Welcome back! I hope you liked the last chapter, and I hope too that you would like this one.
And thank ALL of you who posted your reviews so far, telling me your thoughts, hopes of what to see, and of any mistakes I made. I will do my best to make sure this is done right!
What will be the ramifications of Gine's decision? And could anything or anyone change her mind? Let's 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 16: ONE'S WORTH
Gine clutched the Power Pole as it descended, or retracted it's length, back down to Korin's Tower. She kept an eye down the red line the Pole made to the ground as the wind rushed past her in a loud whistle, the sky all around her a clear blue. The storm clouds she and Kakarot had to get through earlier on the way up were gone and thus made the trip back down more uneventful. But it left her with nothing to focus on during the whole time it took and made her mind wander back up to where she had just left.
The Lookout had long since disappeared far above her, with Kakarot still on it. But she couldn't take her mind off of what transpired, no matter how hard she tried to surpress it.
She made the right choice to turn down Kami's offer. They all knew that her son was a far greater warrior than she could ever hope to be, and he deserved the chance to become the best fighter on this planet, not her. She couldn't even beat an old and decrepit Namekian that was but an insect to her power. She wasn't the weakest of the Saiyan race for nothing, and the way she poorly handled should've shown everyone why. So any training spent on her would be a waste of time; for no matter what advantage she had, she'll always end up losing. But at least Kakarot had the potential to be something more than he was born for. That was something she could live with, and even hoped for.
But... she couldn't stop thinking of the way he looked at her, when she shoved him away when he was practically begging her to stay. The sight of his crushed spirit in his eyes and the hurt in his voice made her chest clench.
Gine told herself that she had nothing to feel immensely guilty about. Her son looked up to her too much, and that he should understand that she would not always be there or even be able to solve things that he ought to do himself. She can't be forced to train with him, and he had learn that. Even though she may have been too harsh trying to tell this to him, she was sure that he'll come around one day... she hoped.
Before long, the round cupola of Korin's Tower appeared, and the Pole slowed its retraction until her feet touched the roof. She sighed in relief that the acrophobic-inducing journey was over.
Gine lifted the Pole out of it's slot, holding it in one hand and turned to look over the edge.
"Hm?" Her ears perked up as she heard a scuffling just below her. Worried of any danger way up here, she hovered quickly down the side of the cupola to see what was going on.
When she reached the railing, she saw Korin clawing after the fat, long haired fellow who delivered the message to them at Roshi's earlier. He was trying to hold a bag out of Korin's reach, and it was spilling greenish kidney beans everywhere.
Gine relaxed, this was just a harmless squabble. What was the fat man's name again? Gine wondered, she thought it started with a 'Y'.
The bickering duo stopped and noticed Gine. Korin raised a furry eyebrow at seeing her back so soon.
"Well that was fast. Couldn't make it past Mr. Popo?" Korin said half-jokingly.
"Neither did Kakarot, but Kami showed himself though." Gine said flatly.
"Oh!" Korin said in mock surprise. "Well that's good..." He said, before chuckling.
Gine frowned, barely restraining herself from clobbering this cat for that omission of information earlier.
The fat man looked behind her. "Uh, where's Kakarot?"
She eyed the fat man, and pointed up. "He's still up there. He's training with Kami."
"Oh, good for him! And you too?" Korin asked.
Gine just shook her head, "Nope."
"Huh?" Now Korin was genuinely surprised. "He didn't think you were worthy? But you beat-"
"No, no." She stopped him, not pleased at having to explain that again. "He offered but I said no."
'"YOU turned Kami down? Why'd ya do that for?!" Both Korin and the fat man asked incredulously.
Gine shrugged emptily. "I just didn't think I would need it."
Korin looked as if she had just spat in his boss's face. "You wouldn't need it? Who do you think you're talking to?! You may be the strongest mom on Earth, but even you could learn a think or two abou-"
"Don't want to hear it." Gine interrupted. She then held out the Power Pole to Korin.
"Could you give this to Kakarot when he comes back down?" She asked.
The fat man looked as stunned as Korin, "Wait! You should never EVER refuse an offer from Kami! That's quite disrespectful! Don't you know anything about-"
Gine glared at the fat man with a look that told him to shut up. It was enough to scare him into dropping the bag of beans he held.
"Don't aggravate her, Yajirobe." Korin said sternly. The fat man, Gine now remembered as Yajirobe, kept his distance behind Korin while he tried to quietly pick up the scattered beans.
