Life at Mt. Paozu was very different, Acia quickly discovered, from life at Capsule Corporation. The food was less fussy and there was a lot less room, which meant that Acia was now sharing a bedroom with Goten while Gohan bunked on the couch. It also meant that Acia heard very clearly the argument that Chi Chi and Goku had concerning her presence.

Chi Chi did not want her there. She was very clear on this point, and Goku had been reduced to practically begging his wife to let her stay for 'just a few days,' much to Acia's disgust. Most people would feel embarrassed at being so clearly unwanted in someone's home, but Acia didn't really care about Chi Chi's opinion of her. Where the woman got off making demands, and so loudly too, was a mystery to the Saiyan girl. She was only slightly stronger than Bulma and had none of her scientific skill, so she was essentially useless except for providing food. And yet she ran the household with an iron fist.

Nothing on this stupid planet made any sense.

The day after she'd arrived at Mt. Paozu, Goku had gone over to Capsule Corp. to explain things to Vegeta and pick up some clothes for her, and Acia herself had gone back to training at the Lookout. She'd returned to a very excited Goten and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with him in the forest, and this quickly became her routine. Goten's games were incredibly infantile but he was much more pleasant than Trunks, and the more time she spent with him outside the less time she spent inside that tiny house under Chi Chi's watchful and very unhappy gaze. Gohan spent of most of the day at university, which she deduced was an advanced school, and had an irregular schedule, but when he was home he was always very polite to her. She got the sense that he was on the verge of saying or doing something but never quite got to it, and she found herself fighting the urge to slap him.

On Acia's third day at Mt. Paozu, Chi Chi was watching the girl from the window as she played with her little boy. Acia was throwing rocks at him as fast as she could while Goten dodged expertly, laughing the entire time.

Chi Chi glared. The girl was a murderer, and yet Goku had been willing, eager even, to allow her under the same roof as his boys. Yes they were Super Saiyans, but you could never be too careful. Why invite the devil indoors? Wasn't it bad enough that Gohan spent nearly all his free time with Piccolo, the man who had once been known as the Demon King, and Goten referred to a genocidal sociopath as Uncle Vegeta? How much was she expected to take?!

And on top of it all the girl was downright rude. She never spoke to Chi Chi, acknowledging her only with the tiniest of head nods, and never offered to help cook or clean up around the house. Clearly they didn't teach manners in space. And the way she dressed was shameful! Of course, given that she was living under Bulma's influence for the last few months it was only to be expected, but really, didn't the girl have anything more decent than those tiny dresses and skintight leggings?

"Hey Chi Chi!" The woman had been so distracted by her thoughts she hadn't noticed her husband come up behind her and join her at the window. She smiled at him; he'd been taking a shower and now he smelled like soap.

"It's great that they're getting along so well, don't you think?"

Chi Chi scowled again. "No, I don't think! That girl's trouble Goku. Honestly, how could you think she'd make a suitable friend for our boys?!"

"Aww, come on Chi Chi!" he whined. "She's not so bad!"

Chi Chi's scowl deepened. Her husband had been overly interested in this girl since the day she'd arrived on the planet. It was inexplicable, except…

Chi Chi examined the girl again. She had switched places with Goten and was now the one dodging his rapid-fire throws. In her short green dress she looked almost like a ballerina, moving gracefully as the skirt ruffled around her tanned legs. Even Chi Chi had to admit the girl was beautiful. She'd put on a little weight since she'd arrived, but it had only served to fill out her figure and enhance her curves, and she remained as toned as ever.

Chi Chi's angry expression melted into one of worry as she looked over at her husband, who was smiling at them, at her. She'd aged so much over the years, while Goku had hardly changed at all from the day she married him. And now here was this girl, young, beautiful, strong, a Saiyan, more like Goku than Chi Chi would ever be…When Goku had told her Acia was coming to stay, she'd worried about her sweet, innocent, recently heartbroken Gohan, but perhaps she'd been worried about the wrong Son.

