*Yeah, next chapter ahead! This was a pretty fast update and I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit short. I'm trying to make my chapters at least five thousand words, but that's really difficult with a story like this. Plus I want to try to keep chapters fleshed out rather then condensed.

Anyways, onto the next chapter!*

"So how come you and Piccolo are always training?" A few weeks had passed since Mallory and Gohan's parents had decided that Mallory would be dropped off every day while her Aunt was at work, and Mallory had all kinds of questions to ask Gohan each time. Most of them were normal, like did they always live here, or if Gohan had any other siblings, but this one question was always in the back of her mind.

"Hm?" The black haired boy next to her turned his head towards her after hearing the question, pencil in hand stopping mid-stroke on the paper below him. "You mean when Piccolo and I train outside?"

"Yeah. I always see you guys outside training and practicing, but what is it for exactly?" Gohan blinked for a few moments, his pencil being settled next to his paper as he gave a small hum in thought, glancing away from the girl next to him.

"Well, I don't really do it for any sort of reason. My dad taught me a lot of training, and so did Piccolo; it's just kinda something that I've gotten used to doing. Though my mom doesn't really like it when I stay out for too long; she'd rather have me doing my studies then practice my martial arts." He gave a somewhat nervous laugh, remembering the last time Chi-Chi scolded him for being out and fighting with Piccolo for so long.

"It looks really fun though, being able to throw those punches and kicks so fast. I wish I could learn how to do that stuff." Mallory said with a small moan of complaint, as she kicked her feet under the table in a small rhythm.

"I'm sure you could, it just takes practice is all." The boy watched as Mallory gave a short frown, taking a plain rice ball that Chi-Chi had made for the kids as a snack while they studied. Putting a pinch of salt, Mallory ate the delicious food as she stayed silent, before they got back to work. After an hour or so, they could at least finally take a break and relax for a short time.

A grunt cut through the air as Mallory's brown eyes took in the scene before her; much like before, she had grown accustom to watching Gohan and Piccolo train each and every day. She always thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and seeing it right in front of her was a lot better then watching it on a screen.

"Go Gohan, you can beat 'em!" Mallory cheered with a wave of her hand, the two locked in a heated struggle as kicks and punches whizzed by; even a mere blink of an eye could have Mallory miss something exciting. Her brown eyes however, still locked on the sight before her, became distracted by something nearby; a small rustle of the bushes, so faint that even Gohan and Piccolo didn't break contact to address it. "Hm?" The girl got to her feet, brushing her blue shorts of any grass or dirt, as well as her floral powder blue shirt, as she began to make her way towards the noise. "I'll be right back! I saw something nearby!"

"Okay!" The answer came back rushed and gruff from Gohan, trying to answer and concentrate at the same time, although in perspective it looked as if neither of the fighters were really paying attention. Giving a small wave back for good measure, Mallory began on her small trek through the bushes and trees to find whatever she saw nearby. She knew it was black, and it was moving; maybe it was an animal? She couldn't think of anything else at the moment, pushing branches out of her face as she spit out a few leaves that flew into her open mouth when she had sneezed a few moments before. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Mallory trailed off to herself, walking farther and farther until she found herself by the road that lead to more outdoors, or towards West City. "Now where'd whatever I saw go?" Mallory put her hand above her eyes as she began to scan the area, seeing only the road and more trees, as well as hills of grass farther down. "Maybe I lost it?" She turned around as her eyes continued to scan the area, when a shadow came over, turning the girl's attention towards whatever was behind her.

"Why hello there," A male was near her, around maybe mid to late thirties, with short, oily looking hair and somewhat wrinkled clothing, "what's an adorable little girl like you doing out all by herself?" Mallory looked up at the man for a few moments, unsure of what to say. He was talking nicely to her, but he seemed off, making the girl feel uncomfortable.

"I-I'm just looking for something..." She answered back meekly to the man, not sure on how to answer. She didn't want to answer him, remembering the advice that her Aunt had given her, but the man was looming over her, and she said the first thing that came to her head. "U-uh, I have to go now; my friends will be wondering where I am-"

"Here, why don't I take you back myself; it would be rude of me to leave a little girl to walk all by herself without anyone to protect her." The man's voice held a tone that meant otherwise, and Mallory took a few steps back from the man, her legs starting to shake. Mallory turned on her heel, intent on running as fast as her small legs could carry her, but she jolted as a yelp escaped her lips when a large hand grabbed at her right arm, pulling her back before the girl had any chance to escape.

