"I won’t give up!" a young teenaged girl shouted. She fell to her knees, as she held a cut on her arm. "You trained Trunks until he was just about dead, I’m not letting you send me into the house over a little cut!"

"Don’t take that tone of voice with me Bra," Vegita said sternly. He walked over to her, and took her injured arm into his hands. As his youngest daughter cringed in pain, he raised an eyebrow. "If your mother sees that, she’ll throw me out of the house until your brother comes back."

"But Papa..."

"I don’t want to hear it. Go inside, and get into the tank before she comes home."

Bra lowered her head, and let her dark lavender hair fall over her face like a curtain. "Yes Father," she said lowly.

Vegita lowly cursed himself as he watched Bra deactivate the gravity room generator. He crossed his arms, and sighed. "It won’t hurt for her to hear praise now and again," he thought. He then touched a cut under his eye she’d given him. "Most of my enemies didn’t get this lucky." Vegita then saw Bra slowly walk to the door, and open it. "Bra, you’re getting better. I’ll expect you to keep it up," he said turning his back to her.

Bra looked at him with wide eyes. "Y... yes Papa," she said as she left. As the door closed, she jumped up and down with a sudden burst of energy. Without a second thought, she took off flying to the regeneration tanks. "I impressed him. Finally," she thought. "And I doubt I’ll be able to do it again."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Focus, dammit," Trunks grunted as he kicked Dori in her side. "You’ll just end up on your ass if you can’t focus."

Dori stood, and took a deep breath. She jumped to her feet, and charged Trunks. She was now moving at incredible speed, it seemed like she disappeared, and reappeared right in front of Trunks. But some how, he still managed to block, or dodge every blow. She finally made a leap of faith, and jumped back. She waited for Trunks to make his move, and he did. As he stepped closer to grab her, she jumped back into a somersault, and slammed both of her feet into his jaw. As her feet touched the ground again, she ran over to him, and threw her elbow into his stomach. As he doubled over, Dori lifted her leg up, and slammed it down on the back of his neck. Trunks fell over, and Dori looked at him with bitter eyes. "I am good enough to be on Earth’s Forces. And I am good enough to be trained by the son of a Princely Saiya-jin. So don’t you dare sit there and try to tell me that I’m not good enough," she said through her teeth.

As she turned and walked away, Trunks sat up, and started to clap. "It’s about time," he said to her.

She stopped cold and slowly turned around. "What?" she whispered.

Trunks jumped to his feet, and wiped away the blood on his face as if it were nothing. "I said, it’s about time," he repeated. He walked over to her, and looked into her eyes. "You had to realize that you are good enough before, you could continue your training."

"What?"

"Is that all you can say?" Trunks smirked. This time, he wore a light-hearted smirk, instead of the cruel one that rivaled his father’s.

"You mean to tell me that all of this was an act?" she asked.

Trunks walked over to the wall, and picked up his jacket. "Yeah. Dende asked me to persuade you into joining Earth’s Forces. As long as you had it set in your mind that you weren’t good enough, I knew you wouldn’t do it." Trunks put on his jacket, and looked into her eyes. "So, I had to change your mind."

As he walked away, Dori fell to her knees. "If Dad could see this, he’d hurt me for being so stupid."

Trunks looked at her from the door. He then smiled, slightly. "As stubborn as an ox, ready to hop into a fight at a moments notice... Yamucha had a lot going for him."

Dori looked at Trunks with wide eyes. "I never told you who my father was," she said lowly.

"I know. I could tell by the style that you use. It’s a lot like his own. You have to work on your special powers though. Gohan can show you all of that."

"Thank you Trunks-san," she said.

Trunks looked at her, and smiled. "It’s just Trunks now Dori-chan."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later that night, Bulma stood in the kitchen setting the table. "Six months down, thirty more to go," she thought to herself. She looked at where Trunks usually sat, and lowered her head. "I should be used to this by now," she mumbled to herself.

"You should," Vegita said as he walked into the kitchen. He looked at the pots that were still on the stove, and glanced at Bulma. "He’s a grown man. You don’t have to keep treating him like he’s an infant."

