she knew. She felt her ears draw back, suddenly nervous with how they were staring at her. She saw Aiko in the mix as well, onikuma pelt still on her. She whispered something to person near her, and then the person took off running. "Dah, space witch, what are you doing here?" Aiko said, stepping over to her, close, too close for comfort.
Val assessed her aim was only to intimidate her. She knew she could take her, had taken her before. The woman was not worth the fight. She took a deep, steadying breath and pulled out her capsule pack and several capsules of medicine. "There's been a viral outbreak. Down in the South. Me and another scientist at Capsule Corps made some antiviral medicine for it," she explained, offering the medicine up to Aiko. She put the capsule pack holding only a few capsules now back in her pocket. "If it makes it up here, there's instructions for how to take the medicine in each capsule with the medicine. I can also bring more if anyone needs it."
She kept her hand up, but Aiko did not take the medicine. "Still thinking fancy city medicine is better than ours here, no?" Aiko asked. "Capsule Corps anything is better than here?"
Val gritted her teeth. "This is," she answered. "I've seen it kill people. It almost killed me," she explained.
She looked around the area, seeing others looking at her distrustfully, and after the last time she was here, could only half blame them. She saw Tien and Chiaotzu coming over to join the crowd of villagers, the person Aiko sent away coming up not long after them. Val closed her fist around the capsules in her hand and stepped over to them.
"What are you doing here?" Tien asked.
Val looked at him and then at Chiaotzu floating up next to his shoulder. She held out her hand to Chiaotzu, offering him the antivirals instead. "There's been a heart virus outbreak near the Southern Capital. I've seen it kill a few people. It almost killed me," she loaded each word with a hint for him to catch. "Another scientist and I made this antiviral medicine. I wanted to bring it up here for everyone, just in case the virus makes its way up here."
She sensed movement from behind her. She tensed up, and then relaxed, seeing it was just Aiko coming up to stand on the opposite side of Tien that Chiaotzu was on. She wrapped both arms around his upper arm. Val felt a flare of hollow jealous at that, but quelled it so it would not show on her face. "Do we really need any of that? We have our own medicinal herbs up here," she pointed out.
Chiaotzu reached his hand out and took the capsules, much to her relief. "Just in case," he commented.
She saw Tien nod in approval, but then saw Aiko slip off his arm and storm off. He watched her stiffly, pausing for a few held breaths before he turned and said curtly to Val, "thanks."
She nodded and watched him shuffle after Aiko. She turned to look at Chiaotzu, tempted to ask him about how exactly he thought Trunks had reminded him of her, but refrained since there were too many onlookers. "See you, when, you know," she answered.
"Right," he said, nodding once.
She tapped her pocket, double checking that the capsule pack was still there. She waved goodbye to everyone in the area before taking off and flying away. The wind buffeted at her more intensely than usual. It ate at her already irritated state of mind. She sensed someone flying up behind her, knowing right away who it is. She felt the temptation to increase her speed and gave into it. She flew faster, annoyed at how the wind slowed her down, but she figured it was slowing Tien down, too, because he was not catching up to her.
She gasped, feeling her ears draw back a second before she sensed an energy blast whoosh underneath her. That got her to halt midair. She shoved the capsule pack deeper in her pocket protectively. She turned around and faced him, ready to fight if he escalated to it. He stopped before her, panting a little bit. "Can we just... talk for a second," he said, hands raised up for a few seconds before he put them back down at his sides.
"The virus sucks, I caught it. I don't want anyone else I know to catch it, even Aiko," she blurted out. "You're welcome."
"Thank you for bringing them," he repeated.
"You already said that," she grumbled.
"I wasn't aiming for a fight," he admitted. "Just to talk."
She dropped her arms to her sides, mirroring his position. "About what?" she asked, rubbing her fingers on her palms to try and quell the heat building up there. She felt like half a ghost before him, one that could easily fade away.
"Your research, you succeeded?" he asked. She nodded. "And the virus, were you supposed to get it, too? It the other time line?"
She hummed, hollow feeling upping in her chest at the thought. "I don't know," she answered honestly.
"Well, you look like you survived it easily," he commented. "And training, you succeeded there, too. Who'd you train with?"
"When I was at the Southern Capital during the outbreak, I trained alone," she answered.
"What about when you weren't there?" he asked. She hesitated to answer, too long. "It was with Vegeta, wasn't it?" She gaped at him, not answering. "Look, with you, I ain't got a problem with you. Even after what happened between us, but him..."
She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay calm. "We're just friends," she said protectively, feeling unwilling to engage in this fight again. She felt herself draw a small smile at a memory of seeing him with his newborn son and wife. It was a relief to her that friends were all they would ever be.
"You sure?" he pressed.
"We're just like you and Aiko," she countered flatly. He drew back at that just enough for her to catch. She felt a flare of jealous burn through her quickly at that. "He and I will be there when the androids come. But for now, I have more antivirals to deliver," she told him, pulling out the capsule pack and rattling it between them. "Then I'm needed back at Capsule Corps." She put the capsule pack back in her pocket.
"See you in May then," he bid.
"We'll be there," she answered before turning around and flying off, not liking the grey clouds forming in her line of sight.