I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

Bra leaned over the balcony, watching busy people going about their business on the street.

"I'm missing out on life." Bra grumbled and rested her chin on her palm. Maybe her father was content to stay at home and train day in and day out. But Bra had become accustomed to socializing. She thought of all her friends at school. She hadn't gone in three days. She wished that she could leave the confines of her home, even if meant listening to a monotone teacher drone on and on all day. It would be better than listening to her father yell at her. She heaved a sigh and returned to the patio table where her school books were sitting in a neat pile. Her homework rested beside them, waiting to be done.

"Hmph!" Bra scoffed. "This may be worse then training." The thought of her accumulated math assignments made her head hurt.

"You ready to go again?" Vegeta asked casually from where he lay on the gravity room floor, relaxing, with his head resting on his arms.

Sala sat next to him, trying to catch her breath. Her clothes were ripped in various places and she was going to have one nasty bruise on her left eye the next day. "You're not tired?"

"No." Vegeta replied, rolled over onto his stomach and started doing push-ups. He didn't really want to spar with her. He wanted to continue to train Bra. Sala had managed to save the demi-saiyan from another afternoon of grueling sparring sessions by mentioning Bra's untouched schoolwork.. Of course, the conniving saiyan made a point to mention it in Bulma's presence. Bulma demanded that it be done, or else Vegeta would pay. Vegeta could imagine what her statement and the glare that accompanied it implied ,so he ordered Bra to her homework. Bra, of course, wasn't pleased either way.

"When you're ready, I'll turn the machine on." Vegeta continued grudgingly. "You should be able to handle about 70 g's."

"How many can you handle?" Sala asked sourly, bracing herself for the answer.

"500 or so." He replied casually. Sala flopped to her back.

"Why did I think this would be fun?"

Vegeta hovered over her , his perpetual scowl taking on a serious air.

"Sparring isn't meant to be fun. It's meant to perfect one's fighting skills."

"I know! I just thought it would be more like when we were little and we used to spar all over the palace." Sala smiled reminiscing. "Knocking people over and wrecking the décor."

Vegeta chuckled at the memories, then grew serious.

"That was horseplay." He corrected her and recommenced his pushups.

"It was fun."

"We're too old for horseplay."

"Aww, c'mon! You mean to tell me you never horse around with your kids?"

Vegeta replied, "Hmph, how ridiculous."

Sala scowled disapprovingly for a few moments as Vegeta continued his work-out, completely ignoring her. Suddenly she tackled him. Vegeta smashed his head of the floor, not expecting this at all.

"DAMN IT SALA!" Vegeta screamed as they tumbled all over, smashing into the walls then the control panel. Sala laughed, thorally amused. Vegeta kept his scowl but chuckled slightly, just enough to show his amusement.. The fun came to an end when the two rolled towards the ladder leading to the lower level of the capsule. They tumbled down the hole and smashed into the floor with a huge thud. Vegeta ended up with Sala on top of him.

Sala burst into jovial laughter. Vegeta's amusement had faded quickly back into annoyance. He'd smashed his head quite hard off the ladder on the way down at least twice. He pushed himself from under her, then straddled her, pinning her to the floor firmly. Sala felt his grip tightening and was alarmed. She'd forgotten that most of their wrestling matches came to this sort of end. With Vegeta enraged and prone to do serious damage. It would seem that the saiyan prince had not learned to control his temper over the years. Out of reflex she brought her knee up between his legs.

Vegeta looked at her shocked at the bold and stupid move. If she thought he was mad before, what was she expecting that would do?

Sala laughed at the expression. Vegeta shook his head and loosened his grip on her but still kept her pinned. He examined her features for a few moments.

"You know, you turned out prettier than I imagined." Vegeta stated. "You don't look anything like I remember."

Sala chuckled. "Well, except for your hair and lack of a tail, you look pretty much the same. You're still smaller than me. I could swear I remember your father being a tall man. You take after him in every other respect, funny you should be so short."

"I don't think I take after my father." Vegeta relied, sourly.

"Yeah, I guess you’re right. Not a bad thing you know."

Vegeta merely shrugged in response.

Sala smiled warmly. "Did Nappa ever tell you that we had been betrothed as babies?"

"What?!" Vegeta asked wide eyed.

"Oh, I see he didn't." Sala chuckled softly. "We were supposed to be mates you and I. But I don't know if that would've happened or not. Personally, I don't think I could've mated with you. You're more like a brother than a mate?"

Vegeta regarded her with a look of confusion. "Sala, how could you know that? Everyone who could've informed you is dead."

