"Goku, I seriously am wondering if this is a good idea…"

Goku glanced over at Krillin with a frown. "Why wouldn't it be?" he asked.

They were speaking in low voices in the kitchen, quickly setting up the table to the best of their abilities.

"Well," Krillin sighed, looking at him. "I just have a feeling she might just get annoyed more than anything. And possibly blast one of us through the wall."

"Ah, she wouldn't do that to Bulma," Goku assured.

"What about us?!"

"I've improved a lot with her training, so going through a wall isn't so bad, actually," Goku said.

"Then what about me?" Krillin pouted.

"Well, uh, just dodge when I tell you to." Goku grinned.

Krillin shook his head. "Goku, I still don't get why you like this girl so much…" he muttered.

Goku thought about answering his old friend, but he didn't think he could find the words to describe how he felt about Neka. It had been three years now since she came into his life. It had been a very subtle process, but Neka had come an incredibly long way since landing. Her attitude was more or less the same, but Goku knew that she was much calmer. She'd come to the point that she didn't completely detest this world and the people in it—at least, not as much as she used to.

"Oh, hey, it looks okay," Bulma's voice said in a surprised tone.

Goku turned to see her coming inside and holding a large box as Krillin let out an indignant grunt.

"Why do you sound so shocked? Of course it looks okay!" he said, gesturing to the laid out table that he and Goku had just spent the last half hour on.

"Well, I just expected for there to be at least one broken plate," Bulma replied as she set the box in the middle of the table.

Goku glanced toward the trash can (in which were the remains of a shattered dish) and laughed a little, stepping in front of it so Bulma wouldn't see. "Well, we were very careful," he said, then with a huge grin and big eyes, he asked, "Is that the cake?"

"Sure is," Bulma declared, opening the lid. "What do you think?"

Goku looked in and grinned.

The cake was a large round thing with white frosting. Written on it in regal purple frosting were the words: HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEKA.

"It's perfect!" Goku exclaimed. "Thanks, Bulma!"

"Hm, I was wondering how you were going to handle dinner since Neka's the cook," Bulma murmured, glancing over at the kitchen. "Did you, uh, make that yourself, Goku?"

Goku looked back at the smoldering heap of burnt fish on the stove. He laughed sheepishly before putting his gaze back at Bulma. "Yeah, not exactly as good as Neka's cooking but…"

"Good thing I brought a back up," Bulma sighed as she popped a capsule and tossed it onto the table.

From it exploded several plates stacked with mountains of food: from roasted chicken, to steaming rice, to chopped steak. Goku felt his mouth water just from the smell.

"Oh, but keep the burnt fish," Bulma added with a grin. "Neka has to see that."

"By the way, how did you convince her to stay out of the house without training you for this long?" Krillin asked.

Goku smirked a bit. "It took a little creative thinking. And I'm pretty sure Yamcha might be a little angry…"

"Wait, what did you do?" Bulma demanded.

"Well," Goku said, "Yamcha said he needed some money and I offered to give him some in exchange for a favor."

Neka stopped over the field, glaring down at it with her arms crossed. Her tail lashed behind her and her armor gleamed in the sun. The air was crisp and cool from the waning summer. It toyed with her hair and kissed her cheeks, which were red from anger.

"Come out, Yamcha!" she hollered. "I know you're down there!"

About a half hour ago, the little insect came by their house to visit. It had interrupted her training session with Goku—which pissed her off to begin with—and decided to get snarky with her. The audacity of the bastard was astounding to her and she wasn't about to let him get away with it.

Yamcha was somewhere below her in the corn field, and he was suppressing his power level so her Scouter couldn't pick it up. Unfortunately, she still wasn't very good at detecting the power levels on her own yet. It could be due to the fact that she didn't want to prove Goku right.

"You have three seconds!" Neka bellowed. "Or I wipe out the entire field!" She held out a hand and a red orb of power began to form there.

"Shit-shit-shit!"

She saw Yamcha explode out of the corn a few yards away and fly off at his top speed, which wasn't much compared to Neka's. Yet, he had still managed to keep evading her for a half hour, so she had to give him some credit. Neka darted down at him, hand outstretched to catch him by the collar.

"SOLAR FLARE!" Yamcha wailed, twisting and maneuvering his hands in the same motion.

