A/N: I really debated over whether to include this chapter, but eventually decided it was warranted. For those of y'all not a fan of the third person bits, know that I will likely do another at some later point but next chapter we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

A vice-like grip on her own arm, Ravi staggered through the trees, breathing slow and heavy.

It had been a long time since she'd last lost control.

She'd dropped out of flight at some point, skidding along the ground and barely keeping herself upright. The vivid jade ki spilling off her lit up the surrounding forest and made it seem nearly aflame as she was.

She'd still been in the midst of her teen years the last time she'd had to fight herself this way. At that point, like every incident before, she'd sworn it would never happen again. And for a good while, it hadn't. She had almost been able to pretend it was gone for good.

I'm a fool, she thought. A fool for getting complacent.

It was worse than she remembered, the strain. As hard as stemming the instinct to breath under fathoms of water, having to fight your body trying to draw in oxygen that wasn't there. Then again, each episode was always worse than the last. Each new thing that tried to bring it out of her seemingly stronger than before. But she didn't think she'd encountered anything as strong as the Prince of Saiyans.

It was her own fault. She'd thought she could fight him, as herself. Knock him down a peg or two.

He deserves it. What does he know? Everything he has was given to him by virtue of being born. His power—his status—his family—

Ravi curled her fingers so that her nails dug into her skin. "Stop it," she muttered aloud. Sweat trickled down her temple and the wound across her cheek throbbed.

Fire, white-hot rage, burned within her, made the corners of her vision dark. Her blood speared through her veins.

Ravi had never known what to call it—what was happening to her. Her mother had been trying to recreate the Legendary Super Saiyan, she knew, but Ravi didn't believe she had succeeded. This thing was not a Saiyan. It was someone, something, Ravi became when the anger swallowed her, her awareness untouched but her focus stained with wrath.

At the very least, she'd gotten away from the others before she lost control. But even so, if she let it take her now, there was no telling what she'd do—she might find her way back and—

No. No.

Ravi parted her hands and pulled them into fists, her energy spiking. She'd be damned if she let this happen without a fight this time. No one else was going to be brought into this. Never again.

Instead of trying to contain her ki any longer she let it rise, trying to focus it into her hands. Green energy swirled around her arms, and she raised them towards the night sky, letting the pressure build and forcing it upward without yet releasing it.

The ground beneath her started to shake. In the darkness, bits of loose earth and nature broke free from the ground and hovered into the air. The scent of ozone, fresh and biting, tainted the breeze.

Every bit of energy she had she let flow into her palms, the epicentre of the sphere of energy building and expanding around her, hot on her skin. The ground under her boots cracked with the weight of it, but she kept steady lest she risk the planet's safety.

Above, the sky—empty of anything but stars—awaited.

Come on. All you have to do is fire it straight out from your hands.

With a final roar of exertion, Ravi let go, concentrating with all her might to keep the massive cluster of ki aimed upward. It tore from her viciously, swallowing everything in sight and she instinctively shut her eyes against the blinding flash it emitted as it jettisoned.

For a time, she felt only the earth breaking under her heels and the whipping wind, and her ki being gutted from her like a hook to her soul. But she didn't stop, not until the shaking ceased and there was no strength left in her legs to hold her up anymore.

Her knees drove into the dirt and her arms fell to her sides. After a moment, or perhaps minutes, something soft touched her face and she opened her eyes.

The landscape was empty. Ash, frail and white, drifted through the smoke, settling on the scorched earth and onto her shoulders and hair. There was nothing else—no trees as far as she could see through the smouldering countryside, the sky clogged with brume.

She collapsed completely, barely feeling her shoulder hit the ground. She tasted nothing but soot and it was the last thing she knew before she lost consciousness.

Something nudged her leg and Ravi drifted into awareness.

There was the sensation of something moving very close to her, walking around her, the barest disturbance of the air. Then, fingers touched her shoulder and turned her onto her back.

Daikon?

