thelonewarriorprince

[thelonewarriorprince]

It works well enough that the next time she has the nightmare- it's almost always that same one- she goes straight to him. She won't charge in to hug him, she's learned better than that by now but she does peek in and wait to be invited- or not. She very much hopes she'll be invited though

Vegeta welcomes her in and involves her in all the training exercises he does at night, lightwork; he considers it. Doing these activities at night with her does help him build confidence in her abilities; their first night spent together helped but having more nights to get to know her closely? More of a help. He can form an idea of her limitations, what's too much, what's too little, and what he should start her out on in the mornings to follow.

[thelonewarriorprince]

By the time parsel stumbles off to bed, she's also preening, just a bit. Getting to train, physically, with vegeta was almost exciting enough to keep her up. Almost.

There’s pride to have in completing a work-out, mental or physical, as they give you strength in the most important of ways. Vegeta will not stop her from heading off in the middle of their session, she's done well tonight and proved to him that she could soon be ready to take the next step. He doesn't tell her goodnight or tuck her into bed, but, he does keep her in his thoughts throughout the entire night.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel gives a nod and another small yawn, letting go when he does. She isn't likely to last long in training- she's too sleepy- but she's very willing to learn anyway

“The first step is to recognize they are merely fabrications of your mind, a part you've already surpassed. The next step is to be productive, train your body until you can no longer bare it. Productiveness fends off thought.” Vegeta’s exercises at night are a perfect example of a silent, light, workout Parsel could be doing. She wouldn't last long into them, heading back to bed and having no reason to get back up until sunrise.

[thelonewarriorprince]

It takes her a moment to answer and then she gives a small shrug, still hugging him. "Iunno. My room feels scary right now"

The words are followed by a soft yawn. Shes sleepy but doesn't want to stop hugs when vegeta gives them so rarely.

“Then we shall spend this time together, training you on how to conquer your nightmares,” Vegeta responded, letting the hug go on for a few minutes longer, being sure that she was stable enough for him to release her. Last thing he wanted is to have her become distressed all over due to him letting go of her so soon “As a Saiyan warrior would.”

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel hugs him a bit tighter once her reciprocates, making a tiny, happy sound and tearing up just a bit, though she doesn't actually start crying. She'll cling to him for as long as he'll let her.

“Now that I have promised you that I will remain by your side will rest still pose a challenge?” Vegeta wasn’t going to force her to sleep if she still felt uneasy and his gentleness in asking made it evident that he only asked out of care. If she still couldn't find it in herself to sleep due to the risk of nightmares, he can demonstrate how he deals with these problems.

[thelonewarriorprince]

She barely registers the rest of his words- just that he promised is all she really processes. Vegeta would abruptly find himself being hugged, quite tightly by parsel, any concern for being too clingy going right out the window- she'd needed to hear that, far more than either may realize.

His promise must've brought forth the assurance he wanted to provide for an abrupt embrace to be Parsel’s default response to him. She remains respectful of his preferences the vast majority of the time, this is an uncommon display of raw emotion and he understands the need to release it comfortably. He smirks lightly, proud of his accomplishment, and brings her closer to himself, making the hug whole.

[thelonewarriorprince]

She bites her lip, nodding before very softly asking "... promise? Promise you won't go away?"

Its the first time so far she's asked anyone to promise anything- till now she's mostly been taking people at their word. This is different, though. It's much, much more important

“I promise, I am not that damn easy to be rid of.” He is one of the earth’s strongest warriors, it’s rare when a challenger approaches him and makes good use of his skills.

[thelonewarriorprince]

She shrugs again, though she doesn't move closer "... don't remember details. But... I went back. And they were gone. And then I came here and you all were gone" she replies softly, not quite looking at him. She's scared, a little, that he'll think she's being ridiculous.

“A perfectly rational dream given your… experience.” Vegeta responded, “But allow me to inform you that we won't be going anywhere.” informing her against a dream likely wasn't going to be the most helpful thing because how is she to believe that? She has no reason to. The parents she originally had are gone and she cannot return back to them (At least for now, maybe even never). It’s okay to be fearful when a fear is so based on your current reality.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel seems a bit baffled by the statement- she'd expected him to tell her to go back to bed or something. But he doesn't and that's a relief- her room is full of shadows she'd rather not face anymore tonight. So she just gives a small nod, shifting to hug herself "... yeah. Guess so."

Vegeta wasn’t going to send her to a room she felt distressed in. He may not enjoy embraces or physical comforts, but, that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to use his presence as one instead. He watches her hug herself while acknowledging his comment and subtly his gaze turns gentler.

“Well? Speak of your dreams, let us see what it is that plagues you tonight.”

