Aster found herself alone near the pond behind the mall. She remembered walking here, but she had no idea why no one was around. Jensen was gone. All was quiet. She sat down near the pond for a while trying to piece together what might have happened, but nothing was making sense. She gazed mutely at the still surface of the water until she decided it was better just to walk all the way home. Nothing was open nearby unless she went to the gas station that was across the street once she made it out of the mall area. She didn't feel comfortable speaking to strangers and it wasn't as if she knew anyone's number by heart; she barely knew her own. She hadn't the slightest clue where her cellphone had gone. She'd had it on her, but it had mysteriously disappeared. The eeriness of the situation had not left her since the moment she'd "awakened".

Having no other course of action, she trudged back through the park and began the long two-hour trek home. She didn't know what time it was only that it must have been past 9 in the evening. Maybe it was already midnight. She appeared like a lost, little girl wandering the streets. She tried to walk purposefully and quickly, but she couldn't shake the strangeness. She felt anxious anytime a car would drive by a little too slowly. She wished Jensen was there with her. It would have been enjoyable. Maybe they could have flown back home and be back in record time.

When she saw the familiar apartments looming in the distance, her legs were quite sore. It had taken much longer than two hours—more like four hours at her irregular speed. She'd never walked that far before even though she'd done her fair share of walking in the past. She just wanted to see Daddy again. She wanted to make sure the world still made sense even if nothing was at the moment.

Her pace had increased as she sprinted across the street and into the complex. Their apartment was near the front much to her relief. The stairs nearly took her out as she climbed them, but she was glad to finally knock on the door. The ordeal was over. When she knocked, however, no one came to the door and she sighed exasperatedly to herself. It was late. Daddy was probably thoroughly asleep by now especially since he had to get up early for work—assuming tomorrow was a weekday. If it wasn't, it would probably be even worse as he would often sleep in longer. She knocked a few more times even as the situation was looking hopeless. Eventually, she just let her forehead lean on the door. She'd made it though. That was the most important part. Someone was bound to leave the place at some point. Then she heard approaching feet—it had to be Daddy because it matched his gait. She straightened herself so that she'd be visible through the peephole. Daddy was a cautious man who probably wouldn't open it until he looked through. To her surprise, however, as soon as he stepped close enough to the door, he opened it as if he'd known who'd been behind it. Things remained quite surreal and Aster didn't know what to expect anymore.

"Who are you?" Daddy asked as he looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It's me, silly!" Aster said laughing.

"You can't be her. She's dead. I know that for a fact."

"What do you mean? I'm right here!"

"Keep your voice down—it's almost 2 in the morning," he admonished.

"Oh, sorry, but it's true what I said," she said in a loud whisper. "Did I really…?"

"I don't know what you've done, but I know that my daughter died. I don't know who you are even if you bear a striking resemblance to her. Did someone put you up to this? Is this somebody's bad attempt at a joke?"

"No, Daddy, it's me—it's really me."

"Don't call me that."

"What?" she said confused.

"It's Mr. Tyga to you. Now, it's late. I'm sure your parents or whoever takes care of you is worried about you being out."

To her horror, he began to close the door. She had to place her foot in the way of the door to stop him from closing it completely. Her look became determined.

"I don't have anywhere else to go—you are my parent."

"Child, I've had enough of your games."

At this point, she wasn't even sure she was even speaking to Daddy even if he looked just like him. "You're just going to leave me out here? You would just leave a child out on her own like this?"

"Do you really not have anywhere else to go?" he asked, his voice had softened.

"No," she said shaking her and trying to look as pitiful as possible. It looked like the only way she was going to get in was by guilt-tripping him. And that seemed to be an easier task than convincing him that she was who she said she was.

He opened the door wider. "I can't just leave you out here—it's dangerous. We'll figure out what to do in the morning—or later on in the day," he finished, correcting himself when he realized it was technically already morning.

Aster was finally able to step inside. That was a relief. She was making some progress at least, but she didn't fully understand what was going on.

"You may take the couch, child. I hope you don't make a habit of this. It's not a good idea to walk into strange men's apartments in the middle of the night. I'm sure your parents must have told you that."

