A/N: Eclipsed Dark Desires, thanks so much for the review! ^_^
If you're not familiar with the recent story of Gine/Bardock and what they did for Goku, Google it :D Some of this chapter is based on their actions.
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At Gotu's request, King Vegeta arranged for her to meet Bardock. He gave her the address of Bardock's home in the main village, and told her to arrive the next afternoon at 2, as he would be expecting her. The time quickly arrived, and Gotu's excitement was almost too much to contain. 'The man my son is named for… I wonder what he looks like…' She thought.
As she reached the door of the modest home, she gently knocked three times. It looked very much like Gotu's home back on Earth with its dome shape and scarce windows. A few moments later, a woman opened the door, smiling pleasantly at Gotu. "Can I help you?" She asked.
"Gine!" Bardock came running up to the door from behind the woman. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you that I was expecting company around this time. King Vegeta said it was urgent."
"Oh, that's fine, come on in then." She gestured for Gotu to sit in a nearby wooden chair. Gotu thanked the two, but stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes finally caught a good look at Bardock. She stared with her mouth slightly open as her eyes explored him. He was almost an exact replica of her father, except with darker skin, scars on his face, and more serious eyes. The two Saiyans stared back at her, confused, waiting for the business she had come for.
"Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me to stare like that!" Laughing, a light blush spread her cheeks. "Well, anyway… Down to business I suppose..." She continued her nervous laugh before take a deep breath and plunging on. "Have you heard about the ones who came here from the future at all? I wasn't sure how far the news had traveled among everyone."
Bardock nodded. "Yes, everyone in the main village is aware of the three who arrived just a few days ago. All of us know who Prince Vegito is as well."
Gotu's eyes twitched at the title Bardock had placed before her son's name. She forced the minor hurt at his name out of her mind before continuing. "Right. I'm one of the three. I asked the King to allow me to meet you, Bardock, but he hadn't mentioned a woman would be here too." Gotu turned to Gine.
"Oh? This is my mate, Gine. I suppose I should've mentioned that sooner. But why are you interested in seeking me out?"
'My grandmother is here too…' She thought, smiling to herself. "This is going to sound pretty strange but, you have a son named Kakarot, correct?"
"How do you know our son?" Gine spoke up this time, with worry present in her eyes.
"Oh, no, he's fine! Don't worry! …Well, I'm his daughter... His future daughter, I mean." Gotu shifted her eyes to stare at the floor when the shocked expressions crossed her grandparent's faces. She braced herself for their denial of her words, but it never came. Gine's gentle hands touched Gotu's shoulders unexpectedly. She lifted her head to meet Gine's eyes.
"Tell me about his life, please?"
Gotu smiled, nodding happily and wondering where to begin. She described all that she knew about her father's life. How he hit his head and made friends with humans, how he turned super Saiyan and defeated Freeza, his many other amazing battles, and she described the lives of his three children, finally getting to herself. Gine and Bardock listened in silence; their facial expressions changing with the mood of the tale.
"And then there's me… Oh, woops… I just realized I never even told you my name! I'm his youngest child, Gotu. My father and I have always been very close, and very alike in a lot of ways, mostly because I'm his only child that loves battle about as much as he does. I have two children with Vegeta's half-Saiyan son. One of them is Vegito, well, Prince Vegito I guess you all call him now… And my younger son, Bardock."
Bardock finally spoke. "Why did you name your son after me?"
"To be perfectly honest, Trunks and I had no idea who we were naming him after. The name came to us both one night when I was still pregnant. It just seemed that fate had chosen it for us. I guess now I can see why."
"So Kakarot, even though he was born with one of the puniest power levels a Saiyan has ever seen, has become an impenetrable warrior? Even with the softness he has adopted?"
"My father is the strongest being in the universe, flanked closely by Vegeta and then by myself. He is amazing, and has even gone two levels further beyond a super Saiyan. You should be proud of him. I know he would love to meet both of you…" Gine smiled at Gotu's words.
"If he's so strong, why didn't he come with you all?" Bardock continued to question her.
"Vegito stole the original time machine to come save the planet from Freeza's destruction, and clearly, to attempt to rule it and the galaxy as well. We only came back to bring him home, but his recent transformation and mission have obviously caused some problems for us. We could only fit three people in the time machine. Trunks and I demanded to be two of the three as his parents, so it was between Vegeta and my Dad. But, Vegito was always very close to Vegeta, so it only made sense for it to be him. We also figured Vegeta would be more helpful here because of his status here."
Bardock nodded and the three sat awkwardly in silence for several minutes. Gotu knew she had given them a lot of information to take in, so she gave them a chance to absorb it on their own terms.
"I'm so glad to know he has a good life…" Gine mumbled, a smile curling her lips. She turned to Gotu. "We are considered disgraceful here, you know, because we care about our children. It's not the Saiyan way to feel concern for others, including your mate, and your offspring. But now I see that without our concern for Kakarot, he never would have reached his potential. It sounds as though he is happy."
Gotu twinkled. "He is. Like you wouldn't believe. But… That's why we need to bring Vegito back home. He's gone to Earth and he's seeking to destroy it we think. From what the King was able to tell us, he's undergone some type of evil transformation that has given him power and wiped his mind of the ties he once had. My Dad might have been able to compete with him in the future at this level of power, but my Dad here hasn't even reached the super Saiyan level. The Earth is doomed if we can't stop him. Trunks and Vegeta took space pods and hopefully, they can reach Earth before Vegito carries out whatever plan he's decided on."
Bardock looked at Gine, whose face was overcome with concern. "It's crucial to Kakarot's fate, then, that this be stopped?"
"Very." Gotu nodded.
"Is there a way that we can help?" Bardock asked.
"I'm not sure any of us here can to be honest. I think we just need to wait and hope that Vegeta and Trunks can get there fast enough."
"Wait, so do you need a faster space pod?"
"Well, yes, not that it would do much good now since they left yesterday."
"Right, but, I'm not only a warrior here, I also work with research, and I just recently completed the first model of a space pod that can travel about 25% faster than the current ones. You can easily take it and reach Earth just around when Vegito does, if you leave by tonight."
Gotu's mind began reeling with thoughts. She had promised Vegeta and Trunks that she would stay put in case Vegito returned, either by being too quick and missing Vegeta and Trunks entirely, or by defeating them both. She had been grappling with a feeling since they left, however, that she should have fought to join them more. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that she was going to be necessary in some way. Bardock raised an eyebrow as he awaited her response.
"I… Well, I promised them that I would stay here… But…"
Bardock interrupted. "I think you should go, Gotu. You said yourself that you are stronger than Trunks. If Vegito is as strong as you think he might be, then it isn't wise for them to not take the strongest warriors possible."
"And besides, you're his mother, Gotu." Gine whispered.
Bardock and Gine were clearly confident in their granddaughter's abilities and the thought of that warmed Gotu's soul in a way. Here were two Saiyans, brought up in this violent, selfish, twisted culture, and somehow, they found a way to care about their family and each other. She wondered if maybe her father's good heartedness was not the result of that bump on the head; maybe it was inherited.
"When can I leave?"
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A/N: Next chapter we will finally get to see what Vegito is up to on Earth
