King Kai glared at the man sitting across from him. Goku had been uncharacteristically distracted for a couple days, and now the Saiyan was staring at his bowl of rice, moving grains around with his chopsticks absently. If he wasn't already dead, King Kai would've been worried he were dying.

His blue faced scrunched up in anger. "Alright Goku!" he yelled, jolting the man from his reverie, "I've had it with you!"

"Wha..what did I do?" Goku looked at him wide-eyed.

"What's wrong with you?! You've been moping around for days. Snap out of it!" King Kai took a deep breath, calming himself. The boy looked forlorn now, and he felt sorry for him. "What's the matter with you?" he said in a gentler tone.

Goku sighed, his warm dark eyes falling back to his half-full bowl. "Well, I've been thinking," he said. "It's been really fun meeting all these great fighters from all over the place. I've learned a lot, really!" He smiled at his Otherwordly mentor. "But I was kinda hoping maybe I could fight some Saiyans."

It had been just over a year since Goku had been killed by Cell, and time had flown by for the warrior. Rebuilding King Kai's planet had taken a longer time than either of them had imagined, mostly because Goku was supremely unhelpful – his talents lay more in breaking than building. Besides, they'd taken a lot of breaks to tour Heaven and meet and fight the warriors there. But recently they'd settled down on the newly rebuilt planet and Goku had a lot more free time on his hands. King Kai had tried to teach him to drive. It had not gone well.

King Kai pursed his lips. "I don't know what to tell you Goku. There's just not any Saiyans in Heaven. Surely you don't want to go down to Hell to meet them, do you?"

"Oh come on King Kai!" Goku exclaimed. "They can't all be in Hell, can they? There must be at least a couple in Heaven. I know the Saiyans weren't nice people" – King Kai's eyes rolled behind his dark glasses – "but there must have been a few good ones. What about that guardian you told me about?"

King Kai sighed wearily. He had a feeling that this was about more than just Goku's desire for a good fight.

"Alright Goku," King Kai said after a few moments, "I'll tell you what. Just because I like you, I'll ask around and see if I can find you some Saiyans."

A huge, goofy smile broke across Goku's face. "Alright!" Goku yelled excitedly, launching himself at King Kai and wrapping him in a big bear hug. "You're the best King Kai!"

"Okay, okay," King Kai smiled as he patted an elbow awkwardly. "But don't get your hopes up!"

"Oh Goku!" King Kai called out. He was standing near his planet's only tree, hands behind his back and a self-satisfied smile on his face. It had been a few days since Goku had asked the Kai to find him a Saiyan who'd managed to make it to Heaven, and he had some good news to report.

Within a few seconds, the Saiyan came bouncing up. "Yes King Kai?"

"Have I got a surprise for you!" King Kai giggled mischievously.

"What is it King Kai?"

"Here, come see for yourself." The Kai offered his shoulder, and Goku placed a firm broad hand on it.

Immediately, Goku found himself looking at a familiar sight. "Hey!" he said. "It's grandpa! And it looks like he's made a new lady friend."

Sure enough, there was his grandpa Gohan, talking to a young woman with black, shoulder-length hair and dark eyes.

Goku smiled. The only thing that had kept him sane after he'd realized that he'd been the one to kill his grandpa when he'd unknowingly trampled him in his Great Ozaru form was the knowledge that his grandpa wasn't angry at him, and that he was having a good time in Otherworld.

"But what's the surprise King Kai? I've seen grandpa plenty of times since I got here." He'd also met several of his lady friends – for a mild-mannered old man, his grandpa sure got around.

"That's not the surprise, Goku." King Kai said. "It's the woman with him. Look at her closely."

Goku squinted at the image in his mind. The woman was laughing at something his grandpa had just said. He was pretty sure he'd never seen her before, and yet somehow she seemed familiar.

Suddenly, he saw it. "Hey, she has a tail! She's a Saiyan!" Goku pumped his fists in the air. "Alright! See King Kai, I told you there had to be some Saiyans in Heaven!"

"Yes, but this isn't just any Saiyan Goku." King Kai turned to him, his voice serious. "Goku, stop jumping!"

Goku settled down, his smile faltering a bit. What could possibly be wrong? The Saiyan woman was in Heaven, so she must be good. Why did King Kai look so serious?

"Goku," King Kai said evenly. "That woman is your mother."

Goku was sitting at the table in King Kai's house, his chin in his hands. King Kai was telling him about his mother and how she'd ended up in Heaven.

Goku had always been the type of person who lived in the present. He had, of course, thought a few times about his parents, what they might have been like. But there'd been so much else to take care of after his brother had shown up: the rapidly approaching Saiyans and the threat to Earth, the trip to Namek, his altercations with the Ginyu force and Frieza, his time in space – there was just no time to really dwell on the issue. When he did find himself thinking about his parents, he would always dismiss the thoughts. What was the point really? They were dead, and probably hadn't been very nice when they were alive if Raditz was anything to go by. Besides, he had Chi Chi and Gohan whom he loved very much, and that was all the family he needed.

But now, King Kai was saying that he could actually meet his mother.