No—no, it wasn't him. Someone else. There was light beyond her eyelids, but shadows passed over as more indistinct movement shifted around her.

Another touch pressed into the side of her throat, then retreated before a grip went under her arms, another under her legs, and she was being lifted. Her nose told her that they were Saiyans, but she couldn't manage a thought more coherent than that as they took flight with her.

She wasn't sure how much time passed until they landed. Her rescuers walked with her for a distance before she felt herself being set down, her back propped up against something firm.

At this point, Ravi was quite awake, but she kept her breathing steady and the urge to move suppressed for the time being. Her limbs were stiff—she must've been laying in the dirt for hours, and the presence of daylight confirmed her suspicions.

She let herself focus on the sensations around her. Whatever she was laying on had a soft layer over it, some of it fabric perhaps, but the rest was downy with an earthen scent. Moss?

The air smelled clean, the way it did when water was nearby, although there were traces in it suggesting more Saiyans in the area than only who had carried her. None of them were familiar. And—

Ah. More movement. Someone was next to her. Ravi felt her hair shifted out of her face, and then a cool, wet cloth was brushing across her temple, followed by her cheek. That stung her a bit.

The cloth wiped down her neck on the same side before pausing. Then, Ravi felt something tug at her shirt, and she decided she'd had enough of staying still.

"Mmph. Excuse you," she said, her throat dry. The presence immediately pulled away and Ravi opened her eyes.

A woman, who looked a bit petrified, was seated a short distance away, frozen with a rag in her hand.

"Sorry! I'm sorry," the stranger blurted. She stuck her arm out as if to put distance between them and waved the cloth. "I was just trying to clean you up, and your shirt's covered in blood, so..."

Ravi glanced down. What she could see of her upper chest on the left side was indeed soiled red, shirt and skin alike. Her clothes in general had not fared out well, torn in several places and caked with ash. She pursed her lips in distaste before returning her attention to the other woman.

"We found you in that big ash field," said the stranger, daring to scoot closer again. "We saw the flashes of light from here. Even felt the ground shake! We weren't sure what was going on… You were in a battle with someone, right?"

"Yes," Ravi replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, was it with Yarrow, or one of his lieutenants? They're the only ones I know here capable of torching the landscape like that…" She twiddled her thumbs. "They kicked you out, didn't they?"

In silence Ravi pushed herself further upright, still seated.

The woman took the opportunity to continue. "Yesterday, we thought we saw a ship fly overhead, so we knew more Saiyans were probably arriving, and… well, let's just say you wouldn't be the first person they've rejected, young miss, so there's no shame in that. You're lucky you faced them head-on and survived."

Ravi raised a brow. 'Miss' right off the bat, huh? Perhaps Saiyans weren't all bad.

"Am I to assume you're a reject yourself, then?" she asked.

The woman nodded, tousling her scruff of shoulder-length hair. She was petite, with middle age just starting to show in the lines at the corners of her eyes.

"I left of my own choice, really, but they would've wanted to toss me anyway," the stranger said, using her free hand to scratch the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm not very strong, and I can't say I'm a fan of following the leadership of those guys…"

Ravi considered the words as she looked around the space they were in. It was the mouth of a large cave, sunlight pouring in and illuminating the scraps of civilized presence littered around. A broken space-pod rested in view near the entrance, and other bits of machinery were inside the cave. Other items, some from repurposed vegetation, were scattered about. There were no signs of a large occupying group, at least not recently. Perhaps the traces of scent were old.

When she turned back to the stranger, the woman was already talking.

"… name?" Ravi caught from her lips.

Ravi ignored the implied question and instead interjected. "Where's the other one?"

"Huh?"

"Someone else helped carry me here, right?"

"Oh, yes. He's just outside, he'll be right back." The woman twiddled her thumbs in her lap. Then, she straightened and stuck out her hand towards Ravi again, offering the cloth. "Oh, sorry. Here you go! I have some water here if you want to at least get your face clean."

