(Several Days Later)
"Your brother is really adorable, Gohan," the chirpy voice of Lime spoke up as she and Gohan watched the little Goten play out in one of her village's meadows. Smiling brightly when she saw the child scamper after a grasshopper, the girl in the yellow dress beamed up at the raven haired hybrid standing alongside her. "He reminds me so much of you."
The young male adorned in the white oriental shirt chuckled, "You think so?"
"Of course. I mean, haven't you noticed the similarities?" the brown haired girl asked, shuffling closer to her friend while they leaned against the stone fence surrounding the pristine field. "His expression, his eyes, his smile, his laughter… they're all the same as yours. The only thing that's a little bit different is your hair." She then reached up and tugged on one of her pigtails, a gesture which drew the boy's attention over to her. "Yours is really not that far off from his."
"I guess you're right," Gohan replied, smile widening as he then reached up and pulled at his locks. "I'm still trying to think of a new style to put it in. This one's kind of lost its pizzazz"
"Hmm…" Lime massaged her chin as she looked at her friend from an angle. When she saw him turn to her so that they were face to face, an idea quickly popped into her head and she grinned. "You should go with the style you had in your blonde haired form; the one where it was all spiked up and standing on end."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. But make it a little bit shorter. That way it won't get caught on anything while you're fighting or running around," the girl replied, at the same time reaching up to brush some strands out of the way. "I'm actually thinking of getting mine cut too."
Gohan gave her a more considerate look immediately after she said that, "You don't need to get it done right away. I think your hair looks great the way it is."
The child blushed a little from his compliment and glanced up at the teen, who remained blissfully unaware of the significance behind his little remark. "Really, Gohan?"
"Uh-huh," the teen nodded, at the same time smiling at her cheerfully.
Running her fingers over the braided locks hanging next to her, the girl in the yellow and white polka dot dress nodded her head in acknowledgement of the boy's statements, "Thanks. I'll… I'll think about it." It was then Lime turned to him with a brilliant smile on her face, "Hey. My good friend Miyagi-san is really good at cutting and styling hair. You could come down and see him if you want to get a trim sometime later. I'd probably be able to get you a good discount for it."
The half-Saiyan considered her words for a moment, upon which he then responded with a shrug, "Sure. Why not? I think I'd like that." He then grinned at her, "Thanks, Lime."
"Anytime," the girl chirped.
Returning his gaze to the field while his friend beside him laced her fingers in front of her and rocked from side to side in a bashful manner, Gohan saw his little brother fall onto the grass and giggle when the grasshopper he was chasing landed on his nose. For the next few minutes after that he and Lime watched the child roll around and try to catch the little critter, this time going after him on all fours like a cat.
After standing there and seeing the child scramble about all by his lonesome, Lime decided to get up and have a bit of fun as well. Giggling when she hopped out onto the grassy field, the teen then hunched her back, brought her hands up into claws and gave a mock growl, at the same time advancing on the spiky haired youngster. "Rargh. I'm coming to get you, Goten."
Seeing the girl approaching him in a very Godzilla like manner, Goten gave a startled cry and ran for it. Laughing boisterously, he started running round in circles with the brown haired girl in hot pursuit.
Watching the pair jogging laps around each other caused Gohan to laugh and shake his head. "Just like Videl," he thought, remembering the time his best friend did something very similar with his brother a few weeks ago.
Even though she and Lime looked completely different, they were still alike in many other ways, right down to their hotheaded and feisty personalities.
Deciding to join in as well, the spiky haired Saiyan ran out and spoke up in a heroic sounding voice, "Don't worry, Goten! I'll save you!" Skidding to a stop when his little brother ran up to hide behind his leg, the boy leaned over to scoop up the child before being tackled to the ground by Lime. Making sure to loosen up so he didn't hurt the girl by accident, the group of three laughed outright as they began play fighting across the ground.
Even though the weeks out in the Mount Paozu region were often slow and mundane, it was days like this that the half-Saiyan and his friends enjoyed the most …
XXX
(A few weeks later)
Standing underneath the shade of an apple tree not too far from the Son family home, which could be seen sitting peacefully at the bottom of the hill, a certain white-haired figure had unexpectedly dropped by for a visit. With her arms folded, red scarf hanging around her neck and adorned in the same figure hugging uniform she'd worn to the World Martial Arts Tournament, Paprika currently had her sights set on the small, dome-like structure and the family she could see playing around in front of it.
Over the past several months, the Makyan had been making frequent trips from her training spots scattered across the continent to this place. Every time she did, the young demon always made sure to keep her distance, while at the same time suppressing her energy level as low as possible. This was to make sure that the people in the area who were capable of reading ki signatures didn't pick up on hers while she was watching them, a technique she affectionately referred to as 'stealth mode'.
After all, she was neither a friend of theirs nor was she an acquaintance of their group, especially to the spiky haired teenager living in the little shack he called home.
