The next day Vegeta awoke with a sense of dread in his stomach. Had last night really happened? Maybe a miracle would occur and it would turn out that the whole ridiculous incident had been just a dream brought on by too much sugar.

As he made his way to the kitchen, he could hear Bulma's voice: "…and so now she's coming to live with us for a little while."

He gritted his teeth. This was really going to happen, wasn't it?

He walked into the kitchen to find Bulma holding a conference over breakfast with Trunks, Bulla, and Dr. and Mrs. Briefs.

"Oh Vegeta!" the cheerful blonde woman squealed as he came in. "This is so exciting! I didn't even know you had a niece. It'll be nice to finally meet our in-laws!"

Vegeta grunted at her in response as he sat at the table.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed. "Is that them already?" Bulma cried.

"No," Vegeta responded as he got up to open the door.

"What do you want?" he growled at the smiling faces of the Son family. Well, three out of four anyway. Chi Chi looked as worried as she'd ever been.

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku said. "I just thought we'd all come by and give your niece a proper welcome!"

"Why?"

"Well, she is my niece too."

"Cousin," interjected Gohan.

"Yeah!" said Goku, not missing a beat. "We all wanna meet her." He looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare. "Looks like they're on their way."

Reluctantly, Vegeta moved over to let them in, but opted to wait outside for his surprise guests while the Sons caught up with the events unfolding at Capsule Corp.

A few minutes later, his sister and her small family landed on the front lawn. Cora was the only one to approach him – she was trying hard not to give her brother that triumphant smile that she knew he hated for fear of him changing his mind. Her mate and daughter held back, unsure of the prince's reaction.

"My lord," his sister addressed him politely, "thank you for doing this…"

"You brought him," Vegeta sneered, glaring at the man standing a few feet away. He looked very much like Goku, except that his face was scarred and his demeanor more menacing; it was hard to imagine Goku's goofy smile on that face.

"Yes, well, he just wanted to see his daughter off, that's all," Cora said. She motioned to her daughter to come closer, hoping to redirect Vegeta's attention. "This is Acia," she said gesturing to the girl, who gave her uncle a deep, respectful bow.

Vegeta felt that same jolt in his stomach he'd felt the day before, the jolt of recognition. Acia was his mother's name, although the girl didn't look particularly like the late queen. She looked to be about Gohan's age, which was a relief. Her hair was a little longer than Cora's, hitting just above her shoulders, the spiky ends curling inwards. She also had bangs, cut in a straight line and almost completely covering her forehead. Beneath them, long lashes surrounded large round eyes, a feature she'd gotten from her father's side of the family. She was about his height and rather skinny, Vegeta noted, but toned – clearly, being chased across the galaxy gave one ample opportunities to train, although he could sense that the girl's strength was pretty average for a Saiyan woman her age. Disappointing, considering her heritage.

Vegeta let his shoulders relax. The girl didn't look like his mother, but she did look strangely familiar, as though he'd seen her features on others before. The shape of her face and her high cheekbones in particular spoke to him – those were definitely royal traits. She was, he had to admit, a pretty girl, and was surprised to find that the realization pleased him, as though he'd had a hand in her beauty somehow.

Just as he was about to let the girl in and dismiss her parents, Goku came bounding up behind him. Vegeta was cursing him in his head before he'd even opened his mouth.

"Hey!" Goku smiled cheerfully at the group. "This must be your daughter," he said to Cora as he turned to the young woman next to her. "Gosh, you're pretty!" A faint blush crept up the girl's cheeks. "You know you're my niece too, right?"

"Cousin, actually," Cora corrected, a bemused smile on her face.

"Yeah, that. Well, what are you guys standing out here for? Come on in, we're having breakfast!"

"Actually we've already eaten. We're just here to drop Acia off." Although they had eaten, Cora also didn't want to risk pushing her brother too far – the years apart had not diminished her memory of Vegeta's destructive temper. She'd already twisted his arm into taking her girl in, asking him to sit at a table with the man who, in his eyes, had dishonored him and his family, was too much.

Cora placed one hand on her daughter's shoulder and took her hand with the other, squeezing both gently. Smiling at the girl, she said, "Now, you must obey Prince Vegeta, he is not just your prince but your uncle as well. So don't cause him any trouble. We'll be back for you soon." Acia didn't respond but her wide eyes practically screamed, please don't leave me.

Turles approached his daughter. Close up, Goku could see that they looked almost exactly alike, and for the first time he found himself curious about his parents and family. When Raditz had first appeared Goku had been too worried about Gohan and the threat of the approaching Saiyans to think too hard about his origins, and afterwards it never really occurred to him again. But now, looking at his uncle, Goku couldn't help but wonder if his father looked like him too.

