I was being thrown from wall to wall, crashing into all the objects around me. Loud thuds and bangs pummeled the air and my body was beginning to tire. I heard wheels come to a halt and then the engine fizzling out. The truck had pulled to a stop and all the packages came toppling down on top of me. I had to get out of there. I had to go home and hug my brother, tell my dad I was sorry.

Great arms lifted up the door and began removing packages with a heavy grunts. After he threw a couple out, I knew I was next. The bag was pulled up, the fabric walls shrinking around me, and then I was placed on inert ground. I was out of the truck finally. It was beginning to smell like old cheese in there.

"Hey, Molo! Get over here. These packages aint gonna sort themselves out, you know." the man ordered.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties all up in a bunch, alright? I'm coming." Molo, apparently his name was, came trotting over.

Sort themselves out? Just where in the universe was I? Santa had long since abandoned the bag I'd stowed away in- probably to give the presents away- but there was no mistaking that I was officially clueless as to where I was or where I'd end up.

I waited until most of the movement around me ceased. But all around me were sounds that had been so foreign to six year old me. There was a constant hum of traffic, crowds shuffling and marching all down the roads, banging, honking, bits and pieces of conversation, crunching, tapping, Christmas music jingling, far off shouts and greetings. I certainly wasn't anywhere near my home.

I pushed my way past the boxes and wrapping papers all jammed tight in the bag. Crawling, inching my way out, I soon came rolling out from the sack and onto the unmerciful concrete like I'd been spit out of a great, velvety beast.

"What the-?" A boy who looked to be about my brother's age, whom I assumed to be Molo, gawked at my entrance. "You're not supposed to be in there! Hey, boss! There's a kid in here!"

My pulse started to race real quick. My legs burst into action once I saw him approach me with a hasty movement. I dipped out of there like there was no stopping me. I was six, damn it! Wouldn't you be type scared if an ugly, flabby teenager boy who looked like he stabbed small animals for fun in the dismal abyss of his room was coming at you like that? Don't even try to lie.

I tumbled over some small packages and he grabbed my ankle.

"Boss! Boss!" he tried to pull me. "We've got ourselves another stow away!"

Panic set into me. Luckily, however, I was the daughter of a saiyan. My genes kicked in and I planted a solid foot right into the boy's face. He hollered, letting go to nurse his face, and I bolted. He stopped chasing me when I crossed the street as if he were on a leash that denied him to pursue me. I dashed until I could run no longer. I ended up beneath two bridges that made an 'X' in their crossing and was swarmed by skyscrapers that descended from the clouds above. The city was loud, overwhelming, but I still could not help but feel so alone. I stood in the dankest and crummiest pit I'd ever seen with abandoned shops and trash strewn almost everywhere.

My breath was loud and heavy. I think I may have even heard an echo from it. I had to take a moment, the six year old that I was, and think as logically, as rationally, and as calmly as I was capable of then. In the end, it didn't work out so well. Then my stomach let out a terrible cry. Oh gosh, I hadn't eaten since those moist, warm, breakfast pancakes that I drowned in syrup while snuggled under my fluffy comforter with Trunks. My hunger strengthened my sense of smell. I began hounding the scent of tender beef cooking, and some glazed, cinnamon-y treat cooling from some bakery.

My nose lead me to a man selling hot dogs and delights from his mobile store. A café selling all the best things you could imagine was right across the street from him too. I hadn't quite thought of it until I saw some lady pay him for a cheeseburger; how was I going to pay for it, if I was going to at all? And if not, how was I going to take it? That hunger in me pushed me into the first criminal thoughts I ever had as a person. And I was dead serious about it too. I missed mommy and Trunks then, a little bit of daddy too. They had always made sure I was fed, even if it was nasty broccoli sometimes.

But there was hardly anything in the world I wanted more in those few moments than the steaming cup of hot chocolate staring me down from the hot dog stand. I think the man who owned it spotted me practically drooling and he coughed something like "scram" or "skedaddle" at me.

"Oh no, not again." his flabby lips cursed at me. "I'm tired of you kids always stealing my food. You scare away my customers. Don't you hear? There aint nothing for here! Go back home to mommy, girlie."

If he only knew.

"What?"

"You kids are always trying to steal my goods. Oh, but I know you've been sent to distract me while your little buddies rummage through my food. I've never seen you before, but don't think you can fool me so easily. So, tell me, where is he hiding?"

"Wh-What? I…I don't know what you-"

"Don't play dumb with me! Where is that little monkey boy and your brat leader?"

"Um…."

"That's it, girlie! You scram! Get out of here before I call the cops!"

A splash of hot chocolate tore his attention off of me. He spun around and met the smirks of a whole band of kids. They all had armfuls of hot dogs, condiments, sodas, donuts, you name it. Some of the kids appeared human like me, and others were aliens. But none of them looked all that old. Some may have been around my age, with the exception of a few older kids. But I didn't think any of them were teenagers quite yet.

