Frieza had dared to threaten the people she cared about most. He had insulted her. And he had killed Vegeta.

Ever since the destruction of her home planet, the hatred for Frieza had grown steadily within her. Frieza had always treated Vegeta and her like pieces of trash. They had had no way to fight back. He had been too strong. Now was the time to take revenge.

She felt a new power rising inside her, fed by her hatred and anger. And from the will to defend her loved ones. She blanked out everything around her. All she could see was Frieza. His white figure with the long tail that was missing a piece, which Kera registered with satisfaction. She would pay him back for every insult and every humiliation. For herself and for Vegeta.

She lunged forward and sent her fists crashing into Friez. He seemed surprised for a moment by the speed of her attack, so she caught him on the cheek, but he quickly regained his composure and took a defensive stance. He blocked her blows, but did not get to throw any of his own, so quickly did her fists hail down on him.

They moved at such a high speed that she had never noticed in herself. And yet it seemed to her that everything was happening more slowly than usual.

Kera followed Frieza's every move and tried to get ahead of him. When he wanted to dodge to the left, she placed her leg there a moment before and Frieza was thrown backwards by the force of her kick. Immediately she was beside him again to deliver a blow from below to his solar plexus, but he crossed his arms in front of his body and Kera bounced back.

Frieza followed up and spun around to strike her with his tail. Kera ducked under it and grabbed the upper arm thick tail to continue Frieza's movement. With this momentum she threw him several yards away from her. Staggering, he came to a stop in mid-air, but before he could look in her direction again, she was already behind him.

She put her hands together and slammed them into Frieza's neck. The hit man hurtled towards the earth and crashed onto a piece of island.

Kera was sure that didn't finish Frieza off. She waited for the dust to clear and kept her distance. Breathing heavily, she remained hovering a few yards above the ground. She knew she had to end this fight quickly, for she could feel her strength fading. The power that had so suddenly entered her from the rage over Vegeta's death subsided and gave way to grief.

When the dust cleared, it was evident that Frieza was not yet defeated. He straightened into a sitting position and looked up at her.

"I will make you suffer for killing Vegeta and destroying our planet!" she shouted at him, clenching her hands into fists.

Frieza laughed coldly. "You stupid girl. You don't stand a chance against me." He straightened up completely and looked up at her. "By my side, you could have ruled over so much."

A scream released from her throat. There they were again: anger, rage, hatred. Her golden aura, which had become a faint glow, flared again. She stormed towards Frieza and resumed the fight. She would make him pay for every jibe, every put-down.

Piccolo rolled the words he had just heard from Frieza around in his head. His good ears sometimes heard more than he liked. What did it mean that Kera could have ruled at Frieza's side? Had he made advances towards her? Or even touched her?

Nausea rose in Piccolo. And hatred for the alien. If he could, he would finish this guy off too. Just killing him would be far too lenient.

Frieza's words had obviously rekindled her anger in Kera. Her hair glowed golden again. It had darkened again shortly before, as if the power that had given her this strength had dried up.

As best he could, he followed the fight. He saw no advantage in either of them, which worried him. If Kera didn't win against Frieza, what would happen?

He could feel Goku growing more and more restless beside him. He wanted to intervene in the fight, or better yet, take it over. If Piccolo had already learned one thing, it was that Saiyan pride was above all else. They always fought alone. If they could not manage to defeat an opponent on their own, they were not worthy.

A whistling sound, as if something was moving very fast, made him concentrate more on the fight again. Something was racing towards him and the others. Piccolo narrowed his eyes and recognised something golden. Was that Kera?

Only a second later, the something shot past him and landed with such force only a few inches from him that rocks and boulders were thrown upwards. A dull sound accompanied the impact and the ground sagged there two handbreadths.

It was Kera. Piccolo knelt down beside her. She groaned in pain and had her hands over her stomach. Frieza must have hit her there so hard that she had flown towards the floor like a projectile.