"Let go!" Mallory yelled, trying to pry her arm free of the man's grip, feeling herself be lifted off the ground as her legs started to kick and flail to try and injure the man grabbing her. "Let go!"

"Stop...squirming! The faster I kidnap you," the man struggled to hold the girl in his arms, trapping her in a bear hug to get her to stop flailing and kicking, "the faster I get...my ransom!" Mallory never stopped trying to escape, the man's putrid breath running along her skin as her legs moved up in down in rapid motions in order to do something to get away; it was all she could now that the man had her arms trapped.

"Let go, I said...let go!" A sudden flash occurred as a gold crescent moon shaped mark appeared on the small child's forehead, as it emitted a faint white glow. The kidnapper was stunned by the sudden action, at a loss for words, when, as if by magic, a sudden force pushed him off his feet, causing him to fall to the ground, his grip on the girl gone as she landed on the ground with a thud, whimpering slightly. "W-What happened?" Her voice was groggy, her vision blurry as Mallory's hearing was muffled, a faint ringing in her ears. She could see the man getting up, yelling something, but his voice was too muffled that she couldn't understand what he had declared. Getting to her wobbling feet, she tried to run in the direction that she had come from, but a sudden grip and forceful tug of one of her pigtails had her yell out in pain, her small hands coming up to try to claw at the man's hand.

"Mallory! Where are you?!" Gohan's voice echoed through the forest as the girl momentarily ceased her struggling, hearing her friends voice nearby.

"Gohan-" The man's hand sped out to cover the girl's mouth, but she quickly reacted as she inched her mouth forward to harshly bite on the man's thumb.

"Ahh!" The man's loud cry of pain only fueled Mallory to bite down harder, specks of red coming to the surface before she felt herself be harshly thrown to the ground, a small trail of the man's blood on the corner of her lips. "Grrr, you damn brat!"

"Mallory!" The girl's brown eyes turned to her left when she saw Gohan come into to view, skidding onto the road under his feet to face the man. Gohan held a glare towards the man as he got into his fighting stance, in front of his friend to protect her. "What'd you do to my friend?!"

"Not another one..." The kidnapper muttered under his breath hastily, backing up a few steps, seeing the situations wasn't in his favor. Having another kid around would complicate things, he'd be a witness. His hand came towards his back pocket as a shine of silver alerted Gohan to the weapon the man was taking out; a pocket knife. "Step aside kid, unless you wanna get cut!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A deep voice came from behind the kidnapper as he jumped, his vision turning to see none other than a tall, strange, looking green man behind him, towering over him in height. A yelp escaped the man as he hastily took his knife and stabbed it towards Piccolo, but the weak knife only broke upon contact of the alien, as the man's eyes widened in fear.

"Y-You...what-" the man was cut off instantly with a punch to his gut, effectively knocking him out before any actual harm could be done to him or the kids. As his lifeless body fell in a heap, the alien could only give a gruff sigh of annoyance, as he walked over to where Gohan was, seeing the boy comforting his friend.

"You ok?" Gohan asked softly as Mallory could only nod, the girl giving a shaky nod, however small tears were evident in her eyes. Wiping the blood from her mouth, as well as her tears, she slowly got to her feet, with the help of Gohan, before looking at Piccolo.

"Thank you Piccolo."

"You have to be more careful next time." The alien said back with a slight hint of annoyance, "What were you doing all the way over by the road anyway?" Mallory was about to speak, but went silent as she went back in her head what she was doing. She was chasing after something, however she didn't know what it was.

"Nothing, I was just...walking around was all."

"Hmph, kids today are too careless. You need to be more prepared for something like that to happen, or who knows what could have happened if Gohan and I hadn't come in time." A small frown appeared on Mallory's face as she glanced towards Gohan, before looking back at Piccolo suddenly.

"Then teach me!" Both Piccolo and Gohan blinked from the sudden answer from the girl, both turning to look at her; Gohan was more surprised then Piccolo was, the green skinned alien having a more interested stare down with the girl.

