Gine stood outside her cottage, trying to keep her footing inside a whirling vortex of flame. Bardock saw her and grinned. He lifted his hands, gesturing to the entirety of her. "Babe, look at you!"

She gulped down a sob. "I can't do it! I can't handle all this power!"

He snorted, still grinning.

"You're a Saiyan. 'Course you can."

She felt tears like fire running down her cheeks. "I can't! I'm not like you. I'm not strong."

He reached out and put his hands on her hips like he always used to, steadying her. "You are. You're stronger than me now! You don't see my hair turning gold, do you? Damn, you look good."

She clutched his arms, and the skin where her fingers curled around him sizzled and smoked.

"You don't understand! I'm not a Saiyan! I'm just an Earthling who was raised on Vegeta."

Bardock leaned forward and kissed her forehead, a gesture he had never, ever made in life.

"Good enough for me."

And she woke up.

Gine lay, just breathing. It felt like the morning after a fever. She could hear voices raised in argument, but she didn't care. She'd dreamed of Bardock. She hadn't dreamed about him in almost a decade. Why now? And… was she happy to have seen him? Or did he just remind her of—

One of the raised voices was Vegeta's, and Gine heaved herself out of bed without conscious thought. Everything flooded back to her— Zarbon and Dodoria; Frieza; her own madness— and she had Vegeta's throat in her hand before she knew where she was.

"Ma!"

"Ms. Gine!"

"Grandma!"

Everyone sounded so worried. She looked around and saw them, Chi Chi, Krillin, Gohan, even dear little Dende, all staring at her in concern and horror. Which was confusing. She felt fine. Doubtless Dende had healed her while she slept. She remembered vaguely her body going to pieces around her, but it was a distant sensation by now. Vegeta struggled and she tightened her grip.

"Ma, don't you dare!" Chi Chi said sharply.

Gohan stood on his toes in anxiousness. "Grandma, you can't kill him, we promised him safe passage."

Gine was confounded.

"Why did you do that?"

"He said he'd kill us if we didn't take him," Gohan answered solemnly. "We took him, so he's not going to kill us. He gave his word."

"But I can kill him," Gine reminded them.

"But you shouldn't!" Chi Chi snapped. Gine stared at her, her brain churning in slow circles as she tried to figure out what Chi Chi meant by that.

"Please, ma'am," Krillin said, arms out placatingly, "I know you hate him, but cold-blooded murder is going a little far, don't you think?"

He was chuckling nervously, and all of a sudden Gine's brain put the pieces together.

This was an earthling thing. They didn't kill just because it got them what they wanted. They didn't torment the weak just because they could. Her brain moving through molasses, she recalled conversations with Grandpa Gohan, long hours into the night spent discussing good and evil; vengeance and mercy; fighting without killing. It had taken her a long time to understand. It had all seemed so silly.

Silly... but good.

She dropped Vegeta. The Prince fell to his knees, coughing and gagging. Gohan ran up to her and hugged her legs, and she knelt and hugged him back so tightly she was sure she was hurting him. But he clung to her just as tightly and made no complaint.

When Kakarot came to, he found Nail standing over him.

"Are you able to fly?" the Namekian asked.

Wincing, Kakarot stood. He felt like he was a hundred years old, but he nodded. Nail lifted into the air.

"Come."

They flew back to the Grand Elder's house. Nail, not talkative to begin with, was stony in his silence. When they entered the house, Kakarot understood why.

The Grand Elder was dying.

"Well… done… Kakarot…"

"Grand Elder, save your strength." The panic in Nail's voice was subtle but palpable. The Grand Elder smiled weakly.

"It is… my time, child… Be strong."

He breathed for several moments, each breath sounding like it would be his last. Eventually he opened his eyes and looked at Nail.

"Moori… will be my... successor."

Nail took in a shaky breath.

"Yes, Grand Elder."

The Grand Elder closed his eyes, and never opened them again.

