(A couple weeks later)
There was nothing like a good long meditation in the morning by the waterfall to sooth one's soul. Well, this was the very thing Paprika had been in the process of getting into, until she was once again interrupted by the timely arrival of her regular visitor, Son Goten.
Astride the yellow cloud that his family referred to as Nimbus, the little half-Saiyan giggled brightly as he floated around the girl sitting in midair with her legs crossed, arms folded and her eyes tightly shut. In spite of the fact that she looked like she was currently occupied fighting an internal battle with her spirit, the spiky haired half-pint was doing everything in his power to keep her from doing that. This involved drifting around her like he was in orbit on top of his family's cloud and repeatedly asking her questions he really wanted to have answered.
Needless to say, as grating as it was, it was simply impossible to ignore the little guy.
"So your people like eating fruits for breakfast and lunch, huh? I really like fruits too," Goten exclaimed happily in response to the older girl's latest reply to his storm of questions. Completely caught up in the moment, the child began counting on his fingers, "All kinds. I like apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, raspberries, pineapples, grapes, pears, raisins…" He then sat back on his cloud and looked towards the sky thoughtfully. "I really like eating prunes too… but those ones make you want to go to the bathroom." An excited look then came upon his face and he grinned at the Makyan's back. "Did your people have fruits that made you do that too?"
Breathing out a sigh, the napping demon girl shrugged her shoulders, "We had a lot of fruits possessing all sorts of magical and dietary properties. This included alcoholic dates and berries that could cure any illness you were afflicted with." She then cracked open an eye and looked across at the boy floating alongside her. "My village was known for growing and selling some of the most delicious fruits on the entire planet. But… Makyo was destroyed many years ago in a great cataclysm… and most of my entire race's culture is now lost to the ages, including their fields and trees."
"Oh. I'm… I'm sorry," Goten murmured, now looking ashamed at having asked her that question. "I didn't know."
"Don't worry. I've gotten used to it," Paprika replied, closing her eyes again and exhaling deeply.
"Being on your own?" Goten asked, his face scrunching up cutely as he considered the question carefully for himself. After a couple minutes of sitting on it, the youngster then responded with the only thing he could come up with, "I think being on your own would be very sad and very scary. If my brother, Zangya, Videl or my mum weren't around and I wanted someone to play with, I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be walking around lonely and… and upset." He squirmed a little on the spot, "I don't think I'd ever get used to being alone."
His words had Paprika visibly sit up a little, but it was a response that went completely amiss by the little half-Saiyan.
"Everyone needs somebody to make them feel better… mums… dads… brothers… family… friends," Goten then smiled as he gazed across at the Makyan's back. "Having people around you who love you and spend time with you can make you very happy. Like whenever I'm upset or hurt, I always go to my brother and he cheers me up and spends time with me. And whenever I want someone to play with, I sometimes go over to Bulma's house and play games with Trunks. Sometimes he'd come over to my place too and we play tag across the hills." The youngster grinned as memories of those times flooded back to him. "When I'm spending time with someone I know and love, I feel like I'm going to be okay. I feel safe and happy." The boy then leaned forward curiously as he moved Nimbus around to look at the girl, "Do… you have someone that makes you feel like that?"
It was then Goten got a little bit of a surprise when he floated around and saw Paprika's face. Getting a good look at her, the boy noticed the girl was staring ahead of her with tears streaming down her cheeks and her mouth slightly open, a sight that had the child recoil before floating forward in worry.
"Ms Angel… are… are you okay?"
Realizing that the youngster had come right up alongside her, Paprika shook herself out of her daze and wiped out her eyes. "Oh… y-yeah. I just… got splashed by the waterfall." She then cleared her throat and closed her eyes once again. "It's nothing."
Blinking a few times after seeing the girl wipe away the 'water' on her face, the spiky haired child pursed his lips stubbornly and tilted his head, "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure," Paprika replied quickly, wanting to avoid getting too into her personal issues with this child.
He was young and innocent. The last thing she wanted to do was fill him in on the torrent of emotions she was experiencing every day.
However, what she had yet to figure out was that Goten wasn't a quitter. When he saw something he thought was out of place, he would stop at nothing until that thing was corrected. It was an attribute of tenacity that was best associated with all the members of his family. So, staying true to that virtue, the young half-Saiyan floated forward on Nimbus and hovered in front of the girl with a happy smile on his face.
"If you don't have any friends or family, Ms Angel… I can be your friend if you like."
The Makyan looked up at him in surprise, "Huh?"
"Yeah. That's a great idea," the boy said, floating around on the cloud so that he was behind her and surprised the demon by wrapping his arms around her. As soon as he was latched on, he giggled and pressed his face against the girl's fluffy hair. "Since you're living here in Mount Paozu, I can come visit you every day and we can hang out whenever you want. If you're feeling upset you can come tell me about it… and if you want someone to talk to, you can come talk to me. Wouldn't that be awesome?"
At first baffled by what the boy was saying, Paprika tried to unlock the boy's grip from around her neck. However, her efforts proving futile, she simply settled for staring at him. "Uh… well…" She was about to protest. But as soon as her eyes landed on the boy's face and she saw the child smiling at her from up close, the white haired girl felt her words get swallowed up and her breathing grow still. Upon which she relented to the overwhelming cuteness of his visage and the wall preventing her from saying anything slowly crumbled. "I… I guess so."
"Yay!" Goten exclaimed, pulling away from the girl to float next to her, grinning from ear to ear, "I know we're going to have so much fun. We can look for bugs together, chase dinosaurs, catch fish… we can even play chasey when my brother teaches me how to fly tomorrow." Another idea then came to the child's head and he hovered in closer to the Makyan once again. "Hey! You can even come around and play with me and Gohan sometime! It'll be great!"
Recoiling a little, Paprika looked away with a slight smirk on her face, "We'll see. Your brother and I aren't exactly what you would call… the best of pals…"
"Oh? You've… already met my brother?" Goten asked, tilting his head at the demon girl for a moment.
The Makyan chuckled, "In a way."
Shrugging it off seconds later when the green-skinned girl failed to elaborate any further, Goten then went on about wanting to organize a play date with her and Trunks. He talked about how he wanted to show her his place and all of the awesome hot spots there were for animals around the mountain. Considering how long he'd known this girl, he was determined to hang out with her as much as possible when he wasn't at home, so that she didn't feel alone anymore. His heart spoke for him in this matter and, unbeknownst to him, it struck a little chord inside of Paprika that resonated with her deeply.
Not allowing it to show on her face, the Makyan simply floated there and allowed Goten to ramble on and fill her world with noises of comfort and joy…
Both of which she thought she'd long cut out of her life.
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