A/N: This story takes place exactly a year after Buu saga. It is completely AU, depicting an alternate saga. I do not own DBZ or DBZ characters, but Goya, Azure, Maize, Zaffre and Snow are original characters created by me.

Episode 01: The three saiyan visitors

Somewhere in the desert, 2:01 pm.

The three figures stepped out of the ship slowly, and it took them some time to adjust their eyes to the brightness of the day. The place where they landed seemed to be desert and they could only feel a scarce amount of living forms nearby. One of the figures looked around, as if scouting the surroundings. She was a short woman in her mid-thirties, with long black hair and blue eyes. She was lean and muscular, and wore some kind of black jumpsuit with a red vest over it. She wore dark leather boots as well, and some kind of communication device over her ear. She turned to the figure to her right and asked:

"Are you sure this is the right place, Azure?"

A little girl stepped, scanning the place with some kind of google device. She seemed to be 8 years old, short, skinny, with shoulder-length silver-white hair and bright blue eyes. She wore black loose pants and black leather boots a gray shirt with a red vest and red gloves. She nodded, saying:

"Yes, mother, I am sure. This is exactly the same planet where my scan picked up those high power levels about a year ago. The locals call it earth"

"Doesn't seem much to me"

"Well, according to the readings I got from my googles there are roughly 6 billion people living here. They are called humans. They surely don't seem much; they are way too weak… It appears the average power level for a human is around 5."

"So, they are useless" another voice said. It belonged to a second little girl, almost identical to the first one, but with jet-black hair and golden eyes. She was clad in clothes very similar to those of the blue-eyed girl, but instead of a red vest she wore a blue jacket. "I am telling you, this is a complete waste of time"

"Calm down, Maize. You know your sister is a genius… she knows what she is doing"

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I say this is bogus."

"Maize… We've discussed it already. We should give this a shot."

"Yes, mom. As you say"

"Now, Azure, can you sense the power levels we tracked here?"

The girl checked her scanner, and answered:

"Hmmm, not right now. But I've been monitoring the planet and I picked up the highest 5 of them continuously about every day since last year. Three of those were active about an hour before we landed. One of them was in that direction" she said, pointing to the west. "And other two were north"

"Good. That's where we start searching. We'll split up, so we can cover more ground. Azure, feed to our computers the exact locations from where you got each reading." The girl nodded and pressed a few buttons on her googles, before answering:

"Done!"

"Okay. The two power levels you got from north are about the same as yours. Well, you girls go north. I will go west and locate the highest of the three powers. Keep communications on, and call for backup in case of any troubles. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am".

"And girls… remember what we are doing here. This may be our only chance, so in case you run into anyone… be civil"

"Yes, ma'am" they said in unison before taking flight.

Capsule Corp, 2:09 pm.

"What do you mean? You won't fix the damn machine, woman?"

Vegeta was even moodier than usual that afternoon. First, his son was ditching training to spend time with his best buddie Goten, a boy that Vegeta hardly could stand. Secondly, the GR was malfunctioning again and his wife was refusing to fix it. "This is going to be one of those days" he thought.

"I will fix when I can, Vegeta, and it's not right now!" Bulma yelled, from the top of her lungs "I am not your personal slave; I don't live only to serve your majesty. I am a scientist, and a mother, and right now I am VERY pregnant and VERY stressed out, so DON'T PUSH!"

"This is ridiculous. You fixed things when you were pregnant with Trunks"

She kept meddling with those electronics of hers, doing kami-knows-what. It annoyed Vegeta to no end that they were arguing and wasting precious time while she could be fixing the GR. But Bulma wasn't fazed, not in the least:

"Well, back then there were freaking androids coming for us and the fate of earth was at stake. Right now there are no threats in the horizon, so you won't die if you take a day off. Now leave me be"

"Your stupid human… You have no idea what you're saying… What if…"

