Hello again and Happy New Year! Sorry it's taken me awhile. But anywho, back at the story since a lot has happened, how will Piccolo being dealt with affect this timeline? Lets find out.
Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 14: THE ETERNAL DRAGON
Gine touched down in front of the group with Bulma clinging on to her.
"Bulma! You okay?!" Yamcha asked almost hysterically as he swept the blue-haired girl up in a tight embrace.
"Yeah, I'm alright." She replied, shaken but more or less unhurt.
Yamcha looked at Gine. "Thank you for saving her." He said, unable to contain his relief.
Gine only nodded, her mind too preoccupied with anger. Anger at that little blue creature she just offed, at that monster Piccolo himself... and at herself for the whole debacle of a fight...
"Gine?" Bulma asked, snapping Gine out of her head.
"Sorry." Gine said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. There was no use making herself more upset over everything now, she had to go about checking everyone wounded after the battle.
Chi-chi got attention first for being the youngest one shot, but it turned out the two bullets went through her leg without hitting any major arteries or bone. As resilient as the young girl was she still balled her eyes out.
"No princess should ever be treated like this!" Chi-chi said between cries as Launch tightened her bandages. "I'm too young to get shot!"
"Just be glad ya ain't got your head blown off." Launch muttered, which left the poor little girl mortified into silence.
Gohan needed his arm sutered and stitched from protecting his master's mortal remains, but was overall fine. Everyone else got scrapes and cuts from dodging the hail of gunfire.
"Who else is hurt?" Gine asked to double check.
"How about you?!" Gohan said, pointing towards Gine's torso. Gine looked down and remembered the two bleeding holes Piccolo burned into her abdomen. At the site of the blood soaking through her gi, the pain made it's return too.
"I'm fine." She said offhanded, unconsciously clutching herself from the pain she ignored.
"Like hell you are!" Launch said, "You're as tough as nails but ain't indestructible!"
Gohan nodded, "Launch is right, let's get you patched up."
"I said I'm fine!" Gine protested. "I've had worse than this."
Gohan waved his torn arm, "That doesn't mean we should leave you to bleed out." He said as he went about wrapping her midriff in gauze.
"I deserve it, anyways." Gine said flatly, shocking Gohan enough to look up at her.
"Utter nonsense, dear. What does that even mean?" He asked incredulously.
"It's all my fault." She said through a lump forming in her throat.
"My son is dead." Gine whispered, "I sensed it myself before finding the last dragonball that something had killed him. And I let Piccolo get the better of me with that knowledge. And your Master had to sacrifice himself to fix my mistake of not finishing Piccolo sooner...and for not stopping Kakarot from running on his own to face something I never imagined would best him on this planet...and he was all I had left..." She said, choking between words and on the bring of sobbing.
"Gine, look at me." Gohan said, holding her face with his bandaged hands to face him. "Nothing is your fault here." He said firmly.
Gine blinked the tears away as Gohan went on, "Piccolo was a master deceiver, and could shatter the wills of any man. He even defeated the greatest martial artist of this planet's history, so you are not at all to blame if he knew how to take advantage of your worries as a mother."
Gine didn't like how he'd left that last statement end without mention of her son's fate, but nodded to appreciate that Piccolo indeed knew how to hit where it hurts.
"But what's more important is that Piccolo has been defeated." Gohan said with emphasis, clutching the rice cooker containing the demon king.
"He's gone." Bulma was the first to speak, as everyone had remained quiet during this delicate moment for Gine.
"You're right!" Tien said, the reality of what they had achieved sinking in at last.
The Demon King Piccolo had been sealed away for good... They didn't jump in joy, but a wave of happiness swept through them all.
"And you did it!" Tien said to Gine in congratulations.
Gine was in no mood to celebrate, eyeing Roshi laying motionless on the ground.
Gohan saw it too, and immediately turned somber. "We're not done yet!" He said aloud to everyone.
They all stopped for moment, confused. "We need to bring everyone back." Gohan said, gesturing towards Roshi's body.
Gohan then turned back to Gine, "Also what's important..." He said, Gine turned to him too but caught her breath as the realization hit her just as Gohan pointed it out.
"That if Kakarot is dead, we can bring him back with the dragonballs!"
"Oh, right!" The whole gang exclaimed. Bulma rushed to get out her backpack with all the dragonballs and the capsule containing Krillin.
