Launch's teeth were chattering as soon as she left the town. The blizzard had forced the vigilantes to take a break for the night and continue on as soon as they awoke. How the Saiyans could've possibly survived the storm, she had no idea. She had to ditch her skirt for wool trousers and the thickest sport coat she could find. She glanced at Krillin, who didn't seem to be affected one bit by the drop in temperature.

"Is that prison area warmer than this?"

"It's out in the west coast where the sun always shines," Krillin smiled underneath his bandana. He was proud of his group for making it this far without wanting to turn back. "We'll get 'em before then, though. I feel it."

"Something's up ahead!" Yamcha looked over his shoulder as he and Broly stopped their horses from going any further without the sheriff's keen eye. The former bandit pointed at something that was buried underneath fresh snow. "Want me to take a look?"

Krillin shook his head and climbed off his horse. He double checked his gloves to make sure they were secure on his hands before dusting off the icy particles. He continued to sweep until the coat of a black mare was revealed. Assuming that the identical lump next to it was another horse, he frowned and stood up straight. "Poor things must have froze up over night."

"You think they belonged to the Saiyans?" Caulifla had joined him with her shivering arms across her well-covered chest. "It's rare to find wild horses out here."

"Possibly," Krillin scratched the back of his neck. The powder that fell overnight covered up any tracks they could've left behind. "If it is, they had to run off somewhere to get more steads."

"You reckon they're dumb enough to stop at a town now?"

The sheriff racked his brains about every little detail he could remember about the Saiyans. Bulma had become acquainted with them back in their teenage years, and since Aces was constructed by Bardock and Kakarot that's where they'd always end up meeting. There was no way they'd be trying to get somewhere that was three months back and a thousand miles away. One time, Krillin asked Bulma where Vegeta had gotten a painting for her. It was from the northwest. Something Ridge was the name of the town...

"I know you folks don't travel much, but I'm stumped. There's a town in this region that goes by the name of Snow Ridge or something like that."

"Cold's Ridge."

All eyes shifted to Broly. His gloveless knuckles were white from squeezing the reins of his horse tightly. His breathing had also become unsteady. They could hear it even when he tried to get control of it. Caulifla arched an eyebrow at his pained expression, not use to his face being anything but stoic. "You been there before?"

When his only response was a wide eyed stare, Krillin stuck his fingers in his belt loops and rocked on the heel of his boots. "...Right. Cold's Ridge. That's the next place we should look-"

"NO!"

Krillin reached for his gun when Broly roared. He had jumped off the horse and was stomping towards the sheriff. The large prisoner was looking like a man who actually killed his own father. The sheriff could feel the dangerous heat as Broly's eyes bore into him. He must know something he didn't. Since it wasn't a time to look weak, Krillin cleared his throat and kept his hand on his holster. "Why not?"

Broly's chest jut out as he released a series of loud growls. Krillin pointed his gun at him as he stepped back at the primal sound. Caulifla got in the middle of them and raised her hands to the shorter of the two men.

"Stand down, sheriff. He gets this way from time to time. You make it any worse and he'll rip your head off."

Keeping two hands on the gun, Krillin looked between Caulifla and Broly. Launch was standing behind him with her own rifle locked and loaded. Yamcha, without a gun, stood tall with his fists up. Broly's nostrils were still flared but his breathing was evening out.

"You wanna acknowledge the corn and state your business with that burg?"

After awhile, Broly shook his head and spoke through clenched teeth. "That place is not safe. Evil men run it. No laws. No government. Just death."

Krillin lowered his arms slightly at the tone of Broly's voice getting quieter and quieter with each word until he hung his head. Whatever connection he had with Cold's Ridge was eating him up inside. The sheriff knew this to be true because the man has hardly shown emotions the last three months. He put his gun back inside his holster and Broly looked up when he sighed. "Sounds like the perfect place for Saiyans and hell for sheriffs, eh?"

"Yes," Broly nodded and copied Krillin's sigh. "We should wait for them in the outskirts. Cut stick and corner them."

"They won't be expecting it...Hell of an idea, Broly!" Krillin shook hands with him and whistled for the others to get back on their horses. He wasn't entirely sure if the Saiyans were really staying at Cold's Ridge, but the hunch was too strong. The sheriff's tracking never lead him astray before. "Let's get those bushwhackers once and for all."

Chi-Chi grimaced at the sight of Vegeta's back. The sun had risen and was now highlighting the bloods stains in his jacket. Nappa and him were a few paces ahead of her and Kakarot. The image of the men being shot lingered in the back of her mind and made her nauseous. She still wasn't use to the gore despite being part of it for so long now.

