Lessons From My Father

Lesson Twenty-three
Trust

It's not easy to put one's complete trust into the hands of another. Almost always, it's doubt about the other person that leads to mistrust. Doubt about his intentions, doubt about her abilities. This doubt and mistrust can, and will, lead to disaster.

Such was the case during a big get-together at the beach during the summer of my tenth year.

All of our family and friends had come out for a fun day of swimming and barbeque. As the afternoon crept along, Goten and Trunks attempted to get a game of volleyball started. No one else really seemed interested, except for Daddy. He didn't have any intention of playing, however. Instead, he told Pan and myself that we would be participating… on a team together… against Trunks and Goten. Pan seemed interested in the challenge.

I protested, on the other hand, arguing that the odds were stacked against us. It wasn't fair to have a couple of men in their early twenties, both capable of transforming into super saiyans, to go against a couple of girls, less than half their ages, who weren't nearly as strong.

Daddy was very adamant that we play. He said that if we worked together fluidly, there was no reason why we couldn't win. I knew the reason behind Daddy's persistence. Just as he and Uncle Goku had become fighting partners, so had Trunks and Goten. Daddy was certain that this pattern would carry on to Pan and myself. Fortunately, times had been peaceful and there had been little to no reason for Pan and I to learn to form the same type of partnership that our kin had. To Daddy, this volleyball match wouldn't be a simple game; it would be a test.

With myself being very reluctant and Pan being a little eager, we took one side of the volleyball net. Trunks and Goten, overconfident that they'd win and a little disappointment that they hadn't found true challengers, took the opposite side. To my dismay, our impending game had piqued the interest of many of our friends and family; they had taken seats nearby to watch what was about to unfold. I hadn't even started playing yet and I was already embarrassed.

At first, the guys took pity on me and Pan. They went easy on us. We got a couple of good volleys going between the two teams. I was starting to get the hang of it. Once in a while, though, Pan or myself would mess up and the point would go to the guys. Even though we hadn't scored a single point, I was actually having fun. I was hopeful that we'd eventually start winning points.

Of course, this easy-going game didn't make Daddy very happy. He ordered Trunks and Goten to stop coddling us and to put more effort into it. Things got ugly from there. As the guys were forced to be more competitive, it put far more pressure on me and Pan to do better. We barely managed to return the serve, often times running into each other in our desperation to at least volley the ball back to the other side. The game was no longer fun. Our frustrations rose, not just with ourselves but with each other. Pan and I started to argue with each other, blaming each other for mistakes made. I stopped trusting that Pan would be able to hit the ball. She stopped trusting in me as well.

The spectacle was undoubtedly uncomfortable to watch. Unable to witness our struggle, the spectators began to move on to other parts of our picnic area. At one point, I heard Momma ask Daddy to put an end to this. Even Trunks and Goten seemed miserable. They weren't having any fun playing against us, but they couldn't end the game without facing Daddy's ire.

Finally, the guys won the final point. Pan and I hadn't scored once. As we walked away from the field, we didn't speak a word to each other. We were just too angry at the mistakes the other person made.

Daddy met us at the edge of the field. "Do you know why you lost so miserably?"

"Ah, c'mon, Vegeta! They did their best…" Uncle Goku tried to say.

"Don't offer them any praise, Kakarot! Had this been a battle, they'd have lost to their enemies!"

Goku scratched the back of his head in typical Son-fashion. "But this wasn't a battle… it was just a game."

Daddy chose to ignore that. Then he lectured to us, "Watch how Trunks and Goten work together."

Reluctantly, me and Pan turned to see that the boys had begun to volley the ball back and forth to each other. Their performance was like a dance as they moved and repositioned themselves each and every time the ball bounced from one young man to the other. The ball continued to be bounced back and forth, rarely hitting the ground. On the rare occasion that it did, the one who had erred received a good-natured ribbing from the other. Then they'd resume their volley.

Daddy explained, "Their success comes from their coordination. That was why they defeated the two of you; their strength had nothing to do with it. You two, on the other hand, were working against each other. You practically handed the game to them."

Pan protested, "Well, I didn't think Bra was going to be able to hit the ball back to them!"

Daddy jumped on that, "By refusing to trust in her, you only succeeded in ensuring your own failure. The same goes for you, girl. Had either of had trust, you still might not have won the game, but you'd at least have had the chance to."

Daddy was right. Every time the ball came over the net, Pan and I would both try to hit the ball, thinking that the other was incapable. We had run into each other. We had left large areas of the field unprotected. We had failed to return the ball without the help of the other.

After we had had several moments for Daddy's words to sink in, he then said, "From now on, the two of you are going to train together, once a week. The two of you will learn to be a team. If you cannot learn to trust each other, you will fail when it truly matters."

~from The Memoirs of Bra Briefs

Date: Age 760, Quarter 1, Day 84 (Approx. 18 March 760)
Location: Planet Kaanan

Vegeta's sudden and uncharacteristic decision to abandon (albeit temporarily) an impending battle was definitely something that his subordinates never thought to see. Just before his short absence from their mission, the prince had ordered Nappa to take his post while Raditz would fall into Nappa's prior position. Vegeta had gone silent after that point, likely muting the microphone on his scouter, and leaving his subordinates completely ignorant of the events about to take place at the governor's mansion.

At the time, Vegeta's return to Yramdaa's estate was just as understandable as it was sudden; something was transpiring at the mansion and Bra was in the thick of it. Both Nappa and Raditz were both concerned for the girl when their prince had taken it upon himself to resolve whatever situation was unfolding at the capital. However, neither dared abandon their posts to ensure the blunette's safety. If the anger and irritation rolling in waves off of the surly prince was enough of a warning not to disobey his orders, then the two men would comply and remain at their posts.

That certainly didn't mean that the two saiyans didn't attempt to keep tabs on the situation at the governor's mansion. Both Nappa and Raditz periodically scanned for power levels in the direction of the estate. They followed Vegeta's progress as he made his supersonic approach and arrival the capital. Additionally, when the prince's ki reading suddenly skyrocketed several minutes later, the other two saiyans were immediately alerted to the unexpected spike. It didn't take a genius to figure out that their superior had eradicated someone or someones.

This led Raditz to seek out Bra through their bond. The long-haired man was immediately reassured when he still felt the girl's presence through the link. On the other hand, he was deeply troubled by her refusal to respond to his telepathic communication. The most he had gotten out of her was a concoction of emotional extremities and a clipped "Not now." Her reaction and his concern tempted him to go to her, but he resisted the urge. To disobey Vegeta's orders would be a tremendous folly. Raditz knew enough that, for the moment, Bra was okay (relatively speaking) and that he could check in on her after they had completed their current objectives. Although he didn't completely forget about his concerns for the teenager, he put his thoughts of her to the side and allowed more reassuring ones to put his mind at ease until he was free to return to her. Although it went against his instincts, he closed off the telepathic connection with her so that he could focus on their mission.

Not long after Vegeta handled the situation at the governor's mansion, he returned to the site of the impending battle. Neither Nappa nor Raditz had asked what had happened at the estate. Neither dared to. Whatever had happened, Vegeta's irritation was still very palpable. Instead, the duo refocused themselves on eradicating the insurgents. Without anyone at the mansion to perform espionage on behalf of the rebels, the saiyans found that their forces were much easier to eliminate. They were scattered and unorganized. Communication had completely broken down. Infighting rose amongst their members. Eradicating them became all too easy.

It was only upon their return towards the governor's estate did Raditz realize something was amiss. Without the distraction of their battle to keep him occupied, he could now turn his attention towards ensuring Bra's condition in the wake of Vegeta's earlier actions. As the third-class saiyan attempted to establish contact with the halfling girl, he found that she still refused to respond to him. What was more, was that the telepathic connection with her felt weaker than it should have. The potent emotions that he could normally sense from her now felt like vague echoes. What is wrong? he fretted to himself with greater and greater concern.

When the trio returned to the mansion, Raditz and Nappa took in, for the first time, the damage that their prince had wrought upon the building and grounds. A window had been smashed in, an adjacent wall had been blown out, and the gardens were torn to pieces. Some of the servants had begun the clean-up process, but their sluggish and disoriented movements indicated their ongoing states of shock. The sight served to heighten Raditz's uncertainty. He realized that perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick to assume Bra's well-being. To Vegeta's disgust, Raditz rushed ahead of his comrades and hastily entered the mansion through the still smoldering hole in the outer wall. He was met with the wreckage of Yramdaa's office; shattered glass, blood, and charred remains littered the floor and furniture. The room was otherwise empty.

'Bra! Bra!' the long-haired man called out to the girl with his mind, but still received no answer. He left the vacant office and headed for the next obvious place where his young companion might be – her designated room. When he arrived there, he practically smashed the door down, breaking it free from its hinges. On the other side, he found that her room was also empty. Neither she nor her belongings were there. Gone was any evidence that she had ever been there, aside from Bra's natural scent – the faint aroma that reminded him of a fresh breeze flowing through an open field warmed by the sun.

Frustrated and confused, Raditz rounded quickly to leave the room only to come face-to-face with Nappa. The taller man wore a stoic face, but in his eyes, Raditz could see the perplexity and concern. The long-haired man bore his gritted teeth at his superior and growled with irritation, despite knowing the fact that the older man had had nothing to do with the blunette's sudden disappearance. The tip of Nappa's coiled tail twitched and he narrowed his eyes in warning at his subordinate, but didn't otherwise reprimand him.

Raditz didn't miss the forewarning threat conveyed by Nappa's body language, and he backed down. "She's gone," the long-haired man grunted as he circumnavigated the larger man and exited the room with conviction. "I intend to find out what happened."

Nappa surveyed the room once over. When he, too, found that all of Bra's belongings were mysteriously absent, he came to the same conclusion that Raditz had; the girl was no longer at the mansion. He ran his forefinger and thumb over each side of his mustache, starting in the center above his lip, smoothing down the pencil-thin hair along the sides of his mouth until ending at his jawbone. He pondered, Does this mean that Prince Vegeta has sent the wench on her way? Or is she still planet-side? His first instinct was to check his scouter for her ki signature, but then he remembered that she was somehow able to hide her energy from the devices when she wanted to. Therefore, he didn't bother. Instead, he turned and exited the vacant room, deciding to follow after Raditz.

The bald-headed giant caught up with his subordinate a short distance from the estate's main kitchens. Both men knew that they'd find their prince there. Raditz was first to breach the kitchen's double doors. Nappa was just behind him. Sure enough, Vegeta was seated at a marbled countertop with his back facing the door as he skimmed over a file on his holoscreen. It was evident that he had just finished terrorizing one of the staff members, having ordered her to prepare a meal for him, given how the small jakobin female fearfully quivered in his presence as she scrambled to gather the appropriate cooking supplies and ingredients.

"What did you do to her?" Raditz demanded upon laying eyes on the prince's back. Nappa hung back by the door as both he and his long-haired companion waited for his prince's response.

Vegeta spared a bored glance over his shoulder. "I've done nothing to her... yet. This female is so skittish that she's terrified of her own shadow," he replied while using his chin to gesture to the quaking jakobin servant.

"Not her!" Raditz snarled. "Bulla! What have you done with Bulla!"

Vegeta turned his head back towards the servant girl; his unyielding gaze seemed to make her all the more nervous. With barely restrained anger, he stated, "You presume to demand answers from your prince." He stood from his stool to fully face his subordinate. "You presume too much, third-class."

Raditz could feel his bravado shrivel underneath Vegeta's heated glare. Despite the flame-haired saiyan being a full head-and-a-half shorter than him, Vegeta certainly had a way of making Raditz feel like the smaller man. The third-class found himself submissively diverting his eyes. Despite his discomfort, Raditz could not find peace until he found out exactly what had happened to Bra earlier that afternoon. With a tone that was far less aggressive, he made his request a second time.

"My prince, I respectfully ask to know if Bulla is alright and where I might find her."

Nappa, who had been leaning into the door frame with his arms folded across his chest, mentally shook his head in disapproval. Although he held no loyalties for Raditz, Nappa still felt a bit of pity for the younger man. The third-class saiyan continued to foolishly put his concerns for Bra on public display. His attachments would one day come with a great cost, if they didn't kill him altogether.

After what seemed like several minutes of anticipatory silence, Vegeta spoke. "The girl is gone." When Raditz's eyes widened in panic and his alarm bled through his mental link with the prince, Vegeta was quick to correct, "Not dead, you fool. Gone. I ordered the girl to leave this planet immediately."

Raditz was relieved that Bra was unharmed, as far as he could tell. He realized, too late, that his alarm had momentarily overridden his logic. Of course Bra wasn't dead; the fact that he could still vaguely feel her through their bond was enough evidence of that. His irrational fear subsided to allow his anger to manifest once more, though this time he was more mindful to keep it in check.

"Why did you send her away?"

Not favoring the subtle insolent tone in his associate's voice, Vegeta narrowed his eyes in warning. "Her assistance was no longer required. Her role in our mission was fulfilled. Therefore I ordered her to leave. She was to part ways with us once we were done on this planet anyway. What difference did it make to have her leave sooner rather than later?"

The third-class saiyan gritted his teeth as he struggled not to argue with his prince. With a bowed head, averted eyes, a twitching tail, and clenched fists, it was clear that Raditz was unhappy with Vegeta's decision to send Bra away. It wasn't the fact that the girl had been forced to part ways with them that had Raditz so upset. He understood that she was to do so as soon as the assignment on this planet had been completed. In fact, he had agreed with and approved the decision as it meant that Bra would be spared a confrontation with Frieza. The true reason for Raditz's anger was that he would have liked to have bid the girl farewell before she left, as he was uncertain how soon – or even if – he'd see her again. Vegeta had robbed him of this opportunity to say goodbye.