Gine held the Pole out to Korin again, clearing her throat as if to ask him to take it. He didn't acknowledge that and simply starred at the Pole in her grip, then looked back up at her.
"I take it that your boy wasn't too happy about your decision?"
Gine sighed through her nose, really not wanting to go through that again.
Korin then asked more carefully, "So, why DID you turn down the training?"
"I don't feel like I need to explain myself." She said harshly.
"Hm. Definitely something that might need explainin' then." He said more to himself than to her.
Gine scoffed. "Look, I just don't want to, okay?! Will you let up about that?! Now are you gonna take this or not?!" She demanded, jutting the Power Pole at Korin angrily.
Korin sighed in defeat, extending his free paw and took it from her.
"Thank you." She said.
Korin nodded, then looked up at her.
"Thank YOU, Gine, for dealing with that smuck, King Piccolo."
Gine groaned as she turned to leave, not bothering with an answer. She wished that everyone would stop thanking her for that. She didn't deserve praise for a screw up.
"Your lack of self-confidence may make you feel like you don't deserve credit, but you don't have to put yourself down so much." Korin suddenly said from behind her.
Gine wheeled around to face him, "My what?!"
"Just sayin' what you were thinkin' is not true. You do deserve credit for fighting Piccolo at least." He said simply.
Gine starred at Korin for a few moments, somehow remembering the telepathic talks she had back at the tournament a few days ago...
She then flipped her arms up in exasperation. "AM I THAT EASY TO READ?!" Gine yelled to no one in particular.
Korin answered for her. "Nah, nothing to read. You're more like a picture, since you leak your feelings everywhere."
Gine glared at Korin, feeling offended and unable to shake off the intrusion into her private thoughts yet somehow everyone can just read them aloud without her control.
"It could be something to improve if you want, Kami knows techniques for psychic protection." Korin said.
"Can you please stop?!" She asked, not liking the idea of him finishing her every thoughts aloud, especially should they go to dark places.
"Sorry." He said quickly, but then continued. "Still, Thank for dealing with Piccolo the way you and your friends did. If it's any comfort, you didn't make that big a mistake when you didn't kill him. In hindsight, it was good that he didn't die."
"I know, I know." Gine said impatiently. "Kami told me already about his connection to Piccolo, that he would've died too."
"Not only that, but the dragonballs would have disappeared as well." Korin added.
Gine looked confused. "Wait, what? Why?"
Korin looked at her for a moment, then chuckled in amusement. "Oh, he didn't tell you? Kami created the dragonballs. They are tied to his lifeforce as well so if he died, they would have turned to stone forever."
Gine was stunned. THAT was something she didn't know. "Wait, Kami created the dragonballs?!"
"Yep, he did."
She tried to comprehend that. How did a Namekian even have the ability to create a being with such power that it could grant any wish someone asked of it? Even to cheat death?! But then the last part of what Korin said got to her.
"So, If I had killed Piccolo, Kami would've died as well and the dragonballs would have ceased to exist?" She said, piecing it all together. To her, she wondered why magic had to be so ridiculously complex with life-death connections and rules.
"That's right." Korin nodded, "So it was a good thing, and good timing, that you didn't kill him when you had the chance, huh?"
Gine nodded slowly, "Yeah... I guess things work out in funny ways sometimes." She said absentmindedly as she thought more of the dragonballs again.
The mere mention of them seemed to reawaken some old questions and fears again, ones she held ever since she learned what those orange orbs were. She was too afraid to ask the questions of what they could do, or if she could even ask if they should do what she longed for. But it frightened her, because of if they could or could not bring back those she had grieved for so long ago. Too afraid of having the slightest chance of seeing her lost firstborn again taken away from her, or if she could bring him back... what would happen then?...
"That's for Kami to answer." Korin said, not missing a beat as if picking up what she was mulling around in her head.
That comment snapped her out of her train of thought, and turned it into undignified anger.
"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!" She shouted at the mind-reading cat. She felt violated that an outsider could peek into her head about her lost loved ones, and her deepest fears.
Korin, however seemed unfazed at her outburst. "Like I said earlier, if ya wanna keep your thoughts from being exploited like that, you should give Kami a chance. At least to mask all the root causes of all your self-doubt and pain that weigh your spirit down like an anchor until you work those things out on your own. Your fears about what the dragonballs could do though, is a whole other ball of wax that only Kami can help ya with." He added tacitly.
