Disclaimer: Adult language, violence, and sexual situations.


Chapter 20

The Merits of Interference

"Speech" 'Telepathy' Thought

Mr. Popo hummed a light tune as he happily swept the floor, enjoying the monotony of his daily chore and overall caretaking of the Lookout grounds. The ebony genie paused a moment to observe a whimsical butterfly as it fluttered across from him and dipped down to rest on the banister he'd polished earlier. Smiling, he chuckled and stepped over to watch the delightful and delicate creature flutter its wings before eventually taking flight again. He was at the top of the staircase that led to the walkway towards the unassuming door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber when he sighed and resumed sweeping.

Below him, Kami was contemplating his decision to omit the knowledge that had awakened in the repressed recesses of his memories. The series of unfortunate events from long ago had motivated his decision to not tell the woman who'd once been a fearsome destroyer of monsters and the reincarnation of his own malevolent counterpart of their spiritual connection. The knowledge had trickled slowly back to him over the course of meeting Sofia and watching her interact with Piccolo. He'd felt conflicted about holding back what he knew, but deep down, the resoluteness of his intention couldn't be denied.

They had to be revealed to each other by one another. To have interfered with the natural progression of things blossoming between them would've led to a dangerous amount of trauma, while possibly having stunted any real transformative growth that needed to happen between the twin stars.

Still, he couldn't help worry. He might be considered divinity to many mortals, but he wasn't infallible. Scowling, the elder Namekian and guardian of Earth climbed the staircase leading up to the walkway his longtime friend Mr. Popo was dutifully keeping tidy when he heard the distinct clicking of a door echo down to him.

Reaching the top of the staircase, Kami glanced over at the curve of the walkway before hurriedly closing the distance between he and his friend.

Mr. Popo had paused in his task and was currently looking over at the large wooden door, as it swung slowly open to reveal Piccolo and Sofia. In awe, Mr. Popo glanced at Kami, who'd come to stand beside him as he too stared wide eyed at the couple, honing in instantly at their interlocked hands as they emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber out to the fresh and sunny day shining across the Lookout.

Piccolo was glancing at her, and she at him as they exited, as if they were silently communicating—their hands remaining interlocked as she smiled serenely and leaned playfully against him. His younger and usually reticent counterpart not only allowed the gesture, but also seemed to enjoy her closeness. It was quite the contrast to when they'd entered the chamber as quarreling reluctant allies, but now—What in the world…? Could they have really become gemini equals, truly?

The elder Namek remained shocked, even when Mr. Popo had broken free of his awe to amble over to the pair and greet them jovially. Kami watched as Sofia smiled and hugged his friend as if it'd been ages since she'd seen him. Piccolo remained stoically behind her as she chatted, allowing her to lean affectionately against him as she gushed about her time training and all the changes she'd gone through. And how she's changed! She looks exactly like Kyouran…except still herself, Kami noted, glancing at Piccolo, who'd begun engaging Mr. Popo in actual pleasant conversation. My my—what in the world could have initiated such a stark shift in their demeanors?

Unable to help himself, the benevolent sage reached out with his mind and delved into the psyches of the couple, realizing they were now psychically linked. The privilege of skimming through the memory recesses of others without their knowledge came in handy at the moment, allowing him to see what amounted to a flurry of events that had transpired between the twin stars over the span of 6 months for them. From their strife, to their moments of true hostility, to the surprising quiet and tender moments they'd shared—Kami was able to see what no one else had witnessed.

Including the moments of sensual intimacy between them.

Mini reveries of Sofia laughing and letting her guard down intertwined with Piccolo's begrudging intrigue becoming a powerful allure towards her began to flash across his mind's eye, showing how their mutual feelings had pulled them together in a magnetic attraction that seeped from mind, soul…and eventually body.

Like a powder keg of emotional fireworks, he watched their eventual enthralling unity become sumptuously lustful—blossoming from the first kiss to the awkward yet beguiling encounter of their first sultry moment when she was bemused by her dream, to then careening into scampering reveries of their multiple sessions of lovemaking. Flashes of Sofia and Piccolo amorously entwined against each other, unabashedly relishing in the carnal delight each was giving and taking from the other, flooded his telepathic vision. Scenes of passionate entanglements fell into sequences that ran the spectrum of tender coition, to torrid-yet-playful coupling—like the sudden flash of Sofia being tossed onto a purple bed to be quickly joined by Piccolo, their eyes heavy-lidded as the imposing Namek boldly pressed into her and claimed her with possessive desire while she arched and clutched at his chest before they carried on into making love with burning need and yearning until they climaxed heartily, leading them to savor the sensual moment of post-coital bliss as Piccolo pulled Sofia close to him while they lounged in warm repose with each other—

'…Old man—?!'

His younger counterpart's baritone grouse cut through Kami's psychic interloping and left him staring nonplussed at the other Namek, who was now fighting a blush of shocked embarrassment as he glared aghast at his older half.

'Uhhh…'

Unbeknownst to Sofia, who was still congenially carrying on with Mr. Popo, both Nameks sweatdropped and began averting their gazes in utter mortification of each other—one because he realized his older half had totally just gotten a mental eyeful while the other had to grapple with feeling like a lecherous peeping Tom.

Finally snapping her sentence short, Sofia glanced at Piccolo, then over at Kami, realizing she had yet to greet the elder. "Oh—hey Kami! Long time no see," she remarked and started to walk over to him when she felt the weird-yet-goofy tension between the two Nameks. Glancing back and forth, she narrowed her eyes conspiratorially as she drawled, "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing!" both shouted unconvincingly in unison, causing Sofia to sweatdrop.

Putting a hand on her hip and tapping her foot, she mused, "Why do you both look like you got caught doing some weird shit then?"

'Not a word, old man—!'

'As if I would be so obscene as to say anything, you dolt—'

'Oh, obscene like taking a psychic stroll through our memories and watching us?!'

'I did not INTEND to watch anything—'

'Well who the hell invited you to be a creepy voyeur—?!'

'Gentlemen!' Nail suddenly chimed in. 'Any more of a prolonged pause and she'll start twisting your ears to get you both to talk, so I suggest you both hush,' the raspy grunted remark was stifling amusement, but still managed to sound forceful.

"Well? What is up with you—oh wait," Sofia began before pausing, "I get it…"

Piccolo telepathically cursed while Kami mentally gulped.

"Are you both telepathically berating each other about why we had to leave the time chamber early?"

Both Nameks face-faulted to the ground, leaving Sofia with a perplexed expression, as she confusedly looked over at Mr. Popo in silent question.

"Oh, I hope whatever they're suffering isn't contagious," the ebony genie joked as he went over to help Kami while Sofia grabbed Piccolo.

Both standing, Piccolo grunted and moodily crossed his arms with a huff of disdain while Kami coughed and cleared his throat.

"Well, now that you mention it, you both did leave the chamber before the full 24 hours originally intended," Kami realized and directed his inquisitive gaze to Sofia, before glancing at Piccolo.

"Yeah…about that. How long have we been in the chamber? Is everything alright down on Earth?" Sofia inquired, her demeanor becoming earnest as she rushed forward and paused before directing her gaze upwards to the Southeast quadrant of the sky.

Holy hell…is that…?!

"Everything is fine. You've been in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for roughly 12 hours—" Kami's explanation was cut off by her crimson gaze flashing back to his before darting back at Piccolo.

Don't they FEEL that?! It's far off still…but I can feel it pinging in the back of my skull…

The two Namekians exchanged a perplexed look before Sofia surprised them both by hopping over the walkway's banister to suddenly blast off to the edge of the Lookout to peek down at the fluffy clouds as they trekked by languidly and broke up in certain spots to reveal the splendor of the world below. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind as far as she could, trying to catalogue all the higher than normal power levels before she honed onto them.

"Sofia! What's wrong—?" Piccolo began as he phased to stand next to her, but cut himself off as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nothing. We're not too late," she mused quietly as she looked over at him, before glancing back to the palace entrance as Kami and Popo walked past the threshold and out into the sprawling main courtyard. "There's still time to ask Kami about…you know," she ventured, turning towards him to take his hand again. "Just don't yell at him, ok?" she warned with a wry smile as Piccolo glanced over at his counterpart and huffed.

"To hell with that," he began, and earned a scoff from Sofia. "I get the divine intervention thing he likes to pull on people, but I do not appreciate being toyed with—"

"I'd hardly call him omitting stuff being 'toyed with,' babe," she quipped, earning a glowering look from him. "Yeah, I know. I'm trying to get all the pet names out of my system, but who knows the next time when I'll have you all to myself?" she offered with genuine affection as she put her hands behind her back and leaned against his side, earning a long amused huff from Piccolo.

Kami watched them from the distance. Thank goodness. They're both stronger…and united. It's a bond I could've never imagined. The anxiety and second-guessing could finally be put to bed. Sure, there was still a lot to be decided on in regards to Sofia's presence in this realm, but he now had confidence that all of that would be resolved, one way or another. The worst part was over now; only a bright future seemed to be on the horizon.

Suddenly phasing in front of the elder Namek, Sofia and Piccolo took their distinctive stances next to each other as they looked skeptically at the guardian of Earth. "You both have questions, I know—"

"No shit, and you know what they are, so start talking—" Piccolo began to demand when Sofia playfully elbowed him in the side.

"Oh, for the love of Saiyans—would you quit it? I don't want you two arguing back and forth. We ain't got the time," she chided congenially. "Listen, we know you put a block on any memories involving Daimao and my past life, and then put a blockade on those recessive memories in Piccolo's mind, but I just want to know…" she paused, leaving everyone hanging on her words before she leaned forward and snapped, "did you always know I'd turn him into a full-on sexually-liberated-swinging-it-like-a-boss dude?!"

Now it was everyone but Sofia face-faulting to the ground as she chuckled goofily in the middle and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry, I needed an ice breaker."

"DAMMIT—YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BRING THAT UP, SOFIA!" Piccolo towered over her as he barked in fuming embarrassment while she held up her hands in surrender and laughed.

"How could I NOT bring it up, Piccolo?! It's sort of a HUGE deal—like, real big…" she retorted provocatively and batted her lashes at him.

Well, at least they haven't changed THAT much… Kami mused humorously to himself as he watched them bicker.

"Wait—you said there isn't much time?" the benevolent elder inquired, and glanced between the couple. "Why did you leave the chamber early?"

