Bulma gazed across the front lawn of Capsule Corp in triumph. Vegeta had resisted, as usual, but also as usual, she'd gotten her own way in the end. Bulla's seventh birthday was a hit, and the girl of the hour was running around giddily, chasing Marron, frosting smeared across their faces. She'd had a classmates over earlier in the day, but Bulma had made sure that the second-graders were all gone before the Z-gang was due to arrive. She didn't want those kids going back to their parents, jabbering about green men and flying people.

Now with the sun setting in the horizon, everyone was lounging around on the lawn, fiddling with drinks and the last few pieces of cake. Trunks, Goten, Marron and Bulla ran around, chasing, punching, kicking each other, working off their sugar rush. Vegeta seemed downright amused at the children's antics, and even Piccolo looked like he was enjoying himself.

Of course, it couldn't last.

Gohan had been in the middle of telling Krillin, Chaiotzu and a disinterested looking Eighteen about his first week at university when suddenly Tien, who had been nursing a drink, looked up, shoulders tensed.

"Someone's coming," he said tersely, his three eyes scanning the sky.

The Z-fighters were all on edge now. "He's right," said Piccolo, brows crossed now.

"Who could it be?" said Krillin, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"Whoever it is, they're strong," Piccolo responded.

By now everyone had gathered around the picnic table to stare at the sky. "Oh great!" Bulma cried, not believing her luck. "Just when things were starting to calm down too! It's been barely two years since Buu!"

"Be quiet," Vegeta commanded, gritting his teeth.

"It's just one person," Goku told her as he came over, trying to be reassuring. "And I don't sense any bad intentions. This may not be bad thing. Let's just relax and wait."

His words made sense, but the atmosphere of tension remained. Somehow, no one could shake the feeling that things were about to go south.

Sure enough, within a few minutes (although it seemed like a lifetime to the group), a figure was visible in the darkening sky. It was clear that they were the intended target as the figure hovered above the Capsule Corp compound, coming down slowly to land right in front of the awaiting party.

It was a woman, rather short, slim but well-built. She had a shock of short black hair that spiked messily in the back and dark eyes, and her outfit was all too familiar – a purple scouter was perched over one side of her face to match the purple leotard she wore underneath black and white armor, and wrapped around it…

"Oh my God! She's a Saiyan!" Krillin cried out as he pointed to the brown tail that hugged the woman's waist.

"Wha…how…" Yamcha was so shocked he could barely speak. "How is that possible?!"

The group turned to look at Vegeta as if for explanation of this unlikely turn of events. Then they saw his face.

Because they were so busy staring at the party-crasher, no one had noticed Vegeta's face when she landed, his eyes widening with shock and disbelief, then contorting with a blistering rage.

"You," he breathed, staring at the woman unblinkingly. You could almost hear his teeth grinding together.

"You know her Vegeta?" Bulma asked. But Vegeta could hear and see nothing except the woman standing in front of them.

"It's you!" he snarled, voice rising.

The woman gave him a small smile. "I wasn't sure you'd recognize me after all this time."

"How dare you…" His fists were clenched and his whole body was shaking. He was so angry he could barely get words out. Krillin and Yamcha backed away from him instinctively – it had been a while since they'd seen him this angry.

The woman, against all odds, didn't seem scared, just nervous. "I need to talk to you about something important," she said calmly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Vegeta's rage erupted; he didn't seem to have even heard what she said. "How dare you show your face to me again, you… you…" words failed him. Suddenly, he held out his hand, a ball of energy forming. "I'm going to kill you!" he screamed. "I'm going to kill you right now!"

"Vegeta, wait!" Goku yelled, panic in his voice.

"Brother, please…"

"Brother!" Bulma cried in shock. Even Eighteen looked surprised.

"SHUT UP!" Vegeta seemed to have lost all awareness of the world around him. "Don't you ever call me that, you harlot! You lost the privilege of even speaking my name on your filthy tongue a long time ago, when you ran off with that…" he paused suddenly, eyes darting around like a dog that caught a squirrel in his peripheral vision. "He's here," he breathed, looking up. "He's here, isn't he? You brought him here!" He was screaming again as he turned on her. "You brought that filthy, thieving, lying, low-bred son-of-a-bitch TO MY HOUSE!"

"Who's here?! Vegeta what the hell is going on!" Bulma yelled, her frustration rising.

But Vegeta was in his own bubble of rage. "Where is he?!" he screamed at the sky. "Where is that coward?! I'll kill you both right now!"

Goku had seen enough. Vegeta was so angry he actually might kill this woman in cold blood right here at his daughter's birthday party, and he wasn't about to let that happen. "Vegeta stop!" he yelled, standing in front of the enraged prince and grabbing his arms. "This is crazy! You're not going to kill anyone, so calm down."

"Shut up Kakarot!" Vegeta wrenched his arms away from him. "You have no idea what you're talking about. This is a Saiyan matter, a matter of royal blood and honor."

"So she is your sister?"

"She's nothing to me," Vegeta snarled, glaring at the woman who just stood there serenely. If looks could kill, she'd be lying in a pool of her own blood.

"Well then, you don't need to kill her!" Goku pointed out.

"That is exactly what I need to do."

"My lord, please," the woman said, looking into his deadened eyes and somehow not flinching. "Let me just tell you why I'm here, and then if you want to kill me I won't resist."

"Oh really?"

"Yes." She stood there, unwavering, resolute. "I knew when I came here that there was a possibility you'd kill me. Unfortunately, I'm out of options. I just hoped to get the chance to say what I have to before you do it." She gave him a wan smile.

Vegeta's nostrils flared. "There is nothing you can say that will prevent me from regaining my family's honor."

"Dad?" Trunks' voice was small and shaky. "You're not going to really kill her, are you?" His ten-year-old face was covered in confusion. "She's just standing there."

Vegeta blinked at his son. He had completely forgotten he had an audience that included his wife and four small children, two of them his own. He searched for words to explain the situation to the boy, but they weren't there.

The woman was smiling down on the lavender-haired boy. "You must be Trunks." She looked around at the group. "You have a sister too, right?"

Bulla was about to raise her hand to indicate that she was the sister in question, when Vegeta turned on the woman again. "How do you know that?" he snapped.

"Tarble told me," the woman said simply.

"Tarble!" Vegeta's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hair. "You've seen him too?! Why didn't he kill you?!"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think it even occurred to him. He barely recognized me, and when he did he was actually pretty happy to see me."

Vegeta groaned. "When was this?"

"Not that long ago," she said noncommittally. "I needed help."

"And you went to Tarble?!"

She gave him that smug smile that was so often on his own face. "You see brother, I wasn't joking when I said you were my last option."