"Yeah, you did, Daddy."

He didn't respond and it became so silent that she finally risked looking up at him as she felt his gaze. Maybe he was realizing something now. He had the strangest look on his face as if he'd seen a ghost. Maybe she was a ghost. It would explain why she still felt so strange.

"It's Mr. Tyga, child," he said hoarsely.

Aster didn't even bother answering him. She just shrugged and then stretched out on the couch. He could believe what he wanted. She was back home and she was tired. She didn't feel like fighting him on trying to sleep in her room. Maybe they all just needed to sleep on it. He eventually left her to her own devices. She was on the verge of falling asleep before realizing that she could just go to her room now that no one was looking. Maybe that might upset him, but this was getting ridiculous. It was her room and she much preferred sleeping in her bed.

She promptly made her way down the short hall to her room. The room always had its door closed so that didn't throw her off, but when she opened it and found Jensen there, all she could do was stare. Had he snuck in or had Daddy really allowed him to stay? Her vote was the former, but how had he done it? It's not like he had the key and the window could only be opened from the inside. Maybe he'd messed with Daddy's mind again to make him let him stay. Either way, she was glad to see him.

He was turned away and soundly asleep. She shook him gently and he roused himself soon after looking about in confusion. The bright light from outside was enough to illuminate the room somewhat but it was probably quite the adjustment for him.

"Hey, it's me Aster," she said quietly.

She caught his attention quickly and his confused expression turned into a smile. "It's really you—you're back."

Aster found herself in his strong, warm embrace. She didn't know how much she needed that until now. She almost started crying, but she caught herself. She simply enjoyed his closeness. Why did it feel like it had been a long time? What exactly had happened? The hug lasted for a while, but she didn't care. He didn't want to let her go and she craved his warmth at the moment. No one was watching. No one could judge them.

"Alright," she said once she had her fill, "I'm about to fall asleep on my feet."

"Oh, sorry. I don't know how all of this works, but you must be tired."

"Do you know what happened because I sure as hell don't." Aster was already climbing on the bed to her spot—the spot that Jensen had apparently been keeping warm. If he wanted it back, that was too bad—her bed, her spot.

He chuckled a little as he too joined her. "Don't worry, I wasn't trying to steal your spot—I was just…waiting for you. I'll tell you everything that happened, but you have to believe me."

"I always believe you, Jensen. Why would you lie about this?"

"It might be a lot to swallow."

"After tonight, I think I'll believe anything. Besides, I don't want to be like Daddy who's completely clueless. He doesn't even think I am who I say I am!"

"What? He can just look at you and see that you're his daughter. How can you be in that much denial?"

"Well, Daddy's always been an expert in missing obvious cues. Anyways, I'll deal with him tomorrow. In the meantime, tell me what happened."

From there, Jensen told her what he knew both from his own experiences and what Daddy had told him. It really was a fantastical tale. If Jensen hadn't been telling her, then she would have thought it was made up. She really had died. It explained the dream which now was likely real she'd had about being up in the clouds waiting in a very long line with weird colorful horned men wandering around holding megaphones. She was just glad to be back safe and sound beside Jensen. Her plans for the future had only been slightly derailed. Now that she was alive again, she was even more determined to build the future she'd envisioned—one that she'd been too intimidated to voice out loud. Life was too short.

Aster woke up completely entangled with her lovely boyfriend and she didn't mind that at all. When she moved to get up, this alerted him as well as he yawned and stretched with bones cracking all the while. He was practically an old man.

"I have an idea," Aster said sitting up. He looked at her questioningly. "If I could get my DNA tested and matched to myself, then he'd have to believe that I'm Aster."

"DNA tested? That seems a bit extreme. Can't you just tell him something only you would know?"

"That might work for a normal person, but this is Daddy we're talking about. He always says you need extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims. So that won't be enough. I need cold, hard evidence and what's more solid than DNA?"

"But there's one problem. Is your DNA already on file somewhere?"