Carefully, Piccolo slid his arm under her. "Kera?" Everywhere he looked there were scratches and tears in her skin. Her face and upper arms were also filthy from the dust that had been kicked up, so he wasn't sure if there were more injuries hidden underneath. The purple combat suit he had given her had already shown some minor tears and holes when they first met in the spaceship, but now it was so torn in several places that her skin was visible underneath, which was also injured there. The right strap of the suit was completely torn off and the fabric around her left leg was only fluttering loosely around it.

Grumbling, she straightened up, pushing his helping hand away. Her green eyes sparkled with suppressed anger.

Goku rushed up to her as well and looked at her. "I can take over now." He tried to put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, but she shook him off.

"This is my fight, Kakarot!" she snapped at him.

Kera's warm nature, which Piccolo was used to from her, had completely disappeared. She reminded him more of Vegeta when he had come to Earth.

"Kera," he said softly.

Her head wheeled around to face him. Her braid, which had been hanging over her right shoulder, twirled backwards. "What do you want?"

"You're hurt."

She looked down at herself, as if only now realising that the fight had left definite marks on her. She grabbed at her trouser leg and with a jerk tore off the fluttering piece of fabric. Then she looked at him again. "Give me a new suit!" Piccolo hesitated and looked at Goku. "Please!" she growled at him. Goku shrugged his shoulders.

Piccolo pointed his palm at Kera. The air began to shimmer. The old suit dissolved and Kera disappeared briefly in a cloud of light. When the light disappeared again, she was newly clothed. But Piccolo had not simply made the old suit appear new. He had given her something else. A blue, tight-fitting one-piece suit, covered at the top by a breastplate, now clung to her body. Her hands were in white gloves.

Kera looked at her new outfit and smiled. "Thank you," she breathed. Only for a brief moment did Piccolo have the impression that she was the same as before. Or rather the person he had met first. But she turned around and her smile disappeared. She stared up at the sky. Frieza was already waiting for her.

She tried to jump up, but Piccolo held her back by the arm. "Wait."

She glared at him angrily. "What?"

"Take that too." His hand slid down her arm and clasped her hand. It was harder without the earlier energy connection, but it was possible. His hand began to glow. He was sending energy to her. Questioningly, she looked at him. When she felt his energy, she turned completely towards him and put her other hand on his.

She closed her eyes with pleasure and absorbed his energy. They were both bathed in a warm light. Kera laid her head back on her neck. Piccolo's legs grew weak. He slowly went down on his knees. He was ready to give her everything. He just wanted her to win this fight. He squinted as a throbbing pain spread behind his forehead.

Gently, she released his hand from hers. When he opened his eyes, he was blinded by a bright light. Her aura shone again. She bent down to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you, my green one." In the next moment she had risen again into the sky.

Piccolo's forehead tingled where her lips had touched him. Gohan ran to him and supported him. "You all right, Piccolo?"

"I'll be fine, kid." He didn't look at him. He only had eyes for the golden comet shooting across the sky.

Piccolo's energy flowed through her. It felt good and brought back memories in her. She had missed it, she had to admit. Her thoughts drifted to the forest where she had lived with Piccolo. To the energy connection they had shared. Would it be like before? Kera shook her head. Now was no time for sentimental thoughts.

Frieza was already waiting for her with a condescending grin. "Well, did you say goodbye to that disgusting green guy? I was nice enough to give you the time of day."

Kera's anger spilled up again, blotting out all other thoughts. The golden glow that surrounded her grew a little brighter. A look of astonishment flitted across Frieza's face briefly before he got his features back under control.

"Stop insulting everyone!" she growled at him and lunged forward. Her fist erupted, but Frieza dodged it and at the same moment executed a kick that hit Kera full on. She lost her grip in the air and fell. Below her was only the sea. With a painful crash she broke through the surface of the water.

