Vampa wasn't so bad, Cheelai thought. Sure, it was kind of hell-like and, as Freiza had put so eloquently, "repugnant" but it wasn't so bad. Not with Lemo and Broly as company. Or the food that weird, still-untrustworthy Saiyan brought when he came to fight Broly. Or, "train" as he had put it. To Cheelai, it was all the same. But Broly seemed to trust him, and he seemed to enjoy himself every time, so she supposed that there wasn't much harm to it.

No, Vampa wasn't so bad.

Interrupting her thoughts was her own personal Legendary Super Saiyan, who was currently walking timidly towards the rock she was sitting on with some of the aforementioned Earth food. Even after the weeks they had spent on the planet together, he was still unsure of his interactions with her and Lemo. As if he was still waiting for the day for them to turn on him and become like his father. To use and abuse him. It hurt her heart, to see it. Made her think of him as a poor little boy, despite him being apparently over twenty years old; Paragus had told them about how long they had roughly been stranded on the planet.

"Hey Broly," she greeted, winking at him as he came closer. "What'cha up to?"

"Lemo said you might be getting hungry. Asked me if I would mind bringing you some food. Also wanted me to make sure that you were safe." He replied, and held out his offering. She didn't recognize some of the food and had forgotten the names of the others, but it all far more appetizing than the protein bars they had gotten in the Frieza Force and the disgusting beetle slime that Broly had lived off of for so long. She shivered at the memory of the acrid taste.

"Thanks," she said, giving him her "okay" gesture and a cheeky grin. Accepting the meal, she patted the space on the rock beside her, where his bulk could easily fit. "Care to pop a squat?"

Confusion crossed his face, and she was forced to remember that many of her idioms and mannerisms were lost on the poor guy. Apparently, Paragus had only seen fit to teach Broly the very formal basics of social interaction.

Cheelai held back a sigh. "Do you want to sit down, Broly?"

The small smile she received in turn was so sweet it melted her heart a little.

"Yes, thank you."

Carefully settling himself beside her, and minding the distance between them (she and Lemo had had to teach him a few lessons in personal space) he turned his gaze to the distance lying before them.

There wasn't much to see, truth be told, and the view certainly wasn't pleasant enough to warrant their attention, but it was all they had, and at least the sunset was pretty enough.

Chowing down on the food Broly had brought, she held out a piece that she knew Broly had taken a particular liking to. "Here, have some. I know how big your appetite is, big guy." She laughed a bit and gave him another wink and her signature sign.

"Um, thanks." He returned, making his own awkward version of her gesture.

Being just as careful as he had been when settling himself on the rock, Broly took the proffered food from her and began to slowly eat it.

They sat in silence for a little bit, enjoy their food and one another's company, before the quiet was broken by the Saiyan.

"Cheelai?" he asked, his tone hesitant, and she turned her head to look at him, mouth full of food.

"Y-uh?" her reply was muffled and apparently unintelligible from the look on Broly's face. She swallowed her oversized bite, and then cleared her throat before answering. "Yeah?"

"May I ask you a question?"

Cheelai blinked. Why was he asking if he could ask her something? Didn't he know that he could basically ask her anything and that she wouldn't care? The guy was so innocent, he probably couldn't be rude if he tried. Plus, it wasn't like she was a closed book; a super-private kind of girl. She was about as chill as she could be. Hadn't he learned that yet, she thought with a slight sigh?

"Of course you can Broly." she replied, "Shoot."

He frowned, and she realized, once again, that he had no idea why she had said that. Before she could amend her statement however, Broly had raised a finger towards the distance. Watching with widening eyes, Cheelai saw a light begin to emanate from the tip, forming a small ball.

"Wait!" she blurted, grabbing his arm. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold it! Not what I meant big guy!"

"But you told me to—" Broly began in confusion, but she cut him off before he could finish.

"I know, I know. That was my bad." She laughed a little, to release the tension his almost-misfire had caused. She ruffled a hand through her short locks. "Um, so, what was that you wanted to ask me?"

Now Broly just looked uncomfortable, shifting in place and eyes turning away from hers, refusing to look her in the face. Cheelai frowned. This wasn't the Broly that she knew and loved.

Er, wait, loved?

Where had that come from?

Must have just been her mind finishing the saying for her.

Yeah, that was it.

She was dragged from her inner thoughts again when Broly finally mustered up the courage to speak again.