Gine at that moment had no idea how to feel. Her son, his best friend, and her dearest friend's master was dead, but now they were about to bring them back to life. Even though Kakarot had told her that this wish-granting dragon had the power of resurrecting the dead, and that her son was as honest and truthful as any living thing could be, this whole situation was still far too surreal to take in as real. Back on Planet Vegeta they'd have declared her insane if she ever told them that such things were here in this forgotten corner of this galaxy.
So she watched with numb interest as the gang got everything ready. Roshi's body was laid out in front of them and Krillin's freezer capsule was opened beside his master. Then, behind the deceased, Bulma placed all the dragonballs on the ground and closely packed them together. The balls were eerily glowing before, now Gine saw that they were pulsating with some kind of ethereal life in them, as if beconing to her.
They all stood ready. "Okay, Bulma, go ahead and summon the dragon." Said Gohan.
Gine stepped back, whatever she believed of this wish granting dragon from Kakarot's tales, she was about to find out if those things were true or not.
Bulma nodded, then turned to the dragonballs and held out her opened hands to them.
"ETERNAL DRAGON, BY YOUR NAME WE SUMMON YOU FORTH: SHENRON!"
The sky suddenly went dark, catching Gine's attention, like the sun just went out and the black curtain of night fell upon them from nowhere.
The dragonballs shined even brighter and brighter, until they were too brilliant to look at directly. Then, a bolt of lightning struck the dragonballs in a flash of energy that made Gine shield her eyes, and out sprung forth a gargantuan stream of light that twisted and twirled around itself, as if the entire sky was being painted upon by a brush made of the most beautiful sunlight Gine had ever seen. At the tip of the brush of light arcing its way above them, Gine saw it was the long head of some reptilian creature.
Finally, when the twirl of light had stopped moving in the center of the twirls on itself, the glowing stream faded to green scales.
Gine's jaw dropped. She had never seen any monster or alien so gigantic and mystifying as what she was seeing now. Not even the mightiest Oozarus came close. This was indeed a dragon that had a very long body that twisted upon itself like a coil of rope that filled the heavens, and tiny clawed arms near its head of horns and feelers, while it's tail ended in the impossibly radiant glow of the orbs this thing emerged from. Gohan, Tien, and Chiaotzu, who had never seen the dragon before either, shrank back in awe and horror too.
It starred at them with glowing red eyes. Gine felt their gaze as if they held all the knowledge and power the universe in them, and it made her feel very small in that moment.
"I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON. SPEAK YOUR WISH AND I SHALL GRANT IT." The dragon spoke, it's voice thundered all across the valley, as if the very planet they stood upon had called to them.
"Oh mighty Shenron, a monster by the name of King Piccolo had broken free from his confinement and killed many people across the world recently! Some of whom were our very dear friends here: Krillin and Master Roshi. Another went by the name of Son Kakarot, slain by Piccolo himself but we do not know where..." Bulma added, almost stopping to cry as she said it.
"We graciously ask if you could bring them all back to life!" Bulma pleaded.
Shenron looked over the deceased, growling in contemplation that sounded more like an earthquake.
"I CAN RESURRECT YOUR FRIENDS, BUT THERE IS ONE THING THAT WILL BE UNNECESSARY."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Bulma asked.
"THE ONE CALLED SON KAKAROT IS STILL ALIVE."
"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed.
Gine didn't hear what he said at first, then her heart dropped.
"HE'S ALIVE!" Chi-chi estatically cheered, everyone followed suit. But Gohan broke it up.
"As happy as that news is, there is still work to do!" He reminded.
Gine tried to listen, her mind a whirlwind from having her just recently-upended world rightened in such a short time, leaving just a roller coaster of emotions in her head.
"Right." Bulma said before she called up to the dragon again. "So, will you bring back our two friends here, as well as everyone killed by Piccolo and his minions?"
Shenron growled again before he spoke. "VERY WELL. I SHALL BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND ALL WHO WERE SLAIN BY PICCOLO BACK TO LIFE."
They all broke out into cheers as Shenron's red eyes flashed for an instant, then a bright light encompassed the bodies of both Krillin and Master Roshi.
The light faded, and Krillin's freezer capsule opened as he suddenly sat up straight.
"Ah, zombie!" Chiaotzu shouted.
"Wha? Zombie?" Krillin asked, then looked around. "Where...where am I?"
Roshi slowly got up too, "Oh dear, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." He said, chuckling to himself.
