This thing sure is acting up today…

For what seemed like the tenth time today, Goku's scar ached and throbbed. It had been acting up ever since he had arrived at the tournament this morning. As he stood there with his daughter, Goku rubbed at his neck and looked around. He felt as if he was being watched..

"Daddy, what's wrong?" As if sensing his apprehension, Ellery moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist instead.

"Nothing you need to worry about… Just get excited for all of the new opponents you're going to have!" Goku says with a smile, even though he was still unable to shake that feeling. As he scanned the crowd, Goku's eyes caught sight of a shorter man with hair that stood tall on his head. It nearly reminded him of the silhouette that he would see in his dreams… But there was no other connection that he could make to the shorter man.

Just as Goku was about to look away, the shorter man's eyes looked up and were staring straight into his. Something about him made Goku's heart race like it never had before. His onyx eyes were piercing and yet so inviting. If the fighter didn't know any better, he'd say that the two knew each other, but he doesn't remember ever seeing him.

Maybe he knows me from before the accident…?

Screams and cheers that filled the arena as the announcer made his way to the stage, causing the two to break eye contact. "Alright everybody! Who's ready to get the real tournament started?!" The crowd erupted with screams of excitement. Many of them were holding signs to support their favorite fighters.

"Each fighter is going to come up and draw a number from this box! You'll be paired up by number to start off the first round. Form a single file line and we shall begin!"

The fighters in the ring immediately followed instructions, some trying to push their way to the front of the line. Ellery began to take a look around at some of the fighters. She was curious how strong some of these people really were. As she looked towards the back of the line, she noticed the man her dad had been looking at. He had a certain presence about him… Ellery could tell that he was stronger than the others. The same went for the man with the long mane next to him.

"I bet those two know how to fight." Ellery says while tugging on her father's gi top. She gestured behind her. "They feel strong."

Goku was surprised that his daughter could feel the same thing that he was. He had noticed their strange energy ever since they entered the arena. The fighter hoped more than anything that he would get to fight the shorter man before the day was over. There was never much competition for him at the tournaments here. The two times that he has entered, he won by a landslide in nearly every round.

But there was something different about the shorter man… The hair reminded him of the silhouette that he saw behind his eyes and in his dreams.

"We'll just have to wait and see. Go up! It's your turn sweetheart!" Goku says with a smile as she nudged his daughter up to the announcer. He watched as she excitedly walked up to the announcer and placed her hand inside the box, rummaging around. Finally her small arm came out and held a ball with the number four on it. Her name goes into an empty bracket as she walks to the waiting area.

Walking up to the box, Goku smiles at the announcer and waves. "Nice to see you again!"

"Goku! Always a pleasure to see you at the Tournament, I can't wait to see how the next generation does as well." The announcer says with a smile, watching as Goku picked the number Six out of the box. His name went on the board as he walked over to his daughter. She had a strange look on her face as she looked passed him.

"Is there something wrong Ellery?" Goku asked as he took a knee next to his daughter, getting down to her level to speak. Her eyes were still looking behind him, making Goku glance behind him. He noticed the two men from earlier were taking glances at the two of them.

"Do you know them daddy? They keep looking at you. They're the ones that feel strong like you… Well one of them does… One kind of even looks like you too." Ellery was pretty observant for being only five years old. Ellery even felt their stares on her even during the junior tournament. The taller of the two didn't seem as strong, but he looked kind of like her daddy.

The other man was a true mystery to her. There was a certain air about him that drew her to him. Ellery wanted to go up to him and ask him to fight. Maybe with her luck, she will fight him in the first round!

"I'm not sure Elly…" Goku's voice was soft as he turned his head once again to look at the two men. "But it's nothing that you need to worry about. We just need to focus all of our energy on thinking of how to win the tournament."

"How come you're not sure?"

Goku was unsure of how to answer her question. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts. "Before you were born, I was in an accident. When I woke up, I didn't remember anything about my life before… And I still don't."

Looking back at his daughter, Goku was surprised to see her expression had completely changed from one of curiosity, to one of slight fear and excitement. Her mind was in a different place. The tall man with long, spiky hair drew the number four out of the box. The name "Raditz" came up next to Ellery's name.

"Radish? That's a weird name.." Ellery stated before taking a long look at the man she was supposed to fight. He was extremely tall and muscular… He definitely didn't feel as strong as his friend, but she wondered if she would be able to win.

It was then that she noticed it…

"Daddy… He has a tail too! They both do."

So I guess I will get to see what this girl's made of… Hope I don't give her too much of a beating. Raditz wasn't sure what to think when he pulled the number three out of the box. It was going to be an interesting fight, but if that man was Kakarot, then who is the little girl?

As he waited for Vegeta, Raditz felt his tail flick in anticipation. He hated keeping it around his waist like this. The more excited he got thinking about the tournament, the more his tail wanted to move around on it's own. Numerous little fingers had been pointing at him all day. Children seemed to be the worst when it came to pointing out his tail.

The look on Vegeta's face as he walked up to Raditz stopped any train of thought that was going to enter his mind. "Is everything okay? Who's your opponent?" Looking up at the board, Raditz noticed that Vegeta was just paired against a random Earthling. If that wasn't bothering him, then what in the world could it possibly be?