"Just like you don’t have to treat Bra like she your new practice droid. I saw that cut on her arm. You shouldn’t be so hard on her."

"I was with Trunks."

"But she’s not going off on some holy crusade to save the world, now is she?" Bulma said on the verge of shouting. She then lowered her head, and walked to the stove. "I know you might not understand why I care about the kids so much. But I’m their mother. I’ll always be like this."

"Just like I care about them too," Vegita said lowly. "That’s why I stopped practice when I did. She just wanted to keep going. The damned girl is you if you were Saiya-jin." Vegita then pointed to the bandage under his eyes. "She did this to me. I don’t see you yelling at her."

Bulma looked at Vegita’s face, and hid a smile that was easily coming to the surface. "I’ll have a talk with her."

"Don’t bother. I want her to be that aggressive. It’s you yelling at me. That’s the fighting that is getting annoying."

Bulma crossed her arms, and looked at Vegita. He tried to taste a piece of steak that was still cooking. Out of habit, Bulma hit his fingers with the wooden spoon in her hand. As the spoon broke, Vegita chuckled. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked.

"Damn you Vegita. Get out until I call you," she said as she tried to move the Saiya-jin prince. "That’s the fifth spoon I broke because of you this month."

"Stop trying to hurt me," Vegita said smugly. "We both know you’ll never do it anyway. And you’ll save money too. You won’t have to keep going out and buying spoons."

"Then I guess you’ll enjoy one of the other rooms. Mine is surely off limits to you from now on," she said as she popped open a capsule to reveal three more wooden spoons.

Vegita turned around, and walked out of the kitchen. "Damned women," he said under his breath. He was about to take off to the regeneration tanks to check on Bra, when Bulma screamed. The Prince quickly turned around, and ran into the kitchen and saw a strange woman holding Bulma by her throat. Vegita looked at the woman bitterly. "Let her go," he demanded.

The woman looked at Vegita with coal black eyes. She stared at him as if he were insane. "Do you really think that I’ll listen to you?" she asked.

Vegita’s eyes narrowed. "Let her go, or I’ll make you," he said.

"Then make me," she taunted.

Vegita was about to attack her, when Bra flew into the kitchen. "Bra, get back," he said grabbing the girl’s arm.

Bra’s eyes widened as she saw the woman holding Bulma’s throat. "What’s going on here?" she asked.

The woman looked at Bra strangely. "Little one, is Bra your name?" she called out to Bra.

"Ye...yes," Bra answered lowly.

"What are you to him?" the woman asked pointing to Vegita.

Bra looked at Vegita, who’s eyes were locked on the woman. "He... he’s my father," she said. "And that’s my mother you’re holding. Can you please let her go?" she asked.

The woman looked at Bulma and released her. "Go to your daughter," she said lowly.

Bulma looked at the woman, strangely. She then looked at the woman’s body, and her eyes widened. "Who are you?" she asked.

The woman looked at Bulma, and smirked. "My name’s Stevie," she said simply.

"Bulma, get over here," Vegita said through his teeth.

Stevie looked at Vegita, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think you can hurt me after everything you did?" she asked.

Bra looked at Stevie strangely. "She looks a lot like...... Papa," she thought. Bra was about to grab Vegita’s arm when he walked further into the kitchen.

"What do you mean what I did? I’ve never seen you before," Vegita said sternly.

"Oh, I know you’ve never seen me before. But that still doesn’t mean you did nothing to me. Tell me Vegita, have you ever heard of the name Maioka?" she asked.

Vegita’s eyes slightly widened.

"I’ll take that as a yes," she said as she folded her arms.

Bulma’s eyes widened even more. "She’s a female version of Vegita. Tail and all," she thought as she stepped back.

Vegita looked at Stevie’s full body, and saw the tail wrapped around her waist. "Who are you; really?"

"Like I said, my name’s Stevie. And I’m also the daughter of the female slave Maioka, and Prince Vegita."

"What?" Bulma and Vegita asked in unison.

Bra walked over to Stevie, and looked into her eyes. "So, that would make you my sister, right?" she asked.

"By blood, I guess so," Stevie answered.

Vegita looked at Stevie, and his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"That’s something for me to figure out myself. My partner went ahead of me, and in a few days time, I’ll be going after her."