Light shot straight into Neka's eyes. She yelped and covered them, cursing under her breath. She should have seen that coming; Goku had used it a good few times on her. Seems everyone on this planet borrowed each other's moves.

"Son of a bitch!" Neka spat when she finally got her sight again and Yamcha was nowhere to be seen.

She pressed the function on her Scouter. Nothing. Neka looked in each direction wondering where in the hell he decided to run this time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to sense power without her Scouter. He had to expel even a little bit if he was flying. She tried to remember what Goku taught her.

"Let go of your surroundings, concentrate only on the chi around you, then, pinpoint who you're looking for!"

Yeah, easier said than done, defect.

Neka took another deep breath, and…

There!

Neka let out a victorious laugh and rocketed off. There was a small wooded area at the edge of the field, the small clump of trees billowing in the breeze. She rushed down and landed on the outskirts, walking in and glaring around her, still holding onto the small sense of Yamcha she had. It was slipping. She had to follow it fast before she lost it, or he suppressed it completely.

Neka crouched, then with a quick breath, went sprinting into the woods at wild speed. She weaved through the trees, the green all a blur before she finally saw a flare of orange.

"GOTCHA!"

Neka shot off a small blast that landed at Yamcha's feet, making him yelp in surprise and fall over. She leapt at him, landing on top of him and pinning him to the ground with her forearm against his throat.

"So tell me," she said with an evil grin on her face as she leaned down further. "How exactly is it that I'm the unintelligent one when I could track you here?"

"I-I was j-just saying that you seemed to lack the capacity to handle s-sensing chi-" Yamcha began but cut off when Neka pressed her arm tighter against his neck.

Then, a voice blared to life in Neka's scouter and she froze in place.

"What? What is it you want now, Raditz, can't you see I'm still getting ready?"

"I'm sorry, Vegeta, but something's come up," Raditz's voice from farther off. "Apparently we need to turn in our Scouters."

"What? What for?" Vegeta demanded.

"Lord Frieza says that some of his men detected that there seems to be some sort of untraceable feed hacking into our com chat," Raditz explained. "More specifically, yours."

Vegeta was silent for a moment. Neka felt her breath leave her body. She fell back off of Yamcha, her eyes wide as she stared into the distance.

"Neka? Neka what's wrong?" Yamcha asked, sitting up and looking at her with a worried expression.

"Shut up!" Neka snapped at him and pressed a hand over her Scouter to hear better as Vegeta spoke again.

"Untraceable?"

"That's correct, sir."

"… Interesting." Vegeta's voice was low and thoughtful. "So, some spy perhaps? But where would anyone get my Scouter info…"

No, please, Neka begged silently.

She knew how intelligent her twin was. She could not have him figure out she was still alive; she could not have him come looking for her. She missed him terribly, but Frieza only needed one excuse to end the Saiyan race.

Neka's heart was hammering. Frieza potentially killing her brother wasn't the only reason she didn't want Vegeta to discover the truth. She realized now that as much as she longed to see her twin again, she was terrified of that fateful day. She was terrified that he would look at this world and Goku—things to which she had grudgingly grown fond over—and destroy them all before her eyes as punishment for growing so weak.

No, Neka told herself firmly, I have not grown weak.

True strength was not all in body; she had learned this the past years.

"Very well," Vegeta said. "And, to whoever may be listening to this…"

Neka held her breath.

"Best you hide yourself well. If I find you, things will not end well for you."

Click.

The com cut.

Neka let out her breath, falling back in the grass. That was very generic of Vegeta to say. Hopefully he didn't know it was her. Hopefully, he would forget about that whole incident.

However, one thing was for certain: her times of stalking her brother's com chat were over. Three years she had listened to him train and struggle. She knew he had to be stronger than her by now, since she had no one on her level to train with. Goku was getting there, slowly but surely, but it wasn't enough.

"Neka?"

Neka lifted her head to see Yamcha kneeling over her, looking concerned. Hadn't she just been strangling him and now he was worried? Humans were weird.

"I'm fine, stop looking at me like that," she grumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of her neck.

Bulma.

She had to talk to Bulma.

"Let's go back," Neka said, standing up and glancing at Yamcha. "Do you want a lift or will I just see you in an hour on your pathetic speed?"

