A/N: This chapter is longer than the others, but I couldn't help it. I had so much I wanted to say! Enjoy, si vous plait!
Bluish liquid was the first thing she saw when she woke up. Azure bubbles floated in front of her eyes. The feelings of sharp pain had eased from her body. She felt completely renewed.
She strained her sight to observe her surroundings. It seemed that she was in some kind of a compartment filled with a weird kind of watery material. A metal oxygen mask was secured over her mouth. After focusing her eyes a bit more she could slightly make out some moving shapes outside the compartment.
A muffled female voice was saying, "I think we can pull her out now." Then the top was pried open and a pair of broad hands removed her breathing mask and started to pull her out of the tank. But, she was not about to be helped out when she could do it perfectly well. So, she yanked her arms out of the person's grip and quickly crawled out.
Bulma, Trunks, and ChiChi stared with curiosity at the now completely revived woman. Ragged clothes hung to her lanky, yet slightly muscular frame. Her hair, which had come undone from it's braid, now dangled in drenched stringy tangles behind her back. Her dirt-streaked face was etched in an angry-looking scowl, while her savage stare observed each of them. She was crouched on the floor with her hands curled into fists, prepared to pounce at any moment. Bulma, being the person she was, hurried up to the girl and began to wrap a warm, cotton white robe around her shoulders. But, as quick as lightning, the young woman snatched the robe and tied it to her body.
"She's trying to be hospitable to you! Although, in my opinion, she shouldn't. Especially after how you nearly killed her son!" ChiChi scolded.
"I didn't kill him! He seems to be perfectly fine now! I told you before that I didn't mean to launch that big of an attack!" the girl countered ChiChi's usually unbeatable tone.
ChiChi looked taken aback for a minute yet responded, "Don't try excuses on me, young lady! The point is you could have killed him! Therefore, you have the power inside of you to kill him!"
"Hell! I apologized for it! And you better remember that because apologizing is not a habit of mine!"
"Well it should be! You'd think your parents could have taught you some manners!"
The girl's ice-like eyes narrowed with anger, "They couldn't, even if they wanted! I don't remember my real parents at all! And my adopted parents were killed by the androids when I was only six years old! So you see, I have been living without them for nearly sixteen years!"
ChiChi looked in surprise at the girl's response. Secretly, she wished she could take back her statement. The sarcastic girl had showed some severe pain and grief when she talked about her parents. She should have realized that she wouldn't have been wandering around town if she had parents.
"Why don't you tell us about all this over breakfast? You must be starving, darling," Bulma offered before another argument could break out.
"Fine," the girl crossed her grimy arms over her chest.
"All right, Trunks, please show our guest to a guest room please," Bulma smiled kindly and directed her voice to the girl, "Then come down for breakfast once you change. Here are some clothes. If you don't like them I will get you some others."
"Whatever," she replied while flashing a satisfied smirk at ChiChi. ChiChi glared death at her and headed for the kitchen.
Trunks headed out of the lab and into the housing quarters. The girl followed the young man and took an inventory of him. The first thing she noticed was how handsome he was. He was taller than she was and obviously muscular in form. His silky lavender hair reached his ears and flipped about his head. But, the most noticeable thing about him was his mysterious yet attractive light blue eyes. She felt as if she had met him before, but she couldn't place where she had seen those cerulean pools of emotion before.
One thing was certain as she observed him, he was powerful. Very few people lived through the Psychic Flame and here he was completely recovered. She wasn't stupid enough to get a possible ally angry with her. So, she decided to act a little nicer to this man and his two female friends. Soon, they stood in front of a door and Trunks tinkered with a lock before opening it.
"Thank you," the girl nodded as she entered the room and shut the door. Trunks stared in disbelief at the girl's almost nice response. He headed downstairs shaking his head in confusion.
Once inside alone, the girl unfolded the clothes the woman had given her. There was a pair of slightly faded blue jeans, a tight black T-shirt that had Capsule Corp. stitched across the front, and a sleeveless denim vest. She was fingering the material when a knock was heard from outside the room.
ChiChi entered the spacious room and snapped, "Bulma wants me to show you to a bathroom so you can wash up before breakfast. Follow me."
The girl rolled her eyes and snatched up the clothes before slamming the door so hard that the entire house shook. ChiChi glared at her, but the girl simply smirked back. ChiChi mumbled all these things about ungrateful brats while heading down the hall. Quickly they reached the bathroom and the girl entered.
The girl turned sharply and remarked, "You don't like me very much, do you?"
"You haven't given me a reason to like you, bitch!"
Before ChiChi could react, the girl's slender hand flew forward and grasped her throat, "Don't ever call me a 'bitch' again or I will break your neck before you know what happened. " ChiChi's eyes expressed pure terror as she felt the girl's grip tighten almost enough to cut off all air. She knew that this girl was strong, but it was still a surprise for such a scrawny-looking female to have such speed and raw strength.