[thelonewarriorprince]

It takes a few weeks until, late one night, she comes stumbling out if her room, fleeing nightmares to see she isn't the only one doing so. She pauses in the doorway, blinking and hesitant. She desperately wants to go and hug him but- she's already picked up on vegetas dislike of clinginess. She doesn't want to push that boundary, no matter how much she feels like she needs to

Vegeta’s nightmares are of realities he has lived through or fabrications of the one he lives now. To some level, most fears of his will manifest themselves in his sleep in some form; they could be in the background or the focal point, but rarely are they absent from him, even with a good dream. He tended to wake up quietly most days, sit up, and reflect on them; he’s far too used to them to scream or shout; besides, he wouldn’t dare expose Bulma to the collapsing minefield that only continues to rumble and crumble. She’s caught a few of his less notable nightmares, tame ones that hardly upset the mines; mere pebbles compared to a shower of rock and earth are ultimately nothing, and thankfully, that was the type of nightmare he had that night. He became shaken enough to decide that moving about the house would be a better use of his time; he went around for a while, walking everything off, a form of exercise he’s allowed to do at night. Training kept Bulma and the children up, which forced him to sacrifice late night—early morning training altogether.

Vegeta sensed a presence near him an hour or two into his routine as he was nearing his bedroom to restart his cycle; he instinctively readied himself for any possibility upon noticing: friend, foe, Kakarot messing around with his instant transmission; any option here would be realistic. He came closer to the form obscured by the shadows, near Parsel’s door and soon discovered it to be Parsel herself; a brief scan over told him what he needed to know. She had planned to remain out here, and there seemed to be hesitance written in her features; could that be about approaching him on her own?

It made sense to him now that he’d been wrong about his assumptions as to why he’d find her on the couch in the morning. She didn’t take the instinct of a human child who’d run to the warm embrace and comfort of their parents like all his other children; her preference in handling her demons was a little more familiar to him than he’d anticipated for a child of his. She took after him, that much he knew, and the realization of how much only began to grow. Trunks was a lot like him in personality: arrogant and rude. Parsel also exhibited his personality traits, just far less loudly than her brother did; she has his determination, stubbornness, several of his mannerisms and finally thought process on how to handle specific topics.

They handle nightmares the same. Why else would a child like her be up this late?

“So it seems we are more alike than what I had initially thought.”

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel is a bit startled to realize he's aware of her mimicking them but shes also relieved that he isn't angry-cthat he's pleased even. It makes it much easier to focus on what he's directly teaching her and on the lessons bulmas giving her- catching her academic education up to where it should be by her own standards.

As she fully settles in though, nightmares start to come. She isn't loud about them, simply just... turning up asleep on the couch more mornings than not.

Vegeta isn't emotionally intelligent and some habits such as falling asleep on the couch he'd typically deduce to laziness or horrible sleeping habits. He won't immediately think of nightmares as a direct cause as he's very accustomed to his own way of handling them and very vocal children who speak all about their bad dreams should they occur. He notices that she'll be asleep on their sofa in the mornings, Trunks has done the same thing, it’s definitely not abnormal to Vegeta. He’d huff at it every time he saw it and go about his morning routines, allowing Bulma to handle waking her, in her case, it’s probably just staying up too late mimicking him, not the laziness.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parael does listen to his refusals and his reasons and learns what he teaches her quire willingly bit she's also frustrated- she wants to fight, not wait longer just because she's small and doesn't know as much!

So she starts doing her best to mimic what she sees him doing with her brother during his training when she's alone in her room. At least then it feels like she's doing something.

Size had little to do with his reluctance and he realized quickly that she hadn’t understood the reasoning behind his decision to hold off on training her. Her desire to fight matches his own without the required instinct to guide her through. Vegeta when he’s sparring with Trunks is more aggressive and fast than he’d ever be with her, her observations can certainly help her to learn some skill, he cannot deny her that—Observing combat is a different entity then having an opponent and while she may think he hasn’t saw her practice in her bedroom as he walked by, he has, she replicates what she sees well and he can be proud of that.

“You have made progress on your own,” The next day he casually brings up his observations of her at the breakfast table “Good. It brings you a step closer to true training. Focus your studies on the land, your footing will mean much to you in our sessions.”

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsels clingyness towards vegeta fades towards the end of her first month, though she still tends to park herself in easy range of pats. And to give him many hugs, though she seems to sense his discomfort and keeps them brief. Shes also a quick learner and, while very naive, she isn't stupid. Shes cautious with unknown terrain and situations and tends to look to the adults around her to know what's safe or not.

Training becomes a bit of an issue the minute shes healthy enough to hypothetically do so because by then she very much wants to and starts poking him about it with an aggression she absolutely inherited from her mom. Or perhaps himself. Or both?

Vegeta refuses her each time. Given her naivety and lack of combative knowledge, it'd be unadvisable to begin her training at this moment. Being a quick learner doesn't prevent one from serious harm and in the world of combat, there is more to learn than just basic technique and stances—She needed to truly reach an understanding of how the world works, she's only half Saiyan, her instincts are not as sharp as a full-blooded Saiyan, they could certainly guide her, but, they could only do so much for her. He tells her that they'd first explore the different terrains Earth has to offer, that she'll learn more of them and be spoken too about their different advantages in relation to combat. Then they'll talk about their disadvantages in depth……It’ll take a good while more before he begins the physical aspects of their journey.

