A.N: I'm still trying to figure out a date system for the pre-destruction era of Planet Vegeta. I've tried to alter how the flow of time works compared to Earth, since every planet in the solar system is different. I've also refrained from creating named for months and days of the week, since the Saiyans are fairly primitive and something specific like that seemed a bit trivial for their culture to come up with. For the sake of this chapter, assume that a week is 8 days, and every day is split into 4 equal parts of 7 hours each (therefore, a day is 28 hours). Their years follow the Age system of the official DBZ timeline. I kinda wish my job had this kind of structure...

Chapter Four - Recovery

"I feel bad for her, actually."

Still in the narrow crevice after the fight, Bulma, Gohan and Krillin were taking some time to relax in their camp, fresh with gossip regarding the new lady Saiyan's sudden involvement. Various opinions on who or how she was were spinning, as well as burning speculations regarding how she would adapt to the group now that she was free and seemingly reunited with Vegeta. Along with the rest, mixed feelings were present - was Rosemary as evil as Vegeta and the other Saiyans they've encountered before?

Gohan looked off to the side after speaking out against a previous comment. "Think about it, she must not have seen him for a really long time, and she didn't seem to really know how to deal with him being mean, even if that is his normal nowadays."

The group gave hesitant but resounding nods.

"Do you think he's still looking for the Dragon Balls now that she's involved?" He went on.

Bulma made a loud chuckle.

"Of course he is," She told them with conviction and a pumped fist. "He took ours. In fact, I bet he ditchedRosemary to go looking for them himself!" She crossed her arms in a fury. "That's why he showed up here, after all, I doubt he'd drop his mission because she showed up, even if she's his best friend."

'She deserves better than that, though.' Gohan sadly took to his thoughts. 'Vegeta's proved he's only out for himself, though…' He wondered if Vegeta was still plotting towards immortality with the Dragon Balls like he boasted during their first encounter. If he wanted to be the strongest Saiyan, why didn't he just wish for his home planet to be back? The idea seemed somewhat harmless now that he'd considered it, but his thoughts wandered to a world with an indestructible Vegeta, full of destruction and calamity.

It didn't look good in the slightest. But how to stop it from happening, was the topic they should have been discussing.

'There's a handful of people chasing after the Dragon Balls now, I don't think we can stop them from having at least one of the Dragon Balls at any given time…'

He paused at the coming of a realization - it wouldn't take much at all to prevent everyone from getting their dangerous desires.

"Wait, guys, I just thought of something!" Gohan blurted out, immediately attaining both Krillin and Bulma's attention. "Frieza andVegeta are both after the Dragon Balls, right?"

Wide-eyed, they both silently nodded.

"So…" Gohan continued, holding up a finger as a matter of factly, "What if we just found one and hid it away? Neither of them can summon the dragon if they don't have all seven!"

Krillin crossed his arms, unconvinced. Bulma continued to stare blankly at Gohan, unsure of the idea herself. What would happen if either of the two tyrants found out before they could hide a Dragon Ball?

"I see where you're going with this, but," Krillin countered "How can we guarantee that we don't run into either of them along the way? Not to mention, that also kinda stops us from doing what we need to do, doesn't it?"

Gohan looked towards the ground to think. Krillin was right, and he was growing more unsure of the plan by the second - it was impossible to guarantee that they could go undetected, especially now that Vegeta didn't need to rely on a Scouter to track them down.

He tilted his head from side to side and finally grit his teeth in indecision.

"I don't think we have much of a choice."

Bulma whipped out her Dragon Radar to entertain the idea. Pressing a button on the top of the stopwatch-looking device, the radar beeped rhythmically, with a small yellow dot appearing just outside of the center of it's grid-lined screen. Perfect - a Dragon Ball conveniently sat just miles away.

She smirked. Maybe carrying out Gohan's plan wouldn't be too difficult, after all.

Delighted, Bulma perked up with a smile.

"Yeah, but look, guys!" Bulma told them, pointing to the Dragon Radar. "The radar is picking up one of the Dragon Balls nearby! We'd just have to snag it before they do, then we'll be set, right?"

Krillin shot an apprehensive look over to Gohan and shrugged.

"Well, let's go get it, I guess." Krillin replied dully. He still had his doubts.

"I'll go," Gohan affirmed. "I'm the one they'll least expect to be looking for something like the Dragon Balls."

Bulma patted Gohan on the head and ruffled his hair in an attempt to lighten him up.

"Just be careful, Gohan." Bulma warned him with a motherly tone, handing him the radar. "Your mom would kill me if we didn't make it back."

"I'll try."

. . .

Rosemary dreamed peacefully for the first time in ages, now sound asleep in the empty village that Vegeta led her to. A younger form of herself was in the desolate wastelands of Planet Vegeta, intensely running as fast as she could along the dark red soil. Trying to beat her best time, she persisted, keeping a close eye on a damaged but functional stopwatch as she dashed.

She squinted, trying to read the faded digital numbers through a cracked casing and briefly caught a glimpse of a figure up ahead at the last second.

