One Year

He felt the emptiness and it made him nauseous. The void was unbearable, in place of what should have been another's consciousness rubbing against his own, in constant contact even if not fully aware of each other. That conscious, that companionship, was torn from him by a weakling fool. It infuriated him, but more than that, it hurt. He could have berated himself for allowing himself an attachment, but he wasn't going to. He wouldn't dishonor his comrade like that. He was worthy of his attachment. He stuck with him through more than he could name. Despite his callous attitude, insults, their arguments, fights, though he degraded him, humiliated him, hurt him, and even when he pushed him away, rejected him, hated him, and shut him out of his mind, he stuck with him faithfully, loyally. He was true to the crown though it no longer held any meaning. The kingdom was gone, yet he lived to serve his prince. How could he dishonor him in death?

He held his head in his hands and took a deep, calming breath. Yes, he was angry. Yes, he was grieving. He would have his revenge, though. He would not let his comrade die without seeking justice. He entered the coordinates to the puny mudball on the opposite edge of the galaxy and entered the command to launch. There was no sense in waiting. He wasn't going to tell his master where he was going. He didn't care if he was punished for his rash actions. He didn't care about anything but vengeance. The prospect of also gaining immortality only sweetened the deal. Maybe he would find revenge for his comrade and his people on one backwater planet. He could have laughed. As if he would ever be so fortunate. He shifted into a more comfortable position as his pod levitated off the ground and shot into the sky.

'One year,' he thought. 'In one year I will have my revenge. I hope you're ready, Earth.'

…

Bulma sat in the chair next to the bed in the infirmary and held her face in her hands. She couldn't believe it when Tien Shinhan died. She wasn't as close to him as her other friends, but it was still a shock when he died. They got him to the infirmary too late. Raditz killed him. Krillin was fine. After a couple days laid up in bed he was back on his feet and already training for the coming saiyans. And Goku…her Goku, her best friend, her little Goku, he was gone. She felt tears streaming down her face before she was aware of crying. She sniffled and swallowed back the lump in her throat. Of course it hurt; she would grieve for him even though she knew he would be brought back to life in eleven months. She wiped her tears away and looked up at the bed. On it lay the reason for her grief. She hated him. No, it was deeper than that. She loathed him. How could this monster come into her life and destroy it like he had? He took two of her friends away from her after ruining her wedding – and she still wasn't married – and told her that her childhood friend didn't care about her. Hell, he said he didn't remember her. What hurt the most was that she remembered Vegeta as he was. She didn't want to believe he changed, especially not in the way Raditz said he did. Even if he never did come back to Earth, she would have liked to have remembered him as he was, always believing he was never able to return, that he did care for her and her family. Basically, she wanted an ideal memory of him. That was shattered now.

She straightened her back and picked up her clipboard from the table next to the bed and started jotting down notes about his vitals, appearance, everything. The reason for keeping this beast alive was to learn from him so they would hopefully have an advantage when they fought the other saiyans. She really didn't want anyone to fight Vegeta. Despite what Raditz said, she still wanted to believe that deep down, he wasn't a killer. He wasn't a monster. He was a scared little boy forced to do terrible things against his will. But Raditz, well, she wasn't going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He didn't deserve it. She sighed when she saw the notes she'd taken on him over the past month. So far she hadn't discovered anything of particular interest. The only known weakness he had was his tail, which was extremely sensitive like Goku's had been when he was young. She tossed the clipboard on the table and crossed her legs. She was frustrated with him. Were saiyans really that tough?

"Where's Vegeta? What happened?"

Her father knelt down in front of her and laid his hands on her shoulders. "Honey, he was shot. He's been taken to the infirmary. Dr. Nienstedt is taking care of him."

She gasped. "He was shot? Is he ok? Oh, no, I have to go see him!" She was firmly held in place by her father's hands. She struggled against him until she wore herself out. Her head was still pounding, making her feel light-headed. She sank to her knees.

"Bulma, you have to wait until Dr. Nienstedt removes the bullet. Then you can visit him." He chuckled and slowly shook his head in wonder. "You don't need to worry about him, dear. He's going to be fine. That boy is darn near indestructible."