Sala gaped, realizing her mistake much too late.

"Vegeta..I…" She was saved from thinking up a hasty lie as Vegeta leapt off of her and looked around, slightly panicked.

"What's wrong?" Sala demanded to know as she pushed herself off the floor.

"Shut up!" Vegeta spat and concentrated all his senses. He felt a ki.

The ki of a stranger.

Bra cursed as the pencil she was trying to balance on her nose fell to the floor. She groped to pick it up before it rolled off the balcony, when she felt it. The strange ki.

She got up and leaned over the balcony. Who ever it was, they were very close. Seeing nobody she transferred her gaze to the patio doors and looked inside the house. The living room was empty.

Bra cocked a blue eyebrow confused. The ki now felt as it were in the living room. She crossed the balcony and went inside the house, letting the glass patio doors slide shut behind her.

"What the..." Bra stammered as she strolled through the room. No one was there, yet she felt a ki. She was about to shrug it off, chalking it up to a flight of imagination despite the fact it felt completely real when it happened.

It was as if she had been hit by a truck. She propelled through the patio doors, shattering them. Then she collided into the balcony rail outside and somersaulted over it. Somehow she managed to grab onto one of the rails preventing herself from plummeting three stories to the ground.

Instinctively, she tried to pull herself up, too stunned to try and levitate to safety. She almost had the second railing in her grasp when someone grabbed her arm, wrenched her away and held her out in midair.

Bra was confused and terrified. Someone was holding her. She could feel his/her breath condensating on her face and they chuckled menacingly. But she couldn't see this person. He or she was invisible. Not to mention fast.

"What were they afraid of you for?" a man's voice asked sinisterly.

"Let me go!" Bra screamed.

The demand was met promptly. Seconds later Bra slammed off the ground, hard. Vegeta and Sala burst out of the gravity chamber just in time to see Bra hit the ground, accompanied by a sickening thud.

Sala screamed in horror while Vegeta looked for the attacker. He was too shocked by the attack to realize that the ki was still faintly present and at a constant level. Automatically he assumed that he had fled. He jumped off the platform and ran to help his daughter.

After she stopped bouncing, Bra got up as quickly as she could in order to try and defend herself against this unseen assailant. Her fighting stance was unconfident, as she had no idea where her opponent was, or what kind of warrior she was even dealing with. She found out his location soon enough, right in front of her and close enough to grab her by the neck.

Bra rose from the grass, halting her father in his tracks.

She hung in the air, her feet dangling a good four feet from the ground. She was grasping at the air as if she was clenching someone's arm. Vegeta's fatherly instincts told him to attack and kill the bastard who was doing this, but his warrior instincts soon pointed out that he had no idea how close the invisible attacker was to his daughter. Missing would ensure her death, but hitting his mark was equally dangerous given Bra's proximity to the target.

"Don't try anything , Bra." Vegeta warned in as calm a voice as he could feign. Any kind of attack, useless as it would be given her condition, would provoke the monster to finish her. Vegeta glared at his floating daughter, trying to see through the attacker's invisibility so he could retaliate. He tried to ignore the cuts and bruises all over Bra's small body. He tried not to look at the gradually spreading strip of blood streaking her turquoise hair. All these things were adding to his rage and threatened to make him attack at an inappropriate time. Whether an appropriate time would surface or not, Vegeta didn't know. But he longed for it to happen soon.

The attacker chuckled. "This mission was such a waste of my time. You people are pathetic. She's a weakling." There was silence for a moment save for the sound of something sliding over Bra's clothing. Her shirt buckled and rode up towards her chin revealing her undergarments. The man chuckled again and removed his finger from under the shirt, letting it slip back into place. "Yet, she's a pretty little thing. Pity I was ordered to dispose of her straight away."

Vegeta growled viciously. "You sick bastard! I'll kill you!"

The attacker laughed obnoxiously at the threat.

"You can't kill what you can't see!"

Right on cue, Sala yelled from behind Vegeta and threw something at Bra's attacker.

Bulma's infamous tomato sauce splattered all over the assailants arm revealing how far out it was holding Bra.. Instantaneously, Vegeta shot a finger blast at it, severing the limb from its owner's body. Bra fell to the ground with the arm still attached to her neck. She wrenched it off and gasped at the air greedily.

The monster screamed in agony and completely lost his disguise of invisibility. No longer having the edge of being visually undetectable or his hostage, the alien, of canine descent, backed away form Vegeta terrified.

Vegeta was too enraged to even smirk in victory. Without a word, he used his old method of disposing of mortal enemies. The mongrel exploded and his charred remains spread all over the lawn.