"Welcome back, guys!" Bulma greeted them ecstatically. The sight of seeing the dead walk again was so unreal to Gine that she almost fainted.
"YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. FAREWELL." Shenron boomed as the same gold light that brought him forth had enshrouded him again.
The dragonballs floated into the air around the Eternal Dragon as he curled into himself, becoming smaller and smaller until he and the balls disappeared into a single crackling sparkle of light in the sky. Then seven beams shot out in every direction as the collected dragonballs dissipated. In a matter of moments, they were out of sight over the horizon as the sky turned daylight blue again.
"So that's it..." Gine said to herself, observing Krillin and Roshi get reacquainted with everyone.
"I was dead?!" Krillin said disbelievingly.
"Hard to believe, huh!" Oolong chuckled.
"An ancient demon named Piccolo came back to life and one of his minions killed you back at the touranament. Do you remember anything?" Yamcha asked.
"Just, fighting a green monster with wings. He kicked me in the head and then..." He trailed off, the moment he died gone from his memory. "And then feeling like I was in a dream, surrounded by darkness until I was floating in some orange clouds... And then suddenly I'm back here!"
"Hm, I saw nothing. Was more like a dreamless sleep." Said Roshi. "Made everything leading up to it seem horrible."
"Well, it's good to have you back." Tien and Chaiotzu shook their master's and Krillin's hand.
"And I bet there's a lot of happy people right now too!" Bulma said with a great sense of accomplishment.
"Wait, what happened anyway?" Krillin asked incredulously.
They all looked at each other, and Roshi said. "Krillin, it's a long story..."
Gine just stood there as the Gang filled Krillin in on everything that's happened. Gohan tried to shake her out of it.
"He's alive..." She said quietly, as if relieved but not too sure yet. "We'll have to scour the whole planet to find him."
Gohan looked up at the sky and smiled. "Maybe we won't have to search for him afterall!" He said as he pointed up.
"MOM!"
She knew that voice anywhere. Gine turned so fast she almost toppled over, and her heart burst with joy. Coming towards them, was the distincting yellow contrail of the Nimbus cloud.
"MOM! You're okay!" Kakarot called out as he jumped off the cloud and fell towards his mother.
"KAKAROT!" Gine cried back as she caught him. It was a mix of laughter and crying from both of them, a mess of Saiyan tails and hair as Gine dared not let her son go.
"DON'T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Gine practically screamed.
"It's okay, Mom. I'm still here!" He replied as cheerfully as ever.
She was infuriated by his happy-go-lucky attitude in the face of her thinking that he was dead and nearly doomed Earth. But what he said was true, and her anger dissipated into elation that her son was indeed alive and safe in her arms.
"Where were you?! I was worried sick." She asked as she finally calmed down.
"I tried to track down that winged monster that killed Krillin, but he destroyed the Nimbus cloud and I fell into a forest where I came across a guy named Yajirobe. He killed another monster that came after me and gave me his dragonball. But then King Piccolo showed up. I fought him but he was way too strong. I almost died against him, and he took my dragonballs. But Yajirobe saved me by getting me to Korin's tower to get a drink of the Divine Water that replenished my power and got a new Flying Nimbus...and then found you after seeing Shenron summoned!" He said rapid-fire.
Gine looked at him dumbfounded. Even after hearing more amazing tales of Kakarot's adventures before, that was a lot to take in. "Wait, can you tell me all that again?"
"That is quite a tale, Kakarot. You actually fought Piccolo too?" Gohan asked.
Kakarot looked over at his grandpa as Gine set him back down, "Yeah, he was strong, stronger than anyone I've ever fought! And he was going to conquer the world or something."
Gohan, chuckled. "We know, we ran into him."
Kakarot gasped in amazement. "YOU fought him?"
Gohan chuckled again, shaking his head. "No, your mother did. AND beat him too."
Kakarot starred up at his mother in even more awe. "You BEAT Piccolo, Mom?!"
She scratched the back of her head sheepishly the way her son did. "Well, not really beat him but... Master Roshi sealed him away in a container."
"Huh?" Kakarot asked. They pointed to the rice cooker that Gohan held onto.
"KAKAROT!" Chi-chi suddenly screeched as she ran to him and hugged him in a death grip. He hugged her back too while everyone else gathered around them, all too happy to see him again.
"It's good to see you all made it!" He said to them before he noticed Krillin standing with them too.
Kakarot's eyes swelled up in tears, "KRILLIN!"