Bulma ran her hands through her tangled hair and tilted her head back to look at the plain white ceiling. Of course saiyans were tough. She already knew that. Bullets, if they actually managed to hit without the saiyan putting up a defense, were ineffective. Long falls did nothing to them. She distinctly remembered Vegeta stepping off his balcony and landing on the ground below, standing up, and walking off as if he had taken a small step down. And Goku. That guy could keep fighting when he should have been dead. Hole in his chest? Not a problem. Arms and legs rendered useless? He still managed to defeat Piccolo. His skull was harder than any known metal, she was sure. He could land on his head after falling from the sky and he would sit up, rub his head, and jump to his feet to start again. So was that it, then? Were saiyans really invulnerable?

She snorted and rubbed her shoulders in a vain attempt to ease the tension in them. She remembered trying to keep Raditz in a coma. The drug developed for humans to serve such a purpose was too weak. He was unconscious for two weeks, so she figured it was working well enough, but then he started to rouse. Turns out he had only been unconscious because of the wound he received from Piccolo. Once his body recovered naturally, he woke up despite the drug pumping through his veins. She had been in the infirmary with him when it happened, which was both a good and bad thing. It was good in that she was there to stop him from getting away when he was unwatched, but it was bad in that it scared the hell out of her. When she saw him trying to sit up she screamed and punched him as hard as she could. Thankfully, he was still weak and the blow knocked him out. Then she tripled the amount of the drug in the IV to make sure he wouldn't wake up again. He hadn't so far. Any human with that amount in their system would have died, but not this stupid saiyan.

"Maybe I should kill you while I have the chance," she mumbled. "You're here, helpless, and I'm the one keeping you alive. It doesn't make any sense. You ruined my life." Her hands clenched into fists. She wanted him to hurt the way she was hurting. She felt rage building in her chest. Someday it would burst and she might do something she would regret. "You killed Goku! Your own brother! You bastard!"

Bulma jumped when she heard the door to the infirmary open. She spun her chair around to see who was coming in. She released her breath and smiled slightly when she saw her mother walking in with a tray of cookies and a glass of milk. "Hello, dear, I wanted to check up on you."

"Why?" Bulma reached out and took a cookie off the tray.

Mrs. Brief shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed near Raditz's feet. "You've been in here an awful lot, honey. I'm worried you're going to make yourself sick the way you're not eating or sleeping."

Bulma munched on her cookie thoughtfully. She didn't respond right away. She looked over at Raditz. If not for the different hair, she might have been able to mistake him for Goku when she looked at his profile. She wondered if this was what Goku would have been had he not fallen and hit his head as a baby. Would he have been a killer too? A monster that committed genocide to sell planets? It was unthinkable. Goku was so gentle. "Do you think he's a bad man, Mom?"

The blonde woman shrugged. "I don't know, honey. He's done some terrible things, but I don't know if it's because that's what he's like or if that's what he's had to do." She handed the milk to Bulma and picked a cookie to nibble on.

"You're too forgiving." Bulma finished her cookie and wiped her fingers on her pants.

Mrs. Brief set the tray of cookies on the table and stood up. "Maybe. Why don't you leave the infirmary for a while? You've been in here too long. You need to get out and have some fun."

"Yeah, you're right." Bulma stood up and stretched. "Want to go to the mall with me?"

"I'd love to, sweetie."

The blue-haired woman snatched another cookie from the tray and led the way out of the room. She shut the door and locked it. She didn't want anyone else going in there and messing anything up. Her mother was right. She had been allowing the saiyan to take all her time and energy. She hadn't been to headquarters to keep up with her duties as vice president of Capsule Corporation since he came, and she hadn't been to her laboratory to work on any projects for at least two weeks. She hadn't even left the compound since she brought him to the infirmary to stay. Going out would do her some good and take her mind off all her problems.

…

"I am so hungry," Goku whined. He collapsed on Snake Way and looked up at the pink, cloudless sky, holding his stomach with both hands. It growled loudly. "I can't go on."

Tien stopped and turned around. He rolled his eyes and pointed to the end of Snake Way. "I'm sure King Kai will have food when we get there. Come on, Goku, we have to keep going. Our friends are counting on us." He held out his hand to help Goku up to his feet.