"You think we'll stop soon?" she whispered to his back as she clung to him for dear life. They were working the horses extra hard to get as far away from Cold's Ridge as possible. The Saiyan had been awfully quiet since their escape. "Kakarot?"

"Sorry Ch-Chi. Just thinking about my pops."

"Oh," she rested her cold cheek against him and watched the leafless trees fly by. She wanted to talk about it, but had been waiting for him to say something first. "How do you feel knowing he's innocent?"

Kakarot was balled up about it. Whatever his dad was doing with Frieza at the time the sheriff was shot was unclear, and what was more troubling was why Pops would even take the blame for it knowing Raditz and him were waiting for him to come back home. The only two people that had the answers were in jail or dead. "My old man ain't no saint, but I suppose it makes me a bit happy he didn't shoot a lawman. 'Least I know he ain't crazy."

"That's what you should have been besides a delinquent."

"What? A sheriff?"

"Yeah," Chi-Chi found herself smiling while picturing him with a gold star pinned to his shirt. "Use that quickness of yours to stop bad guys instead of robbing stagecoaches."

When Kakarot felt her arms holding him tighter, he was slightly apple cheeked. "Would you like me better if I were a sheriff?"

"Maybe. You have to admit it would have been a better way to meet."

Kakarot glanced from her small hands on his torso to the backs of the men he considered family. His brows knitted together as he considered the options he had. He couldn't stay in the states after breaking Bardock out of Devil's Pass, and there was a very slim chance Chi-Chi would give up her dream of Sunnybellow. "What do you think about being a teacher and me being a sheriff in another country?"

Chi-Chi pulled herself away and sat up straight. "What?" her response came out along with a giggle. "Is this a game of silly questions?"

"I'm as serious as a heart attack, darling. I want a serious answer."

Chi-Chi blinked. She couldn't see his face, but from the way he spoke she knew he wasn't messing around. This entire predicament had her buffaloed. Kakarot by good rights was quite a man. There wasn't a time he didn't treat her well and he saved her life more than once. He was sweet and different. They shared a few intimate moments. Without a shadow of a doubt, she was attracted to him.

But it wasn't her head that wanted him, and that's what really mattered.

"Kakarot..." she could feel something hard in her throat when she swallowed down his name. "Don't be ridiculous. You need to stop believing we could be together. You act like this is love."

The horse slowed down by force. Vegeta and Nappa were too distracted on moving to realize they had stopped following them. How her dictation could be so cold and cruel after all the affection she had shown didn't make a lick of sense. The little kisses here and there and how she held him the night they cried together had to have meant something. Kakarot turned his head and looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"How is it not?"

Chi-Chi's breath was seen when she exhaled after holding it in for so long. What was going through both of their minds had to be the same memories and moments shared over the last few months. She kissed him more times than necessary and let him see parts of her she should've kept guarded. "You're confusing gratefulness for something else," her voice came out in a soft, pained whisper. "I don't love you. I couldn't ever love someone like you. Not after what you did."

"Will you stop blaming me for that!?"

"Kakarot!" She was taken aback by his throaty yell as he climbed off the horse to leave her alone on the saddle. It was the first time he had ever raised his voice to her. He paced around like he was trying to keep himself from doing it again, then froze mid step to glare up at her.

"I was going to shoot Vegeta that day when he wanted to kill you, and I fought every inch and mile we followed your stagecoach but they wouldn't listen to me," his voice was angry but low. Chi-Chi placed a hand protectively on her heart as he continued to talk with a twitching lip. "You're the prettiest thing I've ever laid eyes on but I didn't help you to fuck you. You told me the same things the woman I loved before did and I wanted to keep you safe since I failed her. And for you to sit there and compare me to them..."

Chi-Chi's eyes watered while Kakarot shook his head. Didn't he realize that him just being around would serve as a constant reminder of her dad being gunned down? "I loved and lost someone, too. Three months ago. You've had thirteen years."

Kakarot didn't need to say anything to let her know how he felt. There was deep sadness in his eyes as he switched off the anger. The pain that life had put them through kept them silent for a good while until Kakarot sighed.

"I don't want anymore of this atween us, Chi-Chi. I'm worn out."

She couldn't figure out if he meant their relationship or arguing because he walked away soon after saying it.

"Where the fuck did they run off to now!?"

