=#=#=#=#=

Android 18 had almost forgotten the Dream, wondering who the bald man trembling before her was. 

She never put stock in the Soul Dreams or whatever they were called. Neither did she think she had a Soulmate since she was...upgraded. 

She ignored her dreams, and after a while, she hardly even noticed them. 

Then...there he was. Android 17 and her had taken care of his little friends in their quest to find and kill Goku. She almost didn’t recognize him. So what she’d seen him in her dreams occasionally? Meant nothing to her. 

The kiss was to unbalance them so the bald guy would be less likely to follow them. 

And it seemed to work. As he was unbalanced, trembling where he stood. 

So why was her heart beating faster, her cheeks feeling warmer than normal? 

And why was she feeling a little tingly? 

=#=#=#=#=

Krillan was stunned. Up til now, he had never known who his soulmate was. 

Now he knew...and he had no idea what to do. 

There was no mistaking it. That tingling feeling that spread from where her lips met his cheek to his whole body sealed his fate; his Soulmate was an Android. 

He never would have guessed he’d be paired with Android 18, the being that could (and did in an alternate timeline) kill everyone he knew and cared about, him following suit, apparently. 

He didn’t know how to handle this. 

So he didn’t bring it up. He just kept going...until he was handed the detonator. 

Now, he literally held his soulmate’s life in his hands. He had the power to blow her up. 

While it would ensure Cell couldn’t become perfect, it would also mean...he would never have a soulmate. 

He tried. He honestly tried to make himself do it. 

But he failed. He couldn’t actually hit the button. He smashed the remote beneath his heel. 

He’d do what he could to protect her from Cell, little as he was aware that was. He’d try to make sure the fact that the woman Cell was after was his soulmate wouldn’t destroy the world and everything he cared about. 

=#=#=#=#=

Android 18 turned to spot the bald man who gave her those weird sensations before standing there. It took only another second to see why. 

He held a remote in his hands, and she could only assume what it did. Her heart skipped. She thought he...she didn’t think he’d…

But of course he would. It was between her and the world. What other choice could he have made? 

What other choice did she expect him to--wait what?! He--he smashed the remote! Why?! 

“You can sneak off to the other side!” He barks. She was too stunned to move. Why did it effect her so much? Why did her heart kick up again, and why did that tingling return?

“Why are you doing this?” She asks. “You could have shut me down, but you didn’t. What are you trying to achieve?” He started, like he hadn’t expected that question.

“We-well, you see...um...we need to talk.” Was all he said, but it struck some chord in her, somewhere very deep. It made her heart beat faster, her cheeks heat up. She almost realized what he was talking about, her body reacting to the impending realization. 

Unfortunately, that feeling was suddenly ruined when Trunks noticed what Krillan had done and was doing, grew upset, and drew Cell’s attention to them. 

Add to that a powerful flash of light from Cell, and it was a recipe for disaster. As soon as the tail enveloped her, her world went absolutely blank. 

=#=#=#=#=

“Destroy it now! It’s still alive!” Those words almost paralyzed Krillan. How could Vegeta be so cruel to someone who needed help? 

“No! She’s hurt!” Vegeta’s eyes narrow. “C’mon, she’s not that bad! She just needs some help, that’s all!’ Krillan narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t let anyone kill Android 18. 

Now he just had to tell everyone why he was suddenly so protective of her. 

“You’re pathetic!” Vegeta growls. Krillan could live with that. As long as 18 survived. “Go do what you want to.” Vegeta continues resignedly. It as clear he didn’t like what was happening, but Krillan could appreciate Vegeta’s restraint here. He nods. 

“Thank you.” He flew all the way to Kami’s lookout with her. 

After everything that had happened, it was a small ray of hope that Android 18, his soulmate, was alive. He just had to tell her that they were soulmates and then convince her that it wasn’t the end of the world. 

And then he had to tell his friends that he was soulmates with the being that could’ve killed them. 

He stayed with her as everyone processed the events they’d witnessed. Krillan himself took a few moments himself to start his own processing. 