"Partner?" Bra asked.

Stevie looked at the young girl, and smiled. "You don’t have to worry about that Little One," she said softly. "Do you train?" she asked.

Bra smirked. "Yeah. Trunks usually trains me, but for the past six months, Papa’s been doing it," she said.

"I see. Is that where he got that scratch from?"

Bra lowered her head as Vegita’s fist tightened. "Yes," she answered lowly.

"Good. He deserves to get the stuffing knocked out of him," Stevie said. She then looked at Vegita with bitter eyes. "After all, he is the mighty prince of the Saiya-jin race," she said.

Bulma looked at Vegita and Stevie, and sighed. "This is going to be a long few days," she thought.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sierra slowly opened her eyes, and saw Trunks standing over by her window. She smiled to herself as she tried to sit up. "What happened?" she asked lowly.

"You tried doing something that you have no business in trying yet," he answered. He looked at Sierra, and walked over to her bed. "You’ve been out cold for the past five months." As she tried to sit up again, Trunks pushed her back down. "Next time, finish your opponent when you get the chance. Don’t worry about them getting up. If they can, they can do it while you’re attacking."

"Will you do the same?"

Trunks looked into her eyes, and found it hard to keep up his cold exterior. "What are you talking about?"

Sierra looked at him, and sighed. "He’d never admit it," she thought. "I counted four different times that you could’ve finished me. But you didn’t why?" she asked.

"We had to see what you’re able to do. Not what I’m able to do."

"I knew it." Sierra turned onto her side, and curled into a ball. "The next time, if I see the chance, I’ll kill you," she said as she closed her eyes.

