Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, and the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, and let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.

Also, my apologies if you get notified of this chapter twice. It was brought to my attention that for some reason the chapter wasn't showing up for some, and the link was dead as well.

Chapter 19

Outside Guru's house

Gohan pulled his hands back, letting the light in for the first time since Raditz landed on Earth. His father was in front of him, bright orange. Krillen was beside him, and Tien was off to the side. Turles, he assumed Turles, was uncomfortable to look at. He looked like his father, but older, scarred, and callused.

A short, gloomy, namekian child stood over 7 stone spheres. Were those the dragon balls? Why didn't they fly away? Where did the dragon go this quickly?

Goku suppressed his energy as much as he could and held a hand to Gohan. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"None." Gohan fist bumped his dad.

Goku quickly picked Gohan up and hugged him again. Moments later Krillen joined the party, hugging Goku as much as the boy. Tien and Turles exchanged another glance. Turles smiled and approached the father and son, patting them both on the back.

"I'm sorry." Goku whispered into his sons ear. Tears fell from his eyes, wetting Gohan's hair again. He leaned into Krillen, squeezing Gohan between them. "I'm sorry, both of you." He nuzzled his cheek into Gohan's hair, wiping his eyes dry. "I should have taken the fruit. I should have..."

"You did what you thought was right, and eating the fruit wouldn't have made a difference." Turles clapped him on the back. "We had losses, but eating the fruit wouldn't have helped prevent them at all."

Krillen broke away from the hug and nodded. "Turles is right. You may have died, but, but we got you back, and you took Frieza with you."

Gohan tensed in Goku's arms, and his father didn't miss it. Goku looked away, scanning the faces of the Namekians, and nodded. "Next time though, I think I'll just do it." Goku said, still not making eye contact. "I won't risk being defeated again."

"With that kind of power, I don't think you could be." Turles said. "If you went at Frieza like that from the start, well, he wouldn't stand a chance."

Goku looked at Turles' nose and nodded.

A large namekian cleared his throat and stepped in front of the rest. Stepping aside, facing both his people and the aliens, Moori spoke. "I regret to inform you." He made eye contact with each familiar face. "Grand Elder Guru is no longer among us."

The group of Namekians shuffled uncomfortably in place, looking between each other. Moori rejoined his people, and shortly after he began to cry, the rest followed. Dende joined them, and was quickly lifted by one of his elders.

Not wanting to intrude on such a private moment, Goku carried his son to the far side of Guru's spire, and the rest of his friends followed. As they walked they felt a wave of energies moving towards them. The rest of the Namekians were coming to pay their respects to their fallen father.

"You just fought the greatest battle in saiyan history." Turles said. "You must tell your story, nephew."

Goku looked over his shoulder at his older reflection. He tried to think of an excuse but Krillen beat him to the punch.

"He just died." Krillen said. "Take it from someone who knows, it takes a while to come back from that. He may not remember what happened yet." He caught up with Turles and began walking backwards in front of him. "I was a kid when I first died. I was actually killed by the mutant child of the father of the guy we just revived. So, there I was..."

Tien tuned the pair out. Revival was an incredible thing to witness, but it was the past. What he had to figure out was how to get everyone back to Earth. He could pilot the pods just fine, but finding Earth would be pretty difficult without that woman Jeice had, and he regretted not getting galactic coordinates before leaving them to their own devices. Hopefully Turles had taken notes.

When Goku was comfortable that he had put enough distance between him and the Namekians, he stopped. "I need to talk with Gohan in private." He said. "If you need us, we'll be over there." Goku pointed with his chin across a small pond to a cluster of trees.

Krillen nodded. "We'll be here if you need us." He turned back to the pair of men that towered over him. "So, there was this giant red ogre, I think his name was King Yen, and he had this massive desk..."

