Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, DBZ, or the characters…only my OCs

If there was one thing Kaiya hated, it was long car rides, and being really high up in an airplane that could fall out of the sky at any minute, so driving in some type of cramped air car with Bulma in the mountains was not her idea of a good time. Kaiya would have rather flown, but she had no idea how to get there, and she was still learning how to control her ki for flight. Still, she kept silent the majority of the ride while ignoring the concerned looks Bulma flashed her way.

"So, this Kakarot guy…why does my brother hate him so much?" Kaiya asked Bulma in attempts to break the awkward silence.

Bulma sighed in frustration before answering the young girl. "Well, he says Goku is a 'low-class warrior,' and the fact that he was defeated by him pisses him off. Also, Goku became a Super Saiyan first, so that's another thing that bothers your brother."

"Super Saiyan?" Kaiya asked, intrigued that someone had actually achieved that state. Her brother had not told her about the full legend yet, and that actually surprised Bulma. She knew Kaiya knew a little about it, though.

"Yeah…he trains so hard to try to reach that level," Bulma explained. "Keep this between us, but I sometimes worry about how he trains in the GR. He's going to hurt himself if he doesn't take a break. I mean, he rarely sleeps."

Kaiya didn't know what to say to that, so she just nodded and watched the trees yield to rocky mountaintops down below them. She understood the reason Vegeta hated to sleep. It was pretty much the same reason she had trouble sleeping. Dreams of the past and memories would keep Kaiya up at night, if she could even wake up from the dream. Usually Hiei had to force her awake if he was there and that alone left her even more exhausted. But she did worry about Vegeta, and would have to have a conversation with him at some point. He had convinced himself he didn't need much sleep and, at this stage in his life, he probably didn't. He did, however, need to relax. Maybe he would listen to her if she told him to take a break. She had some ideas on things they could do and trips they could take.

Eventually, the mountains became a forested area again and Bulma's air car started its descent. A small home could be seen in the middle of the forest, invisible to anyone that flew overhead. Kaiya assumed it was Goku's, or Kakarot's house. Even though Bulma kept calling him Goku, Kaiya felt like she needed to respect her brother and call the other Saiyan by his Saiyan name. She only hoped that the Earth-raised Saiyan wouldn't mind that.

When the car landed, Gohan and Goku came outside, both with smiling faces. Kaiya smiled nervously, having only seen Goku when he returned and not interacting with him. Now he was welcoming her into his home for the day, and she was thankful. It was much safer than being alone at her apartment.

Kaiya stepped out of the air car, thankful to be stretching her legs. She looked over to see the smiling faces of her brother's rival and his son, shy smiling back at them.

"Hi there," Goku greeted. "So my son and Bulma have been talking about a Kaiya. I guess that's you. Sorry we weren't really introduced yesterday."

"That's okay," Kaiya replied softly. "A lot was going on yesterday. I just wanted to go home."

Goku frowned slightly and said, "Yeah, my son told me what happened right before I landed…not to mention Frieza being there. You okay?"

Kaiya nodded and looked down, still not sure how she felt. She had spent a long time trying to get over how Jiro had attacked her. Sometimes she could still remember the feeling of the electricity destroying her from the inside. Looking up, she saw Goku and Bulma staring at her with both worry and confusion. "Um, yeah, I'm fine," Kaiya lied. Truthfully, she hated those flashback moments, especially when she checked out of reality because of them. Had she been driving a car, she would hate to think of the outcome. Usually, if they could, her friends would try to shake her out of it before something bad happened. "It was just a shock, I guess. It's been almost a year…"

"I kind of wish it had been longer than that," Bulma spoke up. "If they had waited just a bit longer, then they wouldn't have been able to. You can only wish someone who has been dead a year back to life on Earth's Dragon Balls."

Realization dawned on Goku when they were talking about the year. "You mean to tell me that everything that happened with your father happened the same time we fought Frieza on Namek?"

"I…guess?" Kaiya replied unsurely. "Vegeta doesn't know when it happened, nor did he tell me when you guys were on Namek. I've heard random stories. Why? Is there something I should know?"