"It is actually. I even have a copy of it. I had my DNA tested twice: one time when Daddy was trying to win custody and another when I was being diagnosed with Emily's Syndrome—the one that stops growth after a certain amount of time. So there's extensive information about my DNA on file in several places. Daddy has a copy too and I'm sure he could hack into some server and get it if push came to shove."

"I guess we could ask Bulma to do a quick DNA test—she has all those medical devices at her disposal. She practically has an on-site hospital that's fully stocked and who knows what else."

"That's great! That means we can get this over with before the morning is up. C'mon, Jensen, let's go before anyone wakes up."

"Geez, are we really in that much of a rush? Let's chill out here for a while."

"This is serious. The way he looked at me like that—I can't let that happen again. It's really…" she didn't want to finish the sentence, but she looked down at the blanket shivering at how cold his eyes had been. Was that how everyone else saw him?

She just wanted everything to be normal again, for her father to simply accept her. After all that had happened, it would be a shame if he went on thinking his daughter was still dead and that she was some imposter. After a bit more pushing on her part, she finally got Jensen out of bed. They quickly made themselves up in the bathroom and then rushed out the door before her father noticed anything. She supposed it must have been the weekend. Even if it wasn't, she couldn't do her usual routine of getting him up—he'd probably be horrified.

It was quite the treat being flown over to the Briefs ontop of Jensen. She held on tight to him and he flew effortlessly. It was a powerful and wonderful feeling cutting through the clouds and looking down on the populace. They landed near a smaller building on the property.

"This is where she is usually," Jensen said as he knocked on the door.

Aster recognized it as the place she'd had to rescue her father from once upon a time. She'd be on her best behavior this time since she had a favor to ask.

"So Vegeta must have made the wish," Bulma said as she opened the door with the beginning of a smile.

"Wait," Jensen said as realization came to his face, "That means Dad must be…"

Her smile faded a little, "Well, we don't exactly know the details. Perhaps he's back, but he's not anywhere nearby."

"He'd be at home, right?" Jensen said with some giddiness in his tone, "He'd be right where he passed away just like Aster."

"Well—

Bulma didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence as Jensen took off likely towards his father's place. Aster watched his disappearing form before turning back to Bulma.

"There he goes," Aster shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be back once he finds Malachi."

"I hope so. I hope everything went exactly to plan. He hasn't contacted me so maybe something came up. I'll wait a little while before bugging him. Anyways, what brings you here? Just wanted to hang out here for a while?"

"No," Aster said earnestly, "It's Daddy. He doesn't think I'm what I say I am. He almost didn't let me in."

"Are you serious? He can't be that crazy. Surely seeing with his eyes should be enough to convince him that you're back."

She shook her head. "He's that crazy. So I need you to take my DNA and then match it with the one on file. That'll do the trick."

Bulma sighed. "I'm so sorry you have to go through all this with your stubborn father. C'mon, let's get this cleared up. I would call him and tell him he's being stupid, but Vegeta made me promise that I don't make contact with him."

"Really? Why's that?" Aster asked curious.

Bulma who'd been walking towards the large console in the back of the room looked back at her with a slightly confused look. "He hasn't…told you anything?"

"I mean, he always says he doesn't really trust CC, but he's always super cautious about big companies anyways. Wait, don't take it personal, he's just a little weird like that and—

"It's alright, honey. That's an open secret of his. He doesn't trust very many things. He's always been like that somewhat. But I guess he doesn't talk to you about me."

Aster looked at her puzzled. "Is there anything I need to know about you two? Did you guys know each other or something?"

"You know what? Let's get going with that test," Bulma said with a smile that Aster sensed was incredibly forced.

She didn't feel like probing further, but she knew there was much more to the story. Why would Vegeta of all people tell her to not contact her father? What was his stake in it? She supposed the last time she'd known her father even speaking with Bulma, it hadn't ended well, but that was just her father being off his meds again. If it was something serious, her father had never seen fit to tell her. Maybe she'd ask later, but there was probably a good reason he didn't talk about it and Aster didn't want to risk reopening closed wounds.

Bulma pulled out a scanner after typing for a while. "I'll just use CC's state of the art DNA matching software—it's the very same that the federal and local law enforcement uses, but this one's private, don't worry."