She pulled herself together and tried to concentrate. She remained under water. Frieza relied only on his eyes. She couldn't defeat him by sheer strength alone, she had to trick him somehow.

She shot a beam of energy away from herself. A few yards later, she directed it upwards. Blurring through the surface of the water, she saw Frieza turn to face the energy and thus turn his back on her.

She raced upwards, positioned herself slightly above him and hit him on the head with both fists. He slammed to earth and hit one of the many pieces of rock still present in the sea. Rocks buried the alien underneath.

Frieza did not stay down. With a surge of his power, he pulverised a large section of the rock. Small rocks and debris whirred around him. With a wave of his hand, he sent the debris crashing down on Kera. Kera crossed her arms in front of her face and created a force field to keep the rocks from hitting her.

Frieza gave her no respite. A huge boulder hurtled towards her. Kera managed to split the boulder and more followed.

"Leave the planet in one piece, you son of a bitch!" she shouted at him.

Frieza, still standing on the small piece of earth, emitted an annoyed sound. "Fine by me. Why don't you come down here and I won't have to throw so much up?"

Kera landed a good distance away from him. She stretched and squatted, jumped up and squatted again. She felt her tense muscles at every inch in her body. Her body was weakening, she could feel it. She desperately needed to finish this fight.

"Are you done with your dance exercises now?" Frieza asked her with an almost bored expression in his voice.

"I just wanted to show you how fit I still am." Kera grinned at him and moved into an attack stance.

"We can still make this exciting, what do you think? I'll fight without my hands. I'd hate to disfigure that pretty face of yours any further."

"Don't get your hopes up," she groaned angrily and ran towards him. She realised immediately that her punches and kicks were poorly directed. Frieza was too good at dodging. His tail whipped forward and pulled the ground from under her feet. Before she could get back up, Frieza had his tail around her neck. He squeezed. Her body lifted off the ground. Her hands went to her neck, trying to free herself. Her throat was getting tight.

"Well, I guess that's it, little girl."

It couldn't end here! Trembling, she released one hand from her neck, placed it on Freezer's tail from below and shot a ball of energy upwards. His tail was severed. He cried out in pain and Kera came down hard on the floor. The end of his tail fell off her neck. Gasping, she lay on the ground, struggling for breath.

Angrily, Frieza looked at her. "That was smart, I'll give you that. I'll give you another chance. Come back to my army and you will lack for nothing."

Kera gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Never."

"As you wish." Frieza rained down a steady barrage of kicks and punches on Kera. She fended off a kick, but was then hit by a fist. She narrowly dodged the next punch, then his right leg hit her, sending her to her knees.

Kera did not know how to continue fighting. She began to doubt herself. On all fours, she crouched on the ground and struggled for every breath.

Frieza leaned down to her. "Little girl. So pretty and so arrogant. Your pathetic king was so easy to kill and this is supposed to have been your strongest warrior? Laughable. And Vegeta, that weakling, failed to protect you. The courage of the Saiyans cannot match their stupidity. They are always ready to fight, even if they know they can't win. This has led to their downfall. It will now lead you to your death as well."

Piccolo by now had doubts that Kera could win. But forbade himself to admit that thought. He had peripherally registered that the blue-haired woman – Bulma – had joined them. She had originally come to Namek with Gohan and Krillin.

But Piccolo only had eyes for Kera. He was afraid for her. He didn't want to lose her again. The earth shook violently again and again. The sea roared. Hardly any of the many larger islands were still visible. Only small piles of rubble were left peeking out of the water.

He saw Frieza choking Kera with his tail. He tried to rush to her aid, but she managed to free herself. A moment later she was propping herself up on all fours. Frieza murmured something in her ear. Then he lunged for a kick. Piccolo wanted to shout at her to be careful, but it was already too late.

She did not see the kick coming. Her head was thrown back and her body followed. She had no more control. She slid over sandy ground to the edge of the small island and dived into the water.