The might Gohan had displayed, the cowardly tactic Cell resorted to, and the price they all paid for it. It all happened so fast. It wasn’t that long ago that 18 had kissed his cheek, and started this entire thing. And he had then lost and found her again. He didn’t intend to lose her again. 

=#=#=#=#=

18 came to all at once, feeling strangely okay. She jack-knifed into a seated position. That bald man was the first thing she saw, and for some reason that calmed her a little. 

The next thing she noticed was that she wasn’t on the island she’d been absorbed on. She was laying on some stone floor of a kind of courtyard. She then noticed no visible landmarks around her. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anything around wherever she was. 

That erased any comfort the bald man’s presence had brought her as she instantly got to her feet. She hated being somewhere she didn’t know.

Someone was saying something, but she wasn’t paying attention, as she looked around. There was a small Namekian near her, as well as a strange being that was pitch black colored. Nothing made sense. Where was she? 

Seeing the bald man smile at her made her feel a tiny bit better, but she was still very overwhelmed. “Hey, we can put the past behind us, can’t we?” He asked. 18 was too focused on her surroundings to answer. “Now that Gohan’s beat Cell,” (at the cost of his best friend) “we can all be friends!” That snapped her out of her paralysis. 

“Gohan did?” She replies. 

“You bet he did! Gohan’s incredibly strong, so you can forget about punching holes in anyone!” That made no sense, so 18 ignored it. 

“You should thank Krillan, 18.” The larger Namekian muses. She just now noticed that he was even there. 18 then looks at the bald man. Krillan, huh? An odd name for an odd man. Speaking of Krillan, his smile grew as the larger Namaekian continues. “He stayed at your side the entire time since Cell spit you out.” Besides the fact that Cell apparently spat her out, 18 was stunned that someone she was prepared to kill, who could have killed her, could care enough about her to stay with her. Krillan blanched, unprepared to reply. 

“D-aahh, it was nothing, really. I mean, I enjoyed it- -I mean, I couldn’t leave you there.” The boy, Gohan, seems to reach a revelation. 

“I got it!” He proclaims, drawing attention to himself. “Krillan, you’re soulmates with Android 18, aren’t you?!” 

=#=#=#=#=

Krillan did not know how to talk to Android 18 at all. 

But Gohan took it to a whole new level of unknown territory with that statement. He’d wanted to discuss it slower with Android 18, not just drop the bomb right off the bat. 

Instinctively, he punched the kid in irritation. “Thanks, Mr. Smooth!” He growls. He turns to 18. “S-sorry.” He mumbles. Everyone else is stunned. 

“What?!” Yamcha exclaims. “How could you?!” Sarada, as usual, was back in the background, close to Piccolo. She steps forward. 

“We can’t choose who we’re paired with, idiot.” She explains impatiently.  “Good luck, Krillan.” She muses, appearing genuine, then resumes her silence, standing closer to Piccolo, her hand subtly reaching for his. 

Krillan laughs in response. Trust Sarada to get things back on track with a good concise declaration. 

18, however, looked positively outraged when Krillan looked at her again. 

=#=#=#=#=

Upon hearing that she had a soulmate, and one so peculiar, 18 felt betrayed by the universe, like she was being punished with a partner so opposite to her that they’d never work. Her irritation only grew when Krillan began to laugh. Nervous laughter ot not, it sent her over the edge. “Expect me to fall at your feet now?!” She growls. “Big strong man rescues me and turns out to be my soulmate, so I’m his forever, right? Not that easy!” She didn’t want to just marry him and start a life because they were, allegedly, soulmates. She wanted to want a life with him. She wanted to grow a bond with him first. 

When did she become such a sap?! She needed to clear her head and process everything she’d learned and been told. “Don’t follow me, Krillan!” She barks, taking off to get some space. Turns out, she was on some floating station or house. 

Not that she cared. She needed space and time. 

So she flew and flew, not knowing where she was and not caring. 

She ended up on some beach on an island. Nice and remote. She didn’t notice the head of Saiyan black hair behind a boulder, 18’s thoughts too distracting. 