It would take Raditz a million guesses to figure out what Vegeta's brain slowly pieced together. The man in orange had touched his neck nearly every time that Vegeta had. If that wasn't confirmation, seeing Ellery's name written on that board made Vegeta question nearly everything he believed in. Not only did Raditz' opponent's name sound uncharacteristically Saiyan for a supposedly human child, that was the name that Vegeta had always wanted to give his daughter if he had one.

Vegeta remembered the day he told Kakarot like it was yesterday.

"So what happens if a Prince's mate has a girl? Will she be up for the throne, or will they just wait for a boy." The question intrigued Vegeta, mainly for the reason that he hadn't thought much of it. It wasn't often that the two of them got to see each other. But when the opportunity arose, Kakarot seemed to ask the most interesting questions.

Vegeta picked up a spare twig from the ground, drawing small circles in the dirt as his other hand played in Kakarot's hair. They were in their favorite spot once again, just outside the City's limits. "The natural thing would be to have another child as soon as possible and hope for a boy. But I've seen all the work my mom does, and it seems that she's basically running the country while dad goes and conquers planets, so I have no doubt a woman could do the job."

A small chuckle came from the younger Saiyan in Vegeta's lap. The sound made him smile as he relaxed farther into the tree.

"What would you name a baby if you had one?"

Vegeta looked down at Kakarot, the younger Saiyan had an endearing look in his eye. The half smile he was wearing nearly took Vegeta's breath away. "A boy would obviously be named Vegeta… A girl… I would name her Ellery." Vegeta says with a smile.

"Ellery… That's a beautiful name."

"Vegeta? Anybody Home?!"

Jolting back to reality, Vegeta looked at Raditz. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if everything was okay.. And then you got this far off look in your eyes… What's going on?"

Vegeta was afraid that he would sound insane with some of the theories that were running through his mind. There was no way that he could tell him what he was really thinking. "I just keep thinking about that girl…"

"Well I mean, we could go and introduce ourselves? It doesn't seem as if he recognizes us, or else he would've been to greet us sooner." Raditz stated as he looked at the Prince. He was beginning to wonder if Kakarot knew anything at all about his life before coming to this planet.

"I… Don't think I can."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't do it Raditz."

Vegeta wanted to move his legs, he wanted to sprint over to Kakarot the moment that he was sure that it was him and jump in his arms. But this wasn't the Kakarot that the prince knew, this was a completely different person than the one that left Planet Vegeta. There was also this feeling that Vegeta couldn't shake about that little girl.

Cheers erupted from the stadium, signaling the beginning of the Tournament, but Vegeta drown out any other noise as he decided to make his move.

Before Vegeta could make his own move however, the Prince noticed the little girl pointing at them out of the corner of his eye. Vegeta was too far away to hear what they were saying, but the gesture was enough to make his heart stop. His blood ran cold as he watched the two of them start to walk in their direction. Ellery takes the lead and begins to skip quickly over to the two Saiyans.

"Looks like you won't have to." The smile on Raditz face was nearly contagious as he looked at the girl skipping towards them. "I saw your final fight in the junior tournament, you're a very strong little fighter." The brute of a man says as he gets down on one knee.

"My name is Ellery, I'm excited about our match together." The young girl says with a smile.

"Well Ellery, my name is Raditz." The Saiyan extended his hand out to the little girl. "It's nice to meet you as well. Let's have a good match today."

The two shook hands, smiles on both of their faces. At that moment, the man in orange walked up to the three of them. "Sorry if we interrupted you two, she's just very excited."

"No problem at all." Raditz says happily as he got a good look at Goku, seeing there was no way wasn't Kakarot. "She seems like a very skilled fighter. I got to see the final match of the Junior Tournament… My name is Raditz, and this is my fellow fighter, Vegeta." The long haired Saiyan gestured to his right to Vegeta, who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Uhm… Well it's nice to meet both of you. My Name is Goku! And this is my daughter, Ellery." Goku's hand extended out to shake Raditz' hand and then Vegeta's.

The moment their hands touched, it sent both Saiyans skin ablaze. But instead of pulling away, it caused both of them to tighten their grip. Their eyes met and there was a moment of clarity on the taller Saiyans' face, it was replaced with confusion before Vegeta could blink. "I feel like we've met before… Did you compete in the tournament last year?"

Vegeta felt his heart sank faster than he could catch it. So he doesn't remember… But I look familiar.. "No, you must be mistaking me for someone else."

Still the taller man pressed on. "I'm sure I know you from somewhere though, I just can't put my finger on it."

Now was Vegeta's chance to tell him… He could tell him everything, but speaking was impossible. His hands were nearly shaking at the thought of trying to get this man to believe who he really was.

Thankfully everyone's' attention was diverted by the tournament guides coming towards them. "Alright Raditz and Ellery, You two are up! Head to the entrance right over there." The guide pointed in the direction of the open door.

Ellery jumped in excitement as she skipped to the entrance. She was more than ready to get this tournament started. All three adults standing there smile at how innocent she seemed. None of them knew how fierce this little girl actually was.

"Someone's excited." Goku says with a chuckle before looking at Vegeta once again, realizing that he still hadn't let go of the smaller man's hand. Quickly pulling away, Goku rubbed the back of his head as he tried to play it off. His cheeks were flushed red and he couldn't get the butterflies to stop fluttering in his stomach.

"I uh… Guess I'll see you later..I've gotta watch this fight." Goku stutters out before walking over to the entrance to the tournament stage. The smile and blush never left the young Saiyan's face.