She skipped a breath and leapt to the side in an instant to avoid it, followed by a series of flips and twists. She made a clean, sturdy landing, and panted to catch her breath.

"Hey!" A young boy in regal armour shouted over to her. "That was... impressive, but I doubt you're in the army."

She looked over her shoulder to him, turning to the boy and crossing her arms as she gave a heavy exhale of relief.

"Please be more careful!" She cautiously pleaded as she scanned him to make sure he was alright. "I almost hit you just then, you know!"

The young boy raised a challenging eyebrow, ignoring her concern.

"Well, just who are you, anyways?" He'd asked more authoritatively.

She continued to blankly stare back at him, slightly intimidated by the tone in his voice.

"I'm Rosemary," She introduced herself kindly, following up with a polite bow. "I'm nothing special, really. What about you?"

"Vegeta," He replied, holding his chin high with a cocked eyebrow. "Prince of the Saiyans and heir to the royal throne."

Rosemary's eyes widened and she shamefully gave a series of bows.

"G-Goodness!" She gasped in disgust with herself. "That's quite a turn of events, well, if you are who you claim. Forgive me, erm, Your Highness, but you can't expect me to believe that you, of all people, would be out here on a casual stroll."

Vegeta snickered.

"Alright, that's enough of that. I suppose I can't expect you to, being out here, alone, I imagine you probably don't hear of me often from the rock you came out from." He suspiciously tilted his head. "But now, I have another question - why haven't I seen you before?" He gradually paced around her. "I'm no stranger to patrolling the kingdom."

Rosemary spun her foot in the dirt. She certainly wasn't expecting this kind of encounter today.

"Well... Hmm. How do I explain this? I, erm, don't have an actual home, you see…"

Vegeta's glare hardened on her. Her cool growing thin, Rosemary took another deep breath.

"I live here, in the wastelands, by myself."

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"By yourself?" Vegeta repeated.

"My parents, well, they left." She told him sadly, her cheerful expression fading. "My mother hasn't ever been around, really, but my father… He was sent on a mission, and he told me he would be gone a while, but he's yet to return. I don't know if he ever will, it's been years." She placed her hands in her lap calmly. "But don't be concerned for me, Your Highness, he prepared me in the event that it would happen like this, so I'm perfectly able to take care of myself."

"Forgive me if I came across as oppressive, then." He replied respectfully. "I have to know this stuff, after all, it's my job. Strange girls in wastelands tend not to mix."

"It's okay," Rosemary assured him brightly with a warm smile. "I'm sure it sounds as strange as ever, and we just met!" She giggled, raising a playful eyebrow in return. "But if you are the prince, then why are you all the way out here in the wastelands? This isn't a place for royalty, I imagine."

"My father sent me here to train." Vegeta answered in a boring tone, then pouted.

"Train?"

"I'm of the Upper Saiyan Class." Vegeta continued proudly, puffing out his chest. "An elite warrior, of course. And as such, I must train my skills." He grinned. "You know, with that speed of yours, I bet you could stand a fair chance, too."

"Me?" Rosemary repeated anxiously, pointing at herself. "I don't know… I'm not strong at all."

"Nonsense." He shot back. "I saw those flips and such, if you have that kind of agility, then you must have some strength."

Rosemary sighed. What a primitive way of thinking.

"Not really, actually…" Rosemary disagreed after some hesitation, making an effort not to condescend. "I can only do them at high speeds."

She held up a finger as-a-matter-of-factly. "I depend on the momentum to carry me along, you know?" She then pointed at the ground. "If I tried to do a flip on the spot, I'd probably fall over or something, I'm sort of heavy…"

"Oh." Vegeta acknowledged and nodded his head.

"It's just science." Rosemary continued. She frowned, the Prince seemed almost disappointed. "The speed of an object can change the amount of force needed to make an object keep moving. That's how momentum works."

"So what you're saying," Vegeta jumped in with a short tone "Is that because you were running fast enough, you don't need to put as much strength into those flips?"

Rosemary smiled again with a cheery nod.

"Yes, that's right!"

Vegeta looked off to the right and crossed his arms.

"You know, you're quite clever." Vegeta commented. "I don't think about fighting like you do about, er...science." He tilted his head again. "How old are you, anyways?"

"I will be ten in two weeks… I think? I may have lost track of the date somewhere along the line." She answered obediently.

Vegeta's eyes widened at the sound.

"Interesting," Vegeta remarked with a grin. "I'm about a week ahead of you."

Rosemary giggled. "Wow, what day?"

"Two." Vegeta told her, intrigued. "You?"

"Four!" She thought for a moment. "Which means I'm only nine days younger than you!"

"Strange, how this happens." Vegeta admitted, bewildered. "We just met, we're the same age, and our birthdays are only nine days apart... What odds."

"That's called a coincidence." Rosemary teased with a small smirk.

"Yes, that's the word..." Vegeta quickly defended. "Say, can you read minds with that brain of yours, too?"

Rosemary laughed at the thought, blushing.

