Val flew off to the Lookout, feeling a bit fidgety. She glanced down at one of her bracelets, seeing the just barely noticeable crack in it. She sighed, figuring it would be better to go get it fixed now with Piccolo there than to go alone.
She landing on the Lookout, seeing no one there, but could sense Piccolo and Kami not too far away inside the library. She suppressed her ki as she moved towards them, hoping to get to the two of them discreetly in case it was a bad idea to go there.
She got near to where they were, pausing when she heard muffled sounds of arguing. She suppressed her ki even lower and tried to also drive her heart rate down as well. She stepped silently closer, waiting on bated breath to overhear anything possible.
"We have to keep the future on track as much as possible," she heard Kami say. "I fear the further it goes off track, the worse the consequences could be."
She heard Piccolo grunt. "Trunks meant to save Goku and warn us," he commented.
"More has changed beyond those two goals I fear," Kami confessed, voice sounding tight. "Each change could bring dire consequences."
"What's got you so fearful, old man?" Piccolo asked, sounding annoyed.
Both of them went quiet, unnaturally so, for far too long. "Perhaps it is because this conversation is no longer private," she heard Kami say. She hesitated, tempted to run off and leave. She ran a finger over the crack in bracelet. "What are you doing here, Kiri?"
She sighed, stepping into the room and in view of them. She opened her mouth, gapping a bit. "I just... um... wanted to..." she hummed out, feeling her nerves being here rachet up more than she should have. She threw a side glance over at Piccolo, wondering why he might be feeling that way. She ran a hand over her bracelet once more. He met her gaze, making her feel her nerves pulse quicker.
Kami noticed, humming not unlike the way Piccolo would when annoyed. He looked between the two of them before settling his annoyed gaze on Piccolo. "You know the future," he growled out in warning.
"As do you," she jumped into the conversation. Kami turned his gaze on her. "I may not know as much as either of you, but I know I should have died from the heart virus, but did not," she announced. "Because you both ignored the consequences of changing the future and saved me anyway." She looked between the two of them, wondering if she was wrong and hoping if she was, that they would correct her.
Kami sighed, looking at her like something was not right. He looked back over at Piccolo and then at her again. "No more changes," he decreed. "Set the future back on track."
Val felt her hands heat up. She shook them out lest the bracelet crack any worse. She nodded in agreement just to appease him more than anything else. "I um..." she started, humming and dropping what she wanted to say.
Kami was still looking at her, but she glanced over at Piccolo, finding no support from him this time. "Have you finally come to train as guardian?" he asked point blank.
She blinked at him and hummed. "I... the androids," she landed on. "They will be here soon. I have to be ready for them."
Kami hummed at her. "Another excuse to delay now that the antivirals have been completed," he commented, sounding more frustrated than she ever recalled hearing before. She drew back from that. "Physically training can be part of that," he reminded her.
She felt her nose twitch in annoyance. "I'll, we'll need all the fighters we can get against the androids," she countered. "There's two of them. What if Vegeta can't handle them by himself?" She looked again over at Piccolo, felling blocked from sensing anything about him.
He did not look over at her. Kami looked over at him and shook his head slightly. "Do you want guardianship or not?" he insisted, turning to look at her.
Val swallowed dryly, not expecting the direct question. She thought about it, the temptation. The power. It was not the high priestess role her grandfather wanted her to strive for, but she felt on Earth, it would be the closest she would get. Yet Daiki's suggestion to her to train to be a virologist on this planet one day, after the androids were defeated, was all the more tempting. She brought her hand up to the hydrangea pendant on her necklace. "I don't know," she answered honestly. She looked back up at Piccolo again, wanting some semblance of the connection to him back, feeling the hint of the hollow feeling in her chest creeping back. He was staying out of it. "After the androids-" she started.
"Quit delaying," Kami responded, tone neutral, yet it made her ears draw back.
She had not yet looked away from Piccolo, silently demanding he meet her gaze. When the connection stayed blocked, she looked back over at Kami and shook her head. "No," she answered. Her hand tightened around the pendant.
"What?" he said, eyes going wide unexpectedly. She pulled back and sunk back into stoicism.
She shook her head, not sure of her decision at all, but picked one to fight off the pressure. "No," she repeated. "I won't be sidelined in the fight against the androids. You must fear they'll kill me, otherwise why bother trying to keep me out of the fight?" she accused, hoping either one of them would correct her if she was wrong. Neither of them spoke, which made her think her inference was all the more likely. "So if I have to give an answer now, the answer is no," she said resolutely. She shook her head, this time to herself. "I should go. I shouldn't have come up here in the first place," she thought out loud, turning around and walking away. She crossed her arms over her chest, stomping away haughtily.
"Bring her back," she heard Kami demand.
She broke into a run and then a fly when she was clear enough from the buildings on the Lookout. She flew off as fast as she could in the direction of Capsule Corps. It did not take him very long to overtake her and block her way.
She halted midflight so as not to run into him. She hovered in the air, standing up straight and tall. She backed off a little to keep more formal distance between the two of them. "I was supposed to die from the virus, so why save me?" she asked. He stared down at her, not answering. "Wasn't I?" she added, not quite sure now of what the future he knew held. "Or did Kami say to save me because he still wants me to become guardian in his place?" She waited, on bated breath. Blank stares, blank senses, no answers. "To keep me from the fight from the androids because you, both of you, think I will die in that fight. Because I won't die." She panted, annoyed at the silence being the only thing he returned. "Tell me," she demanded, "or-"
She stopped speaking, cut off midsentence. His lips were on hers, hands cupping her jaw. She leaned into the surprising kiss, but then stiffened. She pulled back and out of his grip. "I wanted an answer," she said, looking over at him in shock.
She shoved him away from him, temper waxing and waning. She flew away from him, this time with him not following along after her. She flew off in a different direction from the way to Capsule Corps. She landed on the sand, feeling it crunch beneath her feet as she turned her gaze to them.
"Huh? Val? What are you doing here?" she heard Krillin's voice call over to her across the beach.
She flicked her gaze up at him, seeing both him and Master Roshi standing nearby, gawking at her. "Can I train here, part time, until the androids arrive?" she blurted out the questions.
"What?" Krillin asked.
"Absolutely!" Master Roshi said.