"Why you!" he grumbled fiercely back towards me. His face turned as red as my dress and veins bulged all along his brow. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was turning super saiyan! He lifted his hands in the air and came towards me like one huge boulder tumbling down a steep hill. Just when I thought I was about to be pummeled by this incredibly hairy man, I felt arms snag me from the ground and scoop me into the air. I felt like I'd been soaring! I was lifted onto the roof of the café with a boy's dirty arms enfolding around me.

"Still falling for that same old trick, eh Botis? "the boy called down to him with a superiority I recognized only in my dad. "You never change, do you? But I've never seen you come after an innocent young girl before. Maybe you're still capable of surprising us."

"Why you little brat! If you had a mother, I'd send you crying back to her!"

"If I had a mother, I wouldn't be here smuggling from suckers like you."

"That's it!" Botis threw down his fork. "I'm calling the police! I'm tired of you snotty orphans always stealing from me. Now you come down here and-"

The boy sighed and ignored him, turning to face me. I soaked up his image like mommy told me all girls should do before they even consider a guy. He had chocolate brown eyes which compensated for the fact that he smelt like the streets, and was complemented by his disheveled pumpernickel hair. He was taller than me by far and with muscular arms, but neither of those two components could compare to my big brother. One glance at his clothes and I could assume that he didn't change them much; some torn denim jeans all blotched up with multicolored stains, beat up old converse, a baggy green wife beater, and a grey hoodie that the winter's bitterness would surely chew to shreds.

"Sorry to cut this meeting short, but I've got me a banquet to attend." he said.

"Hunh? W-Wait! Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone!"

"Sorry, pretty lady, but there's nothing I can do. But I must thank you, though. Without you, me and the boys probably wouldn't be eating tonight. That's why it pains me to not be able to share some of the bountiful feast with such a pretty face like yourself…um…what'd you say your name was again?"

"I never told you. My name is Bra."

"Bra. Yes. Well, it's been fun, Bra. See you around sometime."

And with that, he leapt from one roof to another like I'd only seen my daddy and uncle Goku do.

"Hey! Come back here!" I shrieked at him. "You can't leave me! That's my food! I got you that!"

But I felt like I was yelling at shadows. The kids all snickered off and I'd not been able to spot the boy who rescued me. I was so fed up. This was the age at which my attitude seriously took root. I would not be treated that way, that I was quite sure of. My body was bruised and tired and hungry, I'd been yelled at by adults all day, I had no idea where I was, and I was not about to let that somewhat handsome Neanderthal run off with my dinner. I was the daughter of saiyan and I would not tolerate such disrespect and from a lowly mongrel like him!

With a growl of frustration, I pushed off towards the ladder attached to the building and climbed down towards the sidewalk. I nearly dodged the hot dog man when I could finally plant my feet on the ground again. I ran as fast as my little legs could take me, chasing after my meal, that boy, and his misfit gang.

A police car screamed past me. Normally I wouldn't have been afraid of the cops. I knew they were there to protect me and enforce the laws, but on the streets and so misunderstood, alone and running, I felt terrified of them. It seemed like there were no adults whom I could trust, who wouldn't yell at me or tell me to beat it. They didn't care if you were a kid. You were a beggar and you just weren't one of them.

The trail grew cold. I didn't even know if I'd ever find them again, maybe I just felt like running because I was scared or hurt or wanted appear brave by chasing after them. The sun was almost completely gone by that time. I was lost. Well, more lost. I ended my search near yet another bridge that held the citizens up above a river that looked and smelled like pure sewage. The world got colder and my coat just wasn't strong enough to resist. I could see my breath in the dimming light as puffs of misery and tiredness.

What I wouldn't have given to be in the warmth of my home. Hell, even daddy's sweaty apartment was better than under that bridge. The reality of it sunk into me then. I was lost, far away from home, hungry, and may have never seen my family ever again. Every noise then put me deeper inside myself, every shadow made me jump a little and made me regret ever leaving daddy's side.

So I cried.

I plopped my knees into the icy curb and sobbed like the frightened, stupid, baby I was. And then I thought about that. I was a baby who just pretended to be grown up at times. I was my mom's baby, my dad's, and Trunks' baby sister. And maybe they'd never see their baby ever again. What would mommy do when she found out her baby was missing? Or Trunks? Would daddy care? Would he miss me? Was that look he'd given me in the mall, that one so full of surprise and regret- was that all the proof I failed to recognize as the love he had for me? The look he gave me when I'd told him I hated him?

"Well, well." A voice echoed in the dumpy vastness around me. "I guess sometime is now and this is around."

"Hunh?" my watery eyes met the boy's again.

