It took me a moment to realize what had happened. On moment he was fine; he was talking and walking; then the next, he was on the ground.

He suddenly stopped his convulsions, and lay so still, I had the overwhelming feeling that he might be dead.

I got to my knees and checked his pulse. It was still there; he obviously was not dead; but it was rapid and out of control.

I put one of his arms around my shoulders and hoisted him up. He was completely unresponsive. His head lolled back, his mouth open. There was still blood dripping from it.

I took him out the door and took to the sky.

I wasn't sure what I should do; he was getting cold and shivering, and he wasn't breathing well.

I readjusted him, and flew around for a while, thinking about what would be best thing to do.

I couldn't take him to a hospital; they wouldn't know what to do with him. I defiantly couldn't take him home, either.

Then I saw Capsule Corp. Perfect.

I quickly swooped down and pounded on the balcony window. Bulma was sitting on the couch, reading the news paper. She looked up, and stared at me for a split second.

"Help me," I cried, my voice strangled with panic. She immediately got to her feet.

She opened the door and I took Kage in and lay him on the couch.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

"I don't know," I replied, "He was taking drugs; then all of a sudden he just passed out."

She checked his pulse. "How long's he been out?"

"About five or ten minutes," I replied. His lips were turning blue and the convulsions were coming back.

"His brain's deprived of oxygen." She said to herself. "Carry him down to the lab, Lysander."

I didn't bother to correct her as I lifted him back up and followed her down to the lab.

Downstairs, she had me put him onto a stretcher. She washed her hands and then put on some gloves and a white coat.

A few moments later, Bra joined her, already suited up.

"Mom, this was the guy I told you about," She said.

Bulma nodded. "He's stopped breathing," She declared. "Get a bag on him."

Bra slipped a mask over his face which rhythmically forced air into his mouth.

Bulma hooked him up to a machine that monitored his heart. A moment after she got it set up, it started beeping frantically.

"Heart rate is dropping." She stated. "He's not taking the air." She removed the mask from his face. She tried to stick a tube down his throat, but she couldn't get his mouth to open.

"Jaw's locked up…" She muttered.

"Do you want me to try?" I asked vaguely, my eyes wide.

"No, I don't want to break his jaw." Instead, she took a scalpel from the drawer and cut a small slit into his throat. I grimace at the sucking sound it made as she forced it down into the freshly cut hole. She then screwed another tube onto the one in his neck, and a machine started to breathe for him as she wiped off all the blood.

His heart rate came back a second later.

"Still weak," She muttered. "Take a blood sample."

Bra nodded and pulled out a needle from a drawer. If Vienna were here, she would have freaked at the sight of it.

Bulma looked over at me. "I think we can handle it. You'd better just go home, okay?"

I nodded, and reluctantly left the basement for upstairs. I went home slowly. I was pretty shaken, and I was worried, but for the most part, I could keep myself under control.

When I got home, to my surprise, Da was cooking something. He was standing in the kitchen, shirtless and barefoot, and seemed to be throwing random things into a skillet.

He saw me, and nodded his head. I nodded back. It appeared as though I was home free.

The following morning, I went down for breakfast and found everyone and their mother sitting in our tiny kitchen.

They all turned to me, and I instinctually took a step back.

"Is this an intervention?" I asked, eyebrows rising.

Lysander laughed, but everyone else looked confused or solemn.

Da was staring at me, so I took a seat quietly.

Everyone was there; all my brothers, Bra, Bulma, Pan, as well as Piccolo, and Krillin.

Da was saying something, but my attention was elsewhere. I wanted to ask Bra if Kage was alright, but it wasn't safe to ask her here. I had been specifically told to stay away from him.

"Aizel, are you listening?"

I turned my head at my name. "Yes, sir,"

"I was saying that Rut Season will be around once again. The only thing that can be done is to prepare, understood? Kakorot and I have decided the best thing to do is to separate everyone."