Goku and Bulma looked to each other nervously before Gohan ran over to Kaiya and took her hand. "I want to show you something," he said. "Do you like climbing trees?"

Kaiya smiled at the little boy and nodded. "I love climbing trees," she admitted. "Let's go."

Gohan took off somewhere with Kaiya looking back at his father before engaging himself in a race with her. Bulma looked to Goku and sighed. "Someone has to tell her about what happened on Namek."

"That someone has to be Vegeta," Goku replied. "He wouldn't like it if we told his sister what Frieza did to him."

"I know you're right, but what it's sounding like…did the two of them die around the same time?" Bulma asked her friend.

"I don't know for sure, but that's what it's sounding like," Goku answered. "I guess we'll find out when they both open up."

Bulma wanted to bang her head against a wall when he said that. If that's what they were waiting on, it would never happen. Vegeta would never fully open up, and Kaiya obviously still had issues talking about what happened to her. Her curiosity was going to have to be left unsettled for a while as they waited for the two royal Saiyans to heal.

Vegeta found Hiei working on his swordsmanship and then watched as he made sure the sword was sharp and polished. Hiei definitely seemed like a noble warrior, which was one point in his favor, but the Saiyan prince still didn't trust him with his sister's life especially when his sister's murderer was at large. They still needed to choose where they would be fighting so that they would have no interruptions, but before Vegeta could discuss that with the fire demon, someone walked up to him. It looked like Kaiya, but he knew his sister was up in the mountains with Bulma and Kakarot.

"What do you want, Mayonaka?" he heard Hiei ask. The fire demon didn't once look up at the girl or away from his sword. Vegeta caught himself wondering what Hiei's and Mayonaka's history was. It was clear that Hiei didn't like the girl much.

"I wanted to see how Kaiya was holding up," she stated confidently, though there was a waver in her voice. "Kuronue told me and Alexia last night, so I kind of snuck out this morning to check up on her."

"You need to stop," Hiei muttered. "You should not be 'sneaking out' with your father running freely. Do you have any idea what it would do to Kaiya if she lost you to him? She's still not over what happened to her."

Mayonaka glared at the fire demon. "Of course I know! It nearly killed me when I saw my twin lying dead. Just because we have our problems doesn't mean I don't love my sister."

Hiei then glared at Mayonaka. "Try that again when you weren't the cause of both of you being hospitalized when we met."

"You can't let things go, can you?" Mayonaka asked bitterly. "Kaiya did."

Hiei frowned at her. "Kaiya knows that this is how I feel. She is too forgiving. If she could get over my past, then of course she would forgive her siblings for anything, and she could even end up forgiving Jiro."

"She wouldn't," Mayonaka stated. "I can't forgive him either."

"Neither can I."

The two didn't speak for a moment before Mayonaka asked, "That's why you can't forgive me, isn't it? And why I can't forgive Jiro? Because we caused her pain before."

"You catch on quick," Hiei scoffed sarcastically. Then he sighed. "Look, go back to the apartment and don't go anywhere without Kuronue. I'll stay focused on your energy until you get home. If I sense Jiro anywhere near you, I'll be on top of it."

"Thanks," Mayonaka muttered. "And, for what it's worth, I am truly sorry."

"I know," Hiei admitted. "But as you said, I cannot let things go."

Mayonaka nodded in response. "I'll see you at the next get together." She started walking back to hers and her cousin's apartment, looking back at Hiei only once. His eyes were trained on her as he nodded for her to keep going. After she was out of eye and earshot, Vegeta walked over to Hiei.

"I demand to know what that was about," Vegeta declared.

Hiei just looked up at him before getting up off of the ground. "When Mayonaka showed up, she was an enemy sent by her boyfriend's alternate self to kill us. She and Kaiya fought. Kaiya won, but both of them were in bad shape with many broken bones. Mayonaka is like the brattier version of Kaiya, and incredibly annoying. She seems to forget that she impersonated Kaiya and tried to convince me that she was her by acting incredibly clingy. I knew it was her right away, because that's not the kind of relationship I had with Kaiya. At the time, we hadn't even termed each other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' yet. Human interactions continue to baffle and irritate me, but Kaiya doesn't seem to force that stuff on me."