When Raditz found that he was able to speak again without lashing out at the royal saiyan, he muttered quickly and simply, "I see." He then immediately turned and left the kitchen, storming past Nappa as he did so. Before Raditz had turned the corner and gone out of sight, he lashed out at the opposite wall in the hallway, smashing through the hardwood with his fist and causing bits of splintered wood and dust particles to rain down onto the floor. The not-forgotten jakobin servant, who was still working on preparing a stew for the saiyan prince, nearly leapt out of her feathers when the loud 'BAM' of Raditz's fist going through the wall cracked through the air.

As soon as the third-class man was gone, Nappa released a sigh and pushed himself off of the doorframe. Although not nearly as saddened as Raditz was to see Bra go, the mustachioed saiyan found that a small part of him was going to miss the girl. Her presence amongst their group had certainly made things interesting. Only Bra could find ways to ruffle Vegeta's tail and walk away relatively unscathed. And although she had made it clear that she wasn't fond of their line of work, the girl had still proven her worth.

Even though Nappa had found Bra to be completely infuriating at first, he had come to see her in a new light, especially after learning of her saiyan heritage. Bra's behaviors, particularly during those earlier days, now made perfect sense under the context of her inherited traits. She was stubborn. She was feisty. She refused to give up or back down. A half-breed Bra may have been, but in Nappa's eyes, her strength, willfulness, guile, determination, and sacrifices made her as true a saiyan as any full-blood had ever been.

As Nappa took a few steps towards his prince, he stated, "Raditz will get over it. You made the right choice sending the wench away when you did."

Still annoyed by the third-class's intrusion, Vegeta unloaded this lingering tidbit of irritation on his general. "I don't recall asking you for your approval."

Without another word, Vegeta turned away from the taller man, giving him his back as a silent dismissal. The prince reclaimed his seat and resumed browsing his holoscreen as if nothing had disturbed him in the first place. Nappa halted his advance towards the surly man, taken aback by the cold rebuke. The giant refused to allow the chastisement to affect him for long, however. He kept himself composed and exited the kitchen, leaving Vegeta alone with his holoscreen and the terrified servant.

Over the course of the next two days, the three saiyans continued their mission to rid Planet Kaanan of the rebel forces. They slaughtered all those who were directly involved with the insurgency and hundreds of others who were suspected of abetting them. Throughout these two days, Nappa couldn't help but to notice Raditz's heightened ferocity and Vegeta's increased apathy. The long-haired man was much easier to figure out; he was unleashing his frustration and anger over Bra's early departure on the natives. As for Vegeta, he was a bit harder to decipher. Nappa eventually – and correctly – guessed that the prince had realized that his own attachment to the girl (as small as it was), had made him just soft enough that he was unable to kill her as he would have done to anyone else who was of no more use to him. The apathy that Vegeta now portrayed was an attempt to undo that damage.

The saiyans accomplished the complete defeat of the rebel forces with little to no additional help from the planet's official government. Yramdaa was, for the most part, missing in action as he was still coping with the loss of his top military advisor and the combined tragedy that was the betrayal and death of his second consort. In his grief, the governor had essentially ensconced himself in his private quarters with Polaami and their chicks, as was the local custom for periods of mourning. A de facto advisor had stepped in to take Rabaaj's place, but this new advisor had been of so little use that Vegeta hadn't even bothered to learn the woman's name.

With their assignment finally wrapped up, the trio of saiyans returned to the capital's spaceport. In a hurry to leave, they hadn't bothered taking the trolley system through the city and opted to fly there directly. When they arrived at the spaceport, they found that all four pods were ready and waiting for them. Upon seeing the fourth pod, Raditz was almost startled by its presence. If the fourth pod – Bra's pod – was still here, then logic would state that the blunette was still planet-side as well. But after that brief moment, he recalled Vegeta's instructions from several days ago. When Bra departed this world, she wouldn't be leaving in her own pod; she would be taking a ship from one of the natives.

The three saiyans made their ways to each of their own pods. Vegeta and Nappa began loading their duffels into the storage compartments located in the hollow beneath their pilot seats. As Raditz opened the hatch to his pod, an aroma of grassy fields warmed by sunshine met his nose. It was Bra's scent and it was recent, perhaps only a few days old and it had been preserved within the confines of the ship. Raditz knew that she must have been inside his pod before she left. But for what purpose?

When the long-haired man flipped the backrest of the pod's seat forward, he found that the space within wasn't completely empty. Inside was a twice-folded piece of parchment. He set his duffel down at his feet and reached inside the compartment to withdraw the trespassing object. Raditz brought it to his nose, scenting it. It smelt of wood fiber, a chemical mixture, and Bra's scent. He unfolded the parchment to find writing scrawled in pink-colored lettering. How primitive, Raditz observed of the hand-written note, an oddity in a digital society. To anyone from Earth, they'd recognize the parchment as a sheet of college-ruled paper torn from a spiral-bound notebook.

Written in saiyashi, the letter said:

Raditz,

I am sorry I did not wish to hear you this afternoon. The
time was not preferable nor did I wish to be comforted at
that moment. Please understand and forgive me.

As you may already know, Prince Vegeta ordered me to
leave Kaanan. Do not be cross with him. Our separation
was inevitable, with or without his influence.

I would have liked to have wished you farewell before my
departure, but perhaps that would have only made our
separation all the more difficult. Instead, I would like to
give you my deepest gratitude for all that you have done
for me. I will always carry the memories of your kindness
in my heart.

Be safe.
Bulla

Raditz read over the letter three times. Each time he did so, the finality that came with the message became all the more surreal and bittersweet. The tone of the letter seemed to indicate that Bra didn't believe that she'd ever reunite with him. He suspected that perhaps Bra deeply believed that she wouldn't survive her quest to avenge her kin. Such a thought brought a deep sadness to Raditz's heart. He also felt terrible regret as he was once again reminded that he had been denied a chance to give Bra his own parting words as he saw her off to worlds unknown. Mixed within these emotions of sadness and regret, however, was happiness. He was glad to have Bra's last words to him. The characters written in her own penmanship was a blessed gift that he could always keep with him and cherish.

Carefully, the third-class man refolded the paper and tucked it into his chest armor, leaving a corner exposed. Later, he would safely store the letter away in the smaller pocket of his duffel. But for now, he wanted to surround himself in Bra's natural scent. Her aroma helped to soothe the aches he felt in his heart and soul. He only hoped that she wasn't suffering like he was.

Once the letter was secured in his armor, Raditz reclaimed his duffel and tossed it into the storage compartment before setting the pilot's seat back into position. He climbed into the pod and with a great amount of trepidation, entered in the coordinates for Frieza Planet 1 – the location where he and his comrades would soon come face to face with their merciless master. With his next destination set, the door to the pod closed shut with a soft hiss. A moment later, Raditz's pod shot into the air to follow behind the two pods of his superiors and the empty pod of his former-intended mate.

Date: Age 760, Quarter 1, Day 86 (Approx. 20 March 760)
Location: Space

Bra stared out into the darkness of space from her curled up position in the pilot's chair of her borrowed star cruiser. The luxury vehicle was one of several that Yramdaa's economic advisor Vaadnam owned. The fact that Vaadnam had so many spacecrafts in his possession was yet another testament to the economic inequality that existed on Planet Kanaan. Bra did not feel guilty taking it. Nor did she feel guilty that she wouldn't be returning it, not that she could anyway.

Although the craft was small and meant to occupy no more than two passengers, it came with a living space in addition to the main navigation station. The rear cabin of the oblong-shaped ship came with a kitchenette, including a small refrigeration unit, a two-burner range and oven, and a single-basin sink. Opposite the kitchenette was dining space for two. Further back was a set of bunks, the lower of which could fold into a couch with the press of a button. Finally, in the rear passenger side of the cab, there was a small bathroom. It contained a toilet/sink combo and miniature bathtub.

Compared to the space pod Bra had grown accustomed to traveling in, this star cruiser was quite the commodity. Despite the comforts the ship offered, it brought Bra no solace. Unlike the space pods, this craft had no function to put its passengers into a deep hibernation. The lack of such a feature made all the other features within this cruiser not luxuries, but rather, necessities for survival. Realizing this had stolen away the novelty from any and all of the craft's features.

Without being able to escape her turmoil by falling into a deep slumber, the teenager was forced to review the events of Planet Kanaan over and over again. First and foremost, she felt terrible for the slaves and rebels, all of whom were merely fighting for their own freedom and survival. She felt ashamed that she had taken part in the campaign to terminate not only their efforts, but also their lives. Even more so, she felt terrible knowing that her father, Nappa, and Raditz would soon murder every last one of the resistance fighters, if they hadn't done so already.

While Bra felt immense sorrow for the ill-fated rebels, it didn't compare with the survivor's guilt she experienced every time she thought of Naahita. Though the two women had only known each other for a few days and hadn't really had the chance to get to know each other very well, Bra had felt a connection with the jakobin woman nonetheless. The blunette had quickly grown to like Naahita, despite her flaws. Because of their blossoming friendship, Bra had promised the older female that she would ensure her survival. Bra had wrongly believed that she would be able to defend her. But when Naahita had needed Bra's protection the most, the halfling had utterly failed her.

Over the course of the past two days, Bra had repeatedly wished for a different outcome. She had desperately wanted to have been able to switch places with the purple-feathered woman. Instead, the demi-saiyan had been dealt a life-sentence to carry the weight of her guilt and shame over Naahita's death and of her own failure and weakness. Additionally, being alone in this star cruiser was doing nothing to alleviate the girl from her growing sentiments of self-loathing and self-directed anger. She blamed and hated herself for having done nothing to not only prevent Naahita's death, but for having essentially led her to it in the first place.

Having so much time on her hands, Bra's thoughts had naturally turned towards her former traveling companions from time to time. Of Nappa, though she hadn't gotten along well with him for the most part, she found that she was still going to miss him. At first, he had been extremely aggressive and hostile towards the girl. Upon their first meeting, he had even expressed an interest in raping her! But somewhere along the way, the brutish saiyan had shed himself of such animosities. He had even come along far enough to be cordial and protective of her, which had completely taken Bra by surprise. Given time, she suspected that she could have cracked Nappa's hard exterior even further and found a way to unravel his barbarous personality. Now, she could only try to imagine how he could have changed. She actually wished that she had had more time to spend with him, to learn more about him, and perhaps, to have learned from him.

As it turned out, Nappa was the least of Bra's worries.

When the teenager's thoughts turned towards Vegeta, they were an amalgam of disbelief, shame, and disgust. All her life, Bra had been very sheltered from her father's past. Only now did she truly realize how sheltered she really had been. She had known only that her father had had a violent past and that he had been forced to do things that he wouldn't have wanted to do otherwise. That all changed when she had witnessed Vegeta murder Naahita and Rabaaj.

Unlike the remorse Bra had seen in Naahita's eyes when she had killed her accomplices, there was nothing in Vegeta's eyes to indicate regret when he blasted the two jakobin. The fact of the matter was that there had been no need to kill Naahita at all. She had been placed in custody. Her allies within the estate were dead. Essentially, she had been neutralized. As for Rabaaj… He had been completely innocent, yet he had still lost his life. There had been no purpose to either of their deaths. Vegeta had simply and easily murdered them because he could.

Bra found it impossible to believe that her father had ever been capable of being so cold, so cruel, so heartless. And yet, she couldn't deny the firsthand evidence… evidence that she had witnessed with her very own eyes! Is this what that alien Boss man wanted me to see? she bitterly questionedherself. Would he be satisfied if he knew that I don't know what to think about Daddy anymore? Truth be told, she didn't know what to think about herself anymore. In part, her own existence and personality were designed by Vegeta's relationship with and influence on her. So if the saiyan prince was a horrible monster, then what did that make her?

Bra's doubts were made worse by her thoughts and feelings about Raditz. He, too, was a trained killing machine. On two planets now, she had stood by and done nothing while he went out and slaughtered countless individuals in Frieza's name. Somehow, as hard as she had tried not to, Bra had come to have romantic feelings for the third-class saiyan. So what did that say about her? What kind of person was she if she was capable of falling in love with a mass murderer? Even beyond that, she was aware that her inner saiyan instincts had recognized Raditz as her destined mate. How would she have been able to live with both him and his murderous nature if she had decided to complete the mating bond with him? How could she have lived with herself if she had sacrificed her own moral compass while embracing someone capable of such evil deeds?

At the same time, the teenager couldn't help but to wonder if the long-haired man could have been capable of change. Raditz had told her that his career hadn't been his choice. He had been forced into a life of indenture and murder and punishment. Kill or be killed. This was how he was raised. This was the life he knew. This was the only way to survive. And Bra realized, that this was true for her father, too. Her mother had somehow seen past her father's history and had shown him a better life. Bra wondered if, perhaps, this outcome might have been possible for Raditz, as well.

It was because of these dangerous and conflicting thoughts that Bra felt both relief and regret while regarding Raditz. Having been separated from him, she no longer felt the pressures of caving in to her temptations to reveal all her remaining secrets to him. This was also the source of her regret, that she had lost all the opportunities to do so. Even if she had wanted to spill her knowledge to him now, she no longer could, for she and Raditz were now too far apart from each other to communicate telepathically with each other. The most she could feel from him was a feint pulse through their bond, enough to inform her that he was still alive and well.

Despite Bra's misgivings about Raditz and the horrid crimes he had committed in his lifetime (both known and unknown to her), the girl knew that she would miss Raditz terribly. Their separation, only two days old now, was already painful. The dull ache in her core felt like a phantom wound. The best way she could describe it was that if felt as though a piece of her was being slowly torn away. Bra was grateful that she had abstained from completing the courtship rituals and mating bond with Raditz. She feared that if they had been completed, she'd be experiencing a tremendous amount of agony now.

It was her thoughts of Raditz that caused that inner voice of hers to suddenly made itself known once again.

You know, if you wanted to, you could turn this star cruiser right around and go back.

Bra grimaced. "Yeah, right. Vegeta would literally kill me at this point if I disobeyed him and showed my face in front of him right now.

You don't know for sure how your father would react.

"Yeah… well… I doubt very much that they're on Kaanan anymore, anyway."

