The day after Goku returned from Capsule Corp with the news that Vegeta was demanding Acia return to Capsule Corp., Gohan found himself uncharacteristically distracted. He sat in the back row of his classes, mind wandering as his professors droned on.

Vegeta didn't seem to like his niece very much, but Gohan had a feeling that the prince would have a problem with her dating his rival's son. And he couldn't stop seeing her, now that she was finally warming up to him.

Acia's in a vulnerable place right now, he thought. I can't abandon her when she needs a friend most.

Although if he was being completely honest with himself, he was hoping to be more than just a friend to her.

Gohan felt his face flush at the thought, chemistry equations blurring in front of him. There was no point in denying it anymore – he was attracted to her. Even before their encounter at the riverbank, and especially since, he'd found himself thinking about her more and more, imaging what it would be like to hold her, kiss her…do other things…

His face turned a deeper shade of red.

Was it so strange? She was beautiful. And she liked him…in a way.

Didn't she?

Yeah, she did, he assured himself. She let him hold her hand! And she was smiling at him more, Gohan was certain.

Gohan sighed wearily. His class was ending and he hadn't heard a word the professor said.

He needed to figure out exactly what was going on between them.

"Gohan." Piccolo was meditating near the edge of the Lookout when he sensed his protégé land on the tiled floors.

Gohan smiled, approaching him. "Hi Piccolo. How are you?"

Piccolo opened his eyes, turning slowly to meet the smiling face of the young demi-Saiyan. "I'm well. How are you? It's been some time since you've visited."

"Sorry, I'm just really busy at university, heh," Gohan lied, his hand reaching to the back of his head instinctively.

Piccolo smirked.

"So, uh…what's going on around here?" Gohan asked as casually as he could manage.

"Well, I was meditating before you interrupted me," Piccolo replied, knowing full well what Gohan was getting at – they didn't call it the Lookout for nothing. "Mr. Popo is taking care of his flowers, as you can see," he motioned towards the caretaker with his head. "Dende is inside with Chiaotzu. I believe," Piccolo said slowly, wanting to drag out the young man's torture as long as possible, "they are training with Acia."

"Oh, okay! Well, uh, I'll just go say hello." Gohan was blushing now. "To Dende! I'll go say hi to Dende. And everyone else, obviously."

As Piccolo watched him run off, Mr. Popo appeared beside him. "Ah, young people," he said. "I don't understand it myself, but it's quite amusing to watch nevertheless."

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "I'm not happy about this."

Mr. Popo shrugged. "Oh well."

Inside, Acia and Chiaotzu were locked in a battle of wills. The two were standing about 25 feet from each other, each powered up and staring down the other. Acia stood with her arms stretched out and her palms forward, brows furrowed and teeth clenched in concentration. Across from her, Chiaotzu was bobbing in the air, fists clenched, his focus completely on the young Saiyan trying to force him higher into the air.

"Stop trying to get in my head!" Chiaotzu yelled at her. "That's cheating!"

Acia merely grunted in response. She couldn't help it; it was instinctive with her to try manipulate the mind of her opponent. But Chiaotzu wasn't giving her an inch, blocking every attempt to even enter his mind, let alone control it.

Gohan stood near the doorway, watching in quiet fascination as their energies crackled throughout the palace. Dende, who had been sitting nearby, came to his side and smiled up at him. "It's nice to see you again Gohan."

Gohan returned the smile. "Hey Dende!" The two friends returned their attention to the silent fight going on in front of them. Acia had moved Chiaotzu up about an inch, and now the small human was resisting her attempts even harder.

"Perhaps you guys could take a break?" Dende called out.

"No! No breaks!" Acia yelled back through gritted teeth, her eyes never leaving her opponent.

"But Gohan is here," Dende said.

"So?! He can wait!"

"I wouldn't mind a break actually," Chiaotzu said.

Suddenly Acia roared in frustration, letting go of Chiaotzu and using her telekinetic powers to launch a chair across the room, breaking it into several pieces. Then she slumped to the floor, hands digging furiously into her scalp.

