(Two days later)
Hearing nothing but the wind brushing past her hair and cowl, the white haired form of Paprika stood atop a spire of rock with her eyes firmly shut and the most intense look pulled across her face. It wasn't that she was terrified of standing on top of that pillar hundreds of feet above the ground. Far from it. She was simply focusing on the energy swirling around inside her and concentrating it around a certain point, which was revealed moments later when her eyes snapped open and, taking a step forward, she threw her right hand forward and unleashed it all in one go.
"HA!" With a bellowing shout, a pink flash of light left her hand and rocketed towards the deserted mountain standing several kilometers in front of her. The blast quickly impacted against its side and detonated with the force of a nuke, incinerating the entire front portion of the edifice and bringing down half of it in the form of rubble and dust.
After the cloud of smoke lifted from the area, it revealed a blast-shaped crater in the side of the remaining half of the mountain and a decent part of the landscape covered in massive chunks of debris.
Clicking her tongue irritably, the green-skinned Makyan with the black uniform and red scarf stepped out of her stance and clenched her fists again. "Not as tough as the mountains in the north, but these ones are still quite sturdy…" Taking a deep breath, the young girl huffed, "I've been training like hell for weeks and I still haven't made any jumps. Damn it…"
Every time it seemed like she was getting somewhere with her power and skills, that bastard of a half-Saiyan simply moved one step ahead of her even faster, just to stay in the lead. It was mind numbingly annoying and frustrating.
"Hey, Paprika. What's up?"
And speak of the devil…
Eye twitching, the white haired girl glanced over her shoulder to see who it was that suddenly called her name.
Sure enough, appearing right there in her peripheral vision, she saw Son Gohan himself, dressed in the same gi he'd worn to the world tournament, land directly behind her with that irritating smile on his face. She didn't even question how the hell he'd managed to find her all the way out here, considering she wasn't even trying to hide her energy signature. However, his arrival at this place did raise a few other inquiries…
"Blowing up mountains again? That's cool. I usually do it while I'm training as well, but I try to keep the damages to a minimum. The earth has enough problems to deal with supporting over four billion people and animals on it. Having a couple of super powered aliens blasting the heck out of its landscapes is something it can do without," the demi-Saiyan teen spoke, obviously as a joke.
Despite his words seemingly falling on deaf ears, Gohan continued to grin across at the girl's back as the wind whipped past them and the awkwardness of the moment started to settle in.
Eventually feeling the sensation tickling at the crook in his neck, the young Saiyan cleared his throat and placed his hands on his hips, "So what's happening on your side of the ball? Been training hard for the next Tenkaichi Budokai?" He then saw Paprika turn around and, after throwing him a hard glare, took a couple of steps towards him. Not sensing anything off about her actions, Gohan continued to speak in his same, good-natured manner. "Considering how strong you are now, you must have been working your butt off these past couple years. I bet your Super Makyan form is much more powerful then it was before if your current energy level is anything to go by-" CRACK!
Gohan's comments were effectively cut off when he received a hard punch to the face from the girl, who managed to cock his head to the side and draw blood. Shaking her fist out, the Makyan stared at him firmly for a moment before turning heel and facing the destroyed mountain once again, leaving the slightly surprised half-Saiyan rubbing his now bruised cheek.
"Shut up, Son. You're ruining a perfectly good training session," the Makyan spoke in a harsh tone of voice. She grunted immediately afterwards, "Honestly, I can't stand your incessant blabbering…"
Her remark to his appearance and her punch had Gohan chuckle weakly, "Heh… still sore at me for knocking you around back then, huh?" Massaging his jaw and rolling it, the youngster grinned across at her. "I guess I deserved that one."
Though he was a bit skeptical on that one, considering he did blow up her home planet all those years ago, the girl still packed a wicked right hook. That much was clear.
"What the hell do you want?" Paprika asked, not even bothering to give the boy the courtesy of eye contact.
Upon nursing his throbbing cheek, the demi-Saiyan beamed brightly at her, "I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a minute…" He then gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, "Just for a minute. Not here though. I need to speak with you somewhere else."
His words prompting the girl to look over her shoulder again, Paprika glared momentarily at the incredibly cheerful Gohan. Upon taking in his warm smile and kind eyes, she once again turned away from him and focused her attention back on the countryside.
"Pass."
The young warrior immediately appeared disappointed, "Aw. But… why?"
"Are you seriously asking me that question?" the Makyan asked in amazement, looking around to see the Saiyan drop his arm to his side in confusion. Upon seeing his reaction, the girl sighed and raised a hand in defeat, "Kai, you're as dense as the fucking moon." She then jabbed her fingers in the air, "Three reasons. One: I hate you. Two: you blew up my home planet. Three: after all the shit I had to go through in the past five years because of what you did, do you honestly think that I would waste my time and energy speaking with you outside of the ring? Even though I'm not out to murder you in your sleep, I'm still your damn enemy. " Not receiving an immediate answer except a few confused blinks and a blank stare, Paprika quickly gave up on him fixed her attention elsewhere. "Ugh. It's useless trying to explain anything to you. Just leave me alone."
Sensing hostilities growing, Gohan sighed and raised his hands, "Alright. Alright. I will." Stepping to the side, he then resolutely gestured to the landscape behind him, "But only after you come with me for a couple of minutes. I just want to show you something. After that I'll leave you alone and we won't have to speak to each other ever again… okay?"
Despite his voice and persistence grating on her like nails on a chalkboard, the Makyan considered his words carefully for several moments. As much as she wanted to blow him off entirely and take a shot at him for continuing to bug her, the girl relented for a couple of reasons, the first being that he was still much stronger than her.
The second was that even if she tried to get physical, the boy was stubborn and would probably stick around until she did something other than say 'no'. He did seem to be that kind of person on the surface and if her history on him was correct then that was most likely the case.