That might be so. But you do know where they're heading. You still have the coordinates for Frieza Planet 1 saved into your smart-watch. Even if they haven't left Kaanan yet, you'd likely be able to meet up with them on FP1.

"You know I can't go back, so why are you trying to encourage me to do so? I thought you were supposed to be my voice of reason…"

Oh, I'm not your voice of reason, the inner voice refuted. I'm only here to tell you what you need to hear, reasonable or otherwise.

"So what are you trying to tell me to do now?" Bra whined.

Only what you already feel in your heart.

"What? That I should turn back? Why should I?"

Because you want to do it.

The teen scowled. "Just because I want to do it doesn't mean I should. The logical thing to do is to put as much distance between myself and the saiyans as possible."

The logical thing isn't always the right thing.

"Oh, is that so? Then what is the right thing to do?"

Well… I don't think I need to remind you about what Naahita suggested, as you've had this on your mind ever since she said the words…

Bra felt her gut sink. "About how I might have been fated to guide the saiyans on their destined paths…"

Precisely.

"That's ludicrous. There's no way that alien sent me back in time to 'guide the saiyans.'" The sarcasm dripped heavily from the halfling's lips as she repeated the words of her inner voice.

But what makes you so sure that that isn't your fate, despite the circumstances? How do you know that that alien wasn't the means, the tool, to starting you on your quest?

Bra did not like that suggestion. It certainly did the trick of planting a seed of possibility in her mind and heart. She didn't want to believe that such a prospect could be true, but with her waning conviction, she could no longer voice her doubts.

Knowing that the blunette was in a mindset that could more easily be swayed, the inner voice hammered its argument home. Perhaps it's not your fate to guide the saiyans. Perhaps, it's your duty. Ever since you've set foot in the past, your presence here has had an impact. You know this to be true. Because of this, you've set out from the very start to mitigate your influence on past events as much as possible.

But now, because of you, those three saiyans are going to face Frieza… empty handed. If not for you, Frieza would have had no interest in having the saiyans pay him a visit. Without you in their company, Frieza will likely take out his anger on them, just as your father has repeatedly taken out his anger on you, only this will be countless times worse. Even if Naahita's suggestion was merely that, and nothing more, at the very least, you owe it to the saiyans to make sure nothing bad comes of them when they stand before Frieza.

Bra resented the fact that her own subconscious mind was giving her such a harsh lecture. She fought back, "How do you know for certain that they wouldn't have gone before Frieza anyway, without my interference? How do you know that anything bad will happen when they do go to see him? The thing is, is that you don't know. You have no idea how things were, or how they're going to be. So how can you preach to me about how this is all my fault?"

The voice was quiet for a moment. Just as Bra began to believe that it had left, it finally rebutted, It doesn't matter what I do or don't know. The fact of that matter is that the lives of these saiyans will be in danger when they show up on Frieza's doorstep without you in hand. They are taking a great risk to keep you safe. In return, you've chosen to stand to the side and do nothing while watching their possible demise. You've already got Naahita's and Raabaj's blood on your hands, as well as the blood of the entire matopod species, for your past refusal to take action. Will you leave your saiyan friends, and consequently your own existence, to the fate of the same refusal?

The teenager was beaten, and she knew it. This final arguing point had been a very low blow, using her own guilt and shame against her. The deaths of those she had failed weighed heavily on her soul. The reminder given to her just now made the guilt feel absolutely crushing. Against her will, she could feel tears brimming in her eyes once again. The shame continued to build to a crescendo until she could bear it no more.

Reaching its peak, Bra's remorse compelled her to key in the commands on the ship's terminal to take it out of auto-pilot and into manual operation. Her fingers dashed across the touch-screen display as she keyed in the coordinates for Frieza Planet 1. She entered in prompts that set the cruising speed of the ship to its maximum; a speed that was still slower than the PTO space pods. With such a disadvantage, she could only hope that she'd arrive at her destination before it was too late. By her calculations, it would take almost twenty-two full galactic days to make the trip.

The girl set the ship back to auto-pilot and watched as the cruiser changed course. She prayed that she was making the right decision.

Date: Age 760, Quarter 2, Day 8 (Approx. 18 April 760)
Location: Frieza Planet 1

Vegeta sat at the rear of one of many mess halls in the military base that made up the capital city of Frieza Planet 1. He sat alone while picking bits of remnant meat from the bones of the carcass that was left of his meal. The scowl on his face alone, as he scrutinized the three dozen or so other occupants in the room, was enough to scare off anyone who'd be brave enough to consider joining him.

Not even Vegeta's own two comrades had the courage to sit with him on this morning. Nappa was currently seated with a group of soldiers who lined up to challenge him to arm wrestling matches in the hopes of toppling the undefeated giant. Each time a new contestant squared off against Nappa, and each time said contestant lost to the mustachioed saiyan, the air became filled with a cacophony of excited cheers and jeers. Raditz, on the other hand, had found himself in a quieter corner of the mess hall where he and a few others had started up a game of strategy and chance. While they placed tiled pieces onto the table top, they played under the façade of a friendly competition. Underneath the ruse, however, the players were a bunch of crafty and cutthroat gamblers seeking to expand their hard-earned PTO credits upon the unfortunate losses felt by the competition.

From both of his subordinates, Vegeta could sense a lack of concentration. Neither of them really had their minds focused on their respective games; the activities poorly served as a distraction. The prince knew that his men were anxious about their impending meeting with Frieza, especially since the reason for their visit was intentionally absent. The uncertainty they harbored over the outcome of their meeting with Freiza was paltry in comparison to the worry they had felt over the girl's safety had she stuck with her commitment to meet with the arcosian warlord. The relief his men felt in knowing that she was out of harm's way eased their trepidation.

Still, Vegeta was in a foul mood. They had landed on Frieza Planet 1 three days ago, and Frieza had yet to call upon them for their meeting. The flame-haired saiyan was aggravated that he and his men had been personally summoned by their master, only to be kept waiting. Vegeta did not like the feeling that he was being intentionally brushed to the side. He suspected that Frieza was intentionally delaying their appointment. No matter how long the saiyans stayed on this planet, their mission itinerary did not change. It meant that they'd have less time to complete their next assignment and Frieza certainly knew this. Vegeta could imagine the lizard prince sitting in his hover-chair, cackling at the thought of tormenting him in any and every way possible.

A chirp from his scouter, an alert indicating an incoming message, pulled Vegeta from his thoughts. After wiping the grease from his fingers on a disposable napkin made of cheap material, he picked the device up from where he had lain it to rest on the surface of the stainless steel table. Attaching the scouter to the left side of his face, he scrolled through the menu until he found the messaging inbox and selected it. Speak of the Evil One, the prince thought to himself as he read the contents of the message. It seemed that finally Frieza was ready to see them.

Rising from his seat, and not bothering to clean up after himself, Vegeta telepathed to his men, "Nappa. Raditz. It is time. We have less than a decimark to present ourselves to Frieza in his imperial chamber."

"His private office?" Raditz sought to confirm as he calmly conceded from the current round of his game.

"It seems so," the royal saiyan replied forebodingly.

Typically, Frieza conducted his business in the command center of whatever city, base, or ship he happened to be residing in at the moment. This was done for two reasons. The first, was so that he could deal with personal situations whilst not being pulled away from grander matters involving his empire. The second reason was that the command center was typically abundant with witnesses – witnesses whose mere presence served to humiliate those he sought to punish, witnesses who could then spread tales of his horrific deeds and instill fear into his countless slaves. The fact that Frieza had chosen to see the saiyans in his personal chamber indicated that he had a very dangerous game planned for them. It meant that Frieza wanted no distractions from whatever scheme he had concocted. It meant that he wanted to savor every moment of the ploy he had in store for them.

"Well, then," the Nappa relayed to his saiyan comrades, "Let us not delay the inevitable." The tone of his words attempted to relay a calm composure, but he couldn't completely suppress the underlying trepidation felt deep in his core. With a final push against his current opponent's grip, the giant saiyan slammed the red-skinned beast's hand down onto the table's silver surface. Another round of cheers and jeers filled the air amongst the spectators who were oblivious to the developing situation. Nappa rose to his feet and announced to the crowd that he would be accepting no more challenges.

Without a spoken word to each other, the three saiyans headed towards the exit of the mess hall where they converged. Many of the remaining occupants of the room watched their silent departure. Questions were immediately raised by the saiyans' sudden egress. It was obvious that the saiyans were about to find trouble… or trouble was about to find them.

A few hours earlier, in her borrowed jakobin star cruiser, Bra entered the main living chamber after having the most cramped bath in her life. (In such a tight space, she would have preferred to have taken a shower, but it appeared as though the avian-like jakobin preferred baths over showers and, thus, never designed showers into their plumbing.) Earlier, when the teenager had finally entered the outer reaches of the Wintros system – the star system that was home to Frieza Planet 1 – she decided it would be best to freshen up and prepare herself for the next leg of her adventure.

Over the course of the past 21+ days spent in isolation, Bra had had plenty of time to work through many of the issues that had been troubling her when she made the fateful decision to change direction and head to FP1. Several times, she had questioned this decision; a few times, she had nearly changed her mind yet again. In the end, the girl had steeled her resolve, convincing herself that this was the correct course of action to take.

Bra had also had plenty of time to process her grief over Naahita's death. The teen still grieved for her fallen friend and her survivor's guilt still lingered. At times, it was definitely difficult to cope with the loss. However, Bra knew that she couldn't continue to allow herself to be swallowed whole by these feelings. She knew that while she would always carry her grief with her, life and time would continue to move onward, unimpeded, and without empathy for her loss. Frieza was no exception to this rule, as he certainly would not postpone her upcoming encounter with him so that she may heal from her emotional wounds. She knew that she needed to be prepared for him when she did meet him; she needed to be on her A-game.

As the teenager towel-dried her hair (using her ki to do so as she normally would was not advised in a ship whose structure had not been personally tested by herself against ki fluctuation), she could hear a muffled beeping from the other side of the thin door that separated the pilot's cabin from the living chamber of her ship. Alarmed, Bra dropped her towel – now forgotten – and immediately made for the pilot's seat. She found the source of the noise, an apparatus to the left of the control panel. When she tapped the illuminated digital icon, the holographic image of a fish-like alien appeared above the controls.

"Approaching vessel! Identify yourself and your business on Frieza Planet 1!" demanded the translucent-skinned creature wearing a PTO-issued uniform.

Bra hesitated at first. How was she to answer? She wasn't prepared for this scenario since she hadn't expected to be contacted by anyone planet-side before she had landed. She also hadn't wanted to announce her arrival, either. If any of the saiyans, especially Vegeta, discovered her transgression prior to her having the chance to actually meet the arcosian lord, they'd likely see to it that she never got that chance.

"Uh… I'm here to see Lord Frieza," the blunette fumbled. "He's expecting me…"

The fish-alien gave Bra a look that clearly said that he doubted the girl's claim. "And who exactly are you?"

"Look…" the halfling stated with annoyance. "Just tell Lord Frieza that his interviewee has arrived for a much anticipated appointment and she is requesting permission to land. Or is that too much for you to handle?" she finished with heavy sarcasm.

A nervous look overcame the creature at the thought of having to disturb Frieza himself. Bra realized that the alien needed a little more encouragement to make the necessary call.

"Whatever it is that Frieza might be doing right now, he will not at all be angry with you for disturbing him when you inform him of my arrival. But if you don't get in touch with him and he finds out later that I've turned around and left because of your cowardice, I can promise you that the outcome won't be pretty. Got it?"

The fish alien nodded. It hadn't escaped his notice that the teenager had neglected to use the arcosian's title, and if she was so important to not only be personally summoned by Frieza, but also to not require the use of a title when speaking his name, then she must be someone of great importance.

"Y-yes," he stammered. "Just a moment."

Before Bra could answer, the holographic image of the alien blinked out as the connection was put on hold. The girl was left to wait in silent anticipation as she waited for a response.

Frieza was not pleased. The arcosian sat in his hoverchair, staring out through the single large window of his control room. He gazed at nothing in particular, letting his eyes roam over the metallic dome structures that made up the main city on the snowy white tundra that was Frieza Planet 1. He tapped his tail against the side of his hoverchair as his mind delved into deep contemplation. With every tick of the scaly appendage as it made contact with the fiberglass, the dozen or so servants working in the command center behind him flinched with fear.

Frieza's thoughts were occupied by a particular dilemma. Three days ago, the saiyans had arrived on the planet which housed his primary base of operations; the very same planet that was his first conquer over three-hundred years ago. When the saiyans made landfall, four pods had arrived, but one of those pods was vacant. That fourth pod should have housed the individual that Frieza was most interested in meeting. Even without having any evidence, the ice lizard was immediately convinced that the saiyans had deliberately left the blue-haired girl behind somewhere.

Despite his suspicions, Frieza hadn't yet bothered to summon the saiyans. He was interested to learn what the monkeys had to say about their missing associate… anything that would explain her absence or her current whereabouts. The arcosian knew that the longer he made the saiyans wait, the more likely it would be that one of them would crack under fear. Eventually, one of them would let something slip, either to each other or to a third party. And when they did, Frieza would learn about it. Unfortunately, the monkeys had been completely tight-lipped concerning the girl. Frieza had even gone so far as to send a few soldiers directly to the saiyans to ask about the missing girl, and still, nothing. The absolute silence was slowly pushing the ice lord's patience towards its breaking point.

"P-pardon m-me, L-lord Frieza?"

The ice lord was pulled from his thoughts by one of several sniveling attendants working at the fringes of his control room. Without bothering to turn to face the unfortunate man, he snapped, "What is it?"

"Th-there is a call from the s-surveillance tower at spaceport seven. They s-say that there is a civilian c-craft that recently entered orbit and is r-requesting permission to l-land…"

Faster than one could blink, Frieza whirled around and grabbed the diminutive, red-furred creature by the front of his uniform. "And why am I being bothered with such a trivial matter?" he snarled.