Goku grabbed his hand and frowned when he saw the road stretching on endlessly before them. King Kai's place was nowhere in sight. They had been traveling on it for days, weeks. How many miles had they gone? Too many to count. The journey was miserable. There was no food and they had no beds to sleep in. He found out the hard way that the edge of the road was sharp. He hurt his arm pretty bad once when he was sleeping. There were other times he nearly fell off the path when he was asleep. Had it not been for Tien, he would have ended up in hell.

"I hope a year is long enough to reach the end," he said.

Tien resumed walking. "Kami wouldn't send us to King Kai if he didn't think we could make it with time to train. Let's get moving."

"You're right." Goku ran to catch up with him and together they continued their trek down Snake Way, hoping against hope that they would see the end soon.

…

Krillin back-flipped over a side kick from Yamcha, twisted in the air, and kicked his opponent in the head before landing cleanly on his feet. Yamcha staggered back a few steps before regaining his balance. He bent forward and raised his fists, ready to strike. Their spar continued as they hopped, ran, and flew across the platform of the Lookout. They rushed past Yajirobe, who was, as usual, sitting under one of Mr. Popo's trees eating a snack. They flew by Chiaotzu, making him spin around in the air.

Yamcha delivered a hard uppercut that Krillin wasn't fast enough to block. He skidded across the smooth tile floor before coming to a stop when he hit a tree. He groaned and rubbed his head, then got to his feet and took a deep breath. "I think it's time for a break," he told Yamcha.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

The two warriors sat in the shade and caught their breath. They had been sparring day in and day out for the past two months it seemed like. They barely took the time to eat and sleep before they were out fighting again, trying to perfect their techniques, increase their speed, strengthen their attacks, and make their movements overall more efficient. Still, they didn't feel like they were improving very much and Kami wasn't giving them any pointers. They were growing frustrated with their training. They weren't doing anything they hadn't done before while training under Master Roshi. When Kami summoned them to train with him, they were expecting an intense training regimen that would increase their power like it had Goku's when he trained with Kami for three years. Instead they were left to their own devices without guidance. They didn't know what else to do.

Krillin folded his hands in his lap and looked around the Lookout. "How do you think Goku and Tien are doing?"

"If I know those two, they're training hard. We're going to have to train even harder if we have any hope of keeping up with them." Yamcha laughed and leaned against the tree. He could imagine those two sparring. They would be unbelievably powerful by the time they were wished back if what Kami said about training with King Kai was true. In a way he was jealous that they got such a privilege, but at the same time he wasn't willing to die for such an opportunity.

"You're right about that." Krillin frowned. "Think we'll be strong enough to face the saiyans? That guy was insanely powerful, and he said the others were even stronger."

"Yeah, so? We're getting stronger too." Yamcha smirked. "When those saiyans come they won't know what hit 'em."

His confidence, though blown out of proportion, was infectious. Krillin grinned, imagining himself single-handedly defeating the saiyans. It was unrealistic and he knew it, but it never hurt to think positive. He found that things usually turned out a lot better when he kept a good attitude. After resting a few more minutes, he and Yamcha got up and started training separately, working more on strength and speed than fighting techniques. There was plenty of time for that later. Improved technique would be useless without the power to back them up, and power without technique was wasted. As nice as it was to be able to train all day, every day with no interruptions, they were eager for the part when Kami would oversee their training and teach them what he taught Goku. They had no idea what to expect, and that made them nervous. Maybe Kami didn't think they were ready for such intense training yet and that was why he was waiting and watching them as they trained themselves. Once they reached the level he needed them to reach, then he would step in and help. It was difficult to be patient for so long, but they forced themselves to keep training as hard as they could to attain a new level of power adequate for training with the Guardian of Earth.

And so they trained for another month before their patience finally wore out. They had just finished another spar when Krillin and Yamcha spotted Kami walking across the platform of the Lookout, speaking with Mr. Popo about his gardens. They ran over to him, ready to confront him about their training.

"Kami!" Yamcha called as he ran over to the old deity. "We'd like to talk to you."

Kami turned to face them and leaned heavily on his staff as he waited for them to come closer. He already knew what they had in mind and had actually been conferring with Mr. Popo about their readiness for the next step in their training.