"It's okay. My DNA is already on file somewhere."

"Surely, not as a criminal."

"No, but it's probably in the database."

"Ah, I see," Bulma said as she continued clicking through windows and files. "Saves me the trouble of looking up your medical record. Yep, here it is. A custody battle huh?" She stood up straighter gazing at the words scrawled across the screen. "I remember that," she said softly to herself.

Aster waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "Yeah, Daddy told me that as soon as he showed interest in taking custody, the mother came out of the woodworks to try and win me back. I didn't even know the woman by that time. She didn't stand a chance—at least that's what he told me."

"He had a well-paying job, passed multiple psyche tests, and had already made arrangements for taking care of a child. Not to mention that she'd…Well, I don't know how much you know, but she was an unfit mother."

"I know what she did to him," Aster said plainly. "I know that she put me up for adoption as soon as I was born."

"So he really told you that?" Bulma asked surprised.

"It wasn't easy, if that's what you're getting at. I used to bug him all the time about my mother. After he took me in, that's all I wanted to know. One day, he broke down and told me. He still has nightmares about it. I know that's why he has to take all that medication. The adoption part—I found out on my own after doing a bit of snooping."

"I guess it'd be pretty hard to keep all of that to himself the whole time especially since it changed his life so much." She turned to her then. "Alright, now all you have to do is stand still and let the device do the work."

Aster stood perfectly still as Bulma held the small white device near her neck. After a small beep, Bulma announced that she was done and that they'd be getting some results in a few seconds.

"Geez, that fast?"

"Of course—it's CC, we pride ourselves on efficiency and all that."

Aster was looking up at the huge screen and watching the computer compare the strands of DNA side by side. She had no idea what she was looking at. A few seconds passed very quickly and became two minutes and then five minutes.

"Hm, weird," Bulma said to herself.

Then the results popped up on the screen in red: NO MATCH. Aster stared at the screen not understanding.

"Let's try it again," Bulma said with a laugh, "Sometimes there's false positives…"

Yeah, real efficient…Aster was standing still as Bulma repeated the process. They ended up repeating the process quite a few times ending up with the same results.

"Okay, let me do a different search. Are the two samples related in anyway?"

Bulma tapped on the keyboard and the computer started working again. This time words appeared in green: FAMILIAL RELATION.

"But that's so vague! I didn't even know that was even a readout. Usually, it's more exact," Bulma said as she began tapping away at the keyboard.

After a while, Aster grew a bit bored watching Bulma's antics. Maybe the software was crappy and she'd have to go to an actual expert to get her match.

"I don't know what to say. It's not matching. I've checked again and again and the data that we have of your DNA before your death is definitely you. It's the very same that was used to verify your relation to Auden. I checked that as well. You're clearly his daughter using the old DNA, but with this new sample, you just have a familial relation and not specifically daughter. All of this is really strange…"

"Is your machine broken?"

"No, it's working properly. I've checked that as well. All of this means that technically, you're not the same person you used to be. Something is different about your DNA—different enough to place you into this gray area DNA-wise, but close enough to still be considered in the same family as you were born from. This is…This is…kind of blowing my mind right now. It almost makes me want to test things out further to see if this is isolated or not. Think of the implications. Do we only have different DNA when we're brought back with new bodies? Or is it the case even if the same body is used? Not to mention that Earth has been annihilated before—would that mean records of criminals' DNA is all inaccurate when we're brought back? Is that a phenomenon that's gone under the radar?"

"Do I have enough evidence to prove that I'm really me or not?" Aster demanded frustrated in light of Bulma's newfound fascination. "I seriously don't know what I'm going to do if this falls through."

Bulma looked at her sympathetically. "It's not really enough to prove you're you, but it does prove that you're still related to him in some way. That's should intrigue him enough to eventually just accept you. I'm sure he'll be just as stumped as I am."

"What am I then if I'm not Aster?"

"That's a good question. I guess I'm getting philosophical, but if you have the same memories as that person, then you are that person essentially. You believe you're Aster, right?"

Aster nodded vigorously.

