He grumbled walking into the forest after Chichi. Really why did he have to go after her? She was the one that ran off and Vegeta of all people telling him to apologize to her, why? This was all just stupid.

As he jumped over a set of fallen logs, he let out a sigh, how far did she even run off? Or did she already go back to the bunker while he was running around in the dark trying to find someone that wasn't even there.

Walking through the patches of grass, he looked up at the sky. Was this what Raditz and Tarble got to see all of the time? Maybe if he didn't have a tail, he could see the night sky with his brother from time to time. Maybe then he could trust him. Even though it seemed like no one trusted him with anything. Sure, Vegeta wanted him to be his Captain, but he couldn't even tell him the truth before telling that Bulma girl.

Not only that, but he missed his parents. His mother's cooking was by far the best and his father was always praising him. Now all he was getting was complaints, it was turning into anything but his ideal situation.

He wondered how Raditz did it for all of those years, being away from home. His brother didn't have much of a choice, but now that he thought about it, neither did he. Vegeta made the decision for him. Was it too much for him to put in his own input? Now that he thought about it, he really didn't want to train in that room that Bulma was making either. He just wanted to train on his own terms.

"What are you thinking about?" He turned quickly in the darkness, finding the kind hearted old man looking up at the sky.

"I don't know." He didn't really want to talk to anyone right now.

"Come on, Goku. Come sit with me." The old man said calmly.

He looked down. "I would, but I have to find Chichi."

"She'll be fine. Red Ribbon is gone and I believe she went back to the bunker about an hour ago." Gohan said, pointing back toward the bunker.

"That little bitc…"

"Enough with that, come, sit. Tell me, what's on your mind." Gohan said looking back up at the sky.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over and plopped down next to the old man. "I just keep wondering why I'm here."

"You came to help Vegeta, did you not?" Gohan said still not looking at him.

"Yeah, but I…I didn't really have a choice. Everything happened so fast."

Gohan let out a sigh. "You miss your family. You may be a warrior, but you are still a child. As much as your kind may see that as a weakness, it is not. Love and kindness are never a weakness. If anything they can make you stronger than anger and cruelty ever will."

He looked up at the man deep in thought. "But how can you be kind to an enemy?"

"Goku, death isn't always an answer, nor is fighting. Sometimes just taking the time to listen to others can solve a conflict." Gohan said giving him a small smile.

"But what about Red Ribbon then?" He asked intrigued by the man's words.

"As I said sometimes. There are some that will of course want to see bloodshed, but a true man knows the difference. There are times to talk and times to fight. When talking doesn't work fighting is considered to be the next step, but even then there are ways around it."

"So if Red Ribbon wasn't so set on domination and killing people, then you could have talked them out of it?" He questioned.

"Maybe, if I could find some common ground. Kindness is usually seen as a weakness, but remember one show of kindness can change the course of the future. Say you save the life of a former enemy. He would be less likely to attack you when the next fight comes, or say you come across a common enemy. Your kindness will have given you an unlikely ally." Gohan explained.

He looked down. "But how can I tell the difference between someone that is really bad, someone that I have to kill or someone who I need to be kind to?"

"When the time comes you will know." Gohan said giving him a smile.

"But how can I know that, Vegeta always watches me. If I'm training with him, how can I even figure out this path?" He said, still not looking up.

Gohan let out a small laugh. "Vegeta is staying here, as are Bulma and Chichi. Roshi and I are going to be heading into the mountains. Would you like to join us?"

He couldn't believe it, for once someone was asking what he wanted to do. Maybe it would be for the best. He could train away from Vegeta for a little while. As Gohan said, he could find his own way. Instead of being Kakarot, the boy that listened to orders, he could be Goku, a fighter that followed his own path. "When would we leave?" He had already made up his mind.

"We were going to leave first thing in the morning, but seeing as Roshi needs to get back to his island and check on Turtle, he already left."

"Turtle?" He tilted his head to the side, what was a turtle?

"Oh, I forget that you're not from here. A turtle is a reptile, usually found in water. It has a hard shell on its back." The man explained.

"So it's like an animal with armor?" He said, happy to see the man nod at him for getting it. "How am I going to tell Vegeta that I'm going off to train?"

"If he is your friend, he will understand." Gohan said.

Now that was something he was unsure of. He didn't even know if Vegeta even saw him as a friend, his brother and Tarble that's how friends were supposed to act. Heck, his brother seemed to be more of a friend to Vegeta than he was. "But what if he isn't my friend?" He said sadly, more to himself than Gohan.

"Then he will still have to live with your decision. He may be a Prince, but this is your life Goku." Gohan said it rougher that he thought the man capable. He always came across as gentle and soft spoken, so this was new. But Gohan was right, the sage seemed to know what he needed to hear. "So Kakarot what is your decision?"

He looked in shock at the old man. "I thought you couldn't say my name?"