"Well…Lemo said something. About you. And it made me…curious." He managed, sounding as if he was unsure of what it was exactly that he wanted to say. Now, this had her curiosity piqued. And also a little indignant; just what exactly had Lemo said about her?

"Oh yeah? What'd he say?" she asked, her tone slightly confrontational. Not that she would actually get mad at Broly for what Lemo had said, she would just beat Lemo for it later, but if Broly needed correcting on something, she was going to make sure that he received it.

"He said…" Broly took a moment to take a sip from his drink—just plain old water, his favorite—before continuing. "That you were a…girl?"

Cheelai blinked at Broly for a moment, then another, before she giggled. Then she giggled again before eventually, her giggling developed into full-blown, tear-producing laughter. She laughed so hard she doubled over and nearly fell off the rock that they were sitting on. Eventually, her mirth faded and died completely when she saw the look on Broly's face. It was a mixture of hurt and befuddlement and instantly made her feel like crap.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, trying to make obvious her regret. "I shouldn't have laughed like that; that was mean of me."

Broly responded with a small smile, his gentle eyes showing that they accepted the apology, in their own uncertain way. It made him look so innocent, so pure, those looks. When he showed his gentle, Saiyan-contradicting ways. She didn't know too much about Saiyans, other than their love for battle, their strength, and their heartless ways. Paragus had been an excellent example of that, she thought with bitterness. Although not so much on the strength-side; that was more Broly, her thoughts taking a happier turn.

"So," Broly began, looking her dead in the eyes. "Is it true?"

"What, that I'm a girl?" Cheelai asked with a raised brow and a smile. "Yup, sure am. Since before I was born."

"Hm." He paused, eyes flicking away from hers before flitting back again. "What…is a girl?"

Oh holy shit, is he serious? She couldn't help but think, staring at him with her eyes surely bugging out of her head. How did he not know what a girl was?

Oh, because he had lived with no one but his father his whole life, a man who hadn't deemed to teach his son anything but how to fight. But surely his father would have told him that was at least more than one sex, right?

It took Cheelai a moment to come to the realization that no, Paragus had not thought to teach his son anything along those lines. Why would he? He had probably thought that they were going to be stranded on this desolate planet forever, never again seeing another being. It kind of made sense, in a weird, messed up way, if you thought about it.

But that didn't make it right.

Damn you, Paragus. She swore, cursing the man who had done his son so many injustices.

"Cheelai?" her softly spoken name was enough to snap her out of her dark thoughts, and she returned her eyes to her companion. She gave him a tight, nervous smile.

How was she even supposed to begin explaining this to him? Internally she was screaming. This was going to be one of the most difficult things she had ever done in her life.

And she had stolen a freaking Galactic Patrol ship.

She cleared her throat, trying desperately to collect her thoughts enough so as to begin her explanation.

"Yeah?" she stalled, her voice cracking from anxiety.

"What's a girl?" he repeated, his naivety oddly endearing in a way. She softened just a bit, remembering that none of this was his fault. He was just a sweet, child-like man who had been grossly abused by the only other person he had known. He needed someone to treat him with patience and kindness, not censure and anger. To help him become the adult that he should have been, had he not been stranded on a desolate planet.

"Well, ya see…" she began, eventually her thoughts taking shape. "A girl is someone different than a boy. We have physical differences, and our brains work a little different, too. We're just different from boys, like you."

Broly slowly nodded, processing the information, his brow furrowed slightly. Cheelai steeled herself as she awaited the inevitable questions.

"Physical differences…" he murmured, his eyes, which had been focused internally, now cut back to hers. "Like our height?"

A light laugh escaped her, glad of the innocence of the question. "Um, not exactly, big guy. I'm just naturally short; it's part of my species. Like how I'm green with white hair. Those aren't because I'm a girl, it's just because I'm not Saiyan, like you. I'm something different, in addition to being a girl."

He nodded again, still processing. "I had wondered about that." He replied. "So, if your height and other stuff don't make you a girl, what does?"

Oh boy, here was the hard part. How had she even wound up in this situation, she wondered? Why had Lemo opened his big mouth and mentioned that she was female? How had that even come up in day-to-day conversation? She was totally going to kick him once she got back to their cave, she promised herself.