His senses, alert as usual, picked up on something very unusual and Vegeta stopped mid-sentence and turned around, startled. There was a high power level heading towards West City, and it belonged to someone he didn't know. The power wasn't exactly a threat: the power was roughly the same as Gohan's, if he was reading correctly. So, it was even somewhat below his own and Kakarot's, meaning that person could be easily defeated by either of them. Assuming the unknown visitor wasn't suppressing his power, of course. "Who is that?" he thought. "Whoever it is, it's not from this planet"

Oblivious to the incoming visitor, Bulma wasn't happy that she was called "stupid" by her charming husband, and screamed:

"What? Your jerk! Who are you calling stupid?" Nevertheless, Vegeta remained silent, oblivious to her words. He was focused on the power level he sensed, coming towards them. It was moving fast. Wouldn't take more than a few minutes for it to arrive.

"Someone is coming…" he said.

"What? Don't you dare to change the subject, your moron!" she said, but Vegeta turned to her with a serious expression:

"Shut up, Bulma. Don't you understand? There is a high power level coming to this direction!"

"What?" she asked, concerned. "Maybe it's one of our friends"

"I would know if it was. It's someone else. Take your parents and hide in the underground shelter"

"But…."

"Do as I say, Bulma! Take them and go. I will meet our mysterious visitor" he said. Bulma wasn't keen to leave him, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She was only human, and therefore not strong enough to face whatever it was coming. And on top of that, she was 7 months pregnant, so staying around to see the mystery visitor was too much of a risk. She nodded and turned to leave, but before she left Bulma said:

"Vegeta… be careful"

"Go, Bulma"

Vegeta waited in the yard of the Capsule Corp compound, while the visitor was approaching. His warrior persona was already bracing for whatever it was coming. He wondered for a minute if anyone else picked up the unknown power level, but it didn't really matter. If it wasn't a threat, then there was no reason for them to intervene. And if it was… well, he was confident his power would be more than enough to deal with it. Then he finally saw the mysterious visitor.

It was a short, lean woman, with long black hair and blue eyes. Something about her seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't wrap his mind around what it was. She wore a black jumpsuit with a red vest over it. The woman landed gracefully and bowed in front of him.

"Prince Vegeta. It's an honor to meet you again, your majesty. Honestly, when I came here I didn't think… I never knew you were still alive" she said.

Vegeta eyed her suspiciously. She didn't seem so much of a threat, but neither did 18 when he first met her. The woman didn't avert her blue eyes under his scrutiny, holding her stare just fine. "She is proud. And brave." he thought.

"And who are you?" he asked, suspicious.

"I assume you don't remember me. Of course, the last time we saw each other we were just kids."

"The last time we saw each other, you say?"

"Yes, your highness. On Planet Vegeta, more than 30 years ago"

"You're saiyan"

"Yes, my prince. My name is Goya"

Somewhere near Mont Paozu, 2:12 pm.

"This is not going to help at all. We should abandon this stupid mission and go home" The golden-eyed girl said to her sister while they were flying. In response Azure just rolled her eyes and said:

"We don't have a home to go back to, idiot"

"Of course we do. We have the ship. We should go there and forget about this whole mission"

"Oh, what a great plan, Maize" Azure said in a mocking tone.

"Well, it's better than yours. You can't really believe this is going to work. It's the most ridiculous thing you could ever think off"

"Stop being a brat, Maize!"

"I am not!"

"You are!"

"Am not!'

"Are too!"

"AM NOT"

"ARE… wait… can you feel it?"

"What?" Maize asked, stopping. She focused, relying on her powers to read the nearby area with what her mother called "warrior's senses". She detected two distinctive signatures.

"It's them. At least two of the power levels my equipment picked up."

"Yeah, I sense them. They come from that plain"

"Let's go"

The girls landed and ran towards the direction where the powers came from. From the noise they could hear there was some kind of fight going on. Azure wasn't sure if it was a good thing or bad, but she hoped they could at least see the warriors in action. It would help her measure them and collect data before they made an approach. The girls carefully and silently made their way into the clearing.

"I can't believe" Maize said in a whisper. "They are just boys!"

She was right. The high power levels Azure picked up belonged to little boys, no older than the girls themselves. One of them had black hair and eyes, while the other had lavender hair and blue eyes like Azure's.