Vegeta nodded. He too hated listening to the woman go on about human social conventions. Her relationship with the weakling left a bitter taste when hearing what they affectionately call each other.

"We usually don't call each other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' either, just nicknames. I call her 'onna,' which used to annoy her." Hiei chuckled at the memory. "She thought I was being sexist and would argue with me about it all the time, thinking I thought she was weak for being female. Now she calls me one of two names, 'firebug' or 'koi.' I prefer the latter only because I hate 'firebug.' She usually only calls me that when she's trying to start something."

"Why are you telling me any of this?" Vegeta asked skeptically. "You seem like someone who wouldn't want to discuss anything private with anyone."

Hiei shrugged. "Most likely, Kaiya would have told you anyway eventually, or you would see it. Besides, I thought you would want full disclosure about our relationship," Hiei answered stoically. "Isn't that what today is all about? You want to test me to see if I'm right to protect her, and that means emotionally as well."

Vegeta was slightly taken aback by the answer. He was about to ask Hiei, even though he knew he had telepathic abilities, how he got so much information. "You are strong, Vegeta, but your mental block is not. I'm surprised Kaiya has not been able to pick up on more of your past, although she is new to telepathy and still working on it, which explains how she linked you two together in the mind scanners."

"It's a complete invasion of privacy!" Vegeta shouted. "How dare you?"

"Get over it," Hiei growled, glaring at the prince. "I needed to make sure she was safe, and if that means occasionally reading your mind, you have to get over it because I am only doing my job to keep her safe. Isn't that what you want?"

Vegeta knew they were pretty much at a stalemate with this battle of words, so he just scoffed and said, "Where are we fighting?"

"It's a short distance from here if you fly and I run," Hiei answered. "It's where Kaiya and I train privately. Only our friends know of it, and they never go there, not after the last time. It would irritate me to no end if they did, and they know that Kaiya nor I will tolerate interruptions when we are there."

Hiei sheathed his katana and started running in the direction of the beach, stopping at the edge of the apartment complex and looking back as an invitation for Vegeta to follow him. Vegeta took off to the air and followed Hiei to a secluded section of the beach so quickly that no human would have been able to even see a blur. Vegeta looked around the hidden sector of sand and felt at peace in the spot.

"Kaiya loves it here," Hiei said almost in wonder. "As a fire demon, I really don't get it, but she does."

"Saiyans are in tune with nature," Vegeta said curtly, "though our home planet was more desert than anything else, so this ocean stuff is foreign to me at times."

"Well, looks like we have something else in common," Hiei replied with a smirk. Vegeta look at him with an expression ordering an explanation. "Not only were we raised by creeps, and care for our sisters, but we can't understand this 'ocean stuff.'" Hiei was surprised when he heard Vegeta chuckle with him. Then Hiei grew serious and started walking away from Vegeta. The Saiyan looked to the fire demon, trying to gage was he was doing. "And there's another thing. We both care about Kaiya a great deal, and we both want to protect her from that bastard, so let's get to this. The sooner it's over, the sooner we can get back to her."

Vegeta scoffed again. "I will be going back to her, and you will only go with me if you can prove yourself to me."

Hiei and Vegeta stared at each other as the sea breeze blew around them. Neither of them was planning on making the first move. A bird screeched overhead, something Vegeta had never heard before, and he look up for less than a second only to return his gaze to the fire demon who was no longer in the spot.

Then Vegeta sensed Hiei's energy behind him and blocked as a fist nearly hit him in the spine. Hiei disappeared in a flash again, the two of them exchanging fast blows. Vegeta was surprised by Hiei's speed and it dawned on him that that was why Kaiya moved so quickly, even if it was primarily defense. The Saiyan knew he wouldn't match Hiei's speed which irritated him, but he grinned at the prospect of it getting increasingly difficult to block Hiei's blows. Eventually, Vegeta got hit in the gut, though it didn't hurt nor did it push him back.