"Then that should be enough. For all intents and purposes, you are Aster."

Aster looked away when she said this. "I don't think he'll see it that way. I might have just lost my father…" For some reasons, her eyes started to burn. She stopped herself from crying.

"No, no, honey, don't be so dramatic. I'll just—I'll have someone else talk to him. He'll listen to reason."

"He thinks I'm dead," Aster said as realization came over her. "That's the reality that he lives in and he will always think that I'm dead. Thinking I'm alive again? That would be too much. Seeing my corpse…it's too much even for me to picture. I can't imagine how he would feel seeing that. He can never unsee it. Then I just stroll in and claim to be his lost daughter like it's some fairytale as if all that pain was just a fun little activity to do for a while. I think I understand why he didn't just accept me so easily. I was asking too much of him."

"He just needs to get over himself," Bulma said clearly annoyed. "Ugh, I swear he makes everything so difficult."

Aster turned to her. "You know, I almost thought you knew Daddy pretty well, but you don't really know him at all, do you?"

"I didn't mean to sound unsympathetic and I understand how painful it can be losing someone you love, but when that person is back, who in their right minds would choose to ignore that? Who would choose to stay sad about it? At least give that person a chance in the first place to see if they really are who they say they are if you're really having such an identity crisis."

"Daddy would never do that. It's better to be as objective as possible when it comes to proving something. I'm sure he wants me to come back to life and it wouldn't be that hard to believe someone who says that they're your daughter under those circumstances—it would be a decision based on feelings alone and not any facts. I…just don't know what to do."

"You can just stay here for the time being. We certainly have the room. Then when Vegeta gets back, he can talk some sense into him."

Aster looked up to her a little frustrated. "He's not wrong though. I'm not me. I'm someone else. Ever since Jensen told me what happened, I've felt this disconnect like I'm not really the same person. Now with the DNA test, it's confirmed. I'm not me."

"Quit it, Aster. You're Aster and you always will be."

"I just have her memories…"

"This is just a lot of new information you're taking in, okay sweetie. We'll get this all figured out."

"Stop treating me like a confused child. I'm not me anymore. She really died on that day and I'm just an imp—

"Don't say it," Bulma interrupted. "The dragon balls brought you back to life and they've brought plenty of other people back to life before. You're not the first nor will you likely be the last. The people we've brought back all just continue on with their lives as usual. You can definitely do the same in time."

"I know what you're saying. It's easy just to go on and play my role as the person I firmly believe I am. I woke up and knew that I was Aster. I went right back home to resume my life. If everyone had just accepted me, I probably wouldn't even question it. It would still be a little strange, but I'd have moved on quickly. But now I can't ignore what I've learned today and I can't just lie to Daddy. I'm not going to pretend as if he's completely off base either like you are."

"Aster…"

"You know I'm right. I'm sorry, but I just can't 'pretend' as if everything is the same. Maybe it's because I'm not really part of this 'world' where people fly everywhere and fight these huge battles with flashy lights. Maybe it's because I just want to be truthful to myself."

"Alright, Aster, then you tell me. Who are you?" Bulma asked neutrally.

"I…don't know," she said shaking her head slowly. "I just don't know."

"What should we call you?"

"I don't know that either."

"There's a lot of things you seem to not know and these are just the easy questions."

"It's okay. I don't know is a perfectly valid answer. It means that I can keep searching for the right answer, if there is one to be found in the first place."

Bulma wore a grin on her face. "You're just like your father—adding complication where there is none. Alright, well, I won't argue with you. You'll believe what you want to believe. One day, you'll understand things a little better. For now, I have to get back to work. My home is completely open to you; just try not to get yourself in trouble."

"Okay," Aster replied.

She was too deep in thought to have anything else enlightening to say so she left promptly. Strangely enough, Jensen hadn't come back and once again she noticed that she didn't have her phone. Perhaps her little pink cellphone with a white polka dot kitty as the keychain was gone forever. It had been on her at the time she was killed. Aster ran back into the lab to get her father's number from Bulma and then she ran off for the nearest phone so that she could call him.