"Then Trunks would get pissed off at you and he'll kill you in a minute flat," ChiChi barely croaked while unsuccessfully trying to pry the girl's iron grip from around her throat.
"Well, he could kill me, but he'd have to do a little work if he's going to. I'm stronger than all humans, but him. I don't feel like getting your blood on my hands so I won't kill you at the moment, but know that if you piss me off again I will not think twice about it!" the girl tossed ChiChi into a nearby wall and slammed the bathroom door after she entered.
ChiChi slumped against the wall, clutching her throat and trying to calm her rapid breath. That girl was serious about her threats to kill her! She probably wouldn't even think twice about it the next time. So, ChiChi decided to try to avoid the girl as much as humanly possible. She also decided not to tell Bulma and Trunks about the threat. If they knew that she provoked that hot-tempered girl to nearly killing her, she could be in major trouble with them. But, ChiChi had seen that deadly stare before. She couldn't remember why, but the annoyance in the girl's eyes was so familiar to her.
Inside the bathroom, the girl was mentally ordering herself to control her temper or else she could either lose the support of the male fighter or get killed. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and shuttered. She had rarely ever looked at her reflection and she suddenly remembered why. She was definitely not a beauty like the blue-haired woman downstairs. Her hair hadn't been brushed in years, just simply braided to get away from her face. Speaking of which, her face was covered in dirt and dried blood. Her mouth was usually etched in a deep pissed off scowl that sent chills to everyone around her. The only attractive thing about her was her light blue eyes, but right now they had a icy savage look to them. She turned from the reflection and prepared to take a hot, relaxing shower.
Twenty minutes later Bulma headed up the stairs to check on the strange girl, despite Trunks warnings. She took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock when she heard a sound coming from inside the bathroom. Bulma listened carefully and discovered that it was singing! And it was coming from one of the most beautiful voices she had ever heard! She pressed her ear to the door so she could hear the notes more clearly.
Trunks and ChiChi were sitting on the living room couch when they also heard the mournful song from upstairs. Curious, they headed up to the bathroom where the mysterious girl was. They saw Bulma standing next to the white door with tears flowing down her pretty face. She motioned them to come closer and they heard more clearly the beautiful tune that filled the house.
Bulma's heart was pounding against her chest when the mystery girl fighter opened the bathroom door and looked at her with those azure eyes. She smiled nervously, "Hello, dear. I am sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to check on you and make sure that the clothes I gave you are satisfactory."
The girl smiled at Bulma's eager, almost youthful grin, "Everything is fine, ma'am. I like the clothes. They're certainly better than anything I ever owned for years. At least, they aren't ten sizes bigger than me."
"I'm glad you like them. They used to be mine when I was younger and obviously thinner. But, never again."
"Why not?" the girl asked as she motioned for Bulma to come in .
"Well, for one thing, I'm fifty-three years old and age has started to take it's toll on me." Bulma sighed.
"You're kidding me! You don't look fifty-three all! I figured you must be about thirty two at most!"
"Well, that's certainly wrong. I am not anywhere near that anymore! But, another factor is having children can really affect your weight."
"You have kids? Where are they?"
"I only have one and you've met him. The lavender-haired boy downstairs is my son, Trunks."
"He's your son?! I didn't even see the resemblance between you!"
"That's because he doesn't look like me. He looks like his father, just with lavender hair and blue eyes. The only thing he inherited from my side of the family was the hair and eyes." Bulma explained as a film of tears welled up in her eyes, but quickly disappeared.
"Where's his father?" the girl asked nervously.
"That's a story for another time, dear. Now, do you need any help?" Bulma quickly changed the subject.
"Well.....I probably could use a little help brushing my hair. With it being so long, it usually has a mind of it's own."
"Why I would love to help you out!" Bulma exclaimed with some forced cheer.
"My name is Bulma. And you would be...." Bulma questioned the strange female.
The girl answered softly, "Angel. My name is Angel."
"Angel? Well, that's a very pretty name. And is there a last name with that, too?"
"Um...no. My adopted parents just called me Angel because they said I was like a little angel that flew into their lives. They never told me their last names."
"Oh, all right then," Bulma smiled and bustled around the tiny bathroom, "Well, here is a brush so we can try to get out all those tangles and here are some other things we'll need." Angel giggled like a little girl as she flashed the first genuine smile Bulma had seen her do.
Bulma grinned and sat Angel on a wicker chair with her long hair spilling over the back, "Now..are you tender headed, Angel?" She shook her head no. "Well, then...let's begin! And after this, we'll head down and have some breakfast."