"I could do many things if that were possible." She looked up at the sky to avert her attention. It's uninteresting red evening hues grew deeper by the minute. "Hey, it looks like it's getting late. Maybe you ought to head back to the palace, I bet you have a big supper waiting for you!"

"Probably." Vegeta followed up, but didn't leave. "Hey, I know!"

He extended a hand out to her.

"Come with me. I bet you could make good use of a big meal."

Rosemary froze on the spot. Was the prince really asking her to go to the palace? Was she dreaming?

"Oh, I don't know…" She thought cautiously, twirling her foot in the dirt again. "I'm not exactly equipped for the occasion…"

"Such things can be fixed." Vegeta firmly assured her. "Do you have any idea the things I can get my hands on?"

Rosemary sighed, unsure of what else she could say.

"I don't know, Your Highness…" She hesitantly went on. "I don't think the King would approve…"

"If you say so." Vegeta gave in. "You seem smart, so I'll leave this one up to you for now."

He assertively held up a finger.

"But you're making an appearance on your birthday." He told her strongly, turning around to fly away. "Got it?"

"I-I'll try!" She called back as he took off.

"You will! I will return to find you if I have to!" He corrected her with a confident grin, far away from her now.

"For the prince, he's kind of a nice guy." She mumbled in disbelief.

. . .

Gohan looked at the Dragon Radar again to check his proximity to the Dragon Ball, a number four blinking in the dead center of the grid with an electronic beep. He stopped in his flight and looked directly below him, to find an empty Namekian village below. It was much smaller than the cities he was used to, for sure - there were a handful of clusters of stone huts that surrounded a lake with welcoming white steps leading into the water. The Namekians looked to favour the natural landscapes of their planet - there was little to no pavement or machinery in sight.

'It's gotta be in this village somewhere.' He concluded and descended with caution. He surveyed the ground as he slowly approached, making sure that he wouldn't be spotted while he snuck around. As he landed, he picked up a faint energy source from somewhere nearby - it's gentle presence was hardly noticeable but familiar.

'Is it Rosemary?' Gohan worriedly thought and felt around some more. With some focus, he was able to pick it up a little better now and chose to follow the delicate pulse.

He tiptoed to the nearest hut as carefully as he could, then peered inside.

At the far end of the room, Rosemary's head poked out from under a blanket on a bed of stone. While she slept, a tiny smile peeked out from the edge of the thin fabric and her breathing remained steady.

He exhaled in relief. Even if he found her awake, he was confident that he'd be able to handle her, but it was better that she was unconscious. He didn't blame her - it was probably the best night's sleep that she'd had in a while.

'Thank goodness.' His thoughts rambled. 'Of all the people I end up finding, it's her.'

He hid his power level carefully as he crept on by the hut's front entranceway. The remnants of its front door - mere fragments of wood attached to what was left of a hinge - weren't enough to shield him from view.

'But if she's here, then that must mean the ball that's here was the one that Vegeta took from us earlier...'

The Dragon Radar continued to sound loudly and more frequently now, causing Gohan to clap his hand over it immediately to mask the sound in a desperate attempt to avoid waking the Saiyan. He took a few steps back to check on her, to find that she remained unfazed in bed and continued to nap comfortably.
But, time was growing thin.

'I need to find the Dragon Ball before she wakes up or Vegeta comes back…' He thought, then rushed away from the hut. 'Oh man… When Vegeta finds out it's gone, Rosemary's going to be in for a shout…'

His first instinct was to check the lake nearby. He scurried over, down the pristine steps and dove under the water quickly to scan the underwater floor. He had to admit, Vegeta was cunning even without Rosemary - simply putting the ball in one of the huts was a novice move and one that the Saiyan almost certainly took into consideration beforehand. Yes, it was much a safer decision to bet on one's ability to breathe underwater for a long enough time to search the whole area.

Sure enough, the four-starred Dragon Ball was faintly glistening in the refraction of the suns' light, perfectly perched at the bottom of the lake on a patch of sand. And, to his surprise, there was a second ball just a few feet away

'Wow, bonus! I didn't know he had two of them!'

With a quick grin, Gohan swam down and snagged it. Touching down on the floor of the lake, he rocketed himself out of the water, into the sky and on route back to the camp where Krillin and Bulma were waiting.

From inside the hut, Rosemary stirred in her sleep with a pleasurable moan, then returned to laying still and unbothered. While she snoozed, Rosemary's dream steadily transformed. There was a new scene now, where the fighters from earlier, Vegeta, herself and a couple other blurs were now engaged in combat against Frieza. The ones she remembered as Krillin and Gohan were brutally beaten and bruised, and Vegeta looked to have taken some damage as well. It took her a moment to find herself, lying on the ground, tired and ready to submit to unconsciousness yet again, yet another man that she couldn't recognize stood before the group of them unscathed. His clothes were different and odd, but perfectly intact. The unknown figure and Frieza seemed to be talking, but the words were as illegible as the person speaking them. Just then, Frieza shrewdly pointed out a finger in Vegeta's direction, and a narrow beam of light cleanly pierced through his chest...