She rang his phone for ages before he picked up. He might have still been asleep.

"Yes?" her father said with obvious irritation.

"Hi, this is the little girl who knocked on your door—

"I was wondering where you'd gone off to. I was worried something bad might have happened. Maybe you got lost. Where are you now?"

His irritation had disappeared completely and he genuinely sounded worried. That warmed her heart more than anything else. Even to some random child he didn't know, he seemed to care. It likely helped that she reminded him so much of his own daughter. Not to mention, she still believed that she was his daughter even knowing that that wasn't the case. It was difficult to keep straight in her head.

"I'm at the Brief's place. I wanted to get some cold, hard evidence that I was really your daughter, but all I found was more questions. My DNA didn't match Aster's."

"It didn't?"

Aster was surprised to hear the astonishment in his voice. Did he secretly already consider her to be Aster then? "Nope. Bulma ran the test several times and that's the conclusion."

"But you're related in some way perhaps?"

"I'm related in some way. I just don't know what specifically."

"You sound like her…You sound just like her over the phone. I feel like I'm dreaming."

"I feel like I'm her too."

"Maybe…that's all that matters," he said a bit more quietly.

"Daddy?"

"Please," he said with some strain in his voice, "Please don't call me that."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's not that I don't believe you think you are who you say you are, it's just that I know that she passed away. I know that she's gone and I want to respect her memory. I don't want to pretend as if it never happened."

"I don't want you to. I don't want to replace anyone, but I also don't know who I am."

"You were brought back by forces we'll never even begin to understand. Even everyone talking about these dragon balls don't really know how they work. They just use them and see that things happen afterward. Magic. The supernatural. All of it completely untested. It goes beyond reality. I can't fathom it. All I know is that you're here because someone made a wish. I'll have to just accept you."

"Th-thank you, Mr. Tyga."

"Just call me Auden. Do you mind, if I call you something different?"

"I'd love it if you picked out a name for me just like you did before when—well, just like before."

"When I told Aster about her mother, she wanted nothing more to do with her. She wanted a new name and she wanted me to come up with a suitable one."

"Yeah, just like that. Choose another one for me."

"I was thinking: Avil."

"Another 'A' name?" she asked with a laugh.

"I thought I might keep the tradition going. But you don't have to just agree with me so quickly."

"No, it's fine. I like that name. It's fitting. From her on out, you can call me Avil."

"Well, Avil, if you need someone to pick you up, I can do that if you want."

"Actually, I do need to be picked up. Jensen just took off looking for his dad. He hasn't come back yet and I don't have a cellphone."

"We'll have to get you a new one. I'll be right there."

When Vegeta stepped back on Earth, he was immediately accosted by Jensen who demanded to know where his father was. It came down to him explaining the same thing he'd told Bulma on the trip back. For whatever reason, no one had bothered to tell him or they had and he hadn't listened.

"That just sounds made up," Jensen accused.

"Oh? And using dragon balls to bring people back to life doesn't sound made up? I don't know all the rules and no one knows what happened to your father once he was in Otherworld. I was hoping Dende might be able to shed some light since he can make contact with people there."

"He hasn't helped us so far," Jensen said with crossed arms.

He followed him inside as Vegeta sought out his wife who'd claimed that she would ask the guardian. It had been weeks since that time. He hoped she had something useful or he'd have to be making a trip over to Dende. He wasn't exactly in the mood to be threatening people and that fact would only make it worse for the person he was threatening.

Bulma was just coming out the back of her lab into the front. "You made it back safe and sound," she said relieved. "After the last time we spoke, you never called me back and I didn't want to be a bother."

"It was pretty uneventful," Vegeta admitted, "You didn't miss anything." He glanced over at Jensen who was already getting impatient. They had promised him the impossible it seemed. He hated the idea of getting his hopes up only for it to be dashed in the end. Jensen was one thing. Bra would be quite another. But perhaps he'd dodged the worst of it. Maybe Bulma had told her at least. "What did Dende have to say?"