"Look at that brute; acting all happy, innocent and cheerful," Paprika thought, eyes narrowing as she watched Gohan, currently dressed in Piccolo's gi, crawl around on the grass with his baby brother sitting on his back. When she saw the teen giggle as his brother happily tugged on his top like a reign, the Makyan frowned, "Well you don't fool me, you orange-wearing trash. I know exactly what kind of person you are." Also watching them from a few yards away was their mother, Chi-Chi, and the Hera female standing alongside her, the former of whom was smiling warmly at the sight of her two children playing together.
The reason Paprika dropped by today was simple. She was keeping tabs on her arch enemy's training regimen to see how much stronger he was getting. By dropping in every now and then to get an update on his progress, the Makyan was able to gain a firm grasp as to how much more powerful the boy was getting in comparison to her. Considering how often he exercised every morning, noon and night, she suspected he had to be getting somewhere with his workouts.
As a result of her incredibly discreet observations, over the past several months the girl had noticed a subtle increase in the boy's power and skill, which irritated her somewhat because it appeared that his strength was growing at the exact same rate that hers was. The fact that he kept his power level suppressed most of the time and rarely transformed into a Super Saiyan during his training sessions made the process of getting an exact bead on his power increases all the more frustrating for her, as she couldn't get an accurate reading from him.
However, determined to learn more about her nemesis in order to prepare herself for the next time they met, Paprika persisted. Coming to the same spot in the middle of every week, the girl would take up position under the same tree, stand there for the entire day, and watch him.
Sure, every now and again she would break away to get some meditation and Image Training in to keep up her strength, but for most of those twenty-four hours she would stand there and observe his actions. And each and every time she did so she found herself baffled by the fact that such a powerful warrior, who's fighting spirit was capable of matching any seasoned martial artist, could regress to such a childish ball of innocence.
"He's like this every single day. When he's not focusing on his training, he's always bouncing around and grinning like an idiot. It's absurd," Paprika grumbled in her head, looking on as another hour ticked by and she saw the teen walk back into the house with his family.
From her spot she watched Gohan return to his desk at his bedroom window to study. Though she couldn't see exactly what he was working on, she knew that it had to be one of his more advanced literary titles. She could also sense the mother was inside the house pottering around the dining area, along with that orange haired woman who seemed to be occupying herself in the living room.
Things quieted down from that point onwards, leaving Paprika standing on the hill in silence. Continuing to watch the house like a hawk, the white haired Makyan became so engrossed in her studying of her enemy's mannerisms and activities that she failed to notice a presence sneaking up behind her. It wasn't until a few seconds later did she eventually pick up the sound of a giggle, which had her turn around slowly and look down.
It was there she saw the one year old Goten standing there in green and yellow oriental clothing smiling up at her.
"Hello," the hybrid child exclaimed, eyes shimmering in wonder as he stared up at the Makyan.
Paprika, not at all surprised by his appearance, acknowledged his presence with a notable air of caution.
Straightening up and puffing her chest out, she fixed the boy with an impassive gaze. "Go away." Receiving nothing but a giggle in response, the Makyan frowned even deeper and waved at him. "Go." Unfortunately this didn't have any effect either as little by little, Goten ambled towards her. Paprika shook her head at him. "No. Go away," she said in the nicest and calmest voice possible.
However, despite her best efforts, she was unable to do anything when the demi-Saiyan suddenly latched onto her legs and hugged her, causing Paprika to recoil a little.
The demon scowled down at the boy wrapped around her shins. "I don't like children."
Her words were promptly ignored… or simply misunderstood. Because as soon as he was done hugging her leg, Goten held his arms up towards her and made a grabbing gesture with his hands. "Up. Up."
With an exasperated sigh, Paprika hesitantly reached down and picked the needy child up, yet held him at arm's length just to be safe. Using the opportunity to her advantage, she spent the next couple of minutes analyzing the boy, looking him over while he stared back at her innocently. After a long pause, the Makyan grunted. "It's so… ugly you can almost feel sorry for it." Despite her rather harsh comment, Goten simply smiled back at the girl and laughed joyously, earning a raised eyebrow from the white haired fighter.
Bringing him in to get a closer look, Paprika was caught a little bit off guard when the half-Saiyan reached forward and grabbed the horns on her head, giving them a light squeeze. The Makyan blinked a few times when she felt Goten hold them and eventually let go, allowing her to lean away and look down at the child, who continued to use his hands to explore her shoulders. Tugging on her scarf, the child eventually allowed his hands to fall back to his sides and beamed at the stranger.
Once she was sure the hybrid was satisfied, Paprika gently set him to the ground and watched him turn away. "Go along. Go. Go." She then allowed the child to scamper off, the youngster jogging back down the hill and towards the house. Goten soon became interested in a couple of butterflies fluttering about and decided to chase them instead.
Paprika looked on as the child went about playing in the pasture, narrowing her eyes and watching the tyke chase after a wide variety of insects. During that time she found her gaze pulled across to another part of her hill, where she spotted Gohan's Namekian friend Piccolo standing nearby with his arms crossed and his glare fixated upon her.
Merely frowning at the former guardian of the planet and not too keen on starting something out here with him, the Makyan returned to watching the house quietly.
As it turns out, her sleuthing during the past half a year hadn't gone completely unnoticed.
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