"Oh yeah…well without getting into specifics, I sensed something bad was going to happen and we wouldn't be there to help if it did actually happen," Sofia responded and looked up at that same quadrant of sky she had earlier. "And now that we're out of the chamber…I definitely think leaving was the right thing," she whispered and glanced back at Kami. "I have questions, but I think they're going to have to wait. Piccolo?" she glanced over at her twin star and put her hand on her hip, leaning in that casual pose he'd come to know as her falling back in deferment gesture.

Crossing his arms and scowling over at his elder counterpart, Piccolo curtly replied, "I only want to know why you didn't just tell me from the beginning. I get blocking everything out to prevent my sire from remembering and pursuing the whole twin star business, but why keep it from me?"

Sighing, Kami stepped closer until he and Piccolo were staring stoically at each other. "I was afraid you'd fight it and refuse to let things happen naturally. I didn't want to interfere. Also…" the elder Namek diverted his gaze before adding, "I was worried that history would repeat itself, with even more dire consequences this time, if I'd influenced you both."

Grunting, Piccolo glanced at Sofia. 'I don't like it…but it makes sense.'

Sofia nodded, and came up beside Kami, surprising the elder when she hugged him. "It's okay, Kami. We forgive you—"

"Speak for yourself," Piccolo cut in, back to scowling.

Huffing dramatically, Sofia stepped back from embracing the other half of her Namekian lover before barking, "Oh alright—c'mon, then. We can't stand here so you can berate him all day. We got stuff to check up on."

"Humph, fine. We'll be back, old man," Piccolo offered as farewell as he turned with a flutter of his cape and stalked away to cross the center of the courtyard towards the edge of the Lookout.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't tell us," Kami glanced away from Piccolo's retreating form back to Sofia. "Was it ideal? Hell no! But…I don't think I would've wanted it to have gone differently. Thank you," she remarked with a genuine smile before raising her hand in farewell and moving in a flash to be next to Piccolo at the Lookout's edge.

"You're welcome," the benevolent guardian of Earth whispered with a soft smile as he watched the twin stars look across the expanse of the sky, expecting them to hop off and take flight, side by side.

Instead, Sofia glanced over at Piccolo before cozying up to him. "Since this will be the last time for a while…can I have a kiss?" she mused flirtatiously up at him, draping her arms over his shoulder pads as he stared intensely down at her.

"You already got one before we left the chamber," he tersely muttered, but couldn't submerge the edge of a smirk that was pulling at his lips.

She sighed fawningly before encircling her hands behind his neck.

"Fine, but I've always wanted to do this…"

"Do what—?" Piccolo began before she suddenly tipped herself backwards and pulled him along with her as they dove off the Lookout edge to fall through the clouds at a quick pace.

Grunting in surprise, Piccolo encircled her waist and held her close to him as she tightened her grip around his neck, the world zipping past them and the rush of the air zooming by as she giggled and pulled him down to meet her lips. 'Freefall kiss,' she mused telepathically after they both instinctually willed ki to flow and propel them up and diagonal to barrel together through the sky.

'You're insatiable, you know that?!' he chided as he let go of his grip on her so they would fall side by side in flight formation, squeezing her hand before letting it go.

Glancing over at the handsome Namek, Sofia smiled to herself before countering, 'Can you blame me?'

'…And you're gonna be able to keep it in check when we haven't been out of the chamber for more than 20 minutes?' he quipped, shaking his head as she huffed loudly over their telepathic rapport, none the wiser that his lips were smudged with her lipstick.

'Ye of little faith! I figured it didn't count in front of Kami and Popo. And I didn't get any complaints from you—'

'Alright, fine. That didn't count,' he interjected before continuing with his telepathic inquiry, 'Where are we going?' He glanced sidelong at her as they jetted through the sky, keeping their energy trails stifled from spilling out their spiritual auras.

'If I've guessed correctly, our first stop should be Mt. Paozu to check in on Gohan,' she replied, adding, 'I know you'd like me to explain—'

Piccolo shook his head. 'No need,' he cut in, coming short of saying, I trust you, but he thought of it.

Nodding, Sofia smiled and winked at him. 'Alright—I'll race you there!' she smirked before willing a burst of ki to shoot down and cause a red energy contrail to cut through the sky ahead of him as she sped off. Ruefully shaking his head, Piccolo followed her lead, blasting a torrent of ki to propel him like a missile across the sky to quickly catch up to her.

She spun around and shot down like she was a speed demon jetting along, yahoo'ing all the way until he barreled past her with a confident wave for her to eat his dust. Cackling, she sped back into her competitive zeal and gained on him as they saw the edge of the lush green valleys and mountains appear ahead. Slowing down, they coursed across the sky side by side and admired the beautiful terrain that made up Mount Paozu—the home of the Son family, appearing in the valley just over yonder.

Just as they neared the other end of the valley where the humble residence rested, Piccolo and Sofia stopped in mid-air and watched as suddenly someone got flung out of one of the bedroom windows of the cottage, and was quickly followed by a ranting and furious Chi-Chi as she began to chase the man around the entire property until she ran him out of the valley.

"What the—" Piccolo began, pausing when Sofia slapped her hands over her mouth and started giggling. The gesture reminded him of King Kai when he'd badly stifle his idiotic chortled laughter. "Uhhh…"

"Alright! Perfect timing," Sofia declared and fist pumped before glancing over at him. "Thanks for trusting me, Piccolo. We couldn't have planned this any better," she offered, her expression looking lovely to him as her rouged lips quirked to reveal her dazzling smile and her eyes crested with mirth. "I got an idea. Just follow my lead, okay?"

"Isn't that what I've been doing up to now?" he quipped acerbically back, smirking when she grunted with humor and shrugged as if to say "indeed!" before she floated over and wiped the rouge kiss print of her lips off of his.

He rolled his eyes, about to harangue her on not wearing that crap if she insisted on kissing on him all the time, but instead let the comment die when she glanced back at the Son residence with a pensive air to her features.

It'll be an exercise in impulse control for the both of us at this rate. He mused to himself before muttering telepathically, 'Lead the way…but try to keep it kid-friendly, would yah?'

Sofia glanced back at him, and winked, with a wicked smile curling her lips.


It had been a stressful short period for the demi-Saiyan. After saying goodbye to his friends, Gohan had come home to find his mother ready and resolute that he'd stick to his studies. Not only that, but she'd hired a supercilious and overbearing tutor that had tested his temper unlike anything since his escapades on Namek. Gohan was still glancing out the window his mother had chased said awful tutor through when he heard a familiar flutter.

"Hello, Gohan."

Startled, the young hybrid glanced up and caught sight of Piccolo and Sofia. Wait…is that really her?! The surprised look in his eyes only widened when the visitors landed in front of his window. Hopping over the windowsill, Gohan balked up at Sofia, who was now much taller than she'd been not even half a day ago. He registered all the changes she'd undergone, zipping all around her as she stood like a poised and stoic sentinel before him.

"Whoa…wow Sofia! You got super tall—and wow your eyes are red?! And hey—you're—"

"Easy, kid. She's definitely changed a lot, but we sort of knew that was gonna happen, remember?" Piccolo interjected; getting Gohan to direct his wide and curious stare back up at his sensei. "Besides all that—"

"Hello, Gohan. It is so nice to see you again. I hope you have been well," Sofia cut in in the same stoic and robotic tone she'd originally used, causing Gohan to sweatdrop as Piccolo set his jaw and eyed her. "I hope you have been keeping up with your studies and are on the fast track to becoming a scholar—"

"Uhhh…yeah, I've been studying, but are you alright? You seem…different?" Gohan took a cautious step back as he eyed her. "I mean, it's just you sound really different now—"

"What ever do you mean, Son Gohan? I am still the same amiable friend from yesterday. My transformation has not altered my personality," the stoic android-like composure of her tone and expression now even made Piccolo sweatdrop. "Now let us converse over batteries—I mean human food for eating, ha-ha-ha," she continued and watched as Gohan went from curious to fighting an awkward blue blush of unease before she finally couldn't hold back. "Pfffft-HAHAHAHAH! You should see the look on your FACE! Buahahhahah," she suddenly burst into guffaws as Piccolo groaned humorlessly while Gohan face-faulted to the ground. She continued to cackle until tears were in her eyes and she was leaning on Piccolo for support while the Namek rolled his eyes and shot Gohan a perturbed glance.

"Hey! No fair—" Gohan shouted with relieved laughter as he playfully shoved Sofia, who was so solid now she didn't even budge under his hybrid strength.

"Hahah—I gotcha, and you were totally quaking in your little brown shoes, admit it!" she joked, leaning down to playfully noogie his coarse raven-haired scalp as she added, "I saw your mom running off that Mr. Shu tool tutor of yours."

Laughing, Gohan grinned, "Yeah—he wasn't a very nice man. But hey—how was that chamber?! You feel much stronger now, Piccolo."

"We had to cut our time in their short. Something's coming. Sofia sensed it—" Piccolo began as he crossed his arms before Sofia suddenly leaned over and elbowed him.

"Nevermind that. Besides that Mr. Shu jerk, everything else been okay since we left?" she interrupted before leaning down to be at eye-level with Gohan.

"Well yeah…why? Should I—?"

"Nope. Nevermind, kid. We were just checking. I felt like we needed to leave the chamber early, and so far it seems like that was a good idea. Still—don't worry about it. Next stop is over at Capsule Corp., but I'm glad you're doing well," she offered instead, giving him a reassuring look as she patted his shoulder and stood to her height.

"Oh ok…but would you tell me if something wasn't alright?" the intelligent young boy remarked, glancing between both his friends.

Piccolo deferred to Sofia, who responded smoothly, "I'd tell you to just stay on ready, if anything. We have to go, but hey, no worries; we'll see each other sooner than you think, ok?"

Nodding, Gohan announced, "Ok, I'll 'stay on ready,' sure. Say hi to Bulma for me, then. Maybe after I finish my homework, I can meet up with you guys later?"

Piccolo nodded after Sofia telepathically told him it wouldn't do any harm. "Sure, kid. Now get back inside before your harpy mother catches you," he mused in his baritone grouse before ruffling the boy's hair.

"Hahah, ok, see you guys later!"

With that, he hopped back through his bedroom window and offered them a wave as Sofia began to levitate upward, waiting for Piccolo to quickly join her. She offered Gohan a 2 fingered salute-style wave before they blasted off in direction to the Western Capital.

Today is the day. Frieza will arrive on Earth sometime this afternoon…I hope everything goes down as it's supposed to.

'I don't see how you're going to be able to keep that up,' Piccolo suddenly cut into her internal musings.

