"What a boring life," Gine yawned into her scouter, not realizing it was on as she continued talking to herself. "Stuck in a pod and traveling somewhere I'm forced to be." She blushed hard when a low growl was heard and then sweatdropped when her leader began to speak through the transmitter.

"How ungrateful can you be?" Bardock replied, a hint of anger in his unusually calm voice. "You should be thankful you're 'stuck in a pod' instead of laying dead in a ditch somewhere. I honestly don't know how you're still alive after being switched around so much."

Gine rolled her eyes, and as usual wasn't affected by his words. "Didn't know you were listening in on me, boss."

Flying in the pod beside her, Bardock placed his arms behind his head and leaned back as much as the cramped space would allow him. A playful smirk grew on his lips as he decided it would be fun to get under her skin. Hell, there wasn't anything better to do! The scar-faced Saiyan was never the one to sleep just because. He got what his body needed, and remained awake and prepared at any time. "If you weren't here doing what you are now, what would you be doing instead?"

Gine blinked, surprised that he was actually asking it sincerely without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She rubbed the bottom of her chin, deep in thought as the sound of her breathing caused Bardock to feel funny. "Well," she laughed shortly, but he could just picture that smile of hers as she did so. "I guess I would have to say distributing meat!"

"What the fuck?" Bardock whispered to himself but Gine heard and fumed. "You want to be a butcher?"

"Yeah!" she frowned on the other end of the scouter. "What's so wrong about that?"

He shook his messy-haired head, not able to picture the sweet female with a butcher's knife. "A puny thing like you would be crushed by all the real Saiyans within seconds. I'd pick a different profession, if I were you."

"Well you're not me," Gine huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, if you don't have anything nice to say, I'll just turn this scouter off!"

He surprised her. "Alright. Fine. Be a butcher, I really don't care."

"Thank you."

Bardock glanced out of the space ship's window in hopes of being able to see Gine. She sounded angry, and for some reason, the Saiyan male thought it would amusing to see her pouting. His eyes narrowed until the figure of the woman became clear. She was sitting with one leg crossed over the other and was rubbing her arms. "Are you cold?"

Gine glanced over at him and shrugged. "Just a little."

"You're too thin."

He couldn't help but lick his lips in excitement when she finally pouted. He had been waiting on that. "Well, I'm not sorry! I can't help it!" Bardock watched as she shifted her body around so she was now fully facing him. He raised an eyebrow when she pointed to her stomach. "Is this really such a bad thing!?"

The leader couldn't help but roll his eyes as she continue to poke her stomach. "No! It's just all the females I've ever seen at least have a little bit of... something going on for them. But you..." He waited for her reaction, and then smirked in satisfaction when she began pounding on the glass furiously.

"You're just one big bully, Bardock!" Tap, tap, tap. "I've been so nice to you and you keep making fun of me!"

"Why haven't you turned off your scouter, then?"

"... Huh?"

"Your scouter," his smirk grew. "It's still on because you want to talk to me."

Gine became flustered and immediately shifted herself back to where she was before, facing the front so the Saiyan on the ship next to her could only see her profile. She tried hard of thinking about a good comeback, but ended up falling short. So, she opted with being silent while Bardock could only hear the sound of her ragged breathing. He frowned when he noticed she was still rubbing her arms.

"We'll land soon. I'm... sorry you're so cold."

The woman's blush continued to grow when she realized he was being sincere. The warmth from it was causing her body to become warmer by the minute. "Thanks... Bardock. That's surprisingly sweet of you."

"Don't thank me," he muttered. "You're part of my crew now, right? We all watch out for each other despite our differences. All I ask is that you listen to me, and I'll have your back."

Gine's smile only grew more when she looked over at Bardock only to catch him still looking at her. "Sure thing, boss!" She listened to the sound of him sighing and cracking his neck and knuckles, not able to look away while his large muscles moved. When he turned his attention back to her, he caught sight of her oogling eyes.

"You want a picture or something?"

"No!" Gine snapped, and immediately turned away while Bardock chuckled darkly at her embarrassment. For some reason, he enjoyed watching the petite woman move, and it didn't matter what she was doing. Although he had teased her about it, he actually liked the fact she was so thin. It made him believe she was fragile and delicate, something deserving of being protected. He shook his head, slightly blushing himself when he realized what he had just thought. She was a weakling, nothing more and nothing less.

He was certain.

Maybe.

"Do you have a mate, Gine?"

The woman slowly turned her head for the nth time within twenty minutes, not really ready to see the way he would be looking at her. Sure enough, his eyes were burning into her and making her feel warm all over. "Why are you asking?"

"I recall you talking about love and other nonexistent bullshit. Tell me, do you have a mate that makes you believe all that?"

"No," she sighed and turned her attention back to the front as she watched them begin to pass a small red planet. "You don't need a mate to make you find your heart. You just have to search for it yourself, and enjoy life for what it is. Even if it is life in spaceship. At least there's beautiful things to see all around you."

Bardock was silent for a moment, secretly admiring the way she touched the glass as if she could feel the planet that way. "Are you really complete as you say you are?"

"No," Gine said once again, smiling through her sad honesty. "There is something that I want."

The warrior felt a hunger in him that hadn't been around in ages when he heard her shaky breath beginning to admit one of her longings. Even he couldn't lie to himself; the woman in the ship beside him was ideal perfection in his eyes. His preference were women like Fasha except not Fasha, strong women with backbones and able to hold their own. Women that he didn't feel the need to protect or keep warm during travels... "What do you want?"

"A friend."

The sudden ache in his chest at the confession made the brilliant tactician have the urge to land somewhere immediately so he could get out and hold her. Bardock cleared his throat loudly, shaking all the sappy and corny thoughts away and feeling disgusted by himself. Still, there was that need deep down inside to keep this woman safe. "You don't need a friend. You have a crew now. We're the only ones you need."

Gine placed her hand on her heart, feeling like it was going to burst from her chest at the joy she was feeling from his words. Her eyes locked with his, and she tried hard to fight her tears as she spoke softly into the scouter. "You actually treat your crew like that? All the ones I've been in... they've never even really spoke to each other. I always felt like I didn't belong."

"They're like my brothers and sister," Bardock watched as a shy smile crept across her face and he pressed a hand against the glass. "Like I said before, we all have each other. You belong here and as long as you as listen to me or Tora, this is where you'll stay."

The smile on her face so bright that Bardock believed even the gods in Other World could see it. There was nothing more Gine wanted to do than hug him tightly and thank him endlessly for the kind words she had been longing to hear. Instead of pushing her luck, she sighed sweetly and sleepily into the transmitter. "Good night, Bardock. Just wake me up when we're approaching, okay?"

The Saiyan watched through his peripherals as Gine leaned her head back on the small seat, closing her eyes. He listened to the sound of her breathing rhythmically for a moment before finally responding. "Good night, Gine."

"Good night, Gine." Another voice came mocking through the transmitter, with strong bellowing laughter to match.

"Go to hell, Tora!"

A/N: Ah I'm so so happy some of you are enjoying this :-) I'm not sure if I can or will consider this a drabble fic since the chapters have been very short, but they won't stay this way for long. I just updated another story before this so I kinda wanted to end here. The next chapter will open up with them finally arriving to their destination, and will be much, much longer. As always, thank you guys so much and I hope this was good!