"Acia," Dende said gently as he sat beside her on the floor, resting a palm on her shoulder. "Come now, you mustn't get so upset. Look, Gohan's here!" he said, pointing to the young man standing behind him and looking over the girl in concern. "Here, I'll go get you two something to eat." The Namekian began to make his way to the kitchen when he noticed that Chiaotzu was still standing with the teens, patting Acia paternally on the head.

"Chiaotzu! Could you come help me in the kitchen please?"

"Huh? Oh, okay, sure!"

Gohan gave his friend a grateful smile as the two exited, leaving him alone with Acia.

"Are you okay?" Gohan asked, lowering himself to the floor beside her.

"I'm fine," she said tersely, head in her hands. She took a deep breath, then said more calmly, "I've been working on this technique for months. It's very difficult to master."

"Well, what you've done so far is really impressive. It took years for Chiaotzu to master all these psychic techniques."

Acia sighed heavily. Finally, she looked up at him. "Why are you here? Are you not normally at your school at this time?"

"I…kinda skipped class," Gohan said, smiling sheepishly. "I thought maybe we could hang out? Since you'll be leaving soon?"

"Leaving?" Acia's eyes widened. What is he talking about? He can't possibly know…

"Going back to Capsule Corp., I mean."

"Oh."

"I-I don't know if you want to tell Vegeta that we're seeing each other, or…"

"NO!" Acia sat up, eyes wide with sudden panic.

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't want to.'

"No, you don't understand," she said, grabbing his forearms tightly. "We cannot tell anyone about our date."

"Wha-what?" Confusion clouded Gohan's face. "You don't want to tell anyone at all? Why not?"

Acia opened her mouth to respond, but found herself lost for words. In truth she didn't know why she didn't want anyone to know what she and Gohan were up to, but her gut told her they needed to keep this a secret. Gohan was sucking her deeper into life on Earth, but if their relationship stayed between them, she could limit the damage.

"Just don't tell anyone. Please? It's better this way."

Gohan's lips pursed as he considered this. He wasn't used to keeping secrets and didn't think he was particularly good at it – Bulma must have told him about a hundred times what a bad liar he was, and his mother could practically smell it when he was withholding information.

This is all new for her though, he thought. Maybe she's confused, or scared of how she's feeling.

"O-okay. I mean, eventually we'll have to tell people, but for now, if it makes you feel better, it'll be our secret."

Acia loosened her grip on him, her face relaxing with relief.

Smiling again, Gohan gently reached up to move her bangs from her face. "I'm sorry we can't hang out at Krillin's this weekend." Her hair is so soft…

Acia flinched slightly at the unexpected contact. "I-It's fine."

"I'll come visit you at Bulma's place," he said, misinterpreting the expression of discomfort on her face. "Every day, if you want me to."

Acia frowned a little. "No, that's not a good idea. It will look strange."

"We'll just say we're two friends hanging out," Gohan said. "It's not that strange. You've been staying at my house for a week now, and you're already friends with Goten."

Acia paused for a moment. "I don't think my uncle will be pleased with this."

"I'll talk to Vegeta," Gohan said. "I think he likes me!"

That made Acia burst into laughter, and her laugh made Gohan smile again.

Oh, he is too much fun, she thought.

It was Goku who escorted Acia to Capsule Corp. the next day, training with her and Piccolo at the Lookout before making his way to the domed building outside West City late in the afternoon. Vegeta was waiting for them in the family room when they arrived. His face was expressionless, but his dark gaze did not waver from his niece as the two Saiyans entered, Bulma following close behind.

"Vegeta," Goku said, seemingly oblivious to the heavy tension in the air, "Acia has something she'd like to say to you." He waggled his eyebrows at the girl – they'd rehearsed this at the Lookout.

Reluctantly, Acia stepped forward to address her uncle, "Prince Vegeta, I apologize for leaving the house without permis…"

Vegeta slammed a fist into the coffee table in front of him, sending an ornate vase flying up and across the room. "If you think for one second," he growled, "that your pathetic apology will suffice…"

"Vegeta!" Goku interrupted.

"That is ENOUGH!" He was standing now, and in two strides he was in Goku's face. "Get the hell out of my house Kakarot. You," he spat, turning to his niece, "go to your room. I'll deal with you later."

Acia made a face. She'd known this apology Goku had been so insistent on was not going to get them anywhere.