"You mean like… Lysander and I stay away from the girls?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "Did I say separate? I meant isolate. There will be no contact between any of you; no phones, no letters, no e-mail crap, and absolutely no face-face interaction."

This was distressing. "For how long?" Lysander asked.

He seemed to think about it. "About three weeks should be enough."

"Three weeks?!" Lysander and I cried at the same time. We had never been away from each other for more than a weekend, and even that made us uneasy. We all started talking at the same time, trying to argue with each other as well as the adults.

"Hey," Da began, his eyes narrowing. We continued until he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. I saw Piccolo grimace out of the corner of my eye.

"That is the only solution to this. There is nothing else that can be done."

Vienna, Lysander and I exchanged glances, and then looked away from each other. They were right, after all; there was nothing that could be done that would make this any better, other than separation.

"I know you don't like it," Papa said gently, "But I promise, it won't be that terrible."

He didn't even know what he was saying. He didn't know the special bond we shared; especially between Lysander and I. One simply could not be without the other.

"Alright, say your good byes." Da said flatly.

"Now?" I asked.

"Yes, now." He replied. "The quicker the better."

"But where are we going?" Vienna asked.

"You girls will be going up to the mountains with Chi-chi." Papa replied. "We think that that's the safest place, since you won't be really affected anyway."

When girls went through Rut Season, they just smelled different; from what Da told me. They go into heat, and males find them irresistible. There would be no harm in putting them together.

"Lysander, you'll be going up to the look out with Piccolo. Aizel, you'll go to Master Roshi's island."

My nostrils flared, but I said nothing. I hated every aspect of this arraignment.

"Why are they freaking out about this?" Lysander asked in our secret 'multiple language'. It was something we came up with when we were very little. Apparently, it was common amongst human twins and triplets as well.

"I don't know," I replied back. "But they're really pissing me off."

"They should just chillax." He said with a nod.

"But it makes sense," Vienna cut in. "They don't want anything 'incestual' to happen."

I snorted. "You really think that that's going to happen? You're our sister; you're like the epitome of gross to us."

"Thanks," She said dryly. "But I don't want to take any chances. Though, I would have liked to stay somewhere else."

I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. "You have to stay with the Mountain Witch!"

Lysander and I both began to taunt her, chanting 'Mountain Witch' over and over in our secret language.

"Hey, stop teasing her," Da cut in. "I don't know what you're saying, but I know what you're doing. Sit down and shut up, both of you."

"What were you talking about?" Goten asked, looking confused.

"Chocolate," I said.

"Puppies," Vienna said at the same time.

"Race cars!" Lysander said the loudest, in unison with us both.

We looked at each other, and said at the same time, "Chocolate covered puppy cars!" Then we started laughing.

Everyone else looked uncomfortable.

"What's wrong with you three? Is there a gas leak in your room?" Trunks asked, eyebrows raised.

"You're just jealous because there isn't a gas leak in you're room." Vienna said, and we nodded in agreement.

"That's enough," Da growled. "You're stalling. Say good bye, pack your things, and get out."

"Who's going to take care of Turtle?" Lysander asked, looking worried. "Are you going to feed him, and everything?"

Turtle was our turtle that we'd had since we were really little; like five, or so. We'd found him outside, and were allowed to keep him. He was pretty old, for a turtle, and he had grayish cataracts over both eyes, so he couldn't see all that well. And when the seasons changed his nose ran. He was pretty pathetic if you ask me.

"Absolutely not." Da replied with a shake of his head.

"But!" He cried, "He needs an eighth of a teaspoon of vitamins K, C, A, and D every morning! And he needs to go outside at least twenty minutes once a day at around seven' o'clock, and he needs a bath every two days, and his tank needs to be clean out every week or he get's cranky! And you have to give him lots of attention so he doesn't miss me."

"The damn thing's blind; how's it even going to know you're gone?" Da asked, putting his hands behind him and leaning back on the counter.