They came to a stop a few feet short of Kami and Mr. Popo. Their faces showed their fierce determination to get what they wanted. "Kami, when are you going to train us?" Krillin asked. "We've been here for three months and you haven't taught us anything!"

"Yeah, teach us what you taught Goku! We need to get stronger to defeat the saiyans! Stop holding out on us."

Hearing their conversation, Chiaotzu flew over and hovered over their shoulders, hoping that Kami would divulge the secrets of Goku's training. While Kami took on a contemplative expression, the warriors leaned forward, wondering what words of wisdom he would speak. They were taken aback when he started laughing. "You want me to teach you what I taught Goku? Well I'll tell you! I didn't teach him anything! You understand? Nothing!"

The warriors nearly fell over. Nothing? Kami taught Goku nothing? Then how did he explain Goku's incredible power increase during the three years that he trained at the Lookout in preparation for Piccolo, Jr.? Yamcha was the first to form words. "Nothing? What do you mean nothing? Explain!"

Kami took a step toward the central palace, his staff clunking heavily on the stone tile. "Mr. Popo, show them to the Pendulum Room. You know what to do."

"Yes, Kami." Mr. Popo folded his arms behind his back and walked to the palace with the warriors following close behind. "The Pendulum Room is a special place where the boundaries between the past, present, and future may be crossed." They entered the palace and Mr. Popo took them to the left, down a long hallway that curved to the right with many doors along the way. He opened one and led them inside. The room was dark and smelled dusty, as if it hadn't been used in years. There was an enormous pendulum swinging over the middle of the room, where there was a circle drawn on the floor. "Stand inside the circle and I will send you to a place in the past. Remember nothing you do will affect the events of the present time. Good luck."

…

"There, look!" Goku pointed far into the distance and hopped up and down excitedly. "Tien, it's the end!"

"What are you talking about, Goku?" Tien levitated off Snake Way to get a better view. He nearly fell into the golden clouds when what he saw confirmed what Goku said. There, far off, was the end of the road. He didn't see anything at the end, but maybe they were still too far to see King Kai's place.

"Come on, let's go!" Goku didn't wait for Tien before he started sprinting to the end. They had been on Snake Way for three and a half months and he was ready to be at the end. He was tired and hungry. A nap and a big lunch was exactly what he needed. He ran all the way to the end, his momentum nearly forcing him off the end. "What? There's nothing here!"

Tien came up behind him. He frowned when he reached the same conclusion as Goku. There was nothing at the end. Just an endless expanse of clouds. There was nowhere to go. They were at the end of the line. Unless they went down into hell, there was nothing. "What is the meaning of this? We didn't spend over three months running on this stupid road just to come to a dead end!"

Goku squatted and rested his elbows on his knees. There had to be something somewhere. Kami and King Yemma wouldn't send them down Snake Way if there wasn't anything at the end. He rubbed his chin. Down led to hell. But what about up? He tilted his head back and searched the sky for anything. He almost overlooked it, but then he saw it, a tiny planet floating in the sky several hundred meters above Snake Way. A grin spread across his face. He jumped into the air and cheered. "Tien, look, up there! That must be King Kai's place!"

"Hey, I think you're right. So what are we waiting for?" Tien smiled and crouched down, ready to jump.

"Yeah! Whoo! Yippee! We found King Kai!" Goku jumped high into the sky. Tien followed after him, and within a few seconds they noticed their speed increasing as the tiny planet's gravity pulled them to it. Now, instead of going up, they were falling to the ground. Before they knew it, they were hitting the ground. Hard.

They groaned as they sat up, feeling for the first time gravity ten times greater than Earth's. To say it was hard to move would be an understatement. Goku was the first one to make it to his feet, but he was unable to stand up straight. He felt like his body was being dragged to the ground by powerful, invisible hands. He grit his teeth and took one step that sent tingles exploding through his leg. Beside him, Tien was finally getting to his feet.

"What kind of place is this?" Tien asked. He could hardly stay on his feet. It was so much easier to lie down and not even think about moving.

Goku would have shrugged, but it wasn't worth the effort it would take to move his shoulders. "I don't know. Where do you think King Kai is?"

