Determination
Gohan wasn't sure how things had come to this. When Dad's body vanished, sent to the Other World to train, Mother scooped Gohan up and set about calling everyone she knew to warn them of the approaching Saiya-jin. Mother still held him in a death grip, seemingly not bothered by the blood on both their hands. She was talking with Gine while Raditz loomed in the corner, never taking his eyes off Gine besides occasionally glancing at Gohan and wincing. Gohan was glad when despite being a normal human Bulma was the first to arrive by plane with Lunch. When they arrived Bulma and Lunch promised Mother they'd take him to Capsule Corporation while Mother trained. However, his desire for Mrs Briefs hugs and a bath were quickly dashed. Once Bulma got wind of Raditz's spaceship she couldn't be distracted from obtaining new technology. Gine didn't help either; she offered Raditz's help to learn about the technology since she remembered he always tinkered with things as a child. Raditz had huffed and puffed but a few ego-strokes from Bulma was all it took to get him to agree. To make it worse, Raditz obviously couldn't be trusted alone with a human so Lunch promised to be Bulma's bodyguard. Gohan was forgotten at that point so Bulma and Lunch left with Raditz, having completely forgotten why they came. Gohan supposed they at least promised to take care of the Dragonball search to revive Goku. Gohan also supposed not going with them was a blessing, he liked Capsule Corporation but having Raditz there would be wrong. Knowing Dad's revival was in safe hands would have to be enough, though Mother calling Grandpa Ox to ask him to babysit wasn't half-bad either. Her tight embrace was uncomfortable and now that he was calming down the blood still on his hands made him squeamish.
Gohan was still trapped in Mother's arms when the next group arrived. A fat man, who introduced himself as Yajirobe, landed his plane outside having brought Krillin, Yamcha, Ranfan, Tien, and Chiaotzu to Baba's Palace. Apparently, Yajirobe lived with Korin, the cat deity who resided beneath the Lookout, so he'd been asked to gather Earth's strongest warriors to train with Kami. Obviously Mother counted as a two-time World Champion and Blue Star Medal recipient, but when told it was time to go she hugged Gohan tighter. Gohan felt uncomfortable, wouldn't her bones crack if she held him any tighter? It took over an hour for the group to convince Mother she would need to train exclusively for the year and that Kami's Lookout was the best place. Even then she hesitated to leave Gohan when Grandpa Ox hadn't arrived yet. Gohan didn't see what the big deal was; Dad left him with people he barely knew or alone on Dad Days. Then again, Mother was more worried about his safety than Dad... In the end Gine promised to stay with Gohan until Ox King arrived. Mother seemingly couldn't say no to her Mother-in-law and agreed to leave with the others. It took several kisses, more squeezing and promising to be good for Mother to finally let Gohan stand on his own feet again. With Mother gone and Baba hiding deeper in the Palace, Gohan and Gine stared at each other. As the silence stretched Gohan felt like he should day something. Despite everything Gine was still his grandmother. "H-hello... Grandma – I mean, may I call you Grandma Gine?" Gohan said. Gine scratched her head, her cheeks turning pink. "Yes... Yes you may... Gohan – I mean, Grandson?" Gine said. Both stared at each other, Gohan was unsure what to say now. Mother's etiquette lessons didn't include how to converse with a long-dead Grandparent, which seemed a big omission considering he'd met Grandma Gine and Great Grandpa Gohan today... Gohan rubbed his knuckles, trying to think of something. Gien chewed her lip before walking over to Gohan and kneeling down so their eyes were level. "A-are you alright Grandson? A lot has happened today..." Gine said. Gohan nodded and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve when he felt them watering again. He tried not to think about the red on them. "T-that's true." Gohan said. Gine held out her hand, Gohan hesitate but seeing her waiting decided to take her hand. "You know, I thought I'd always remember the face of the first comrade I saw die when I closed my eyes." Gine said. Gohan gulped, not liking the reminder of Dad's unmoving face. "And I did think about it for years afterwards, but as my life moved on it got less. Focus on Kakarot as he was alive and remember that he'll be coming back." Gine said. Gohan stared at Gine; her face, so similar to his own, showed no hesitation. "I-I'll try." Gohan said. Gine smiled, the way her lips stretched wide and eyes turned upward so like Dad's it made Gohan's throat tighten. It hadn't occurred to him before that Gine and Raditz looked like him. The physical resemblance was stronger between Gohan, Gine and Raditz than it was with Dad, but Dad seems to have inherited Gine's mannerisms. Did... that mean Dad took more after Gine's partner in looks? It was so strange having to think of family resemblances when Mother had little resemblance to Grandpa Ox and they'd never had anyone to compare Dad too before. It had been a long standing mystery who Gohan took after because his parents had the same colouring but his features didn't obviously lean to either of them. Now Gohan was pretty sure he got most of his looks from Gine's side. It felt funny seeing how much of Gohan came from someone else... hopefully he wouldn't look like Raditz when he was older through.