"Um…well," she started awkwardly, wondering how the hell she was going to explain boobs and, er, other stuff to him. "Well, do you see my chest?" she said, gesturing to her rather impressive (if she said so herself) breasts. "See how it's rounder than yours? Well, the mounds are called breasts. Most girls have them, although I'm sure that there are some species who don't, now that I think about it." She added as an afterthought, tapping her chin as she wondered about that.

"Breasts." Repeated Broly, staring at them with his oddly innocent stare, but so intently that eventually, she started to feel uncomfortable.

"Er, yup, breasts. That's what I got." She laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of her head.

It thankfully wasn't too long before his eyes returned to hers. "So that's what makes us different?" he asked, clearly trying to make sure he was grasping the concept.

"Yeah," she agreed, but then made a face. "Well, there is one other thing…" she trailed off, then wondered what kind of can of worms she had just opened. How the heck was she supposed to explain that to him? Did he even understand what he had?

"Like what?" he asked innocuously, and Cheelai couldn't help but cringe. Why oh why had she brought this up? Why couldn't she had just left well enough alone? Why couldn't she have just let him think that they had the same plumbing? Where was the harm in that? It wasn't like he was ever gonna see what she had.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

She let out a nervous little laugh, again running a hand through her short, choppy locks. "Well, you know what you have, right? You know, down there?" she gestured vaguely down to where it was, causing Broly to look down there, too.

"Yes, I know what that is." He replied. "Dad taught me what to do with it."

Now that was a surprise. Paragus hadn't deemed to teach him what females were, but he had taught Broly about procreation? Man, that guy had been weird.

"What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly, wondering what exactly it was that Broly was referring to.

"He taught me that it was for urination." Broly said simply, as if it were obvious.

Cheelai's shoulders sagged as she realized just how little Broly's father had taught him. Good grief, the man had deserved to be kicked thoroughly.

"Well, yeah, it is used for that." She agreed affably, "And that's what part of what I have down there is used for, too. I just have something different."

She had to fight a smile at the way Broly's eyes comically widened at this revelation. "You have…something different…down there?"

She nodded, trying to keep the conversation light, casual. Not too serious. She couldn't handle seriousness about this.

"Yup. I have a…well…I have a…" she was really at a loss for words at how to describe it. There was literally no nice way to put it. In fact, she didn't even want to try. She had had enough of this discussion for now. She had reached her limit. She was tapped out. Done for. Stick a fork in her. That was all, folks.

"You know what, how about I take your chores for a week if you agree to drop this conversation for now?" she asked, praying that he would agree to let his curiosity go. She understood his need and want to know things; he wasn't stupid. But this…she just couldn't handle this.

Cheelai watched as Broly's eyes widened, and he blinked a few times. She knew that the offer was tempting. Despite their attempts to domesticate Broly, he hadn't adapted well to having to clean and take care of things. Again, something that she blamed Paragus for. He just hadn't been taught, and habits were hard to break. Hell, Paragus hadn't even taught him proper hygiene. She was pretty sure the first time he had ever bathed was when he had arrived on Freiza's ship. And come to think of it, he had still been uncertain of the shower in the house that Goku guy had given them.

"I…" she waited with bated breath for his answer. "Agree."

Oh thank the universe.

"Okay," she chirped. "Good. Great." She remembered the food beside her and began to tear into it with gusto, so as to quickly change the topic.

Broly seemed to remember the food as well, for he began to pick at his own. Although, there seemed to be something wrong with him, for now he was staring down at his lap, his wild hair partially obscuring it.

She hadn't upset him, had she?

"Hey," she said gently, "Are you okay?"

He peeked at her, clearly hesitant to speak. "I'm sorry if I upset you, Cheelai. I did not mean to."

She blew out a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, her heart breaking a little. "Broly, you didn't upset me, big guy. I just wasn't sure how to answer your questions. It was…a little uncomfortable. But that's my bad, not yours."

He cocked his head. "You keep using that phrase. What does it mean?"

Cheelai blinked at him, before realizing what he meant. "What, you mean my bad? It means that I messed up, not you, or that the problem is with me, not you. It's just an informal way of putting it."

"So, it was not my bad, then?" he asked, a hopeful look in his dark eyes. She laughed, then lightly punched his arm.

"Nah, it definitely wasn't your bad, big guy." She said and gave him her signature gesture and a saucy wink. She picked up a little bag of what she knew to be salty, crunchy things and opened them, offering some to him so as to show that she was not, at all, upset with him.

Now Lemo, on the other hand…