Ravi eyed the offer before accepting it, wiping it generously across her face. When she pulled it away, she noticed the woman was talking again.

"What?"

"Um. I said my name's—" Here Ravi had to concentrate to make out the syllables. It was always harder with names, as not all had the common familiarity of words to her. She parsed out the lip movements in her head. Ee-ne… Kineh? Gine?

"Mm." Ravi went back to cleaning her face, dabbing carefully around her wound, and then rubbing at her neck. "You have a large water source close around? Unfortunately, I... think I'm beyond this." She dangled the rag between her fingers.

"Oh, yes! There's a spot nearby, miss…" Kine, Gine, or whatever she was called, fidgeted again. "You really don't wanna tell me your name?" she finished.

Setting the cloth down, Ravi slowly got to her feet, using the rock she'd been resting on to help push herself up. Crap, she really was sore. Part of that was probably from her exhausting her own energy, and the rest from her fight with Trunks.

She took a step and winced. Heh. He'd really let her have it, huh?

The other woman ran around to Ravi's side, hands up as if worried she might fall. "Hey! Are you really sure you should be up walking so soon? It's no problem for us if you rest a bit longer."

Ravi was about to ask which direction to go to find herself a proper bath when at that moment, another Saiyan stranger walked into the cave. He slowed a bit when he caught sight of Ravi.

"You're up already," he stated. He was an older man, with a tanned, stern face that suggested he never smiled. He had dark facial hair and a faded scar slashing where his left eye ought to have been. "Gine and I were arguing over what to do with you. We weren't even sure you were alive when we approached."

"What you did was kind, but not necessary," Ravi replied.

"Kindness had little to do with it. Everyone in a hundred-mile radius probably saw that ruckus, and we wanted to be first to collect anything useful that might've remained afterwards. Turned out even the clothes on your back were ruined."

Gine patted Ravi's arm. "Kindness most certainly had something to do with it," the smaller woman corrected, ushering them forward. "Now, how about I show you where you can bathe? Speaking of clothes, we unfortunately have none spare to give you… But you can definitely wash yours there."

Ravi acquiesced to letting the other woman lead her out of the cave, the man giving little more than a silent look as they passed.

Outside the mouth of the cave, the landscape looked nearly undisturbed. It was sometime near midday, judging by the way the sun cast down from overhead. There were no clouds to be seen—only the bright azure of the sky, peeking between the leaves of the jungle canopy. The ground beneath Ravi's boots was a bit spongey, made uneven by curling roots and burgeoning clusters of vegetation, but Gine led slowly enough that Ravi found she could walk without too much discomfort.

Unfortunately, she was quite sure her guide was already chatting away ahead of her, gesturing now and then at their surroundings and occasionally glancing back. Thankfully, a brief journey it was, and Gine didn't seem to notice anything unusual, stopping once their destination came into view from between the trees.

A waterfall. Perhaps a hundred feet high, framed by jutting rocks on either side, cascading unimpeded into a large, clear, and blue pool at its bottom. The aqua trees crowded the banks and a river spilled off from one side. The breeze smelled crisp and cool.

Ravi stepped forward. "Thanks," she said to Gine as she passed, not bothering to see if she got a response.

She waded in at the gentlest slope of the bank with her clothes on. The water was cold, but not unbearably so. From the corner of her eye, she could see the other woman retreating back towards the cave. Once she was in up to her thighs, Ravi divested herself of her shirt, shortly followed by the rest of her clothes before untying what remained of her braid. She swished each article around in the water before laying them out to dry on the rocks, then moved herself in deeper and swam towards the falls.

She stopped directly underneath them where more rocks were settled underneath, giving something for her to stand on while she let the water pour over her. It stung her cheek, but it didn't take her much longer before the worst of the dirt had been scrubbed off by the sheer pressure, and she retreated, seating herself nearby on a half-submerged boulder.

Her tail dipped into the water. The air felt good in her lungs. Clean. No sense of charred earth remained except what lingered in her mind's eye.