"Are you done?" Piccolo said. Gine and Gohan let go of each other's hands and jumped back. They turned to see Piccolo, his clothes now lacking any sign of battle, his arms folded. After a moment staring at Piccolo, Gine blinked. "Oh, it's just the Namekian. I almost didn't recognise you, hiding your antenna is so strange." Gine said. Piccolo's eye twitched. "You keep calling me a Namekian... Are you trying to start a fight or something?" Piccolo said. Gine's eyebrows furrowed. "... But you are a Namekian – that is your race, right? Green, pointy ears, claws and fangs, and antenna. You definitely look like a Namekian." Gine said. Gohan tilted his head. "But wouldn't that make him an alien. Everyone calls him a Demon..." Gohan said. Piccolo grunted and turned to Gohan. "I didn't come here to talk about my race, alien or otherwise!" Piccolo said. Gohan took a step back, his arms shaking. Oh no, he'd made the Demon King made without Mother or Dad to save him! "I came here for you boy, surely you're not dumb enough to think those pitiful parents of yours will be able to win?" Piccolo said. Gohan clenched his jaw, chin sticking out. Of course they could, his parents were Earth's strongest! If they couldn't win... no one could. Piccolo scoffed. "Neither Son or I could touch that buffoon this woman calls her child. Yet you defeated him in a single attack. You'll be a powerful asset to win if you train. Of course if you refuse they will both end up dead." Piccolo said. Gohan's trembling increased; he looked to Gine to tell Piccolo he was wrong. Gine stared at the tiles. Gohan's throat tightened; Gine knew both Saiya-jin before she died and they could be even stronger now... If she didn't think Mother and Dad had a chance... Piccolo smirked. "So you get it now. You need to train... and I am the only one who can train you properly." Piccolo said. Gohan gulped; that sounded far too reasonable. Master Roshi had taught Mother and Dad when they started out but he was weaker than Piccolo. It was the same with Grandpa Ox, the mysterious Crane Hermit... and anyone who wasn't Mother, Dad or Kami. Dad was in the Other World and Kami was busy helping Mother. Gohan also knew Mother would never let him train if she knew. She'd sworn Gohan wouldn't throw a punch before turning 12. Gine rested a hand on Gohan's shoulder; he looked up at her. "Grandson, you must think about this very carefully. Even if you have a high power level you'll just be a burden if you get scared or hesitate. You're barely old enough to be out of the pod, you can leave this to seasoned warriors." Gine said. Gohan looked down. He didn't like blood, even watching the World Martial Arts Tournament was scary... but watching Mother and Dad getting beaten had been worse. If Gohan had to choose between blood and pain or Dad dying again... Gohan took a deep breath and bowed to Piccolo. "P-please train me, Mr Piccolo!" Gohan said. Piccolo chortled. "A good answer! I'd have just kidnapped you the moment the woman was forced back to the Other World if you'd refused though."Piccolo said. Gohan's eye twitched. He should have seen that coming, Demon King Piccolo was infamous for doing everything to get his way. Gine's grip on Gohan's shoulder tightened for a moment before she sighed and let go. Gine knelt down at Gohan's level and held his gaze. "Grandson, if you're going to train look after yourself. Be sure to eat at least your bodyweight in protein every day, growing children need lots of meat. Don't fill your stomach with fibre to keep hunger at bay or your body will eat your muscles and-!" Gine said. She took a deep breath. "A-and I don't want to see any muscle definition before your growth phase. Healthy children are denser than Dark Matter!" Gine said. Gohan's eyes were wide. There were plenty of things in that speech that really brought home the fact Gine (and Gohan himself) weren't human. Gohan wasn't even sure if he could eat his own weight in protein every day... although maybe he shouldn't be. Gohan always ate his weight in fish when Dad took him fishing. Gohan decided to agree for now; if Gohan was more human than Gine thought he'd adjust his eating accordingly. Gohan nodded. "I will; thank you Grandma Gine." Gohan said. Gine smiled and waved as Gohan flew off after Piccolo. Gohan felt a bit sad to part with her. In all likelihood Gohan wouldn't see Grandma Gine until he died, which hopefully wouldn't be next year...