Acia reached out a hand as though to squeeze her father's, as her mother had done. Instead, Turles grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, a move she clearly hadn't expected. He held her against him, his face lowered into her hair, for what must have just barely been five seconds. Then, pushing her away as suddenly as he had grabbed her, Turles turned and launched into the air without a word.

Cora turned to leave as well, but paused to turn to her brother. "Vegeta, you have my undying gratitude," she said simply, before giving her daughter one last smile and taking off.

As Acia watched her parents disappear into the bright morning sky, Goku came up to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She flinched away instinctively. "It's okay," he said, smiling at her. "They'll be back soon, and you're really gonna like it here. Earth's a great place!"

Acia stared into his face, that face that was so like her father's and yet so different, and fought the urge to scream, to cry, to chase after her parents and beg them, please, please don't leave me.

Not again.

Instead, she allowed herself to be led by Goku into the Capsule Corp compound. As she passed Vegeta, he said to her, "Get rid of that scouter. You won't be needing it here."

"I just think it's dangerous!" Chi Chi's agitated voice vibrated from the kitchen. "I mean, her parents are mercenaries! Who knows what she's been up to?! She's probably been killing and destroying right along with them. And now she's coming to live here! What if she starts killing people or blowing things up…"

"Well then, that would be very stupid of her now wouldn't it?" Vegeta growled as he came in, Goku and Acia following.

Everyone turned to look at them with curious faces – except for Chi Chi, who was frowning. "Guys, say hi to…" Goku turned to look at the young girl, "…wait, what was your name?"

"Acia," Vegeta said. "As you know, Acia will be staying here for a while, and while she's here she will do what she's told and not cause any trouble," he gave the girl a pointed look, "or else." With that, he sat at the table to resume his meal.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Goku asked. Acia shook her head.

"Well, I'm done with my meal," Bulma said as she got up. "Come on," she gestured to the girl to follow her. "I'll give you a tour of the place, show you your room."

"Wow, she's really pretty."

"Goten!" Trunks said, exasperated. "Don't be such a dork."

An hour later, Acia was lying on the bed in the guest room that had been assigned to her. The Capsule Corp compound was insanely huge and it had taken forever for the blue-haired woman to show her around. Not that she'd been paying attention. This whole thing felt like a bad dream, and Acia was desperate to wake up.

Acia had not developed a good first impression of life on Earth thus far. For one thing, the blue-haired woman – her aunt, as she would have to start thinking about her – had not stopped talking the entire time she was showing her around the house.

"My name's Bulma by the way. I'm Vegeta's wife, so I guess that makes me your aunt! But don't call me aunt, that'll just make me feel old. Call me Bulma! Acia's a really pretty name. Did you meet my kids, Trunks and Bulla? I guess you haven't really been formally introduced to everyone yet, but that's okay, there'll be plenty of time for you to meet everyone…

"Do you have any extra clothes? Not that it matters, we'll have to get you some regular stuff to wear anyway. I know how attached you Saiyans are to your weird outfits, but that stuff just doesn't fly around here. Guess we'll have to schedule a shopping trip! In the meantime you can borrow some of my stuff, I think we're about the same size…

"I picked a room with an en suite bathroom for you so you'd have some privacy. Let me just show you how everything works. You know when Vegeta first came here he didn't know what soap was? I guess you don't have that in space huh? You know…

Acia was not excited about the prospect of wearing Earth clothes. Bulma had left her a few shirts and a couple pairs of pants which she'd examined. The fabric felt strange, and the pants in particular seemed oddly stiff. There didn't seem to be any room for her tail either.

Then there was Kakarot. Acia had recognized him from her mother's description and knew he was her father's nephew. Of course, she'd heard about him before – he was known all over the galaxy as the man who killed Frieza, although having met him Acia was finding that hard to believe. She was starting to resent his presence here - it seemed cruel that a man could look so much like her father and yet be so different from him. This whole thing was like a cosmic joke being made at her expense, and Acia didn't like being the butt of anyone's joke.

Her only hope was that her parents wouldn't be gone too long. In the meantime, she resolved to train as hard as she could so that when her parents returned, they would see that she wasn't the liability they thought she was.

The young Saiyan's thoughts were interrupted by a tentative knock at the door and the sound of squeaky hinges. She sat up to see three small children peeking at her from the door.