=#=#=#=#=

Sarada knew how complicated it made things when she first found out Piccolo, a person Vegeta viewed as an enemy, was her soulmate. So she knew a bit about what was going through Android 18’s head, but she also knew to give the poor woman space and time to figure out what to do and where to go. So she sat behind a boulder, peeking out occasionally to check 18’s progress. 

After about an hour, Sarada deemed 18 ready for someone to help her. 

She simply walked over and sat down. 18 started, standing. Sarada remained seated. “I see a bit of myself in you, you know.” She muses. 18 blinks. 

“What?” She asks. 

“You’re thrust into a very strange place and an even stranger situation. I know a bit of what that’s like.” 18, after a few minutes of silence, slowly sits back down. 

“This is happening too fast.” She murmurs. “How was I expected to react?” 

“About the way you did. I took it out on Vegeta in sparring. He thought I was just finally applying myself since I hadn’t told him who my soulmate was. It was hard, but I worked up the courage to talk to him.” 

“Why would you need to work up courage to talk to your brother?” 

“He’s...intense and deadset in his worldview. Strength is the key to everything in his mind, and Saiyans are the best there are. No question. Weakness was exterminated. I was scared he’d take my soulmate situation as weakness.” Sarada explains. 18 nods. 

“I see.” 

The two women eventually agreed to make their way back to the Lookout where Sarada had asked Krillan to stay. Piccolo had returned to their house where he waited for his wife. 

Krillan slowly approached, hands up. “Honest, I was going to get to know you first before we brought up the soulmate thing.” He murmurs, chuckling nervously. 18 finds it sweet that he was taking initiative and apologizing. 

“I was overwhelmed by everything, but I still stand by what I said. I’m not going to marry you right away cus we’re soulmates.” 

“You think I am?” Krillan asks timidly, scratching the back of his head. “No way! I wanna get to know you before anything else.” Android 18 found she was beginning to like him. 

So far, Krillan just took it as his wife simply wanting to try a few new foods. 

But 18 was mystified. Why was her interest in food suddenly increasing? Regardless, she could wait a little while to eat. First, she’d see what Krillan wanted to do. 

This was a martial arts and food festival, so there were big bough guys for overconfident husbands to attempt to defeat to show off to their wives and earn a bit of cash. Likely, Krillan would want to defeat a few of those burly men as a light exercise to work up a bit of an appetite. She walks with Krillan, eyeing some of the stalls selling cheap gis for higher prices than they were worth because this was a festival and people would buy them. The only problem was they were way too small. 

Maybe if they ever had a child...18 smiles. The thought was also becoming ever so slowly more attractive to her. She envisioned a little child running around their house, laughing and running as Krillan attempted to tag her in a game as 18 made dinner. 

When did she become such a domestic housewife?! Regardless… “Krillan, what do you think of this gi?” She asks. It was labeled as a ‘Dusty Rose’ color, suitable for a girl. Krillan stops, blinking. 

“...It’s cute, honey, but way too small for you.” She almost gets angry, then remembers in the nick of time that he couldn’t read her thoughts and she hadn’t actually verbalized her subtly growing interest in having children. 

So she smiles, moving to a more gender-neutral, orange-colored gi. “I was meaning...if we ever happen to have a child.” She mumbles. Now that she’d accidentally opened the door to the conversation on children, she may as well go all in. Krillan was stunned. 

“Wait...you want a kid?!” He asks. She sighs, turning to face him fully. 

“It’s just...something I was thinking about recently. What if we had a child?” Krillan’s head tilts. 

“...Not to seem insensitive, but, uh...is that even possible for us?” She nods. Until now, she had been reluctant to discuss a lot of her past with Gero. 

“Yes it is. All Dr. Gero did was remodel me and my brother to be superior warriors. I still have many of my internal organs, including...the reproductive ones.” Krillan blushes, and 18 feels a little uncomfortable. They hadn’t talked about this before, so they walk somewhere a little more private to continue the talk. 

“I had no idea.” Krillan mumbles, fiddling with his fingers. She nods. 

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t think it mattered.” Krillan laughs. 

“Well, now I know, I think it’s a great idea! If you are really okay with it…” He deferred to her, and that was why she loved him so much. He was always making sure he got her input and respected it, discussing things with her rationally and as equals. 