Hiei frowned at that and drew his katana, making rapid attempts to land another hit on Vegeta. Vegeta chuckled as he sensed Hiei's energy increasing, most likely with frustration. The fire demon was indeed trying to prove himself, but he knew that Vegeta was now toying with him. What he didn't know was that Vegeta was already impressed. It was clear that Hiei never had any proper training, save swordsmanship, but he was a decent fighter, and, even if the hit hadn't fazed Vegeta, the hit would definitely have torn any human, including Jiro, and most aliens to shreds.

When Hiei couldn't make a hit, he growled and sheathed his sword again before his fists were covered in flames. Vegeta grinned and powered up so that his blue ki was flashing around him. "This 'battle' has been quite entertaining," Vegeta jeered as he watched Hiei's eye light up with rage. He knew it was probably a bad idea to anger the fire demon, but he made it too easy. "What are you waiting for?" Vegeta continued to taunt. "Finish me; that is, if you can."

He smirked as Hiei growled and launched himself at him. Vegeta grabbed Hiei's arms before his flaming fists made contact with his skin. He purposefully let go when Hiei kicked himself off of him. The poor fire demon had no idea that Vegeta was completely holding the strings of this battle. The Saiyan watched as the fire demon breathed heavily with rage. He looked at Hiei strangely when he started unwrapping the bandage around his dominant hand.

"You should be honored," Hiei said darkly. "I only grace those I deem worthy with this move." Vegeta then noticed a black dragon looking tattoo on Hiei's arm. "I hope you're prepared to handle the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

Vegeta felt an overwhelming surge of power as a purple and black flame encased his right arm before growing at an alarming rate. The flame was definitely not fully controlled, but Hiei had enough of a grasp on it that it wouldn't take control of either of them, for the moment at least. As Hiei's arm shook with the increasing power of the flames, Vegeta began to charge his ki for his own signature attack.

Hiei cried out as he unleashed the flames as Vegeta called out, "Galick Gun!" The two energies clashed, both fluctuating in and out of control, though Vegeta clearly had more control of his move.

"I will not lose to you," Hiei growled much to Vegeta's amusement. "I won't lose the only person I ever fully trusted. I will not give up what we worked so hard to build."

Vegeta frowned when he heard this. The boy didn't get the point of this battle. Did Hiei really believe that Vegeta would bar him from seeing Kaiya again? So that's why he opened up so much…

Vegeta put more energy into his attack to fully tear through the Dragon of Darkness Flame. The flames dissipated as Hiei was forced back from the blast and the Dragon returned to his arm. He crashed into a rock clenching his fists as he had the wind knocked out of him. As he focused on catching his breath, especially after using the one attack that would leave him drained after battle, Vegeta walked up to him, arms crossed.

"I lost," Hiei grumbled, still huffing.

Vegeta nodded to him. "You did, but your skills were impressive."

"But it wasn't enough," Hiei snarled at the Saiyan, looking up at him defiantly. Vegeta did not let a single emotion peak out as he saw the anger, hurt, and disappointment shining in the fire demon's eyes. He looked away from Vegeta and sighed before weakly standing up, slightly hobbling as he walked. Hiei hated to admit that he lost, especially when he knew that meant Vegeta could keep him away from the woman he loved. "Tell her that I'm sorry," he requested bitterly.

"No," Vegeta replied. Hiei was about to turn around and snap at the Saiyan, but he saw Vegeta staring at him with authority. "There is no need for that. I told you that your skills were impressive. All that I will require of you is to train with me to get better control of your abilities and anger. You'll do fine against her human father and most weak alien races, but if we ever deal with another alien attack, I cannot guarantee you'd be able to hold your own. Your anger is your greatest weakness, and you lost more control the angrier you were."

"Wait, what?" Hiei asked causing Vegeta to smirk and chuckle. He would never know how much he reminded the Saiyan of Kaiya in that moment, as if he were a confused child. The fire demon narrowed his eyes at the Saiyan. "What's so funny?"