"No!" Rosemary blurted out as she startled awake with a few stray damp hairs dangling in front of her face. "I must not let that happen!"

She panted for air, dripping with sweat. "I've come too far to fail now!"

She leapt out of bed and out of the stone hut, remembering that Vegeta had tossed something into the lake before she went to sleep.

She ran over to check if it, or Vegeta, was still there.

"Vegeta?" She called out half-heartedly, but there was no response. "Hmm… He probably went somewhere to have some time and space for himself, I didn't really leave him in a good mood before I took a nap..."
She headed down the white steps towards the water's edge, and paused. She needed to stay calm, and more importantly, alert.

"Okay, focus, Rosemary."

She took a deep breath and promptly made a leap into the water, leaving only a small ripple in the water behind her.

She swam downwards, recalling what she could about Vegeta's possession as of late. It was a large, bright orange orb-like object that Vegeta seemed to be rather protective of. The water was abnormally clear, to her surprise, but the orb was nowhere to be found.

She touched down on the sandy floor and stood idle as the realization had sank in, growing more and more afraid by the second. Whatever the object was, it was gone now, and she had no idea where it went, or how it disappeared.

With her air supply finally growing short, she reluctantly swam back up to the surface and assessed the situation at hand.

'What am I going to tell him...' She thought as she treaded atop the water, somewhat frightened for when Vegeta would return. 'When he finds out it's gone, I'm going to be in for it, I'm sure…'

She took a moment to consider how the ball could have been stolen in such a short time - someone must have come to retrieve it, but how could they have known exactly where it was?

'I-I don't think we were followed, Vegeta probably would have been able to tell if we were... If it was Frieza, I probably wouldn't be alive at the moment, no, it's not like him to leave the village intact… Who else cares about these things anyway?!'

Her thoughts shifted to a more personal subject. Would losing this orange ball affect her relationship with Vegeta? She couldn't afford to be burning bridges at the moment. He hadn't been able to have the ball for very long, no, he'd stolen it from the other group of people she had just met not too long ago - only for it to slip away because of her. Now that she was free, she wanted nothing more than to get back to her old life, the way things used to be, whatever that was now that their planet was gone. She still didn't understand the significance of these Dragon Balls, but prayed that losing one wouldn't be enough to make Vegeta angry enough to abandon her.

She went back over the fight the two of them had with Zarbon earlier, still awestruck and alive with the thrill of fighting, alongside someone to boot. Vegeta had become so powerful, just as he'd always wanted. He was far stronger now than any time she could remember, possibly even tenfold and it was noticeable, not just in the way he fought but in his increasingly muscular build as well.

She reimagined his thick, bulky arms from earlier. She indulged herself with the hypotheticals of earlier. What if she had fainted like she thought she might? Would he have carried her to safety?

She could feel her face warming from her now flushed cheeks and gave a flustered huff. She shook her head to get back to the real issue in frustration. She was being uncharacteristically sidetracked by such absurd desires at a time like this.

'Vegeta didn't tell me to guard it, though!' She tensed up. ' Besides, how would I be able to guard something when Frieza and his whole army is afoot?! Surely, he knew that! Her cheeks were uncomfortably hot and her heart rate continued to climb as more anxiety took its course. Was she really so afraid of losing the prince's allegiance that a single mishap could destroy their strong rapor? She needed to trust Vegeta some more, it seemed.

She steadied her breaths in an effort to calm down. 'I just need to relax, and face my fate when the time comes, how bad could it possibly be…'

She gazed down at the water's surface, which reflected her worn, exhausted expression back as the water grew still across the lake once again. She frowned in distaste - perhaps taking another dip in the water could be good for her.

'In the meantime,' She continued with a sigh. 'I suppose I could clean myself up a bit.'

She cupped handfuls of water and splashed them on her face with pleasure, then stopped to look around the area briefly. She noticed a haggard bush along the shoreline with some damaged pink flowers and half-heartedly smiled.

'Those look promising…' She contemplated further, deciding to approach the bush and pluck a few whole buds and remnant petals to spread. She cupped everything in her hands and brought the small heap up to her nose, taking a deep breath in to pick up their scent. Despite her Saiyan senses, she was only able to pick up a faint but sweet smell that tickled her nose. Nonetheless, she was satisfied, it was certainly better than nothing.

Rosemary made her way down the shoreline's steps once again, slid into the water until it came to her waist and spread the flowers out among her. As the buds made contact with the water, the clusters of petals they were composed of decided to separate and disperse themselves, decorating the surface with scattered pink specks. Rosemary briefly dipped herself under the water to wet her hair and scooped up some petals into her hands, vigorously rubbing them against her palms to extract any possible oils and nutrients remaining within.

Hands now slicked with a gentle grease, she ran her fingers through her sopped black mop to bring some fragrance and life back into it, followed up with a light rub of her face. She dove back under and gave her head a good shake to rinse off, came back up and examined herself once more. She sighed dreamily, reminiscent of her days of luxury back at the Saiyan Palace.