"Hey, I flew fast enough to keep away from you!" Yamcha defended.

"You're pushing it."

"Okay! I'm sorry," Yamcha muttered. "Goku did not pay me enough to do this."

"Wait, Goku did what?" Neka perked a brow.

"Oh- Shit!" Yamcha waved his hands. "Uh! That's not what I meant, I mean—"

Neka grabbed the front of Yamcha's jumper making him yelp. She hadn't been keeping track of the bond while chasing down Yamcha. Now that she felt to him, she could tell Goku was feeling quite excited and smug about something.

"He knows I hate surprises," Neka snarled before tucking Yamcha under an arm and rocketing back toward the house in the woods.

Goku looked around in alarm as he finished setting the last plate.

"She's coming back!" he gasped.

He could feel Neka and Yamcha's power signatures quickly returning. What was more: Neka was frustrated and most of that frustration was directed at Goku.

"Aw man, I think she knows." He pouted.

"Well hopefully Yamcha didn't spill all the beans," Bulma said with a laugh.

"Hide!" Goku ordered, shutting off the lights and ducking down behind the counter. Krillin rushed into the hall and Bulma went and crouched down on the other side of the table.

Goku heard Neka touch down outside and then there was a THUD and a yelp.

"Hey! You didn't need to throw me on the ground!" Yamcha's voice protested.

"Call it payback for calling me stupid," Neka snapped. "You're lucky it's not worse than that."

"Bitch…"

"What was that?!"

"N-Nothing!"

Neka let out an irritated grunt and then the door slammed open. She stepped inside and glared around. Goku felt his heart jump a bit at the sight of her. She was in her armor since they were training this morning. Her dainty hands were on her hips and her expression was harsh in her annoyance and anger. Yet still, Goku thought she was beautiful as always.

"Surprise!" he cried and jumped out in front of her as Krillin and Bulma both popped up, the latter hitting the lights on.

WAM!

Goku yelped as a fist collided into his face and he fell on the ground. He groaned in pain, clutching his nose as he looked up at Neka, who was scowling down at him with her fist still out.

"You know I hate surprises!" she barked.

Slowly, Neka lowered her arm and her hand opened. She held it out to Goku in an offer of help. Goku laughed nervously and took it, letting her pull him roughly to his feet before she instantly let go of his hand and slowly walked over to the table, glaring down at this.

"What is—?" she began, but then spotted the cake on the table. Her angered expression slipped away into one of shock.

Goku could feel it through the bond: she had completely forgotten that today was her birthday. It hadn't been an easy task discovering what day it landed on. Goku remembered that conversation with a slight smile. They had been taking a break from training and were eating fruit down by the river in the woods.

"So, Neka," Goku had prompted. "When's your birthday?"

"My what?" Neka asked dully, glancing at him.

"You know! The day you were born! To show how many years old you are!"

"I think you're forgetting that I come from outer space and while I know the date I was born on in my home world, it would not apply the same to this one," Neka replied. "Besides, what does it matter?"

"Well..." Goku had leaned back in the grass, smiling at her as she cast him back one of her annoyed looks that he had grown fond over. "On this world, when it's someone's birthday, we give them gifts and a party to celebrate another year of life!"

"That's ridiculous," Neka muttered.

"No, not at all," Goku insisted. "It's how friends show one another they care."

"Friend or not, Goku, I don't need such stupid things," Neka said, adverting her gaze. "What sort of gifts could you possibly give me from this world, anyway?"

"Food?" Goku suggested.

Neka considered for a moment. "Okay," she admitted, "but that's just one thing."

Goku laughed and sat up, scooting closer to her so that their legs nearly touched. Neka cast him a surprised look, but she didn't move away. She merely asked, "What are you doing?"

"Come on, Neka, just tell me!" Goku said with a big grin. "I promise if you do, I'll train really hard for the rest of the day!"

"You'll already do that," Neka said, leaning away from him.

Goku grabbed her arm, making her grunt in irritation. "But really hard! I'll go full out and even catch the fish for tonight's dinner afterwards."

"You're promising me stuff you'll already do," Neka replied irritably, ripping out of his grip.

"Well, what about if I don't talk for the rest of the day?" Goku asked.

Neka perked a brow. "At all?"

