Proud & Powerful (Goku OR Vegeta x FOC)

Chapter Seventeen

**A/N: Hey guys! Just letting you know, chapters are probably gonna be a lot longer :)

also lil reminder MC's name is pronounced as Zy-luh-s/Zai-luh-s  ! <3

I'm putting a lot of effort and love into this story— thanks for sticking around for this long!

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The sky is darkening into evening as Xylias paces around a tree, hidden in it's shadows, in front of the large Capsule Corp building. She glances up at the congregation gathering on the upper level balcony and feels anxiety swelling in her chest along with the continuing dull ache in her belly. She knew she had to face the Earthling's curiosity at some point, but she was nervous— Xylias didn't want to make a fool of herself or make a bad impression.

The Prince had arrived before Xylias, landed on the upper balcony, and sat down at the table without speaking to anyone, nobody saying anything to him either.

After about 10 minutes or so, the sun began to move lower, and Vegeta looks around the group of Earthlings and the area surrounding Capsule Corp, She should've been here by now, what's taking her so long?

Xylias takes a deep breath and stealthily strides over to the side of the building, under the left side of the balcony, deciding to make a quiet entrance. Knowing she is the last to show up, she didn't want to make an arrival that would draw attention upon herself. She silently glides up the side of the building and hoists herself over the railing of the balcony. Xylias spots a large potted tree plant against the wall near her, and goes over to stand beside it, surveying the crowd before she's ultimately noticed.

Krillin, a small floating blue-colored Cat, a Pig wearing a white t-shirt and green pants, and an old man wearing sunglasses with a purple turtle shell on his back are standing nearby having a casual conversation with one another, but are soon approached by Gohan and an older dark haired woman wearing a purple dress that has an orange cloth tied on the top and a yellow sash wrapped around her waist. Beyond them, Piccolo stands by the railing looking out over the area, seemingly lost in thought.

Her eyes trail to the table where Bulma and several people dressed in white uniforms are laying out several steaming trays full of items Xylias had never seen before, the aromas wafting from them makes the ache in Xylias's stomach grow. She shrinks back against the wall, feeling terribly uncomfortable with uncertainty, not understanding why her body is reacting this way, are her nerves that bad?

As her eyes roam the table she spots Vegeta, who is already looking at her. She flushes in surprise, nods to him, and shifts her gaze back over to Piccolo.

Xylias wanted to say something to the Namekian, they had got off on the wrong foot back on Namek, she said something pretty callous to Piccolo that she regrets now, and since coming to Earth she had been wondering how to work things out with him. Xylias is still riddled with guilt over the destruction of Planet Namek, still feeling like she could've stopped Frieza's reign of terror over the peaceful population, if she would've acted sooner— the Namekians would still have a home.

Piccolo's watching the dwindling evening sky, he didn't eat food, as his species survives on water, but he had been invited by Gohan to come, and he couldn't bring himself to say no to the boy he held dearly.

"Hey," a resonant voice says softly from beside him, jolting him from his thoughts. He looks over and see's Xylias standing beside him, gazing out at the city, the twinkling lights reflecting in her bright eyes.

Where did she come from?  Piccolo thinks irritably, he didn't hear her approach, and it annoyed him that she caught him off guard.

He didn't know how to feel about her, after merging with Nail he feels the disdain a lot of his fellow Namekians have towards her. Yet the other side of him knows she had clearly helped them on Namek, and although he couldn't follow it due to the speed at which it happened— he saw a glimpse of the mysterious power-up she had when Frieza attacked Vegeta and that was intriguing to him, but learning that she was another Saiyan made him hesitant towards her, unsure if she was cold and selfish like Vegeta or carefree and truehearted like Goku.