Chapter 36: Shenlon Revives Porunga

Bulma didn't know how she had gotten here, nor did she even know how long she had been here. The only thing she felt she could be certain of was that she was dead, and that she'd never seen anything like this. She was standing in the middle of a long line of puffy cloud-like things that extended all the way up to a large mansion far in the distance with a sign on it that said, "Well Come." Bulma was very puzzled. As near as she could tell, her body was just the same as it had ever been, with the exception of the weird halo above her head. No one else had his body, though. Everyone around her was just another white cloud traveling along in line. She wondered if that's really how it was, or if each individual perceived himself in his own body, while everyone else saw him as a cloud. She wondered if, to all the other souls around her - which is what she assumed these clouds to be - she looked like a fluffy, white cloud too.

She was still pondering this when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Uranai Baba, the old witch, floating there on her crystal ball. She was the sister of the turtle hermit, and she was the only non-god mortal who could travel freely between the living and nonliving realms. Although this was a position that ought to have commanded at least some respect from her, Bulma was like Goku in that she still referred to the witch as "Baba," or "old woman."

"Oh! Hi Baba!" Bulma cried, waving in greeting in her delight to see a face that didn't belong to a cloud. "Long time no see, huh? It must have been six years by now!"

"Bulma," she said, frowning at Bulma's rather familiar tone with her. "Do you know where you are?"

"Well, not really," Bulma admitted, shrugging and glancing around. "I can't quite figure out how I got here, either; I just appeared here, I guess. Where am I?"

"I'm afraid that there's no way to put this delicately, so I'll just have to say it outright. You're dead, Bulma," Baba told her, bowing her head as a gesture of respect to Bulma and her recently ended life. "I'm sorry to have to deliver such terrible news to you, but you've been killed by Freeza."

"Well, I kinda guessed that," Bulma laughed, pointing to the halo above her head. "I know what I am, Baba; I just don't know where I am. What is this place, and why am I here?"

"Oh yes, well..." Baba stammered, trying to regroup her thoughts. "What I mean is, you're in the underworld. Where you are right now is in a line of souls waiting to be passed on to either Heaven or Hell. You shouldn't be here."

"No one told me anything when I got here," Bulma said, looking as confused as she felt. "Where else is there to go?"

"I'm getting to that," Baba replied impatiently. "You may have noticed that you still have your body. Well, that's a rather rare occurrence in the land of the dead. As it turns out, Kami-sama requested that Enma-daio let you keep it."

"Oh, so I am the only one in this line with a body!" Bulma exclaimed. "I was wondering about that. Kami sure does have a habit of doing this sort of thing, doesn't he? Goku had the same thing done to him, and so did Piccolo." She paused for a moment as Baba's words finally sunk in all the way. "Wait a minute; who's Enma-daio?"

"He's the judge of the underworld," Baba explained. "He decides who goes to Heaven, who goes to Hell, and for special cases like yours, who gets to go elsewhere. He wants to meet you, so follow me."

Baba floated up and over the wispy souls toward the entrance of the building ahead of them. Bulma found that she could still fly, so she followed her in. Once inside, she found herself in a big room, facing the largest man she had ever seen.

The large, red-skinned man stared attentively at her from over his enormous desk, and Bulma felt herself a little intimidated by him, to be perfectly honest. He was in a smart business suit, and his large, red face was framed by a neatly kempt head of black hair that looked as though it would be more appropriate in wild disarray than the trimmed, slicked back style it was in. poking out of the top were two short, yellow horns, giving him a very oni-like appearance, and making Bulma wonder why he wasn't clad in tiger stripes. All in all, he was a very striking man, and Bulma could easily see that he commanded a lot of power. Not only could she sense it in his chi, but she could also see it in the way he carried himself and went about his business.

"Hm, Briefs, Bulma!" he said thunderously, studying a little black book that said "who's who" on the cover. "You have quite a track record, young lady! Although you've got a few bad points against your record here, you've really cleaned up your act in the past few years. I could send you straight on through to Heaven, you know!"

"Heh-heh. Wow," Bulma laughed nervously, holding one arm behind her head. She wasn't quite sure which was the appropriate way to act before such a powerful entity as this one. "Hey, wait a minute!" she exclaimed, as a thought occurred to her, instantly driving away all thoughts of decorum. "Do you get to judge everyone who dies? Everyone in the universe?"

"Yes," Enma said, grinning at her. "That's the job description."

