Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

"Goku, you have to stop!" Bulma cried out. "I'm fine!"

But Goku was already too far gone. The ground around him crackled underneath the force of his ki. Nappa had gone too far in hurting the girl who may as well have been his sister. He confided in her, which is why she had taken it upon herself to tell him the truth, and even to help him and his people, who didn't even appreciate her.

Or at least, only one of them seemed to not appreciate her.

"How dare you?" Goku asked, his voice full of darkness and hate. The voice was haunting and so unlike him. His friends couldn't believe the change.

Raditz quickly got in the middle of Nappa and Goku, his eyes begging his brother to calm down. Normally, he wouldn't have cared about Nappa striking a woman down as they all had many times before. He could tell Bulma was different, though. He knew his brother didn't see her as a mate since he already had Chi Chi, but he defended her as if she was the most important person to him, a family member and confidant. "Kakarot, you need to calm down," he stated confidently, though his eyes betrayed his feelings of wariness.

But Goku hadn't heard him. "You come here in search of help," he continued, "and then you actually attack my friend. You're not getting away with this."

Vegeta let out a laugh. "Raditz, step aside," he jeered. "I'd actually be interested to see what this third-class could do."

"Vegeta…" Cui spoke up while looking through the scouter as it rapidly beeped. "That's not a good idea."

Nappa shoved Raditz aside and marched up to Goku, looking down at him. Goku's eyes never left his. As a ball of ki formed in Nappa's hand, Bulma inserted herself in between the two Saiyans, snapping Goku out of his vengeful trace and stunning Nappa, the ki dissipating instantly.

"Goku, it's okay," Bulma murmured gently. "I can take a hit. You know that. It's going to be fine…but you don't want to stoop to their level."

For a moment, Goku's mind screamed to ignore her, but he fought with it and broke out of his stance. In that moment, Nappa had chuckled, nearly igniting his rage once again. Bulma cut a glare at the tall Saiyan and stood tall. "As for you, who do you think you are? Goku is right. You came here asking for help. We agreed and are working with you at your request. If you have a problem with me or anyone else here, then leave. We've all worked on protecting our planet since we were kids. Regardless of how weak I might be, or anyone else according to your standards, we'd rather take on this new threat without you and lose our lives protecting something we actually believe in then turning to you."

Nappa stared at her dumbfounded before he fell out of his stupor. He grew angry. "Why you!" he shouted getting ready to attack her.

"Nappa!"

Nappa instantly stopped as he heard his prince shouting his name darkly. His eyes met Vegeta's, and the prince was not happy. He regally walked up to the three while everyone else was wondering what he was going to do. Inserting himself between Nappa and Bulma, he eyed the human girl not giving a clue as to what was on his mind. "I would like to speak with you," he stated, though she knew it was more of a demand. His eyes shot over to Goku. "Privately."

Goku became defensive over Bulma once again, but she placed a hand against his chest and smiled. "I'll be fine. He won't hurt me."

"You presume too much, bitch," Nappa insulted. Vegeta instantly turned to his subordinate.

"Nappa, enough!" he snapped. "Do not even think to attack another one of our allies, understand? Unless it is a training exercise, you are to keep your hands to yourself. As loathe as I am to admit it, we need them. Now, everyone back to training while I speak with the woman in private."

Vegeta began to walk away from the group, Bulma following him while the others watched in surprise. Krillin and Yamcha just exchanged glances, not feeling comfortable enough to express their wonderings verbally. Raditz was frozen in place, his mouth slightly dropped as he watched his prince and Bulma walk away. Nappa was glaring in their direction, pouting slightly. Goku just looked horrified at the idea of the girl going alone with Vegeta who was stronger than Nappa. Cui just stood there, not really having an opinion on anything. He was the one to break everyone out of their trances.

"Vegeta just gave everyone the order to resume training," he said. "I suggest we get back to it. It's only a matter of time before Frieza gets suspicious of what we are really doing."

It was then that the two humans scrambled and got ready to spar with Cui. Nappa went off to lean against a tree observing the humans' moves while Raditz decided to go talk to his brother.

"What is she to you, Kakarot?" Raditz asked in genuine concern. Goku didn't answer. "I know you have a mate already, so that can't be it. But what is your relationship with her that you nearly went off on an elite former general?"

Goku's eyes filled with rage, though he kept himself composed as he focused on a spot on the ground. "We all know now that I killed my grandfather," Goku stated darkly, angry with himself. "I was alone for years. I was young and naïve and it hadn't bothered me, but then Bulma showed up one day looking for the Dragon Balls. I had one. It belonged to my grandfather, and she needed it for her wish."

Raditz was curious about what she was going to wish for, but he continued to let Goku tell the story. "We ran into trouble. A lot of people were after the Dragon Balls. There was this emperor who wanted control of the planet, and then there was the Red Ribbon Army. They would have killed us without a second thought just for getting in their way.

"During that time, Bulma became my friend, and, after the Dragon Balls were used, she brought me back to her home. Her parents accepted me right away. They let me know I was always welcome. They treated me like their own. Bulma even started trying to teach me things I hadn't known growing up alone. I…I wasn't alone anymore. We're friends, yes, but honestly, she's my family. Bulma was the first person to take me in after grandpa, and now I know she did that at her own risk because I could have really hurt her so many times. She's like my sister, and I love her. If Nappa ever lays another hand on her…"

The atmosphere was still tense around the two brothers, and, after hearing his brother's words, Raditz knew that Goku meant his unspoken threat. "He won't touch her again," Raditz assured him. "He's stupid, but he's not stupid enough to disobey a direct order from our prince. If he decided to drop his intelligence to harm her, I wouldn't allow him to harm her either."