"I did say we'd meet again, remember? But I didn't think it would be this soon. What'd you do, track us down?"

"Yes. Because you stole my food!"

"Oh, don't start that again, miss Bra. Look, I didn't steal your food. I stole Botis'. And, also, you wouldn't have even been able to get the food on your own. Therefore, it was entirely never yours."

"But…I…"

"Exactly. Man, you're not from around here, are you?"

I stood motionless in my frustration. I wanted to give him a good whack over the head like how mommy punished Trunks when he was sexting a girl.

"Ohhh so you won't talk to me now?"

"My mommy told me not to talk to strangers."

"Oh, your mommy. Right, right, right." he play chuckled. "I'm sorry, I thought you were alone in the big city. You know, abandoned, thrown out, a run away, the works. My bad."

Silence. My fists tightened.

"So, where is your mommy, Bra?"

"She…she…I'm lost."

"Thought so. I mean, you're not very street savvy at all."

I took that moment of his tenderness to brush the remaining tears from my cheeks. He watched me do so with care, maybe even with something a little like sympathy too.

"You…ok?"

"I don't know."

"Tell you what," he leapt to my side and put his arm around me, "how 'bout you come stay with me and the gang? We'll fix you up a nice burger or two and say…we work out a deal over a nice cup of hot chocolate?"

"A deal?" I allowed him to escort me under the bridge.

"Yup. A deal. See, if there's one thing you gotta learn right quick up here in the big city, it's that nothing in this world is free. And, I'll be honest, we may not be ten years old just yet, but we understand that you'll never make it out here if you don't know that."

He lead me past some of his pals; his gang of squalid looking homeless kids. There were only two girls from what I saw in the darkness, but even they looked a wreck.

"See here, this is Monkey. My main man has been living out here on the streets since as long as he can remember. His parents were drunkards, dumped him out on the streets when they drank so much they forgot they'd even had a son. He's free now; a little hungry and dirty at times, but free. That's the price you gotta pay. And Scope over there, don't even get me started on her. She's got more problems than the number of school days I've missed. Freedom don't come cheap. Nor does our hospitality. I mean, not just anyone can bunk with the Rat Tails and not give anything in return. You see what I mean?"

"I guess so."

"I like you, Bra. You've gotta little spark that most of us street walkers don't get for a while out here. We might even be able to use you in our gang. See, you're real small and tiny. That might come in handy one day."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"Oh…ok then."

Omniscient Point of View

"Oh God." Bulma blew her nose into a tissue. "How could this have happened?"

"There, there." cooed Chi-Chi, "I'm sure Bra is just fine."

"How could I have married such an idiot? Oh God, why?"

Chi-Chi sat condolingly beside Bulma, giving her a rub or a hand whenever necessary. Goku and Chi-Chi were the first ones Bulma called once she got off the phone with her son. She needed some one to keep her feet on the ground, someone to comfort and condole her. Since getting off the phone, she'd been nothing but hysterical. Goku waited idly by the window for the arrival of Trunks and Vegeta.

"Would you like me to get you something?" Bunny waltzed over with a tray of sweets and teas. Bulma shook her head.

"No, I would like Vegeta's head mounted above my fireplace and my baby brought back home! Ugh, I should have never let them go to his place! I knew it was a bad idea, God, I knew it. Since when was Vegeta ever capable of parenting without my assistance?"

"Bulma, please…"

"He lost our daughter- our baby girl! Oh, Bra…where are you?" she covered her eyes and sobbed more desperately then.

"They're here." Goku warned.

Everyone stood up straight. The room became so quiet that the sound of Trunks and Vegeta closing the car doors could have been misconstrued with trees falling. Even Bulma managed to stifle her sniffles and tears. Everyone gathered around her for support and protection, probably half-expecting for this reunion to end with blood.

In stepped Trunks with Vegeta following closely behind. Bulma sucked in a breath of tense air when her bright blue eyes snagged Vegeta's. No one could say anything. No one greeted, no one smiled. No one released the breath they'd been holding.

Bulma then stormed over to Vegeta with a quick jolt that surprised everyone around her. She growled furiously and raised her hand high, giving Vegeta one huge slap across the face. He hardly moved a muscle. It seemed that he'd almost been expecting it.

"You…oh….ugh!" she tried to form words on and off again. "H-How…How could you have let this happen?"

Vegeta's face twitched when Bulma broke out crying on his chest. To most, he would have seemed indifferent, cold, and distant. But to Bulma, who knew him better than anyone in the universe, he may as well have been sobbing. She saw it in the way his gaze hovered just above the floor, the way his brow creased with an ease. He took his wife's hands in his and she didn't resist like she'd planned to.

"Our daughter is missing." she cried. "Oh, Vegeta, what do we do?"

"We find her." he said solemnly. "We bring her home."