"Well, did you process a guy named Vegita recently?" she asked him.

"Ho boy, I remember him!" Enma chuckled. "Had quite a mouth on him, that one!"

"Yes, that's him," Bulma said, nodding eagerly. "I don't suppose you're allowed to tell me where he was sent, are you?" she asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt anything to tell you that," he said with an amused grin. "But first I need to tell you something else. Now, I'm supposed to inform you that Kami and Popo have been gathering the dragonballs to make a wish. They're going to wish that everyone killed by Freeza or his henchmen on Namek be brought back to life. They're hoping that this will bring Saichorou back to life too, since they're pretty certain that his life was cut short a little by his grief at having Freeza kill all his children. At any rate, once he's brought back to life, the dragon of Namek will be revived, and they'll still have one wish left. Kaiou-sama is going to tell Saichorou to tell Dende to make the wish, and that wish will be that all the people on Planet Namek, except Freeza, be transported to Earth. There. That's the plan. It's a bit tricky, but they think they can make it work."

He sighed as he sat back in his chair and tapped his massive pencil on the desk, sending thunderous booms echoing throughout the office. "I'm giving Kami a little help from my men to find the dragonballs before it's too late. It's not really my place to meddle in the affairs of the living, but Freeza has already sent billions of premature cases my way, and he's really getting on my nerves. I see no harm in nudging his paperwork forward a little more quickly!" He chuckled impishly and grinned at Bulma.

"But that makes no sense!" Bulma exclaimed. "Won't Freeza come after us? He knows where Earth is! Why just leave him on Namek?"

Enma frowned. "A lot of things have happened on Namek since you died, Bulma," he said gravely. "Goku's become incredibly powerful; powerful enough to defeat even Freeza. When Freeza realized this, he tried to blow up the planet. Fortunately, his attack wasn't quite strong enough to destroy Namek right away, but even so, it's still as good as gone. The planet has less than five minutes left before it explodes."

"Damn that Freeza!" Bulma exclaimed, balling her hands into fists and gritting her teeth angrily.

"Don't worry," Enma said with a wry smile. "He's already done that to himself."

Bulma almost smiled back. "So what am I here for?" she asked.

Enma-daio nodded at her and leaned forward again as he adopted a businesslike tone and expression. "Kami asked me to let you wait everything out at his lookout," he replied. "You'll be brought to life again too when Shenlon grants his wish, and I didn't see any point in sending you on the plane to Heaven either, considering you'd be alive again before the ride was over. I'll have Uranai Baba take you back to the living world and guide you to Karin Tower."

"Thank you," Bulma said, bowing respectfully. "I really appreciate your taking the time to fill me in, as I'm sure you're on a busy schedule. Still, I was hoping you might spare me just a little more time to answer my question from before. Since Freeza killed Vegita, he'll be brought back to life too, so where did you send him in the meantime?"

Enma grinned and let out a throaty chuckle. "I sent him to Hell to cool off for an hour or so," he replied. "That boy's got a real mean streak in him, and I figured a little taste of Hell might do his soul some good."

Bulma shook her head. She didn't really know what Hell was like, but she doubted that a couple hours of it would be enough to change Vegita all that much. Still, stranger things had happened, she supposed. She thanked Enma-daio again, and she then followed Baba out of the building through a side exit. Once they were outside, Baba stepped down off of her crystal ball.

"Now," she said, getting herself settled on her knees as she turned around and placed her hands on her crystal ball. "I want you to kneel and place your hands on the crystal ball, just like I've done. You need to make contact with me or the ball in order for you to accompany me on our journey to the living world."

"Will I be able to see the trip?" Bulma asked, doing as Baba had asked her, and staring interestedly at a blue man with a single horn on his head as he passed them and gawked at Bulma.

Baba shook her head. "No," she answered. "The journey is made instantaneously. What happens is that I cause space-time to fold over a bit, so I shorten the distance between where we are and where we want to go. It's not like your form of teleportation at all. That technique alone wouldn't guarantee you a successful journey of this nature anyway. You can't begin to imagine the enormous distance you would have to travel!"

"Oh," Bulma said. She halfway wondered if Baba had discovered this magic on her own, or if Enma-daio or Kami-sama had shown it to her.

"Now close your eyes and clear your mind," Baba said. "We're about to go through!"

Bulma did as she was told, and she suddenly felt a peculiar floating sensation. It ended as soon as it had started, however, and she soon found herself kneeling on solid ground again.