"Why don't you take him?" Papa suggested, ignoring him. "We're not going to remember all that stuff, you know."

Lysander turned to Piccolo. "Can I bright Turtle up to the look out? He's really old, and if he dies while I'm gone, I'll probably spiral into madness within days."

"Fine, take the turtle, I don't care." Piccolo said, and crossed his arms.

"Awesome." He ran off to our room to get Turtle's tank.

"Hey, how come Bra's not staying at Capsule Corp.?" Vienna asked, scratching the back of her head. "How come she's coming with us to Chi-chi's?"

"Because," Da said, "There's a pest problem there."

"Pest?" Vienna asked with a frown. "Like, mice?"

"Like drug addicts." He replied.

"Kagen's staying in our basement." Bra explained casually. "He went into a coma after Aizel brought him over, and he hasn't woken up yet."

All eyes turned to me. Fucking big mouth. She just couldn't control herself.

"Did he?" Da asked, a frown beginning at his forehead and coming all the way down to his mouth.

"Okay, this is what happened," I said, putting up my hands, "I was with him for like ten minutes," A lie, "And then he was drinking, and then he passed out. So I took him over to Capsule Corp. That's all. I wasn't doing drugs, or anything, so don't even worry about it."

"But my mom said that his toxicity-screen was through the roof! He had practically every drug known to man in his system, and it said that he'd taken cocaine about five minutes before he came to our house. So that would mean-"

"That would mean he was doing drugs while you were there." Da concluded, his eyes narrowing.

I was so dead. I was to a point where it didn't matter how well I could lie. There was no way I could keep the truth from getting out now, so I told the story again, and only tailored it… a bit.

"Okay, the truth is, that I ran into him down town. He started talking about stuff, but I didn't know what he was talking about, so I just nodded and agreed with him. Then he offered me a cigarette. I said no, and he kept talking. Then he bought some alcohol, and I tried some."

I saw the Papa sit up straighter, and his mouth opened as if he was going to say something.

"But I learned my lesson," I insisted quickly, "Because it was nasty and made me throw up. So then I was sick, and he did a little cocaine. Then he passed out and started freaking out, so I took him to Capsule Corp. That's the whole story, I swear."

By the time I had finished, it was dead quiet. At some point, Lysander had come back with Turtle's tank, and his mouth hung open.

"And this… all happened within ten minutes?" Papa asked, eyes narrowed to almost the same size as Da's.

"No," I admitted. "It was more like… twenty… or thirty... or an hour. I don't know."

Da ran a hand through his hair. "Aizel, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen now. You're going to become an example for everyone in this room, so that they know what happens when you disobey me. You'll probably cry, but try to take it like a man."

I took an involuntary step back, and then looked over at Trunks. He stared at me with glassy eyes, and then shook his head, as if to say 'Now you're going to get it.'

Ten minutes later, he had filled the sink with water, and was putting ice into it. He beckoned me over, and I came hesitantly, wary of what he was going to do.

"I already knew that you'd taken the junkie to the woman, but I hadn't known about the alcohol." Da said to me, his eyes never leaving mine. "You should learn how to lie, boy." He nodded his head at the sink. "Stick your hand into the water." He instructed.

Tentatively, I put my hand into it. It wasn't that cold yet.

"Not too terrible, huh?" he asked, crossing his arms, "A little cold, but not too bad, right?"

I didn't know what the right answer was, so I looked back over at Trunks, who seemed to be trying to tell me something.

"Don't look at him," Da said sharply, "You're attention should be over here."

Without warning, and with lightening speed, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and forced my head under the water. I panicked, and tried to pull away. I grabbed onto his hand with both of my own, and tried to pry them off.

I sensed movement around me, but I couldn't focus on anything other than trying to get my head up and get some air into my lungs.

He held me under for nearly a minute, and then pulled me back out. I was panting, coughing, and disoriented.

"Vegeta!" Papa was yelling, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm teaching," He announced. He was looking over at Papa, so I didn't expect him to dunk my head back under.