Sala sighed in relief and dropped the plastic container that once held their dinner. She knew who the attacker was and knew exactly what she had to do, therefore, she ran for the sauce while Vegeta was paralyzed by the situation.

Unexpectedly, Vegeta hauled off and slapped her across the face. Sala crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Daddy.." Bra choked out, her throat sore from being squeezed. She was appalled at what he'd just done. She knew that he used to kill people, but had never witnessed it before. She didn't understand why he continued to act violently after the enemy had been destroyed.

"What was that for?" Sala gasped and wiped blood from her lip. "If it weren't for me..."

"You said that there were no assassins on the planet yet!" Vegeta yelled.

"I said I was fairly certain. I was wrong. I'm sorry." Sala said as she staggered to her feet.

"Sorry isn't good enough! You should have told me they could conceal themselves like that!" Vegeta yelled again.

"A few, very few, of Polkrif's men have certain "talents". I didn't see the point in worrying you by explaining every single one of them. Besides, you're a Super Saiyan for pity's sake!"

"Well, as you plainly saw, that power is useless against an invisible, unexpected enemy! Your recklessness nearly got my daughter killed!" Vegeta spat. He then turned, scooped Bra off the ground and carried her to the house. Bra looked over her father's shoulder at Sala with sympathy in her eyes.

"What you did to Sala was cruel, Daddy." Bra stated as she tried to get comfortable in her bed which was easier said than done since her back felt as if it had one massive bruise spread out from neck to tail bone.

Vegeta looked at her and heaved a sigh. He sat on the end of her bed hunched over. He was so relieved that Bra wasn't seriously injured, just severely shocked. It could have been worse. Much worse. He kept trying to tell himself to be thankful for that. But he was angry too. Sala knew this enemy, not him. She should have told him everything.

"Sala saved me. Not you, you know?" Bra added. She knew that Vegeta would take offense, but it was the truth.

"I know, Bra." Vegeta stated a little impatiently. He wanted to explain himself, but Bra wouldn't understand. Vegeta was certain that Sala was lying about everything she'd told them. Vegeta did not want his ignorance of the real situation to cause his daughter's death. He heaved a frustrated sigh and got up off the bed.

"I'll apologize. Do you need anything?"

Bra smiled. "No, thank you." She knew how hard it was for him to admit his mistakes.

Vegeta grunted in compliance.

"Get some rest. " He ordered and left.

Vegeta shut the door to Bra's room behind him then collapsed against the wall. He'd been so close to losing her forever.

"Vegeta..." Sala stated hesitantly. Vegeta looked up from the floor. She was standing sheepishly in the hall, scouter in hand. Her face was starting to bruise where he'd slapped her, marring her beautiful face. He pushed himself away from the wall and confronted her proudly.

"It was wrong of me to hit you Sala and I apologize." He stated gruffly.

"I never thought you'd hurt me on purpose, Vegeta. I thought we were better friends than that." Sala replied. More hurt than angry at her friend's mistreatment of her.

"I had hoped we were still friends. But friends don't lie to each other." Vegeta promptly replied.

"Vegeta I didn't..."

Vegeta gaped at her in disappointment. Assuming that she was continuing her lie. He shook off his shock and scowled viciously.

"Leave my home! I can protect Bra without you!" Then he began to charge away.

"...I didn't want to hurt you." Sala finished what she was about to say before Vegeta assumed the worst. She looked down at the scouter she had in her hand. A few tears rolled down her cheeks and fell to the carpet. "I didn't want to hurt them."

"Who?" Vegeta demanded. "My family? They know what I did with Frieza's men."

"But do they know how you became that man? Do they know the child I knew? The prince who would liberate the saiyans. Do they know what was placed on your shoulders at such a young age?"

"Our past, that way of life, is gone. Why bother explaining what no longer matters?"

"Oh, it matters Vegeta! I know that responsibility was what kept you going. Knowing that you were the only one left to avenge the saiyan race, Raditz was incompetent, and Nappa was a fool. You were the only one who had the brains or the courage, not to mention the motive, to do it."

Vegeta growled in agitation. He did not want to talk about this. He never wanted to talk about this, ever. Not even with Bulma and he knew that he could tell her anything.

"As a child, I wanted revenge, but as I grew older I wanted the entire universe for myself!" Vegeta sighed wishing he could forget that part of his life. "I loved power. I still love power."

"Is that why you killed off everyone who hurt you, to flaunt your power? Is that why you destroyed the Ginyu force? Tell me, was Guldo the first of them to die by your hands?"