"You can open your eyes now," Baba said, pushing Bulma's hands off of her crystal ball so that she could sit on it again.

Bulma did so, and she found herself looking at the neat and tidy courtyard outside Kami's palace. She got up and glanced around. Kami and Mr. Popo were nowhere in sight.

"Kami and Popo are still out getting the last dragonball," Baba said, floating up into the air. "You should just wait here for them. They'll be back soon." She began to disappear as she floated away.

"Thanks, Baba!" Bulma called after her, waving goodbye.

Bulma, now alone, sighed and looked around. She wondered how long Kami and Popo would be.

She got her answer when they suddenly appeared on Popo's magic carpet. She'd never met Kami face to face before, but she knew him immediately, as she had seen enough Nameks by now to recognize one when she met one.

"Hello Bulma," Mr. Popo said, smiling at her. "It's good to see you again."

"Hello," she said, smiling and nodding at him. "It's good to see you again too, Mr. Popo." She turned her attention to Kami and gave him a respectful bow. "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Kami-sama. I only wish our first meeting had been under better circumstances."

Kami smiled. "I would have met you at Enma's, but Popo and I were in a bit of a panic. We've finally gathered all seven dragonballs, so before we exchange any more pleasantries, I must insist that we now call Shenlon while there is still time."

Bulma nodded, and Kami set the seven dragonballs in a group on the ground. They glowed brightly as they always did when they were brought together.

"Come forth, Shenlon, and grant our wish!" Kami cried, after they had all backed a safe distance away.

The sky began to turn black, and the dragonballs glowed intensely. Shenlon, in his energy stage, shot up from the pile of dragonballs and grew in size and length. Finally, he hung suspended in the air above them, coiled about in all his glory.

"Whatever your wish," he said in his low, rumbling voice. "Whatever it is, I will grant you, provided it be within my powers. What is your desire?"

"We wish that you restore life to all those who Freeza and his subordinates killed on Namek," Kami said loudly. "And I must ask you now, will this include Saichorou, the Namek elder?"

Shenlon's eyes narrowed. "Yes," he said finally. "But only for a very brief amount of time, o my creator - ten minutes at the most. His life was nearly over before Freeza ever arrived on his planet."

"That will have to be enough then," Kami sighed, nodding gravely. "I have given you my wish."

Shenlon's eyes shone red, and Bulma's halo suddenly disappeared. She felt up above her head where it had been, and Popo grinned at her. She smiled back. Although being dead admittedly hadn't been too bad, she was nevertheless glad to be alive again.

"My task is complete," Shenlon rumbled. "I bid you farewell!" With that he disappeared, and the dragonballs shot off in all directions.

"So now what do we do?" Bulma asked.

"Kaio-sama is conveying the plan to Saichorou as we speak," Kami replied, turning around to face her. "The rest is all out of our hands. I did want to talk to you about something though, Bulma. I was hoping I could ask a favor of you."

Bulma's eyes lit up with surprise, but she beamed almost immediately. "When a god asks you for a favor, it's bound to be important. I already owe you a lot for bringing me back to life, so believe me; whatever you want me to do, I will if I can. What do you need from me, Kami-sama?"

"Well," he began, turning away a bit and looking up at the sky. "Now that all the people from Namek have come back to life, they're going to need a place to live. Their planet is on the verge of exploding right under their feet. We're going to ask Porunga to bring them here, to Earth, and I was hoping that it wouldn't be too much of an imposition to ask you if you might be able to... well..."

"...invite them to come stay at my house?" Bulma finished for him with a smile.

"It would only be until we could relocate them to a more permanent home," Kami persisted, "but I must confess that it might be a while before that happens."

Bulma let escape a barely audible sigh of relief. She had been afraid that he'd ask her for something difficult, so she was glad that he had asked for this instead. "Kami," she began, "my family is the richest family in the world. I have absolutely no doubts that we could take in a hundred refugee Nameks, or even a thousand, for that matter. You have my word that for as long as they want to stay, they'll have a very comfortable home at the Capsule Corporation compound, and they'll want for nothing, too. The only thing I should warn you about is that they'll probably have to put up with a few absurd antics from my parents! Honestly, those two can and will find the most incredible ways to embarrass me, and I can't be held responsible for it if they try to teach some poor, unsuspecting Nameks how to conga or something."