"Aww Chi Chi, don't worry! Nothing bad's gonna happen, I promise." Goku had caught the expression on his wife's face and reached over to put his arm around her, drawing her closer to him.

She rested her head on his shoulder. "I just don't understand why you care about her so much," she said quietly, hoping desperately that he would hear the subtext and calm her fears.

"I guess…I just understand how she feels," he replied, scratching his head as he searched for the right words to explain himself. "When…when grandpa died, I was really lonely." Chi Chi looked up into her husband's face. "It's not that I was unhappy exactly, I was just…lonely." Goku shrugged. "I thought I would be by myself forever. So when Bulma came along I was really excited. And then when I was living with Master Roshi and Krillin and Launch, it was just…it was really nice." He looked down and smiled at her. "I felt like I belonged somewhere. Even when I went off to see the world, I always knew I could go back to Kame House and they'd be happy to see me." He shrugged again. "Everyone needs a Kame House."

"But Goku, her parents aren't dead," Chi Chi pointed out, leaning away from him to meet his gaze. "They're going to come back for her. She doesn't need us to be her family, she already has one!"

Goku sighed deeply, and for the first time in a long time he seemed a little sad. "Have you ever thought about why her parents brought her here in the first place?" Chi Chi shook her head. "I've been thinking about it a lot. At first it didn't make sense. I mean, she's a good fighter, you saw her with Trunks. She could help them. But even if they don't want her to fight, why'd they bring her here? They could've just left her with Vegeta's brother – he was a lot nicer to them when they went to see him." Goku scratched his head again. "Acia told me that there's a planet they used to go to all the time, and she knows people there. Why didn't her parents leave her there with people she already knows, people who like her and care about her?"

Chi Chi stared at her husband. She of all people knew that Goku was no idiot, and he was capable of deep thought and logical reasoning when the mood struck him. But it was rare that he took things so seriously – he'd clearly been thinking about this for a long time.

"So I thought about it," Goku continued, "and the only thing that makes sense is that her parents wanted to leave her somewhere she could belong. I think they went to Vegeta's brother first because they wanted her to be with another Saiyan, but then when they saw how different the people on his planet are from us, and heard about Vegeta and me and how we have wives and kids here, they changed their minds. They wanted her to be somewhere where she could have a life, with other Saiyans in a place where she can fit in a little better, like Vegeta. She'll never be human, but she can at least be one of us."

There was a long pause as Chi Chi took in everything her husband said. "So what you're saying is…"

"I don't think her parents are coming back for her Chi Chi."

As it turned out, Chi Chi should really have focused her worry on her sweet, innocent, recently heartbroken Gohan.

On Tuesdays Gohan had two early morning classes that ended at 11:00, which left him free for the rest of the day. Usually he took advantage of that time to go visit Dende and Piccolo at the Lookout, but on this particular Tuesday his father had challenged him to a post-lunch spar at the river near their house.

Acia watched the two men go at in Super Saiyan form and sighed deeply. At least at Capsule Corp. she could tinker with things in Bulma's lab or help Trunks do his homework. Life at Mt. Paozu was downright boring, and with Goten locked up in the house, studying under Chi Chi's unrelenting tutelage, she had nothing to do but watch the grass grow.

She wondered what Chiaotzu was doing right now. He had told her the day before that he wouldn't be coming to the Lookout for a couple days, so she'd told Piccolo she'd just train with Goku at the house. So much for that plan.

Stupid Chiaotzu, she thought as she pulled up blades of grass.

"Oh no!" Goku yelled suddenly, freezing mid-punch. Acia looked up.

"What is it Dad?"

"Chi Chi told me to go into town and pick up some groceries for dinner! What time is it?!" he looked around, panicked, as if the trees could tell him. "Oh, Chi Chi's going to kill me! And there won't be anything to eat!"

And just like that, he disappeared.

Acia stared at the spot he used to be. Perhaps the woman would poison his food? It was the only way she could possibly kill him.

Maybe she should wait until everyone else had taken a bite before eating her dinner tonight.