"B-b-b-because the o-occupant s-says that y-you req-q-quested her p-presence. Sh-she wouldn't g-give her n-name, b-b-but she's b-been described as a y-young female m-mamalian with pale s-skin and b-blue hair."

The description immediately triggered recognition as the memory of a holographic image of Bra was conjured in Frieza's mind. A gleeful smile stretched across the arcosian's black lips into a gruesome sneer that sent shivers down his servant's spine. How fortuitous, the ice lizard inwardly celebrated as he immediately began to plot different and devious ways to exploit Bra's unexpected arrival.

"Send my permission for her to land," Frieza commanded as he released his servant, who all-too-eagerly scampered off to fulfill his master's order. The arcosian then retrieved his scouter from the arm of his hoverchair and attached it to the side of his face before opening a comm. link. "Zarbon."

Less than a moment later came the silvery voice of the aforementioned commander. "Yes, my Lord?"

"I want you to go to spaceport seven. It seems our guest of honor has finally arrived. I want you to take special care of her. Escort her to one of our better accommodations. Have her ready to meet with me in one decimark."

"Yes, my Lord."

"One more thing, Zarbon."

"My lord?"

"Send a message to my dear monkey prince. Have them meet me in my imperial chamber."

"As you wish."

As soon as Bra had disembarked from her star cruiser, she found that she was already surrounded by a small entourage of soldiers who had been waiting for her arrival. Upon seeing the nearly dozen soldiers of various races, she paused just outside of her ship as if she were protecting her only means of escape should she need it. As if acutely aware of the girl's hesitation, a rather handsome, blue-skinned and green-haired man stepped forward from the group.

"Don't be alarmed," the stranger spoke in a soothing, yet confident, voice. "None of us are here to harm you."

Bra glanced skeptically at the many warriors gathered before returning her gaze to their comely leader. "You most certainly could have fooled me…" she said.

The man gave her an amused smile as he swiped a strand of his long green locks away from his face. The teenager could not help but to notice how this attractive soldier had lavishly decorated himself with beautiful jewelry. While Bra did not yet know the identity of this man, she had already gathered from these first few moments that he held some sort of power, influence, and wealth within the Planet Trade Organization. She needed to be wary of him.

"Forgive us if we appear to be hostile towards you," the man with the silky voice requested. "Would you perchance be the one known as Bulla?" The inquiry sounded less like a question and more like a statement.

"Y-yes," the demi-saiyan confirmed. Suspicion rose in her gut. Who was this man and how did he correctly guess her alias?

The man's grin widened in a way that pushed Bra further away from ease. She deduced that he had already known who she was and had only asked as a formality. At this moment, the handsome soldier stepped towards Bra, closing the distance between them. As much as she wanted to retreat into her cruiser, however, she held her ground. She flexed her ki sense outward, getting a taste of this man's power level to determine how much of a threat he actually was. When she estimated the warrior's strength to be a little less than twice Vegeta's strength, she was impressed but no longer intimidated.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said as soon as he was a mere foot from Bra. "My name is Zarbon." He quickly, but gently, scooped up Bra's right hand within his own and covered her hand with his left. "…and I have been personally assigned to see to your needs until Lord Frieza summons you."

Bra slowly slid her hand out of Zarbon's loose grasp. "Uhm… Thanks?" she replied warily. This guy's creep-factor just went off the charts! she noted in response to how his hospitality seemed to cross into something a little too intimate for her liking. She wasn't entirely sure if he was merely being polite… or if he was being mildly flirtatious. His trespass into her personal space was the least of her worries, unfortunately enough. It was his identity – now revealed – that she needed to be more concerned about. The name Zarbon was not lost on her. She had heard his name mentioned before, usually during the few times Gohan had told her and Pan stories about his adventures on Namek. Zarbon was none other than Lord Frieza's right hand man.

Catching Bra by surprise once again, Zarbon extended his left arm, offering the blue-haired girl his elbow to take. "Lord Frieza has selected one of the finest guest suites for you to stay in during your visit here. Please, allow me the pleasure to escort you there."

Having no other choice really, Bra hesitantly accepted Zarbon's offer and took his offered elbow. She didn't exactly feel comfortable with her arm linked with his, but she was wise enough to suspect that her refusal had the potential of, at best, turning the situation sour or, at worst, ending very poorly for her. Since Bra couldn't exactly predict how things on Frieza Planet 1 would unfold, she knew that it was in her best interest to play nice in the hopes that she could win over Frieza's favor.

Before Zarbon led his guest towards the hangar exit, he took notice of the heavy bag slung over Bra's left shoulder. "You must no doubt be weary from such a long trip. Would you prefer to have one of my men to carry your pack for you?"

The teenager was even more uncomfortable with that idea. "Thank you, but no," she declined. "It's not very heavy. I can manage."

"Very well. If you insist."

When the duo finally exited the spaceport, Bra was keenly aware of the small entourage of soldiers following behind them. When she nervously glanced behind her, Zarbon reassured her, "Worry not, child. My men are here to act as your personal body guards during your stay here. There are many unsavory fellows that come and go on this base. Not all of them are wise enough to consider the consequences of their actions before they make them. These men will make certain that none of the soldiers or civilians stationed here will harm you."

Bra was quiet, but nodded nonetheless to indicate she understood. She flexed her ki sense out briefly to get a good grasp on how suited these men were to act as her bodyguards. Collectively, their ki levels were nothing worth bragging about and Bra concluded that she'd be much better off defending herself. However, if these men served to dissuade people from harassing her, then she wouldn't have to worry about trying to rescue herself from a precarious situation whilst being forced to keep her own strength hidden.

As the amphibious man led his charge through the many twists and turns of the military base, Bra found that she was quite glad to have the escort. When she had approached the base in her star cruiser, she had observed that the city-base was made up of dozens of interconnecting domes; all of which appeared to have been arranged sporadically as the city had sprawled outward over the years. The resulting chaos was a maze of hallways, tunnels, and bridges. Bra would have had a hell of a time navigating through the place on her own. With no access to the buildings' exterior, (due the climate, the planet was nothing more than an endless, frigid, ice desert) Bra did not have the option of exiting the city to circumnavigate the twisting, winding infrastructure.

One of the things the blunette noticed as she was guided through the military complex was that their group seemed to alternate between curved and straight corridors. As she wasn't entirely sure of their path through these many hallways, she could only guess that the curved corridors were typical of the domed structures of the base while the straight ones were the tunnels and bridges that connected these buildings together. Another observation she made was that most of the base seemed to have been constructed with stone blocks. The architecture reminded her, in a way, of the ancient pyramids of Earth, except these buildings had been built much more round rather than triangular, something more like giant igloos constructed of blocks of stone rather than ice.

Bra further discerned that some parts of the base appeared older than others. While the newer buildings seemed fresher and more pristine, the oldest structures spoke of their decades of age. White paint had yellowed over the years. Scuff marks had deeply rooted themselves into the floors of highly trafficked areas. Hairline cracks in the walls indicated where the buildings had shifted as the ice floes they sat on had slowly moved over the years.

As the group made their way through the base, they passed through areas of greater and greater population. Zarbon, playing the part of the polite and generous host, indicated many points of interest during their journey. They passed by a military supply depot, an infirmary, a few barracks, a mess hall, a marketplace, some low-end resident halls, several bars, and even a brothel. After seeing all of this, Zarbon had revealed that he hadn't even shown her half of what the military city had to offer. He had boasted of several laboratories, research facilities, training facilities, and recreation centers among other things. Bra had come to find that this base was far more enormous than she had originally given it credit for. She had also come to learn that there was not a bit of wasted space; everything had a specific function or purpose.

There was one thing that had the teenager a bit on edge as the group made their way deeper and deeper into the city; the fear that her father or one of the other saiyans might discover her presence here before she had a chance to meet with Frieza. There were times that she thought she was at a very high risk of bumping into one of them, such as when they passed through the different barracks and the market. Additionally, the fact that she was arm-in-arm with Zarbon put her in the spotlight of many people's attentions. It didn't help that the crowds of civilians and soldiers alike seemed to part instinctively as the group moved through. Had one of her saiyan comrades been in the same area as she at any given time, there would have been no way for Bra to have ducked into and blended in with the masses.

To the demi-saiyan's relief, it appeared as though the crowds began to thin out as Zarbon led her to a more upscale section of the military city. In the final building he brought her to, the first floor was filled with quaint shops selling luxurious goods and services. As they rode an escalator to the third floor, Zarbon explained that only Lord Frieza's most esteemed guests were provided accommodations in this residence building and that the arcosian prince himself resided on the top floor of the same building. Bra felt very flattered, very honored, yet very suspicious of such generosity.

After stepping off of the escalator, the green-haired warrior escorted his guest down a hall that curved to the right. He stopped at the second door and with a wave of his hand over a sensor, the portal opened to reveal the room that had been arranged for Bra. Zarbon allowed the girl to step inside first as her eyes widened in awe and wonder. For some reason, she had expected a small living space. What she saw before her was a full-fledged apartment, furnished with wonderful and exotic things collected from the various planets and colonies of Frieza's vast empire.

As Bra soaked everything in, Zarbon casually strolled into the apartment, leaving the rest of the entourage outside. He followed the girl around the apartment as she acquainted herself with it while enjoying the marvel that was clearly written on her face. "I take it that you like it?" he asked knowingly.

"It's gorgeous," the teen whispered as she ran her hands over the silk-like upholstery of a nearby chaise lounge chair.

"I'm glad," the amphibian man said with a hint of a smile. "Lord Frieza will be pleased to hear of your approval." With that said, he began to retrace his steps towards the door. "I will allow you some time to freshen up after your long journey. I've arranged to have a team of tailors come to fit you into something appropriate to wear. They should be here in about a centimark. I will return in half of a decimark to collect you."

"Something appropriate to wear?" Bra parroted. "For what?" she asked, although she suspected that she knew the answer.

"To meet with Lord Frieza, of course."

While Bra was being fitted and measured and stuffed into one outfit after another, Vegeta and the saiyans were well on their way to meeting with Frieza. As they rode the escalator to the top floor of the dome wherein the ice lord's penthouse and private office resided, they unknowingly came within several dozen yards of the blue-haired girl. Bra had kept her ki level squashed to an almost imperceptible level and she had kept her mental links completely shut down and blocked off. She was nigh undetectable by her saiyan comrades.

As the saiyans made their way towards Frieza's office, they remained stoic and silent. However, Raditz could smell the trepidation radiating off of his superiors. He was certain that the same scent of uncertainty was spilling out of his pores as well. It had been quite some time since any of them had had to come before Lord Frieza in person. That incident hadn't ended well. This one was certain to end even worse.

When the trio reached the top of the escalator, they made the very short trek down a wide foyer, heading with purpose towards a set of double doors. From the top of the escalator, they could see that Dodoria was stationed outside Frieza's office. A smug smile stretched over the face of the pink, spiny, blob as the saiyans neared him.

"You monkeys are really in for it this time," sneered the PTO's third-in-command. "You'll all be very lucky if Lord Frieza allows you to walk out of here with your tails intact."

Vegeta paused in front of Dodoria, ignoring the latter's attempt to land a jibe. Nappa and Raditz stopped just behind their prince, flanking his left and right sides respectively. The flame-haired saiyan eyed Dodoria up and down. The disdain in Vegeta's glare made the pink-skinned man shift uncomfortably. The saiyan prince had a way with making some of his stronger adversaries feel like they were inferior. Dodoria was one such adversary. Although the catfish-like henchman was the stronger of the two, both he and Vegeta knew that against all three saiyans, Dodoria would have a hell of a fight.

After his assessment, Vegeta finally drawled, "What's wrong, Dodoria? Placed on guard duty again? Does Frieza not value your worth enough to give you true assignments?"

The obese alien sputtered indignantly. "Why-! That's-! I-! You better watch your tongue, saiyan! And it's Lord Frieza to you! You're lucky that his Excellency has requested your presence, or else I'd—"

"Or else you'd do what, exactly?" Vegeta interrupted while taking a threatening step towards the pink blob. Caught off guard, Dodoria stepped back away from the saiyan prince. Before the pink-skinned man could rebut, and possibly save face, Vegeta ordered, "Step aside, Dodoria. You said so yourself; I have a meeting with Lord Frieza, and you wouldn't want to keep him waiting, now would you?"

Bested by the saiyan prince, Dodoria begrudgingly stepped to the side, granting his three subordinates access to the double doors of Frieza's private office. Vegeta stepped forward and pressed his palm against a panel on the wall to the right of the doors. The panel illuminated in a pale blue color and a moment later, the double doors slid apart from each other, revealing Frieza's office. Vegeta had only been inside this chamber once before in his entire life; it was rare for the arcosian lord to conduct business in his private chambers.

Frieza's office was much like Vegeta remembered it. The room was simply furnished. In one alcove of the room there was a set of plush furniture; a place where guests could seat comfortably. A small bar, containing a few choice wines and half a dozen glasses sat next to the nearest chair. Surrounding these sofas and ottomans were floor to ceiling bookshelves filled to capacity. Not only were the dozens of hard-cover books available for guests' perusal, but to have such a collection when printed word was so rare indicated the arcosian's vast wealth.

To the left of the lounge area sat Frieza's personal work station. The simple glass desk sat elevated on a circular dais. His trademark hoverchair floated, unoccupied, behind the glass structure. Two uncomfortable and backless chairs were position at the foot of the dais. This was deliberately done so that anyone who had the misfortune of coming before Frieza in his personal office was seated in a lower position than their lord, to remind them of their lower status.

The final and largest section of the office was a treasure trove of expensive and exotic items collected from the many worlds Frieza had annexed into his empire. Paintings, sculptures, jewels, and antiques were shamelessly put on display. Most of these precious items were likely stolen from their home worlds. All of them were trophies of Frieza's conquests.