Across the pond

Goku landed softly on the shore of the pond, after a single hop sent him across it. He looked up and down the land, not seeing a good place to sit. Taking his son into the woods he located a downed tree, surrounded in blue leaves, and put his son on it. He sat in front of his boy.

With his legs crossed and his hands on his knees Goku looked into his son's eyes. "I didn't kill Frieza. You did."

Gohan winced. For a brief moment he had hoped that Krillen was right, and his father wouldn't remember. "Yes, I did." Gohan broke eye contact with Goku. After so long of not having that level of intimacy with anyone, it felt too overwhelming to be included in this conversation.

"I saw most of your fight from King Kai's planet." Goku shifted his elbows to his knees, and rested his head on his hands. "How much of it do you remember, Gohan?"

Gohan crossed his arms in his lap as well, pulling his knees together and leaning forward. He looked at the ground when he answered. "I remember getting mad, really, really mad. I remember Frieza using an energy ball attack, and I pushed it back, I think. Or, or I dove through it, using Masenko I think. Frieza was begging, but, but I couldn't forgive him."

Goku put his hand on Gohan's knee. "That's okay." He studied Gohan's stony face. "If I were in your shoes, I don't think I could have stopped myself either. I don't know if I would want to."

"You were going to kill him." Gohan said. "That was our plan, I know. I didn't think he'd beg though. I didn't think he'd refuse to die."

"You thought someone that ruled by power, would accept the authority of someone with more power than himself." Goku didn't ask, just stated.

"I don't know if I thought that, or just expected it. I guess, I guess I expected him to keep fighting until the end." Gohan took a deep breath. "I really didn't want him to beg. I wanted him to keep being a monster until the end."

Goku grabbed Gohan's chin, forcing eye contact. "He was a monster until the end." He spoke clearly, enunciating every syllable. "Just because he recognized he was outclassed doesn't mean he was any less evil." Goku shook his head. "He wasn't fighting for anything but himself. I, we, fight to protect each other, and for the fight itself. I wouldn't surrender, as surrender would effect others in a way, in a way we wouldn't allow. Frieza didn't have that drive. He was only fighting for himself. He tried fighting, he lost. He had to try something else. He was still evil, still a monster. He was just a beaten monster."

Gohan shook his head free of his father's hand and looked over his head. "I wonder if he had a son."

"If he did then I'm sorry he will not have a father." Goku said. "However, if Frieza was like that at home, then his son may be better off now."

"Maybe he wasn't like that when at home." Gohan looked at his father's face, watching for doubt that never showed.

"That's possible." Goku said. "It doesn't matter though. His actions were evil, and no amount of good parenting would compensate for that."

Gohan gave a quick nod and went back to looking at the ground. Goku looked over his shoulder, wondering if he could see his friends, but there were a few too many trees, and they were out of sight. A slight breeze picked up leaves and shuffled them along the ground, as he heard a fish in the water.

At the base of Guru's spire.

"And then we found you." Krillen finished his story.

"Fascinating." Turles side dryly. He was leaning against Guru's home, eyes closed and arms crossed. One foot was on the ground, the other against the wall he lent against. "Absolutely fascinating." He cleared his throat and looked at Tien.

"Yes?" Tien asked sarcastically.

"Goku said he wouldn't risk being defeated again. He said he regretted not eating the fruit." Turles opened his eyes and stood freely.

"Yes, he did." Tien agreed, trying to figure out where he was going.

"He also said he trusted me." Turles held out his hand. "I'd like a fruit, now."

"Then eat one." It was Tien's turn to talk dryly. Without blinking he shook the saiyan's hand. "What's stopping you?"

Turles exchanged a worried glance with Krillen. "Ginyu really did a number on your head, didn't he?"

"I told you, my memories a bit fuzzy. What did I miss?" Tien asked.

"Pardon me." Krillen pulled Tien's gi open and pulled his capsule case out of his interior pocket. "You had the fruit, Tien." He flipped the case open, taking one of the few capsules out and popping it open. A bowl of fruit appeared out of thin air, and Turles caught it before it could hit the ground.