She glanced down at her hands where they rested on her knees. Her left forearm was bruised, the mottled area the exact shape one would expect it to be from a forceful grip. She pressed against it with her thumb and was rewarded with a sharp pulse of pain that returned to a dull soreness after a moment.

This was when Daikon would normally notice Ravi prodding at her own wounds and chastise her as if she were cudgeling herself. It was quite easy to rile him up, something to entertain them both with if she didn't take it too far. It was a fine line between teasing and worrying him, but it had become easier over time. He'd unwound little by little and yet so much since they'd met. In the early days he hadn't even had the courage to ask for food or eat without explicit permission.

His absence now was an alien feeling, like a word on the tip of her tongue, or forgetting the reason she'd walked into a room. Aside from his escapade on SE-3, they hadn't been separated in a long while. And when they'd been reunited then, when Trunks had brought him back, the expression on Daikon's face… something like sorrow and admiration put together—

She hated it.

She'd helped him escape slavery, but hadn't rescued him from it. He'd done that on his own. And yet…

One day, she thought she wouldn't see those glances from the corner of her eye. Looking at her like she was some kind of saviour.

Daikon didn't even know what she really was. He'd never seen her lose herself—not until today. She swore she could still feel the impact on her hand from where she'd struck him. She'd only meant to push him away.

Trunks… she hadn't meant to take everything with him so far either. She should've known she couldn't fight someone like that without losing control. That this had been bound to happen with him no matter what.

Well, the situation wasn't a complete disaster. All she had to do was find someone else on this half-abandoned world who could fix her ship (which, really, how hard could that be?), then convince them to help (for no reward), and then get off this planet (alone) so she could continue to search for her mother (alone) and hope Frieza or his forces didn't kill her (alone) or gods forbid, make her lose herself again—

Ravi reached down into the water, cupping some between her hands. She stared at her blurred reflection. A bright, aching cut ran from one cheek all the way to her ear.

"You're an idiot," she said to her reflection. It looked disappointed.

She raised her hands and splashed the water into her face.

Gods. I could have killed him.

At the end, when she'd realized she'd truly hurt him Trunks had, for a moment, looked like nothing more than a scared young man. It hadn't really come to her mind before then—that beneath the weight of his title, beneath his usual stern expression and determined gaze—he was no older than she.

He'd lied to her, in some form or another, that was certain. Even if she didn't know exactly what the truth behind it was. However, she'd never felt any malicious intent from him. Not once had she ever sensed he was trying to manipulate her perceptions of his nature.

Hadn't she lied to him in the beginning, to shield herself and Daikon from what the prince might do if he knew they were deserters? Hadn't Trunks realized that and tried to help them anyway?

On her ship, while travelling, he'd been nothing but kind to her. Well, perhaps they had squabbled over the nuances of repairs here and there, but ultimately, he'd done his job and done it well. It had been… nice. Being able to relax her guard so quickly. Perhaps that was why she'd felt her anger spike when he'd stood over the crowd of Saiyan survivors, expecting her to follow suit—asking for something he'd never be willing to give in return. The same thing her grandfather and her mother had expected of her in their own ways. But she couldn't think of it that way, couldn't think of that at all lest it bring her back to that place.

However, she couldn't let things end with how they'd been left. With Daikon or the prince. Or even the other half-blood, despite the cold looks he seemed to enjoy giving her when they'd shared so little conversation yet. Ravi had no idea where Bardock would fit into all of it either.

She took a deep breath and propped up one leg to rest her chin on her knee, her clasped hands between. Try as she might, she could sense nothing in the space around her. Back on SE-3, Trunks had given her some of his energy, and ever since then, it was almost like she'd been able to recognize where he was without seeing him. She hadn't been sure what she was even feeling until she'd realized it got stronger the closer he'd moved and the more power he'd exuded.

There was only one other person she'd ever known whose presence had done that. If my suspicions are right, then that means he could be…

Her train of thought was interrupted when movement caught her eye.

Gine stood at the edge of the pool, waving her arms.