She closed her eyes. She suddenly felt so light. What if she just didn't resurface now? Just sleep. She had given everything she could after all. Piccolo's face appeared in her mind's eye. She would like to be in his arms now. She would have liked to know how far they would have gone if Piccolo had not died. Would they have continued to live together in the forest? They might even have started a family. She saw the forest, the hut, the waterfall. Piccolo smiling at her and opening his arms to catch her.

The image blurred. She saw Gohan, Kakarott and Chi-Chi. In the weeks she had sat by Kakarot's bedside, she had felt more and more a part of this family. The images changed, but she knew that she associated good memories with everything. Memories that made her happy. But everything was accompanied by Freza's spiteful laughter. She would not see them again. She had failed to protect them. She had failed.

Then Vegeta's face appeared before her. He spoke to her. "What's the matter, you're not going to give up. You're a Saiyan. So fight."

"I lived as an Earthling for years. I ..."

"That's no excuse. How dare you deny your people? You were born on Vegeta. The same blood that flows in your veins flows in mine. You and I are of the same people. Frieza is our worst enemy. Frieza destroyed our planet. Frieza humiliated you and me. Every day. You must remember that. Aren't you ashamed to surrender to the one who destroyed our people?"

"Yes, you are right. I must not give up."

"Avenge the death of my father, Kakarot's father and mine. Fight for them. Fight for me. Fight for your people. You must avenge the honour of the Saiyans. Frieza tried to destroy us because he was afraid of us. Become a legend and kill him!"

Kera's eyes snapped open. Still underwater, she looked at her hands, which were covered in scratches. They glowed. There was a spark of strength in her again.

She sensed Frieza on the island. Still underwater, she circled the small cluster of rocks. She gathered her strength. She knew this was her last chance to finish Frieza off.

Kera slowly rose from the water, only to rush towards Frieza in the next moment so fast that he could not react. She clasped his arms with her arms and also wrapped her legs around his body. He tried to break free, but she held him ironclad and ascended into the sky with him.

She let her hand glow and clenched it into a fist. A ball of pure glowing energy.

"Now you've lost, you creep," she murmured against his ear. He whipped his tail at her, but couldn't shake her off with his mangled appendage.

"If you hit me with that, you die too!" Panic resonated in Frieza's voice.

"Unlike you, I am willing to die to avenge my people and my prince," she whispered against his ear and let her fist descend.

She pierced his body and left her fist in. Her energy continued to build. "Die!" She released the energy from her fist into Frieza's body. He exploded from the inside. At the same time, she tried to break away from him, but she was stuck. The blast wave flung her backwards. Frieza screamed out.

She felt only a short very strong pain. As if all her nerve points had been addressed at once. Her right side seemed to be on fire. Then she felt nothing more. She fell. She smiled a little. Frieza was defeated.

Before she hit the water, two strong arms wrapped around her. Piccolo had caught her. He landed on a tiny piece of land. Apparently most of the land fair had fallen victim to the fight. Gohan, Krillin, Bulma and Goku were already waiting for her.

Goku slapped her shoulder appreciatively, making her wince in pain. Piccolo looked at him angrily. Goku raised his hands defensively. "I just wanted to congratulate her. She fought really well."

Carefully, Piccolo put Kera down, still supporting her upper body. Gohan stepped up to her. "That was great, Sit... uh, Kera." He blushed.

"That's all right, little one. You can call me Sitara too." She barely managed the smile, for now pain was returning to every corner of her body.

"We have to get home somehow. Your wounds need urgent attention," Piccolo said.

"The spaceship that Kera and I came here on should get us home as well."

"That's probably our only option," Bulma said.

Krillin and Gohan wanted to take Bulma into their midst, while Piccolo took Kera back into his arms.

"Not so fast!"

Dear Reader,

Another week has passed and a new chapter has opened for you.

How do you like the cover picture?

Stay healthy!

Yours, Jessica