They looked around at the small planet. There was a brick road wrapping around the planet. Trees were spotted around haphazardly, providing shade to the thick green grass. They didn't see anyone around. Tien took a step and almost fell to the ground as the gravity brought his foot down faster than he was expecting. "If we follow that road," he said, panting, "maybe we'll find where King Kai lives. This planet's not very big, how hard can it be to find him?"

"Yeah." Step. "You're probably." Step. "Right." Step. Goku paused and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Man, this gravity's intense."

Step. "Tell me." Step. "About it." Step. "Maybe this." Step. "Is our training." Step.

Slowly, step by agonizing step, the two warriors from Earth made their way to the road and started following it around the planet. They were surprised their feet didn't sink into the ground, forever planting them in one place. They were sweating heavily and panting by the time they saw a small, domed house up ahead. There was a red 1957 Chevrolet parked on the road and one tree in front of the house. Whoever lived there, probably King Kai, must have been inside because they still didn't see anyone. Goku smelled something sweet, something enticing as they drew closer. Fruit. And the smell was coming from the large tree. Ignoring the soreness in his body, he hurried as fast as he could over to the tree and tried to climb it, but the gravity kept pulling him down before he got more than a foot off the ground.

Tien shook his head and went to the door of the house and knocked on it. "King Kai?"

The door was answered by a short, blue man with long whiskers and antennae. When he opened the door, an energetic monkey shot out and climbed the tree where Goku was still struggling to get a snack. "Who are you?" the man asked. "I don't get visitors very often."

Tien bowed respectfully. "My name is Tien Shinhan," he said, "and that man over there is my friend, Goku Son. We were sent here to train with you. You are King Kai, are you not?"

"I am." King Kai stepped outside and watched Goku attempting to climb the tree, the only thing on his mind being food after over three months without eating. King Kai started laughing. He had to turn away from the humorous scene to gain control of himself. "You know, I don't train anybody who comes to my door. First, you have to pass a test."

"A test?"

King Kai nodded sagely. "You have to make me laugh."

Tien's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?" He couldn't be given a more difficult task. He wasn't known for his sense of humor. Goku would have no trouble. He was naturally funny. But Tien… he didn't know a single joke, and even if he did, his delivery skills were lacking. This was going to be a tough test, indeed.

…

Bulma sank down into her chair at the saiyan's side and groaned. She couldn't figure anything out. "It's been six whole months and still nothing! No weaknesses! These saiyans are built to last." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and scowled at the comatose saiyan. She reached over and picked up the scouter from the table next to the bed and turned it over in her hands. She considered using it to contact the other saiyans. But what good would that do? Would she only succeed in making them mad? Would Vegeta remember her? It was really her fear that he wouldn't that kept her from trying to figure out how to send a transmission. She was mildly surprised that they hadn't tried contacting Raditz. But then, if they believed he was dead, they would have no reason to bother. She sighed and set the scouter down.

"So you saiyans used to send your babies to other planets to destroy them, huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's pretty sick. Making babies into killers. You must be a race of monsters. I can hardly believe Goku's a saiyan. He's the lucky one, I think." Bulma shook her head and checked the life support equipment Raditz was hooked up to. She wasn't sure he even needed it, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "For being in a coma, you sure are healthy. You don't gain weight, you don't lose weight. Your blood pressure is fine, blah, blah." She couldn't remember when she started talking to Raditz. He couldn't hear her. She wouldn't want to converse with him anyway. Not for real.

At least she wasn't spending all her time at his side anymore. She checked up on him four times a day, but she had gotten back into her usual routine, spending most of her days in her lab working on various inventions, and occasionally going to headquarters to keep up with paperwork and oversee the projects she was heading or attend board meetings. She still wouldn't allow any other medical personnel to take care of Raditz; she was afraid they would accidentally or purposefully wake him from his coma.

While she was away, her mother would sometimes stop in and sit by his side, talk to him, wash him up, or clean his room. She was finding it hard to hold a grudge against the saiyan for what he had done. He looked so peaceful sleeping. It was easy to forget the malice behind his actions. Her caring nature, as usual, overrode her reason. She didn't like that Bulma was holding him in a coma, yet she was unwilling to do anything about it. She did harbor some feelings of fear and distrust.