Tien would need to get blueprints for this technology. What the heck kind of mass dampening, volume constricting, technology was this? If they could put their attack balls in these units, stranded soldiers would become a thing of the past.

Turles held the bowl close to his chest. He was immediately salivating over the bowl, licking his lips to keep from soiling the fruit. He picked one out, it was slightly smaller than the rest, firmer, packed with power. Passing the bowl over to Krillen he wiped the fruit on his armor plated chest and sank his teeth into it.

Tien closed his third eye as Turles' aura burst to life, and his power sky rocketed. The saiyans muscles bulged and Tien could feel the heat radiating off of him. Before he knew it, Turles had finished eating the fruit, licking the juices off his hand, and wiping them from his chin.

"How do you feel?" Krillen asked Turles, fighting the urge not to eat another fruit himself. He forced himself to look away from the bowl at the saiyan warrior in front of him.

"Absolutely incredible." Turles reached inside and pulled his power to the surface. Dirt and lose rocks were flung away from him. If not secured by the root the grass would have flown away as well. "After that, I feel like I could have taken the entire Ginyu Force myself, without transforming."

Tien's watered mouth fell open at the display from the saiyan, and the claim. The short monk had mentioned the fruit giving a power boost in his story, but to bring a lowly saiyan to the point of even being able to claim the ability to defeat the Ginyu Force, it was reality. If the fruits multiplier stacked, as it apparently did as this was Turles' second, then with just a few Tien, or anyone, could become ungodly powerful.

If he could keep this fruit for himself, then he wouldn't need to wait for Jeice to reach the core worlds. He wouldn't need to wait for King Cold and Cooler to come get their revenge. Heck, he could wait for them, and then get his own revenge. Tien remembered the Ithorians, and how he burnt their stellar navy to the ground. He remembered the Rodians, and how they were setting up to invade his world from the inside, he remembered how he killed every last one of their spies. He remembered his home world, and how it was only allowed to live because he agreed to work for Frieza all those ages ago.

Tien grabbed a fruit. Closing his eyes he clicked his teeth together, surprised to be biting into nothing. He opened his eyes and Turles held the orange flesh.

"You're not ready for another." Turles said, putting it back in the bowl. "First of all, you'd suffer from the diminishing returns. In a few days it may be different, but not now. Second of all, you're still not in control of the last power up you obtained."

Tien slid his right foot back through the dirt, rotating his body slightly. "What are you talking about?" He tensed his left arm, ready to block. "What do you mean I'm not in control?"

"He's right, Tien." Krillen said, setting the fruit down and putting the bowl back in a capsule. He handed the case back to Tien, but pocketed the fruit into his own gi. "After we took the fruit, I've still got full access to the power, and I'm able to suppress it." Krillen concentrated on his energy and quickly powered up to prove his point. "Before we split up, you had more power than me. Now, well,, you're not hiding it, and it is incredible, but its not what it was before. You were more powerful than me, but now, even Turles could probably defeat you." Krillen felt an icy glare coming from Turles and quickly apologized and released his energy, powering down.

Tien looked at himself, saw the energy pouring out of him, and back at Krillen. The monk had energy, but it was focused internally, and hard to read. Turles on the other hand was like him, powerful. "You think I lost power?"

"I don't know if you lost it, or just that you lost control of it. It's still there, but it seems like its out of your reach?" Turles asked. "Why aren't you suppressing your energy anyway? I know there's no hostile fighters on planet, but, it's weird feeling you all the time."

"I guess I didn't realize I was doing it." Tien said. He thought back to what it was like to pull his power out, for combat. He assumed that what these people were doing was the exact opposite of that. He gathered his energy together and tried to push it towards his core, instead of pulling it out. He struggle to contain it, it felt like grabbing a fist full of sand, but with effort he got a majority of it under control.