He ran to his best friend and picked him up in a swooping hug the way his mother did to him just moments ago, so overjoyed. Krillin hugged back tightly and they laughed together.
"Krillin...you're alive!" Kakarot said jubilantly as he released his friend.
"I am! I thought I was a goner for good. But... you all brought me back." The little bald boy said as he looked around his gathered friends. Emotions ran through him. "You all... did this for me?"
"Well, we wouldn't have been able to pull it off without Gine." Yamcha said warmly, as he looked up at her.
"Yeah, she lead us to get the dragonballs and fight the monsters that threathened the world." Tien added.
"Wha?" Krillan and Kakarot were amazed, and starred back at the former's mother.
"You lead them to the dragonballs AND fought King Piccolo?" Her son said with such astonishment as if he had seen a miracle.
Gine shifted uncomfortably, "Well, I... wouldn't have been able to do it without all of you guys. You all saved the world, not me." She said, defeatedly.
"Nah, don't be so humble on yourself." Bulma tried to cheer her up. "You kicked King Piccolo's ass around like he was nothing!" She said, punching around herself at air.
"Yeah!" Echoed Launch, "You handled him like he was a sad sack of potatuh's!"
Gine chuckled at that, looking at the ground in a half smirk/half grimace. "I guess I did... but..." She looked over at Tien and Chiaotzu, "Thank you for pulling me out of there when he had me pinned down, Tien. And Chiaotzu for stopping Piccolo. I owe you my life for that."
Tien chuckled. "Aw it was nothing, and it was all Chiaotzu's idea, thinking about the tournament that gave him some inspiration." He said as he placed his hands on Chiaotzu's shoulders.
Gine smiled at them, astonished that these two went from ruthless cronies after her blood to brave companions that had her back in a couple days. She figured that like the dragonballs, anything was possible on Earth.
She then nodded at Roshi and Gohan. "And of course, thank you for what you did..." She said, unable to finish.
"Think nothing of it, dear. You united us to fight this threat together and we did. You are actually quite a leader, Gine." Roshi said, smiling gently.
Gine looked at him surprised. "I am?"
"Absolutely! If anything, I should be the one to apologize for not trusting you entirely before. You saved an entire village and countless others from Piccolo's minions, and fought him yourself. And with YOUR foresight to rally us together as a team, we all did our part to take down Piccolo. That was all from your leadership. You should be proud of that, we all are."
"Really?" Gine said doubtfully.
"Yes!" Gohan affirmed, everyone else nodded in agreement. "You got us to stick together and deal with a problem with actual teamwork. If we hadn't, Piccolo may have succeeded or destroyed us if we remained divided. It was YOUR actions that saved the world, Gine. Don't underestimate what you had just accomplished here today."
"Yeah! We stand behind you no matter what!" Puar added, "That's right!" Oolong too.
Gine looked down, both touched by and unable to accept this praise. So she nodded politely, "Thank you, all of you."
"Then I suggest a little celebration is in order!" Bulma declared.
"Wait!" Roshi suddenly said, holding up his hand. "We aren't quite done yet, we still need to make sure no one ever finds this rice cooker ever again." He said, pointing towards the jar in question that Gohan still held onto for dear life.
"Oh, right!" They all almost forgot. Bulma walked up to it and pressed a button. A moment later it shrank down into a pill-sized capsule in Gohan's hand.
"At least he's easier to carry now." Gohan quipped, weighing the tiny thing in his hands. Then he gave it to Bulma who slipped it into one of her capsule containers.
"There, now no one would ever suspect of where he'd be hidden now, would they?" She said happily, boasting her genius.
Roshi looked doubtful. "Hm, not entirely unreachable though."
"True, but who'd think to look in your pocket than the bottom of the sea?" Bulma said.
"We'll have to still think hard about this, we have to be absolutely sure that we stick it somewhere that NO ONE can find it." Roshi stressed.
"We will, Master." Tien nodded.
"But first, let's celebrate a little. We at least deserve that much after saving the world! Not to mention patching ourselves up a little too!" Bulma persisted, gesturing to all of them. "And a change of clothes, too!"
They all looked at each other and realized their disheveled, and banged up state. Most of their clothes torn to shreds and bodies bandaged from the firefight with Pilaf's airship, and Gine more so from the battle with Piccolo.
"Fair enough." Roshi waved soothingly. "Let's head back to the island then."