"Heh, well, that's Dad for ya!" Gohan gave her a sheepish smile as he powered down. "So, um…"

Before Gohan could finish his thought, Acia had jumped to her feet and launched herself at him. After all, why should the boys get all the fun?

As the two sparred, Acia felt frustration building. Gohan was refusing to engage her properly – the way it was going this spar would barely amount to a warm-up, let alone a solid training session. He was treating her like a weakling, like the two little girls she trained on weekends. It was insulting.

Taking advantage of a momentary lapse in his cover, Acia punched Gohan as hard as she could in the gut and as he doubled over, knocked him in the head with her elbow and tripped him with her foot. He landed on his back with a thud and Acia quickly pinned him to the ground, holding his hips between her knees.

"I'm bored!" she said as she glared down at him.

"Huh?"

"This is boring. You're boring. Are you going to fight me properly or not?"

"Uh…" Gohan felt his face turn red. Acia's tank top and leggings didn't exactly leave a whole lot to the imagination, and he was acutely aware of her weight on top of him. Her warm, firm weight.

"I th-thought it was going pretty well?"

Acia picked up on his embarrassment, but it took her a moment to realize that she was the cause of it. Experimentally, she squeezed his hips between her thighs – sure enough, Gohans' face became even redder and his eyes widened in panic.

There was also…something pressing up against her...

Acia had no experience with boys, especially not ones her own age. It wasn't that she wasn't aware of sex or what it entailed. She had a pretty clear idea of what her parents got up to in their room after missions, and how Finn and Quaorin spent their money and downtime whenever they were planet-side in a place with…suitable females. DeeDee had demonstrated many times that you didn't have to beat up a man to get what you wanted from him; smiling and bending forward slightly could achieve the same effect. Besides, as the Crusher Corps' expert on alien anatomy, she had become pretty familiar with different methods of reproduction utilized by species across the universe.

But sex was something that happened to other people. Her parents had made it very clear that since there were no more Saiyans she would never have a mate. The idea of half-breed children was one that everyone, including Bain (who as far as Acia was concerned really wasn't in a position to be passing judgement on other people's breeding practices), regarded with disgust. And since she was rarely without a chaperone, especially not in the seedier areas of the galaxy where she could potentially attract that kind of interest, the opportunity to explore the topic more casually had never really presented itself.

Until now. Gohan was a half-breed and the human race was pathetic, but he was the closest thing to a Saiyan of her generation she was likely to meet, he was incredibly powerful and, most importantly, there was no one around to tell her not to.

Slowly, she slid a hand under his shirt.

"A-Acia? What are you doing?" Gohan was in uncharted territory here. His relationship with Videl, which had ended along with his high school career, had included a physical component, but it was one that had built up over time and maxed out at second base. This kind of interaction with a girl he barely knew was not something he had anticipated.

He really, really needed her to get off him. She was causing things to happen that would be…difficult to get rid of. He should just push her away. It would only be too easy – she wasn't even holding him down anymore.

And yet...

Acia heard herself reply, "I'm bored. If you're not interested in fighting, I have to find another way to entertain myself." With that, she moved her hand lower, past the waistband of his pants, until she found what she was looking for.

She was doing him a favor, really. It was obviously bothering him.

She squeezed.

Gohan's eyelids fluttered and his mouth formed a silent 'O,' his hands grasping clumps of the grass beneath him. With her free hand, Acia dug her nails into his shoulder, leaning forward so that their faces were closer together, following a hitherto unknown instinct that had suddenly kicked in.

A few short minutes later, Acia was cleaning her hand in the river. "That was a lot messier than I expected." Drying her hand on her shirt, she turned back to Gohan, who was still lying in the grass, trying to figure out what just happened. "I'm hungry," she informed him.

With that she made her way back to the house, leaving him confused in the grass.

A/N: This is my first time writing a chapter with sexual content, and while I don't believe it's explicit, I'd appreciate your opinions as I want to keep this story T-rated.