Early as Pepper could remember, the smile plastered on her face had been fake. The only tool that seemed to actually work for her. It pulled the public sentiment in her favor. It kept her mother from slapping her in the face, because people would instantly notice the blood and grow concerned, with how weak the little girl was.
Even tried and true, cold-blooded planet-slaughterer Saiyans melted like snow in the face of the little girl's innocent smile, asking if she slept well, ate enough, gave her hair and skin-care advice, ruffled her hair and held her hand to make sure that she didn't get lost, et. cetera.
Then, shortly after Pepper turned seven, her world changed.
She was officially assigned to Tarble's team.
Pepper hadn't been surprised. She'd been fully prepared. Since the day she came out of her incubation chamber, the little girl had known exactly what her given 'destiny' was. Her mother reminded her every single day. She'd seen data, watched clips. Asper had been passing data on the boy to his mate mechanically as asked for the boy's entire active period, over a year.
She knew her mission like the back of her hand. Wrap the boy around her finger, using the information that she had to her advantage.
The only problem was… She hated him. Pepper hated Tarble, the Imperial Prince who'd kept her father from being around to protect her against that witch that pretended to be a mother in public, just to scream in private.
She chose red underclothes because she knew that Tarble's favorite color was blue. She casually whispered to Lynn that he looked kinda like Tommy, but shorter, not only to make the other girl think of him like a brother, but also to make Lynn see Tarble's limits tangibly, every time she looked at him.
But, even though she fought in little ways, Pepper still worked toward her objective of manipulating the boy.
Showing confidence by being assertive and forward, even though her power level was the lowest of the bunch. Making Lynn think of him like a brother with one whispered comment, turning herself into the only 'available' girl on the team.
Not hesitating to mess with her own spaceship to satisfy her curiosity, even though there was a good chance that something bad would end up happening, just because it was the first time that she had the opportunity to look at one closely. Because he respected curiosity. Plus, the explosion was pretty memorable. An adorable mistake, so long as she didn't repeat it.
All calculated to bring herself to the forefront of Tarble's attention.
But he looked at it all like data. Nothing more, nothing less. That meant that, whatever plan she had, it'd have to be a long-term, background process. He was too smart to not notice if she rushed the process.
Manipulating this boy would require more than just turning her brain off and reacting according to what he wanted to see. Tarble wanted a partner.
Fine. She'd just match him.
…Then he saved them all, with overwhelming power. During his fight with Mel, Pepper could tell… Tarble was on the losing side. He'd won because he hadn't hesitated. Despite his physical weakness, he'd shone like the sun.
Pepper'd been faced with the worst, weakest part of Planet Vegeta, the terribly weak spirits that the physically strong possessed… and Tarble's own overwhelmingly strong resolve.
That was probably the moment that she'd fallen in love with the prince.
But at the time, Pepper had just known that she wanted to be by his side.
So, during the first few days on Celatus, Pepper calculated every single thing she did. She subtly guided Tater's reactions to dull his edges a bit, mainly by perfectly calculating the exact amount of aggression she used against Zeck when he got annoying, so that Tater respected her temper, but not so far as to draw enmity from Dahlia and the doctor.
She chose specific times when she knew that Tarble would still be awake, but late enough that he'd respect her effort, to 'sneak' out for extra training. She'd sleep in just enough that Tarble would notice, but not enough that he'd think it was annoying, and she'd then make a cute mistake or two during her morning ritual so that he'd have to notice her.
He smiled. He talked and he laughed, and he looked at her… but quickly, she noticed it.
Everyone else… was genuinely connecting with Tarble.
With Tater, Tarble would laugh, explain techniques and ki, and compete with him in just about everything.
With Tommy, Tarble noticed his natural skittishness, his nervousness, and often offered him quiet encouragement, advice. He even went into town on the third day and bought Tommy his first sketch pad. Tommy took to art like a fish to water after that, totally changing his entire aura. That was because of Tarble.
Lynn? She'd go out to the garden with Miss Dahlia to look at the weird alien roses every morning. Tarble would often join her, only leaving to wake Pepper while Lynn helped Miss Dahlia with chores and cooking. He'd go on and on about topics like 'soil composition' and 'cell wall plasticity', and she'd hang on to every single word as if she was mentally taking notes or something.
With everyone else, Tarble would just… be himself, and both sides would end up smiling. Even with Zeck… but with Pepper, there was a wall. He'd comfort her, take care of her, react to her bright, bubbly attitude like everyone always did… but his smile would be empty. Cold.
So, she had him join her in one of her midnight training sessions one night. Just broke into his room and asked for advice.
It was… awkward. No matter what she did, the wall was just… there. Unbreakable, total. In the one-on-one setting that she'd engineered, he didn't even act like her friend. He just pushed her through the meditation exercises with robotic precision, like a patient teacher who'd been paid to help out, but was simply waiting for the class to end.
Then, when she asked him to help her with an exercise that had her flowing power from one hand to the other, Tarble opened his mouth and asked, "Do you even know who you are, if you're not looking at other people's reactions?"
Pepper… couldn't answer.
So, Tarble continued, "Pepper, you should be you. Otherwise, there's no point to this. You won't control ki that comes from an unfamiliar soul."
Her eyes widened as Tarble left her alone in the dark, empty plains, as she'd realized the truth. He'd been holding her at arm's length… because he'd known that every single action she took was designed to manipulate him.
Shutting that part of her brain down was difficult for Pepper. It took time, and even then, she sometimes subconsciously acted specifically to make someone react in a certain way, but Tarble accepted all of it. Her selfishness, the way she ignored or forgot about everything that didn't directly affect her, he just took it as it came.
Somehow, Tarble always saw right through her.
Which was why Pepper would give anything to stay by his side… But it didn't change the fact that, when it came to people she cared about, at least, the girl still saw too much.
Before long, Lynn had fallen for Tarble, too, though she held back from admitting it, even to herself. As for Tarble, Pepper basically forced him to fall for her… but she couldn't make him ignore Lynn.
She could've made him choose her. Pepper could've made Tarble permanently friendzone Lynn… but Lynn would've simply accepted it and stayed miserable and alone. Tarble would've noticed it too, always harbored subconscious regrets, doubts, deep in that big heart of his, which beat specifically for his team and nothing else.