Gine clenched her fists, wanting to go from the not-too-brutal form of strangling this cat to completely curb-stomping him into a bloody mess for the deep invasion of privacy. But she remained calm enough and just shook her head, unable to believe that this cat could help her. "What advice could you possibly even give me on overcoming my 'self-doubts'?"
"Well, for one thing, you shouldn't let other people's words get to you in the heat of battle or in passion, as words have no meaning unless you give them that. And secondly, he might be able to help you address your problems and your self-hatred." He said plainly.
Gine laughed humorlessly. "Easy for you to say, but it wouldn't help with whatever pitiful strength you Earthlings have against our kind. I may be the weakest Saiyan but I could easily pulverize any of you, including Piccolo. Hell, if I wanted to I could destroy this planet!"
"And yet someone weaker than you got the upper hand, shouldn't that tell you that strength isn't everything?"
"I don't need to be lectured by you." Gine said abruptly at that, and grabbed the railings as if ready to jump and fly off back to Mount Paozu.
"You can't run away forever, ya know?" He called out. "You can toss arguments around all you want, but only your own self-loathing and low regard for your own worth will hold you back unless you are willing to confront your own inner demons."
Gine stopped. She turned around and looked at the feline martial arts master with a mix of incredulity and contempt. "And what do YOU know about me that makes you think you can say that about me, aside from reading my mind and not experiencing my life yourself?"
Korin didn't flinch, "I won't pretend to know how you feel, but I've seen a thing or two on how people cope with trauma in their life in my eight hundred years on this Earth."
"Oh? How so?" She asked sarcastically.
"I ain't a therapist, but I know a person who has been put down way too many times by others when I see 'em. That no matter how much stronger someone is, that determined enough bullies could grind those poor soul's spirits down to dust, and make them feel powerless and not worthy of being anything more than a punching bag."
That sounded WAY too familiar too her; and it made Gine remember half a lifetime of hazing she'd rather forget, no matter how dull the passage of time has made it feel.
Korin went on. "And because of those barriers that they make you feel like you have, you basically weigh yourself down with those self-imposed limitations. But if you realize that everything was done just to keep you down, then it should mean that you can get back up and beyond if you will yourself to."
Gine shook her head. "Wouldn't help where I came from. We Saiyans were the strongest beings in the galaxy, yet I had the rotten luck to be born the weakest in a thousand years. It wasn't an opinion, it was a fact that I had come to accept."
"A fact, or something that was just beaten into you quite literally?" He countered.
Gine didn't answer. She didn't need to if Korin knew. She had been beaten to within an inch of her life far too many times to count with her branding thrown in too, called worthless every time. It was her life, aside from getting by and doing the bidding of Frieza's empire. It was just how the way things were when she found herself time and time again against a fellow Saiyan or squads she was unable to defend herself from, fighting helplessly against her own kind who made it their mission to remind her that she was nothing but a disgrace to the Saiyan race.
But she also remembered the times she wasn't so helpless. As defeatist as she was throughout her life, she sometimes felt spurs of rage when they teased her too much or pushed her too far. That she would get back on her feet to put up a fight that would make those bastards hurt. That she wanted to exert her agency on them, that she wasn't a helpless weakling afterall. Those brief moments where she lasted a few more seconds against another low-class warrior were often disregarded as momentary lapses of her senses, that she often forgot once the adrenaline wore away. But in those tiny moments, she felt a spark of happiness that she was not willing to go quietly.
That she was more than what she had been given... But she quickly shook that off.
"Even so, I still am the weakest." She said, trying not to be too reminiscent while Korin could get into her head.
"Why?" Korin asked, sounding slightly pleased at sensing some defiance in Gine's past memories.
"Aside from my pathetic power level..." Gine went on, trying to not get too emotional. "I'm not a great warrior. I never was. I never liked fighting. Sure, play fighting with Kakarot is fun, but I never liked fighting for my life, or for conquest... I just can't stand hurting people unless I had no choice…"
"It's not a crime to be compassionate. In fact it is the greatest attribute of all to show kindness to others if it means to prevent harm, even if its to our enemies..."
She internally snorted at that. Gine had this exact same thing told to her by Gohan. She loved him to death but didn't really care for being compassionate to her enemies if they were unwilling to do the same, that was something she found too naïve and rather sad to be so believed by such great masters of martial arts everywhere. But she somehow thought of Tien and Chiaotzu... how they were once enemies hellbent on killing her son, only to save her life a day later...
"Doesn't work every time, sure. But it's still the right thing to do." Korin said, then paused for a second as if he knew she was processing that information.
