November rolled in with freezing rain and even colder temperatures. Lindsey was shivering in her sweat pants and tank top, the icy drizzle soaking her to the bone.

"Goku, I'm freezing!" she complained.

"Put it out of your mind," he answered, stepping back with one foot and raising his arms. "Do it again!"

Lindsey flew at Goku, punching and kicking him as he blocked every attack. She paused to catch her breath, pressing the heels of her hands into her knees. Her dark red hair dripped with the cold rain and felt like a wet sheet over her neck.

"You're not trying hard enough!" Goku scolded.

She glared up at him wordlessly.

"My turn," Goku said dangerously and attacked without warning.

"Goku!" Lindsey cried, raising her arms to defend herself. "Stop!"

"An attacker won't stop, Lindsey!" he yelled as he continued to throw punches and kicks at her.

"No! No! I can't do this!" She was starting to freak out again.

"Stop making excuses!" He spun in mid-air, his leg catching her shoulder and throwing her several yards across the clearing. He landed and stood there, watching her. "Get up."

She stood and faced him, rubbing her arm and blinking away angry tears.

"You're mad," he stated. "Good."

"I can't believe you kicked me that hard!" she spat.

"You're not going to learn anything if I baby you," he responded. "And you're never going to recover if you intend to keep hiding in that house. Look what that did to you!"

"But, I…"

"No buts. You cannot continue to hide behind your past. Do you want that to happen to you again? Those guys are still out there! They've been freed of all wrong doings and they will attack you again if given the chance!"

She blinked at him, a look of terror crossing her face.

"What happened to you was horrible. I can't imagine how it must make you feel. But you will be the victim again if you can't stop them! Is that what you want?!"

"No," Lindsey growled in a low voice.

"You want them to hurt you again?! You want to put Gohan through that again?!"

"NO!" Lindsey shouted, her body tensing up. She stared at Goku as the rain gave way to large flakes of snow.

"Then take control of your life! Reclaim your power!" Goku took a step towards her, raising his hands. "I am the man that hurt you! I am going to hurt you again! NOW ATTACK ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

In a burst of rage, Lindsey threw herself at Goku with a scream that echoed throughout the forest. Simultaneously, her hair flashed to hot flames, her eyes turned a crackling red-orange as she landed a punch to Goku's left jaw. He took the punch well and continued to defend himself against her fury of attacks. 'I might'a pushed her too hard,' he thought to himself as he swiftly dodged and blocked her moves.

She was livid. Blinded by the anger she felt towards the men that hurt her, she attacked Goku with every ounce of strength she had. She could see Jonah's face leering at her, could hear Cody's voice laughing. The humiliation, the fear, the unbelievable pain, the worthlessness, the filth, the self-loathing – it was entirely their fault. And then she saw the thing that made her angrier than anything else. It was Gohan - who looked angry and sad. This was so much bigger than just her. They'd hurt him as well. They'd almost ruined the best thing she had in her life. She's been driven to self-medication and in the process had nearly ended her own life.

"NEVER AGAIN!" Lindsey screamed as a rope of fire flew from her hand and wrapped itself around Goku's wrist.

"AAAGGHHH!" Goku screamed in pain. "Lindsey, stop!"

"An attacker won't stop, Goku," she replied in an eerily calm voice, pulling her end of the rope, tightening it.

He narrowed his eyes at her, then sliced through the rope with his free hand, sighing in relief as it turned to ash and fell away from his wrist. Three angry burn marks wrapped around his wrist. He was grateful for the cold air that blew against his skin as it began to blister.

"You think you're so tough, try this on for size," he smirked at her. He held both of his hands to his right hip, "Kaaaaa…. Meeeee…. Haaaa…. Meeee….."

Lindsey squared her shoulders and prepared for his attack. The heat of her energy was melting the frozen ground around her; her shoes were sinking slightly into the mud.

"HAAA!"

The blue orb of concentrated energy flew at her as she threw her arms out in front of her and screamed. A wave of red flame hit the blast and the attacks erupted in a spectacular explosion. As the smoke cleared, the two stared at each other across the large scorch mark they'd created on the ground.

"You could have done better than that," Lindsey sneered.

"I know," Goku replied. "Wasn't sure you could handle it."

Lindsey narrowed her eyes at her future father-in-law. "Handle this." She jumped into the air, spinning, and throwing a whip of flame at him, catching him across his shoulder with a resounding CRACK. She landed, the whip of fire still in her hand.

"That's a new one," he scoffed, ignoring the welt on his arm.

"You like it?" she asked haughtily as she summoned a second whip in her other hand. "I just came up with it." She spun the whips slowly before her in double-dutch style, dangerously taunting the Saiyan to attack her again. "C'mon, big man. Let's see what you got."

In a flash, Goku was directly before her, moving so fast she couldn't see him and he hit her squarely in the face, knocking her backwards on the ground. He wanted to see if she'd get back up, to see how hard of a hit she could take.

