While tending to Kakarot, who assured her he was only exhausted, Gine heard Vegeta's pod whir overhead and land a few miles away. She stood, watching the horizon intensely, but when it lifted into the air again it headed straight up, taking its passenger back where he'd come from.

"We must've banged him up pretty good." Kakarot grinned where he lay on the ground.

"He'll be back," Gine said dully. Kakarot was resolute.

"Then we'll just have to train even more."

Gine shook her head. "Not me. This is as far as I go."

The smile slipped off Kakarot's face. "What do you mean?"

She gave him a wan smile. "I don't know if you've noticed, Kakarot, but you're pretty far out of my league now. There wouldn't be any point in training even if I wanted to."

"No, you can still catch up!" Kakarot struggled to sit up. "I'm not that far ahead, ma, you just need a little time and you'll be ahead of me again no sweat! I can teach you the Kaio-ken, and—"

"I don't want to learn the Kaio-ken," Gine said sharply, and Kakarot rocked back.

"Well, okay, if you don't wanna," he ventured hesitantly. "But you can still get stronger." He tried on a teasing grin. "Who else'll be able to spar with me, if you don't?"

But Gine was too tired to be cajoled. "I can't spar with you anymore, Kakarot. I'm too weak. You can spar with Gohan; he's almost as strong as me already and he's only five."

Kakarot opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, a Capsule Corp. ship blasted through the air and touched down near them. People filed out as soon as it landed: Chi Chi and Little Gohan ran to Kakarot, fussing over him, and Grandpa Gohan followed, checking Gine for injuries and cleaning up the blood on her face.

No one noticed Launch make her way from the ship to Tien's mangled body until she began howling.

The sound shook Gine from her exhausted haze, and she limped over to the girl. Launch was kneeling on the ground next to Tien's head, teeth bared in grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. At Gine's touch she sprang to her feet and brandished a gun.

"We gotta wish him back!" she shouted. "Where's the radar? I gotta start looking!"

She started for the ship, where Bulma was peeking her head out, but Gine caught her by the shoulders.

"Launch, I'm so sorry," she said, tears pricking her own eyes. "Kami's… Kami is dead. There are no dragon balls anymore." Launch froze. She stared unseeing into the middle distance. Gine almost wondered if she'd heard her. "I'm so sorry," she said again, and she was not prepared for Launch to shove her away and begin running.

Gine followed her for a few steps, but then Launch popped a capsule and climbed on to the monocycle that emerged. She was out of sight in seconds, and Gine didn't have the heart to follow her.

"She'll be alright," Roshi said sadly when she returned. Gine shook her head and joined the others on the ship.

The ride back to civilization was a somber one, everyone staring blankly ahead from exhaustion and grief. Bulma took all of them to the hospital, though Chi Chi and Gohan were of course in perfect health. The doctors let Gine go with only a few stitches on her forehead and instructions to take it easy. Kakarot was to be kept for overnight observation, and all three of them opted to stay with him.

After checking in on Krillin and Yamcha, who had been put in a room together, Gine returned to her son and his family for the night, easing herself down on the couch by the window.

"Ma?" Kakarot said plaintively from the bed. Chi Chi looked up from where she was brushing Gohan's hair. Gine was pretty sure she knew what this was about and did not look away from the window where she was staring out at the city lights.

"Yes, Kakarot?"

"Did you really mean it when you said you weren't gonna train anymore?"

She sighed.

"Yes, Kakarot."

"But why?"

Gine touched the contusion on her forehead. Nappa had trounced her like she was nothing. Vegeta had ignored her attacks. Frieza, if he came here, would hardly notice her presence except to brush away her life like a fly.

"Because I've hit my limit," she said, turning around. She tried to give him a smile. "But it's okay. You can defend the Earth now. I can go back to my garden knowing we're all in good hands. I'm satisfied."

"Satisfied?" Kakarot was outraged. He struggled to sit up, and Chi Chi forced him back. He let himself be pushed back into the cushions but kept his eyes on his mother. "You don't know what you're sayin', ma. You can learn all the things I learned from King Kai too! You haven't hit your limit. You ain't even close to your limit! If I can do it, you definitely can!"

Gine's smile faded.

"That's sweet of you to think, Kakarot. But Vegeta was right about one thing: you take after your father. Not me."

Kakarot flinched like she'd struck him. To her amazement, fat tears welled up in his eyes and rolled swiftly down his cheeks. He made no move to wipe them away, just stared at her in horror.

"You can't— you don't mean it." His voice was a child's, and the tears just kept coming. Chi Chi put her hands on his shoulders, unsure what to do, but he held her at bay, still looking at Gine. "You like trainin' with me, don't you? We have fun. It's fun, fightin' with you. I don't wanna stop. We can fight Vegeta again together, and you can get stronger, and we'll beat him next time, I'm sure of it."

His nose began to run almost as swiftly as his tears. Gine was certain she'd never seen Kakarot cry before, not like this. Even as a boy, getting hurt brought anger or laughter; never tears. Seeing him sob like a toddler broke something in her.

"Kakarot, that's enough!" Chi Chi brandished a handkerchief, wiping her husband's face and instructing him to blow. "Imagine, a full grown man like you cryin' in front of your own son! For shame!"

Kakarot sniffed. He was still looking at Gine reproachfully, but he did stop crying. Chi Chi folded the handkerchief and put it in Kakarot's shirt pocket. She was sitting on the bed next to him, and in the awkward silence she carefully folded her hands on her lap and looked Gine sternly in the eye.

"Now, ma, what's this nonsense about you not training anymore? I ain't sayin' there's any excuse for Kakarot actin' like a big baby about it, but he's got a point. You just got me back into training and now you're givin' it up?"

The combined force of Kakarot's open reproach and Chi Chi's more veiled disapproval gave Gine an unpleasant jolt. She'd assumed her dislike of fighting was common knowledge. Why were they acting like she was doing something shocking? She glanced at Gohan and found him standing near his parents, blinking rapidly at her. His voice was plaintive.

"Do you not want to train with us anymore, Grandma?"

Gine was at a loss. She had spent the past year thinking of nothing but preparing for certain doom, and now that doom had not come to pass, she realized that year had had many happy moments too. Getting up every day and training with Gohan and Chi Chi, eating together as a family, telling stories around the campfire— they had been some of the happiest days of her life. She wanted, desperately, to take those happy times and transplant them into her quiet life on Mt. Paozu.

But she knew, as she studied the three of them, that it could never be. Gohan had his studies and Chi Chi had her household to run and Kakarot would spend every last spare second training whether she did or not. If she did not train with them, she would be pulling away from their lives, maybe forever. She would be a visitor in their household rather than a part of it. And that thought was too painful to bear. She'd just lost a member of her family today. She didn't want to lose three more.

"Oh, alright," she said, exasperated. Kakarot jumped to his knees on the bed, pulling out the wires stuck to his skin as he did so.

"Do you mean it, ma?" he said, bouncing up and down. Chi Chi demanded he settle down, and a nurse came running into the room to check on him, and by the time everything quieted down Kakarot had already forgotten his question.

Gine was glad she hadn't had to answer it.