'Oh, how I miss the different soaps at home...' She remembered hopelessly, slicking her dripping hair behind her ears. 'Gods, and the scalding hot water… I guess this is all I can do for now.'

Concluding her thoughts, she got out of the lake and took a seat on the steps to get a better look at her armour, now totaled and in dire need of replacement. There were several rips and tears in the fabric that enclosed her legs and waist, and her supposedly durable chestplate had chunks from the edges missing and several cracks throughout.

She shook her head in shame.

'This, truly, is unacceptable,' She grimaced. 'I'm surprised that even Zarbon let me get this bad…'

Continuing with her inspection, she noticed a loose thread on a small tear around her knee and paused.

'I wonder…'

She concentrated on the tiny green strand and took a moment to envision small weaving patterns in her mind, which followed with her fingers as she tried to get a feel for the rhythmic motions. Satisfied, she gave her head a firm nod and prepared to work.

She gave the thread an increasingly hard glare, ready and eager to experiment with this newfound power of hers. She gave a small push of willpower - a meager but fierce command of her intent - and the thread twitched responsively.

Her mouth curled into a fascinated grin. What started as a curiosity was beginning to turn into her next lesson on her strange powers. She wanted to know more.

She told the thread to move some more, and it obliged by poking at the frayed edge of the tear it had been attached to as if it had wanted to slip through the fabric as much as she did. She wriggled it around to pry some kind of opening - after a few more persistent attempts of trying to push the thread through the fabric, it slipped through a small pore that had been formed.

'This is… astounding.'

Rosemary gasped in delight. She felt empowered - it seemed that she could bend objects, small ones, at least, to her very will. Had she been able to do this her whole life? She knew Vegeta was completely capable of basic telekinesis himself, but was she able to build on this newfound potential? For now, she could only imagine - even the act of sewing her own clothing seemed more complex than anything the prince had demonstrated. Perhaps she was just taking a more practical approach.

She worked the thread through her clothing further until she managed to form a seam along the tear and dismissed the green strand from her hold. The tail end of the thread motionlessly waited at the edge of her work and begged her for completion. With a warm smile, she took the remaining length of thread into her hand, pulled it tight, and made the two edges of the tear come together as a tidy stitch. Just seeing the result gave her a sense of pride.
With a final knot to tie off the end, she summoned the smallest ball of energy she could muster to the tip of a finger, brought it to the remaining length of string, and severed it off.

Rosemary gave her final nod of approval with a triumphant grin.

"Well, I guess you learn something new every day." She laughed, then continued to look for more rips and scratches to fix with excitement. She weaved various threads and loose ends that she managed to find until her clothes looked seemingly perfect, each one she managed to complete just slightly faster than the last. The activity was surprisingly meditative for her, something trivial like clothing repair never had an appeal to her before.

She stood up to look herself over once more to find that all of the holes she could find were now neatly mended, and her arms and legs were completely immersed in her rich green suit once again.

'I feel much nicer now.' She thought with a confident nod. 'Definitely more presentable.'

She aimlessly paced around the village looking around for something to do, then laid back down in the strange blue grass to let her thoughts wander out of boredom, trying to purge her mind of all the stress she had encountered since she had arrived on the exotic planet known as Namek.

'I wonder where Vegeta went…' She puzzled over, staring up at the foreign, green sky.

'What an odd planet. Bright blue grass, pale green sky, three suns but no moons, gosh, it doesn't get much weirder than this…'

She'd lost track of how long she was staring - the sky had mesmerized her into a calming daze. She felt so relaxed that she could fall asleep right where she lay in the soft, blue lawn...

Just as Rosemary found herself on the verge of dozing off yet again, she was shaken awake again by Vegeta, who had touched down on the ground beside the shore's entrance.

Well rested and high-spirited, she got up out of the grass to greet him.

"I was wondering when you would decide to come back." She casually joked with an awkward smile.

Vegeta looked at her briefly before he bothered to respond. He noted that she had picked up some new clothes, no, somehow fixed her old ones.

"You've tailored your armour." He pointed out, only slightly impressed but curious as to how she managed it, walking towards the water as soon as he could.

"I did." Rosemary agreed with an even brighter smile. "I don't like the idea of being all torn up in front of the Prince, it doesn't reflect my character."

She watched as he stopped at the edge of the lake and jumped in.

'Oh no, here it comes…' She thought, already nervously anticipating his anger.

Vegeta searched the area for the Dragon Balls, expecting them to be safe and sound, but they remained unfound.

He couldn't find them anywhere.

He continued to thoroughly scan the lake's floor out of desperation. Perhaps the current had just moved them around, he thought, so he swam further away from shore, only for the result to stay the same.

This was bad.

Furious, he shot back up to the surface, heavily thumped right in front of Rosemary and crossly folded his arms.

"I'm sure I'm going to regret asking, but how long were you sleeping for?!" He angrily prodded.

Rosemary cowered a couple of steps back and shook her head in guilt.