Goku crossed his arms, matching Vegeta's glare. "I'm not going anywhere until you calm down."

Vegeta's ki spiked and he raised his hand as thought about to strike, but Bulma caught his wrist firmly. "I think we all need to deal with this, together." Her bright blue eyes were steely with resolve, meeting his own firmly. The two stood like that for a moment, in a private battle of wills, before Vegeta finally caved. Wrenching his wrist from his wife's grasp, he turned on his niece, grabbing her by the top of her hair and pulling her forwards till she was inches from him.

Acia winced at the pain but made no sound. She would take her punishment without protest, like a Saiyan.

"You," he hissed at her. "The hell do you think you're playing at, girl?"

"Vegeta, stop it," Goku said calmly, frowning at his rough treatment of the teenager. He knew she could take it, but it didn't make it any easier to watch. "She didn't know the full moon was out, and we both know that."

"I hope you enjoyed your little vacation at Kakarot's," Vegeta continued, ignoring his former rival, "because you won't be leaving this house again." He shot a look at his wife, who was giving him an incomprehensible look, "Do you have anything to add?"

"Let her go, Vegeta," Bulma said, annoyed.

Slowly, Vegeta released his grip on his niece. She was a very lucky girl to be getting off so easily – if he wasn't surrounded by these soft-hearted idiots, things would have gone very differently for her.

"Listen," Bulma said, addressing Acia now, "we need you to understand that your behavior over the last few weeks has been unacceptable. First you left without permission and without telling anyone – that could have been dangerous enough even without the full moon. What if you'd gotten hurt, or someone attacked you? I know you Saiyans think you're invincible," Bulma said sarcastically, catching the incredulous expression on Acia's face, "but you're not. And then," her voice was rising now; this was what she was really upset about, "you tried to sneak in here and steal a spaceship! Do you have any idea how hard my dad and I worked on those? How much money they cost us to build?! And where the hell were you going to go anyway?"

"You need to stay here, Acia," Goku said firmly. "No running off again, okay?"

Acia focused her gaze on the carpet.

"You're grounded, by the way," Bulma added. Vegeta shook his head in disgust.

"Grounded?" she repeated. The term was unfamiliar.

"It means you can't leave the house. Probably for a month – two months," Bulma amended, catching the threatening way Vegeta's eye was starting to twitch, "then we'll see. If you're good, things can go back to the way they were before. Alright?"

Acia nodded quietly. As far as she was concerned, Bulma could punish her in whatever way she wanted. If any of them thought she was really going to stay locked up in this house or on this planet like a prisoner, they had another thing coming. All she needed was a few days of quiet, and she would have the perfect getaway plan.

Later that evening, as Acia was preparing for bed, Vegeta entered her room unannounced.

Oh gods, now what? She had been sitting on the edge of her bed, folding the clothes she'd brought back from Mt. Paouzu. Now she set the last shirt aside, focusing her attention on the man radiating tension in front of her.

"What are you doing?"

"Wh-What?" This she had not been expecting.

"What," Vegeta repeated, louder and with significantly less patience, "are you doing?"

Acia sat there with her mouth open, unsure of how to respond. "I-I just, I was going to go to sleep…"

Vegeta considered her for a moment. Either she was an idiot, or she was a very good liar.

"Your mother," he began again, "what did she tell you, about your time here?"

Acia shrugged. "She told me I was to stay here until she and my father returned, that it would be three months at most." She paused for a moment, considering where he might be going with this, then sighed. "She told me to obey you, that you were the prince and I was to do what I was told until and not cause you any trouble. I'm sorry," she was glaring down at the carpet now – this was just humiliating – "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't know the moon was out. I don't even like transforming, it feels awful afterwards."

Vegeta stood silently throughout this admission. It wasn't what he had been fishing for, but he was willing to accept it. For now.

He left her without a word.

When he was gone, Acia lay down on her side and let her mind wander. How long had she been here now? More than three months by Earth time, that was for sure. And her parents had yet to return.

She had to get out of here, fast.

A/N: This chapter is meant to set up the direction of the story going forward. The next few chapters should be much more action-packed, so please stay tuned! And thank you for all the reviews and feedback you've given me so far. Please keep them coming! It really helps when I write.