"There you go, that's the idea." Krillen said. "Now, I wonder why you lost control of your power?" He walked around Tien, inspecting his body from head to toe.

"It might be because you're human?" Turles asked. "But, Krillen, you're human and you're fine."

"Maybe I'm not entirely human?" Tien admitted while trying to keep his energy in check. Krillen continued looking him over, and he hoped he looked natural.

"i mean, you do have that robotic arm." Krillen said. "well, the power is there, you just have to get access to it again. Either way, you still have more power than you did before first taking the fruit, so, it's not a loss, just not as much of a gain for you."

Back across the pond

Gohan had slid down the log and was now sitting with his father on the ground. They weren't making eye contact, but studying a small bug that crawled between them.

"Do you remember what you looked like?" Goku asked while he groped behind him for a small twig.

"What I looked like?" Gohan asked, looking up at his father. "No, I don't know how I would."

"Yeah, I didn't think that one through." Goku chuckled. He placed the twig in front of the bug, and when it crawled on he lifted it up to his eye level. "You told me about what you did. How did you feel during the fight?"

"Angry." Gohan mentally counted the legs on the bug, twelve, plus a curled tail and two claws. "I've been mad before, but it was nothing like this. It was an overwhelming anger, I couldn't think of doing anything but destroying, Frieza. Or, or maybe just destroying. I can't remember."

"Guru and Turles told us about super saiyans. I think you became one." Goku reached inside himself and felt that familiar sphere of energy. He considered tapping into it, letting it out, but this wasn't the time. The bug he held wouldn't survive.

"How so?" Gohan felt inside himself, finding his ball of energy as well.

"As you know, saiyans transform into great apes when they see a full moon." Goku nodded at Gohan's tail. "Well, you didn't become an oozaru, but you did transform. Your hair turned yellow, your eyes turned green, and your power, as you know, exploded." Goku angled the stick back towards the ground and the bug scurried away. "An oozaru has about ten times the power of a base saiyan. King Kai says you had about fifty times the power of your base form."

Gohan pulled a hair off his head and looked at it. Like his father's, it was black as night. Like his mother's it was soft to the touch. "Yellow hair? I don't think mom would like that."

"My hope is that you won't need to use that power again." Goku took the hair Gohan held between two fingers, investigating it himself. "But, if you do, I want you to be able to. I want to be able to. Can, can you do it again? Can you transform?"

Gohan cupped his ball of energy between his inner hands and felt the warmth spread through his body. "I think so. Do you want me to, now?"

Goku extended his senses out. There were a few animals around, but nothing as fragile as that bug was. "If you can." Goku braced himself. "Please do."

Gohan squeezed the energy between his palms, trying to extract every last ounce. It didn't budge. His aura flared, his hair stood on end, his body screamed in anticipation, but his hair stayed black, and his eyes stayed the same. The ground around them was clear of all debris. Near by birds had taken flight, and fish would likely have hidden at the bottom of their pond.

Krillen, Tien, and Turles felt the energy, and were far enough to not be moved by it, not physically. Tien winced in agony, he wasn't used to this sixth sense, and it was being overwhelmed. Krillen was aw struck, feeling Goku and Frieza battle across the planet was one thing, and this power was lesser, but it was close, it was hot, it was a goal that he didn't know he was setting. Turles wasn't surprised by the power, but he was surprised by who it came from. He unintentionally was keeping an eye on Goku and Gohan, and he knew that this was not his nephew.

"I can't do it." Gohan released his grip. "I felt it, I have it, but, I can't release it."

"That's okay, son." Goku stood up and put his hand on Gohan's head. "I didn't think you'd be able to do it again, not right now." He looked up into the sky, only two suns were up at the moment. "Before we get home, we need to get that power of yours under control, and I'd like your help in unlocking it for myself. I think I'm close, but I'm not there yet."

"You want my help?" Gohan asked. "You want me to help you train?"