Android 18 nods. “I think I am.” They return to wandering, happy in the revelations they’d shared. 18 felt relieved she’d gotten it off her chest. She was still learning that it was okay to talk through her emotions with people who cared about her, and especially with her husband. 

Krillan then noticed a particularly burly man challenging anyone for 1500 zenni. He turns to 18, smiling. “What d'ya think? Should I?” He asks, amused. She chuckles. 

“Why not? Just don’t hurt him too bad.” She replies. A few people overheard and snickered. 

“Oi, you won’t last ten seconds in that ring.” One bystander notes, laughing. Krillan scoffs. 

“You know it’s rude not to look at the person you’re talking to.” he replies. “You should be facing my opponent.” The man starts in shock. 

“You are a cocky lil’ one, ain’t yah?” Now his voice was testy, aggravated. Krillan smiles. 

“No. I just know I’ll win.” With that, he squeezes his wife’s hand, strutting confidently into the ring. His opponent put on a show of getting ready, but Krillan couldn’t sense much of a power level at all. This wouldn’t last long at all.

“Let’s get this goin’, shall we?” The man snickers, getting into a stance.

Krillan smirks, hands in his pocket. “You can have the first move.” His opponent, fed up listening, charged, roaring mindlessly. Krillan sighs. Predictable. His eyes close for a second as his legs bend. Then his eyes open as he leaps out, sending him soaring up and toward his opponent. His foot slams into the man’s ample shoulder. He goes soaring into the poorly made fencing making up the ring, crashing through it and into a few unlucky bystanders. Krillan lands and jogs over to help the people up. “Sorry about that.” He says, smiling at the stunned onlookers. “Tried to hold back. Obviously, it didn’t work too well.” Everyone was stunned. The man who held the prize money was shaking as he handed Krillan the 1500 zenni. “Thank you.” Slipping it into his pocket, Krillan dips his head in respect before taking 18’s hand again and walking away. “That was kinda fun!” He chuckles. 

18 smiles. “And we have extra cash.” Krillan nods. 18 was always worried about money, so it was nice to bring home some extra zenni when he could. 

The next thing he stopped at was an adult gi stall, the fabric and manufacturing seeming of a higher quality. 

He then spotted an orange one similar to his in what appeared to be 18’s size. He grins and pulls it off the rack. “Hey honey look at this! We could match!” He laughs at her expression. Part confusion and part ‘hell no’. “Aww c’mon! It’s just a joke.” 18 then surprises Krillan by walking over and taking it from him. She kisses his cheek (the secret to making him do whatever she said) and smiles. 

“Want me to try it on?” She asks. He grins dopily at her and nods a few too many times. 

“Yes please.” He replies, sounding incredibly dopey. She chuckles and walks over to a small changing area with a curtain for privacy. She slips in and Krillan comes out of his trance when he sees stilts a little ways off in a different stall, with built-in shoes to make using them easier. He grins. 

This should be fun. Running over and pulling out the money for it (more than he knew he should pay for stilts, but hey a prank was a prank) and purchasing them eagerly. He slips them on easily and clumsily walks back over to where he’d left 18, conveniently just as she walks out of the changing room. 

“What do you thi--uh...what are you doing?” she asks, more than a little surprised at the sudden change in height before she notices the stilts. Krillan laughs. 

“Saw these and thought ‘what better way to get to your eye level’, but, um, I didn’t judge the boost very well and here we are.” He now stood as tall over her as she stood over him normally. She smiles, cranking her head back to smile up at him. 

“Please tell me you didn’t pay money for those.” His nervous laugh was all the answer she needed. She shakes her head amusedly at her husband’s antics. 

Sometimes he could be so...unusual. He did and said things sometimes that didn’t appear to make sense, but also made her laugh, which she supposed was the entire point. “Well, enjoy it while it lasts, honey. Those are coming off when we leave.” Krillan nods. 

“That’s probably as long as I can stand them.” He replies, leaning down to kiss her. “Love you.” She smiles, cupping his cheek in her hand.