"Hi! Hello!" she said, cupping a hand around her mouth. With her other hand she gestured towards herself.

Ravi slipped off the rock and into the water, swimming leisurely until she was within comfortable distance of the other Saiyan.

"Sorry to barge in on you, but I don't think you heard me calling," she said. "I came to see how you were doing and I think your clothes are dry."

Once Gine seated herself on a fallen tree facing the other direction, Ravi came out of the water. With a brief exhale, she summoned a flutter of ki to scatter the remaining water off her as best she could, though her hair still felt damp. She dressed and was pleased to find her things were indeed mostly dry, albeit clearly still in poor shape. They would have to do.

"So," Gine began when Ravi was finished, "what's next? We don't have much, but you're welcome to stay with us. We could use the help."

"Thanks. But I can't."

"Are you sure you're comfortable going back out there by yourself? You're not fully recovered, and, uh…" Gine fidgeted, then pointed to her ear. "Are you, um, you know…"

Ravi cocked her head. "You caught on quickly."

"Is that why they kicked you out?"

Ravi said nothing.

"It's okay, you know," Gine went on. "Me and my companion—" Here she said another name that Ravi didn't catch."—We don't care. There's no point in trying to uphold some caste system that we don't even fit into ourselves."

"You sound awfully progressive for a Saiyan."

"Eh heh heh…" Gine scratched the back of her head. "Well, my son married an alien and my grandsons were half-bloods, so you could say I had a straightforward choice to make with what I valued most."

Ravi blinked. More half-bloods? She'd always been under the impression they were very rare for any combination of species. So few in the universe were even compatible, anyway. It had to be a coincidence.

Gine continued. "In any case, you of course don't have to stick with us. There are others out here too. We try not to all congregate together for too long, so for the most part we just move between safe places in the wilderness separately to lower the chance of being discovered. Although I believe Molokia's new hideout location hasn't moved, if that's where you wanted to go…"

Gine's words gave Ravi pause again. Now that was a name she'd seen thrown around a few times since arriving.

Gine seemed to notice piquing her guest's attention. "I'm afraid I can't tell you where it is because I don't know, but I could point you to the next point in the chain, so to speak. Just a safeguard against spies or people with the wrong intentions. Molokia himself is seldom there, but it's not like you need his permission or anything."

Ravi mulled it over. She had to go back to the others, to—apologize, or make it as right as she could, at least. She didn't know what she'd do after that, but it was probably best she stay away from other Saiyans if they were in some sort of conflict with those whom Trunks was with. (The prince certainly wouldn't forgive her enough to fix her ship, even if they had the parts, so she was going to be stuck until she found a way to get it running on her own.)

"What about you and that man? You two don't seem like kindred spirits to me. Why are you sheltering together?"

Gine smiled. "We both need someone to watch our back when the other's asleep, eh? We'll part ways eventually when someone else comes along, I'm sure."

Ravi shrugged. "Whatever works for you."

"Well... It was nice meeting you, then."

Ravi made what she hoped resembled a sound of thanks.

"I guess I'll see you around. Maybe," Gine said.

"Can't guarantee it. But good luck."

Gine raised a single hand as a parting gesture and Ravi turned her body away, mind already mulling over a plan of action. She rolled one shoulder, testing it. She could probably fly some of the way back, though she'd have to walk the rest, and she couldn't guarantee she'd be able to keep track of Trunks' energy the entire time. She tried to think if there had been any landmarks that could—

"Oh," Ravi blurted, glancing over her shoulder. "To call us even, I'll tell you this: if you get sick of being out here, you should know that the Prince of Saiyans is back, on this planet. Your sympathy for half-bloods might work in your favour. He'd probably be willing to talk with you, at least."

Gine, who had already started to walk away, froze in place. When she turned back, her face was frozen in something Ravi could only describe as an intimately vulnerable shock.

"Oh gods," Gine said. She touched her fingers to her lips, nearly obscuring them. "Oh gods. He's alive?"