Kami smiled. "Thank you, Bulma," he said, turning back around to face her again. "It means a lot to me to know that my people will be provided for."

"It's not as if they'd be much of a burden, you know," Bulma laughed, waving his thanks away with one hand. "The houses they'll need can be erected in less than a day, thanks to my Dad's capsules, and as for their food costs, I don't think I need to tell you how little that will be! Kuririn told me that all you guys consume is water. Now," she chuckled as a rather disturbing mental image crossed her mind, "if you had asked me to house a hundred or so Saiyans, I probably would have been a little less sure of myself. I know you've seen how Goku can eat, and I'd have to wonder if even the richest family in the world could afford to house and feed a hundred of him!"

They all laughed at that. Suddenly Bulma remembered something, and she frowned. "Say, what happened to Goku, anyway?" she asked. "Enma-daio said that he'd become stronger than Freeza! Was the boost he got from Dende's healing him really that big?"

"Goku has undergone a tremendous transformation, or so Kaio-sama tells me," Kami said. "He said he's become a Super Saiyan, whatever that means. He said that it was Goku's anger over your death that triggered the transformation."

"Whoa," Bulma said quietly. "Vegita tried so hard to become one, but he lost the battle to Goku yet again. If Goku's being one is enough to beat Freeza, it's no wonder Vegita wanted the transformation so badly."

"Kami, they're here!" Popo said excitedly. "They've appeared in a forest just on the other side of South City!"

"You might want to get going," Kami urged Bulma. "Vegita's been brought here too, and it won't be a good idea to leave them with him for long. As I understand it, they don't like him much."

"Right," Bulma said, grimacing and nodding in understanding. "Well, I guess I'm off then. Thanks for everything, Kami-sama! You too, Mr. Popo!" With a hasty wave at them, she ran to the edge of the tower before hopping off and zooming away toward South City at full speed. She couldn't wait for Kuririn, Gohan, Goku, and Piccolo to fill her in on the rest of the details!

It took her less than five minutes to reach her friends – she had teleported most of the way – and when she had finally located everybody, she found that they were all standing in a big clearing near the edge of the forest. Bulma was so happy to see Gohan and Kuririn that she didn't even notice the way that Vegita stared at her as she flew down among the group.

"Bulma!" Kuririn cried as she landed beside him and gave him a playful knock on the top of his head. "We were getting worried that you hadn't been brought back to life! Where on Earth have you been?!"

"At Kami's place," she replied, "or at least I have been since Baba brought me there while I was dead. It's a long story, and I'll tell it to you later." She looked around a little, but she didn't see Goku. "Where's Goku?" she asked. "Kami said he had become a Super Saiyan!"

"Woo, did he ever!" Kuririn said. "It was incredible!"

"Freeza made a big mistake when he killed you," Piccolo said quietly, "one that he's paying for right now."

"So I've heard," Bulma chuckled, grinning at him. "Where is Goku, anyway? Didn't Porunga bring him back with the rest of you?"

"Goku wasn't done fighting Freeza," Kuririn said, lowering his eyes. "He chose to stay behind and finish him."

"What?!" Bulma gasped, covering her mouth in horror. "You... you mean that when Namek explodes..."

"Then your precious Kakkorot will be blown to bits along with it," Vegita interjected with a smug grin. "What a pity. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear of grief for that simpering idiot, but rubbish like him has no business being alive in the first place, after all."

Bulma turned around to shoot him a glare of contempt. "Well, I can see that the time Enma-daio made you spend in Hell didn't do anything to improve your tact, you big asshole," she snapped at him. "Freeza should never have killed you. It would've been better for everyone around here if you'd gotten blown up along with Goku."

Vegita shot her a wicked smirk and ignored the whispers of assent that hissed through the crowd of Nameks a few yards away from them. He seemed perfectly elated by the day's turn of events – not to mention the fact that his words had obviously ruffled her feathers – and it made Bulma so angry she could spit. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Gohan was glaring at him with an even more intolerant expression than hers.

"You just watch what you say about my father," he growled at Vegita. "I won't just stand here and let you insult him like that."

"Is that a threat?" Vegita jeered, grinning evilly at Gohan.

"It's a promise," Gohan said with a snarl.

"Will you two cut it out?" Bulma snapped at them, realizing that having a fight break out here wasn't going to get them anywhere, and would most likely result in Gohan's getting sent to the hospital again. "You're both acting like idiots! Vegita, you're an insufferable ass for celebrating Goku's death in front of his son! Gohan, you should know better than to give a damn what a lowlife like Vegita has to say! Quit being so stupid, or I'll knock you both silly!"