"This is no fun. We should turn, that would make things more interesting" The lavender haired boy was saying.

"But… mom doesn't like when I turn super!" The black-haired boy screamed.

"Well… your mother isn't here, is she?" the boy replied with a smirk on his face.

"No… but…"

"C'mon, Goten. Live a little!" the boy said, but all of a sudden they both looked at each other all serious.

"Can you feel that? There's someone in my house. Someone we don't know" the blue-eyed boy said. He seemed both worried and intrigued. The other boy answered him:

"I know. I can feel it too"

"What is going on this time?" the lavender boy asked. His friend jumped and screamed, suddenly seeming very concerned:

"We should go there! What if Mr. Vegeta needs help?"

"He doesn't need our help, Goten."

"He did last time" the black-haired boy said sheepishly.

"That was different." The blue-eyed boy shouted. "He is stronger now"

"But…"

"Anyway, I say we should go and take a look. You know, just in case"

"Yeah, that's a good plan" the black-haired boy answered.

Azure left her hiding place at the bushes, eying the boys quizzically. They were just kids. There was no way to explain why they had power levels matching hers. Well, she was also a kid, but she was not like an ordinary child. She was supposed to be incredibly stronger than an average little boy.

When they heard her, the boys turned to her direction, surprised. Maize stepped out of the bushes as well, and stood by her sister's side. The four children were silent for a moment, but Azure finally said:

"My name is Azure. This is my sister, Maize. What are your names?"

The black haired boy whispered to the other one:

"Mom says we shouldn't talk to strangers, Trunks"

"Trunks? So, that's your name, right?" Azure said to the lavender haired boy. "And you are Goten, I guess" she continued, turning to the other boy.

Goten's eyes grew big and he whispered to Trunks:

"Trunks, they know our names!"

"That's because they heard us talking, your moron"

Azure suppressed a giggle. She could see that Trunks was the smart half of the duo, for Goten didn't really seemed very bright. "Still, I doubt his smarts match mine" she thought. In any case, they had to focus on their mission, so she asked:

"You mentioned someone named Vegeta. Do you know him?"

Trunks eyed her with suspicion written on his face, and answered:

"Maybe. Why?"

"Because… our mom told us about Vegeta. You see, we are not from this planet…"

"You're aliens!" Goten screamed, and Trunks rolled his eyes at his friend. Maize continued

"We are not from this planet, but it is well known around the universe that Vegeta is the Prince of all Saiyans"

"And where are you from?" Trunks asked. Azure smirked and said:

"I will tell you that, if you tell me how do you know Prince Vegeta"

"I have another proposal to you: how about you tell me and I don't kick our ass?" Trunks answered, assuming a fighting stance.

"You? Beating me? In your dreams, purple head"

Capsule Corp, 2:23 pm.

"So, you are a sayian" Vegeta said. "That would explain your power level being so high." He examined the woman – Goya – from head to toe. It didn't escaped him that she didn't have a tail. No saiyan was ever born without a tail, as far as he knew. So, what happened to hers?

"You don't have a tail" he observed.

"Not anymore, no. It was cut a long time ago"

"On Planet Vegeta?" he asked.

"No. Afterwards" she said. She never flinched under Vegeta's scrutiny, and the Prince deemed her a worthy opponent just for that. He knew that many who were acquainted with his name wouldn't be so brave around him, even those of his kind. "Which brings the question…" he thought:

"How did you escape the destruction of Vegetasei?"

"It's a long tale" she said. Vegeta simply answered:

"I have enough time"

"Well…" she said "When planet Vegeta was destroyed I was 4 years old. Because I had an impressive power level I was deemed a mid-class warrior and was being trained to become part of an elite group. They told me I was to become one of Nappa's soldiers, and I could even accompany him and you on your missions. I was very proud, as you can imagine" she said, and smirked. Yes, to serve along with the Prince would be considered one of the highest honors a warrior could aspire to. Goya continued:

"I went on a few missions before, but since I was being reassigned to the elite squad I received another solo mission. I was to purge a rich planet named Zeddaya, from system 45."

