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Bulma stayed on Namek for another day, before she finally got back onto her ship. The Namekians had been generous enough to give her a basket full of Ajisa fruit to enjoy for the rest of the trip. The remainder of her journey went on without any interruptions, as she flew through the vacuum of space alone.

She looked over the documents, one more time. She kept flipping back and forth through the huge reference book, looking for names. Few people were open about their ties to the Red Ribbon Army for a number of reasons. Most of the major players who weren't dead were reported as simply missing, to her dismay. To make her job harder, they went under code names – Black, Silver, Blue, Violet, White, Yellow, and Red were among the monikers chosen to conceal their identities. Their birth names weren't always given. However, there were a few brave souls willing to make their involvement known – mercenaries and soldiers lower on the totem pole, usually. Unfortunately, it looked like most of the high officers were confirmed to be dead.

That did not touch her biggest mystery – the missing pages. Judging by its placement, he or she was a pretty high-profile member. As she looked through the rest of the book, she found no names that were missing from the appendixes. He or she couldn't have been a military leader, like a general. But what could he or she have done to garner himself or herself such a high placement in the book? Bulma knew she would have to track down another copy, when she got back to Earth. Maybe he or she was the missing link she was looking for, and it would all make sense. That might not be the case, but the hope was all she could go on.

And, on top of all of this, she had promised Raditz that she would do some digging to find his brother. She didn't have the slightest clue of what she was going to do there. It had been so many years since Kakarot had been sent to Earth. He might not have even made it, for all they knew. Tracking down the missing pod might have been an idea, but it could have been long since scrapped or destroyed. The murders were a clear case by comparison. She was somewhat glad to be stuck in Earth indefinitely because who knew how long it would take to find anything.

However, helping Raditz wasn't priority. Her attention lied squarely on The Red Ribbon army. Finding the living members, learning all she could from them, and finding a link between them and the murders. She hadn't done this much digging into something since college. Despite the circumstances, the idea of doing all of this research was exciting. She couldn't wait to start digging into all of it.

Bulma went straight home, when she landed on Earth. Capsule Corporation always seemed to stay the same, no matter how long she had been away – huge, but homey. She pressed her hand against the scanner, and the front door opened. To her surprise, the living room was empty. Normally, her father and mother sat together here, in the afternoon. Maybe he got help up at the offices, or something.

As she looked around, she saw the kitchen light was on. That explained it – they were probably having lunch, together. She was getting a little hungry, too, now that she thought about it. Her mother always loved cooking for others, so she was sure that she wouldn't mind fixing an extra plate for her. She walked towards the kitchen, passing the dining room. She glanced at it only for a second, but stopped and walked backwards. Her eyes widened, and she dropped her bag.

"Raditz?"

Raditz was sitting at the end of the dining room table, with dirty dishes piled up towards the ceiling. He was in the middle of talking to her father, while they both ate. What surprised her more was his choice in clothing – a t-shirt with the sleeps ripped off, exposing his arms. She had never seen him in anything other than his armor. Not even Vegeta dressed down, when he came to visit.

He looked up at the doorway with his cheeks full of food, looking guilty: as if he had been caught stealing candy in the middle of the night.

"Oh, there you are, Bulma," her father said. "We were just talking about you. Was wondering when you'd finally reach here. Hope the trip was smooth."

Her mother shoved her out of the way, into the dining room. "Oh, you should have told me about your new friend! He's such a doll, and a real gentleman! My, if you hadn't been with Vegeta, I'd be setting you up with him!" She was carrying five more plates of food, setting them down in front of him.

Bulma and Raditz stared at each other for several moments. She lifted her finger, and gestured for him to follow her. He swallowed his food, stood out of his chair, and walked behind her. Now, she was surprised to see his very short shorts, not even covering his thighs, She sighed, and trudged out of the room, while he followed behind.

"Raditz, what the hell are you doing here?" Before he could get a word out, she interrupted. "And what the actual hell are you wearing?"

He looked down at his outfit. "You don't like it?" He twisted his torso, to get a better look at his back. "I think it suits me."

"That's not the point! Just tell me why you're here!"

"Vegeta told me to meet you, when you got to Earth. He said I should follow you there, and be your guard and stuff."

She put her hands on her hips. "Vegeta set you up to this?"

"You didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't! Why do you think I asked?!"

He put his hands up. "Hey, hey, don't get upset! I think he said he was going to tell you, when you got to Earth. I didn't think he expected that I'd get here first. You know he's only got your best interests in mind. Relax."

She sighed. Getting mad was pointless. It wasn't Raditz fault that Vegeta had been keeping secrets. "You're right. Sorry." She shook her head. "Well, welcome to Earth. I see you already met my mom and dad. Hope they've been treating you okay."

"Oh, more than that. They've been awesome. Though, your mom has kept trying to buy clothes for me and is always asking me to try her food…"

"She does that. Get used to it."