Glancing sidelong at him as they zipped at a decent clip across the sky, Sofia settled her features into that unreadable mask he'd come to know well. 'I…don't know either, honestly. But I have to try. Telling someone what will happen can influence their choices and alter the natural course of events—and not always for the better. I want to help, but I think the best I can do is only stepping in if something is off. For better or worse, I don't think I can in good conscience intervene in events even when I know the outcome sucks…'

Piccolo reflected on her logic for a few minutes as they flew towards the outskirts of the sprawling Western Capital, the towering buildings and monoliths gleaming under the bright sunny day as the populace milled about in their hover cars and in the throngs of foot traffic across the city streets.

She was in the middle of stifling the pinging of the massive power level out on the outskirt of the galaxy that kept reverberating in her mind like a dull psychic sonar fluctuation when she sensed two other power levels flickering in the distance. Whoa…one is still really far. But the other is zooming closer. She wondered if she was sensing the two enigmatic and drastically polar opposite Saiyans.

'You told us—me—about Frieza still being alive and coming…that influenced the choices I've made,' Piccolo's gruff analysis cut into her thoughts, quickly followed by, 'While you've clearly intervened already by telling us about it, I understand it'll be a fine line for you to balance between without crossing. It's going to be weird…'

Humming, she started to worry that the struggle between wanting to help and knowing when to do so without creating any real waves would be too hard to navigate. Could she really feel out the level her influence could have on just being present in a moment, or interacting with others?

'Hey,' he snapped her thoughts back and earned a sidelong glance from her as he continue, 'Don't get bogged down. As long as you're being mindful of the information you divulge, I think you can make it work. I'll help you figure it out, in any case.'

Smiling demurely, Sofia gave him a curt nod, enjoying his level of candor and willingness to selflessly reassure her even when she knew he'd rather tell her to just stop worrying.

The gigantic and iconic domed top of the Capsule Corporation headquarters came into view across the cityscape as they began their descent and slowed their speeds. They jetted around the perimeter of the sprawling grounds and smaller domed edifices before Sofia paused in flight and glanced over to main building. Yep, they're over on that patio.

Hovering over towards a medium-sized patio balcony while still high up in the air, Sofia and Piccolo picked up on the tail end of a conversation between the group of friends that were lounging at a picnic table. The first thing that both noticed was the sea foam blue perm that coifed about as Bulma laughed. Yikes, that is just not a good look… Sofia winced and gave Piccolo a look before he raised a browridge at her and shrugged.

"—you kissed him?!" was the irate remark that echoed up from the patio.

"It was just a dream, Yamcha! Under all that bluster, he's actually just a big teddy bear—"

"What?! You can't be serious, Bulma!"

"Haha, busted. You poor sap, you're jealous, arent'cha!" Oolong cackled at Yamcha's expense.

"Sounds like it to me."

Everyone on the deck looked up at Sofia, who was hovering in mid-air with her arms crossed. Levitating slowly down to the furthest railing, she glanced over at Bulma's startled expression and watched as recognition slowly began to dawn on her.

"Sofia?! Is—oh wow, it is you!" she gasped as her cheery mother came onto the patio with a platter balancing tea and other treats and also joined in with an awed exclamation.

Raising her hand in casual greeting, Sofia retorted, "Yo. S'been a while—err actually, half a day, huh." Just as she sat balanced precariously on the railing, Bulma zipped over to eye her methodically, cataloguing all her changes.

"Bulma, you know this girl?" Yamcha balked, staring at Sofia up and down while Oolong opening gaped at the tall and exotic looking female.

"Yeah—but oh man, you look totally different now, but not really all at the same time. If that makes any sense," the heiress of Capsule Corp. exclaimed as she scientifically stared and poked at Sofia, who just snorted and allowed the intrusive inspection.

"Yeah, it does. Hey, Mrs. Briefs!" she enthusiastically waved over at the cheerful blonde. "Hope it's okay that we just dropped by. Didn't mean to intrude."

"Oh not at all! It's always great to have guests. The more the merrier!" the woman chirped as she went about refilling everyone's drinks.

"Wait—'we'?" Yamcha inquired, raising his scarred eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh yeah—sorry. You know how he is," Sofia answered smoothly and gestured with her thumb upwards to the domed top of the building, where Piccolo was sitting lotus-style and being antisocial.

Balking in shock, Yamcha and Oolong began to sputter in confusion as Mrs. Briefs happily shouted a hello up to the brooding Namek. Piccolo acknowledged them with a curt nod, but didn't budge from his position.

"What in the world—ok wait, just who ARE you?! I'm totally out of the loop here," Yamcha whined as he sat up from his chair.

"Who said you had to be in the loop to begin with, bub?" Sofia groused and shot him a glare before adding, "Also, you're being hella rude." When the fighter balked with a sweatdrop and looked over at Oolong, who just shrugged in bemusement, Sofia directed her crimson gaze towards Bulma's mother. "Mrs. Briefs, I didn't mean to interrupt you. Weren't you about to say something?" she coaxed as she crossed her arms and went back into her leaning position on the railing.

"Oh?" the blonde held a finger thoughtfully to her lip before exclaiming, "Oh yeah! Now I remember. Speaking of Vegeta, your father said that his spaceship should be running out of fuel soon. It'll be nice to have him back—"

"Nice?! He's a total jerk! He stole the ship so he could scowl around in space looking for Goku, our friend, remember?! I'd say that'd make him anything but nice," the former desert bandit cut in snidely before dropping back down in his chair and leaning backwards in it with a dismissive huff.

"Yeah—that guy gives me the creeps! He seriously scares the bacon out of me. I'm glad he ain't around," Oolong added nasally and earned a grunted agreement from Yamcha.

Rolling her eyes, Sofia held her tongue as she suppressed the perturbed throbbing of the vein indicating her temper was flaring and huffed, earning Bulma's attention. "I hope Goku is ok. Can you give us any hint on when he'll be back?" the blue-eyed woman inquired with clasped hands towards Sofia.

Sighing, she was about to respond when Yamcha cut in, "How would she know?! I'm still waiting on a proper explanation and introduction, by the way."

"Grr—it's none of yer business, dude! Jeez. Bulma, PLEASE tell me you're not still dating this guy," Sofia snarled and showed off her pointed fangs when she sneered, "I've had to listen to him jaw on for 2 minutes and I already wanna pummel him—"

"Oh my," Mrs. Briefs chirped as she held her hand in front of her mouth in second-hand embarrassment for Yamcha. "Now now, everyone. There's no need to argue. Sofia, would you like something to drink? And how about you, Piccolo!?" the ditzy blonde asked and shouted the latter sentence up at the Namek, who dug his chin into his chest as he cringed from the woman's piercingly annoying tone.

"Whoa! Why're you offering her something to drink after she's bit my head off?!" Yamcha whined sourly, earning a long dramatic scoff from Bulma and another sneer from Sofia.

"Oh, look at that—I forgot to check in on the hubby," Mrs. Briefs nervously offered as an excuse to extricate herself from the escalating argument; ambling off back into the headquarters building in her non-confrontational flight mode. "Help yourselves to any snacks and refreshments!" she shouted in her retreat.

"Yamcha! Just cool it already. Sofia is a friend and I don't appreciate you being so haughty—"

"ME?! She's been nothing but mean to me since she landed! And that reminds me—just how can you even fly when I can't sense a lick of a power level from you? I thought you had to have SOME spiritual energy to be able to muster flying—" the fighter's rant was cut off when Sofia suddenly phased to be in front of the picnic table and leaned in to tower over the self-centered man, who bit his tongue and grimaced at the intense glare she was boring down on him.

'Sofia…' Piccolo began to warn when she suddenly pulled her small backpack off, tossed it to an unobtrusive corner of the patio, and sat in the patio chair across from Yamcha and next to Oolong, who was now openly leering at her.

Composing herself, she stared back with an unreadable expression on her features as she mused, "That's a lot of story I don't think you're privy to, alright? In any case, I doubt you'd believe it anyway, and I don't feel like arguing with you." She dismissively glanced away from him to Bulma as she continued, "As for Goku: he should be fine. Not too long now until he arrives back to Earth. Oh, and thanks again for giving me the money to buy my mirror, Bulma. You're a real life saver."

"Ah, it was nothing! Don't mention it. I'm glad everything seems to have worked out. You definitely have to fill me in on the details, because you've sure evolved big time since I saw you yesterday, and I can't lie – I'm super curious," the congenial woman stated with her hands on her hips as she walked over and leaned back on the railing adjacent to the patio table they were sitting at. "By the way, we're going to barbecue in a little while. You're welcome to hang out and take a load off."

Blinking, Yamcha was about to go back into his defensive haranguing when Sofia suddenly shot her gaze upwards to the sky.

As if on cue, the flaring contrail of a huge object entering the atmosphere zipped along the sky before honing straight down over the Capsule Corp. grounds. The giant spherical ship began to plummet like dead weight down until it crashed raucously in the courtyard between several smaller domed buildings and the main headquarters edifice. The booming tremor of the crash landing shook them in their seats. Everyone seemed flummoxed by the sudden arrival, except Sofia.

"Yeah, you might want to go check on that," Sofia shot over at Yamcha as she leaned back in her seat, unbothered. 'Don't worry. It's only Vegeta,' she mentally offered to Piccolo, who'd grunted in telepathic inquiry to her.

Everyone but Oolong rushed down to the courtyard grounds to investigate the source of the crash while Sofia began to peruse the drink options that were clustered on the tabletop. The usually cowardly pig ogled her as she gave up and sighed, his invasive stare zeroing in to gawk opening at her cleavage.

"You can look, but you can't touch, pig."

Oolong flinched and froze as he glanced up at her glaring crimson stare and could've sworn he saw her eyes glow at him. He gulped loudly. "Uh, I think that's my cue to take off. Tell the gang I'll be seeing them!" The shape-shifter transformed into a pudgy bird and flew off without a second glance.

Ignoring the pig's fearful hedging, she focused on listening in to the exchange down from the courtyard before standing from her seat to look down on the action. Sure enough, Capsule 3 opened its door to reveal a surly Vegeta as he walked down onto the ramp and glowered down at Yamcha, Puar and Mrs. Briefs, who was currently spilling tons of tea all over her serving tray. Hopping down from the ship, Vegeta and Yamcha went into their verbal sparring before Bulma sauntered over and diffused the situation.

"Now now, boys. The chitchat can wait. After all, does anyone else know what that awful smell is?" she stood between the two warriors before shooting a flirty glance at Vegeta. "Oh, it's you," she offered playfully and pressed her index finger against the Saiyan's battered chestplate. "Looks like you could use a shower," she mused and gestured for him to follow her, to the complete shock of everyone. "What? Are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?" She snapped over her shoulder at the perplexed prince. Instead of the irate reaction they expected, they were all taken aback when the mercurial Saiyan went from slight hesitation to actually begrudgingly following her back towards the headquarters building.