"They'll catch up," Nappa took a drink of water from his canteen and placed it back inside the saddlebag. They tied up the horses to the nearby trees and waited for Raditz to approach with the stagecoach. "We need to do this fast and high tail it out of here."

Raditz stopped in front of the other Saiyans and hopped out. He gestured towards where he just was while glaring at Vegeta. "Since you got us into this mess, you'll be the one to ditch the buzzerfood."

Accepting his fate but not without a growl, Vegeta got in and took control of the reins. "You two just be ready when I get back. And find out where that idiot brother of yours went."

As Vegeta left in the stagecoach, Raditz slapped himself on the forehead while looking around to see the disappearance of his brother and Chi-Chi were true. "Kakarot's gonna get me killed one day, I swear. Wanna wait here while I go check?"

"Suits me just fine," Nappa laughed and took out his deck of cards. "I'll play a little game of solitaire."

"Never change you crazy bastard," Raditz tipped his hat to him and got on the horse Vegeta was riding earlier. "If only you could play poker by yourself. You'd do a better job at tournaments."

"Fuck you," but the older one was grinning. "I can't wait for Bardock to tan your hide for disrespecting your elders. He wouldn't have put up with all this shit like I do."

"That's why you're the best."

Nappa flipped him off when Raditz winked. The bald Saiyan slapped the horse's behind to send Raditz away and then laid on a blanket that was on his own horse onto the snowy ground. He sat alone in the peacefulness of the woods, and began shuffling his beloved cards. He was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, the Dead Man's Hand, when a bullet went deep into his chest.

"Easy, girl, easy."

Raditz stopped his horse and got off, feeling the urge to relieve himself after holding it in the entire ride away from Cold's Ridge. He pulled down his pants and let it all out on a tree. There was something amusing about the steam coming from the heat of it and it made him snort.

The familiar sound of a bullet whizzing through the air caused him to lose direction of the flow. A clean hole went through the top of his hat and sent it down into the snow.

"Holy shit!"

He zipped himself up as quick as he could and reached for his gun. The culprit of the first shot was directly behind him. How she moved so fast and quietly was beyond him. The barrels of both their weapons were aimed at the chest of the enemy. He recognized that blonde hair instantly and smirked, having feelings of both attraction and being scared shitless.

"Came all this way just to finish what we started, huh?"

"Go to hell."

When she cocked the rifle, Raditz ducked down and grabbed her by the ankles. She screamed and fired into the air as she fell backwards. The impact of her head hitting the ground caused her to release the gun. The Saiyan grabbed it before she could retrieve it again and threw it over his shoulder. His boot pressed down on her chest and prevented her from getting up again.

Looking down at her struggling, Raditz sighed and put his gun away. It would be a pity to kill something so gorgeous. "Are there others with you, or you lonesome?"

"Fuck," she grunted and tried to get up again. "You!"

"We'll get to that in a minute, but I need you to be truthful. Who's with you?"

The distant sound of another gun going off made Raditz heart drop to his stomach, instantly thinking of his brother. Noticing his broken gaze, twisted her body to the side harshly and got free. The Saiyan was back in her face the second she stood up straight. Growling, Launch punched him in the face. Her knuckles were red from his bleeding nose and she shook it.

"Damn your face is hard as hell!"

Raditz wiped the blood away from his stinging nose with the back of his coat sleeve. The bitch wanted to play rough and he needed to find Kakarot before he was killed. There was only one way to settle this. He began bouncing on his feet with his fist in front of his damaged face. "C'mon, you crazy ass. I know you can take a pounding."

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Vegeta took one last look at the man who made his life a living hell the last decade. His face was almost unrecognizable after being shot repeatedly. He lifted up Frieza's body and threw him over. He glanced down to see that the body had become stuck and didn't land in the frozen river like he wanted it to.

"Shit!" he snapped his fingers. Maybe throwing Zarbon at him would be enough to get both of them to the ice. He walked back to the stagecoach and dragged the henchman out by the feet. A loud clanging nose hit the stagecoach while Vegeta held the body in front of him. He jumped and saw a bullet hole where the sound came from.

"You must be Vegeta, the leader of the Saiyans!"

Using Zarbon as a shield with one hand, Vegeta used his other to pull out his gun. The dead man was much taller than himself and he couldn't see who was talking to him. "Must be why a yellowbelly is shooting at a man with his back turned. Who the fuck are you?"

"Name's Yamcha," Vegeta felt Zarbon's body getting hit with another of the stranger's bullets. "I'm sure you've heard of me. They call me the Desert Bandit."