Trunks watched the girl drift off to sleep, and lowered his head. "She’s right. I pulled too many punches." He then stood, and walked to the window again. "If I do it again, she has the power to kill me," he thought. Trunks looked at her again, and sighed. He then walked out of her room.

~~~~~

Three hours later, Sierra quickly sat up screaming. She looked around, and saw that she was sitting in her room in Dende’s chamber. She quickly jumped out of her bed, and got dressed in a green half shirt, and brown shorts. As she put on a pair of sneakers, Dori ran into her room.

"Sierra, are you okay?" she asked.

Sierra looked at Dori as tears streamed from her eyes. She then stood, and walked over to her window. Without saying a word, she jumped out, and took off.

"Shit," Dori sighed. She then turned, and ran out of the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gohan walked outside, and saw Trunks sitting by himself. He lowered his head, and walked over to his friend. "You can’t hide every feeling all of the time," he said.

Trunks looked up, and then turned back to the sky. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said calmly.

"Don’t you?" Gohan looked at the stone expression that Trunks wore, and shrugged. "Okay, maybe you don’t." He sighed and turned to walk back inside. "She’ll be okay. And Goten doesn’t like her in the way you think. They’re just friends."

Trunks looked out across the sky as Gohan walked inside. He was about to stand, when he heard Dende walking up from his side. "What can I do for you Dende-sama?" he asked.

"I saw you when you and Sierra were fighting. I know you were pulling punches." Dende heard Trunks sigh, and smiled. "Gohan says that you might care for her. I wanted to tell you that that’s exactly what she needs." Dende then felt Trunks’ wide eyed stare. "She’s lost everyone in her life. She needs someone to be there for her when she needs it."

"She has Goten."

"She wants you." Dende turned around, and looked at Trunks’ stunned face. "I saw it in her eyes when she woke up, and saw you in the room with her." Dende smiled as Trunks lowered his head. "I know you might not know what is really going on right now, but in time, you’ll both figure it out." With that, the small Namek boy left.

Trunks looked ahead, gazing at the sky-line. But his thought were locked onto Sierra. "I can’t sit here and have these feelings for her, if I’m supposed to train her," he thought. "Goten is getting past the basics, but I have to do the rest. Getting her past her anger, getting her to focus it, that’s what I have to do. I can’t try to go after her heart, if I have to try and hurt her." Trunks lowered his head, and sighed. "I’m sorry Dende-sama. But I can’t follow my heart. It could do more harm than good."

Dori ran out to the yard, and saw Trunks. "Trunks, do you know where Dende-sama is?" she asked.

Trunks looked at the panic in the girl’s eyes, and stood. "He just left here. Why? What’s wrong?"

"Sierra took off."

"Too where?"

"I don’t know. She have a nightmare, and when I got to her room, she was putting on a pair of sneakers, and took off. Really." Dori pushed her hair away from her face, and sighed. She then ran her hand through her hair. "Wait a sec, she might’ve went home."

Trunks looked at Dori, and sighed. "How far did she live from here?" he asked.

"About twenty miles. Last time she tried to fly it on her own, she almost...."

"It figures." Trunks said under his breath. "Which direction?"

Dori pointed west. "There."

Trunks took off in the direction Dori pointed in. "This girl, why must she always do things to worry me?" he thought. Trunks then mused to himself. "Because you let her," he answered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trunks found a house in the wilderness. He looked around, and saw what looked like a small gym in the just behind it. The moon was the only light for Trunks as he walked into the gym, and saw Sierra on the balance beam. He watched as she easily jumped up, and landed gracefully on her hands. She then continued to tumble, without a care. He walked over to a small corner, and sat down.

"So, Dori sent you to spy on me?" she asked. Sierra jumped up, and landed a few feet away from where Trunks was sitting.

"No," he said quickly. Trunks stood, and looked her over. "No, I was... worried about you. Dori said that you flew off," he said coolly. "She also said that last time you did something like this, you almost killed yourself. I was making sure you didn’t."

"Why? Are you saving that honor for yourself?" she asked.

Trunks looked at her, and sighed. "Do you really think that’s why I fought with you?"

"You mean it’s not?" Sierra walked back over to the wall, and picked up two small items. "You fight with Dori all the time. I haven’t seen you be anything but an arrogant ass. What am I supposed to think?" she challenged.

"Maybe you should think that not everything is as it appears. Maybe I think that you and Dori have a lot of potential, and you don’t want you two to die in the fight that’s coming up."

Sierra rolled her eyes as she walked over to the flat mat. "Please," she said sarcastically. "First you treat me like I’m below you, then you put me in bed for five months, now you want to make nice?" she asked. "You really have some problems if you think I’m going to fall for it."

Trunks watched Sierra as she began twirl the objects in her hand. The moonlight reflected off them, so he knew they were metal. "I am here to help you. If you believe it or not, I don’t really care."

"Good. Because I don’t," she said as she started to go through the movements of a kata she was taught.

"And there’s no way for me to convince you otherwise?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she responded.

Trunks walked over to her, and stood within reach of her. "I think that there is. And that you know you do believe me." He stood perfectly still as Sierra just missed grazing his throat with the object in her hand.

"You have some nerve," she said lowly. She then turned away from him. "What makes you think that?"

"Because you haven’t attacked me yet." Trunks looked at her as she stopped. "Usually if we spend more than fifteen minutes in a room together, we’re ready to kill each other. This time, you haven’t attacked me. You’ve tried to warn me off, but there’s been no contact," he said calmly.

