Chapter 13:

Well Enough Alone

Battle was never a chore for Mia, mostly because she was able to move quicker than her opponents; Kakarot was a special case of course. His ability to turn super saiyan, which gave him his first victory against her with the element of surprise on his side, made him a much more agile warrior than she was accustomed too. When it came to favorite past times, sparring was on the top of his list, behind eating she supposed, and she was fond of his enthusiasm when she showed him an ancient move or two. The waterfall beat below them as they threw hooks, upper-cuts, and round houses, kai blasts haywire from their hands, battle cries echoing through the wood. He could hold his own a lot longer against the trained princess than when he first came to the exclusive area. Fifteen minutes, which was rather impressive compared to most of the men she fought. Being deemed "Goddess of war" all those years ago for…nothing of particular importance resulted in direct training from the Grand Kai for nineteen of the current twenty five years she had been dead.

No one could completely grasp the complete efficiency of training without the aid of language unless they had experienced it themselves. It was all body language with hours of "teach and re-teach" a tool that is extremely successful in the realm of martial arts. She never knew if she completed a task correctly without a smile of satisfaction formed on the old man's face, and those were only deserved when said tactics were executed with no flaws or hesitations. For the same reason, she would solely speak to Kakarot in Atekevian when she trained him. He would learn to study with his eyes and instincts rather than with the aid of language. His first attempts at her lessons were rather humorous with his constant pleading for deeper explanations. Still, she did not waiver to his requests. He would thank her later.

"Come on Kakarot!" she yelled in her language, tongue clicking with professional exotic twists.

"I'm trying…" he answered in a more amateur dialect, his tongue tripping upon its own muscles from the still-unfamiliarity of it. She kicked upward towards his neck which he skillfully caught returning a blow to her side. She twisted in an evasive style, dancing around him, flaunting her expertise.

"Do not speak to your enemy in such an unconfident tone Kakarot. It does nothing but allow them to exploit your fear to their advantage." She continued. He didn't understand her, she knew that, but teaching a language is also the most efficient when being forced to jump directly into it. No need for constant explanation.

"Goku! I have some great news!" The witch Baba exclaimed floating through Mia's domain on the kettle she adored.

"Hello Baba." Mia breathed twisting the saiyan's arm behind him as he struggled to loosen her grip. "Nehdon telah ouyrah gadreh wendoh." She breathed to Kakarot tightening her grasp.

"Hello, Mia, how are you?" Baba asked a wide smile on her face.

"Fine," she began before throwing the novice warrior into a nearby tree, "how about you?"

"Just fine, thank you." Baba finished before hovering to where Kakarot crashed. "Goku, you have done some meritorious events in the past, and King Yemma approved!"

"Ouch…approved what Baba?" he asked brushing off the dirt from his clothing.

"He said that you can return to earth for one day to enter the world tournament!" She answered sparks of happiness flowing through her eyes.

"Really? That's so great!" Kakarot replied, the happiness becoming infectious. Mia smiled softly and floated to where the two were.

"I'm happy for you Kakarot. Make me proud ok?" she breathed, smile widening, forcing herself to hold back her thoughts.

"Wait, aren't you coming Mia?" He asked shifting his head to look at her.

"I'm afraid I wasn't invited." She laughed softly.

"Can't you let her come too?" The witch turned to look at her as well, face twisted into a ponderous style.

"I don't see why not, you've saved your share of people as well haven't you dear?" she breathed, Mia frowned.

"It was more of…hindering the resistance, rather than saving others."

"Well those two go hand-in-hand don't you think? Without your assistance the afterworld would have certainly been destroyed years ago, thus causing a-"

"Please, let us not act as if I'm the only one who had the capabilities to stop an opposing threat." Mia interrupted.

"That maybe true, but you were the one who willingly stopped any uproar without argument or expectations." Baba replied matter-of-factly. Mia frowned.

"Well," She began not quite out of fight yet, "then why is it that I have never been asked to return to the world of the living before?" Mia smirked softly at her own capability to puzzle the "all-seeing" witch. Baba's face twisted and she let out a soft tone of stuttering uh's and um's.

"I'm not sure." She finally concluded. "That's something you're going to have to ask Yemma I suppose." Mia nodded and turned to look at Kakarot.

"I would be honored to return with you Kakarot. Not like there's much to do around here anyway." She laughed; the truth had never before been so unspoken.

…

Mia's heart was kicking strangely as Kakarot spoke to his son through King kai, and she smiled softly at the swelled pride in the man's voice.

"So, Gohan, you're going to enter the world tournament?" Apparently a young girl threatened to revile that he was someone called great saiyaman. No doubt some slang term for saiyan. Mia breathed a laugh.

"Dad? Is that you?"

"Yep guess what? I'm going to be allowed to come back to Earth for one day. It seems that I have a little credit saved up and they're letting me come back to fight in the world martial arts tournament!" Kakarot said happily, a father's smile spread across his face.

"No way! This is great!" Gohan yelled out of excitement. His voice rang with joy as well.

"Mia," Baba whispered pulling her away from the conversation. "Can I have a talk with you?" She nodded softly, stepping to the side with her.

"I spoke to Yemma, he said the reason you were never invited to the other world is because you had no home to return to, and we had no idea where to send you." Mia forced a smile and let out a soft breath.

"That makes sense to me."

"He also said that the passage back to the living is only open at certain times, or else we would have invited Goku back a long time ago."

"And when can we return?"

"Oh, that door is always open because people are constantly passing. But, the door back to the living only opens for the allowance of-" Baba paused, "Of reincarnation." Mia sighed again, louder.

"…That makes sense as well." She closed her eyes. "Is there any certain reason you are giving me this information Baba?"

"We-well, given your rough past I thought I should warn you about the-" Mia lifted her hand; an anger that had long lied dormant in the "peaceful" afterworld was extremely close to the surface.

"I do not need to be reminded of my past Baba. I thank you for what you did for me then, but I no longer need the assistance you gave me. I can handle my emotions, no matter the circumstance." That wasn't too much of a lie…was it?

Baba coward back slightly at the intensity of her voice. Mia's eyes were intensely fixed on the witches shivering face. She was saiyan, and that seemed to be a good enough excuse for her anger. Baba bowed as much as she could on her cooking utility and breathed a quick apology.

Mia, coming to her sense, frowned and tried to force a smile on her lips. "Its ok Baba, this topic just always seems to stir an anger I prefer keep latent." She looked down. "Maybe my emotions aren't as well controlled as I hoped." Baba reached to put her hand on the princess' shoulder, an empathetic frown prominent on her face.

"I'm very sorry dear." Mia shook her head.

"No need, it's in the past." She began to walk towards Kakarot. "It is best, I presume…to leave well enough alone."