"Mallory, I don't think-"

"Well I do! You said that I need to be more prepared, how prepared can you be when you've trained in martial arts? I'll be able to defend myself if anything like that happens again, it's perfect!" Mallory glanced from Piccolo, to Gohan as she gave her friend a smile, nodding to the boy exuberantly; she was determined to learn, doing anything that it took to get better. "You...you said that I could do it Gohan, all I would need is practice. you believe in me...right?" Her voice went soft as her question was directed to the six year old boy, as he looked at her silently. He could tell that Mallory was serious, and in the end it would keep her safe. Giving a smirk, he nodded to Mallory, before turning to Piccolo.

"Piccolo, I know Mallory can do it; we can even teach her while you and I are training!" The alien gave a small groan, seeing the two children look towards him with pleading eyes, before he groaned once more.

"Fine, I'll teach you, but have you two even thought of what Chi-Chi or Luna will say?" Both Gohan an Mallory's pleading looks dwindled to one of slight realization, as the two looked back at each other, slight grimaces on their faces.

It was going to take a miracle for Luna to agree, let alone Chi-Chi.

It had been three months since Mallory's training with Gohan and Piccolo had started, and it wasn't any easier in the beginning then it was now. Piccolo was a tough teacher, but Gohan had noticed that he was going much easier on her then he had been with him; the only revolving fact being that Mallory wasn't like Gohan, she couldn't take the punches or the kicks that they gave when they went all out. Despite that setback however, Mallory, now seven years old, continued to train every day and every night with her teacher, and her best friend.

"Ok, I'm all set. I knew I should have gotten all of my stuff together last night..." Mallory complained to herself as she dressed herself quickly in her training gear, a white tank top and a pair of pink shorts that fig snugly around her waist, as well as a pair of running shoes that her Aunt had gotten her for her seventh birthday. Moving her now longer brown hair out of her face, she came sprinting out of her house as fast as she could. Mallory began to make her way towards the Son House with a grin on her face, thinking of all the things that she would be learning with Gohan and Piccolo today; there was still so much to learn from them, like how to control the energy in her body known as ki, and so much more she didn't even know about. She had been practicing for so long, but so far she gotten some progress, but not enough in her own eyes; she knew she would succeed though, she would get stronger with the help of her friends and family supporting her. A smile came to the girl's lips as she continued to run towards the Son house, when something caught her vision. Something flying in the sky, in strange clothing, what appeared to be a person; white boots with blue leggings and a strange chest piece?

"What the?" Mallory was speechless as the figure in the sky flew farther away from her, as Mallory quickly began to run at top speed to get a better look. Her breath was ragged as she made it to the Son house, and by then, the figure in the sky was long gone. She had noticed the figure had long, thick black hair, and she thought to herself, not thinking it could be possible, but still, it looked so much like him; so much like Gohan. Taking deep breaths, she glanced over at the Son house as she heard loud yelling, the voice belonging to Chi-Chi.

"Oh no! Dad, there he goes again!" Chi-Chi's head popped out from the Son house window as a rather hulking, large man cam into view, with glasses and a strange hat with horns on top. A groan came from Chi-Chi, as well as a sentence that Mallory couldn't make out, before the girl ran over towards the window.

"Chi-Chi!" The woman, as well as the man next to her, turned towards the young girls voice as Chi-Chi gave a surprised look at Mallory.

"M-Mallory!" The woman was astonished to see the seven year old girl nearby, and so fast no less. Panting a few breaths to regain the oxygen she had used up, she looked back at the woman, her eyes wide in confusion and shock.

"Gohan," the girl panted for more breath as her heart beat a mile a minute at the sight she had just seen, "he can fly?! Where is he going?!" The adult woman was at a loss for words as the seven year old in front of her asked these questions; any sort of excuse left her mind in an instant. Giving a small sigh, she glanced towards Mallory as she motioned for her to come inside.

"Come on inside and take a rest Mallory. As much as I would like to give you the answers, I think it would be better to have Gohan tell you when he gets back." The brown haired girl blinked in slight confusion at the statement, but began to walk towards the house without any sort of objection.

Just what exactly was Gohan keeping from her?

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Just to let you know, this chapter ends with the ending to the DBZ episode 118, Frieza's Counterattack! The next chapter will most likely going through bits and pieces of the next few episodes, rather then explaining every little detail of each episode after.

As always, Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! They let me know what you or don't like about the story, and I always like to have some criticism, wether it be good or bad!

Until next time!