A young girl sat in her room at Dende’s sky palace. She looked at her reflection, but only saw the horrid carnage that took her step-mother, and father away from her. She gazed at her reflection, and soon, the mirror shattered. She jumped back as the glass flew all over.

"You have to learn how to control your anger Child," a deep male voice said from the other side of the room. "You’ll be of no use to Earth if you can’t learn to focus both you abilities, and your emotions."

The girl looked at him, and frowned. "Leave me alone," she said lowly. "Please Mr. Popo," she added as she sat on her huge bed.

Mr. Popo looked at the girl and nodded. "We have three years to prepare Sierra. Then, others from your home are going to come after you."

"That place will never be my home," she said lowly. "My mother left for a reason. And she did it years before she met my father. Earth’s my home."

"Will you defend it?"

Sierra looked at him with large grey eyes. "Show me how."

"Come with me," Mr. Popo said. He turned around, and walked out of Sierra’s room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At Capsule Corps., Bulma was busy working on a large gateway of some sort, when Trunks walked in. "Mom, I have to go," he said.

Bulma looked at him strangely. Her eyes then widened as she saw his sword across his back. "Dende-sama?" she asked.

"Yes." Trunks sighed inwardly as Bulma lowered her head. "We have three years to prepare."

"That doesn’t make it any easier," Bulma shot back. She lowered her head, and sighed. "Trunks, I didn’t mean to snap at you..."

"I know Mom," Trunks cut in. He walked closer to her, and smirked. It was a warm smirk, the only kind her gave his mother. Bulma couldn’t help but notice how much it resembled Vegita’s own. Her thought was interrupted when Trunks leaned over, and kissed her cheek. "Don’t worry about a thing Mom. Tell Father, and Bra, that I said bye," he said softly.

Bulma nodded as she hugged her son. He may have already grown into a young man, but he was still her little boy. "Please come back as soon as..."

"Promise," he smiled softly. Trunks then turned, and ran out of the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a week before Trunks reached Dende’s palace. He was joined in front of the main room by Gohan, and Goten. Mr. Popo looked at the three men, and seemed to smile. "Gentlemen, may I welcome you back," he said bowing.

"The three bowed."

"May I also introduce you to another fighter who will join you in your battle. Sierra Cro."

Sierra walked out of the palace and looked at her three new partners. She now was in all appearances, seventeen. Her long pale lavender hair was tied back into a braided pony-tail. A few strands fell around her face, and flew gently in the wind. Gohan noticed that she wore a bodysuit typical of most Saiya-jin warriors, along with a pair of weighted boots and a bright yellow belt. He then looked at her face. She may have aged in the Room of Spirit and Time, but there was still a childlike youthfulness in her face. All of her being as a matter of fact. All except her eyes. They weren’t full of happiness, or even love. Her eyes were a bitter grey void that looked all three men over, and looked at Mr. Popo again.

"Can I go back now?" she asked lowly.

"You’ll hurt yourself," a young, soft voice said.

Sierra turned around, and saw Dende looking at her. She lowered her head, and sighed. "Why did you bring them here?" she asked.

Dende looked at her, and smiled. "They’ll help you fight."

"No offence, but I fight my own battles." Sierra looked at the small Namek, and grunted. She turned and walked away, towards a special gym Mr. Popo designed for female fighters.

"I’m sorry fir her rudeness. She’s taken the last month hard," Dende explained. "Please, follow me."

Trunks looked at Sierra as she opened the door to the gym. "Why does she act like that?" he asked lowly.

"A month ago, her family was attacked by two of an alien race of female warriors just as powerful as the Saiya-jin. Her father, and step-mother were no match for them, and easily killed. I brought her here after learning that she hid and watched. The leader told me, and Mr. Popo, that they’ll be back in three years for her. If she doesn’t go, they’ll destroy the planet."

"But why get us involved?" Goten asked.

Dende looked at the three young men, and sighed. "Like I said, their race is just as powerful as the Saiya-jin. I would like you to help train her."

Gohan tilted his head. "Looks like she doesn’t want our help."

Goten looked at Gohan and sighed. "She reminds me of Vegita-san."

Trunks looked at the two brothers, and crossed his arms. "She’s not like Father," he thought. "She’s more like..."

"Trunks, in that workout room, there is another young woman, and she has also trained with us. She doesn’t know if she’s good enough to join Earth’s Forces."

"So," Trunks said uncrossing his arms. "What do you want me to about it?"

Dende gently touched Trunks’ arm. "I want you to train her, and get her to join."

Trunks looked down at Dende, and sighed. He then walked to the gym. Once he entered, he saw the young woman Dende spoke of. She had short green hair, and wore an outfit identical to Sierra’s. He watched as the young woman swung on a pair of uneven bars. As she pulled herself up to the top bar, she noticed Trunks watching her.

"I’m not good enough," she said as she stood on the top bar. "I don’t know why Dende-sama keeps trying to push me." She jumped from the top bar, to the hanging rings about twenty feet away.