After she learns to fight or of the basic skills, he will then begin her on the gravity chamber and tell her of planets that have similar gravities, of the terrain, and the benefits each planet had when it came to fighting. Certain planets, lets face it, are better training grounds than others, help increase the strength of a person faster due to harsher conditions.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Over the next few weeks, persel slowly settles in, waiting on training until they've gotten her further away from underweight. She spends most of that time alternating between clinging to wither vegeta or bulma like a limpet- up to and including biting anyone trying to detach her- and keeping a distance, though its in the feline sense of always being in sight (within reason) of whichever of the two shes tailing that day.

Around this, she's also discovering things that show just how small her world was. Just going outside at night is a revelation to her- shes never seen stars, let alone so many people or mountains or the ocean!

Vegeta analyzes her very closely over these past weeks, keeping his silent judgments of her to himself as it may upset her. She was a very sheltered young lady which proved to be challenging in its own right, teaching her what the night is like outdoors, and telling her of the stars, are all concepts she should have already learned by now. The fact she didn't shows how significantly damaged her world had been through giving him a better grasp of a timeline of how long her world had been corrupted. It’s fairly difficult for Vegeta to allow those closest to him to cling to him, well, all those except for Bulla and so making an adjustment to his typical demeanor regarding this was…difficult. He's fine if it wasn't a common occurrence, for the first while, it didn't bother him——it took a few days for that discomfort to settle in…a new record.

He doubts her readiness to train as a result of her clinginess to him and her mother, of her lack of knowledge, it shows to him there's still much to do before certain lessons can be taught. For all he knew, she may kill herself by falling off a cliff, thinking it would be a steady stroll down.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel nods again, her eyes drifting towards the snack hed brought- like any smol, now that she's calmer she's interested in sweets. Bulma snags it for her and once it's devoured she just kinda tips back against her and zonks out

With her now resting, there is much to discuss, and much to decide. They needed to figure out a proper way to introduce her to Trunks and Bulla for example, then, needed to decide about her schooling and whether should she choose training, then, specific hours regarding that.

[thelonewarriorprince]

His answer gets a soft smile from over parsels shoulder from bulma- she proud of her husband for being able to be both honest and hopeful for this child.

Parsel takes a shaky breath, then nods. It's not really an answer- she doesn't have one toward those possibilities yet. But it is acceptance of the truth and the hopes he's presented. She sags a but after she nods, drained from anxiety and the thoroughly new situation, though she doesn't quite have the words to say so.

Answers do not always arrive to us in easy-to-understand ways, sometimes we can only be pushed toward an answer, leaving the rest up to us to decide. In these situations, we just make our own choices in how we continue on, in how salvageable our home world is, and if there's anything worth coming back to. At the end of it all, believing that a world can be saved, can carry the soul on a journey nothing else could, but, that's only if you're capable of maintaining and holding onto hope long enough for you to reach the end.

“Rest now.” words left Vegeta's mouth, Parsel was exhausted, she needed to gather herself and her wits. He wouldn't force her to sleep, or, demand her to relax, but, she needed some sort of break from all this heavy talk and they'd gotten through the most important part anyway. The rest could definitely wait.

[thelonewarriorprince]

Parsel latches onto his hand with her tail and her own hands. His presence helps to calm her- being surrounded by some form of her parents who she can sense care for her sooths much of the panic that feels like it's choking her. Finally, she manages to ask the most important question, while looking up into vegetas eyes  "im- im not- not going back, am i?"

Bulma keeps quiet but holds the girl a bit tighter, raising an eyebrow at her husband. She's hoping he's at least a little gentle with his answer, since he's the person the kid is asking

There was a long silence surrounding the three following Parsel’s tail looping around his arm, he allowed her to traverse the rising panic on her own terms, and an occasional brushing of her tail fur helped guide her way. Vegeta enjoyed the quiet while it lasted, it was familiar grounds for him, there was no reason to destroy it, and in his own way, he actually felt calmed by it, more prepared to handle the more delicate side of the situation face on. His daughter’s question blasted through the silence like a ki blast from the palm, sudden, precise, and to the point “No.” he replies, finding no reason to dip his answer in unnecessary sugar just to preserve her hope “Your world has little hope in survival, going home, as you are now, would be a fools hope.” He wouldn't refuse her the option to train and fight for her home, despite how damaged it was and the improbability of its overall survival, that earth was her home, fighting for it, for its honor, would never be out of the question. His son, Trunks, proved that perseverance could take one far, hope may be foolish, yet, it can also serve as a great motivator to overcomes great odds

“However, this does not mean you cannot train and increase your power level, to break your limits beyond what you are currently able to achieve. I will not promise you the preservation of your world, yet, I also know a true warrior never accepts a fate such as this easily and openly.” He is willing to work with her to conquer everything that stands agaisnt her if she's willing to risk it all, he has doubts despite knowing the power of hope and belief, It's the way he was due to his own past and how it shaped him to be. He’s seen Trunks manage the impossible and perhaps she could do the same, it takes a certain willpower to see through the devastation and find reason to remain hopeful, one he couldn't say belonged to him, it belonged to Bulma.