A/N: Okay, forward momentum! Tell me if I'm going too fast, I know you all want to see the part where Vegeta makes his entrance… and we've got a lot more characters to introduce before then! So… Girls: The Abridged Version! ;)

Bulma's muscles burned all the time, lately. She was exhausted. But… in a way, she felt stronger than she'd ever been.

Launch had joined them after only three weeks, and by then, Bulma had not only toned up, she'd also pretty successfully gotten over Yamcha. It was funny how that worked out… relationship advice hadn't really been what she was after, but Gine had quickly realized that the best way to get Bulma mad was to mention that lying, cheating asshole, and had used it shamelessly. As a result, Bulma had a chance to work out much of her frustration concerning him, had really boosted her self-esteem… and had toned up in the process! If she could move, she felt like she could really kick ass if she needed to.

She and Launch got along quite well… both sides of her. It was all about knowing what to expect. As long as you remembered that blonde Launch hated bullshit, and blue-haired Launch hated cruelty, they were both pretty easy to take. Talking to blue-haired Launch was like talking to a younger version of her mom, and she liked to gush about anything having to do with babies lately, probably because she was pregnant, now. She and Bulma had gone through all the baby stuff Bulma had brought, showing it to Gine, who still insisted that her cub would be just fine running around naked. Blonde Launch was on high alert, insisting that they start setting up land mines around the capsule house, making sure that Bulma was armed and giving her pointers for taking down her opponent, even though they weren't fighting anyone, and no one was currently after them. Gine had remarked to Bulma that blonde Launch seemed to be reacting more to pregnancy hormones than her blue-haired counterpart, but Bulma explained that, the way blue-haired Launch was acting was a lot more like how human mothers usually acted when they were pregnant. When they weren't throwing up or eating weird foods, anyway.

When the cub came, it was nothing like either of them were expecting. Gine made it look so… easy. The thing was literally born in less than an hour! One minute, she was watching Bulma and blonde Launch spar, and the next, she was squatting down on the ground, breathing heavily. She didn't cry out once, though her power level rose, and Bulma and Launch were clutching onto nearby trees to keep from getting pushed back. At some point, the Saiyan mother's clothes had burned away, and by the time the wind had stopped blowing, there was what looked like a ball of wet hair in her arms, suckling her breast.

Gine was covered in sweat, sitting on the ground as she gently pushed wet locks of spiky hair out of the baby's face. "You can come close, she won't attack you," Gine said, her voice shaky, as she smiled down at the tiny thing in her arms.

Bulma's face lit up. "She? She's a girl?" she asked, as the two women came closer, eyes wide.

Gine nodded, smirking. "I think I'll call her Ruta," she said, grinning. "After Bardock's mother. Now, that woman was tough!" she sighed.

"She's so… what's with all the hair? She looks like Raditz!" Launch said, grinning in spite of herself.

Gine laughed a little. "I told you, we're born with all our hair. She looks like Ruta did, too. But, see? She's got Bardock's eyes," she said, gently caressing the side of her cub's face, as she drank.

"But… why is she so small? Is she premature?" Bulma asked, worriedly.

Gine arched an eyebrow at the human. "She's not that small. How big are human cubs when they're born?" she asked, thinking Ruta was actually pretty big for a saiyan cub. She would grow up tall, not as tall as a male, but certainly very tall for a female, if her current size was any indication.

Bulma held her hands out a certain distance apart. "Humans are usually born about this big, at least, unless something goes wrong with the birth, or it's a birth of more than one baby at a time," she said, knowing human units of measurement would mean nothing to the alien.

Gine's eyes widened. "Wow… that's gotta hurt coming out!" she said, sympathetically. She smiled down at her little cub, who was about the size of her two hands cupped together, not including the hair. "She'll go through a growth spurt over the next few weeks, by next month, she'll be that big," she said. "Speaking of which... time to recharge," she said, and reached down to the ground beside her.

Bulma and Launch both wished they hadn't seen what happened next. In retrospect, Bulma thought it was no different than when mammals in the wild gave birth, the mother needed the placenta to restore her body's nutrients. But… there was knowing something, and there was seeing it.

And then there was the triceratops she had killed earlier this morning, which she proceeded to eat raw.

Not to mention, she had fed some of it to Ruta, who, it seemed, had been born with quite a few of her teeth.

They waited a few days before continuing to travel. During those few days, neither Bulma nor blue-haired Launch tried to talk Gine into using any of the baby stuff they had suggested mere days before. All of that seemed silly, now. Anything they put the baby in would get ripped to shreds or soaked with animal blood, she tried to eat anything they gave her (which they learned after what happened to the rattle Launch tried to give her), and the crib was destroyed the first night they tried putting her into it. Gine had merely gave them an 'I told you so' look any time Ruta destroyed something they gave her, and so they had stopped trying. Bulma used those few days to work on something that would be a bit more substantial for the cub to wear. She hadn't realized how much self-control it took for the Saiyans not to rip through earth fabrics. By the third day, she had come up with a solution from Earth's history, of all things. When she presented the chain mail outfit to Gine, the woman was intrigued. It had straps and a square neckline, so it would be easy to put on, and came down as a skirt, but only in the front and the back, leaving the legs free to move. It wasn't very long, but just enough that it would cover what needed covering, while allowing the cub to crawl around, which she was already starting to try to do. And, of course, it had an opening for her tail.