"Well, you're the only super saiyan I know, so who better to teach me?" Goku smiled, gesturing for Gohan to stand up as well. 'Like I said though, I think we need to do this before we get home."

"Why's that?" Gohan asked. "How is that?"

Goku put a hand on his son's shoulder once more. "When you transformed, you lost control of yourself. Here, where no one was near aside from someone worthy of the rage, it was fine. If you were to do that on Earth, well, it wouldn't be good." A frown crossed his face. "Tien and Krillen will head home, in the pods, and Turles may go with them. We need to stay here, if the Namekians will have us, or preferably find somewhere else, where we can train without endangering others."

"So, we can't go home?" A tear glistened in the corner of Gohan's eye, threatening to spill over. "I can't see Piccolo, or mom?"

"I'm sorry, Gohan, but no, not yet." Goku picked Gohan back up. "Hopefully it won't take long. Once you can control yourself while transformed, you can go home." He looked down at himself. "Once I can control it too, then I'll come home."

Gohan nodded and the pair left the woods, heading back towards their group.

Hours later

Loa had spoken to her people. She announced that she would be leaving, and her wish would be granted on Earth. A wave of disappointment swept through the crowd, they were losing their leader. It was quickly replaced with excitement, she was getting her wish, she was going to go home.

She brought a trio of Namekians into her home after making her announcement. One she appointed as the new elder of the village. The second of the three was tasked with rebuilding the social bridges with the other villages, and leading her village to rejoin the rest of the race. The third was tasked with keeping her memory, spreading her message, and rebuilding the population of Namek. With Moori dead the taboo of bringing new life to Namek would soon be gone, and Loa did not want her story to be forgotten by the generations to follow.

After her decisions were announced, and her assignments were made, she left her village. Not for the last time, she'd return one last time to rest before the journey to Earth, but at that point she'd just be another villager. Important, as all were, but not looked up to, not officially.

She arrived at Moori's village where a quiet festival was being held in honor of their fallen father. The Namekians kept their distance from her, but didn't flee, didn't scowl. This was the closest she'd been to accepted by outsiders since she took her ball, and even the cold shoulder was warm to her. After finding Moori, and waiting until she could speak to him privately, they retreated into his home.

Loa sat across from the elder on a small cushion. "I'm sorry for what happened, to Nail, and to the rest of your race."

"Thank you for your condolences." Moori bowed his head slightly. "I don't believe that is your sole reason for coming today? Tell me, Loa, are you here to repent?"

"No." Loa said. "The dragon balls can be, and will be, recreated. It will take a while, three at a time, but with no time limit, you will be able to revive everyone. Well, everyone but Guru. No death was natural, you'll be fine."

"That is not what I am talking about." Moori sighed. "Not when I was talking about."

"Then the answer is still no. I don't believe anything I have done requires repenting." Loa glanced at the stone spheres behind Moori's back. "If you didn't have those, then yes, I would, but on this planet death is meaningless, at least all I have been witness to."

"You withheld the dragon balls in Namek's time of need." Moori slammed a fist on the table between them. "Not now, but during the cataclysm that left Guru alone on the planet. Those deaths were natural, and could have been prevented if the dragon were allowed to do so. You are indirectly responsible for the death of a species, even if we've recovered, partially, since then."

"The cataclysm? That's what you call it? That's what Guru told you to call it?" Loa ignored Moori's aggression. She smiled, and Moori's face darkened in anger.

"We could have stopped our planet from changing using the dragon balls. You stopped us from doing so, and all but Guru died due to your actions." Moori stood, ready to banish this woman from his village. With his new authority, he'd actually banish her from the planet.

Loa stood as well. Looking down at Moori her smile turned to a grin. "Everything you said there was correct." Loa said. "You're missing the point though. That old man may not have lied, but he didn't tell you the truth either. Speak to Porunga, he'll agree with me, every Namekian that was alive before the cataclysm could be revived, I made sure of that myself." She turned on her heal and went to the door. Looking over her shoulder she clarified to Moori's disgust. "There was nothing natural about any of their deaths."