"Did you really think that I was going to break you two up if you lost?" the Saiyan taunted. "That's not how our culture works. Ultimately it's her decision; however, all I needed to do, as the only male family figure who can judge on these matters, was make sure that the mate could protect her. As long as you accept training with me on occasion, you will have no interference from me."

Relief flooded Hiei as he nodded his agreement. Vegeta smirked at him again, shaking his head. "I will never understand you Earthlings," he stated. "You take everything so seriously?"

Hiei scoffed. "We do? What about you?"

Vegeta slightly glared at Hiei, but noticed the boy smirking. Hiei was teasing him in the same belittling manner Vegeta was, but it was not meant to be taken offensively. Again, he could see the similarities between Hiei and himself. Then he realized there was more he wanted and needed to know about Kaiya and his expression grew serious again. "So…" he started darkly. "What exactly happened between Kaiya and that bastard?"

The aura around Hiei darkened, his fists clenching, this time in rage. Vegeta remained emotionless as he watched the emotions flash on Hiei's face. "I…I can't even tell you that without the desire to destroy something taking over," Hiei admitted. "You would not be happy with the story."

"I know," Vegeta replied. "I just need to know."

Hiei sighed in frustration. "You may want to sit," he said as he himself sat down Indian-style on the sand. Vegeta took a seat on the rock, still looking down at the fire demon as he sighed again and stared directly at the sand. He refused to meet Vegeta gaze.

"He is a demon hunter," Hiei began to explain. "Kaiya did not know this as she told her father the names of her friends. He hadn't met us, but we are all quite famous in Demon World. Our political status in Demon World, as well as our famed strength is apparently well known in both the Makai and with the demon hunters."

"Makai?" Vegeta asked.

Hiei shrugged. "Another name for Demon World. Anyways, I heard a joke Kaiya was telling about her cousins, and, having dealt with Mayonaka, I thought they would hurt her. I followed her to America, where she's from, and realized that her cousins were just children and it was more of fighting for fun than actual damage. Then Jiro showed up unexpectedly with her little brother and things were just off. Our friends, who had arrived before Jiro, had felt it too. Kaiya just assumed it was her being paranoid…her and Jiro never had a good relationship, even before this.

"Kaiya told us many stories, and pretty much all we could take from them was that Jiro was not very supportive of any decisions she made and was never there for her. She had a nightmare, more of a premonition, of her death. She was screaming in her sleep and it was incredibly hard to wake her, so we knew it wasn't a normal dream. We were concerned but, before we can come up with a solution, Jiro showed up and distracted us from the conversation. Then it came out that Jiro was a demon hunter after the girls got kidnapped by a few. Totally kicked their asses." Hiei smirked with pride at that. "He gave Kaiya the option to join him and she refused. He pretty much disowned her publically at that point, and it hurt her."

Hiei paused and Vegeta couldn't understand why until he saw his eyes darken. "He called both of his daughters 'collateral damage,'" he stated bitterly. "Kaiya didn't know how to handle the fact that her own father was trying to kill her. She was outside, alone…and I went to talk to her. She was so distraught, and I attempted to comfort her. She just asked me to leave her a few minutes." Hiei's voice was starting to sound strained, his energy fluctuating rapidly with his anger and anxiety as he remembered that night. "I was stupid…I shouldn't have left her alone, whether or not she asked me to. I should have stayed."

Hiei needed to take a break from the story, but Vegeta would not have it. "I demand you tell me what happened."

Hiei flashed a look of displeasure over to Vegeta. "Do you think this is easy for me to tell you?" Hiei snapped. "You're lucky I've gotten out as much as I have. I haven't spoken to anyone about that night. Even when Kaiya was upset about it and I had to listen, I never spoke. I couldn't, because it would only hurt her more knowing I blame myself or that I wish I had just tortured the bastard and not have killed him as quickly as I did…that he deserved to suffer for doing what he had."

"I still don't have the answers that I'm looking for," Vegeta responded. "I deserve to know what happened to my sister."