The chain mail wasn't light, but it was smooth to the touch, and Gine approved, knowing Ruta would easily adjust to the weight. She would eventually tear through it, too, but not nearly as quickly as she would the thin woven fabrics that the other baby clothes were made out of. And tiny metal pieces woven together to move like cloth, was a clever idea. Her people had gone straight from animal skins to synthetic armor after the Toefel War, so she found this human creation to be quite fascinating.

When they set off again, Gine told them they needed to avoid populated areas for a while. Ruta was going to become more and more violent as she became more independent, and would need to be trained to control her urges before they could venture into a city. Of course, this was counter-productive to her plans. She had told the girls the night Ruta was born about her plans. She told them that she had chosen Earth to be the Saiyans' new permanent home, which meant that she needed to make sure it was well-protected from outside threats. Apparently, defending the planet was considered women's work among the Saiyans, and it was something Gine took very seriously. And so, her plan was to gather as many human females as she could that had decent fighting potential, and train them to defend the Earth. When Bulma had asked the obvious question, Gine had shrugged and told them that the men could help if they wanted to, but as females, it was their job to take charge of the situation and see to it that their home was safe from invaders. Blonde Launch, who had been there at the time, had whole-heartedly agreed, and mentioned she had quite a few contacts from her prison days and different freelance mercenary jobs she'd taken that could help, but they'd need money to get many of them to go along. Gine had been disgusted at such selfish motivation, but Bulma had pointed out that Capsule Corp would pay handsomely for any amount of alien technology that was recovered from invaders, and the skills the recruits learned from training could be used for their current 'financial endeavors'. She felt a little guilty that they were talking about making known criminals more powerful, but it was for the protection of Earth, so, in the big picture, it wasn't too bad. After all… hadn't the last guy she dated been a bandit, who robbed people for a living? Who was she to judge?

And so, they split up. Bulma stayed with Gine and Ruta, to train, and Launch went into the city where she thought she could meet up with an old friend of hers, to see if she would join them. Bulma, Gine, and the cub travelled on foot, both to toughen Bulma up, and to make sure they stayed outside of populated areas, until Ruta was able to control herself around people. They had been traversing a series of canyons when Gine heard someone crying. Curious, she led them to the source of the sound. They came upon a little girl, scantily clad in metal armor and a bladed helmet, the corpses of three men lying around her.

When she saw them approach, the little girl stood, glaring, her fingers poised over two buttons on her helmet, as though she meant to shoot them with it. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Gine held back a growl, shifting her sleeping cub to the pouch Bulma had given her, slung on her back. She regarded the little human for a long moment, before speaking. "We are not your enemy, child. We heard you crying, and came to see what could cause such a noise. Are you injured?" she asked, looking the girl over critically.

Bulma, for her part, was studying the bodies around them. The shock of seeing dead bodies had dissipated quickly after seeing the uniforms the men wore. If that symbol meant what Bulma thought it did, then they were probably better off with these guys no longer living…

The girl had taken to crying again, but shook her head. "No…" she responded tearfully to Gine, at the question of her being injured.

Gine frowned, confused. "Then, you mourn the deaths of these men?" she asked, wondering if they were friends or family of hers.

This caused a scowl from the little girl. "Never," she snarled, and Bulma realized right away what had happened to the men. She didn't know how, but this little girl had killed all three of them. Which would explain why she was crying. Bulma's heart hurt for her, she must have been traumatized…

Gine blinked. "You killed these men?" she asked. The girl nodded. "Then why do you cry?"

The girl sniffled. "Because… it won't bring my papa back. It won't bring my people back. They… they slaughtered everyone. They have to pay, they ALL have to pay!" she screamed, fury in her eyes, her hands clenched.

Gine's heart clenched. She saw herself in this child. She saw her own people in the girl's misery. She had lost everything, all she had left was her fury. Without thinking, Gine approached the girl, kneeling down to eye level with her, and gently wiped tears from the girl's face. "These men do not deserve your tears, young one. If more blood is demanded, then we will help you face those responsible," she said softly, but firmly. The little girl gazed at her for a moment, then nodded, determination on her face. "Now, tell me everything," she told her.

The girl's tale was a horrible one.

Bulma hadn't recognized her at first, covered in dirt, blood, and soot, but the girl turned out to be Chi-chi, daughter of the Ox King. Bulma's suspicions had been correct, the dead men were from the Red Ribbon Army, and they had infiltrated Chi-chi's small kingdom, slaughtering men, women, and children, raiding every house, in search of a Dragon Ball they had thought the Ox King possessed. They had tortured and killed the Ox King. The only survivor had been Chi-chi, who the Ox King had sent to find help. She had looked everywhere, but found no one willing or able to help her; and when she returned, everyone she had ever known or loved was dead.