"He told me that it wouldn't be an easy task locating him in Otherworld. He didn't have his body. He contacted King Yemma and it seems like things are getting a bit chaotic up there again. Denizens in Hell are stirring up problems. Dende was told that King Yemma had placed him somewhere isolated from the others. From there…" Bulma looked away before she finished. "It seems like he's lost the will to live. They said it's more common in people without physical bodies. Vegeta, didn't you not have a body when you were in Hell?"

The way she casually brought up a topic he didn't like talking about in front of Jensen was astounding, but he humored her. "I didn't have a body when I was there, yes. On Earth, not too much time had passed, but it felt like I'd been there an eternity. I wasn't isolated from everyone though. Let's just say that it wasn't pleasant. I was glad to have my body back and at the time I was also anxious to have another go at Buu. I can see how one could lose their will to live while there. It's not like he knew that he was going to be wished back. He knew of the dragon balls, but I doubt he was staking his life on them since he'd never seen them before."

Jensen, who'd been watching them intently soon turned away. "So that's it, isn't it? It's over. He's not coming back. He just gave up."

"We don't really know what happened," Vegeta said moving to stand beside him. "All we have is secondhand information from King Yemma through Dende."

"He was alone again," Jensen said referring to his father. "Maybe that was the last straw." He looked up at Vegeta solemnly.

Vegeta was at a loss of words. He hadn't been planning on dealing with all of this as soon as he got home, but here he was. "I'm…sorry."

Jensen looked at him for a moment longer and then walked away clearly wanting to be alone. Vegeta imagined that he probably wouldn't be staying here for long. He was forever taking off for Aster. Since she was back, he expected more of the same.

"That went better than expected," Bulma said.

"You told Bra, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I did. Don't worry. It wasn't fun and there were a lot of tears. It was like losing him all over again. Bra isn't doing so good, but give her some time, she always bounces back."

Bulma was being far too optimistic and Vegeta wondered if it was simply for his sake. Bra had been a wreck when she'd simply broken up with Malachi—when it seemed like he didn't want to be with her. This was much more final and it was something Bra had never experienced before. Had she ever fallen for someone like she'd fallen for Malachi? To lose him so early on? No one really 'bounced back' from things like that. He knew that he wouldn't were he in her shoes.

Looking for a distraction, now that he was satisfied with the fact that everyone pertinent who needed to know what happened with Malachi now knew, he took off for Tien's dojo. Vegeta had told him about his departure ahead of time and Tien was largely unfazed by it even though Vegeta taught a few classes. He'd been in the midst of expanding. His dojo had become quite the hotspot in such a small town and slowly tourism was increasing in the area. His tiny dojo would soon be much larger as he drafted plans to construct more space for the building. Tien was nothing if not ambitious—a side of him that Vegeta hadn't known was there, but then he didn't know him all that well to begin with. Also Launch was always looking for ways to expand the business. The way she went on about there needing to be a cafeteria, at some point Tien would add one just to shut her up about it. Not to mention, it wasn't such a terrible idea. There weren't very many food options near the dojo out in the middle of nowhere. Even if the town itself was growing, the dojo itself sat apart from the town. One needed a car if they wanted to get to the shops in town in a reasonable amount of time.

It was midday when Vegeta arrived at the dojo. Tien was usually free around this time or at least not teaching a class. There were administrative duties he'd be taking care of or if he wasn't too busy he'd be in the practice hall giving students further instruction. This time, Vegeta found him in his office on the phone with someone clearly trying to set a date for something. He waited slightly impatient for him to finish as he stood with crossed arms.

"Vegeta—long time no see. For a moment there, I thought you'd ditched me for good."

"You don't seem that bent out of shape about it."

"It was kind of surprising that you even agreed to help me in the first place. Didn't want to push my luck."

"Is it me or are there more people here? The practice hall looked crowded."

"People have been signing up in droves. Seems more people want to channel their aggression more…constructively."

"Does that really help, you think—with what's been happening with the pandemic?"

"Only time will tell."

"And what about you?"

"Well, nothing has happened to me so far," Tien said standing up. "I'm glad you're here though. Maybe if I do something regrettable, you could stop me. You said it doesn't affect Saiyans or anyone who isn't fully an Earthling."