Vegeta gaped at her, it was that very memory that he tried so hard to forget. He resented her for bringing it to his mind after years of peace.

"Did you kill him to inch your way closer to your goal of dominance of the universe or did you want to avenge your mother's death?"

"I killed him!" Vegeta yelled defiantly. "Is the universe worse off because I did?"

"Would Recely want to be avenged? Would she want you to do that for her? Would she want you to risk your life, put yourself in danger after she tried so hard to keep you safe?""

Vegeta slid down the wall and sat on the floor, head in his hands.

"No, she wouldn't. But she was dead and I lived on. I wanted to avenge my shambled life." Vegeta chuckled bitterly. "I used to tell myself that I was only killing to keep Frieza from killing me. I tried to reassure myself that when I was free, I wouldn't kill anymore, that I'd rule the universe better than he did. But those reassurances slipped away with every passing year, with every planet I destroyed and every condescending word from that monster's lips. Eventually, I just wanted to hurt anything I could." Vegeta rose his dark, stubborn and sad eyes to her. "Mother could never love someone like that, who would give up on his values so easily."

More tears dropped from Sala's ebony eyes. "Oh, your mother still loves you ,Vegeta. With all her heart."

Vegeta shook his head. "No, she hated my father for being the bloodthirsty warrior he was and I turned into one a hundred times worse. At least his cruelty had the interest of our entire race in mind. My cruelty was driven by nothing but my selfish desires. I could vomit every time I think of it. I don't deserve the life I have. A comfortable home, a perfect mate, those children..."

"You were only five years old when all those horrible things happened. You knew no better...."

Vegeta confronted her grimly. "You were seven and experienced the same torment. You're not a murderer. You know full well that your father taught you better than that. And my mother taught me. I was weak."

"And I am a liar." Sala sobbed and collapsed before him on the floor. Vegeta stared at her tear streaked face. Anger started to replace his sorrow. He was angry that he even allowed his composure to break in the first place.

"I never lived with king cold." Sala gasped. "I lived with My father and Letta and Zorn and..."

"What?" Vegeta demanded in awe before she could finish. "How?"

"It was your mother's doing. It was her plan to save you. We were all supposed to leave Planet Vegeta together the day of the Tasbah occupation. You remember that day? The Ginyu came and ruined everything when they took you." Sala wiped her tears. "We tried to get you back. We tracked you for years but we stopped after the Namek excursion when we believed that Frieza had executed you. If only we had gone to earth after Namek's destruction...."

"You knew all that, Namek and all?" Vegeta stammered. He hadn't mentioned anything about Namek to her.

Sala nodded. "We even knew that Frieza had gone to earth. The space police had sent a task force to try and deal with him before he did any more damage to the universe. His organization was hurting pretty badly, we thought we could take him out for good. But by the time we got here, he was gone and so was any suspicious power. We knew Earth to be a solitary planet, with no knowledge of the Planetary Alliance, so we decided to leave it be. Frieza was gone, that's all that mattered to us. If only we had gone down to double check , then maybe it would not have been thirty more years before we found you."

Vegeta stared at her blankly. His look of shock eventually settled back into his perpetual scowl as it all sunk in. "That makes more sense than your initial story, Sala. Yet it still does not explain your need to lie to me."

Sala hung her head shamefully. "It was wrong of me to lie. To try and make a decision that was not mine to make. Vegeta, I love your mother as if she were my own. You're like my brother for heaven's sake, you know that! I didn't want to hurt either of you. But...."Sala confronted him seriously she opened her mouth to confess something, obviously important by the mournful look on her face, when her scouter began to bleep uncontrollably.

She remained motionless, mouthing syllables with no sound. The bleeping was distracting, she grudgingly put it on her face to read the displayed information.

She heaved a tired sigh. "Two space cruisers are heading towards Earth's atmosph....no, one's landing." Sala stared blankly at her friend in emotional exaustion.

The Prince merely stared back with a perplexed look on his face. Then he scowled. "Bra's in no condition to defend herself. This battle must not take place anywhere near her."

"I agree." Sala said , fastening her scouter to the side of her head more securely, blinking the last tears from her eyes, again becoming the warrior she was. "Get Trunks to guard Bra. That last guy was the only one I knew of who could make himself invisible, so no worries there. None of Polkrif's warriors will be any match against a fully aware Super Saiyan."

"How close is the enemy to the city?" Vegeta demanded.

"They're closing in pretty quick actually. If we hurry , we can intercept them before they get too close."

"Hmph!" Vegeta grunted slightly distressed and quickly crossed the room to the telephone.