Snickering, Sofia loped back over to her original leaning position on the railing that faced the doorway onto the patio when Piccolo came down from the roof to join her, crossing his arms broodingly as he glanced sideways at her. "I can sense Krillin coming this way. Tell me we're not actually gonna stay here all damn day," he grumbled, stare intensifying when she shrugged noncommittally at him.

"No, we're not going to stay here all damn day. But if you want, you can hang back until it's time to go," she answered coolly, watching as sure enough, the bald-headed diminutive statured monk flew across the sky towards the headquarters building. Piccolo grunted at her response, but took her up on the offer. He preferred to stay away from social circles when he could, so he took flight to sit at the top of a smaller domed building right across from the high-storied patio.

By the time the casually dressed Krillin landed on the balcony, Yamcha and Puar had come back and were filling the shorter fighter in. Unlike her interaction with Yamcha, Sofia went over and shook the former monk's hand, introducing herself smoothly while the scar-faced former bandit sputtered and haughtily sulked at his proven hostile treatment by the imposing and enigmatic woman.

Soon enough, Bulma had rejoined them on the patio and was chatting it up when Vegeta began to shout for her from the recesses of the hallway across where a large bathroom sat; he had just emerged from his shower. The classic scene she knew by heart played out where the two stubborn and soon-to-be couple argued back and forth about the merits of a man wearing pink. When the Saiyan emerged in his pink 'Badman' shirt and lime green slacks, Sofia had to stifle a snicker as they all laughed at Bulma's joke.

"Stop that! I've killed men for less!" the mercurial prince threatened venomously and cut all the laugher off immediately.

Bulma was unruffled by his threat and simply said, "Look, just relax. You can stay here. Goku will be back. I've known him since he was a kid, and he always turns up when you need him the most."

Gritting his jaw, the Saiyan scowled and crossed his arms, glaring across the patio and noticing the exotic woman for the first time. She was leaning on the railing as an almost silent spectator. Never seen her before. He honed in on her with his mind, and found no trace of a power level coming from the tall and curvaceous woman with the crimson eyes that now locked onto his. Pathetic. Even this silly flying rodent emits some paltry power level.

"Oh, where are my manners – Vegeta, this is our friend Sofia," Bulma began introducing when she caught the two regarding each other. "Sofia, this is—"

Moving so quickly that even he didn't quite register her speed, Sofia was suddenly a couple of feet in front of Vegeta when she cut in, "The Prince of all Saiyans needs no introduction. His reputation spans even across into my dimension, after all." As she spoke the latter, she bowed in a gesture reminiscent to the respectful stance of deference he hadn't seen done since his father King Vegeta was saluted by his Saiyan subjects at court back on Vegetasei.

In slight awe, he found himself instinctually returning the gesture, something hardwired into his royal blood even when he began to skeptically eye the woman up and down. She's in no way a Saiyan, so how could she even know—?

Piccolo's scowl deepened as he watched the display from his vantage point, for some reason feeling displeased at the sense of familiarity she was giving the foul-tempered bastard.

"Nice to see someone on this backwater planet knows how to properly show respect to a Saiyan elite," Vegeta smirked and replayed what she'd said, particularly liking the emphasis on 'all' rather than the typical 'ALL' that people would retort in clear mocking of his title. Then he focused on what she'd said more precisely. "Wait. You said across into your dimension? What in blazes does that mean?" the gruff Saiyan raised a suspicious brow at her as everyone else grunted in acknowledgement to the oddity of the comment as well. Everyone except Bulma; she went over to prep the barbecue that was in the far corner of the patio when Sofia loped over to lend her a hand.

"Ah, well it's rather simple. I'm not from this dimension. Long story, but the cliff notes are I've studied this dimension, and know all the major events that are to take place here, so I've come to this dimension to help make sure things don't go off course from their natural progression. I've been trained by Piccolo, so I'm ready to jump in and mix it up if the occasion requires," Sofia explained without much worry as she got the barbecue ready for Bulma, who was sorting out the portions of meat that would be grilled. With the flick of her hand, Sofia produced a ki flame in the middle of her palm and held it over the grill before gesturing for Bulma to step back. "You don't wanna lose that perm, girl," she quipped as she let the flame drop. The grill instantly flared with powerful red flames that quickly ignited all of the charcoal in under a second before sizzling, ready for the spread.

Balking, all the men who could sense spiritual energy were at a loss by her subtle-yet-powerful displays, knowing from experience it meant she had to have a sizeable power level to pull off such feats.

"Whoa…not bad," Krillin offered as he continued to blink over at the tall girl.

Eyeing her with even more suspicion, Vegeta sized her up. She was taller than most Earthly females, but her exotic features were contradictory to the ferocious gleam of her pointed fangs and the otherworldly hue of her crimson eyes. That eye color was rare across most galaxies, and the Saiyan should know – he'd spent most of his life trekking across the universe and coming face-to-face with inhabitants from flung off worlds, not to mention glaring at the jeering red eyes of Frieza under all his years of subjugation. It was a comparison he didn't like, but at least the feeling he got from these red orbs were cool intrigue – free of any guile or hostility. While her bowing gesture earlier reminded him of his Saiyan brethren, her looks were anything but identifiable of his warrior race. For starters, her frame was nowhere near the musculature common to female Saiyans. Her lithe arms and tightly toned stomach didn't scream 'warrior' to him, nor did her hourglass figure. Secondly, that long thick dark hair of hers was too tame to be that of a Saiyan; not with even the likes of Kakarot's spawn – a half-breed no less, having inherited the distinctively wild and coarse mane characteristic of his bloodline. And thirdly, Saiyans did not have birth or beauty marks – just their prehensile tails, so the small beauty mark that skirted the top left corner of her mouth was a dead giveaway that she was not some missing member of the warrior tribe. Said beauty mark only made you want to focus on her curvaceous and rouged lips more, especially when they were currently pulling into a smile from something Bulma had said.

"Hey – I'm trying to fit in here! You guys dress in some colorful and mismatched styles all the time. Are my threads that bad?" Sofia responded to Bulma's backward compliment towards her attire, showing her goofy side when she started flexing and posing before adding, "C'mon, I look good!"

"I'll say," Krillin blurted out before his eyes went wide and he slapped his hands over his mouth, earning a sweatdrop from Sofia while everyone else but Vegeta began laughing. "I didn't mean it like that!" the former monk piped up before becoming more flustered from Sofia's mock frown. "I mean you're outfit stands out in a good way!"

From where he sat, Piccolo's stoic expression became a glower as he watched Sofia wave Krillin's stuttering off, unaware of Vegeta's pointed gaze roving over her. It made his blood boil for some reason he couldn't articulate. He didn't like it at all.

Blushing furiously, the short and bald fighter decided it was time to say his farewell and head back to Kame House before he kept putting his foot in his mouth. Once he was blasting off across the sky, Sofia continued to help Bulma with the grilling, until that buzzing at the back of her head would no longer be ignored. Jesus…I can sense them clearer now. That massive power level was really two. King Cold is no joke – he has to be 10 times stronger than Frieza..!

"So, you're from another dimension and have decided to meddle in this one because of what – boredom?" Vegeta gruffly snapped suddenly, interrupting her thoughts and getting everyone else to pause in their chatter. Sofia turned to focus her gaze completely on him, but didn't respond. Instead, she just raised a delicate brow at him, showing she was unruffled. Not liking that she wasn't taking the bait, Vegeta pressed on, "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or am I right on the money – after all, it seems wildly far fetched that someone would volunteer to hop from one dimension to another to intervene in events as if they're the arbiters of any realm. What makes you the authority to think you can meddle in the affairs of others?"

Sofia seemed to ponder his biting question, that is, until she shrugged aloofly and chirped, "Because I know almost everything about every last one of you, and while I'm no arbiter or authority on anything, I'd hate to see things get altered in this dimension."

Grunting cockily at that, Vegeta walked over and sat in one of the vacant patio chairs, arms still crossed as he shot her an acerbic look. "Well you're already at a bad start, with the Namek being your trainer," he jeered mockingly, sliding his snarky glare over at Piccolo from his perch on the rooftop adjacent to them. "What happened? Did he forget to turn you off of stealth mode?" he chuckled gravelly.

She could sense Piccolo's rising temper at the Saiyan's brash jabs, so she gave him a one-shouldered shrug as she mused, "Up until a year or so ago, you couldn't sense anything without a scouter. You thought you knew everything and were on the fast track to becoming an immortal juggernaut. But, that didn't happen. And a big reason for that was the Namek you're throwing so much shade at. Hell – that Namek was able to train Gohan to effectively whoop your ass for a few rounds before Goku Spirit Bombed your ass into the stratosphere. I'd say your powers of perception are skewed when you're letting ego dictate your thinking, Prince Vegeta."

Slack-jawed, Yamcha glanced back and forth between the two hotheads. Puar bristled and hid inside the fighter's shirt, while Bulma dropped the spatula as she balked in anticipation for the impending Saiyan blowup.

His countenance darkening with growing rage, Vegeta sputtered between clenched teeth, "What did you say?"

"You heard me just fine, Vegeta. Now, remember what happened the last time you squared up with a fighter you couldn't register a real power level from. If you wanna go, let's go. I'm happy to oblige—"

"Hey now, Sofia – I don't think that's a good idea," Yamcha began to stutter nervously as he inched away from the table, freezing and bristling when dark eyes and flaring red ones snapped to bore down on him.

"You don't have any good ideas ever, so don't try and share any now!" she snapped. "Just let the non-chicken-shit adults continue their discourse, would yah!?"

Vegeta grunted in agreement as he snapped his baleful glare back at her. She anticipated him coming at her for her insolence, but was surprised when he instead began to chuckle. "You got quite the mouth on you, stealth. I bet it gets you into tons of trouble when it runs of its own accord—"

"And your bet would be a good one, my Saiyan Prince, but if you also think that means I can't back it up, then you'd be mistaken," she interjected smoothly, pressing her hands down on the table to lean confidently forward to match him before unflinchingly smirking at him.