Moori's stomach churned. "Explain, what, precisely, you mean?" The pair stepped outside, and Moori didn't mind that he was making a scene. "You will answer me."

Loa pulled her legs up, sitting cross legged in the air. "Guru saw the planet was going to die. He saw that your people would die." She floated higher, making sure everyone in the village could hear her. "He told me of this oncoming disaster, and begged me to allow him to stop it. I refused. But you all knew that already." She dropped her legs down, now hovering over the heads of a dozen Namekians, with more coming out of their homes.

"Guru told me that a natural death could not be reversed. I told him I wasn't a monster." She swiftly made eye contact with each villager. "I personally saw to it that Guru was the only Namekian to pass through the filter. I personally killed every other Namekian on the planet. A few fled, but those that stayed, aside from Guru, died."

A ki blast burned harmlessly against her shoulder. "YOU MONSTER!" A villager floated up to her level. "You think we'll let you leave after, after you admit to, to, You MONSTER!"

Loa ripped her core open, allowing a second attack to pass harmlessly through her. "I was a tool." Loa smirked. "Guru is the one that asked me to save his people, and I did. My ship couldn't have carried you all." Loa caught another Namekian's fist. "If I had had sat around passively, you would be without hope. Now, due to my actions, Guru's request, you can repopulate the planet. Your ancestors got a free vacation. They got to go to Other World, be with their loved ones, until they could return home."

Loa reached out and grabbed the two Namekian's that were attacking her. Her hands formed large pink bindings around their torsos, holding their arms in tight. "I allowed them to die with dignity, and yet was refused the same." She squeezed the Namekians, their eyes bulged. "Guru didn't like me, but he supported my actions." She threw the pair to the ground, where they lay, unmoving.

"I was forced to survive, and so was he. I allowed him to rebuild, I played by his rules. I don't know why I did." She prepared an energy ball in either hand. "I guess, I'm just that nice." She threw the balls towards the ground, forcing them to curve into eachother shortly before destroying her attackers.

"Don't forget this, Namek. Don't repeat the mistakes of your ancestors." She made eye contact with Moori. "Refuse all the wishes you like, but when the same is done to you, you can only blame yourselves." With that Loa waved farewell and blasted off into the sky, ready to rest before her trip.

Back on Earth

Mr. Popo was watering his planets in his heavenly garden. The floors were swept, the stone was polished, and the animals were fed. Once watering was done, he'd sweep the floors again, polish the stone again, and then it would be time to feed the animals again. After that, he'd water.

Kami popped into reality in front of Mr. Popo, Yamcha at his side. "Hello, old friend."

Water pooled on the floor when Mr. Popo dropped his watering can. "Kami, you're back."

Yamcha looked around the floating platform in the sky. Looking up he was glad to see a night sky, stars, and no halo.

"I am." Kami reached his hand out and his staff formed in it. "We are." He nodded towards Yamcha.

"Hey, what's that?" Yamcha pointed at a second staff, moving behind a row of hedges.

Kami and Mr. Popo looked at the piece of wood. A red ball formed in its head and flew to the center of their small gathering. Yamcha put up his guard, and Mr. Popo got in front of Kami. Unfortunately their training couldn't have prepared them for the ball to expand, and instead of exploding in energy, it began sucking. It inhaled the dropped watering can, and shortly after the human, the guardian, and the spirit.

A short, blueish green, imp like creature jumped atop the hedge row. As the portal he summoned vanished he began to laugh. "Now nothing will stand in my way!" He shouted to the sky.

Author's note: I'd love to hear your thoughts on Loa and Moori's conversation. Was what she did good or bad? On one hand, she killed every Namekian aside from Guru. On the other hand, she did so in order to ensure they could all be revived. Yes, she could have just given Guru her dragon ball, but Guru could have just allowed her to make her wish as well.