"Maybe I’m tired."

"Then go to bed."

"I have to train."

"You’ll end up killing yourself. You and I both know it." Trunks walked over to Sierra, and stood behind her. He gently touched her shoulder, making her jump slightly. "You have to let go some of that anger that you have inside of you," he said softly.

Sierra turned around, and looked into his blue eyes. She felt him move his hands down her arms, and she lowered her face. "I can’t," she whispered. Sierra forced herself to step away from Trunks, and turned away from him. "You can’t understand what it feels like to watch the only people you care about die."

Trunks looked at her, and sighed. "Sierra, can you promise me something?" he asked softly. "When you’re ready to talk, I’ll listen. But I want you to stop over working yourself. It’s been a year, and it’s a miracle that you’re still alive. Please, promise me that you’ll slow down."

She turned and looked at him with wide eyes. "He cares about me," she thought. "I promise," she said lowly.

"Good." Trunks lowered his head and nodded.

Sierra saw him open the door. "Wait, where are you going?" she asked.

Trunks turned to her. He looked into her eyes, and almost became lost. "I was... I was going to go into the city that’s nearby. I’d like to get something to eat."

"Would you like some company?" she asked. She walked over to him, and put her daggers in the back of her pants.

"Yes," he said lowly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later that night, at Capsule Corps., Stevie looked around the quarters she was given. "He thinks that just because it happened a long time ago, it didn’t happen at all. He has some nerve," she said lowly as she started to pace around. "My mother was not a whore."

"I never said that she was," Vegita said lowly. Stevie turned around, and looked into his face. He’d been standing in the dark shadows of the corner the entire time she was in there. "I thought you’d be sleeping by now," he said.

"Why? So you can kill me?" she asked.

Vegita smirked devilishly. "The thought never crossed my mind. I could never kill one of my own flesh and blood."

"You can denounce me to the world, treat my mother like she’s a thing, and not a living being, but you can’t kill me?" she asked almost in disbelief.

"Yes." Vegita turned away from her. "She has my fighting spirit, damn," he thought. "You see, I denounced you, that way you had a chance at survival. I treated your mother the way I did, because that was what she was. And to kill you while you were still growing up, that would be dishonorable."

Stevie felt her blood boil. "I could stand here, and listen to you all night. You can make up excuses for everything that you have done, or will do. But you cannot stand there, and expect me to believe you."

Vegita turned and looked at her again. "Believe what you want. The fact still remains that you and your mother are still alive."

"Just me now." Stevie said. She looked at Vegita, and her eyes narrowed. "When I was fifteen, she was killed in a fight."

"So, that’s why you’re alone." Vegita glanced at her sideways. "I doubt that Maioka would have picked such a silly name as Stevie for you. What is your real name."

"You’re wrong if you think that I’ll tell you."

Vegita turned in a speed that would make Goku flinch. But Stevie didn’t even blink. "She must be good," he thought. "Fine, then I will find you another name than that."

"I like my name." Stevie clenched her fists, and tried to calm herself.

"You’ve never been through Saiya-jin training, you can’t hold all of your anger inside. Especially if you’ve been here for a while. There’s no use for you to try."

Stevie closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She then opened them, and saw Vegita looking at her. "I do know how to control all of my powers. And I didn’t stay here. As a matter of fact, I came here to try and stop some of the generals of where I grew up." Stevie saw Vegita’s movements stop for a split second. "The race I’m talking about is the Shitari. I believe you know them. Or, at least knew Queen Dulcia. Who was then a princess.

"Well, in two years time, Dulcia, Theadra, and Malina are coming to clean house. They found out that you were here, and there’s also a girl, possibly the most powerful Shitarian in existence, that’s what they want. And I doubt if you knew, but know, the Shitar race, is what the Saiya-jin race used to be, in more ways than one."

"What are you talking about?" Vegita asked.

"Simple, the race is dying off. And there are only a few of the nobles, if you can call them, that left. They have also become a race of space pirates. Doing the same thing that you used to."

Vegita looked at Stevie, and lowly growled. "They want this planet?"

Stevie walked over to the window, and leaned against the wall. She then crossed her arms over her chest, and sighed. "What do you think?"she asked. "But I have plans on not letting them get it."

"What do you mean?"

"My blood sister is on her way to see the Guardian. She’s going to fully develop the little one’s powers. That way, when they come, she at least has a fighting chance."

Vegita looked at Stevie. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

Stevie looked at her father, and sighed. "Find a way to kill you, without breaking Bra’s heart."

"Have it your way." Vegita walked over to the door, and opened it. "You should go to sleep then. Tomorrow will be a long day. Brat."

Stevie’s eyes narrowed. "My name’s Stevie," she said lowly.

"I refuse to call my child something so... human. And a male human’s name at that. You are a brat, so, I’ll call you one."

"Good. That means I can call you asshole then."

Vegita and Stevie looked at each other bitterly. "She’s too much like me for the two of us to get along," he thought. He then turned to the hallway, and walked out. "Go to bed, Brat."

"Night, Asshole," she called as the door closed. "Well, that went well. I give it three days, and we’ll kill each other," she thought. Stevie looked out of the window, and sighed. "I can’t wait until all of this is over, and I can go back to my own life," she whispered.