"Now we are talking!" Launch pumped her fist into the air, already a beer in hand. As the gang piled back into the Capsule Corp. jet, they all wondered if she got it from the same place where she gets her guns.
They flew back to Roshi's island to set up the house again. With that done and a change of clothes and shower for everyone, they turned on the television just in time to see news reports of previously murdered martial artists mysteriously coming back from the dead. But after a while the news moved on to other less important things. No mention of Piccolo or his minions, and no looming threat of world domination hinted anywhere.
The wish worked. With Piccolo sealed away and his cruelty visited upon his victims undone, they had truly confirmed that the world was saved. And their deeds will never be known outside of this circle of friends.
So they celebrated. Bulma pulled out a fridge capsule and tossed out can after can of beer to every one. Kakarot held his like he had never seen it.
"What's this?" He asked.
"It's beer." Yamcha said.
"But... did you guys say I'm too young to have this for some reason?" He asked, confused.
"Yeah, well, today is a special exception, buddy." Bulma said, then cleared her throat and held her drink up in Gine's direction.
"To Gine!" Bulma toasted. "TO GINE!" They all followed.
Gine held the beer for a moment, "Thank you." She said quietly before she drank. She nearly gagged at the horrible taste, but went along with it.
Then the gang drank and started talking merrily among themselves, with Kakarot recounting his tale of how he pursued Tambourine while Launch was engaged in a drinking game with Oolong. Gohan sipped his beer and laughed with everyone. Gine never figured him to drink alcohol, but today was a celebratory exception for him too she figured.
Gine took in the sight of all of them together, laughing and chatting. The image reminded her of times-gone-by when Saiyan crews rested and relaxed after returning from their missions, sharing their stories of triumph and friendships forged in fires she could only imagine. For she had never experienced such an occasion, at least one where she was neither left out or hazed. Here, she was actually welcomed and cheered as one of them. And, for a moment, she was happy.
Mostly happy. Sure, everything worked out and that everyone is here to live and tell the tale. Her adopted home world had been saved, but no thanks to her, she told herself.
Gine zoned out, the party fading into just background noise as she looked down at her feet.
She didn't deserve any credit for this, they saved her with acts of selflessness and defeated piccolo when she couldn't.
It reminded her too much of even more back-in-the-days of having her life saved far too many times to keep track of by her comrades, only to be ridiculed afterwards. Just like then, it was time for her to step up, and she failed and left it up to them. But here they were, singing songs of a job well done and appraising her as their savior and greatest champion.
This was a comradery that she had never known, and she didn't earn it. She couldn't bring herself to enjoy it.
Without anyone noticing, Gine turned around and retreated into the kitchen. She leaned onto the counter, holding herself up and trying to hold back her tears.
"Something wrong, my dear?" Came Gohan's voice from behind her. She looked back at him, and sheepishly tried to wipe away the streaks on her face.
"No, just..." She said between sniffles, "Needed some alone time."
Gohan looked at her sympathetically and concerned. "Make's you feel uncomfortable? Like you don't deserve this?"
Gine nodded slowly. She guessed he already figured she would react like this.
"Don't worry my dear. You actually do. You banded our friends together and saved our planet from it's greatest threat. Even if you feel like you made mistakes while doing so, you had the foresight to do it with us a team, and that should be worth something."
"I know, I know, but..." Gine tired to acknowledge that that part was true when it came to banding together for strength in numbers, but she couldn't let go of her mistake.
"I still let him get in my head and loose my guard. If Chiaotzu, Tien, and Roshi had not intervened...if Roshi had not sacrificed himself..." Gine said, unable to finish without her eyes watering again. Stop crying, damnit! She mentally scolded herself.
"That doesn't matter anymore, Gine." Gohan said, walking over to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye. "Like I said, Piccolo was a cunning opponent. And you were right about us sticking together to deal with this problem. We all worked as a team like you wanted, and we acted as a team when you need us most, and because of that the world is rid of it's greatest threat once more."
"But still... I got too complicit." She said finally.
"Huh?" Asked Gohan.
"I always thought I'd never have to get into a fight for my own life again ever since we landed here on Earth. But I was wrong. And even then I thought I was the strongest on the planet, but I couldn't even beat some decrepit old Namekian. The one time I had to step up and defend the only home I've ever known and I failed... even amongst you humans, I'm a useless fighter like I always was." She said, sadly looking out the window into the distance.