The Ox Princess had made a vow that day to avenge her people, as she felt her father would have done. She sought out the Red Ribbon Army wherever she could find them, but so far, she had only found these three, and had barely survived, due to luck. Her father had trained her, but she had a tendency to panic during a fight, so, while her enemies lay dead at her feet, she hadn't been able to find out where their hidden base was. Which was why she was crying.

That, and she'd never killed anyone before.

Partway through the story, she had realized who Bulma was, and mentioned she had looked for Goku, but didn't know where to find him. Bulma had told her that Gine was Goku's mother, and Chi-chi had mentioned that, the day the Red Ribbon Army came, they were preparing a feast to celebrate her betrothal to the boy.

Bulma had gasped. "Oh, right! I forgot!" she said. When they had first met the Ox King, he had attacked them at first, but upon learning who Goku was, he had offered his daughter's hand in marriage if Goku would help him put out the fire around his castle. Goku had held up his end of the bargain, but Bulma was fairly certain the boy had no idea what that meant as far as Chi-chi was concerned. Weeks before that, he hadn't even known the difference between boys and girls, she was pretty sure he didn't know what a betrothal was. But, Chi-chi was a princess, and some cultures married their children off early, especially royalty, as marriage often meant alliances with other kingdoms. The Ox King had obviously felt his daughter would be better off going to the grandson of an old friend of his, than to someone who would be trying to marry her for political favor.

"What's a betrothal?" Gine asked, still wondering what this girl's connection was to her son.

Chi-chi had blushed at that, and suddenly Gine knew. She looked to Bulma for confirmation. "Well…" Bulma said, wondering how she was going to broach this very awkward subject. She was in a tough spot, as she didn't want to anger either one of them. "Chi-chi's father promised her hand to Goku in marriage," she said, biting her lower lip.

Gine considered the girl with new eyes for a long moment, before speaking. "Chi-chi… this promise of your hand," she said slowly, wondering what a person's hand had to do with mating, "was it your father's decision, or was it yours?" she asked. She intended to respect human customs, but there were the Saiyan ones to consider first. And Saiyan custom demanded that the female make the choice, before anything that any male said could be considered. Not even the Prince of Saiyans was above such things.

Chi-chi blushed. "Well… Papa made the promise, but…" She smiled softly, her cheeks growing redder. "I'm really glad he did. Goku's really strong, and cute…" she said, positively glowing with embarrassment. She covered her face with her hands, giggling. "I can't wait until we're married…" she said. Then, just as suddenly, her face fell. "At least… it would have been nice. But… I don't think he'll want to marry me, now. My whole kingdom's gone. I'm the only one left… I don't have anything to offer…"

Gine smiled softly at her. "Neither does my son. You may not know this, Chi-chi, but our people were all destroyed, as well," she said, causing the girl's eyes to widen. "A tyrant named Frieza destroyed our entire planet. We are training to defeat him, to avenge our people, just like you wish to avenge yours. You have much more in common with Kakarot, the one you call Goku, than you know. So no more talk of having nothing to offer," she said, nudging the girl's chin up. "But… you have to understand my surprise. Kakarot never mentioned being betrothed, and he's never expressed any interest in a female to me," she said.

Chi-chi frowned. "He never mentioned me? Ever?" she asked, looking hurt.

Bulma spoke up. "Chi-chi… Goku's not really the type to understand things like that. He didn't even know what girls were before he started helping us find the Dragon Balls. I don't think he knew he got betrothed to you," she said gently.

Gine sighed. "She's right. Kakarot had hit his head pretty hard when he was small, injuring him gravely. He's currently recovering from a surgery that should fix the damage to his brain, but… when you met him, he wasn't completely himself. You may find he is a lot different now," she warned the girl.

Chi-chi swallowed hard. "So… he doesn't want to marry me?" she asked, her voice wavering.

Gine laughed at that, startling the two girls. "Who cares?" she asked, looking Chi-chi over. "Do you want to 'marry' him?" she asked.

Chi-chi nodded. "Yes… I would love that…" she said, blushing again.

Gine shrugged. "Then, when you see him, ask him again. If he didn't figure it out the first time, then he'll probably get it the second time. And, if he's attracted to you, he'll probably say yes. And, if he doesn't, then keep asking, until he gets it through his thick skull that you're gonna be his mate. And, if some other female comes along, trying to gain his interest, kick her ass!" she said, determination on her face. "You have to decide for yourself if you're the best mate for Kakarot, Chi-chi. If you are, then don't let him or anyone else keep you from it," she said with a shrug.

Chi-chi blinked at that, then smiled slowly. "Okay, then," she said, fire in her eyes.

A/N: Hehe, Gine's gonna make a regular Saiyan out of Chi-chi! I wanted to write more detail, but I'm trying to speed up the plot line a bit. I'll be time skipping a lot, with highlights here and there of my favorite bits. Next chapter, back to the boys! Oh, and I know what you're all thinking... Dragon Balls. Right. I haven't forgotten. You can all probably guess what the next wish is going to be...