"At all!"

"Hmm…" Neka frowned thoughtfully. "All right. But if you say even one word, I'm going to punch you so hard, you'll go sailing across the woods and you'll have to sleep outside."

"Deal!"

Neka sighed at his enthusiasm and looked him over for a moment. She had seemed annoyed, but there was something else in her eyes; something else prodding at him through the Bond. Goku couldn't quite place it, but it seemed akin to amusement.

"Let's see..." Neka began to fiddle with her Scouter. "According to this and based on Earth's trajectory… my 'birthday,' as you called it, is two hundred and sixty-eight days away. I don't know what date that falls on in your calendars."

Goku quickly committed the number to memory, an irrevocable smile arresting his lips, but he stayed true to his word and didn't speak to Neka until the next day. Bulma was the one who figured out what date the Saiyan Princess' birthday landed on. They'd been excitedly planning this day ever since.

However, it appeared that Neka had been so busy this past year that she'd completely forgotten that she had even told Goku, let alone that today was the day. She stared down at the cake, speechless.

"Uh…" Goku started to worry she was getting ready to be angry. "Neka?" He placed a hand on her shoulder.

Neka stared down at the cake still, blinking. "Why did you do this?" she asked softly.

Goku blinked in surprised. "Huh? Why?" Goku laughed. "Neka, isn't that obvious? Because I like you! We all like you, you're our friend!"

Neka slowly shook her head and took a step back. "I still don't understand how you all could possibly want a friend like me."

"Don't get us wrong," Yamcha said as he stepped into the home. "When you first showed up, I was pretty sure that you were going to end up trying to destroy the world, Bonded with Goku or not. But over the years you've changed. We've all grown to like you in our own ways. Personally, I like how determined you are—how you won't stop at anything to achieve your goal, no matter how hard the path gets. That takes true strength."

"And I like how much patience you have," Krillin said, making Neka look over at him in surprise. "Yeah, doesn't sound like you, huh? Well, it's true, because over the past years you've gained some amazing patience to be able to deal with this guy." He elbowed Goku. "It's pretty fun to see how well the two of you work for each other."

"Believe it or not, you're style is one of the reasons I like you," Bulma added with a smirk. "You hold yourself up with such pride, it's amazing. Every woman should be like that. You're not afraid to show who you are to anyone."

Neka shook her head slowly, and for a second, Goku thought that she was going to get mad and blast the cake away or something equally violent. However, his heart lifted when he saw that rare smile bloom on her face as she looked up and around at everyone.

"I… thank you," she said softly. She turned to face Goku, still smiling lightly. "And what about you?" She seemed a little embarrassed to ask. "Do you... have a specific thing you like about me?"

Goku grinned back at her. "I like all of those things, Neka, and more," he said. "Like how you won't let me rest, you keep pushing me and challenging me in so many different ways to become stronger and better than I am. You've taught me so much since you came here, even past just fighting. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me."

Neka smiled at him for a moment longer, and then—

WAM!

"AUCK!" Goku fell to the floor again. When sat up, he clutched his cheek while his eyes watered in pain. "What was that for?"

"For being stupid enough to surprise me when you know I hate surprises!" Neka snapped, hands on her hips as she glared down at him.

"But…" Goku got to his feet, pouting as he wondered if he would sprout a black eye from that or not. "I thought—"

He cut off when he felt arms suddenly latch around him. Goku looked down to see Neka's head buried in his chest for just a heartbeat before she stepped back, ending the hug as quickly as it started. Her cheeks were red as she glared at the ground.

"And that was for being brave enough to surprise me when you know I hate surprises," she muttered.

Goku felt warmth spread through him. Neka had never made physical contact like that with him before. She'd only touched him when they were fighting and training or she was smacking him around for being an idiot. But that... that was different. It was… affectionate.

Goku beamed. "All right!" he said cheerfully. "Let's eat!"

The ending to a perfect day. Not only did he manage to make Neka smile and get a hug from her, but he got to have all this food too!

Goku felt like that day was a big step. Neka had changed a lot over the years, but that day in particular had been a milestone. She had made so much progress in training of her own; training to let the icy grip on her heart lessen and for warmth to come in. As he watched her laugh and talk with the others as they ate, he knew.

He knew that she was the girl he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.