"I can, but it's a mouthful. Besides, I feel like the name Goku suits you more." The old man said standing up. "So what have you decided then?"

He looked up. "I think that I want to leave with you tomorrow."

The man gave him a small smile. "Good. Roshi and I will be glad to have you, Goku."


It was the night before the raid and all was silent. Tarble was still going over different ways of entering the city and they were debating having their tails removed. The idea was scrapped though, mainly due to the elites having that over the rest of them. If an attack at night happened, it wouldn't matter. The elites would change over.

Raditz sat and looked over the plans one more time. Wondering how those in the city would fair after the food supply started to diminish. Not that he was against Tarble's plan, but there were many Saiyans that really didn't deserve the pain that Tarble was about to inflict on them. Like Onna. If the elites were to stave, she wouldn't be given anything and with her condition, he couldn't see her getting any of her medication either. Her mind would also be useless to them. They wouldn't give her any scrap of food if they could manage. Just the thought of her in pain had him on edge.

"Raditz?" His mother peeked her head through the door. She gave him a smile before pointing to the lunch she had made. He motioned her in and watched as she placed the container down next to him, but he didn't say anything. "Is there anything on your mind?" She asked.

He shook his head, nothing she could say would be able to ease his mind.

She gave him a sad smile. "Does it have to do with a certain girl?"

He couldn't stop himself from blushing. His mother's sad smile became a grin.

"I can see it all over your face." She sat down next to him. "I remember when I was around your age, I started eyeing your father slightly before that. He was so cocky then and I pretty much being the naïve girl that I was believed everything he said. And I wasn't the only girl looking him over either."

Now that was something his father had never mentioned. "What?"

His mother laughed. "Yes, you know Toma's wife, Broca. She also had her sights set on your father."

"Really? But then how did father decide?" He asked.

"Your father and Toma both went into their scent phase around the same time. Soon after, your father may have "accidently" ran into me." She giggled.

Now he was really interested. "You figured out when they were going to go into rut and decided to show yourself. What if Toma smelled you?"

She laughed. "Well son, he did. They both ran at men like wild animals, until they realized what the other was doing. Then they tried to rip each other's faces off."

"Mom, you were playing with fire!" He said in shock. "But how the hell did you figure out when it would happen?"

She giggled. "Oh come on Raditz, you don't think that you got that brain from your genes alone."

"Wait…you understand most of what I say then?" He said again rather shocked.

"No, not all of it, but I pick up on it faster than your father and brother do. Anyway, I just calculated the day of your father's first kill with the 48th moon cycle. Most of the time, males go into their scent phase about four years after their first kill. Most males have their first kill around 10 so 14 is kind of normal. You had your first kill around 9 so that's why you started the phase a little early."

"So that explains it." But then a question came to mind. "But mom, didn't Prince Vegeta get his first kill at 6, shouldn't he have gone into his scent phase when he was 10?" He asked.

His mother laughed. "Think about it Raditz, how many females did you ever see interact with the Prince?"

Now that was a good question, for the most part Vegeta always kept his distance, but that was kind of a given considering that a majority of the females would have wanted his attention. "So that's why he always stayed away from the schooling centers."

"That or he doesn't realize it yet. If he hasn't come across a smell that he favors then he may just be immune to others. Especially if he's reached that stage in his development. He may have more control over his actions as he's grown into it, unlike you who is just starting to understand it. If that makes any sense."

He nodded. "Okay then, but what happened with you, dad, and Toma?"

"Well I think you can guess who won the fight between them. Your father wanted to mark me so bad, but my father realized what I was doing and he was so pissed with me. At least he looked pissed in front of the others. For the most part, he was proud that I had snagged the strongest male from the third class. After that, his father came to my father and they agreed to let us mate in a couple of years." She said almost giddy.

"So you tricked Dad into mating with you?" This was starting to sound less romantic and more stalker like by the minute.

"No, your father was pretty mad when we finally came face to face after that phase had slowed down. I tried to explain myself. I wasn't the best fighter, but I was smarter than most. I could cook well, which your father liked and after another year, I fell in love with him and he fell for me and about a year after we mated you were born." She said with a satisfied smile on her face. "Remember Raditz, I came from a fourth class family, your father was third class so he was above me. I couldn't give your father much, but in the end that didn't matter. Your father chose me in the end. He could have changed his mind, but he didn't"

"I thought that you couldn't change your mind?" He said, interested in her every word.

"A male can if they want and Broca did have more to offer him, but your father stuck with me."

"Well that is easy to figure out." His father had come in covered head to toe in dirt.

"What have you been doing?" His mother asked, before taking the napkin from his lunch and trying to wipe his father's face.

"Digging out a new section of the bunker. Tarble said something about enlarging it, but that's not important. You two seem to be talking about me, why?" His father had a playful smirk on his face, which was unusual.