"I told you already," She replied calmly, carefully choosing her next words as she began to anxiously tremble before him. "I can't predict time lapse on a planet that has no change in horizon. The… Dragon Ball, was it? It was taken while I was asleep."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. Of course, she knew better than to lie to him, and somehow, she made it sound like none of this was a big deal.

"You saw me take the Dragon Ball from the kid and his friends! And for your information," He snapped. "There was another one in the lake when we got here! We need to keep track of them if we want any hope of staying alive!"

Rosemary turned her head away in defeat.

"Well, you never told me to guard them!" She heatedly retorted with a heavy sigh. "Besides, I wouldn't stand a chance against anything on this planet! What importance do these Dragon Balls have anyways?" She turned her gaze, but not her head, back over to him. "All I know is that Frieza is after them, too. That's why I got dragged out to this planet to begin with."

Vegeta followed her sighs with one of his own. It wasn't her fault that the two balls were gone - only his own for leaving her like the impulsive fool that he was.

"There are seven of them in total." He bitterly explained. "And if you bring them all together, a dragon is supposed to emerge from them and grant any wish you please."

Rosemary blinked blankly.

"That... just sounds like a silly myth to me." Rosemary mumbled. She wished that she could have been more powerful to help out, instead of staying behind and playing a sleeping damsel. "Like an old story you hear from a book or something."

"Well, it's true." Vegeta shot back. "And there are only a select few that are aware of it. Frieza is among them, and that's not something to be taking lightly."

He took a moment to play out his travels on his way back to the village. There was an eerie amount of barren islands, no civilization due to the work of Frieza and his men, along with himself.

And, he briefly passed Kakarot's kid and didn't think much of it at the time. No, he was too busy being a flustered mass of anger.

'Damn it, the kid…' He cursed as he rummaged his thoughts further. Yes, the kid had some kind of watch-resembling device in his hand as he flew away. For what reason, however, was unknown - time certainly didn't matter when Frieza was free-roaming the planet.

Except, perhaps, if it wasn't keeping track of time.

Vegeta's eyes went wide.

'That- no.' He went on. 'That wasn't a watch… It must have been some kind of… locator for the Dragon Balls!'

Frowning, Rosemary tilted her head as she watched his expression shift from anger to confusion and then into deep thought. She didn't think she would get to him so deeply...

"Please, Vegeta," She spoke out to him. "Please talk to me... I want to help, truly, I do."

"Alright, fine." Vegeta warily snapped. He dramatically flung out a hand to her. "Do you happen to know if that half-breed kid or the bald manshowed up here?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Thwarted again, Rosemary looked away for a moment, then shook her head in continued disappointment.

"Not that I know of." She answered truthfully. "Of course, possibly while-"

"While you were sleeping?!" He edged on. "I'm waiting for the point where you give me something to work with here!"

"Well, I'm sorry!" She finally retaliated. Her nervous gaze hardened into one that was far more serious. "You told me to rest, and I obliged! But, since we're on the topic - if I'm of no help to you, then why do you insist that I follow you, or furthermore, expect me to guard something when we both know that I don't stand a chance against anything that walks on this damn planet?"

Vegeta stared back with a dumbstruck gaze. It was extremely rare for her to talk back to this caliber, and as such, all thoughts and words he might have had felt like they'd just been slapped out of him.

He hesitated to respond, for once he was on the defensive - it was as if he'd just ran into a thick pane of glass with Rosemary on the other side, glaring at him with her fiercest heart-piercing look of death.

What the hell was this feeling?

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" He clumsily retorted, although it came out in stuttered nonsense. Rosemary was clearly offended, judging by the raw intensity in her expression. She even dared to clutch her hands into fists, her eyes unwavering from his own.

He wasn't getting away from this, she really was serious.

"If you didn't mean it," Rosemary challenged. "Then why did you say it?" She finally turned her glare away from him in defiance and turned her back to him. "I can't read minds, Vegeta."

"You seem to every othertime." He stubbornly muttered to himself. He heard her gave a hefty exhale in return. He likely upset her even more.

"Perhaps it is just a coincidence." Rosemary sneered, ironically recalling her recent dream, then came back to the present. "To a certain extent, your expression makes you rather predictable at times, and like you said, now isn't a very good one."

The same occasion clicked in Vegeta's memory as well, but he tried hard not to let it show to prove a point. Yes, coincidences, often the laughing stock of their conversations at one point, now painfully reminding him that these times were nothing like they could have been. He turned his back to hers and took a few steps away from her to pout. She continued to face away from him - she was likely aware as ever that her words were effective and always packed a personalized punch.

Rosemary's hands uncurled and neatly joined together behind her back.

"If you're so concerned about these Dragon Balls," Rosemary continued in a more gentle, to-the point fashion. "We could be finding them instead of arguing here, you know... I know we aren't exactly in a time of luxury at the moment, but I understand that this needs a sense of urgency."

Vegeta grit his teeth.

'You're absolutely right.'

Vegeta blasted upwards from where he stood to not waste any more time on worthless bantering, leaving Rosemary in the dust, still on the ground, who was staring up at him, her harsh gaze now fixated on the sky as he flew away.