As Vegeta crossed over the threshold to the office, his eyes could not help but to stray in the direction of Frieza's little museum. Sure enough, there stood a pair of statues that had been plundered from Planet Vegeta. These statues had once been housed in the Temple of Mount Lechuga, located at the top of the mountain of the same name, the lone mountain that overlooked the capital city of Verdur. They were the sacred sculptures of the saiyan deities, Jitaba and Mele. To see them here, treated as a mere collectable, boiled Vegeta's blood.

"Well, well, well," came Frieza's saccharine voice from behind the saiyan trio.

Vegeta, cursing himself for being distracted, turned to face his lord as he strolled into the office. Nappa and Raditz had also turned to face the overlord. In the next moment, all three saiyans took to a knee and bowed their heads to their master. As Frieza stepped closer and closer towards his subjects, they could hear the clinking of his clawed feet against the cold, tile floor. Frieza's massive and evil aura seemed to hang over them, suffocating them. Even the air seemed to take on an icier chill in the lizard lord's presence. The fact that Frieza was not seated in his hoverchair was not lost on the three saiyans; that Frieza was freely walking around meant certain danger for them.

"My dear Vegeta," Frieza began sweetly. "It is so good to see you once again in person. I have quite missed my precious monkey prince. We really ought to do this more often." The arcosian circled around his prey, allowing his close vicinity to the prince to evoke fear and intimidation.

Vegeta wanted to challenge Frieza's taunt. If you wanted to see me so badly, then why did you keep me waiting for three days? he wished to ask. Wisely, he held his tongue.

As Frieza sauntered around Vegeta a second time, the ice lord allowed his tail to slide across the kneeling saiyan's back as if in a soft caress. "Please tell me, Vegeta. How do your missions go? Did anything go awry on Kaanan? I heard there was a little discrepancy with one of Yramdaa's consorts…"

Without rising or lifting his head to speak, Vegeta simply answered, "Yes. The governor's concubine was not only one of many spies working for the rebellion, but she was in fact the organization's leader. Once she was eliminated, the rest of the insurgents fell quickly."

Frieza did not immediately respond to Vegeta's report. The arcosian slowly withdrew from the saiyan trio, striding towards his lounge area, seemingly lost in thought. The silence was worse for the saiyans than it was when Frieza spoke. When the ice lizard was speaking, at least there was something to distract from the fear of unknown thoughts swirling around in their master's head. But with silence, the saiyans could only ponder what devious things the arcosian was devising.

Just before reaching the nearest sofa, Frieza suddenly stopped and replied, "I heard that you had a bit of assistance in rooting out the rebel leader. Was it the young lady Bulla, perchance, that lent said aid?"

Vegeta couldn't deny it. "Yes. The girl stayed behind at the governor's estate while my men and I neutralized the rebel forces. She was the one who noticed the concubine's treason."

Frieza turned to face his soldiers. "And where is Bulla now if I may ask? I would like to personally thank her for her assistance."

This was the moment that all three saiyans had been dreading. They all knew that Frieza was well aware of Bra's absence. The question was simply a way of toying with them. It was obvious that the arcosian wanted to hear it from their own mouths that, one way or another, they were responsible for her truancy. Vegeta knew that there was no way of avoiding an answer.

"Honestly, we don't know," the saiyan prince admitted. "She left Kaanan on a jaakobin space cruiser while we were eradicating the remainder of the rebels. She indicated neither her reasons for leaving nor her destination."

"Of course you don't," Frieza sneered. A knowing smile crept across his black lips.

Vegeta braced himself for the punishment that he was certain to feel at any moment. He had been preparing himself to receive the worst beating he had felt in several years. He knew that he would suffer greatly, but he assured himself that the worse Frieza injured him, the more of a zenkai boost he'd receive. The results would be worth the pain and torture.

After several seconds, however, nothing happened. Frieza neither closed the distance nor did he lash out. Wary, Vegeta dared to lift his head ever so much so that he could peek at his overlord. He expected to see wrath, or at the very least, disappointment. To his horror, he saw glee. But why?

Frieza lifted a hand and pressed a button on his scouter. "Zarbon, you may enter now." The arcosian turned back towards his lounge area and opened the mini-bar. "You see, Vegeta, it doesn't matter what you do or don't know about Bulla," he drawled as he poured a glass of red wine. The doors to the office opened. "For as you can see, I have found her nonetheless."

Alarmed, the heads of all three saiyans snapped up and looked towards the open doors to the office. They expected to see Bra, bloodied, beaten, and broken, being dragged into Frieza's office by none other than Zarbon. What they saw instead confused and confounded them.

Being escorted very gently into the room by Frieza's right hand was an unharmed and elegantly dressed Bra. The blue-haired girl wore a sleeveless, high collared, form-fitting pink dress that came down to just above her knees. The dress had a layer of tiny sequins that shimmered like the sun reflecting off of freshly fallen snow. The effect made it look as though she was encased in a layer of ice. Complimenting the dress, Bra wore a silver-furred shawl across her shoulders and matching silver fur-lined boots. Additionally, the girl had seen to lightly paint her face, most noticeably around her eyes and mouth, in colors that matched her attire.

As Bra entered the office, she had a hand enfolded into the crook of Zarbon's elbow. She appeared relaxed at his side, but her eyes revealed her uncertainty. Immediately, her gaze met her father's, then Raditz's, then Nappa's, then her father's again. All three saiyan men were stumped by her presence as none of them had had the faintest clue that she was on Frieza Planet 1. Vegeta and Raditz, in particular, puzzled over how she had kept the mental bonds she shared with them so quiet as to avoid detection.

Bra kept her apologetic eyes glued to Vegeta as Zarbon escorted her towards Frieza. Only when it craned her head too far to the left did she pull her gaze away from her father and give her attention to her arcosian host.

"Bulla, it is so good to finally see you again," Frieza crooned. "Let me get a good look at you," he requested all too good-naturedly.

Zarbon delicately took Bra's hand – the one that had been cradled in his arm – and guided her away from him so that he didn't obstruct his lord's view of the teen. The commander guided the girl into a slow twirl so that Frieza could see her from all sides. The overlord's eyes seemed to gleam as he drank in the girl's visage.

"Simply stunning," Frieza cooed as Zarbon stilled the girl. "I see my personal tailors did an excellent job. I couldn't have selected anything that would have looked more exquisite on you."

Bra blushed heavily beneath the praise. "Th-thank you," she managed to stammer bashfully.

As the saiyans watched Frieza's strangely familiar behavior towards Bra, each of them had their own set of reactions. Nappa was stunned and confused. He was still trying to figure out how the girl had found her way to Frieza Planet 1. Naively, he suspected that she had been discovered and captured. What he couldn't figure out was why Frieza and Zarbon were being cordial with her. More than cordial, in fact. They were being friendly with her. If she was their captive, then why treat her with such care?

Raditz was more confused that Nappa was. Like Nappa, he wanted to know why Frieza was being so hospitable towards Bra. Had she personally known Frieza this whole time? The arcosian's behavior seemed to indicate so. It would also explain how Bra knew that it was Frieza who had destroyed Planet Vegeta rather than a stray asteroid. His confusion led to suspicion and his suspicion led to hurt and betrayal. If this were true, if she had known Frieza all along, then she had obviously kept this fact hidden from him. Is this the big secret that Bra refused to share with me? Raditz wondered. How could she deceive me so? He hoped that this was not the case.

Vegeta, on the other hand, was livid. The saiyan prince had quickly picked up on how the arcosian had greeted the girl. "…so good to finally see you again." was how he had put it. Vegeta quickly suspected that the two must have met before, not at all allowing himself to remember that the two had spoken via the . Based upon Frieza's familiar behavior towards her, Vegeta quickly convinced himself that the girl had been working for the ice lord this entire time. She infiltrated my squad, gained my trust, kept her saiyan heritage hidden from me— He stopped at this dreadful line of thinking. Does Frieza already know that she is part saiyan? he feared. Is that why he chose her to infiltrate my squad? Did he know that I would come to trust the girl so easily? For what purpose does Frieza have for placing a spy in my squad? Is he attempting to uncover my plans to one day overthrow him? Vegeta stewed on what other motivations Frieza would have had for selecting Bra to be his spy.

The saiyan prince watched while Zarbon twirled the girl around for Frieza to see. Even the girl's attire gave Vegeta's wrath a cause to rise. Upon seeing her enter the room, draped on Zarbon's arm, wearing that ensemble, the saiyan prince had immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was a traitor. The elegant clothing she wore was an outfit typical of an arcosian concubine. Either she didn't realize it or she full well knew it. Either way, the choice of attire clearly indicated that she had some sort of pre-existing relationship with Frieza.

Vegeta's growing ire was not lost on Frieza. He took much delight in seeing the saiyan prince's anger bubble just below the surface. The ice lizard had known, that out of all three saiyans, Vegeta would be the one to recognize the type of attire worn by arcosian consorts and, thus, would have immediately come to the conclusion that Bra had secretly belonged to him from the very beginning. With Vegeta believing the girl to be compromised, it would be all too easy to get him to reveal all he knew about her.

Putting his plan further into motion, Frieza goaded, "What do you think, Vegeta? Doesn't Bulla look marvelous?"

The arcosian's words had the desired reaction. The saiyan prince gritted his teeth and before he could control his words, he snarled, "That treasonous bitch looks like a fucking whore!"

Bra sucked in a breath. She felt as though she had been punched in the gut. She didn't quite understand why she had deserved such horrible words. The girl suspected, perhaps, that it had to do with the fact that she had come to Frieza Planet 1 against her father's orders. Doubly so that she had kept her presence here hidden from him until now. She began to think that maybe she deserved the harsh rebuke.

Certain of her suspicions, Bra attempted to reach out to Vegeta through their bond in order to offer an apology. When she tried to open the link, she found that he pushed her back and kept her completely shut out. Rejected, the girl went with her second option. She turned her gaze towards Raditz and reopened her bond with him, sending a request.

"Raditz. I am so sorry I did not listen and came back. Please tell my— Please tell Prince Vegeta that I am very, very sorry."

Instead of answering Bra's plea, Raditz had one of his own. "How did you get here, Bulla? Why are you here and not lightyears away? Do you not realize the danger you are in by being here?"

Before she could answer, the teenager felt her link with Raditz suddenly sever. She winced. The abrupt separation was momentarily painful. When she opened her eyes and glanced back over to her father, she suddenly realized that he had been responsible for rending her telepathic communication with Raditz. She hadn't known that the Call of the Alpha could be used in such a way. Because of this severance, Bra understood perfectly well that she was on her own. Vegeta had made it clear to her before she left Kaanan that if she were to return, he would offer her no assistance. Evidently, that extended towards seeking assistance from Raditz as well.

Frieza picked up on Bra's pained reaction, believing it to be solely caused by Vegeta's outburst. The arcosian was quick to try to console his special guest. "Pay him no heed, little one. Vegeta, as I'm certain you've already experienced for yourself, is nothing more than a brutish monkey."

Bra nodded almost imperceptibly. She broke eye contact with her father as she turned away from him to face Frieza once again. She kept her eyes cast to the side, however, not in deference to the ice lord, but in contemplation. She was silent with apprehension. Without any of the saiyans to rely on as she dealt with Frieza and Zarbon, she felt as though she were stranded all alone on a deserted island that was surrounded by shark infested waters, and that island was slowly shrinking as the tide washed in.

"Come, Bulla. Sit with me." Frieza's offer grabbed the girl's attention. "I know you've barely had a moment to relax since you arrived here. Come. Have a seat."

The blunette nodded again and took a few steps towards the alcove where Frieza was already making himself comfortable. Her instincts told her that she was walking straight into that proverbial tide. She didn't like putting herself so close to someone with such a horrific ki. Although Bra had felt plenty of individuals with a larger energy than Frieza during her lifetime, the fact that his was so evil was what made her skin crawl. His aura was black. No, it was even darker than black. It felt like a black hole of misery and suffering and sadism. Her skin crawled as she took a seat on an ottoman, trying not to reveal her discomfort with a shiver as she sat.

"Care for a drink?" the overlord offered. Before Bra could answer, Frieza ordered, "Zarbon, pour something for our guest. The 597 Blend, perhaps."

"Yes, my lord."

An awkward silence fell over the group as Zarbon moved over to the bar and procured a glass and the recommended bottle. The clinking of the glass top being removed from its vessel echoed through the chamber, made even louder by the high, domed ceiling. As Zarbon poured the thick, burgundy liquid into a glass, Bra did all she could to escape Frieza's intense gaze. She kept her eyes averted, finding the massive, concave bookcase quite interesting.

"Do you like to read?" Frieza suddenly asked the girl after noting what had captured her attention.

"Sometimes," the girl replied. "Though I haven't read anything recently."

The arcosian's gaze finally broke away from Bra, to her relief, as he turned his head to gaze upon his vast collection. "I've read every one of these tomes," he bragged, pausing to take a sip of his wine. "Some of the writings here are all that's left of the civilizations that wrote them."

For a moment, Bra thought she was going to be sick. The casual tone in the overlord's voice indicated how little he valued the lives lost, the cultures destroyed, and the species annihilated. Another silence ensued. More clinking filled the air as Zarbon replaced the decanter onto the wine bottle. He walked over to Bra and held the half-filled glass out to her. Feeling very self-conscious, given that she wasn't entirely sure of the proper etiquette, Bra nervously accepted the drink, believing that it'd be rude to refuse it. Once the glass had passed hands, Zarbon stepped away from the girl and took a position standing to Frieza's right.

Bra looked at the drink apprehensively. She had never really drank alcohol before. She refused to count that one sip of ale in that tavern where she had met Raditz as having had a drink. Holding the glass delicately by the stem, she lifted it to her nose and breathed in its heady aroma, preparing herself for whatever unknown taste was about to hit her tongue.

"Why so hesitant, Bulla?" Frieza cooed as he closely watched the teen's mannerisms. "Don't you trust me? You don't think I'd stoop so low as to poison you, now do you?"

