Disclaimer: DBZ is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama. Unfortunately, I am none of those people and I am not apart of any of those companies. So, by all means, please support the official release. I also don't own the image for the cover. :/ it's cute doe.

WELCOME: Hello and welcome to my new story, Silicone Shield. This is my first time doing this pairing, and I know I'm already going to enjoy characterizing them. There are so many things to do with this couple, it's just amazing gah! I hope you all enjoy and stick with me and my imagination! After much deleting, rewriting, hesitation, and many meltdowns, I've built up enough courage to post this story. This is one of the few stories I've put thought in, so please bare with me. I APPRECIATE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. This story has no beta, and I don't plan on getting one soon. XD Also, a big thank you - like 9000 thank yous! - to Vintage Taylor. ILYSM.

Without further ado, let's begin!

One: New Beginnings

A teenage female stood quietly next to her father, observing, searching. "An observant little tyke" was a stupid nickname that actually fitted her, as much as she disliked admitting it. 'By observing, you could learn a lot about strangers' she once told her distant relatives, and it was true. Not that she was judgmental or stereotypical, but the girl enjoyed testing her observation abilities on the other members of her race. It was no secret that she was different from others of the Saiyan race; her soft eyes, caring, carefree and gentle personality, along with her charming smile were proof of that. Her differences, however, did not deter her from attempting to make friends.

Thousands, possibly millions, of Saiyan teenagers and children alike were scattered all around Vegetasei's palace courtyard, chattering loudly and obnoxiously. They were excited and hype. Today was the day where all the young Saiyan warriors would me admitted into Lord Frieza's army. If they weren't worthy enough, they would be executed immediately, or become one of the overlord's slaves. A harsh job, yet it was either that or death..

"Attention all young warriors from ages thirteen to eighteen! Make your way to one of the four rings to register."

To get a chance to prove themselves worthy enough to be in Frieza's army, each participant had to compete in a tournament-like competition. The judges would choose the better fighter and execute the lesser one.

All she could do was hope she would make it through and show her father that he didn't waste his time on training her.

This was the last time they would meet for, at least, a couple of years. "Well, bye dad. I'll miss you and I love you!" She told him, taking off with incredible speed, vowing quietly to herself to not look back. She didn't want to see her father's annoyed or angry face. Though, if she did look back, she would see a small smile on the corner of his lips. He was proud of her.

Due to the swift speed she took off in, Gine was the fourth person in line. A large, bulky man with a beard glowered down at her when it was her turn. "State your name and age, then pick a number from the box." his voice was cold, hard, gruff. Yet the teenager smiled at the man, following the directions. "Gine. Age sixteen! My number is twenty-six." He nodded to her, moving on to the next person.

A few hours later, the whole procedure was finished. The tournament would begin soon. Gine felt someone's eyes on her back, glaring into her soul. When she couldn't find the culprit, she rubbed her arms self-consciously. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Gine the brat." A sneering voice took her out of her thoughts.

Brussels. "Hi, Brussels! How are you today?" Gine wholeheartedly smiled at the sight of the girl who tried to bully her. Hence the word tried. Gine didn't mind her disgusting words or taunts. Plus, the gentle girl had smart comebacks of her own. Though, Brussels didn't fail to intimidate her at times.

"I'm great. You won't be great in a few hours though." she cackled. The sixteen year old raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And why is that?" Brussels eyes flashed violently as she smirked.

"You're number twenty-six, are you not?" Not even waiting for the girl's answer, Brussels continued. "I'm number twenty-five, so you'll be fighting me. Better toughen up, little girl, cause I'm going to beat you into the ground, just like my mother did yours."

Faint memories of her late mother flashed in Gine's mind as she began to tremble at the mention of her mother. She was there when her mother died, and so was Brussels. The latter's mother, Breat, attacked Gine's mother Caul over a decade old petty problem that no one cared about at the time. The fight lasted for hours on end until Breat had the trump card literally in her hand: Caul's tail.

Now in a weakened state, Caul couldn't properly fight back or defend herself against the female brute's attacks. The memories were fuzzy, but Gine most definitely remembered Breat blasting her mother in the heart seven times, even though she was dead after the first two. Gine remembered how she tried to free herself from Brussels tail-hold, but she couldn't.

If you squinted closely at Gine's neck, you could still see the faint scars.

By the time she returned back to her senses, Brussels was already gone, though her obnoxious laughter could still be heard yards away. Pushing her thin body up from the ground on wobbly feet, Gine walked around the immense area aimlessly, glancing left and right to rid herself of the memories she hated to look back on. Moments passed as her wide eyes took every sight in; she never realized how beautiful the palace was, even without lovely flowers or decorations.

'OOF.'

Falling straight on her back, the short sixteen year old girl rubbed her backside tenderly and glanced up at the wall the accidentally bumped into, only to find out it wasn't a wall. It was a boy, probably around her age, with a scowl on his face. 'Man, what's up with all these sneers and scowls today?' she inwardly questioned herself. She almost flinched when he reached a calloused hand out to her.

Taking it softly, she let the mysterious boy lift her up. "Sorry...I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Gine apologized shyly. The boy grunted, opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a yell.

"Bardock, over here!" A male voice called out. The scowling boy glanced in the direction of the male, noticing that it was his small group of friends. Glancing back at the girl before him, he nodded to her and walked in his friends' direction. Gine crossed her arms and pouted. So much for socializing.

Her innocent, onyx orbs followed him as he conversed with his weird group of friends. Three boys and a female. She watched as his lips curled up into a smirk and suddenly chided herself about thinking about his lips. Instead, she continued walking around.

Absentmindedly though, she wondered what type of rigorous training did he go through to make his teenage hands so calloused.

"Bardock." she tried his name on her tongue a few times, finally coming to a conclusion that she liked it, no matter how uncommon it was, just like his hair. That name was pretty unique. Not to mention this Bardock guy was pretty cute. Okay... extremely cute.

Gine giggled softly under her breath, Bardock's unruly hairstyle and permanent scowl forever implanted in her mind.