"I'm actually considering just staying here." She irritably spat to the open air. She mulled over their exchange briefly and dismissed the idea that despite his frustration was a bit too much, Vegeta would ever concede. "But then again, he needs some form of intelligence and force of reason to help him, other than his stubbornness, that is."

She launched herself into the sky in an effort to catch up with the prince without another word.

. . .

"That kid is going to get it!" Vegeta growled through gritted teeth, with Rosemary just managing to pull up with him flying beside him. "How darehe steal from me?!"

'He definitely still has his temper…' Rosemary thought sourly. 'That's always a good sign, considering what we're about to get ourselves into…'

Just then, she saw a small figure in the distance.

"Look, Vegeta!" She told him, pointing up ahead. "Somebody is over there!"

"Yes." Vegeta replied coldly. "But what good is it if it's not who I'm looking for?"

As the two of them flew on, they concluded that the man in the air was Krillin, all by himself.

Rosemary squinted to get a better look at whoever was up ahead, only to get a bright flash of light from something reflecting off of the suns. After the light disappeared, she caught a glimpse of a shiny but bald head.

She managed a chuckle. She didn't know many who fit the criteria, that's for sure, but she assumed that it was none other than the short man that she and Vegeta had run into earlier.

Krillin.

"Well," She snickered to try and clear the air. "I'm sure if you provoked him enough, he'd let slip where the boy is. They don't seem to be your biggest fans."

Vegeta glanced over at her in surprise, now grinning after a cheeky laugh as well.

"So, you are good for something." Vegeta sarcastically teased. "It looks like Frieza must have rubbed off on you a bit in captivity."

Rosemary narrowed her eyes at him, unamused.

"Thanks." She retorted, rolling her eyes.

"I'll do it." Vegeta went on. "It would seem they have grown fondof you."

He halted mid-flight, quickly throwing an arm out to his side to keep Rosemary from passing him. "Stay here."

"I suppose it's the least I can do." She responded obediently with a shrug, stopping behind him. She curled up and crossed her legs in the air to make herself comfortable as she hovered in place.

From the distance, Krillin saw the two Saiyans together and froze.

"Great…" He muttered under his breath. "Looks like Vegeta found out."

"You!" Vegeta called to Krillin oppressively, flaring a pointed finger in his direction. "Where is that impudent kid?!"

Krillin looked over Vegeta's shoulder to see Rosemary behind him, surprisingly relaxed and waving awkwardly, yet watching with a firm stare. 'Rosemary probably got the blunt end of it...'

"Listen, Gohan isn't with me!" Krillin answered as he cowardly threw his hands up to surrender. "He's at the Grand Elder's place!"

"Is he now?" Vegeta edged him on. 'No shit, General Obvious.'

"Well, then, where is that? I think I'll go pay him a visit!"

Krillin quivered. 'Darn it…'

"That's his tower just over there," Krillin explained, standing aside to point towards a strange pillar that broke through the clouds from behind. "I just came from there."

Vegeta cockily crossed his arms.

"Good, time to pay him a visit!"

Rosemary shot a glance at the back of Vegeta's head at the sound of a possible fight, then looked to Krillin as Vegeta impatiently blasted away and skeptically followed behind.

'I'm sorry, Krillin,' Rosemary confessed silently. 'You have to know better than to get on Vegeta's bad side…' she gave him a thumbs up and a small smile as she passed him.

'Do what you have to, Rosemary.' Krillin unknowingly replied to her in a similar fashion. 'I know you're just trying to get your friend back. No hard feelings.'

Minutes later, Vegeta and Rosemary touched down at Lord Guru's tower, to find a tall, largely built Namekian on guard. Rosemary boredly took to examining the tower's details.

"What do you want, short man?" He'd asked Vegeta. He could sense the evil aura within him miles away.

At the sound of short, Rosemary cowered back.

'Now he's done it…' She thought nervously. 'That's one of Vegeta's big red buttons.'

"Tch, I would watch it, if I were you." Vegeta threatened. "My height has nothing to do with what I can do to you."

"Ha!" Nail laughed at Vegeta's efforts. "The girl is even smaller than you, I don't see what you're so concerned about."

Rosemary threw a hip out to one side and squarely placed her hands on her sides. What did she have to do with this?

"Yes, well," Rosemary retorted, stepping past Vegeta while he watched with caution as she advanced on the Namekian. "I can freely admit that I'm on the smaller scale, but you don't see us judging you by your appearance, now, do you, green man?"

With a pause of heated silence, Nail's eyes widened at her temper and left Vegeta just as stunned.

From inside the tower, Gohan had heard Rosemary's voice outside, then rushed outside to meet her.

"Rosemary, you're here, too!" Gohan happily cheered and then turned to Vegeta, causing his smile to vanish in an instant.

Vegeta's wide eyes were hungry for vengeance. Despite the inconvenience, Rosemary believed that causing a scene here wouldn't work in their favour at the moment.

"I am…" She uncomfortably trailed off in discomfort. 'Gohan, if you're as smart as I take you for, you would run!'