Bulma completed her check-up and wiped the sweat off his face with a rag. He always seemed to be hot, even when she turned the air conditioning on in his room. It was only April. It was still chilly outside. Maybe it was because he was a saiyan. She remembered Vegeta had a high body temperature. Raditz did, too. Maybe it was because he was in a coma. Perhaps, in some way, that messed with his body's ability to maintain homeostasis. But that didn't make sense. His vitals were stable from day one, never fluctuating much at all. In the end, she stopped guessing and simply wiped the sweat off his face without a second thought.

"I'm not going to find any weaknesses, am I?" she asked him. She thought she saw the faintest hint of a smirk. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her. "Well then, maybe I should kill you since you're useless to me." She felt her stomach twist at that thought. No, she couldn't kill him. It wasn't that she liked him. Definitely not. She still hated him for what he had done. But her anger had ebbed enough for her compassionate side to overpower her rage. She couldn't kill him. Nor could she let him ever rouse from his coma. She was stuck with him until she figured out something else to do with him. "Don't worry, big guy, I'm not going to kill you. You're much too handsome for that," she joked.

…

King Kai was waxing his recently repaired car and watching Tien and Goku train a fair distance away. He was amazed at their progress; both had incredible power and undeterred determination to grow stronger than the two saiyans heading to Earth. He admired their mindset, but he still held his reservations about their ability to defeat the saiyans. Nappa, one of the elite saiyans, was easily three times stronger than Raditz had been. Then there was Vegeta, the saiyan prince, the most powerful saiyan to live in many generations. His power was approaching ten times Raditz when he wasn't fully powered up. Goku's power especially had grown since his arrival, but whether or not it would be enough was still debatable. He was the first and only student King Kai had ever taught the Kaio-ken technique to, and with that he could make his power surge far beyond Nappa, but he still hadn't reached Vegeta's level. Goku did have the ace up his sleeve if the battle went horribly downhill. The spirit bomb.

He was the first student to truly master the most powerful technique King Kai knew. It was not surprising once he learned that Goku was himself a saiyan. A low-class saiyan, but he shared the same will, natural ability to manipulate life energy, strength, speed, and endurance of all saiyan warriors. A saiyan was the best chance at defeating a saiyan, without doubt. King Kai did want Goku to win the fight; Vegeta was evil, twisted into a killing machine with no remorse. He had seen some of his more heinous acts, witnessed some of his violent tortures, and felt the evil that Vegeta accepted when he cast aside his soul. Vegeta's life was one to pity, but it was not one to condone. It had to be ended for the sake of millions – billions, rather – of people across the universe.

The blue god finished waxing his car and walked over to the shade of the tree in front of his house. It was cooler there, a perfect place to relax. He already had a chair set up there from earlier in the day, and he sat down and folded his hands in his lap to oversee his students' training. Goku was running through a kata while Tien stood on one foot on the top of a tall pole, working on his balance and concentration. They were fine warriors, some of the best he'd seen. It was a pleasure to train them. They were hard-working and wouldn't stop trying until they completed the initial tests and new techniques. Three more months were all they had left to train in preparation for a battle that could mean the survival of their planet. He hoped they would be ready. If they weren't, he might be seeing them again soon.

…

Bulma opened the door to her laboratory and went down the stairs. She had her capsule case packed and she was ready to get started with her next adventure. She walked over to her desk, opened the top drawer, and pulled out the dragon radar. She held it in her hands and smiled. It had been a long time since she had needed to use it. She pushed the button on the top and seven circles immediately lit up all over the grid. The dragon balls, scattered all over the globe. She sighed and held the radar to her heart. 'Don't worry, guys, we'll bring you back. I hope you've trained hard, 'cause these saiyans aren't pushovers.'

She tucked the dragon radar in her pocket and went upstairs, locking her lab door behind her. On her way out of the compound she stopped in the kitchen to let her mother know she was leaving. "I'm going now, Mom. It should only take a couple weeks, tops. Take care of Raditz for me, ok?"

Mrs. Brief grabbed a paper sack from the counter and rushed over to her daughter. "Don't worry about him, honey. He'll be just fine. Here, I packed a lunch for you. Be careful!"

"I'll be fine." Bulma took the bag and hugged her mother. "See you soon."