Goku's anger disappeared and was replaced by shock. "Really?" he nearly yelled, his eyes wide as he stared at his Saiyan brother.

Raditz nodded as he began to observe the humans' moves against Cui. "Yes. She is important to you, as are your mate, child, and friends. As such, they are important to me. I don't need my idiot brother holding me back in the fight due to his blasted emotions."

Goku glared slightly at his brother, but saw Raditz smirking and realized he was just being teased by his older brother. He chuckled slightly and smacked Raditz on the back. "You're okay, brother," he admitted. "And thanks."

The smirk didn't leave Raditz's face. He felt pride in his brother accepting their siblingship. He also admired Bulma a bit more. Saiyans needed interaction with other lifeforms, and she had taken in his brother as her own family when he thought he had none. She stood up to Nappa even though she knew he could kill her. She was brave, intelligent, and now she had done the impossible and won Vegeta's respect. He was amazed.

"What do you want to talk about?" Bulma asked Vegeta when they were deeper in the forest. She then thought back to what she said to Nappa. "I'm not sorry, and I won't apologize for what I said."

Vegeta let out a curt chuckle. "Spoken like a true Saiyan," he remarked before turning to her. "The Saiyans are one of the strongest warrior races out there. Our population was decimated by a being stronger, a being that is on your planet full of weaklings. You made a bold claim, that you would all be willing to take him and his army yourselves, knowing that you have no chance, just to keep your pride and dignity and fight for what your people believe in. Not one of the humans disagreed, nor did Kakarot. In fact, I saw them nod along. Are you not frightened by Frieza or by us?"

Bulma was a little surprised that Vegeta was speaking to her calmly about her words, but was more taken aback when he said she had spoken like a Saiyan. Regaining her composure, she answered. "Of course I'm afraid, but that doesn't matter. The odds have always been against us, and we've come together to fight as one. I've seen Goku do amazing things, take out enemies that our strongest couldn't eliminate. Krillin…he was actually killed along with two others when King Piccolo attacked the planet. Goku…he defeated him and his son. He was injured, but it didn't matter. He still continued to fight.

"That spoke volumes to me," she continued. "For the most part, my life is easy. Compared to you, Raditz, and Nappa, insanely easy, but I can't just accept that. I need to help, regardless of my strength. My friends are going to be fighting this monster with or without you because they are our planet's protectors, and I'm not letting them down. I meant it when I said we could do it without your help. If we fail, we fail, but we've always managed to succeed before. I may be afraid for my life, but as long as my friends have a fighting chance, then I will do everything to make it possible."

Vegeta nodded, slightly impressed that the girl could admit her weakness yet still pushed herself to do her part instead of running away like a coward. Secretly, she earned his respect. Both Raditz and Nappa knew it due to his order, and he intended to keep her in the dark about it. He would give her assurance, though, that Nappa would not harm her again. "The alliance still stands. Your help is still required. Nappa will not touch you as long as we are allied. He knows better than that."

Bulma smiled at him which made something shift inside of him. "I appreciate that," she said, "I really do, but it wouldn't matter if you hadn't promised your protection. I still would have done what I could to help. It's not for him that I am doing this. It's mostly for my friends, but it's also for Raditz and for you."

Vegeta's eyes betrayed surprise. "Explain."

"Well," Bulma started, "Raditz is Goku's brother, and I also see Goku as a brother. If anything happened to Raditz, Goku would be just as upset as he was about his grandfather or me. And you…don't think that I've forgotten how you rescued me. I would have been able to handle myself with my tech, but you made it so that I didn't have to. You didn't even know me and helped me anyway, so I am doing the same. I may not know you well enough, but I know you need this. I'll do what I can so that you guys can have freedom."

The two of them grew silent after that, but a mutual trust had been formed. Vegeta, though he didn't verbally thank Bulma, felt thankful towards her. Though he had helped her once, she didn't really owe him anything, yet she wanted to help. He mentally shook his head. Women, he scoffed. Such an enigma.

Next in New World

Something was up. He knew something was wrong when Frieza asked to see him. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but see what Frieza wanted of him. After alerting the others to his absence for training, he entered the throne room of the ship and waited for instruction.

"What do you have to report on the monkeys?" Frieza asked him.

Cui was at a loss. He needed to make up a decent lie. "I found them training a few times, but that's about it. It was just their break from digging up information. I joined them in scouting a few cities, but most of the population just discuss current events and celebrities. None ever talk about plusonium."

Frieza took this into consideration. He wasn't happy to hear about the Saiyans taking breaks, but he understood that the Earthlings weren't giving them much to work with. "Maybe we need to be more direct in our approach," the lizard spoke smoothly. "The general population may be too uneducated to give us any direction through indirect means. Perhaps it is time to make contact with the species and talk with either their leader or a scientist. Surely one or the other can find what we need."

Cui instantly thought of the blue-haired girl, Bulma, and the rest of the humans. If Frieza had contact with any human, the outcome would be horrible. He needed to warn them…fast. "I'll find the Saiyans and tell them their orders are to return here."

"Good," Frieza replied with a smirk. "You're dismissed."