"Ah, just who I was looking for!" Vegeta joked sadistically as he approached the kid, causing Gohan to take a few steps back.

Rosemary flinched due to an overwhelming but brief nausea.

"Vegeta, wait!" She quickly called over as she tried to focus. This was someone's energy she was sensing, how off putting. She felt around some more. "What in the world is this?! Do you feel that?!" She honed in on it even further. 'So this must be what Vegeta meant by sensing power… This- This is unbelieveable!'

"There are five immense power levels approaching the planet," A loud, bassy voice from inside the tower boomed around them.

"No…" Vegeta began, cutting himself off to think quickly. 'By the Gods, I hope it's not them, but how the hell did she learn to sense energy so damn quickly?!'

"It has to be them, Vegeta, there's no one else it could be." Rosemary spoke out, just as scared. "All of Frieza's top men are either dead or already searching the planet. This, this must be the Ginyu Force."

"Yes, I know who they are!" Vegeta brashly retorted at her out of panic, then was taken aback. "Wait just a moment, you know them?!"

Rosemary nodded her head in shame.

"Of course I do." She sighed in shame, then looked away from the group. "I had the displeasure of working with them somewhat frequently, mainly as a useless sparring partner as a part of my experimentation. Through that, I got this,"

She turned her back to Vegeta and pulled her long, pointed hair aside. As her black locks moved out of the way to expose her surprisingly uncovered backside, a huge slash shaped scar from the back of her neck down past where anyone could see had revealed itself. Vegeta gawked at it awkwardly and wanted to reach out and touch it, he just couldn't accept what he was feasting his eyes on.

"…as a gift from Jeice. I nearly died that day." She explained to him solemnly. "This was about seven years ago, though, so it's had time to heal over and scar, of course."

"I guess we both underestimated this girl." Nail told Vegeta firmly, but Vegeta ignored the remark. He refused to look away from the scar in an attempt to analyze how severe the wound must have been - all the while trying not to blush as he looked at her bare, pearly skin.

"Looks can be deceiving, can't they?" Rosemary countered as she turned around again and released her hair to cascade down her back. "But enough about me, we need to stay away from the Ginyus!"

"Pity," Vegeta remarked cockily, finally looking away from her and off into the empty skies. "I was planning on doing the opposite."

He took off just seconds after, leaving Rosemary behind yet again. She stood quietly for a moment to make her own assessments.

"Wait, young one," The deep voice called out to her from inside the tower once again. "Come inside, please."

She apprehensively looked to the Namekian guard.

"Who is that who keeps talking to us…" She asked. Without a word, the guard led her inside to oblige his master's orders.

From among the single room of the tower, there was a massive, older creature of his kind, apparently too large to move from his throne where he sat. She could only assume that this giant Namekian was the sovereign figure of the planet if he sat atop the highest tower she'd ever stood on. Rosemary stared in disbelief for a moment, then made a respectful bow.

"I accept your courtesy, young one," Guru boomed on. "There is an esteemed influence upon you."

Rosemary stiffened. This Namekian was rather all-knowing, too.

"You know this?" She asked him, intrigued. "Interesting."

"I know many things." Guru told her mystically. "I also know that there is unique talent within you," He sluggishly adjusted himself in his chair. "One that your friend may possibly never grasp completely."

"Figures." Rosemary muttered and lowered her head.

"You're spending a deal of effort trying to gain his approval out of compassion, yes?" Guru went on.

Rosemary continued to listen in shame, silently nodding her head in response.

"You possess the power to turn the tables of fate, young one." Guru told her monotonously. "Allow me to release it."

Rosemary snapped her head upwards. She would do anything to grow stronger at the moment.

"You... can do such a thing?" She shyly asked.

"I can." Guru answered. "Come."

Rosemary hesitantly approached the massive Namekian man as he reached out a hand to his side. She took her position underneath, where he then placed it upon her spiked peaks of hair and focused intensely. Rosemary closed her eyes with anticipation - was it truly possible to just pull out all of the hidden secrets from within her core?

After releasing an immense amount of energy and light, the old man shakily retracted his hand. As the weight of his massive fingers lifted, Rosemary looked up and then down at herself briefly. She felt the same, and there were no noticeable changes in her appearance, either.

"Forgive me for asking, sir," Rosemary spoke out in uncertainty. She wouldn't dare question her own royalty, either, if she could avoid it. "But did it work? I- I don't feel any different than before…"

"Your talents will take time to present themselves," Guru responded calmly. "They differ from the common physical power, no amount of strength will surface naturally."

'Well, I already knew that…' She thought to herself, discouraged.

"Continue your efforts towards regaining your bonds, and do not be afraid to form new ones. They will aid you later."

"That is reassuring, sir." Rosemary acknowledged him kindly with a nod. "It appears to be the opposite at the moment."

"The one you hold closest is struggling to come to terms with himself. Go back to him quickly, young one. He won't win this battle on his own."

"Thank you, sir!" Rosemary pleaded with another bow. She looked over at Gohan, gave a firm, final nod and flew out of the tower, with Gohan not far behind.