Hiei's expression softened as he thought about Yukina and how Spirit World had kept him in the dark about her kidnapping. It was a different situation since Spirit World didn't feel as pained as he was feeling now, but Vegeta was right. He did deserve to know everything.

"I heard her call out for me," he continued, "using telepathy. I always kept a connection with her. I rushed out to help her, but by the time I got there…she was already writhing on the ground, screaming the same as she had when she had the nightmare. It had been raining, and she was soaked. When the electricity hit her…I can't even imagine the pain she was in. I can still remember the sound of her screaming. It's almost painful sometimes…"

Vegeta looked on in pity as he saw the light in Hiei's eyes go out before rage flashed in again. "Human doctors are idiots. They couldn't do anything…we couldn't either, but they were as stupid as they come. The guy we were dealing with was asking if any of us were related to her while Mayonaka was standing RIGHT THERE! I couldn't even believe he had a license that gave him the authority to save her.

"They brought in some 'crash cart' or whatever they call them, and attempted to start her stopped heart. I…I had never felt so much fear before in my life, and then when they stopped trying…I was out for blood."

Hiei shot up from the sand and yelled out in anger as he ran and punched another large rock with his flaming fist. "And he said she deserved it!" he yelled. "She was innocent in all of this!" Another rock shattered from his kick. "She never asked for the powers she had!" He hit two more rocks, the gray masses cracking slowly before collapsing. "She couldn't even bring herself to fight back because he was her father and she refuses to fight family!" Hiei shook his head as he worked on reigning in his rage. Vegeta watched the boy, silently awed as he just stared at Hiei. "I…we…we were watching her die," he whispered. "I was so in shock that someone would even dare to harm her, especially someone who was supposed to care. I never had the luxury of family, but I knew how she felt towards hers. He took advantage of that, and just smiled as he watched her dying from his own attack. And I always believed that I was heartless. I could never abandon or harm my own child. I can't even comprehend…"

Hiei didn't finish his statement. He still couldn't come to grips with what happened. "We didn't know about her dormant demon powers…we didn't have any Dragon Balls. For all we knew, she was gone for good. We went after him, and then Kaiya's demon energy took over. She came to us and we all fought Jiro and his men together. She attacked him, and he was weakened, but he was still alive and made his move to attack and threaten her again. I stabbed him…though I wanted to torture him…but I couldn't do that to Kaiya, and I couldn't let her get hurt again. So I took his life, and I did not regret it one bit."

Hiei turned to face Vegeta, both looking stern as ever as they stared each other in the eye. "That is what happened."

Vegeta nodded his sincere thanks. After seeing the display, he realized that it was truly hard for the fire demon to relive that night. He looked around at the rock-littered beach. Hiei was now looking away from him, re-wrapping his arm from their battle and grabbing his sword. The fire demon began to walk away when Vegeta's voice stopped him.

"Believe me," Vegeta stated evenly. "After what that sorry excuse for a man has done to both Kaiya and our home, he will not be escaping death a second time. I expect to see you and Kaiya tomorrow for training at Capsule Corp."

"We'll be there," Hiei agreed before flitting off and returning to Kaiya's apartment.

Vegeta, now alone on the beach turned to the rock he had been sitting on. He narrowed his eyes at the solid boulder before destroying it in a similar fashion as Hiei. Flashes of light shot around the beach that even passersby would have seen it. After unleashing his built up rage, he flew off towards his temporary home to finish de-stressing in the GR.

Kaiya and Gohan were both climbing trees, making Kaiya feel like a kid again. She was finally starting to calm down from the day before as she chatted with the young Saiyan. The two of them seemed to share a love of nature and animals, and spent the afternoon exchanging stories. And then both of them grew quiet. The entire forest grew quiet.

The feeling was not unfamiliar to Kaiya. Her eyes shifted back and forth as she attempted to remember where this feeling had come from before. Then she gasped as it hit her yet again. "No," she breathed out.

Gohan looked at her strangely, also feeling a little leery. "Kaiya?"