"Goodbye, sweetie."

The blue-haired woman went outside and popped open her jet capsule. She climbed in and took off for Master Roshi's island. She wasn't going to traverse the world alone. She would have preferred better company, but all her friends were still away training, leaving Roshi as the only choice. Well, at least he was pretty strong for an old man. His skills could prove useful from time to time when she was being perfectly honest. She wasn't counting on the hunt for the dragon balls to take longer than two or three weeks, but just in case she ran into trouble she decided to start collecting them two months before the predicted arrival of the saiyans. It wouldn't hurt to have the dragon balls gathered together as long as no one came along trying to steal them. She wasn't too worried. The Red Ribbon Army was destroyed years ago and she hadn't heard from Emperor Pilaf since King Piccolo's defeat. She didn't know of anyone else in the world who had heard of the legend of the dragon balls, much less would be out searching for them.

'Maybe I should have trained a little this year. I know I would never be any real help in an actual battle, but who knows what'll happen? I might need to defend myself.' Bulma sighed and shrugged. It was too late to train seriously now. Maybe she would brush up on her kata; it had been years since she practiced, but they were deeply ingrained in her memory after hours and hours of repetition when she was younger. Sometimes she missed the thrill of a good spar, but not too much. Never enough to motivate her to get back into the habit of training. There were too many other things to occupy her time. Namely, work at Capsule Corporation.

No matter the outcome of the inevitable battle, she wanted it to be over soon. She was tired of the anticipation and she wanted to see how Vegeta had changed over the years. Would she even recognize him anymore? Maybe not. It didn't matter. She had to remember he wasn't the same Vegeta she knew. He was a monster, a killer, and he was coming to destroy Earth or use the dragon balls or who knows what. She couldn't let her feelings get in the way of reason in this case. That could prove deadly, not only to herself, but to her friends and maybe the people of Earth as well. Anyway, when it was all over, she would finally be able to marry Yamcha and carry on with life. She would have some sort of resolution with Vegeta, even if it wasn't what she had hoped for, and she could forget about him once and for all. She would figure out what to do with Raditz and she would start a family… Life would go on. After the saiyans were defeated, she could get her life back on track.

…

"Landfall in two minutes."

He blinked his eyes open. There, through the porthole, he saw his destination. A miserable little mudball planet that could hold the key to his freedom. It didn't look like much, but for some reason it stirred a feeling of comfort and peace in his heart. The unfamiliar feelings were shoved aside in favor of something a little more manageable: anger. He was going to kill the bastards who killed Raditz.

"Landfall in one minute."

His hands clenched into fists. The first thing he was going to do was find the one responsible for the death of his comrade. Then he would hunt down the 'dragon balls' and make his wish. Then he would be undefeatable. Then he could finally avenge his people.

"Prepare for impact."

He felt his pod crash into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Seconds later, he heard the boom of another space pod landing nearby. He opened the hatch and was greeted with the sounds of terror he knew so well: screaming, crying, and rapid footfalls. He smirked. This was what he lived for. Chaos. Let the brief reign of terror begin.

A/N: Yeah, had a lot going on in this chapter. I know it moved fast, but honestly, would you want me to spend another chapter on their year of training? Training isn't exciting. I don't particularly like writing about it. So, boom, there goes the year and Vegeta and Nappa have arrived on Earth. Hopefully now you see why Tien died. If you don't, you'll figure it out next chapter.

In other news, I had my interview yesterday. How did it go? I'm not sure. The place is an hour drive from home, which sucks, so I'm not sure I want it that much anyway. That's a long drive... takes some serious time away from my writing... Speaking of my writing, I'm now working on chapter 52. I've reached another mini-slump that I'm hoping to get out of soon. I think the problem is I know more exciting chapters are coming and I'm too eager to get to them to bother writing the ones leading up to them. It's also difficult to write since I have to punch my "w" key to get it to work. Hmph.

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl. Yes, be jealous of her. She's already read chapter 42. Actually we're working on editing it now. ;)

Review! How about a contest, just for fun? Whoever can guess all the characters in the next chapter wins a prize. Like a chapter 42 preview or something, I don't know. (Hint: there's 18 characters, not including one who is mentioned but doesn't actually appear.)