Nail did not weep. He bared his ferocious teeth and his breathing became halting and juddery, but he shed no tears. Gradually the Grand Elder faded until the chair he'd sat in the entire time Kakarot had known him was empty. Still Nail did not cry. Kakarot realized belatedly that so long as he was here, Nail couldn't cry.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, and clapped Nail on the shoulder once before leaving the building. He stood outside the door for a moment, and then rose into the air, wondering what to do next.

He knew he should feel something: maybe sad that the Grand Elder was gone, or happy that Frieza was gone. And, well, he did. But mostly what he felt was hungry. He realized he was famished at almost the same moment he spotted several large shadows moving under the surface of a nearby body of water.

A few minutes later Kakarot was feasting on two large fish, cooked with ki and seasoned with hunger. Once he'd devoured them he rose into the air again in search of more food, but then he spotted a strange shape in the distance, something unnatural. As he flew closer he realized it was probably the ship Frieza had arrived on.

Curiously, Kakarot walked up the gangplank.

"Hello?"

His voice echoed, but there was no response. He wandered from room to room, noting with vague interest the various screens and computer banks and weapons depots. Finally he came to a room with a sink and racks of armor like what all the Frieza soldiers had been wearing.

Kakarot looked down at himself. He was filthy, covered in blood and dirt and sweat, his clothes torn to ribbons. He shrugged and stripped, washing himself in the sink. In one of the cupboards he found a body suit that looked roughly his size and put it on. It was light and stretchy, almost as good as being naked. Satisfied, he started for the door, wondering if there was any food to be had, when a rack of armor caught his eye and he stopped.

Thoughtfully, Kakarot took one of the chest pieces down and after a few tries managed to force it on over his head. Then he stood in front of the mirror again, frowning slightly.

Was this what his pa had looked like? Ma always said he looked just like his father, but Chi Chi said he had his ma's eyes, so how much like him was he really?

Kakarot tried frowning, baring his teeth, smirking, squinting his eyes. None of it made him look like anyone but himself. If anything, he looked a little more like Vegeta in this armor— Vegeta! Where had he scuttled off to?

Kakarot continued his search for food, but once he found the ration stores he gathered an armful and stuffed them into his armor. Then he opened one and flew away from the ship, trying to sense Vegeta's ki.

Hours later he'd gone through all the rations, none of which were good (though one tasted almost, if he closed his eyes and used his imagination really hard, like a blueberry muffin), but there was still no sign of Vegeta.

However, as he flew he passed over the battleground where he and ma had fought Ginyu. That had been weird. Being in another body, but also seeing ma as a great ape. She hadn't been one in so long he'd forgotten how strange she got. He barely remembered his own times in the form— just nightmarish impressions of immense size and rage he was glad to forget.

Something glinted as he flew overhead, and he landed, finding an intact pod. The other four had been smashed flat, but this one was only partially buried. He reached out and touched it, and the door forced its way open with a hiss.

Kakarot peered inside. There was no way to tell which member of the Ginyu Force had used this craft. It looked the same as the pod he had carried to Dr. Briefs months before, the one he and ma had come to earth in. This was the same kind of vessel that had carried his ma and pa around the galaxy so long ago. What had it been like, sitting in a small enclosed space for so long? What had his ma thought about, isolated from the rest of the universe?

Kakarot bent down and climbed inside, turning awkwardly in the small space. He sat, and found that the seat was rather comfortable actually. It was softer than it looked and supportive too. He wriggled into it, trying to imagine his ma flying around the galaxy like this, ready to—

To what? She had been a Saiyan. And what did Saiyans do? She had told him, in no uncertain terms. And she'd never said she hadn't done the same. He'd seen her, just now, wrathful and bloodthirsty even before the strange transformation had taken her mind. All it had taken was a few battles and his ma had become a hardened, vengeful nightmare, like the kind, laughing, gentle person who had raised him had never existed in the first place.

(Maybe she never had.)

Viciously, Kakarot forced these thoughts away, and he slammed his hands down to either side of him to lever himself out of the pod. But before he could get his weight under him the door hissed and swung shut. Frantically he pushed at the door, realizing belatedly he'd brought his hand down on a big red button. Pushing it again did nothing. Something hissed, and he suddenly felt sleepy. The last words Kakarot remembered before everything went black was,

"Cryo sleep initiated."