After a full minute of silence and continuing to feel the boy's pleading eyes bore into the back of her skull, Paprika eventually came to the conclusion that the monkey wasn't going to leave her alone no matter what she did to try and stave him off. So, after giving an irritable sigh and a slump of her shoulders, the white-haired fighter spun around and cursed, "For the love of… FINE! Fine! I'll come with you…" She then grumbled under her breath when she saw Gohan's smile reappear, "Lousy, stupid, airheaded, orange-wearing clown."
Completely missing the spite towards him, the half-Saiyan took flight and Paprika followed close behind. Figuring she wouldn't like him being anywhere within contact distance, Gohan decided not to try and teleport her to the location and simply led her there instead. Setting a comfortable pace, the pair left the deserts of the West and headed South-East, during which time neither of them said a word to each other. All they did was glide along at a reasonable speed in silence and kept a safe, breathing distance from each other, with the half-Saiyan glancing over his shoulder every now and then to make sure the girl was still behind him.
Every time his eyes landed on her, he saw the Makyan glaring at him with her arms crossed and a suspicious expression in play.
That was all Gohan needed to know that she was at least going to stick with him until the end of this journey.
For the next few minutes they glided along, watching as the landscape around them quickly transformed into forest covered mountains, canyons and plateaus. Recognizing the scenery as being the backdrop making up Mount Paozu, Paprika was about to ask the boy why the heck they were going to his home until she suddenly saw him drop altitude. Sticking to him, she descended as well until they landed softly in a grass-covered clearing beside a very familiar waterfall and river.
Looking around at what she realized was one of her meditation spots, the Makyan then shot the boy a frown as he walked forward, "Alright. What the hell did you bring me all the way out here for?"
Still smiling from ear to ear, the teen glanced over his shoulder to meet Paprika's gaze, "I just wanted to apologize for everything that's happened between us. After all the stuff that's gone on in the last several years, the androids showing up, Cell, Bojack and everything, living on this planet must've been really tough on you." Seeing her narrow her eyes on him, the half-Saiyan continued in earnest. "I… also wanted to thank you for looking out for my little brother whenever he went out on his little adventures."
Caught a little bit off guard by that last part, the white haired girl looked at her chief rival in bewilderment, "You… knew I was…"
"Even though I'm sometimes not around when Goten goes outside to play, I still know exactly where he is and wherever he ends up," Gohan informed, tapping the side of his head with a warm grin. "You can hide your ki signature really well whenever you're on another part of the planet. But you can't hide whenever a second energy signature manages to find you. Squirt pretty much blew the whistle on your position the first time he ran into you outside my house."
The Makyan blinked a couple of times before looking off with a grunt, arms still folded and ire still burning brightly. "I have no intention of harming any of your friends or family… especially your little brother. Unlike some of the other enemies you encountered in the past, I'm not a monster." She then glanced back at him momentarily, "I welcome any opportunity to show kindness and care to the uncorrupted… even if they are the blood of the person I detest most in this world."
Gohan lightened up at her sincere response, "Sure. I wanted to come out and thank you personally, but I knew that words wouldn't be enough. So I… well…" Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he then stepped aside and gestured across the river. "I wanted to do something special to show my appreciation."
When Paprika looked in the direction he was pointing, her eyes widened in surprise when she found herself staring at something she thought she'd long forgotten.
Standing plain in her sights, sitting alongside the forest and river, was a large, purple house made of stone with numerous windows, dome-shaped tiled roofs giving the building the appearance of mushrooms clustered together, a chimney, a beautiful garden out front, and a contemporary archway. Bearing the appearance of a cottage in a fantasy setting, it not only had greenery growing all over it, there was also a watermill not too far from the house giving the place a turbine to work grains and other miscellaneous material.
However, this was apparently no ordinary setup or building, as the sight of the house had Paprika walk forward and reach out with a hand. "I-Is that…?"
"I know it's not like the one back on your home planet, but I did the best I could with the wish that I had," Gohan explained, smiling at the girl as she stared across at the house in disbelief. "Since you're probably not used to living out in the wilderness like some other people I know, I wanted to do something to help you out. So I asked the dragon of New Namek to build you a house." He then lowered his hand and regarded the girl with a soft look. "I stocked up the pantry, moved the furniture and bought you some other stuff to get you started. It's not much, but…"
"No, no, it's fine," Paprika murmured, not taking her eyes off the building for a second. "It… almost looks like the house I grew up in with my…" She then stopped when she realized what she was about to say and glanced across at Gohan. Considering his expression for but a moment, she then returned to a normal standing position and frowned at the structure. "It's very nice."
Smiling at her remark, Gohan nodded across the river, "Do you want me to give you a tour?"
Paprika quickly shook her head, "No, I'm good." She then shot him a glare, one that had the boy lean away a little, "I did say I would only speak with you for a couple of minutes… so…"
Nodding in understanding, the half-Saiyan quickly turned to leave. Reaching into his belt, he pulled out a key and tossed it to the Makyan, who caught it and held it firmly between her fingers. Upon which the youngster then gave her a pleasant wave, "If you need anything, don't hesitate to drop by and ask. Okay?"
"Whatever," Paprika replied quickly, at the same time showing him her back. "Now get lost."
Satisfied with her response, the half-Saiyan then placed his fingers to his forehead and vanished in a golden flash. After seeing the boy leave via teleport, Paprika then took a moment to look over the house and check out the key she'd been given.
Inspecting it for several seconds, a warm smile then crossed the demon girl's lips and, clenching the key in the palm of her hand, decided to go check out the home.
Though it wasn't like the one she had back on her former planet, it was close enough.
"I'll be sure to punch him extra hard the next time we meet," Paprika thought with a small smirk in play.
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