"Never heard of you, but I'll give you the chance to die like a real man. Let me put this here son of a bitch down and we'll have a draw. Sound fair?"

"Hm...alright. Get on with it, then."

"I've got eyes on you," Vegeta falsely warned. "You try shooting before I'm ready and they'll lay you down quick. Understood?"

"Yessir. I've got eyes on you, too."

Fuck.

He most likely did.

Vegeta slowly dropped Zarbon to the snow and looked at his challenger. The one called Yamcha had a scar on his cheek like Bardock, but most likely not with as interesting as a story. His long hair was in a ponytail and the smirk on his face was faulty like it didn't belong to him. He was shaking in his boots but speaking with confidence.

"Hah. So this is the ruthless Vegeta. You're just as ugly as your picture."

Seeing through him, Vegeta chuckled darkly and strummed his hands along his holster. "You better pray you shoot better than you talk, greenhorn. On the count of three."

Yamcha's brows were sweating even in the cold. He cleared his throat to continue sounding tough, but was hoping one of his people would join him soon. His shaky hand held steady on the gun. "A-Alright, hoss. You asked for it. One...two...three!"

On 'three', Vegeta's reflexes assumed command and he knew the shot was his. There was a puff of red mist when the bullet found its mark. Immediately fatal, the attack left Yamcha dead. The snow soaked up his blood while Vegeta blew the smoke off the tip of his gun. He was about to tuck it back into the holster when he heard the snapping of twigs.

A large man had entered through the trees. The tip of his rifle was pointed to the sky instead of at Vegeta. He stared at the freshly dead body and then to the one beginning to rot. His eyes widened as he got closer to the man with a green braid to inspect him.

"...Zarbon?"

Vegeta squinted at the beast of a cowpoke, recognizing the face but not the rest of him.

"Shit. Are you Paragus's son?"

He knew he shouldn't have left Chi-Chi alone, but he needed to get away before he could say something he'd regret for the rest of his life. How it all went wrong just by asking her a simple question cut him deep. He didn't get too far from the trail and assumed she already went to catch up with the others. Once he got his bearings together, he'd follow the trail back.

For now, he sat down on a large rock on the edge of the frozen river. All he wanted was redemption and all she did was push him away. Maybe her father's death was still fresh or maybe she really could never see him any different from the rest. Either way it was still too soon for her to forgive.

Kakarot rubbed his temples with his thumbs and closed his eyes. They had been through too much together that it felt like so much longer. Like he knew Chi-Chi his entire life.

"Howdy, stranger."

Not the voice he wanted to hear but one he could barely recall, Kakarot jumped to his feet and turned around to see the drink girl from Rose's standing there. No longer in a revealing dress, she had her hands behind her back and was smiling shyly.

"What in the world are you doing here? This ain't no place for a lady such as yourself."

Caulifla couldn't help but fall briefly for that charm again. He was the type that could talk his way out of anything. That didn't change the fact he brought trouble to her town and she had big money on the line. Her fingers rubbed against the weapon behind her back while she turned on her own charm. "Why, aren't you sweet worrying about me. I was thinking about your handsome face since the night we met and followed the stream in hopes to see you again."

Kakarot knew she was lying but couldn't risk being hasty. This was a set up and he didn't have anything to protect himself with. He removed his hat from his head and bowed slightly to her. "Well, here I am. At your service."

Caulifla bit her lip. He was going to weasel his way out of this if she didn't act quick enough. She sighed deeply while searching his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kakarot. I can't let you keep escaping."

When she revealed the gun she was hiding, Kakarot froze in place. This was payback for all the lives he had taken away. Words from his father's letters and what Frieza had said rang through his head, but most of all he heard Chi-Chi and his mother. This type of sinful living only leads to a fall. Unable to move, he waited for her to pull the trigger but he only heard her scream out when she was struck from behind.

After Caulifla had fallen, Kakarot saw his savior standing there with a smoking gun just the way he taught her. She dropped the big iron to the ground and held her face in her hands at what she had just done. Her eyes were full of fear and regret, but somehow switched to concern when they flickered back up at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he blinked as she put the gun in the holster he got her. Her coat was wide open. "Are you?"

"I don't know."

Kakarot had a difficult time reading her. It was a mixture of trauma, guilt, and relief. She surprised him by stepping over the body bleeding out to get closer. He thought she was going to slap him across the face but she embraced him instead. Instantly, his hands went to her waist and pulled her in. They held on tightly as thunderous echoes of gunshots were happening all throughout the woods.

A/N: I now have a twitter! cowboysaiyan