The tension was palpable between them, until Vegeta suddenly tossed his head back and laughed. "Just where in the hell did you come from? You've got moxie, stealth, I'll give you that," he declared as he gave her another once over and added, "But if you think you can beat me in any form of combat other than the tongue lashings you've tossed out, you're—"

Vegeta paused when she suddenly jerked her head up to the sky and froze, as if she was sensing something. When he was about to lose his temper at being dismissed, he faltered once the booming sensation of a malevolently massive power level struck him like a bolt of lighting. Choking on a grunt in the back of his throat, Vegeta shot his aghast stare up at the sky along with her. It can't be!

Piccolo was glaring up at the sky as well. The sheer size of the power level that was approaching the Earth was unlike anything he'd ever felt. Standing from his perch, he felt the buzzing shake within him like a tuning fork, reverberating into his very marrow.

"While I look forward to squaring up against you in a friendly spar, I think that's gonna have to wait, Vegeta…" Sofia finally spoke as she glanced back at him.

The Saiyan Prince was grappling with his befuddled rage at what he was sensing. He jerked the table, spilling the glasses of refreshments that had been at the center when he pounded his fist on it in astounded disbelief as he ground out, "That third-class clown failed after all! Frieza's still alive…and he's come for us all."

Yamcha had finally begun to sense what everyone else was stupefied by and gulped. "Maybe you're wrong. How can you know that for sure?!"

"I make it my business to know, you fool!" Vegeta snarled, whirling on the fighter. "After all that, Kakarot wasn't up to the job, and we're doomed unless we mobilize and strike now before Frieza even knows we're onto him."

"Well then it's time to go and do just that," Sofia announced and started to levitate upwards before taking flight, without a cursory glance back at the group on the patio. Piccolo joined her and they blasted off. Before long, she felt Vegeta and Yamcha gaining on them quickly before Vegeta slashed his way through the distance to fall in flight next to her far right.

Piccolo scowled over at the Saiyan, who wasn't paying him any attention. Just one of these days, he hoped he could punch that conceited smug smirk right off his face.

Before long, they were descending over a desolate arid landscape filled with rock formations and steep plateaus, barren of any vegetation. Vegeta landed first, followed by Yamcha, Sofia and Piccolo. Circling between them all, Yamcha was clearly terrified, but trying to hide it as best as he could.

So far, so good. Things are going just as they should. Sofia thought to herself, watching as Piccolo stalked off towards an incline to survey the sky while Vegeta and Yamcha snapped at each other.

"—zip it, would you?! I don't want him to know we're waiting," Vegeta groused at Yamcha before the sound of an approaching helicopter cut their bickering off.

Sure enough, Bulma and Puar landed, acting completely unfazed by the fact that everyone was on edge waiting for Frieza's arrival. Sofia hung back while the Capsule Corp. heiress confidently argued with her ex-boyfriend about the merits of her being there while Vegeta snorted. She took the opportunity to reach out and sense all the massive power levels in order to distinguish who was who. King Cold's was gargantuan, totally eclipsing Frieza's, who was still more powerful than everyone around her. She could faintly sense Goku's approaching ki level as it zoomed closer from a far-off recess of space, but she couldn't pick up Trunks's power level. At least not just yet.

Dropping down from the sky, Tien and Chiaotzu joined the quickly growing ranks of the Z Warriors who were mobilizing on the site. The triclops surveyed the small group and honed in on Vegeta's presence amongst them, and the acrimony he felt towards the Saiyan was palpable.

"You," Tien Shinhan seethed, glare boring over at the old nemesis while Chiaotzu tensed with trepidation. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face on Earth again, Vegeta. How can you stand the sight of him, Yamcha?!" he groused, glare never leaving his target.

"Aw, is that all you have to say?" Vegeta snickered dismissively.

"Not in the least. Actions speak louder than words, Saiyan, and I'm prepared to teach you just that—"

"Hah–bring it on!" Vegeta cut in antagonistically, not even flinching when Tien rushed forward and was restrained by Yamcha.

"Whoa, hey–cool it, Tien! This isn't the time—"

"I don't think there's a better time than this to straighten this Saiyan bastard out," Tien bit out between clenched teeth, shoving Yamcha off of him, but stopped in his approach when Chiaotzu clung to his leg and telepathically pleaded with him to stop.

Sofia raised a brow at that – very aware that the turn the exchange took wasn't right.

For his part, Vegeta huffed in dismissive amusement of the fighter, while Yamcha continued to try and rein in his friend. "Seriously, Tien. This isn't the place or time for that. You two definitely sensed what's coming, otherwise you wouldn't even be here."

"It's Frieza, isn't it," he asked rhetorically, earning a nod from the scar-faced fighter. Pausing, Tien Shinhan glanced down at Chiaotzu before raking his scrupulous glare over at everyone else present, noticing Sofia for the first time. All 3 eyes blinking in perplexed curiosity, he wondered how he couldn't sense her at all and was about to inquire on her identity when Krillin and Gohan zoomed down from the sky and landed yards away.

Bulma greeted them, and Yamcha shouted over at Gohan if Goku was back. When the young boy shook his head, their moods waned.

Noticing Sofia was there, Gohan rushed over to her. "Hey! It's just like you said; I 'stayed on ready,' and came as soon as I sensed something bad coming. Krillin did too. Is it really Frieza?" the demi-Saiyan asked, fists balled up with anxiety.

"Of course it is, brat! Now enough talk; mask your power levels, unless you want Frieza's minions to pick you up on their scouters. At least the Namekian and stealth over here have the right idea and are keeping a low profile," the mercurial Saiyan snapped at everyone before glancing over at Piccolo, who was reticently surveying the sky while all the drama played out behind him from his current perch.

Gohan blinked over at his friend when he offered him an acknowledging nod, then glanced wide eye up at Sofia, who offered him a goofy look as if to say "these guys are loony" when Tien's tensions suddenly flared again.

Harshly pulling off his winter gear and tossing it down to the dirt, the triclops snapped, "I won't take orders from the likes of you! You shouldn't even be here. How do we even know you won't turn on us and join that monster the first chance you get?"

Vegeta's mocking look turned dark as his brows furrowed and his scowl deepened. "Do not put me in the same league with that damned creature, three-eyes," he growled, turning to fully glare over at the fighter.

"We all know you were his whipping boy – not to mention that you're no match for him, so what's to stop you from turning tail or giving us all up just to save your own hide?!" Tien vehemently countered, jerking away from Yamcha who was trying to diffuse his contemptuous tirade.

Before Vegeta could open his mouth to counter, he was beat to the punch.

"Because while you were at King Kai's and these guys were on Namek, he took the ultimate whooping from that asshole Frieza, and paid for all his past bullshit dearly and in full by doing so!"

Everyone's attention was now directed to Sofia, who was addressing Tien.

Blinking slowly, Vegeta faintly betrayed his surprise before setting his reticent scowl back over his features as Sofia continued, "You might not like it, but he was on Namek fighting side by side with the rest of them. He stuck his neck out, and died for the cause," she gestured towards Gohan and Krillin as she added, "they can vouch for that. He could've grabbed a space pod and hauled ass out of there, or fallen back under Frieza's subjugation. But. He. Didn't. I think that earns him the same spot on this battlefield as you."

"…" Tien was flummoxed for a moment, before suddenly barking, "Wait, just who the hell are you?!"

Groaning dramatically and leaning backwards on the balls of her heels as she slapped her arms down on her sides, Sofia's patience was finally splintering.

"That's not even relevant right now! We can have tea and crumpets and I can tell you my whole life story some other goddamned time, but right now we all need to stop sniping at each other," she sharply snapped before pointing from Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha as she continued, "You, you, and you! I distinctly remember when all of you were on the opposite side of the battlefield and were Goku's enemies back in the day, yet here you are. If ya'll can reform and not be vilified for the past shit you did, then so can Badman over here – so, all of you, stow your shit already."

Staring in awe, Bulma and Puar watched as Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu bowed their heads in begrudging awareness of the truth, while Vegeta stood with his scrutinizing gaze and cross-armed stance, unwavering but clearly at a loss for words.

"Whoa…talk about a tongue lashing. Remind me to never make her mad," Krillin mumbled over to Gohan, who just nodded and hummed in mutual surprise.

Flinching in his spot, Piccolo turned and shouted, "He's here!" just as Frieza's massive ship appeared in the atmosphere and began descending. Everyone instantly froze in shock and horror – the terrifying level of power that was bearing down on them enough to unsettle even the uninitiated – Bulma and Puar clutching at each other for comfort in their fear as everyone else but Sofia shook in trepidation and watched the alien vessel course overhead before making landfall miles away, whipping the air, dust and debris around them brusquely.

Gohan was the only one to notice that Sofia didn't seem fazed or afraid. If anything, she stood with her arms crossed and stared in the direction of the ship's arrival like a person bemused, but expectant of something else.

"There's no doubt about it…it's him," Krillin mustered to blurt out.

Sofia was reaching out with her mind to sense for Trunks, but she registered no other ki signature but those on the enormous ship making it's landing and causing the ground to slightly tremor, even from their current distance.

"Listen up – nobody is allowed to fly!" Vegeta suddenly instructed harshly to the group, adding, "We have to go in on foot so our power levels aren't picked up."

Gohan felt a solid hand fall on his shoulder, startling him to look up at his old sensei. "Ready?" Piccolo asked his young friend, who nodded valiantly, ready to face the threat head on.

Sofia smiled at the two friends, getting lost in the moment for a few seconds until Yamcha's cowardly sputtering cut through. "Wait. Piccolo, let me get this straight – this guy is the most powerful opponent anyone has ever seen, and we're just supposed to go up against him?!"

"It's actually worse than that," Gohan answered, "Because he can become even stronger than he is now."

"Not only that, but there's someone else with him that's even more powerful…" Krillin chattered, quaking with fear.

Yamcha visibly paled. "Please…tell me you're joking! What is even the point – we can't defeat him. We're like total bugs to him. There's no way we can survive, so sneaking up on him is totally useless! How on Earth can we defeat him?! And he's even brought a friend along—?!"

"Would you shut the hell up and quit whining?! If you want to run and hide, then go ahead! But we already know what lies in store for us. We have to put a stop to him now, or you can kiss the planet goodbye." Piccolo's stern glare did little to quell the former desert bandit's fear.

"Are you finally catching on?" Vegeta cut in, adding, "Your backwater planet is doomed. That is, unless you put an end to your pathetic whimpering and find Frieza before he finds us. We just have to hike our ways to his location and meet him on the battlefield."

"Not necessarily."

Everyone turned to look at Sofia. She was in a pensive stance – thoughtfully drumming her black nail-tipped fingers on one bicep while her other hand was at her chin, index finger tapping her jawline as she pondered.