Speak of the devil, Bulma's mother poked her head in. "Are you two doing okay? I heard some yelling, and wanted to make sure."

"Yeah, mom: we're fine. Just… wasn't expecting to see him, here."

"Oh, wonderful! You two have fun! Just remember, sweetie, that you still have Vegeta, and all of that!" She smiled, and left the room.

Raditz looked up and tilted his head. "You know, if she suggested it…."

"Don't even think about it."

Bulma looked down at her watch, set to the time back at the palace. When a minute passed, she opened her laptop, and clicked on a program. This would give her the ability to call the palace directly, through a video chat. She made sure the appropriate security and privacy settings were intact and hit call. The screen was dark for several moments, until it flashed on. A guard was sitting on the other end.

She didn't even let him speak. "Get me Vegeta. Now." Seeing how irate she looked, he nodded, and quickly marched out of the room. She huffed, pushing the hair out of her eyes. She glanced at a mirror on the bedside table. She was getting a little tired of managing the curly hair. Maybe she should look into changing it, again. How would she look with a bob?

Her musings were cut off, when the door on the other end opened and shut. She crossed her arms, glaring at Vegeta as he sat down.

"I take it the trip to Earth went well," he said. He didn't seem to notice how upset she was, which made her even more upset.

"Oh yeah. You'll never guess who was here waiting for me, sitting with my dad in short shorts and a t-shirt."

"Your father's sense of fashion doesn't seem particularly relevant to that statement."

"Dammit, Vegeta, you know what I meant! Why didn't you tell me you sent Raditz here?!"

"I had assumed that you would reach Earth first. I did not expect you to take your sweet time returning. I would have explained everything to you, then." He pointed his finger in the air "You know how bad these connections are, during space travel."

"You didn't think to ask if Raditz could come? My house isn't a hotel that you can come and go in as you please. I would have preferred to warn my parents about the extra guest."

"We didn't have that kind of time. You know how long space travel is. By the time he got there, something could have happened to you. I wasn't going to take that risk."

She laughed. "Wasn't that the reason we agreed to do this, in the first place?! Earth is far away from Planet Vegeta! The killer isn't going to follow me all the way out here! And it's not like we don't have top-notch security at Capsule Corp, anyway! If it is for my sake, you should have talked about this with me, first!"

"Maybe so, but what's done is done. I don't regret sending him out. I can rest easy, knowing that you have a bit of extra security."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever…" She clearly wasn't going to get an apology out of him. He could be a stubborn oaf, sometimes.

"It's quieter here, without you."

She was about to yell at him, again, but the look on his face told her something else. He wasn't insulting her, as she assumed. It was just an odd way of saying that he missed her. She sighed. "Yeah. I miss you, too, jerk." She shook her head, leaning her cheek against her hand. "Anything new, on your end?"

"Nothing, yet. But something will. And when it does, I'll be ready."

"I know you will, my handsome Super Saiyan. You better let me know when that happens. I don't wanna be left in the dark."

"Idiot. You know I wouldn't."

She smiled and winked at him. "I'll make sure of that." Just then, there was a knock at her bedroom door. She groaned. "Sorry, I better go see who that is – might be mom or dad. Talk to you soon."

He nodded. "If anything unusual happens, call me."

"I will. Love you." She hung up the phone call, and closed the program. She looked towards the door. "It's open!"

The door opened, and Raditz poked his head in. "Hey. You got a minute?"

"Yeah. I was just talking to Vegeta." She gestured for him to come inside, and she turned around, letting her legs hang off the edge of the bed. She did not think she was ever going to get used to seeing him in Earth clothes. Nevertheless, she continued. "What's up?"

"So, uh, what are your plans, now that you're back on Earth? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"For now – tracking down some members of a deposed army."

He looked confused. "Why?"

"Can't tell you. But I'm looking for some sort of a missing link."

"Okay… what are you going to do, after that?"

"I haven't forgotten our promise, Raditz – I'll start doing some digging to help you find your brother."

A large grin formed on his face and he nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Do you have any ideas?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know when I do."

His smile faltered, and he looked down. "What do you think he'd say? He has to be old, by now. He might not even want to see his old family: probably doesn't even need me, anymore."

"Raditz, you're worrying too much." She stood up, to stand next to him. "No one's upset when they find out they have a family they never knew about. You don't know what kind of life he's been living. Even if he ended up in the ideal family, with a mom, dad, and siblings, he might still wonder about you. And he's lucky enough to have such a kind, caring, and compassionate man for a big brother. You've got nothing to fear."

"You really think that about me?"

"Of course. If it weren't for you, Vegeta, and Nappa, I'd still feel like an outcast. You believed me and trusted, when I came to help you win back the palace. You're practically my best friend, and I love you."

He smiled, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks, Little Blue. I'm glad to call you my friend, too."