Neither one was paying any attention to her. "Why don't you make me stop?" Vegita said tauntingly to Gohan. "Or are you afraid to fight me, just like your coward father was?"

"My father was never afraid to fight you," Gohan snapped. "And neither am I! If you want me, then here I am! I'm gonna make you take back what you said, you stupid jerk!" He flew at Vegita then, and everyone jumped back to give them room.

"Ooh, I'm gonna clobber them both!" Bulma shrieked, charging her chi and preparing to teleport in and separate them. "You're a couple of twits, you two!"

"No," Piccolo said, grabbing her arm and shaking her out of her fury with his calm voice. "Let the boy have his way for now. He won't shut up if we don't let him get it out of his system, and Vegita is a better target for him than my ears. I say let him defend his father's honor if that's what he thinks needs to be done."

Bulma snorted angrily. "And here I thought you were the most sensible one of our bunch, Piccolo. Gohan isn't any kind of match for Vegita, and even if he was, having those two fight each other isn't going to accomplish a damn thing."

Piccolo didn't answer her. He was watching Gohan and Vegita, and naturally, Gohan was losing. He was a lot stronger and faster than he had been before, but so was Vegita, and the smug prince was landing quite a few more blows than Gohan was. Suddenly, Vegita smashed Gohan into a nearby tree, nearly succeeding in uprooting it. Gohan had been stunned, and he didn't get up right away.

"This is something you've learned all too late, my dear boy," Vegita chuckled through an evil grin, poising to attack. "I play for keeps!" He began to charge at him, but Piccolo suddenly shot in his path, causing Vegita to screech to a halt.

"Get out of my way," he growled at Piccolo. "The brat has this coming for challenging me."

"That's enough for now," Piccolo said quietly. "Maybe some other time you two can finish this, but not today. If you so much as lay a hand on him now, you'll have to deal with me."

"That may not be such a bad idea," Vegita remarked with a sneer.

"Okay, okay," Bulma snapped, stepping in between them and pushing them away from each other. "That's enough, already! We get the picture, all right, Vegita? You're not afraid to challenge anyone, no matter how much of an ass it makes you! Now back off, or so help me, I'll teleport you to straight to the coldest, darkest part of Antarctica! Do you hear me?"

He glared angrily at her, but she glared back at him just as fiercely. Then, to her utter surprise, he actually relented. "Fine," he growled, walking away and leaning up against a tree with his arms crossed. "I guess I should have expected as much from a planet of weaklings. I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you degenerates, anyway."

Bulma rolled her eyes and let out an angry sigh. Earth was definitely going to be less peaceful with Vegita around. After glaring angrily at the scowling Saiyan, she turned and walked over to Dende. "Hey, kid," she said, smiling at him. "What did I tell you? They're all here! I had no idea we'd get it done so soon, though. Kami had this planned all along!"

"Not all of us are here," one of the older Nameks said, bowing his head sadly.

Bulma looked around. "You're right," she said, suddenly afraid she knew what had happened. "Where's Saichorou?"

"He... he died just before you got here," Dende said, sniffing a little, "but he told me to tell you thank you for all your help."

"He's dead already?" Bulma exclaimed, very much upset. "That's just terrible! I'm so sorry, everyone; Shenlon said he'd have at least a few more minutes, and we needed him to come back so that Porunga could grant the wish to send you all to safety. I'm so, so sorry that you all had to watch him die like that. I wish it hadn't happened that way."

"He was really happy," one of the older Nameks sighed, stepping forward and patting the sniffling Dende on the head. "He wanted everyone to know that, including you. He said that he wasn't afraid to die again, and I believed him. When he left us, he went with a smile. It was very heartbreaking to see him die, but at the same time, I'm glad he felt such peace and joy during his final moments."

Bulma would have thanked him for his kind words, but a familiar voice had just begun shouting in her brain, and it startled her so badly that she nearly fell over. "Bulma!" the voice cried. "Bulma, can you hear me? It's me, Yamucha!"

"Yamucha!" she gasped, clutching at her head and whirling around with a wild expression – which fairly surprised the Namek who had spoken to her. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, isn't it cool?" he laughed. "I'm talking to you telepathically through Kaio-sama!"