"What the hell do you mean, not necessarily," Vegeta groused, and earned a sharp glare from Piccolo before the imposing warrior glanced over at his twin star.

Loping over thoughtfully to the center of the group, Sofia continued to ponder before she suddenly mused out loud, "So…what if I could get us to where the ship landed, without being spotted…but under the condition that we all agree to not engage Frieza, King Cold—"

"Wait—Cold is with him?!" Vegeta interrupted, visibly flinching at the sound of the name.

Dropping her arms to her sides impatiently, she nodded. "Yes; Frieza and King Cold—as well as a cadre of their men. Now…" she paused as she walked past a perturbed Vegeta towards the steep cropping of rocks they would've climbed in direction of the large plateaus they'd have to traverse towards the site of the ship. "If I get us all there unnoticed, do you all agree to not engage them in battle?"

All the warriors balked momentarily before Yamcha whined, "WHAT?! Not fight?! What's that even mean—"

"That's certain suicide! Why would we even go to the battlefield if not to engage these bastards in battle?!" Tien cut in, while Gohan and Krillin stood perplexed and Vegeta cocked his head to the side to stare at her as if she was mad.

"I can't get into specifics—" Sofia began when Vegeta scoffed, Bulma began to sputter questions, and Puar and Chiaotzu now clung to each other in fearful confusion.

"What the hell is going on, and why the hell do you think you're in a position to dictate what we do—!?" Tien lashed out, barking at Sofia while Yamcha just shook his head incredulously at the insanity of the situation.

"Why me?! I just got wished back… I don't think I can do this, you guys! This whole thing is insane—!" Yamcha began to complain helplessly and off tangent, causing Sofia to finally lose all of her patience.

"ENOUGH!" she shouted and flung her arm outwards in exasperation, her rise in anger flaring from the gesture and causing a small fissure to slash the ground between her and the rest of the fighters, silencing their protests and earning their attention as she growled, "I'm sick of the bitching from all of you! I don't have time to argue with you all on the merits of my plan, especially when none of you are even gonna square up against Frieza or his goons anyway so you're only stalling me from what I came here to do—!"

"Wait. What did you say?"

Sofia paused, turning to look at Piccolo, who was staring at her with that scrutinizing glare of his. "Uh…which part?" she mildly asked, unable to suppress her nervous yet faux affable chuckle as his eyes bore down on her.

"None of us are fighting Frieza?" Piccolo's voice hit a low growl when he stepped closer to her. "Is that true?"

Gulping, Sofia sweatdropped before laughing nervously, earning grunts of confusion from everyone else who watched her gesture for a 'time out' with her hands as she mused, "Ok, let's just pump the brakes. I think we're getting too ahead of ourselves—"

'I want to speak to you. Right. Now.' Piccolo telepathically cut in, causing her to sober and blink at him like an innocent doe-eyed sprite.

'Babe, it's prob not the right—'

'Don't babe me!' he shouted over their rapport, and Sofia winced.

"Uh…hold that thought, everyone. We'll be right back!" Sofia chirped to the rest of the Z Fighter crew as Piccolo impatiently grabbed her forearm and began dragging her over to a large rock formation off to the side. "Nothing to see here! Just gonna do a quick huddle and chat," she piped as she disappeared behind the tall rocks and out of sight as she added in a shout, "Just talk amongst yourselves!"

Everyone sweatdropped at the sight before exchanging looks of confusion and questioning.

"Ok…is anyone gonna explain who the hell this girl is and what's going on?!" Tien finally asked, earning a grumble of approval from Yamcha.

Frowning, Gohan turned to all the adults and exclaimed, "She's from a different dimension that has insight into other realms parallel to theirs, so she knows everything that's supposed to happen in our reality and she's here to make sure nothing really bad happens that would set our universe off course! Everything she's said so far has come true so would you all just stop fighting her on what she says?!"

Vegeta huffed and turned away, muttering to himself about his own stupidity for joining forces with such daft mortals, while Bulma huffed that no one seemed concerned with her safety, leaving the other fighters to just sputter with even more questions. Gohan fielded them as best as he could, but easily answered Chiaotzu's question.

"Oh–her name's Sofia. And she's our friend, so can you guys please just give her a chance?" the young warrior implored, slowly earning the others' begrudging agreement to do just that.

Then they all flinched when Piccolo balefully shouted from behind the rock formation, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"


Sofia clenched her jaw and stood her ground as Piccolo shouted at her, knowing she completely blew it by losing her patience and not filtering her comments better. Sure, it'd been careless, but she was desperate to get to the battlefield to ensure things would occur as they should, and that her strange premonition wouldn't come true. The way the interactions were going, she was afraid that things would progress quicker than they should and she'd miss her opportunity to survey the battle between Trunks and Frieza. Still, trying to explain to Piccolo that yes, indeed, none of the fighters present would technically set foot in the battle against the two fearsome beings after months of being led to believe otherwise was the landmine she had tried to avoid the whole day. Now that she'd told him, "Piccolo: none of us is meant to fight against Frieza today. You're just supposed to be spectators after the fact—" and caused him to balefully balk and ruminate in conflict, she felt helpless in how to proceed, but knew she couldn't waste any more time discussing it.

"…I need you to listen to me, Piccolo."

When his irate glare focused on hers, his anger waned at the earnest fire burning in her red eyes.

'I know you're pissed, and I have a lot of explaining to do, but I can't—we can't do this now. At this very moment, someone is about to engage in battle with Frieza and his father, and it's paramount that it happen as it's supposed to. None of you can intervene...but I have to see it happen. My premonition was explicitly about the outcome of that head-to-head. So please…yell at me later, ok?' she vehemently explained, holding his gaze for a few moments, hoping he'd acquiesce before she rushed away from their one-on-one to scamper to the site miles and mountains away as quick as possible.

Expression becoming stoic, Piccolo nodded, turned, and stalked away. She sighed her exhale and phased back to where the others were still standing and talking strategy.

"Sofia, is everything alright—?" Gohan began, catching sight of Piccolo stalking back towards the group, and sensing he was not happy at all.

"Yes – sorry. Anyway, as I was saying," she began and outstretched her hand as it began to glow red with her aura. "Time is of the essence. If you don't wanna take my word for it, then get to climbing and kicking rocks, fellas. But if you want to see what's going on over there, I suggest you tag along for the ride."

"Right," Gohan nodded and stood by her, as did Piccolo before cautiously followed by Krillin, Bulma, Puar, Chiaotzu, a wary Yamcha, and a surly Vegeta, who glared at Tien mockingly when the triclops balked at them all.

"…well if Gohan vouches for you, let's get going…" Tien muttered and joined them after a terse beat.

Instantly, the group was ensnared by her red aura as it coalesced and enveloped into a protective compartment they all stood housed in before it rose up from the ground and began to chart a course towards the trek the ship had previously taken.

Chiaotzu gasped in awe while the others grunted or hummed in surprise. Sofia was too busy concentrating on keeping her aura constant and steady on trekking along at a safe altitude to notice all the scrutinizing glances Vegeta was giving her while Piccolo glared daggers at him. Even with her admittance of earlier still weighing his thoughts, the imposing warrior couldn't help fixate on her previous defense of the maniacal Saiyan to the others. Could it be that she knew something more about the Saiyan that endeared him to her considerations? Dumb question, he berated, when she obviously knew everything about each of them. Still, he'd have to straighten the short and foul-tempered prick out if he kept looking at his mate like that.

'Piccolo, you really shouldn't be jealous. Sofia only has eyes for you, after all,' Nail suddenly cut into his ruminations.

'Jealous?! What's there to be jealous of,' he snarled dismissively. 'I just don't like the Saiyan as far as I can throw him…and I'm aiming to throw him into the sun if he keeps up his damned contemptible shit—'

'Fine, but I'm just reaffirming that you have nothing to worry about, that's all,' Nail's tenor remark held that acerbic edge he used when he was ribbing Piccolo, but softened when he added, 'Don't yell at her, will you? She's warned us several times on how she's got to balance the knowledge she knows with what she can divulge, and when. It can't be easy.'

Piccolo let the other Namek's words sink in, but didn't respond. Instead, he focused on her, as she suddenly jerked as if sensing something out of the ordinary.

Whoa—that's...?!

Everyone else suddenly felt the shift and sensed a powerful ki level arrive at the battlefield they were traveling to.

"I'm sensing another huge power level – and it makes Frieza's feel like nothing!" Krillin shouted.

"Could it be…my dad?!" Gohan gasped, expression perking up as he glanced up at Sofia to see if hers would give any telltale signs.

Below them, the ground suddenly lurched after a huge blast emanated from the site ahead of them, obscuring the sky for a moment.

"It's begun. Now, I'm gonna take us to a plateau adjacent, but I need you all to give me your word that you won't interfere in the battle. It has to play out as it's supposed to…" Sofia instructed, her features concentrated on her task as she waited for them all to agree.

"If it's Goku, we have to help him! I'm not gonna stand by and let my friend fight that monster by himself again—!" Krillin interjected and was about to blast off on his own when Vegeta grabbed him and stopped him.

"You idiot – you'll give us all away! Until I know what I'm dealing with, there's no use blowing our cover, so stay put and shut up," Vegeta barked.

Bulma cut in about waiting it out and even if Goku didn't make it to the battle, that Vegeta could still hold out until the Super Saiyan got there, earning a brash remark from the mercurial prince and bickering between them and Yamcha. Growing exasperated, Sofia snarled, "It isn't Goku! And Vegeta is NOT a Super Saiyan yet, so would you all shut up and fall back into spectator mode already, otherwise I'm dropping you all off and heading to the battlefield by myself!"

Clamming up, everyone felt trepidation as they neared the point Sofia was aiming for, all but Vegeta, who was too busy replaying what she'd just said over and over in his head. Not a Super Saiyan yet, she'd said. Yet… He fixated on the adverb. Once again, this girl had disarmed him with her matter-of-factness, making him question if what she claimed could actually be true.

Another blast from across the way propelled wind and debris to whip around them violently outside of the confines of her aura, forcing Sofia to land them on a plateau that was far off from the vantage point of the large spaceship's ramp instead of across from the ship's side like she'd wanted to. Keeping the aura up to protect them from the blowback and aftershocks of the battle, Sofia's preternatural eyes honed in on the beings warring across from them, catching a glimpse of Trunks in the clearing smoke as he loomed over them on a plateau adjacent from the ship.