"Gine" – that was her name, his mother's name – "was not very strong for a Saiyan, and she wasn't really cut out for a warrior's life," King Kai was saying. "But she came from a poor family, so she signed up to fight for Frieza. Fighters were paid really well you see, and the position was a prestigious one.

"I won't lie to you Goku, your mother did some terrible things fighting for Frieza. She killed a lot of innocent people with the other Saiyans. But," King Kai raised a finger, "your mother was different from most other Saiyans, and really most other people if you want the truth. For most people, the more they kill the easier it gets. But for your mother, the more crimes she committed, the more they wore at her soul. Her guilt grew so much that she started to lose her nerve in battle, and she probably would have been killed several times if it weren't for…" King Kai paused, wondering if he should tell Goku about his father, but decided against it. "Anyway," he continued, "one day your mother's troupe got orders to depopulate a planet in the far end of the galaxy. The inhabitants were known to be a peaceful people with limited battle skills – they wouldn't stand a chance against a group of Saiyans.

"Your mother agonized over the order for days. She knew she couldn't do it, but even more than that, she couldn't allow it to happen. So," Goku leaned in closer, his eyes wide, "the night before her troupe was due to be sent, she broke into the communications control room in the Operations Base and sent a message to the planet warning of them of what was coming." King Kai paused again. There were a lot of technical details here, how Gine had hacked into the control server using an ID chip she'd stolen from a guard earlier that day, how most planets that were aware of extraterrestrial life had a central system that could send and receive messages from other planets and spaceships, which is how Gine had contacted the planet in question. He could tell Goku all of this stuff, but frankly he was surprised that the boy seemed to be following along with story as it was, and he didn't think it was a good idea to make it even more complicated.

Besides, King Kai thought, what if he asks me a question about how these systems all work? I won't be able to answer it! That would be embarrassing.

"Well," he went on, "because the planet was so far away, it took the Saiyans a couple days to get there. And when they arrived, whaddya know! The planet was completely abandoned."

A huge smile broke out on Goku's face. "They got her message!"

King Kai smiled at his protégé. "Yes, exactly. The planet's leader was able to evacuate the entire population, resettling his people on another planet far from Frieza's reach. And so your mother saved an entire race from a horrible fate."

"And that's why she's in Heaven?"

"Yes, but it isn't just that." King Kai poured himself a cup of water; all this talking was making him thirsty. "Your mother wasn't very good with technology. She knew enough to get her into the communications room and send a message, but not enough to be able to erase the record of that message. Your mother knew that when they arrived at the planet, her…troupe leader would file a report saying that the planet was abandoned. There would be an inquiry, and eventually someone would find the record of the message she had sent. When that happened, she'd be tried for treason and killed." King Kai paused. "Your mother knew all this. She sacrificed her life to save those people. That's why she's in Heaven."

"But I thought my mother died when Planet Vegeta was blown up?"

"She did," King Kai said. "But only because she got lucky. Her troupe leader," he coughed, "figured out what she'd done. So instead of sending a report from his space pod like he was supposed to, he waited until they returned to their base. Then he got his brother, who was really good with technology, to break into the communications room and erase the evidence.

"After that your mother requested to be sent back to Planet Vegeta, and she spent the rest of her days living in peace."

"Gosh," Goku breathed. His hands fell to the table, his head lifting. "That's…wow. I don't know what to say I guess." He smiled. "I'm really happy she did that. And that she's in Heaven where I can see her."

"Well, that's the other thing I want to talk to you about." King Kai leaned back in his chair. "You see Goku, your mother was raised in a very different environment with very different expectations. When she sent the message that saved those people, she believed she was betraying her own kind. She saw herself as weak because she didn't enjoy fighting and killing.

"That's where your grandpa Gohan comes in."

Goku's eyes widened suddenly. "Does grandpa know who she is?"

"No, not yet," King Kai said. "But he told her all about you, and she told him that you must've been a Saiyan."

So, wait," Goku's brows furrowed, "I'm confused. She knows he's my grandpa?"

"No," King Kai said, glaring. "They don't know about you at all. But your grandpa Gohan has been helping your mother to understand that kindness is a strength, not a weakness, and that she deserves to be in Heaven." He sighed. "It's been hard work."

"Oh, I get it," Goku said. "She thinks like Vegeta does."

"Exactly."

"So," Goku said nervously, "you don't think I should meet her?"

"I think we need to approach her carefully. It's gonna be a shock for her to see you, you know. She hasn't seen you since you were a baby, and she may not understand a lot of the choices you've made during your time on Earth."

Goku nodded. "We should talk to grandpa," he said, getting up. "He can introduce me." He paused for a moment, then gave the Kai a hopeful look. "What about my dad?"

"He's in Hell. Sorry Goku," King Kai looked at him apologetically. "He did some good things in his life – by Saiyan standards, he was a good man. But unfortunately, the bad outweighed the good."

Goku nodded. "And her leader? The one who helped her?"

King Kai smiled. His boy was so innocent, and there was so much of his own background he didn't know. One day, King Kai would tell him everything about his family and his people.

But not today. "His fate was pretty much the same as your father's."

Goku sighed. It was disappointing, but he supposed it couldn't be helped.