"Hi!" offered the black-haired boy. Acia figured he must be Kakarot's son – he was a virtual mini-me of the older man, right down to the goofy expression on his face. That must mean the other two were her uncle's children; Bulma – what a strange name – had mentioned two kids. What were their names again?

Without waiting for an invitation, a small blue-haired girl – definitely Bulma's kid, Acia thought – came up to the bed and crawled up, and the two boys followed her lead. Acia drew her knees up to her chest to make room for them. She hadn't been around children this young in a long time and wasn't sure what they wanted, but she figured it would be in her favor to play nice.

"I'm Bulla," the little girl informed her. "This is my brother Trunks," she pointed to a lavender-haired boy sitting at Acia's side, "and that's Goten," she gestured to the miniature Kakarot sitting in front of her.

What odd names, Acia thought. Outwardly, she simply nodded.

"Can she speak English?" Trunks questioned with a frown on his face. Acia turned to him. "I can speak your language, yes."

"Good."

"Can we see your tail?" Goten asked. "I've never seen anyone with a tail before."

Acia suddenly noticed that none of the children had tails. Her eyes widened in shock – how had she not seen that before? "You don't have tails?!" she asked in surprise. "Why not?"

Goten shrugged. "I don't know, we just never had them. Gohan had one when he was little but he had it removed. Dad too."

Acia didn't know who Gohan was and didn't really care. She was too busy trying to wrap her mid around the idea of tail-less Saiyans. "What do you mean he had it removed?"

"Kami took it off and then did some magic so it wouldn't grow back."

"That's awful!" Acia's eyes were wide with horror, her tail tightening around her possessively. What kind of evil wizard is this Kami person?

"No but he had too!" Goten protested. "It turned him into a monster, and then Piccolo had to blow up the moon but then we want to have a moon so…"

Trunks punched her in the face.

Or at least, he tried to. Even caught up in Goten's rambling, Acia sensed the ten-year-old's movement and raised her arm, blocking his fist. She turned to meet his eyes.

"Trunks, that wasn't very nice!" Goten cried, lips pouting.

Trunks shrugged. "She's a Saiyan, she oughta be able to take a punch. Besides, she blocked it."

"Are you a fighter too?" Bulla asked.

Acia cocked an eyebrow. "Of course." What kind of Saiyan wasn't a fighter?

"We should spar," Trunks said. "I'd like to see what you're made of. I bet I could beat you, no sweat."

"Sounds fun," Acia replied, smirking. The cocky little brat would be eating his words soon enough.

"So can we see your tail?" Goten asked.

"Yeah, please!" Bulla said.

Acia hesitated. These children were harmless enough, but the idea that Saiyans were having their tails removed permanently by this Kami person scared her. With her, it wouldn't even be that hard – she had long since passed the age where her tail would grow back if it was damaged or removed.

On the other hand, it wasn't like she could hide it.

Slowly, Acia let go of her knees, stretching her legs out on the bed to reveal the tail wrapped around her waist like a furry belt. "Wow," Goten exclaimed in a hushed whisper, reaching out with a small hand to feel it. She caught his wrist in a firm grip. "No."

"Aww, why not? I just wanna touch it. I won't pull, I swear!"

"It's not polite to touch people's tails."

"How come?" Trunks challenged.

"Yeah, how come?"

Acia paused. Her mother had told her, many times, that touching or grabbing someone's tail, particularly if they were of the opposite sex, was considered a come-on in Saiyan culture. That's why tails were always wrapped around the waist, not only to prevent unscrupulous enemies from taking advantage of this natural weak point, but also because waving your tail around was considered a sign that you were 'available' and trying to attract attention. Only family members could touch each other's tails. Goten was technically family, but Acia had just met him and their relation was not close enough to merit that kind of intimacy.

Acia searched for words to explain all this to three curious children but failed to find them. "It's just not. You've seen it, that's enough."

Goten was about to protest some more but was interrupted by Bulma, who had come to tell him that his family was leaving. "You kids haven't been bothering Acia, have you? She just got here, you could give her a day to adjust."

"We weren't bothering her Mama!" Bulla said as the three children descended from their cousin's bed. "We were just welcoming her to the family." The girl gave her mother her most charming smile.

"Mm-hmm," her mother responded skeptically. "Well, come on now, out you go."

"Bye Acia!" Goten called out as he headed to the door. "It was nice meeting you." The teen gave him a small nod in acknowledgement.

"We'll spar tomorrow," Trunks informed her, closing the door behind him.

Finally, Acia thought as she lay back down, whispering a silent prayer to all the gods who could hear her that her parents would come for her soon.