Before the boy knew, he was pushed out of the tree as both he and Kaiya plummeted to the ground and a blast of lightning shot through the treetop. Both demi-Saiyans looked up as the lightning lingered. A cracking branch brought their attention to Jiro who had been stalking Kaiya the majority of the day.

"Jiro," Kaiya breathed out, quickly getting to her feet. Gohan was even quicker to get up, crouching down into his fighting stance. It hit Kaiya that Gohan was nearly hit by an attack that had killed her once. "Oh my God," she said in a whisper. "What the hell were you thinking?" she asked more forcefully.

"I was thinking that I was just about to eliminate you, again," her father teased with a smirk.

"I know what you were thinking of doing to me," Kaiya stated truthfully. "But did you even consider that I had a child next to me? You could have gotten us both with that attack."

Jiro shrugged. "Just more collateral damage," he replied nonchalantly.

Kaiya frowned and shook her head. "I don't even know who you are anymore," she told him. "To hurt me is one thing, but to hurt a child who has nothing to do with us…you're a monster."

"I'm your father," he said grinning even more.

"Don't remind me," Kaiya muttered. "I spent the last year trying to get over that factoid."

Jiro's amusement disappeared as he frowned at her, but then a voice called his attention away from her.

"Hey!" the voice snapped. Out of nowhere, Goku landed in front of both Kaiya and Gohan. "So you're the guy that showed up yesterday," he acknowledged.

Jiro seemed confused by the new arrival, but regained his composure and cleared his throat. "I am," he admitted. "And I don't know who you are, but if you don't mind getting your ass out of the way so I can take out my traitorous daughter, then we won't have a problem."

Goku's eyes narrowed, his features hardened, and Kaiya seemed completely taken aback by the upbeat Saiyan's change in attitude from earlier. "I suggest you leave," he threatened slightly.

"Or what?" Jiro all but growled.

"You just attacked my son and my friend," Goku stated. "From what I've learned about my race, you do not want to anger a Saiyan or attack their loved ones."

"You're a Saiyan?" Jiro asked in shock. He looked in between the three Saiyans standing in front of him. "That's impossible. There's only the prince, my daughter, and the one who defeated-" And then Jiro stopped talking as realization and fear sunk in.

"Yes, I defeated Frieza on Namek," Goku told him. "I don't want to fight you, but if you threaten my family, then I will."

Jiro looked over to Kaiya who was holding her arm, shrinking inside herself. He glared at the girl before scoffing. "You monkeys aren't even worth my time." He looked back over to Kaiya. "In the end, you will lose your life again. I will make sure of it." Jiro used his wind manipulating abilities to propel himself out of the forest. Everyone was safe, for the moment, at least physically.

Goku was relieved and turned to face Gohan and Kaiya, but Kaiya had already sunk to the ground. Her eyes were wide as she started at a spot on in front of her. Tears began to form in her eyes as she whispered, "He didn't even care that he was going to kill someone else's child."

Goku knelt down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder, his smile returning. "Hey, don't worry about it," he told her, his voice light and comforting. "He wouldn't have gotten away with it, and the important thing is that you and Gohan are okay."

Kaiya looked at Goku. "But Kakarot…Jiro wouldn't have come here if I hadn't. I just put you and your family in danger. How can you not be mad at me?"

"Because you did nothing wrong," the older Saiyan replied. "It was Jiro's decision to come after you, and I took on the responsibility of protecting you for the day. Besides, you saved my son from that attack. I can't be mad at you."

Kaiya nodded, but still didn't agree with him. "I…I want to go back home now," Kaiya told him.

Goku nodded and stood, holding out his hand to help Kaiya up. Kaiya accepted the help and the three of them walked back to the small house where Bulma was waiting with Chi Chi. Occasionally, Kaiya would look back into the woods at the tree that she and Gohan had climbed. It broke her heart when she saw the blackened singe marks on the branches, the leaves blackened and dead as well. The entire walk back, all she could think was, It would have been the second time, and Gohan's death, had I not gotten us out of that tree. She frowned and watched the spot even as she flew out in the air car with Bulma. What kind of a heartless monster does that?