"Wow!" she cried. She beamed at the astonished onlookers. "It's Yamucha!" she cried. "He's speaking to me through Kaio-sama!" She beamed excitedly at them for a few more moments before walking off a little bit so that she could concentrate more on him. "Wow, Yamucha," she said softly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has," Yamucha replied. "I've missed you so much, Bulma! I really wish I could see you right now! There's so much I want to tell you."

"Well, you can start by telling me how much you've improved," she laughed, putting her hands on her hips. "If you even dare to come back to life without having any new techniques to show me, you have another thing coming!" She laughed again, but suddenly, a terrible realization occurred to her, and her laughter was cut short by a horrified gasp.

"No!" she cried. "Oh no! This can't be happening!"

"What's wrong?" Yamucha asked, sounding concerned.

"I just realized something," Bulma said, her face pale. "We can't wish any of you back! Kami used the dragonballs just today to wish all the people Freeza killed back to life! The dragonballs won't be back again for another year, but by then, it'll have been more than a year after your deaths, and the dragon won't revive someone who's been dead for more than a year! Oh Yamucha, this is terrible! What are we going to do?"

Yamucha laughed, surprising her very much indeed. "That's what I'm supposed to tell you. You don't need to use the Earth dragonballs to wish us back! The Namek dragonballs are right there under your noses!"

"What?" Bulma said. "The Namek dragonballs?"

"Yeah!" Yamucha cried. "There's three wishes, right? One for Tenshinhan, one for Chaozu, and of course, one for me! Isn't it great?"

Bulma almost let herself believe it, until she remembered one thing. "Yeah, but there's a problem," she groaned, feeling her spirit sinking painfully back into despair. "Saichorou's dead, Yamucha. Those dragonballs are gone."

"No they aren't," an elderly, portly Namek said, looking up. "Saichorou passed the responsibility of Namek elder on to me. When he did that, he also transferred Porunga's mortal link to me. The dragonballs are still in existence, but it will be 120 days before they're active again. You're welcome to use them," he said, smiling at her. "I'm sure none of us would object to that." All the Nameks nodded in agreement, smiling in unison. Bulma clasped her hands together and bowed in gratitude.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Yamucha. "It'll work after all!"

"Yeah!" Yamucha laughed. "Then we'll all be back together! Just like always!"

"Well, not all of us," Bulma replied, frowning a bit. "Goku's dead now too, but we can't wish him back yet. We'll have just enough time to make it for you guys alone. We'll wish you guys back first and get Goku on the second time around, I suppose. If," she added, smiling at the new Namek elder, "you wouldn't mind, that is?"

He smiled back. "We are at your service," he said simply. "You may use the dragonballs as often as you like."

"Well, that's all I was supposed to say, I guess," Yamucha said. Bulma could detect a hint of reluctance in his voice.

"Okay, Yamucha," she said. "Can I ask Kaio-sama something real quick before he closes me off?"

"He's nodding," Yamucha said. "Bye Bulma. I'll see you in a few months!"

"Goodbye Yamucha," she said, smiling. "I'll see to that."

"You want to know about Goku, don't you?" Kaio-sama boomed in her head. "I can sense it in your thoughts. Well, all I can tell is that Namek is completely obliterated. I can't sense a single living thing out there where it used to be. I'm assuming both he and Freeza are truly dead."

"Thanks, Kaio-sama," Bulma sighed, nodding. "That's what I wanted to know. Be sure to say hi to Chaozu and Tenshinhan for us, will you?"

"Don't worry; I will," he said, chuckling. "Goodbye, Bulma. Oh, and just so you know, if you ever wind up dead again, feel free to drop by. Any friend of Goku's is always welcome."

"Thanks," she laughed. "I'll do that. Bye, Kaio-sama!" She didn't hear anything else after that, so she figured he had cut off the connection. She sighed.

"So?" Kuririn asked. "What's up?"

Bulma filled them in on everything that they'd talked about. Everyone - with the obvious exception of Vegita - was really sad to hear about Goku's death, but they were still relieved that they had a chance of bringing him back later on. Of course, they were all glad to hear that Freeza was dead. Even Vegita gave a grunt of approval when she told them that.

"I'd really like to meet this Goku," Muuri, the new Namek elder said thoughtfully, "and you know that our dragonballs are at your disposal. I just wish there was more we could do for you. We owe you our lives."