Bra lifted her eyes to meet the arcosian's black ones. She realized that, yes, her behavior had been quite reserved compared to how she had bantered with him via the while she and the saiyans had been on Frieza Planet 102. She realized that she needed to swallow her uncertainties if she was going to get out of this alive. Frieza had requested her presence for her ability to swap words with him. If she disappointed him now, she was certain that this meeting would not end well for her.

The demi-saiyan forced her lips into a half-smile. "Only a fool would be gullible enough to trust you, Lord Frieza," she teased. Then, she took a moderate sip of her wine, finding it a bit difficult to swallow down the thick, warm, spicy liquid. She held back a cough before adding, "And only a fool would be gullible enough to believe that, with your mighty power, you'd waste your time with a simple little poison."

Another silence came over the room. As Bra nervously waited for Frieza's response, the saiyans behind her were panicking, though they didn't outwardly reveal it. The teenager had both insulted and complimented the tyrant in almost the same breath. It was one thing to test the overlord's patience when one was lightyears away and had a to protect oneself from Frieza's wrath. But to be so bold and snarky in his very presence? Whether or not she was working for the ice lizard didn't matter at that point. Either way, such an act was beyond excusable. The saiyans fully expected that Bra was about to face the overlord's wrath.

Finally, the tension broke as a large grin cracked Frieza's face and a quick laugh erupted from his black lips. "There's the wit I was hoping to hear more of! I was beginning to worry that our little visit wasn't going to be as entertaining as I had hoped!"

Bra breathed a sigh of relief, as did the saiyans. The girl had been worried for a moment that she might have overstepped. She still felt a little shaky from the close call, so she took another sip of her wine to distract herself.

"Do you like it?" Frieza inquired.

"I'm sorry?" Bra responded.

"The wine. Do you like it?"

Honestly, the blue-haired girl hated it. She wasn't an experienced drinker. She was quickly learning that the taste of alcohol was an acquired one, and she hadn't yet acquired it. The wine she had been given was very strong, burning as it made its way down her throat, and leaving a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. But she couldn't tell Frieza all of this without likely offending him.

"Well," Bra began, trying to determine the best way to reply. She made a show of taking another small sip, forcing it down without making a face. "To be honest, this is the first time I've ever drank wine. I have to admit that I don't really know its quality since I don't have any way of comparing it to anything else. All I can say is that I've never tasted anything like it before." She smiled and took another small sip, as if to convince her host that she found the flavor favorable.

Frieza seemed to be satisfied with the girl's answer. "In that case, I'm pleased to have the honor of introducing you to your first wine. I'm glad that I selected one of my choicer wines to be your first. The 597 Blend, as you might have inferred from its name, is an older wine, having aged for 163 years."

The teen was taken aback with this bit of knowledge and her eyebrows rose to reflect this surprise. "I'm flattered," she managed to say. "I'll savor every drop. I don't think I'll ever have the chance to drink anything like it again."

The arcosian appeared to have a bit of glee in his ability to impress his guest. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as a thought popped into his head. "Oh, dear. Where are my manners? Vegeta, come over here and join us."

The saiyan prince's eyes snapped over to his master's. The request was a highly unusual one and it put Vegeta further on edge. It was bad enough watching the girl be treated so cordially, almost like an equal. Now Frieza was welcoming the saiyan to join them; a move that the arcosian had never played before. Vegeta was rightfully suspicious of the overlord's intentions, but even more so, he was angered by the girl's apparent reverence for the lizard.

The flame-haired man rose to his feet, complying with the ice lizard's 'invitation.' As he strode over to the lounge alcove, he exuded a confidence that masked his distrust. He kept the scowl on his face that he'd been wearing since the very moment Bra had entered the room. He was unafraid to show his displeasure with her and with being pulled into this farce of a conversation. As Vegeta entered the small circle of available furniture, he refused to look at the girl. Likewise, she did not look up at him, although, it was more because she was made even more nervous by his proximity.

"Have a seat," Frieza said to the saiyan.

"I prefer to stand."

"Sit," the arcosian said with more force, making it clear that it was an order and not an offer. The tone of his voice was so harsh that it caught Bra slightly off guard. Until now, Frieza had been speaking with a soft, sweet voice. The sudden and contradictory tone was jarring.

Reluctantly, Vegeta took a seat on a chair to Bra's left. Still, the saiyan prince refused to relax, keeping a rigid posture as if he expected to be on the receiving end of an attack at any moment. As the group waited for Vegeta to seat himself, Bra took notice that Frieza hadn't offered him anything to drink as he had done for her. She realized that the arcosian was giving her some sort of preferential treatment, but she had yet to figure out why. As long as Frieza's motives remained a mystery to her, she wouldn't know how to tackle the situation in which she found herself.

"So, Vegeta…" Frieza's voice returned to that falsely polite tone. "Bulla appears to be in much better condition than last I spoke with you. I trust that you have been treating her with better care?"

The saiyan prince wasn't fond of where this conversation was heading, but he answered nonetheless. "I have treated the girl adequately, both before and after our most recent conversation."

"Ho?" the arcosian responded with a bemused grin. He turned to Bra and asked, "Would you agree, little one?"

The question made Bra more wary than she was before, rightfully suspecting that Frieza was attempting to either ensnare them in a trap, or at the very least, pit herself against her father. "I don't recall having ever claimed that the saiyans were physically abusing me. I admitted that they weren't always nice to me, but I never said that they'd harmed me."

"Ah, but what of your injuries?" Frieza questioned. "You appeared to have taken quite a beating when we last spoke."

Bra supplied, "The injuries you saw had been inflicted upon me by one of Zoda's men, the one who attempted to abduct me, if you recall. They were not dealt unto me by any of the saiyans."

Vegeta was surprised that Bra was sticking to the fabricated story of their time on Frieza Planet 102. He reasoned that if she really was working for Frieza, she'd have no reason to continue that charade. The only purpose for that ruse had been to hide her abilities from the PTO and its leader while also protecting the saiyans who were keeping that alleged secret. If the girl was indeed one of Frieza's puppets, then wouldn't the arcosian already be aware of her abilities?

Then again, Vegeta hypothesized that by adhering to her earlier claims, Bra wasn't trying to fool Frieza; she was trying to fool himself. The prince theorized that perhaps the true charade wasn't the story of the alleged kidnapping attempt itself. Instead, the actual ruse was the girl's attempt to convince Vegeta that she was trying to protect him from Frieza. The saiyan withheld the sneer that tried to form on his face as he pondered the possibility.

"I see," came Frieza's reply to Bra's explanation. "It's good to know that my little pet monkeys are learning some self-control." There was a small pause before the lizard redirected his attention back upon Vegeta. "So what was it exactly that we were discussing prior to Bulla's arrival? Oh, yes! I remember now! We were discussing how it was that Bulla got separated from you! You had just finished telling me that Bulla slipped away from you by flying off with a jaakobin star cruiser. Is that right?"

Forced to respond, Vegeta simply said, "Yes."

Frieza continued, "But you had no idea why she left and you didn't know where she was going…" The lizard turned to Bra and asked, "Would you like to share with us what you were thinking when you left, little one?"

The saiyans knew that this was definitely one of many traps Frieza had planned for them this evening. The arcosian didn't know the exact reasons for the girl's departure, but he had a good theory that it had been an attempt to protect her and her secrets. He eagerly awaited to hear what excuses would be given to him. He knew, as well as everyone else in the room, that the girl was very hard-pressed to provide an answer that wouldn't result in her springing the ice lord's trap.

"Truthfully…" As Bra very carefully replied, she cast her eyes downward and gazed into her wine glass as if she were filled with shame.

Vegeta braced himself, uncertain what the girl was about to say to Frieza. This could be the moment where she dropped all of her facades and divulged all she had learned about the saiyans, including the prince's intentions of using her to aide him in his mission to overthrow the arcosian tyrant. It mattered not to him whether she would reveal this information out of loyalty or fear. Years of planning and effort were in danger of falling apart before his very eyes.

On the other hand, Vegeta knew that if the girl was indeed trying to solidify his trust in her, she might continue hiding the truth. Or, at least, she'd pretend to hide the truth. The only thing Vegeta and the others could do was wait and see what Bra would do.

Eventually, the blunette admitted, "Truthfully, I was afraid to come meet you." To emphasize her simple little lie, she added, "I didn't know what would happen once I got here." She chanced a glance at the overlord to gauge his reaction. When his expression read blank, she glanced away again and continued, "I've heard a handful of stories about you, none of them were very pleasing. I guess I got scared, so I ran away. But then… I realized that I was being selfish and by running away, I was putting Prince Vegeta and the others in the position of being responsible for my absence. I didn't want them to be punished for my decision… so I came back."

There was a very long silence after Bra stopped speaking. It was very difficult for her to determine Frieza's thoughts given the fact that he merely stared at her impassively, as if trying to decide if the girl was being truthful or not. The lizard seemed almost disappointed with the answer, as if he had predicted and planned for all other explanations that she could have possibly given him, except for this one. Her answer had alleviated the saiyans of almost all blame, with the only fault being that they had allowed her to slip away in the first place. Frieza couldn't ridicule Bra for fearing him; by admitting and owning her fear, he couldn't use it as a coercive tool against her. And despite her fear, the girl had come back of her own accord, which was a display of loyalty and bravado that even Frieza himself could mildly respect, even if it had been foolish in the end.

As for Vegeta, he was mildly surprised that the teen had taken the route to lie to Frieza. She had absolutely nothing to gain from doing so, unless she was indeed following the arcosian's orders to pretend to be protecting the saiyans. By obeying Frieza's commands, the girl's true motivation was only to protect herself. However, the ice lord's very impassive expression and nonexistent response seemed to indicate that the girl had gone completely off-script. Either that, or there had been no script to begin with and the girl was genuinely trying to protect the saiyans. Unfortunately, the scents coming off of her were a mixture of deceit and sincerity. Vegeta could not fully determine which of her statements had been truthful and which had been false. Because of this, there still lie the possibility that he was the intended victim of her ruses.

Finally, the ice lord spoke. "Well, wasn't that very altruistic of you," Frieza chided, almost disappointed that he'd been unable to blame the saiyans for Bra's absence. "Still, the monkeys should not have allowed you the opportunity to flee."

"They're not my keepers," Bra asserted a little too quickly, annoyed with the accusation and doubly annoyed with the overlord's repeated use of the word 'monkey.' When Frieza's expression darkened, the girl realized that her tone came out a little short and she quickly amended, "I mean… My service to the saiyans is completely voluntary. Our contract can be terminated by either party, at any time. I had no obligation to stay with them on Kaanan, nor to come here after I decided to leave them. I am here on this planet now because I chose to be."

"So, if I am to understand this correctly," Frieza drawled in a foreboding tone, "with your departure from Kaanan, you voluntarily dissolved your contract with Vegeta and have no further obligations to fulfill said contract."

Bra stilled as she realized her error far too late. Freed from her alleged contract with Vegeta, Frieza could take the opportunity to take possession of her. Although, she supposed that the tyrant could have done that anyway if he had wanted to, contract or no.

Nonetheless, Bra desperately tried to correct her mistake. "Prince Vegeta and I have not yet formally ended our agreement," she replied while glancing at her father. The scowl on his face and his crossed arms gave her the distinct impression that he wasn't going to aid her through this little debacle. Vegeta wasn't as convinced as Frieza was that the girl had returned of her own free will. He supposed that she had returned because the overlord had ordered her to. Bra's attention was stolen away from the surly prince when Frieza spoke again.

"What say you, Vegeta? Wouldn't you say that Bra's abandonment of her duties imply her desire to terminate her contract with you?"

"It does," the prince agreed far too quickly for Bra's liking.

"Do you consider your contract dissolved then?" Frieza pushed.

Without even glancing in Bra's direction, Vegeta again affirmed, "I do."

"Well there you have it. Consider yourself a free agent now, little one. You are no longer contractually obligated to the monkeys."

Bra was dumbfounded. It was one thing for her father to refuse to lend her his aid. But it was a far different thing to throw her right to the sharks.

"Now that you are officially unemployed," Frieza drawled while swirling his wine in his glass, "how would you like to work for me?"

The demi-saiyan felt dread pool in her stomach. This was not where she had wanted this situation to go. However, before she could reply to Frieza's offer, Vegeta blurted out an accusation.

"As if she isn't already working for you."

Bra turned and looked at her father with complete disbelief on her face, wondering how in the world he had come to such an absurd conclusion. "I'm not working for him!" she adamantly denied.

"Like hell you're not," the prince sneered as he sat up straighter in his seat, taking a more aggressive posture.

"I.. I.. I can't believe you would think that…" Bra stammered defensively. "Why would you think that?"

Vegeta snorted. "As if it's not obvious that Lord Frieza favors you. For how long have you been reporting our activities to him, I wonder?"

In the background, Nappa and Raditz were stunned and appalled by the accusation and its possibility. Nappa wondered if his early suspicions of Bra had been correct all along. He felt foolish that she had been able to swindle his trust. Raditz, on the other hand, didn't wish to believe it to be true. But he couldn't deny the fact that she had been so secretive for so long that the accusation didn't sound completely crazy. He could only hope that Vegeta was wrong. For if he was correct, then Raditz knew he'd be facing a long and hard road of heartbreak.

As Vegeta and Bra continued to bicker between each other, Frieza sat back and watched their fragile trust shatter. He hid his conniving grin behind his wine glass. They had finally fallen into the exact place he wanted them in. With the two at conflict with one another, it was only mere moments before they would slip up and unveil what it was they were hiding.

"How many times do I have to tell you that this is the first time that I've ever met Frieza in person?" Bra demanded, near tears.

Vegeta gritted his teeth angrily. "So, your relationship with him is so beneficial that you're on a first name basis with him? What difference does it make whether or not you've met him in person before? You can just as easily do his bidding via and holo-message!"

"The only other time I've ever spoken to Lord Frieza was when you were right there!"

"I find that very hard to believe!"

