Many years ago…

Rose wandered through the forests of Mount Paozu in the early morning light. She had received a message from her old friend Kami. A huge disaster had struck this area. Some kind of monster had attacked the night before. However, it looks like she had come too late. The forest was in ruins. From clearings of charred foliage to trees ripped out by their roots, devastation was everywhere. In all her lonely years on this planet, Rose had never seen such destruction...at least not since the war.

It had been a brutal fight for this planet. Rose Quartz had given up everything for the people of this world, including her friends. Any that she hadn't lost in battle, she lost to the slow process of corruption. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe she would have to face one of their monstrous forms this time. She certainly hoped not.

Huge ape-like tracks were embedded into the forest floor. Rose began tracing them back to their origin in hopes of finding the monster's nest. Rose gripped her sword as a sinking feeling had overcome her. She had seen these tracks before, but she couldn't quite remember where.

As she continued to follow the tracks, she swore she could hear crying. A look of determination crossed her face as she picked up her pace and chased after the noise. Soon she came to a clearing not far from the ruins of a small house on a hill. In the center of the clearing, a little naked boy sat crouched over a body. Fear and anger gripped her heart as she noticed a tail protruding from the boys back. "No. Not again!" she thought to herself. Now she remembered where she had seen those tracks before. They were the tracks of an oozaru, and this boy was a Saiyan. She had dealt with their kind once before. Hundreds of years ago, a small group of saiyan warriors had landed, planning to purge the planet. She fought hard and long against them, and in the process had lost her last and closest friend of all: Pearl. She thought they had given up. But now they were back, and she noted bitterly that one of those monsters had already taken the life of an innocent. Rose drew her sword and stepped forward as rage filled her eyes. The noise of the metal drew the attention of the tiny invader. To Rose's surprise when he turned to face her, she saw nothing of what seen from the other Saiyan warriors on his face. There was no glare of malicious intent, no sadistic smile, not even a look of cold indifference or superiority. What she saw instead was the tear stricken face of a child filled with grief and fear. The boy sniffled as he looked at her, confused and utterly distraught. Rose's eyes softened and she lowered her sword slightly as she looked upon him. He looked so….human.

There was a moment of silence between them. The only noise being the call of a distant bird and the boys own sniffling. Finally, he spoke up. "Wh-who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Rose Quartz," she stated calmly, though still kept her guard up. He may not have ill intent, but that doesn't mean he might not lash out in fear. "Might I ask who you are?" she inquired.

"My name's Goku…" he said quietly turning back to the still body on the ground.

Rose knitted her brow together in confusion. Goku wasn't a Saiyan name. It wasn't even close. If she remember correctly, it was a human name that meant "cloud". "Goku, can you tell me what you are doing here?" she asked.

"Well…" he started, "My grandpa and I lived out here…" He began to choke up as he continued. "B-but I woke up in a clearing this morning without my cloths a-and when I got back," he sniffled, "I-I found my grandpa like this!" The boy started sobbing again as he moved aside for Rose to see what had happened. Rose gasped as she gaze upon the broken body of the old man. His ribcage was crushed and his neck was broken along with his legs. "Please," she heard Goku beg, "Is there anything you can do to help him?" There was a spark of hope in his eyes.

Rose's heart ached with pity for the child. "I'm so sorry," she said, "but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do at this point."

The hope disappeared from his eyes and was once again replaced with despair. "This is all my fault!" he sobbed, "My grandpa told me not to look at the moon, but I didn't listen!"

"Your grandpa told you not to?" she asked. So this grandpa of his knew about this power. Was he a Saiyan too? How many Saiyans were on earth?

The boy nodded. "When you look at the full moon, a monster appears. That's what my grandpa told me," he said solemnly, "But I didn't listen. I looked at moon last night before I fell asleep and the monster attacked!"

Rose raised an eyebrow. Did he even know? "Do you remember what happened after you fell asleep? What the monster looked like perhaps?" she asked.

"No," he said, "I slept the entire night."

"Goku…" she asked, "Do you know what you are? Like what kind of creature?"

Goku looked at her in confusion, his tears being put on pause. "Of course. I'm a human, just like my grandpa," he said as if it were obvious, "Why? Are you not one?"

Rose's eyes widened. He had no idea what he was. She, however, did. He was not a monster, or a killer, but a lost, sad little boy. And now she knew what she had to do. She couldn't leave him like this. "No I'm not," she said, "I'm what's known as a gem. That's why I have this stone." She pointed to the gemstone on her stomach. "And I'm here to help you Goku," she said.

He continued to look at her in confusion. "But…" he said, "How are you going to do that? You already said you can't fix him."

"Well first, I'm going to help you give him a proper burial," she explained, "and second, I want to help you through your pain, if you'll allow me. You've been through a lot and you're still very young. You shouldn't be out here all alone in such a state, especially considering that it looks like your home has been severely damaged as well. If you'd like, you can come and live with me. I'll make sure you're taken care of and have everything you need."

Goku seemed to think for a second before speaking again. "Can I at least take some things with me? Or come back here if I want too?" he asked.

Rose smiled. "Of course," she said gently. With that the boy nodded. Rose stood up and held out a hand for him. "Come along now," she said, "Let's go find a good burial spot...after we get you some cloths." Goku wiped his eyes and smiled slightly before taking her hand.

And that feels trip was how Goku met Rose. I might do other short stories about how Vegeta and Piccolo met her, but I really wanted to do this one first. Plus, I'm still working on the backstories for the other two. BTW, for future reference, Goku is about five in this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!