"I wish you wouldn't think of it like that," Bulma said, frowning. "The whole reason we came to your planet was to ask for the use of your dragonballs, but just look at what happened! Over half of you had already been killed by Freeza when we got there! Did you ever wonder how he found out about your planet? Well, I'll tell you; it was from hearing about the dragonballs we had on our planet. Once ours were gone, he put two and two together, just like Vegita did. In a way, it's our fault that Freeza even went to your planet. Then, on top of all that, he went and destroyed the whole damn thing!"

Muuri shrugged. "It's likely that he would have come to take over our planet eventually, even without the knowledge of our dragonballs," he said. "At least this way the universe can be rid of him."

"Well, anyway, since your planet is destroyed," Bulma continued. "Kami and I decided that you needed a place to live, so here it is: I want all of you to come live with me!"

The Nameks all shared a huge gasp of surprise. "No! We couldn't possibly impose such a great burden on you!" Muuri cried. "There are over a hundred of us!"

Bulma laughed. "Don't be silly!" she said, waving it away. "It'll be no burden on me at all, I can assure you! It just so happens that my family and I are the richest people on the planet! We could take in an entire metropolis if we had to. Besides, you guys are friends! You're welcome to stay for as long as you want!"

Muuri consulted the other elders on the matter for a few minutes. Finally, they seemed to have reached a consensus.

"We accept," Muuri said, smiling broadly, "with all the thanks we can ever give!"

Bulma smiled happily, but all at once her expression darkened as she realized that there was one more person who hadn't been addressed yet. "Oh yeah," she said, turning back toward Vegita. "I almost forgot. You don't have a place to stay either, do you? Well... I suppose you can come stay at the Capsule Corporation too, if you think you can behave yourself," she added uncertainly, studying him with a critical frown.

"Feh," he snorted, looking away from her. "What a fool thing to suggest! Why would I agree to do any such thing?"

Bulma felt her temper rising, but she punched it down and pushed it aside for now. Vegita was Vegita, and she shouldn't have expected anything less insulting from him. "I realize that we commoners must be dreadfully boring to a prince as exclusive and refined as yourself, but you might want to consider developing a bit of tolerance, at least for the time being," she said with an irritated shrug as she shook her head at him. "You won't find any better living conditions than you will with me. It'd be in your best interests to at least give it a trial run, Vegita. Still, it's your choice, of course. You do what you want; your well-being is definitely no concern of mine." She turned away from him and smiled warmly at Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan.

"I guess it's time we headed home," she said, waving goodbye. "I'll bet you can't wait to see your mom, Gohan!"

"Heh," he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "Yeah, but I'm not looking forward to telling her that I didn't do my homework like she asked."

"You've got to take the bad with the good, I guess," she chuckled, giving him a playful sock in the shoulder. "Say hi to the old pervert for me, would you, Kuririn?"

"Sure thing!" he said, floating up into the air. "Call me when the dragonballs are active again, and I'll come help you find 'em!"

"You've got it!" she cried as he flew off for the Kame house.

"Goodbye Piccolo," she said, saluting him and grinning. "I hope you'll grace us with your presence again soon. Don't try to take over the world right away, okay? I think we'd all like a vacation first."

Piccolo smirked. "Feh," he snorted. He looked down at Gohan. "You ready to go home, kid?"

Gohan just beamed at him. "Bye everybody!" he cried as they flew off. Bulma smiled as she watched them go. Those two really did look like they belonged to each other. Chichi wasn't going to like it, but it looked like Piccolo was going to play a big part in her son's life from now on.

Bulma turned around and smiled at her new houseguests. "Can you all fly?" she asked them. "My house is within flying distance from here."

Yes, we can all fly," Muuri replied, nodding. "Lead the way, Miss Bulma."

She took off and led the large flock of Nameks to her home: the Capsule Corporation compound. She winced as she couldn't help but wonder how her parents would choose to embarrass her when she introduced them.

As they flew over South City, Bulma suddenly sensed Vegita's chi behind them. Apparently he'd decided to lower his standards and come with them after all, the poor guy. She smiled, despite herself. She wasn't altogether thrilled that he'd be living nearby, but at least this way she could keep an eye on him. Setting him loose on the people of the world was definitely not the best idea. He wasn't exactly a people person, after all.

Bulma sighed and tried to forget about Vegita. She needed to figure out exactly what she was going to tell her parents. She had a lot of explaining to do, and she just knew that they weren't going to give her an easy time of it!