"Why?"

The prince sneered. "Because I've seen time and again the level of intelligence you possess! You knew the inner workings of the space pods far too well to have not been employed by the PTO. And your constant lies and fabricated truths have been far too crafty to have me believe otherwise!"

Bra couldn't believe that her very own father had so little trust in her. Emotions raced through her as she stared at his heated glare. Matching Vegeta's mood, she foolishly decided to settle on anger as well. Acting on impulse, she tossed her wine glass at her father.

Vegeta hadn't expected the childish behavior and failed to dodge the object and its remaining liquid. The prince only had enough time to shut his eyes as the glass shattered against his chest plate and red wine splashed up into his face. Slowly, he reopened his obsidian orbs. With a hatred that was palpable, he glared at his daughter through the droplets of alcohol. The crimson liquid and his terrifying expression made him look gruesome and fearsome. Bra's anger instantly vanished, only to be replaced by utter fear as she watched her father rise to his feet.

"Zarbon," Frieza calmly replied, knowing that if no one interfered, the situation was quickly going to get out of hand.

"Yes, my lord," the amphibious man replied before zipping to the other side of the alcove and placing himself between Vegeta and Bra.

Annoyed with the interruption, the saiyan snarled, "Why the need to protect your little bitch, Frieza? You know very well that she's strong enough to defend herself!"

The arcosian said nothing. He merely kept the coy smile on his face. The less he said, the more Vegeta suspected, and the more Vegeta suspected, the more he would reveal. While Frieza had already suspected the girl of some level of intelligence, he was pleased to find out that her intellect was far greater than he had anticipated. Now, to his complete surprise, he had discovered that she had a hidden fighting power as well. If her abilities rang true, the lizard was excited to have someone so valuable in his grasp. He was eager to know what else he could learn about the girl. Perhaps this little conversation would unveil her reasons for investigating the mythical Namek and a place called Earth. He decided he would push their chat into that direction.

Frieza leisurely rose to his feet and moved to stand behind Bra. He gently placed his hands upon her shoulders and replied all-too-pleasantly, "Now, now, Vegeta. Don't be foolish. It's obvious you have already discovered what an impressive asset my little Bulla can be. Why would I not want to protect such an important investment?"

Bra was not at all comfortable with Frieza towering over her. She didn't like him standing behind her where she couldn't see him. She especially didn't like his hands on her. She tried to stand up, to move away from him, more so after the lizard had claimed her as his own property. With seemingly no effort at all, Frieza held her still. He was so strong! She was trapped!

The girl saw the sneer on her father's face – his reaction to hearing Frieza's words – and she wanted to say something to refute the arcosian. Before she could get a single syllable out of her mouth, she felt the sharp tips of Frieza's thumbnails press into her backside; a silent warning for her to stay silent unless prompted to speak.

"Whatever is the matter, Vegeta?" the overlord cooed. "Did you think it was mere coincidence that you found this little treasure? Did you think you would utilize her to defy me? To steal your freedom from me?" Frieza chuckled darkly as he pushed his ruse. "You see, Bulla and I have our own little agreement…"

Vegeta took a step back, shocked that his suspicions were actually true. Immediately, he was livid that the girl had betrayed him so deeply… so convincingly.

Frieza continued. "Bulla, as you may or may not know, is searching for a place called Earth." At this moment, he paused and addressed the girl, "Am I pronouncing that correctly, little one? Earth?"

With a bit of coercion from Frieza's claws, Bra nodded her head. Inside, her fright and terror escalated. Oh my Dende! How does he know about Earth? How did he learn about it? And now the saiyans have heard about it? Will they recognize it? Is my cover blown? Fortunately, she needn't worry about the saiyans as she was barely able to register the fact that no signs of recognition seemed to flutter over Vegeta's face.

The arcosian elaborated, "I agreed to assist Bulla with her quest to find this unknown place. Of course, I needed her to do something for me in exchange. I asked her to research what she could find out about another place – Namek. Isn't that right, Bulla?"

Again, Bra was prompted to nod her head in agreement. Her fright paralyzed her from speaking. She felt on the verge of vomiting, especially after the ice lizard's last reveal.

Vegeta, on the other hand, went from irate to confused in an instant. Namek? As in namekians? he repeated in his mind. Throughout this entire conversation, he had suspected Bra of spying on himself. He hadn't at all thought that her task would be to perform research on another topic altogether, especially not namekians. And that was what had the prince so confused. Aren't namekians a mythological race of beings? he pondered. Why would Frieza have any interest in them? Vegeta suspected that there was some mistruth to his master's claims, and with the scent of deception heavy in the air, it was easy to believe that Frieza was scheming. Unfortunately, the ice lord always smelled of deceit, so it was difficult for the prince to determine what, exactly, was Frieza's charade.

"So, tell me, Bulla," the lizard said saccharinely. "What have you learned for me?"

Bra trembled. She could feel Frieza's dark energy envelop her in an invisible cocoon. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She didn't know what exactly to say! She didn't know how much Frieza knew already about Namek and the namekians. Although the PTO Network had no information on Namek's location, she hadn't had time to do any further research beyond that. Frieza might have some personal knowledge about one or both. The key was finding out exactly how much she could say without saying too much.

"Go on, little one," Frieza encouraged. "Don't be shy now."

Vegeta watched the blue-haired teenager as she struggled to formulate words. He couldn't help but to think that something wasn't entirely right. Her fright was plain as day on her face. That in itself wasn't particularly surprising; anyone in her position, whether willingly working for Frieza or not, should rightfully be terrified. Vegeta could only have been more suspicious if the girl had appeared calm beneath the ice lord's grasp. The saiyan prince began to feel a small amount of pity for the girl since he, too, understood what it was like to be manipulated and abused by the arcosian. However, he was still angry with her for having kept her alleged agreement with Frieza a secret from him.

Again, Vegeta attempted to puzzle out the arcosian's game. Frieza was definitely lying about something… The lizard's claim was that he was going to assist the girl in her quest to find a place called Earth in exchange to help him learn more about Namek. Could the entire agreement be a lie? he wondered. Vegeta wasn't ready to dismiss that idea. Is it that Frieza never intends to help the girl, thus forcing her to stay in his service indefinitely? That was actually very likely. Or did Frieza make up the part about Namek to hide the fact that perhaps the girl really is his personal spy? Vegeta decided that, due to how preposterous it sounded, the namekian angle was the likely charade.

Angrily, the saiyan prince barked, "Namekians are nothing but lore! They are mere myth! Don't think you can fool me into thinking that you've invested time and resources into investigating a folk tale!"

Bra was relieved by her father's outburst for the simple fact that it saved her from answering Frieza.

The ice lord chuckled. "Oh, you poor, naive monkey. Of course I wouldn't waste any time or energy researching an ancient legend. That is, unless I had a good reason to believe that it was worthy of my resources. It is likely that I wouldn't have even spent a thought on namekians, but that was before I learned that Bulla is convinced of their existence. If someone of her intelligence and capability is certain that they are real, then why shouldn't I be? Wouldn't you agree?"

Vegeta did not want to agree, but he found himself unable to refute Frieza's logic. The prince glanced down at the terror-stricken girl. She was indeed very intelligent, possibly the most intelligent creature he had ever encountered. If she truly believed that namekians were real, then she must have some sort of proof or knowledge of their existence. Logically, that meant that the namekian angle was not the subject of Frieza's trickery; it meant that the promise to help Bulla find this Earth had to be the true ruse. Unfortunately, Vegeta could not look beyond his own suspicions to realize that the entire conversation had been orchestrated by Frieza and that it was Bra herself who was the object of his trickery.

"Now, Bulla," Frieza turned his attention once again to the girl. "What was it you were about to tell me about namekians? What do you know?"

Bra mentally cursed. For a few moments, she thought that she had been saved by her father's outburst. But, of course, Frieza would steer the conversation right back to where it had been before the interruption.

"I… uh…" the girl managed to squeak before the arcosian stopped her.

"Don't tell me that you haven't discovered anything new yet…"

"Uh… no. I-I guess not."

Frieza smiled almost understandingly, even though she couldn't see it. "Then tell me again what it is you already know."

"U-uhmm… Well…" Again, Bra was trapped. She had to say something, so she decided that she'd have to be extremely generic. "Well, I-I know that a natural disaster had struck their planet many centuries ago. A few survivors escaped the planet, but they're gone now – they died a long time ago. Uhmm… Namekians were typically warriors."

"And those that aren't?" Frieza asked.

"They were… uh… farmers?" Bra's response came out like a question of uncertainty, but not because she didn't know what the non-warrior class did. She knew very well that namekians who weren't warriors were healers instead, like Dende. However, she didn't want to reveal this to Frieza. So instead, she had claimed that they were farmers – and most namekians were. Her uncertainty had stemmed from whether or not Frieza would believe her.

"Go on," the arcosian prodded, seemingly satisfied with Bra's answer.

The teenager tried to think of what else she could say. "I… I don't know anything else…" She hoped that she had shared enough to satisfy Frieza.

"Are you certain, little one?" the ice lord sang. "I think you're forgetting one thing; tell me again how it is that you know that namekians exist?"

Bra was extremely dejected that she was being pushed for more info. She scrambled to think of a plausible explanation without tempting Frieza to ask for even more. Suddenly, it came to her.

"Oh! Uhm, a very good friend of mine… her father, when he was still a little boy, was sort of adopted by a namekian."

Frieza raised an eyebrow. "'Sort of?' How so?"

Bra sweated a little. "Uh… more like kidnapped."

"And the boy's parents did nothing to retrieve him from this namekian?"

"Well… the namekian killed the boy's father and uncle."

Frieza found this intriguing, though he didn't outwardly show it. "I see. And what came of the boy and this namekian?"

"Uhmmm… the namekian later died in a battle… long before I was born. The boy was eventually returned to his mother."

To Bra's great relief, Frieza retracted his hands from her shoulders. He slowly walked around from behind the girl and strolled towards the bookshelf. He was clearly deep in contemplation, with his head bowed downward and his folded hands resting behind his back. Though still nervous, Bra speculated that she had said enough to satisfy the arcosian while also convincing him that she had told all she knew. She watched the lizard carefully, hopeful that her speculation was correct.

Vegeta, on the other hand, was not convinced. Although Bra had certainly given enough information to support her belief that namekians are real, he wasn't certain if her account was true. He had grown accustomed to the girl weaving elaborate little tales. There existed a good possibility that she had conjured up this story as well. Unfortunately, he was unable to detect the scent of any deception from her, let alone any scent from her; Frieza's own stink was too overbearing. Vegeta conceded that even if the girl was telling the truth, she really hadn't proved anything anyway, since she hadn't admitted to having actually seen a namekian herself. Her story was nothing more than hearsay.

After an uncomfortable silence, Frieza turned to face Bra once again. "I have a brilliant idea," he announced forebodingly. "Since it seems you've been unable to conduct proper research while under the monkeys' care, Bulla, I want you to travel to the Wapbu Space Station. This outpost is managed by the phycodese. The phycodese are not members of the Planet Trade Organization, but I have outsourced certain technological projects to them. Currently, I have commissioned them to construct upgrades to the propulsion system for the larger ships in my fleet.

"I want you to go there under the guise of obtaining a status update on this project. In actuality, you will be doing two things for me. First, you will continue your research into namekians and the planet Namek. Second, you will find evidence to support that the phycodese have betrayed me and are providing technology and weaponry to those who would seek to counter the expansion of my empire. Even if there is no evidence to support such a claim, you will find something nonetheless. Understood?"

Bra did not like this. Not one bit. Her stomach sank as Frieza gave her these instructions. She knew exactly what the ice lord was doing; he was indoctrinating her into the PTO. This mission, her first true mission from Frieza, was almost harmless, but it was a test to see if she would comply with his wishes. She knew that if she performed this task, then he'd demand her to do another, and another. Each subsequent request would be darker and more sinister than the previous, until she, too, was required to purge planets and eradicate entire species. She couldn't live with herself if she became that.

"No," the girl answered with a conviction and bravery that she hadn't had a moment ago.

Frieza was almost stunned when he heard the single word fall from Bra's mouth. "Excuse me?" he asked her to repeat herself, not believing that someone had the gall to refuse an order.

"I'm not going to do it," the teen insisted.

The arcosian's expression turned dark. "And what makes you think you have a choice?"

Bra suddenly found herself very nervous once again. "B-because I don't work for you," she dared to say.

Frieza was on her in the blink of an eye. He had grabbed her around the throat with his tail. He held each of her wrists in his arms. Not only had she found that she had been lifted from her seat, but she had been lifted completely off the ground.

Vegeta did nothing to assist Bra. He was impressed that the girl had had the nerve to say 'no' to Frieza, as foolish as that had been. The prince found it interesting, however, that she denied being employed by the PTO. He might have thought this was yet another element of Frieza's scheming, had the lizard not become so suddenly hostile towards the girl for her claim to freedom and independence. Still, Vegeta refused to lend Bra any aid. He even went so far as to prevent Raditz from leaping to the girl's defense, using his Call of the Alpha to force the third-class to remain perfectly still.

"You do work for me," Frieza sneered into the girl's face. "And you will do as I say."

The arcosian's threat was perfectly clear to Bra. Even though they both knew well that she had never worked for the PTO before this moment, she did now. Frieza wasn't giving her a choice. He was strong enough and powerful enough to take what he wanted. In this case, it was her enslavement to him that he wanted and there was no one who could stop him. Not even she, herself, was powerful enough to deny him. So the girl gave in and slowly nodded her defeat.

With Bra's submission, Frieza relaxed his grip on the girl. He lowered her back down so that her feet came in contact with the ground. He released her wrists. His tail remained coiled around her neck; however, it had loosened up some. Still, Bra was very wary of the presence of the scaly, snake-like appendage slithering across her shoulders. She was right to be frightened.

"There is one more thing that you and I must discuss, little one," the ice lord said flatly. Gone was the wrath in his voice from just a moment ago, but so, too, were the tones of pleasantry.