"Maybe he thinks that you’re actually good." Trunks watched as she held herself in a full handstand. She dropped her legs into a full split, and looked at Trunks. "Otherwise, why would you still be here?"

"Because he thinks I’m cute," she smiled playfully. "I’m Dori." She spun herself around, and allowed herself to fall back to the top bar. She pulled herself up to a sitting position. "So, what’s your name? Or do I have to call you Sensi?"

Trunks smirked inwardly. "She’s more open than the other one," he thought. "But she may be hard to teach." Trunks looked at her, and pushed his long silver hair away from his eyes. "I thought you said you weren’t good enough?"

Her eyes slightly narrowed. "Then why are you still here?"

"To persuade you. And train you until you are." Trunks used a sinister smirk as he stepped closer to the bars. "And if those acrobatics are any indication of your fighting ability, we have a lot of work to do."

Dori looked at Trunks, and gripped the bar she sat on. "I’m skilled in a lot of things. And fighting is one of them."

Trunks folded his arms across his chest, turning his head sideways. "You say you’re not good one minute; then the next minute, you say your good."

Dori growled and turned herself around. She then began to spin around. "I meant not good enough for Earth’s Forces. That doesn’t mean that I can’t fight."

Trunks smirked. "I’m getting to her. It’s too easy to make her angry," he thought. "Says you," he said coldly.

"That’s bastard," Dori thought as she dropped down to the lower bar. "Says this," she grunted as she as she released the bar and flew, feet first at Trunks.

He grabbed both of her feet, and let her body fall to the mat they stood on. He still held her feet as he knelt down, and looked into her green eyes. "Call me Trunks-san," he said simply. "And with little assaults like that, you’ll be like this permanently."

Dori kicked her legs free from Trunks, and looked into his face. "He’s gonna be a tough one," she thought. "So, Trunks-san. When do we get started?"

"After you tell me why you’re here," he answered coldly.

"Man, talk about strict." Dori walked over to where a towel, and bottle of water sat. She wiped away the sweat that covered her face. "Both of my parents wanted to make sure I was safe as they looked for some myth. Since my father knew Dende-sama, he asked if I could stay here." Dori looked at Trunks, and smirked. "See, no big bad secrets lying here."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In another, secluded part of the gym, Sierra worked on a punching and kicking bag. Goten walked in, and leaned against the wall. He noticed that every blow she delivered, met the bag with a loud crash. "You have to talk about it sometime," he said.

"Like you haven’t heard it already," Sierra said as her blows increased in speed and power.

Goten nodded. "I’d like to hear it from you."

"Why? Are you supposed to be my teacher now? That way, you have the power to throw whatever I tell you back in my face?"

His eyes slightly widened as her blows increased again. "No. You have to let whatever demons that are inside you get out. Otherwise, they’ll eat you from the inside out."

Sierra jumped up, and sent a powerful back roundhouse into the bag. With the force she used, the bag flew across the room. "They already have," she said lowly. Sierra looked at the large mirrored wall, and looked at herself. She was able to knock a full sized punching bag across the room, and she hadn’t even broken out into a sweat. She gazed at the strong muscles of her arms, legs, and stomach, and sighed. She didn’t look like most female body-builders she’d seen in magazines, but she didn’t have the slightest trace of fat on her either.

Goten watched Sierra as he walked over to her. "You look like you don’t recognize yourself," he said softly.

"I never have."

"Tell me." As Sierra looked at him, he smiled. "Please? I want to be your friend."

Sierra crossed her arms, and leaned her back against the mirror. "Last month, these strange women attacked my house. While I was hiding under the stairs, I was able to see what was happening. There were two of them, so one took my mother, and the other took my father. The women were highly skilled fighters, and beat my parents to the point that they looked like rag-dolls. I then saw one pick up my mother by her hair, and just rip her head off, as if she was a piece of paper. Then they both played around with my father. They seemed to be asking him some questions about my real mother. When I finally saw my father’s face, it was so.... I don’t know. It was like he knew he was going to die, he knew it, and didn’t even care. That’s when the woman who was beating him, threw him to the other. The first woman slammed her fist into my father’s chest, and caved it in. They just laughed, and disappeared. I stayed under the stairs, in my little hiding place, as blood stained everything. Next thing I knew, I was here."

Goten slightly lowered his head. "And then those women made the challenge to you," he said. He saw the muscles in her arm tighten. "We’ll stop them," he said.

Sierra looked at him, and mused. "You make it sound like I want your help."

"You don’t?"

"No."

"Why?"

"This is my fight. They’re coming here for me. Not you, or your family."

"Don’t worry about me, or my family. We can take care of ourselves."

Sierra was going to say something, when she stepped away from the mirror, and passed out.

Before she could hit the floor, Goten caught her. He looked at her face, and saw that it was incredibly pale. "You’ll need as much help as you can get if you keep working yourself so hard," he whispered as he picked her up, and glided out of the gym.