Crouched low with the others, Piccolo squinted up at the sky and caught sight of the mysterious figure with the amazing power level they'd been sensing. His mind flashed to the memory of Sofia's room in her dimension – of the cloth poster over her bed. Unreal…it's come true. That kid must've been part of her premonition. Glancing over at Sofia, Piccolo watched her avidly size up the scene, as if she was tracking the sequence of events.

Looking up as the scene unfolded, Sofia's mind's eye replayed her premonition for her, and she began to feel a cold chill of trepidation trickle down her spine.

Everyone was too riled by the chaos to really analyze what was going on, crouched down low to the rock they were currently gripping for purchase as the wind began to finally die down from the last massive blast.

The next succession of events played out in slow motion to her, pinging in her mind every time a certain moment fell in step with what she'd seen in her premonition. Trunks called out to Frieza and shot a diversionary blast that caused the ruthless galactic overlord and his father to take flight, playing right into the future traveler's strategy as he descended upon the bionic alien and split him in half right down the middle before dicing him to pieces.

"They're right there – look guys!" Gohan shouted and pointed, just as Trunks raised his palm and blasted the alien into dust.

Utterly shocked and awed, the group of fighters stared up at the demise of the terrible Frieza, befuddled at the identity of the warrior that took the evil alien out. The rest of the battle played out as it should. King Cold tried to bribe Mirai Trunks to becoming part of his clan; tried to use the young traveler's sword against him, and was easily bested by the teen. He blasted the behemoth of an alien straight in the chest to careen into the base of a plateau. Cold tried to barter and beg for mercy, and just when Sofia began to think her worries were a fluke, Trunks diverged from the expected action, and instead of immediately incinerating the horned alien with a final blast, he turned to blast a ki sphere that decimated the massive spaceship first.

Gasping, Sofia sprang up, her protective aura dissipating as she watched King Cold, while mortally wounded, still able to rise up and attempted to rush the teenage Super Saiyan while his back was turned in that split second. Phasing, Sofia instinctually formed a ki-blade shaped like a kunai and launched it with deft precision as she hovered adjacent to the plateau to the alien's left, completely surprising him when the sharp searing projectile sunk into his thick neck and stopped him in his tracks long enough for Trunks to turn and notice him wavering in place. The Super Saiyan outstretched his hand and blasted him to smithereens, leaving no trace of the imposing horned alien that once stood in the crater that now remained in the dirt.

Panting from the adrenalin, Sofia blinked in disbelief—How was that so…simple? Could it be…just done now? She thought as she floated in place, lowering her hand to her side and huffing her sigh of relief. "That was too close!" she mumbled to herself as she wiped her forehead.

"What the hell?!"

Sofia turned to look over her shoulder at the rest of the group, who had sprung up after her intervention and were now floating behind her with god smacked expressions on their faces.

"Uh…" she offered lamely before laughing goofily and scratching the back of her head.

Vegeta was still gritting his teeth and glaring daggers at her when Trunks suddenly turned after powering down from Super Saiyan mode, and unfazed in seeing them present, affably shouted, "Hey, I'm heading over to where Goku's gonna land in a little while. You guys can come along if you want to."

Grunting in surprise and shock, the group, minus Sofia, all seemed baffled about the startling familiarity the mysterious lavender-haired teen displayed towards them. Piccolo floated over next to Sofia.

'Is it all right now?' he inquired tersely, skeptically staring at the teenage Super Saiyan.

'Yep!' Sofia chirped and offered him a relieved smile before winking at him. 'All's well that ends well, right?'

"Humph," was all he responded.

"It's this way. Yeah—I can pretty much show you where he's gonna touch down. Follow me if you want," Trunks offered again, causing a stir of incredulity, balking, and gruff suspicion to course through the group. The time traveler was about to shout that Goku would land in around 2 hours, when he noticed Sofia for the first time.

Odd. I don't remember mom mentioning a girl friend of hers tagging along to this.

"Can we really trust him?! I mean, how does he know where Goku is gonna arrive?" Yamcha inquired, earning a shrug from Tien.

"Well I'm definitely going. After all, he can't be that bad if he defeated Frieza. I'm curious to find out just who this guy is," the triclops stated.

Piccolo glanced at Gohan, who seemed conflicted, when Sofia confirmed, "Hey—Goku's gonna land in about 2 hours, so let's get going."

"Huh?!" the entire group now balked at her.

"Seriously. Do I need to keep proving to youz that I'm legit? The guy isn't lying. He has Goku's exact coordinates, while I don't, so…" she mused and made a gesture somewhere between a shrug and huff as she clicked her tongue derisively before blasting off towards Trunks. The time traveling teen stared up at her when she came up and pointed off to the side, "It's this way, right?"

"Uh…yeah. Follow me," Trunks retorted before floating up and blasting off in the direction where his tracking unit displayed Goku's point of arrival. As they flew, she could sense the others follow along at a safe distance. Only Piccolo and Gohan advanced closer to fall in formation only a few feet behind.

While they flew, Trunks took the chance to glance sidelong at her from time to time, trying to remember if his mother had ever mentioned a friend that fit her description.

There was something oddly familiar about her, but at the same time he knew he'd never met her before. Strange.

As the tracking unit on his wrist began to beep, Trunks descended until he landed in a flat, desolate valley with terrain that was arid as it was bare.

Sofia landed gracefully behind him, followed by Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, Tien, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha while carrying Bulma, with Puar in tow. Staring sternly at the mysterious youth, Piccolo glanced at Sofia as she loped over after the lavender-haired fighter tossed a capsule to deploy a travel mini fridge.

After the teen offered everyone something to drink and got some of them to take him up on his offer of refreshments, they all seemed to unwind from their tension, until Gohan and Krillin began to ask how he knew Goku.

Sofia stood off to the side and allowed the interactions to play out without interference. Vegeta began to hammer the teen with all his brash questions, unaware that he was interrogating his own future son. Bulma noticed the Capsule Corp. logo on his jacket's sleeve, and coquettishly winked at him, unknowingly making her shy son blush. Snickering, Sofia took a seat on a flat rock and watched on as everyone decided to stick around to wait for Goku's supposed arrival.

Piccolo was rooted in his cross-armed stance while the rest hung around leaning on rocks or standing around while nursing their canned drinks and whispered in conversation about the mysterious youth. Once her twin star began to chat with Gohan, Sofia took the opportunity to grab a drink from the fridge, overhearing Vegeta snapping at Trunks for glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Why the hell do you keep looking over here! Am I that fascinating?" she heard the Saiyan Prince grouse, and Trunks's meek response.

Grunting in amusement, Sofia cleared the distance and stood over Trunks, extending the can of soda towards him. "Hey, don't pay his jovialness no mind; keep caffeinated instead."

Blinking at her offering and guileless congeniality, the teen took the can and nodded, muttering, "Thanks," before being slightly startled when she went to sit next to him on the rock. Scooting over, Trunks stared at her as she smiled and coolly stretched her long legs out before crossing them at the ankles so she could lean back on her hands.

"Don't worry. I know—this is all super surreal, huh," she whispered to him and gave him a sidelong glance as a small smirk tugged the corner of her rouged lips.

"Uh…I don't know what you mean," the teen muttered in a soft tone to match her whisper, suddenly feeling that weird sense of having seen her somewhere before once again. "Sorry—how do you know everyone?"

"Oh, yeah…well it's a long story. But I can empathize with you. It must be weird to see a bunch of people you've never met but know very well. Anyway, I'm Sofia," she explained, then offered her hand in a firm handshake that impressed the lavender-haired teen. Her grip was very strong, even though he couldn't sense her power level at all.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you…" he responded, trailing off when he realized he couldn't really introduce himself.

By this point, Piccolo was watching the two chat when Sofia leaned over and whispered something no one could hear except for him, "It's cool, T. Don't worry. I won't blow your cover." The boys eyes went slightly wide before he glanced at her with incredulity.

Winking at him, Sofia watched him look utterly perplexed before he set his expression into a stoic mask as he slid his gaze away from hers. "If you know who I am, then that means you're from—"

"Nope. I'm not. Actually, I'm not from this timeline, or dimension…" when he glanced back at her, she shrugged. "Like I said: it's a long story. But I do know you, and why you're here, and what would've happened had you not come here."

His raspy tone sounding more gravelly as he whispered, Trunks asked, "How can it be possible? I thought time travel was already tempting faith, but you're saying you're from another dimension altogether? How did you cross into this reality? I mean—how is it even possible—?"

"Listen, T. I know it's a lot to process and take at face value, but just like you're limiting the amount of knowledge you divulge right now, so am I – for fear of altering or influencing events in a way that could be detrimental to this timeline," Sofia paused in her whisper when she caught Piccolo's eye, realizing he was eavesdropping.

"I see," Trunks responded, taking her momentary distraction to really search her facial features more keenly. She definitely was the most exotic and otherworldly looking female he'd ever seen – her preternatural red eyes and pointed fangs aside – but there was something about her looks that kept pinging in his recollections at him.

"Oh—that's right. I sort of look funny to you, huh," Sofia mused ruefully, bringing his attention back from his open staring.

Blushing slightly, Trunks coughed, "Uh—sorry! I didn't mean to stare. You just—" then, his mind's eye brought the vision of the Androids from his time standing side-by-side with their mocking almond-shaped blue eyes and sinisterly condescending smirks. "Wait—!"

Sofia quickly hushed him with her finger to her lips and glanced quickly to see if anyone had noticed his spike of apprehension. "I know I look like them, but I assure you, there's no relation what-so-ever. So chill, ok?" she whispered soothingly and placed her hand on his shoulder to stare openly in his wide eyes. "I'm all organic – no bionic or mechanical improvements here," she assured, before adding jokingly, "Wanna check?"

Balking comically and blushing, Trunks sputtered, "No-no! I believe you. It's just uncanny…but at the same time I just can't get over the idea that someone could enter different dimensions. I mean, don't get me wrong, the quantum physics of it is crazy-fascinating, but it just makes me wonder and want to ask so many more questions."

Smiling, Sofia leaned closer to muse, "Well, I can only hop into this dimension and back to mine. Trust me – I'm just as weirded out by the reality of it all too. I mean it's a super long story that'd probably do your head in, but trust me when I say that I only mean to help in the same sort of way as you, only by trying not to get involved or affect too much in the natural order or events…" she trailed off when he nodded, lost in thought. "What's wrong?"

"Well…I only meant to come back and warn Goku, not get involved in the battle with Frieza. But now I'm afraid I've altered things. Was I supposed to?" the lavender-haired demi-Saiyan asked her in a hushed tone.

"Boy, they're chatting away like the best of friends, huh," Bulma mused, intrigued that Sofia knew who the mysterious handsome teen was.