Bra felt her heart quicken again. She had no idea what it was that Frieza wanted to address with her. What more could he possibly ask of her?

"It seems that you took it upon yourself to break into my PTO Network," Frieza revealed, to Bra's horror. She realized in that moment that that was how the arcosian had learned of Earth and Namek. Frieza continued, "I cannot let such a thing go unpunished. Let this be a lesson to you."

The lizard's tail tightened once more around the girl's neck, nearly suffocating her. She reached up to grab the appendage, to pull it away from her throat, but to no avail. Distracted by the danger around her neck, Bra paid no attention to the fact that Frieza had grasped her face with his right hand, until it was too late. The girl instinctively clutched the ice lord's right wrist with her left hand, dividing her efforts between two appendages. She could only watch on in horror as the razor-sharp nails of Frieza's available left hand came closer and closer to her right eye.

The pain was horrific. Bra had never experienced anything so excruciating. She slapped, punched, kicked, and squirmed in an animalistic frenzy as Frieza's nails bore into the protective flesh of her eyelid and into the soft tissue beneath. All of the girl's efforts were nothing more than glancing blows against the arcosian's exoskeleton. She screamed and wailed in pain. Stabbing, burning, throbbing; it was all types of pain rolled into one monstrous sensation. A mixture of tears and blood streamed down the right side of Bra's face.

Frieza watched in sadistic pleasure as he slowly and meticulously destroyed the girl's eye. He enjoyed watching her suffering so much that he didn't even notice the strength and power behind Bra's defensive blows. Had anyone in the room had their scouters activated during that moment, they'd have found that the girl had instinctively raised her ki level to one that was comparable to Captain Ginyu's. On the other hand, Frieza's own power level might have been too much to be able to distinguish a reading from Bra.

Bra was frantic and desperate to get away from the sadistic ice lord. Unable to break free on her own, she reached out to the first person whom her instincts told her should come to her aid; her father. Although Vegeta had erected a blockade in the mental link with the girl, he was not prepared when he felt her slam into the barrier with the full force of her mental capacity. The prince nearly reeled from the sensation, feeling a wave of vertigo so strong that the barricade nearly crumbled, but he held his resolve and pushed back against the girl. Even though Vegeta felt some sympathy for the halfling, he had given her the opportunity to avoid a fate such as this. She had decided to come back; now she had to deal with the consequences of such a decision.

When the teenager felt Vegeta continue to repel her after several attempts to beg and plead for his help, she went to the next person who she felt could help her. Even though Raditz had less of a chance of saving her than the prince had, Bra still tried to reach out to him. However, that same barricade that Vegeta had erected between himself and the girl had also been enforced between she and Raditz. As strong as Bra's mental capacities were, the prince found it very challenging to keep the bond silent between the girl and her former consort. This was especially difficult when Vegeta was also using the Call of the Alpha to force Raditz to remain still. The third-class man was inwardly fighting with all his might against this hold. This battle of wills between prince and subject was almost a perfect reflection of the physical battle between Bra and her captor.

Having found that Raditz was unresponsive to her call, the halfling girl grew ever more panicked. Almost all of her rationality was gone as the pain grew tenfold; she could feel Frieza's claws digging deep into the back of her eye. Both her suffering and her desperation to escape escalated. Unbeknownst to her, this pushed her strength and power to limits she had never reached before. It happened so quickly that only Frieza had seen it, and even then, he wasn't sure if he had seen it; for one-hundredth of a second, Bra's hair flashed gold. Not knowing the implications of this bizarre oddity, the lizard dismissed it as a figment of his imagination.

Unlike Raditz who was unable to lend his aid to Bra and unlike Vegeta who refused to, Nappa watched the poor girl suffer and knew that he had to do something. He owed the girl two life-debts and witnessing her being tormented by Frieza stirred memories of when Vegeta was a child and being subjected to his own tortures. Nappa knew that he could do for Bra what he had done for Vegeta during the worst of Frieza's beatings.

The mustachioed man took a gamble and mentally reached out to the bluenette. At first, she wasn't cognizant of the mental tendrils vying for her attention. When she did become aware of a mental presence reaching out to her, Nappa was surprised that she immediately recoiled away from him.

In the midst of her fear, desperation, and pain, the sensation of an unfamiliar presence trying to connect with Bra's mind only exacerbated her angst. She did what she could to push the unknown presence away, but divided between two fronts, she couldn't stop the persistent intruder. Because the girl was spending all of her energy on trying to escape Frieza's grasp, the attempted mental intrusion was that little bit extra that caused her to become completely overwhelmed. Mentally, Bra began to shut down.

Fortunately for the teen, her saiyan instincts picked up where her mental faculties began to wane. The beast within began to do the thinking for her. Trust it, her instincts implored. It does not want to harm. Bra was afraid… uncertain. She wanted to believe what her inner self was saying, but she was hesitant. The scraping of Frieza's nails against the rear of her eye socket was not allowing her to focus very well on making a decision.

The beast continued trying to convince her. Go to it. It wishes to help. That little bit of extra encouragement, plus the added pain of feeling like something was boring into her skull, was enough for Bra to put her trust and faith in the mysterious entity brushing against her mind. She reached out with her mind and latched onto the foreign conscious.

The very moment Bra attached herself to Nappa's mental probing, he was instantly aware of it. Her mental power slammed into his, nearly overwhelming him. Her sobbing thoughts rang loud and clear in his mind, jumbled and hurried and panicked.

"Please help me! Make him stop! It hurts so much! Please! Hurry!"

"Shhh, be calm, wench," the stranger tried to console her. "Come towards me. Follow my voice. Let it guide you to me."

Bra found that it was difficult to concentrate on this newcomer's voice through the wracking pain in her head and face. She felt this stranger's presence envelope her mind and coax her towards his own. She panicked. The girl fought against the sensation of being lifted up and away from her body; she anchored herself down. Again, her beast spoke to her, telling her to have trust in her savior. She didn't want to trust the stranger, but she trusted her instincts. Taking the advice of her beast once more, Bra relaxed and allowed the alien presence to wrap around her once again, guiding her away.

The halfling felt almost as if she were being lifted and carried away from her body. With this sensation, she realized that the horrific pain began to subside. Bra seized upon this relief and leapt towards the source of her newfound safety. Suddenly, she found herself in a place that was strange, dark, and foreign. She felt as though her senses had been cut off from her; even the pain in her face felt like a distant echo. As she tried to get her bearings in this unfamiliar place, she realized that she wasn't alone.

Something or someone was in this dark place with Bra. She could sense the large creature try to approach her. Given the girl's recent traumatic events, she could only react with fear. She tried to flee from the presence, but found that there was nowhere to run to. Bra even tried to escape back to whence she had come, but in heading towards that direction, she was repelled by a flare-up of pain and agony. She couldn't go that way. The girl hunkered down, coiling into a ball to protect herself as the giant creature approached. To her surprise, when it made contact with her, it was gentle.

"Calm yourself, cub," a male's voice spoke softly to her. "You are safe now."

Bra was still wary. "What is this place?"

"You are in my mind. I have brought you here to protect you."

So much had happened so quickly that the teenager wasn't able to fully comprehend what had just been revealed to her. Instead, her attention had been captured by the fact that this stranger had been speaking to her in saiyashi. This realization confounded her.

"Who are y— Nappa? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"But… why…? How…?" Bra wanted to ask why the burly giant, who had held a large dose of animosity for her for so long, would risk himself to save her, let alone how he had done it.

Nappa didn't exactly answer her questions, but he told her, "When Prince Vegeta was still a young cub, I would often provide to him a safe haven to ride out the worst of Frieza's punishments. I have now done the same for you."

With the mentioning of Vegeta's name, Bra's attention became focused on the flame-haired man. Again, she tried to reach out to him, searching through Nappa's mind for a path or route. The girl soon found the mental link the general shared with his prince. She tried to push herself through it, but found that the link had been temporarily barricaded shut. She slammed against the wall, vying to break through.

It took all of Nappa's mental strength to prevent the girl from breaking through the barrier. He had to admit that her mind was a formidable one and he questioned whether or not it had been wise to invite her into his head. Finally, after only a few failed attempts to reach out to Vegeta, Bra's willpower collapsed and Nappa was able to relax.

Bra, however, fell into a deep despair. Her anguish washed over Nappa in potent waves. Having her inside his own mind only made her turmoil all the more torrential. He had dealt with this sort of thing before, however, when the child inside his mind had been Prince Vegeta. Nappa steeled himself against Bra's plummeting emotions so that he wasn't swallowed up by them.

"Why would he not help me?" Bra cried.

Nappa understood that the question had not been directed at him. Likewise, the question was not about him. He could sense the girl's hurt and betrayal and he knew that these feelings were being directed at Vegeta. Nappa felt that Bra had expected the prince to have come to her aid, as if it were his duty, his responsibility. The giant could feel the girl's respect and idolization for Vegeta, despite his mistreatment of her as of late.

The way Bra looked at Vegeta seemed distantly and oddly familiar, Nappa noted. He recognized the feeling of familiarity, but had to dig deep into his past to identify it. He thought as far back as his boyhood before he finally figured out why this feeling felt so familiar to him; it was how he once admired his own father, Kailan, the last war-advisor of the former Vegetabyl Great-tribe.

Nappa was stunned and awed by the mental presence of the weeping girl. Could it possibly be true? How could it possibly be true? Nappa brushed his conscious around Bra's, this time actively seeking out her emotions, attempting to verify his suspicions. He felt it again; the sense of loss and betrayal, and the disappointment a child feels when his or her parents fail to perform their duties.

The giant gently withdrew from his charge. He couldn't believe what he had just discovered. He hadn't a clue how it could be true, but there was no denying it. The girl was not at all distantly related to the prince; Nappa had suspected that long ago. She was much more closely related to him than that.

Bra was Vegeta's own offspring.

Nappa filed this information away for a later date. Now was not at all the time to deliver accusations and demand explanations. He wrapped his mind around Bra's once more. This time, Nappa offered her the sensation of being protected.

"Rest now, cub," the mustachioed man suggested. "I will keep you safe."

Exhausted from all of her ordeals, Bra was willing to comply. The hint of hesitation she had was nullified by her inner beast's final reassurances that Nappa could be trusted. Her instincts told her that his intentions were pure; he would not harm her. After that, it didn't take long for Bra's conscious thoughts to wane and be replaced by a soft hum of her essence as she slept.

The very moment that Bra's mind had traversed the newly formed link with Nappa, her physical body had gone limp. To everyone aside from Nappa, it appeared as though she had simply passed out, no longer capable of dealing with the excruciating pain. Frieza had attempted to awaken the girl in order to further her suffering – and his own enjoyment – but failing to do so, he eventually gave up on his torment of the girl. With one final and fluid movement, he rent the remains of Bra's right eye from its socket. Shredded, pulpy tissue and a mixture of blood and fluid sprayed across the floor.

Done with the girl, Frieza dropped her limp body. Bra's form fell lifelessly to the ground. The arcosian flicked the wrist of his left hand, forcing droplets of the girl's blood from his fingers. This gesture spoke of how little he cared about the impact that his actions would later have on his victim. The arcosian stepped over the crumpled heap that was Bra as he casually strolled towards the mini-bar. He retrieved a few cloth linen napkins to wipe away the remainder of blood and tissue.

Without glancing at any of the saiyans, Frieza said in a flat tone, "Take the girl and clean her up. She has an assignment to begin. Afterwards, you are to immediately resume your mission itinerary. I won't have any further delays. And let's hope you monkeys have learned something from this today – no one is beyond my reach."

Frieza, accompanied by Zarbon, left the room. As soon as the double doors had slid shut behind them, Vegeta relinquished his Call of the Alpha over Raditz. The very moment that the third-class saiyan was free, he leapt to Bra's side. He pulled her head into his lap and examined the wound in her face. It looked horrible. Frieza had ripped through her eye lid in order to get to the sensitive organ beneath. The flaps of skin hung loosely over the gaping hole. Beneath the slowly flowing rivulets of blood, her flesh was already starting to swell and pucker. The depths of the socket itself glistened red as her blood wept from the gouges Frieza had left inside.

Raditz tore a swatch of fabric from his battle suit. He wadded it up and gently pressed it over the wound. As he did so, he tried to reach out to Bra telepathically. He got no response from her. When he couldn't even feel her essence, he feared the worst. She was still alive, but she was an empty husk. Raditz began to panic, gently shaking Bra to try to rouse her.

Nappa, who had since gotten to his feet, attempted to approach Raditz. The giant held the secret to Bra's unresponsiveness and was willing to share this information with the third-class man in order to give him some reassurance. However, as Nappa neared Raditz, the latter became almost animalistic in his protectiveness over the fallen girl. His instincts overcame him as he literally snarled and growled threateningly at his superior officer.

Nappa understood Raditz's hostile reaction, but was displeased by it all the same. He barely managed to refrain from disciplining his subordinate. The general halted his approach, but growled at the long-haired man in warning. When it was obvious to Nappa that Raditz would heed this warning, the giant finally spoke.

"Get yourself together. The wench will be fine. She needs to be taken to a regeneration tank. So if you would stop sulking, we can take her to one before she loses more blood."

Raditz realized that Nappa was right. He gently lifted Bra into his arms bridal style and rose to his feet. As the third-class tended to the girl, Nappa turned towards Vegeta to ask what their next course of action should be. However, when Nappa turned to face where Vegeta had been standing, he found that the spot was empty.

Story Notes:

Lechuga – from the Spanish word for lettuce.
Verdur – derived from verdura, the Spanish word for vegetable.
Wapbu – derived from the word warrpbu, which means sea in the near-extinct Australian aboriginal language Wagiman.
Phycodese – derived from phycodurus eques, the binomial name for the leafy sea dragon.
Kailan – from kai-lan, the cantonese name for chinese kale.
Vegetabyl – from vegetable or vegetabilis.