"I was just telling our son about how I kind of tricked you when we were younger." His mother laughed.

He was surprised when his father laughed with her. "Yeah, well you cook better than most women do, that and you did go out of your way to get my attention. Going as far as to run into a room with not one but two crazed males. So you kind of impressed me before I even knew your name."

"So how does this help me?" Raditz asked before his parents ran off, by the way they were looking at each other, he could have sworn that they were going to go at it.

"You worry about her, even though you can't smell her. So I don't think that it is just a physical attraction." His mother said with more excitement then he liked.

"But that's the thing. If we go through with this plan then she may die. I don't see them taking care of her with her condition." He said, not looking at either of his parents.

"Then why not have a group go after her?" His father asked.

He looked up at his father trying to weigh that option in his head. "Because that would require more looking around the city and while I may be crafty. I can't justify bringing her back here. That would be a conflict of interest."

"Not if you just check on her through the computer database." His mother said. "If you go with Tarble, you can check where she is and then let Tarble install the chip."

Now that wasn't a bad idea, he almost jumped up from his chair and out of the room, but then peeked his head back in to look at his parents. "Just promise me that you won't give me another sibling during his war. That's the last thing we should be focusing on."

And with that he was running down the hall, off to ask Tarble an important question. If Tarble refused, he could live with that as well. It all had to do with timing issues.

As he reached the door to Tarble's room, he gave it a light knock and was surprised to see Gure open it. Tarble had all kinds of attack plans around him and it seemed that she was helping him.

Tarble gave him a small smirk from his seat. "Everything is set for tomorrow. The stage will be set for my brother's return while the elites try and fail to find us."

"About that, I'm requesting that I go with you." He didn't really know if Tarble would allow this. It would give him a better peace of mind though.

Tarble gave him a confused look. "I thought you were going to stay here and start working on a way to make the plants for our food grow faster."

"I plan on doing that, but you see." He looked down at his feet. He knew that his was selfish. "I just wanted to check the computer to see how Onna was doing before you crashed it."

Tarble looked at him a couple of times blinking to himself. He readied himself for the barrage of insults that were bound to come his way.

"I think it will be fine." Gure's voice came from behind him. "We need to check what was sent off planet anyway after the riot broke out."

He looked back to Tarble to see that while he wasn't too happy with the request, he wasn't going to argue against it.

"Normally, I wouldn't be asking this." He said to his friend.

Tarble crossed his arms. "I know, it's just strange seeing you this way. I used to be the only one you would really talk to. Now you just seem to have her on your mind."

"Trust me, someday you'll go through this and believe me I wish I could control it. It's just that her health is a factor."

With that Tarble's expression lightened up a bit. "Yes. I know."

"If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be on edge. My family asked if I would request her to be taken, but just a simple check will suffice."

"Don't worry about that. It will take no time to find out where she is and how she is doing. You don't even need to come. I'll remember it. Besides, I need you here."

He nodded. "I understand. I know that it is selfish to ask."

"But you can't help it, you like her." Gure said giggling.

"I do have to ask." Tarble started. "Why her? There are smarter girls then her."

He sighed, it was far more complicated than his friend could understand. "I don't know. It just happened that way."

"Raditz, why don't you describe what you see when you see her?" Gure said, taking a seat down next to Tarble. Suddenly, he could see what the Tech-Tech had in mind. It looked like she had developed a crush on his friend and wasn't moving a muscle away from him.

He looked away. "When I see her, I see myself. I used to be seen as useless and weak. I was once kind and naïve just like she is. Her mind seems only to be fueled by pure thoughts, even when it comes to me. She didn't judge me for my past, instead she embraced it." The more he spoke, the more he realized that it was much more than a smell. How much of her did he notice before he went into puberty? How much time had he spent talking to her every day? Even when she was clumsy around him, he noticed. She tried more than anyone else he had ever known.

What was once seen as an annoyance was now a fond memory. One that towered over the darkness of his past.

"Raditz?" Both of them called his name, braking up his thoughts.

"Sorry. I really hope that this stage passes soon. Then I can start to think normally again."

Tarble let out a chuckle. "Like you have ever thought like a normal Saiyan. Once we get the info that we need. I'll look up her condition before destroying the mainframe."

Now it was his turn to give his friend a smirk. "So how long do you think it will be before it starts to affect them?"

Tarble let out an evil chuckle. "I give them two weeks if they don't have supplies and two months if they do."

"So we should be preparing body bags then." He said.

"Most definitely."

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Woo, that was a dousy of a chapter. First we have Kakarot deciding to leave Vegeta to do his own training. I wonder how Vegeta is going to take that news. Then we get a little back story with Bardock and Gine. And now Tarble is starting to become more power hungry. I kind of wonder how Vegeta is going to react to this Tarble when he returns as cute little Tarble seems to have run off and this darker one has now taken the reigns.