"It was customary for the soldiers about to be promoted. Those missions were usually high risk assignments" the prince pointed;

"Correct. Zeddaya's inhabitants were quite powerful and skilled warriors, and the planet climate is harsh. That's why they chose it"

"But as far as I know Zeddaya remained unconquered." Vegeta said.

"That's also correct. On the way to Zeddaya my pod had a malfunction and crashed on a different planet, a small planet on system 47. It was called Alkhor. I was found by one if its inhabitants, a boy named Ivory. He… earned my trust. And since he was some kind of genius, he managed to use the remains of my crashed pod to build a ship. I considered going straight to Zeddaya to accomplish my mission, but my scouter was broken, and the makeshift vessel wouldn't endure the trip. So I used that ship to return to Planet Vegeta. Only when I came back, there was no planet"

"So you escaped the destruction because you were on a mission…"

"Exactly. With Planet Vegeta gone, I didn't know what to do with my life. So I returned to Alkhor and lived there since then"

"You blended in" the Prince stated

"As a matter of fact, I did. Alkhorians look almost the same as us, only with different hair and eye color. They aren't as strong as saiyans, but they are pretty sturdy. The planet had this… warrior's elite group. I eventually joined it and became one of the Guardians of Alkhor"

"So, why did you leave?"

Goya sighed and looked defeated for a moment. It was as if the subject was a sore one. Nonetheless, she looked into Vegeta's eyes and said:

"Because I had to. Because we need help"

Somewhere near Mont Paozu, 2:48 pm.

"You can turn to super saiyan!" Trunks shouted when he saw Azure's hair turn gold. The girl was saving the transformation for a more sensible moment, but when Trunk transformed, to gain the upper hand in the fight, she had to. Goten and Maize were in super saiyan form as well, and Goten seemed pretty shocked to see that the girls were like him. Trunks lowered to the ground, saying:

"You and your sister are pretty strong, I'll give you that"

"Yeah, you guys too." Azure said, lowering down. When she landed she raised a hand and offered it to Trunks.

"Truce?" she said.

"Fine…" the boy answered, shaking her hand.

"So, who are you? And what are you doing here?" the lavender boy asked.

"Well, we came to this planet seeking for help. About a year ago we discovered very high power levels in this planet. Well, five of them were very distinctive. One of them clearly belongs to Prince Vegeta, if what you said is true and he lives in this planet. Then there's yours and Goten's, obviously. That leaves two unknown power levels that we haven't been able to pick up"

"They must be Goten's dad and brother."

"Are they stronger than you?" Maize asked.

"Yes." Trunks said, and immediately completed "I mean, for now"

"Then it must be them. Why did their power levels disappeared? Are they dead?"

"No! They're just… elsewhere. In a place where you cannot pick up their power levels"

"Oh" Maize said.

"So, how do you know Prince Vegeta?" Azure asked Trunks.

"Well, he is my father" the boy answered.

Azure's eyes grew positively big and the girl looked shocked to no end. So, she insulted AND attacked the heir to the saiyan royalty. "Wow, nice one, Azure" she thought to herself. "Mom's gonna be so mad when she hears it" Maybe it wasn't too late to make amends, right?

"Oh, crap. Sorry for calling you purple head, Prince Trunks" Azure said, bowing.

"Prince Trunks?"

"Well, if you're Prince Vegeta's son then you are royalty. It means… we owe you deference"

"Trunks, what is deference?" Goten asked.

"It means 'respect', Goten"

"Oh…" the boy said simply. Something told Azure that he didn't really understood why his friend was different from himself. "Maybe Earth's ways are different and Prince Vegeta adopted them to blend in" she thought.

"Prince Trunks, we came to your planet to seek help against a terrible enemy. Please, come with us and we will explain everything. The power level you sensed in your home is our mother. She is talking to Prince Vegeta right now, but we need all the help we can get. That included you, and probably the other two warriors you mentioned earlier, if they can be found"

Trunks seemed to consider her for a moment, before saying:

"Okay. Then come along, and try to keep up. We're gonna find Goku and Gohan"