"That could be an issue with the students as well."

"Hm, well, one step at a time," he said with a sigh as he looked out the window that had a view of the entrance. Vegeta noticed more people walking down from the parking lot. "We've had a few incidents while you were gone, but it was easily quailed. Having people who can defend themselves is quite helpful in this case. I think it might just be safer here than anywhere else. Not to mention, the increased presence of police patrolling has everyone on edge—it's probably just less nerve wracking being here. This could be going on for years since it doesn't affect everyone at the same time. I was thinking of having dorms here—a place to stay for the time being."

"A cafeteria?"

Tien glanced over at him with a grin. "Yes, actually. It really sounds like a good idea. But a lot more logistics and money would have to go into having food on hand and also having people to cook and serve it. But, I don't want to bore you with the details. I've also convinced Master Roshi, Yamcha, and even Mr. Popo to come down from his ivory tower to teach some exclusive classes."

"Master Roshi? How'd you manage that?"

"Let's just say that I've been able to leverage this pandemic to instill a sense of urgency. But I've been borrowing your reasons as well. The fact that Earth definitely still needs defenders wasn't something I thought about much until you brought it up. I just wanted to train for the sake of training. Anyways, I'm always on the lookout for more trainers especially since I can't possibly fit all these new students into a couple sessions each day. Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but you have an office as well."

"An office? Says the guy who wasn't concerned whether I stayed or left. I don't think I'll have need for all that."

"Do you want to still help me out?" Tien asked.

"Might as well. I have someone I wanted to bring here as well."

"Even better. Seems like it'd be convenient for you to stay here at least for a little while. Anyways, the office is yours whether you use it or not. Someone's even left you flowers. I would love to talk more, but I have a few calls to make. Would you excuse me?"

As if on cue, the phone started ringing and Vegeta left the man to his work. He hadn't mentioned where his office might be, but it was nearby. He noticed his name imprinted on a plaque outside the door and underneath: head instructor. Hm, right. Tien was taking quite a few liberties. It was clearly an official position. The thing he said he'd never be doing—being some sort of teacher or instructor—now he was doing just that. Bulma would be endlessly entertained by the fact that he might actually have a job. Vegeta wasn't entirely sure how these things worked on Earth, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

Once he stepped through the door, his nose quickly picked up on a sweet scent that reminded him of vanilla with fruity undertones almost like candy but much fresher than that. A small lavender well-polished vase held ample purple flowers that hung over the edges bright and springy. The tag inside of the vase sticking out of the soil read that these were lilacs. Vegeta wasn't particularly familiar with flowers but he was adoring the light fragrance that now filled the office—he had no idea that flowers could smell like this. Who would send him such a thing? Who even knew that he had an office to send it to? A small plain white card sat next to it. Inside was a handwritten message; it was neat and incursive: To a new beginning. As he read it, Vegeta knew immediately who had sent it even if he hadn't signed it; Auden. Of course he'd somehow already know about the office as well. Auden seemed like the kind of person who would thoroughly research a place before ever stepping foot in it.

His first instincts had been to just toss them when Tien had told him about it, but…it would be a shame to get rid of something that smelled so pleasant. It didn't escape him that the smell of musk and sweat was quite prevalent in the dojo. It was fine if it was his own, but now it was other people as well with their own unique brand of stench all mixing into one really foul smell that constantly permeated the air. No matter how well someone tried to clean the areas—the air itself would still be the culprit, lifting from tired, sweating people. Those horrid aerosol sprays that Bulma liked to use in the bathroom only made matters worse. While he'd dealt with far worse smells before, if given a choice, he'd rather not. The lilacs seemed to work far better than sprays to neutralize all the strong body odors, so he placed the shiny vase on the empty shelf towards the back of the small office. Hopefully, no one would notice or ask questions.

According to Tien, they were now dealing with an influx of students. This gave Vegeta some hope that he might be able to find a few diamonds in the rough. How rare were there people like Auden or even Malachi? With this strange pandemic taking a stranglehold on the world, the future seemed uncertain. The consequences would have to be dealt with, but at the very least they would all end up stronger for it.