"Bah – they probably know each other already and are just continuing the ruse—" Vegeta's snarky remark was cut off by the heiress.

"Believe what you want, Vegeta, but you're still here sitting and waiting for what they said to happen, just like the rest of us. What's it gonna take for you to lose the skeptical act?" she expertly condescended as she inspected her manicured fingers.

Dismissively scoffing, Vegeta crossed his arms and went back to glaring at the two mysterious figures as they continued to chat, unbothered.

"So…in your dimension, you saw me intervene from the start?" Trunks whispered, the bemused expression softening from his marveled tone as Sofia nodded.

"Yep. So, possibly, it was paramount that you intercede with Frieza and Cold while Goku was delayed. Timelines and shit are funny that way," she sing-sung. "But I do understand your trepidation. I've been worried about not doing or saying too much that will influence things and possibly alter the natural flow of things, but as long as we try our best, it should be ok…I think," Sofia deduced earnestly, before adding, "I know you have to limit it to just telling Goku about you-know-who's, so don't worry…I just want to ask you something that might seem peculiar, all considering."

Sobering and beginning to lower his guard, Trunks nodded, "Alright, all considering, shoot."

Pulling her legs up to fold them under her and scoot closer, she whispered, "When you were finishing off King Cold…you were about to blast him for the final blow, but you turned and blasted the ship," the teen nodded, so she continued, "Why did you do that? I mean…why not blast him first, then the ship?"

Trunks had to think about that. Staring down at the still-unopened can of soda he held between his hands, he replayed his thought process in that moment, and could only come up with an honest answer. "I don't really know. I guess…it was my way of demoralizing him? Like one final blow to the legacy and supremacy of his entire evil kind," Trunks paused, wanting to add that his mother had told stories his whole life about the atrocities committed by Frieza and his galactic force, but thought he'd be sharing too much. Instead, he added, "I guess that was very reckless of me…"

Absorbing that, Sofia fell silent, thinking about how a wayward impression in the back of his head could've caused such a deliberate shift in his intended course of action. Could it be my influence just being here? It's not like we tipped him off before or after we got to the site…but would my premonition have become fruition if I hadn't intervened? Would he have just turned and iced King Cold out easily even if I had hung back?

"Well then…when you fought them, did you think it was, like…easy?" Sofia asked; expression now guarded as she glanced up into the teen's blue eyes.

"Hmm…well, yeah. I mean I know they were both stronger than most of everyone else, but in my time, I've fought monsters 10 times stronger, so it kind of was easy to defeat them—"

"But I mean, did you think it would be? Did you feel like if you had to intervene, you'd be able to defeat them without breaking a sweat? And that it would've been so quick?" Sofia interjected, her crimson eyes becoming unfocused as she almost asked the question to herself as well.

Leaning back thoughtfully, Trunks glanced at Sofia's pensive features, and found himself staring before snapping out of it to answer in a sober tone, "I wasn't really sure. In my time, Goku arrived in time to take them on and he defeated them. I was worried that maybe I wouldn't be strong enough, but the moment I sensed their power levels, I knew I had to take a chance…no one else would've been strong enough to outlast them until Goku arrived. I didn't want to take the chance of not stepping in and having someone fall prematurely in battle. I went with my gut instead of my head, I guess…"

Humming at that, Sofia leaned forward thoughtfully – hand cradling her jaw as she thrummed her fingers against her knee – while she mused in a whisper, "I guess you're not the only one…"

"What do you mean?" the lavender-haired demi-Saiyan inquired in a gravelly whisper.

"…Well, I sorta intervened in your fight today. Again – long story, but there was a split second there that I thought Cold was gunning for a final blow, so…I sniped him with one of these," Sofia pensively muttered, flickering her fingers with ki until she willed the energy to crackle and alchemize a ki-based kunai throwing dagger. "I…well, I panicked. Things fell out of the sequence I knew they should transpire in; couldn't risk you falling in battle. Sorry—"

"You did that? But—I mean I didn't even see it," Trunks gawked at her, watching as she idly let her psionic weapon fizzle away into spirals of energy that scintillated across her skin.

Snickering platonically, Sofia winked, "That's the point, silly. I mean, we all can't make a grand entrance—slicing and dicing flunkies like a hibachi chef and looking all badass while doing so."

Sweatdropping and laughing nervously, the teen rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Yikes…I guess I overdid it, huh?"

"What? Nah, T. That was awesome!" Sofia chirped in a whisper and fist-pumped as she added, "That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I'm just saying I'm not that cool, alright?"

"Well in any case, thanks for intervening," the handsome teen offered, giving her a curt nod of appreciation and a smirk that made him resemble his father.

Smiling musingly, Sofia let her mind wander back to her worrying of earlier. The what if's of her intervention began to weigh her thoughts. I'm anxious about all the things I could affect in a bad way just by trying to stop things from going off kilter…how is this going to work out? Could things go off script worse than they did today? God, I really hope not…

Piccolo watched the exchange and saw how Sofia had fallen into a moment of rumination, but wasn't able pluck their telepathic rapport to ask why she was being such a goofball with the kid before Vegeta's sudden scathing drawl interrupted his thoughts. "She's quite chummy with this supposed Super Saiyan punk. Could they be in league—pulling something together to fool the lot of us? You've trained her, Namek. Yet it seems she's keeping things close to the vest, even from you."

Dropping his arms to his sides so he could clench his fists in mounting fury, Piccolo shot an icy glare over at the contemptible Saiyan. "Keep your theories and conspiracies to yourself, Vegeta. Not all of us are paranoid like you after constantly being defeated and eclipsed by Goku," he calculatingly jabbed, succeeding in wiping the snarky smirk off the prince's face.

Krillin and Gohan heard the exchange. The former monk cringed, "Uh-oh…" while Gohan glanced from one hotheaded warrior to the other before everyone's attention was brought back to Trunks when he stood up and looked at his watch.

"Ok–that's time. Goku should be arriving any minute now," the lavender-haired teen exclaimed as he walked over to return his unopened soda to the travel mini fridge before re-encapsulating it and returning it to his pocket.

Sofia didn't stand as everyone else did, still lost in thought. She'd been sensing Goku's steady course of arrival, but didn't let on to the others. Since leaving the chamber, she'd realized that she seemed to ping onto power levels somewhat earlier than the rest, but she couldn't figure out why. On top of that, she was still really at a loss for how on several occasions, the course of intended interactions or choices had diverged ever so slightly. From the terse and acrimonious exchanges earlier, to Trunks changing up the sequence of his actions, it was perplexing her to no end.

"Whoa—! He's coming. My dad's finally home!" Gohan's shout brought her back to the current excitement.

She glanced up and watched Goku's commandeered Ginyu space pod careen overhead before crashing raucously in the short distance. Everyone rushed towards his landing site, buzzing with anticipation to finally reunite with the amazing fighter and their dear friend.

"Hey. You coming?"

Glancing up, Sofia blinked at Trunks, who was now offering his hand to her, gesturing with his chin over at the direction everyone else rushed to. Smiling, Sofia took his hand and let him pull her up from her pondering position. Unfortunately, he used more strength than he'd intended to, so Sofia was yanked up so quickly that she ended up bumping into him goofily.

"Oops—Wow, man!" Sofia exclaimed as he caught her and stiffly hung onto her curves before sweatdropping and flinching away to stare down at his boots and blush furiously. "You're just too strong for your own good, haha," Sofia laughed good-heartedly and punched him on the shoulder, not noticing his fidgeting or shy glance. "Hey," his blue gaze slid back to her as she mused, "We might not get a chance to later, so…" she paused, leaned over and surprised him with a hug. "I wanna tell you now: it was awesome meeting you, Trunks," she whispered into his ear, before giving him a friendly squeeze.

Staring wide eyed as she pulled back from the hug, Trunks gazed into her crimson eyes and smiled meekly, "Uh, it was great to meet you too, Sofia. Thanks for talking to me…it was nice."

Grinning and squeezing his shoulder platonically, Sofia chirped, "Alright, let's go and blow Goku's mind!"

Blasting off to join the others at edge of the massive crater formed by the alien pod's crash landing, Trunks went to be ahead of the crowd of friends, while Sofia side stepped and paused in stride. Deciding to hang back, she stood behind Piccolo and watched over or under his shoulder pad as everyone cheered and greeted a stunned Goku, who'd emerged from the pod and blinked up at his friends and former foes.

"Whoa, uhhh…hey guys!" the legendary warrior offered with a surprised tone after emerging from his commandeered space pod, his wide-eyed expression slightly stunned to see everyone waiting for him out in the middle of nowhere.

Pretty soon, they all gushed about Trunks before Goku confirmed not knowing him, which boggled everyone but Sofia, Piccolo and Trunks himself. When the demi-Saiyan asked to speak to Goku in private over yonder from the group, Sofia took the chance to sit at the edge of the crater and watched the exchange from a distance. Everyone else was questioning the need for secrecy and wondering out loud over this or that. Meanwhile, Piccolo was easily eavesdropping on the private conversation from his vantage point, occasionally glancing over at Sofia's profile, as she'd snicker or smile. It's as if she knows what they're saying, word for word.

When Goku balked and face-faulted at hearing about Vegeta and Bulma being Trunks's parents, Sofia snorted despite herself before guffawing, earning Gohan's attention while everyone else either sweatdropped or complained about being left in the dark.

The teen from the future couldn't believe the turn of events. He'd been dismayed to realize that Goku could've intervened against Frieza the whole time by using his Instant Transmission – meaning Trunks unnecessarily had influenced events and possibly changed the course of the future. However, he took comfort in Goku's reassurance that because of his help, they now stood a better chance at avoiding the calamity of the Androids and possibly reverse course for the future, as they all knew it. I guess you're not the only one… Trunks recalled Sofia's pensive musing, and felt a burgeoning sense of hope.

Soon after, Trunks took his leave and everyone rushed over to Goku when the jovial Saiyan walked back, thoughtfully amused and bemused. They peppered him with questions, and when Goku tried to hedge away from answering, Piccolo filled them in, being mindful to not divulge anything that would jeopardize Trunks's identity and future parentage. Everyone started to argue about the merits of training for the battle against the Androids and whether the foretold events could be true, but paused when Trunks was hovering in his time capsule overhead before suddenly winking out of sight, but not before he waved down at everyone and noticed Sofia shoot him a conspiratorial wink and grin before he disappeared.

Man, mom's never gonna believe me. An inter-dimensional traveler who looks like an Android, but isn't, and who seems totally cool with everything…it'd be nice to get to see her again some day…


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