This time, he held me under longer, until I felt like perhaps he was not going to let me back out; that he was going to let me drown.

When he did let me back up, the water was freezing, and stung at my face. He still had a fist full of my hair, and no matter what Papa was saying to him, he wouldn't let me go.

"He's a child," Papa was saying. He had Da's free wrist in his hand, and he looked angry. "Not some kind of prisoner."

"A child that needs to be taught a lesson." Da responded, ripping his arm away. "I'm not going to kill him, Kakorot. Trust me; I've done this a hundred times. And besides, they don't do this to prisoners."

Back into the water I went. This was the longest session yet. Despite what he had said, I was sure that this time, he would just let me drown. My vision began to tunnel, and I felt as though at any moment, my brain would tell my lungs to breathe, against all its logic, and I would die, right there in the kitchen.

When he pulled me out, I took several desperate breaths.

"Okay, okay! No more! No more," I choked out, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry; I won't do it again, ever!"

He let me go, and I crashed to the floor. I had never been so terrified in my life. I was trembling from the shock of it all. I sat there, sobbing and choking for nearly ten minutes.

Papa and Da were arguing, one in Saiyan, one in English, about child abuse, or something like that. Da was insisting that I was perfectly fine, but Papa was saying that I might have brain damage or something.

I was too disoriented to figure out what else was going on, though.

I turned to Gohan, who was staring at me, completely immobile. He seemed to be in shock, as was everyone else.

He jerked, and then knelt beside me. "Are you alright? Can you see? What's your name?"

I didn't answer to this. I was too dazed to even register what he was saying. "I think I'm okay." I said after a moment.

"See?" Da said, crossing his arms. "He's alive, and he's perfectly fine."

Gohan rounded on him. "How could you do that to him?!"

Da shrugged. "It's not hard. Straightened him right out. I just saved us all some time."

I had a string of things I wanted to say to him, but at the moment, I was exhausted and didn't care much.

"How would you like it if someone tried to drown you?" Gohan asked.

"It's been done. And if I were really trying to drown him, he would be dead already because that isn't how you survive a staged drowning."

I glanced over to him, and then let my eyes roll shut.

A moment later, I was being jarred awake by Krillin.

"Come on, kid, let's go. I'll take you to the hospital if you want."

I got up and shook my head. "I'm fine." I didn't know how true that was, but I didn't want my father to think I was weak by going to the hospital. If he knew I was this badly affected by his little torture session, he would know that he could use it whenever I acted a fool.

I put all my clothes into a garbage bag and followed Krillin out the door.

Papa and Da were still arguing, but both in Saiyan this time so that no one else knew what they were saying. I did though. They were no longer talking about whether or not it was right to drown me, but what they were going to do about Kage. They said it might be a good idea to send him back to where he came from.

"You can't do that," I cried, involuntarily, and then covered my mouth. I had a nasty habit of just saying what I was thinking.

"This conversation does not concern you." Da said flatly, and then waved his hand as if dismissing me.

I stood outside with Krillin for a few moments before we took off. "He's such an ass," I spat, and ran my fingers through my wet hair. Winter was coming up, and I was suddenly very aware of it.

"I hear ya, kid. But he used to be a lot worse, you know? Before you were born, I couldn't stand him. Now, he's not that bad a guy."

We took off and flew in silence for a while.

"Does he… drown you… often?" He asked.

I shook my head. "This was the first time I really screwed up. He must be pretty pissed. And Papa must be too, since he didn't really stop him."

Krillin nodded, a frown setting into his face. "Just don't screw up again for a while. They'll get over it eventually,"

"How do you know?" I asked, looking away from him.

"Because I'm a parent. And they love you; they can forgive you for anything you do."

This gave me something to think about. I felt awful, like I had betrayed a level of trust that I could never get back. I hoped Krillin was right; I hoped they did love me enough to forgive me.