Val woke up with a start, not realizing she had fallen asleep. She blinked, sensing around for whatever woke her up, trying to ignore the heartache and insolent anger in her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind, sensing Vegeta had come out of the Room of Spirit and Time. She gasped at the flash of it, overwhelmed by how strong he had grown in such a short time. She felt a thrill of pride stir in her chest. She straightened herself up, threw one glance at the staff on the wall, and walked out of the room.
She reached the others, hardening her heart and blocking off her emotions quite easily when Piccolo there. She stepped closest to Goku, feeling the best place to stand was there. The idea of standing near Tien did not sit right with her. She looked over both Trunks and Vegeta, impressed by how the former had also grown, and more than just his hair. Their clothes were a bit tattered, showing they wasted no time in the room.
"We've been expecting you," Goku cheered.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Trunks said. "After two months, Vegeta finally surpassed Super Saiyan, but wasn't until now that he became proficient using it."
Val threw Vegeta a glance, liking the sound of it. If someone was going to stop Cell now, it was certainly going to be him. She closed her eyes and focused on that feeling. He met her glance with a brief smirk before snapping, "Trunks! Don't waste words on them."
Goku asked, "did it go as planned?"
Vegeta threw him a new smirk. "You'll see," he answered. "If you go into that room to train, you'd just be wasting your time. I'll clean up this mess, Cell and the cyborgs, by myself."
Val closed her eyes briefly, liking the sound of those words. She recalled telling Kami as much. Then she wrinkled her nose, sour at the thought of Kami and Piccolo hiding the truth from her.
"What?" Piccolo asked, voicing grating in Val's ears.
"I checked that thing after it sucked in #17. It's become an incredible monster," Goku warned.
"More's the challenge," Val commented, a little softer of voice than she aimed to. Vegeta simply smirked at both of them still in response.
"Hello!" a feminine voice called out. "Is everyone here?"
"It's Bulma!" Gohan named.
Val watched with the others as Bulma approached, feeling a thrill in her chest when she saw she held a capsule pack in her. She stared at it on baited breath, wondering if it held Dr. Gero's data. Her hand itched to go up there and take it from her.
"Bulma, why did you come here?" Goku asked.
"Krillin told me everyone was here. So I came," she explained. She looked over everyone and then did a double take when her eyes landed on Trunks. "Huh? What the heck? Is that you, Trunks?"
"Uh, yeah," he answered softly.
She stepped up to him and ran her hands through his hair. "Why'd you change your hair style? Is this a wig? You've grown taller, too!"
"Uh," he hummed out in response. "There's a mystical room here where a year passes in one day. Father and I were training in there."
"Really?" Bulma asked curiously.
"A pure Saiyan's hair, once fully grown, doesn't grow any more," Vegeta explained.
Bulma hummed and stepped over to Vegeta, running her hands briefly through his hair before he side stepped out just out of her reach. She looked a bit surprised and then pensive, passing her eyes over Vegeta to Goku to Val to Trunks and back.
"Really? I guess it goes for me, too," Goku cheered.
Vegeta grumbled, "we shouldn't be standing around, talking about things that don't matter! Why the hell did you come here?"
"Oh, to bring the battle armor you requested," she answered, opening up the capsule pack. Val felt her heart sink a little at those words, eyes trained once more on the capsule pack. "It turned out so well, the ones Val and I made for you and her that I decided to make one for everyone."
She pulled out a capsule, tossed it in the air. A trunk popped out and Bulma tossed the four Saiyan males present a suit of armor one by one. The four of them stepped away just out of sight to change as the others looked away.
Bulma stepped up to Val, elbowing her and rattling the capsule pack. "Don't worry, I also got you some things you'll really like, too, guardian," she said suggestively. Val turned to her, staring at her with a gaping mouth. "Don't worry, I'll give them to you soon. Just be patient." She smiled and then looked at her curiously, bringing her hand to run it across Val's loose, sleep tussled hair unexpectedly. Val flinched back and away, not expecting to be touched liked that. Bulma gave her a friendly, thoughtful look, running her thumb over her fingers, looking at them. "I guess once grown, Anthromorph hair does not grow either."
Val nodded in answer, eyes and mind more interested in the capsule pack than anything else. "We have one quick growth spurt and stop there," she explained. "And age at the pace of the race we grew for." She blinked up in surprise to see the four Saiyan males had returned.
"This is a lot lighter than I thought it'd be," Goku commented, tapping the chest piece.
"I wore one of these on Namek, so it's like meeting an old friend," Gohan complimented. Val found herself beaming a bit at that comment.
"Do you two want to wear one?" Bulma offered Piccolo and Tien. "I made extras."
Tien looked at it and shook his head. "No thanks," was all he said.
Piccolo grunted, "I don't think I could stomach wearing the same clothes as the Saiyans and Frieza's men."
Val looked at him, brow furrowed, finding another reason to be annoyed at him and his oversimplified comment about the Litt armor. More than just the Saiyans and the Imperial Army wore them. She looked down at her own set on, finding it a bit battle worn as well.
"Oh really? Okay," Bulma said. "You didn't seem to mind it so much a few mornings ago..." she said in a devil may care voice. Piccolo only looked away and grunted at that. Bulma frowned at him and then looked back over to Val, eyebrows raised. Val pursed her lips and looked away.
"You shouldn't be so picky," Goku said, oblivious to the sudden tension in the area. "It's easier to move in than it looks."
"It doesn't matter. You're not going to get a chance to fight," Vegeta announced.
"Because you're going to because Cell yourself," Goku said, throwing Vegeta a conspiratorial look. "That would be the ideal situation. Are you going now? I'll teleport you there."
Vegeta matched his conspiratorial look and then scoffed, "don't be an idiot. I don't need your strength." He took off at that, flying so fast and flashy that Val felt temporarily blinded to see it.
"Why doesn't he accept anyone's help?" Bulma sighed almost affectionately.
"Well, I better get going as well," Trunks stated.
"Hold on," Goku stopped him. "Here's your share of senzu," he offered him.
"Thank you," Trunks said politely.
Val blinked over at him, seeing more beans in another bag in his hand. He glanced over at her, explaining. "While you were napping, I went to Korin's and got more. A few more ripened about an hour ago. Isn't that lucky?" She nodded. He turned back to Trunks. "Do your best, but don't do anything stupid. If things get dangerous, it's okay to run away."
Trunks nodded. "Thanks for everything. Good luck with your training."
"Whatever you do, don't die, okay?" Bulma said.
Trunks nodded, waving at them before he took off after his father.
Goku looked down at his own son. "Ready, Gohan? Now it's our turn to train!"
"Yeah," Gohan cheered back.
Val smiled in spite of herself seeing the two of take off inside the Lookout, making Val wonder curiously herself what it was like in that room... a year a day... so much research that could be accomplished, so much training, so much-
She felt Bulma elbow her in the side. "Now's our turn to talk," she said, not bothering to say in a soft tone. Val looked over at her as she started to jog away herself. She held up the capsule pack tauntingly. Val watched her for a few steps before she ran after her. Bulma smirked, intrigued, talking her by the elbow. "Where's your room? Sounds like the right place for some girl talk."