It had been a little over a month since eighty three Namekians had come to live at Capsule Corp, and as of yesterday Yamcha could finally say he knew the names of every single one of them.
"Hey, Tsumu!" he said confidently as the tall, skinny Namekian scurried down the corridor past him.
"They're here!" Tsumu shouted over his shoulder, not stopping for an instant. "Lian just spotted them passing Neptune. They're coming!"
Yamcha whirled around, nearly spilling his coffee. Lian was the elder in charge of looking through the telescope for any sign that Kakarot and the others had survived. Yamcha felt a grin tug its way across his face as he realized what this meant. Hastily he set down his coffee and followed Tsumu out to the courtyard.
Apparently the rumor mill traveled fast, because the courtyard was already half full, and as Yamcha skidded to a stop in the center, even more green figures emerged from the building. Within a minute all eighty three of them had arrived, all looking hopefully up at the sky. Following shortly after them was Bulma, looking stunning even in a baggy gray jumpsuit, her hands covered in grease stains and still wearing her welding goggles. She pushed them up off her eyes, which she narrowed at Yamcha.
"Why didn't you come get me?" she demanded, taking out a capsule and popping it. A hefty telescope appeared and she looked through it, adjusting some knobs.
"Sorry, babe," Yamcha said automatically, though he knew she probably wasn't even listening. "I figured you'd…"
"They're on track to land. The ship looks good, everything appears intact," she said, ignoring him. Yamcha sighed internally. Bulma straightened. "Moori, you've got everything?"
The acting elder nodded gravely, hefting a red and white capsule that held medical supplies. Today marked the fourth day after the ship could conceivably have made it back to earth. Four days on Namek, during which time literally anything could have happened. And then thirty-four days in space, in who knows what condition. They had to be prepared for the worst, though the fact that the ship was here at all meant that their very worst fears had been proven wrong. Someone, at least one person, had survived.
Less than a minute after Bulma stepped back from the telescope a thunderclap echoed over the city. Directly above them in the sky they could see a tiny white dot grow rapidly larger until all at once it became the ship which, in the next instant, exploded overhead.
The crowd gasped in dismay as chunks of debris and trails of smoke and fire sailed through the air. Yamcha pulled Bulma close to him to shield her, but she wiggled free and pointed up into the sky.
"Look!"
Yamcha looked. Gohan, Chi Chi and Krillin, all curled protectively around Dende and each other, were speeding away from the explosion— but it was a controlled flight. They were alright. But even as they landed in the yard, Bulma still pointed to the sky. Yamcha followed her gaze, and felt his heart jump into his throat.
Floating in midair, golden as the sun, terrible and resplendent, was Gine. And hovering in front of her, vicious and angry and almost as terrifying, was Vegeta.
Yamcha gulped.
Vegeta was yelling something, but it was too far for Yamcha to make out the words. Gine did not reply as she axe-kicked him into the ground. Capsule Corp's lawn cratered where he landed, Namekians scattering out of the way. Instantly Gine was there, a hot wind swirling around her. She was glowing, hair and eyes burning, face rigid with fury. Gohan extricated himself from Chi Chi's arms and flew toward the combatants, Chi Chi yelling after him.
"Gohan, don't! It's too dangerous!"
"Grandma!" Gohan pushed his way through the force of Gine's aura, his hair whipping around his face, eyes nearly closed. "Grandma! It's okay! We're here, we're home!"
Yamcha, standing between Bulma and this display (though he could feel her peeking around his arm), saw Vegeta staring up at Gine with an expression that sent shivers down his spine. The prince was furious, a seething helpless anger, but he was also terrified, and the mixture made Yamcha almost (almost) feel sorry for him.
Gine leveled a palm at Vegeta and Gohan redoubled his efforts to reach her.
"Grandma, don't!"
He clasped his arms around her neck at the exact moment a whitehot pinpoint of ki appeared in the center of Gine's palm. She froze, her grandson sobbing into her shoulder as Vegeta cowered in front of her. Everyone held their breath for several seconds. Then Gine closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, held it for four counts, and then exhaled.
A brief but harmless gust of wind traveled outward from her, as though the entire planet was exhaling along with her. Her hair faded to black, and when she opened her eyes they were dark and lucid. The ki blast dissipated, and she raised her hand to Gohan's back, rubbing it comfortingly.
Yamcha's shoulders drooped in relief, but before he could truly relax, Vegeta jumped to his feet, eyes burning with their own light.
"How d—!"
Gine slammed a hand over his mouth without letting go of Gohan. She didn't start glowing again, but the hatred in her eyes matched Vegeta's. She leaned in and hissed something in his ear, and when she leaned back again, Vegeta dropped to his knees, utterly broken.
Without another glance at him, Gohan still in her arms, Gine flew away. Chi Chi muttered something and flew after them, leaving only Krillin to explain what had just happened. Yamcha stepped over to him to help him to his feet, but he jerked and sent Krillin crashing to the ground again when he heard Bulma's voice saying,
"Well, prince, what do we do with you?"
Yamcha spun hastily around to see Bulma standing, hands firmly on her hips, in front of His Royal Highness the Prince of All Saiyans, who in turn was still kneeling slumped on the ground, looking up at her with a lost expression on his face. Yamcha hurried over.
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Bulma asked again. Vegeta hesitated, and then shook his head slightly. Whatever Gine had said to him had leached the spirit right out of him. Yamcha looked sideways at his girlfriend and was amazed to see pity there.
"Well, do you wanna stay here?" she said. Yamcha choked, and it took him so long to clear his throat that Vegeta spoke before he could.
"You offer me… hospitality?" He spat the word. "Why?"
Bulma snorted. "Hospitality nothing. I wanna keep an eye on you. Who knows what you might get up to if I leave you unsupervised."
"Babe," Yamcha hissed in her ear. "What are you doing?"
"He doesn't have anywhere to go," she said simply, as though that was any kind of explanation. Vegeta stood slowly and eyed the crowd of tense Namekians around him.
"Won't they mind?" he asked with a hint of a feral smile. Bulma matched it with a smile of her own.
"They're leaving anyway." She turned to Krillin. "Right? You guys killed Frieza, right? Or none of you would be here. Hey, speaking of which, where's Kakarot?"