She didn't disappoint him. She retaliated by jumping up quickly and spinning a whip at his face. He ducked, but she managed to singe one of the tips of his hair.

"Ha ha ha ha ha," she laughed lazily.

He rushed her again, but this time she was ready. She snapped her arms across her chest, sending the whips lashing out and crossing over, smacking him in the face as he found himself caught in no-man's land.

Rubbing the scorch marks on his cheeks, Goku grinned dangerously at her. "Not bad."

She watched him with keen eyes, waiting for his next attack, still spinning the whips in large circles that crossed before her. They sizzled and steamed in the cold air.

"Ready to take it to the next level?" Goku asked as his eyes turned seafoam green and his hair flashed gold.

Lindsey tilted her head to the side and quipped, "Bring it on."

"What is that energy?" Piccolo asked, looking around. He and Jenny had bundled up and gone for a walk in the snow since the rain had stopped. She gripped his arm tightly, fearful of slipping on the thin sheet of ice that had formed across the ground.

"I don't know," Jenny answered.

"I can feel Goku," Piccolo said. "But the other… It can't be."

"Is it Lindsey?" Jenny asked.

"There's no way," Piccolo replied. "She's not that strong." He was tempted to fly to Goku's side, to see what in the world was going on.

"How strong?"

"Impressively so," he said. "Not as strong as the Saiyans, but at least equal to Catie."

Jenny stood still for a moment, trying to feel the vibrations in the air. "It has to be Lindsey. Who else could it be?" She was certain of it.

"Then she's improved drastically in a short amount of time."

"No, it's always been there," Jenny said, walking forward again and Piccolo fell into step beside her. "She just figured out how to bring it out again."

Their footsteps crunched in the snow as they continued on their walk. Jenny couldn't resist the small smile that pulled at her lips. She sniffled as the cold air burned her nose.

"You all right?" Piccolo asked.

"Never better," she smiled. "Everything's going to be all right now."

Gohan sat quietly in his favorite chair near the fireplace, his book folded shut over one finger. He could feel his father and his fiancée's energies as they raged against one another. He closed his eyes and focused on hers. She felt strong. A rush of hope and excitement flared in his chest. This was the first time he'd felt her energy since she'd overdosed and this was the closest he'd come to her in a long time. He prayed she'd return to him soon. These long days of emptiness were killing him. It had been weeks since he'd even seen her. If she was to the point where her powers had come back, if she was even attempting to hold her own against a man (especially his father) then she was truly close to healing. He felt he could leap for joy.

Lindsey stood panting, the cold snow falling on her hot skin, melting and mixing with the sweat that rolled down her chest and back. Her hair was hanging in wet waves again as she stared at Goku, who looked equally tired. They'd been at it for hours.

"Break time?" she asked.

He nodded.

Together, they climbed into the tent and flopped down on the floor, leaning against the air mattresses that sat against opposing walls within the tent. She pulled her shoes and socks off, rubbing her cold toes.

"I'm very proud of you," Goku smiled.

She returned the smile. "Thanks." She eyed the burn marks on his arms and face. "Sorry about that."

He shrugged, "Ah, it'll heal. Shouldn't dish it out if I can't take it."

"I got you," she teased.

"Huh?" Goku asked.

"I got you," she repeated. "I actually managed to not only block you, but hit you. I held my own."

He nodded. "Mm-hmm. That you did!"

She seemed to swell at the thought of it, smiling to herself and rubbing her feet. She swore her toes were going to fall off.

Goku stood. "I'll let you get out of those wet clothes," he said and stepped out of the tent.

She changed quickly, pulling on a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, sliding her feet into the blissfully thick wool socks she'd packed. "I'm dressed!" she called as she rubbed her hair with a towel.

Goku reentered the tent and she turned her back to him, covering her eyes as he changed his clothes quickly. "That's much better." He sat on the air mattress and heaved a sigh.

She turned back around and they stared at each other for a minute, studying the marks they'd inflicted on one another.

"You hungry?" she asked.

"Sure!" Goku exclaimed.

She giggled. "I'll fix us something to eat." She stood and pulled on a pair of boots. She paused to look at his wrist again and felt guilty. She sighed and dropped to her knees next to her bag and began to rummage through it.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"My first aid kit," she answered. She found it and pulled the small bottle of aloe from the case. She crossed the tent on her knees and took Goku's hand in her own. He could see a bruise forming on her cheek. "Here," she said and squeezed a dollop onto the burn marks on his wrist. She pulled his hand closer to her and gingerly spread the gel across the burns with her fingertips. He hissed at her touch and she whispered, "Sorry."

"It's okay," he answered.

"There," she said, sitting back and looking at the thick coating of aloe around his wrist. "That should make it feel better."

"Thanks," he said.

She nodded and dropped the bottle on his mattress, then stood up. "I'll get the fire going and make us some soup." She left the tent, humming to herself and zipped it shut behind her.

'Gohan is going to be so proud of you,' Goku thought as he lay back on his makeshift bed. 'And I will be proud to have you in my family.'