"That has nothing to do with your self-worth, Gine. By all rights you should never have had to fight someone on this planet as strong as you in the first place."
"That's the problem though." She said seriously. "I was so happy here, that I never wanted to face the reality that everything we had here could be destroyed. And as unlikely as you hoped it would be, Piccolo emerged and nearly killed my own son, then me, and put all of you at risk."
Gohan said nothing, listening intently.
"When I had to stand up and defend my new home and everything I held dear, I wasn't ready for what could happen. Piccolo was right that my emotions had gotten the better of me. It may be easy for you to say that I need to keep my mind calm when we are isolated in the woods, sparring. But a life-or-death battle against some world-ending monstrosity that could undo all of my hard work, then none of my anger will be able to help me. So if I couldn't beat Piccolo if he came out of nowhere, what if something worse, or even Frieza, came along and threatened my world again? What then?" She asked, letting that question hang.
"You worry too much. Frieza will never find you here, and now that we know about that weakness of yours, we can always explore more ways to not let your enemies get under your skin. It may be difficult but not impossible. And besides... when all else fails, we have the dragonballs to grant us any wish we want, I think such a problem we couldn't fix ourselves, could be fixed with those." Gohan reassured.
Gine chewed over Gohan's words for a moment. "Yeah...I mean, for something to grant you ANYTHING...I guess you're right."
The elder martial artist smiled at her, "You can rest easy dear, you and your son, all of us, are safe now." He said as he hugged her. Gine returned it appreciatively, even though Gohan was far weaker than her, she somehow felt that no matter how difficult things got, he was there to guide her. For that, and for everything he did for them since their arrival, he had become the father figure that could fix anything that the dragonballs couldn't.
"Just let me know when you are ready and we'll head home." Gohan said as he let go.
Gine sighed almost heavenly. "I would really much like that."
Gohan chuckled. "Been quite a crazy adventure, hasn't it?"
"No kidding." Gine said humorlessly. "From a dramatic tournament that turned into a crisis, a global scavenger hunt, a debauched battle for the Earth's fate, and a magic wish-granting dragon bringing people back from the dead... I think I'd like some quiet time for a while." She said, mulling over the emotionally-draining events of the past few days.
But then with those memories, Shenron and the dragonballs came back to her attention. And it reawakened some questions she had long ago dared not hope to ask herself until she saw the living proof of what the Eternal Dragon could do. She realized that now there was no doubt at all that it could bring the dead back to life.
And since that is possible, could...could she bring-
A knock came at the front door, forcing Gine to put an end to that train of thought for now.
"I'll get it." Gine said as she walked over and opened it.
"Oh. Uh, hi." Said a short, pudgy man at the door. He was shorter than Gine by a few inches, clad in an orange sleeveless yukata, straw sandals, and had untidy long hair. She also noticed the katana strapped to his side and the air speeder he flew here in. He also looked surprised to see her.
"Can I help you?" Gine asked.
"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for a kid named Kakarot." He said.
"You know my son?"
Now the stranger was really surprised. "Wait, you're his mom?" He said, pointing at her.
"Yeah, I'm-"
"YAJIROBE!" Came Kakarot's voice calling from behind her, he skidded past her and stopped in front of the stranger.
"Hey, kid! Glad to see you made it!" He said. "Was worried about you after seeing Korin. What happened?"
"Oh it's a long story, but my Mom here defeated Piccolo before I could find him!" Her son said, gesturing to his mother.
The stranger named Yajirobe looked back at her stunned. "YOU beat King Piccolo?!"
Gine sighed, she really wished everyone would stop focusing on her feats. "Yeah, I did, sort of."
"Sort of?" Yajirobe asked.
"She's just being modest." Gohan said as he walked up beside them at the door, Gine shot him a look. "It was a team effort from all of us here, but Gine here lead us to victory and we sealed Piccolo away forever." He said, patting her on the back reassuringly.
Don't undermine what you accomplished, Gine. Because of you leading our team, the world is saved. Came Gohan's telepathic voice in her mind. Gine didn't feel like arguing further so she just nodded.
"Oh, I see." Said Yajirobe, then he was confused. "Wait, sealed away, how?"
"We placed him in a capsule so he can never get out! But we don't know where to keep it." Gohan continued, patting his pocket to pull out where he held the captive demon king.
Yajirobe starred at the capsule Gohan presented like it was the weirdest thing he had ever seen. "Huh...well, that's great I guess, if it means he's not a threat anymore."
"He isn't, at least until we can bury this or something other."
Yajirobe looked back up at Gine. "In that case, I should give you the message from Korin."
"A message from Korin?" Kakarot asked.
"Yeah, Korin wanted me to tell you that he would like to see you if you beat Piccolo." He said, then turned to Gine. "But since your mom did him in, and Piccolo is in that thing..." He said, pointing to the capsule. "...I guess you should go see him instead."
Gine perked an eyebrow. "What for?"
"I think it was for some kind of special training or somethin'."
Kakarot immediately jumped up in excitement. "REALLY?! MOM GETS SPECIAL TRAINING?!"
"Wait, what? Why me?" Gine asked increduluously.
"I dunno, he just told me to tell you that. So you'll have to ask him." Yajirobe said, shrugging his wide shoulders.
"CAN I COME TOO?! I WANT TO LEARN EVERYTHING MOM KNOWS AND FROM KORIN!" Kakarot said, unable to contain himself.
"Whoa, settle down kid! I'm just a messenger, you should ask him first if you wanna-" Yajirobe got out shortly before Kakarot rushed out the door past him.
"NIMBUS!" Kakarot called out into the sky.
"Kakarot, wait-" Gine tried to get her son to slow down.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"I don't-" She tried to say. "We can't just leave right now."
"Why not?!" Kakakrot asked, horrified.
"Because..." She tried to think of how to explain she just wanted to go home. That the past few days had tested her to the breaking point and that she just wanted to go back to the solitude of Paozu.
But before she could, The yellow cloud of Nimbus appeared before them and Kakarot already jumped on.
"Come on, let's go Mom! Please?!" He asked as hard as he could.
Gine just stood there, at a loss. There was nothing more in the world she wanted less than another adventure right now, but... after nearly loosing her son, how could she say no to him?
She let out her breath through her nose.
"Say bye to your friends first." Gine said, exasperated.
"OKAY!" He said estactic, then ran back into Kame House.
Gine followed in after him and said their round of goodbyes, and he retrieving his Power Pole too. Gine hoped that this little trip won't take too long, and she was going to make sure that they went home afterwards, but she didn't make any promises yet.
"Keep in touch, okay?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah!" Everyone vowed, "You are one of us for sure Gine, and we really want to see you again." Yamcha added, holding Bulma close.
Gine smiled sincerely. "Thank you, and I definitely will see you all again soon."
"Until next time." Tien said as he shook her hand, then by Chiaotzu.
Krillin hugged Gine for a very long moment, "Thank you for saving my life." He said to her. Gine's heart felt so warm at that.
"Good luck to you, Gine." Roshi said, shaking her hand. "You too, Master Roshi." She said back.
"You have more potential than you realize, never forget that." Roshi said meaningfully before he stepped back into the house. Gine wondered by what he meant, but didn't think too deeply into it as Gohan was the last to say goodbye.
"I'll see you back at home eventually, then?" Gohan asked, smiling sympathetically.
Gine nodded defeatedly. "Hopefully soon."
Gohan chuckled, "You'll be fine."
She turned to leave, just as Kakarot had just escaped the clutches of Chi-Chi's power hug. She even planted a kiss on his cheek, leaving her son baffled for but a moment.
"Come back to me soon, okay?" She pleaded. "I can't stand to nearly loose you again."
"Don't worry, Chi-chi. We'll see each other again soon." He said sincerely to her.
The two looked at each other for a long time before both Gine and Kakarot mounted the Flying Nimbus together.
"Alright, Nimbus, take us to Korin's place!" He ordered the cloud.
"WAIT!" Gohan called out, running up to them and stopping them from taking off.
"Don't forget this!" Gohan handed Gine the capsule that contained the rice cooker. She held it in her hands with great tenderness and an urge to crush it in her grip. She'd like to, considering everything that the captive within had done to her, but something within her kept her from doing so, so she just pocketed it.
"Thanks." She said to Gohan before he backed away.
"Alright!" Kakarot continued again. "Let's go again Nimbus! To Korin's Tower!"
In the next moment, the tiny island of Kame House fell away as the magic cloud rocketed in a long golden arch across the sky. Gine sat back and let her mind wonder as the view gave way to sea in every direction, and mother and son rocketed towards this 'Korin'.
There we go! Now off to see Korin and Kami in the next chapter. What will they have in store for Kakarot and Gine?
Find out next time!