"But as for not liking to fight... you don't have to like it if it means giving you the peace of mind that no matter what, you'll at least be ready when trouble comes along."
That sounded very appealing to her. As much as she liked to fight with Gohan and Kakarot, they were just for fun. Her Saiyan instinct for battle was far tamer than anyone else she knew back in the day, that she would only scratch it with the action of fighting but it did not need to be for killing. She could go easy on Gohan and go rough on Kakarot, but she wanted nothing to do with it if the threat of life was in the balance. Even though she took charge in dealing with Piccolo, it was only reluctantly and by the fact that there was no one stronger than her. Back then she thought she could handle it, but after he tricked her, she couldn't stop doubting herself. What if something similar or more sinister happened again?
But still, being able to put down any threat before it can cause trouble would be something Bardock would do. But...
"Even if I wanted to, I'm not strong enough. I can't get stronger anyway. I just told you that I was the weakest Saiyan..."
"Not from what I can tell." Said Korin. "You have such a great amount of potential in you Gine, much like your son. The two of you have the power to become far stronger than you are now if you set your minds to it."
Gine heard those exact words from Roshi just before she left the island. What did it mean?
If Korin saw it too, was it possible?...
"I wish I shared my son's enthusiasm for training, but..." She said, her voice sounding lame to her.
"Why not? You could if you wanted to, all you have to do is make it a goal to become stronger than the strongest and persevere at bettering yourself to that goal, and that is that. Your son is just very happy about doing it, but it makes it all the better."
Deep down, Gine REALLY wanted to believe in that. She so desperately wanted to be like Kakarot. Maybe not as obliviously naïve he could be sometimes, but he never gave up no matter the odds. It reminded her so much of Bardock..
But still, she felt like she couldn't. That with all the pep talking from everyone that she had meet on this godsend haven of a planet, there was nothing that could overcome what was ingrained after two and a half decades of beatings and ridicule and conditioning...
"It is truly unfortunate that you had to go through all that pain, Gine. No one ever should." Korin said, feeling mournful as he sensed the weight her spirit carried from all the collective memories of the oppression against her throughout her life, and casted aside like garbage.
Gine felt his sympathy enter her mind and him feeling her pain, it all made her eyes moisten with tears.
She knew it was pointless to weep over things she couldn't change, and that she had this moment of crushing reality fall on her many times in her past in moments of weakness... but by the gods it wasn't fair to her! She realized. It wasn't fair! And this time, she didn't care if it was pathetic of her to not suck up like she used to. It simply... Wasn't. Fair.
Korin smiled and talked to her gently.
"But all those things that were said and done to you were wrong. It's not your fault you and your son were brought into a world that would treat those that would never fit it's molds so badly, and it's through your homeworld's brutal culture that shaped your mind into thinking that you are not worthy of agency or basic decency."
Those words stringed in that sentence almost didn't compute in Gine's ears. That she should not be held responsible for being weak by birthright? That she didn't have to hate herself for not having a head start that almost all other Saiyans did? It triggered something that Gine have called 'culture shock' in her. It was the way things were, no matter how much she tried to believe otherwise. It just felt so natural to do that, but deep down there was a part of her that did not want her to hate herself anymore.
Korin then said, "And saying that you can't get stronger is complete crap if you ask me. It is actually a universal truth that ALL beings have the potential to become more than what destiny provides. And you just need to realize that all those notions of you being the weakest stem from a lifetime of putdowns, and that you are only holding yourself back because you think you are incapable of bettering yourself. But you can. If you truly commit yourself to train and never give up, no matter how many times you lose a fight, you can prove them wrong and be what you want yourself to be. I mean, wouldn't it be better to at least try, than live in doubt for the rest of your life?"
Gine just stared at Korin, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that made her feel like her head would explode.
This was the first time in her life that anyone had ever addressed her feelings directly. Even with how much she trusted Gohan, she only told him some things about her that she felt comfortable enough to talk about when he tried to pick her brains. But she mostly played lip-service to him. Gohan could never truly understand how she would feel as the lowest of any society. He could not feel her pain, her humiliation, her doubts, her fear. Everything that made her the way she was, and the way she ticked.
But with Korin, there was nothing to hide from him. Her mind and spirit were naked to his telepathy. That with it, things she had only kept in her heart were brought into the open for all to see. He could feel her pain and fear. And through it all, he just told her that everything she knew about her place in the universe was wrong. That no, she wasn't some worthless peace of trash that would never amount to anything. That she had the capability, the potential, to be so much more... the idea to her seemed so ludicrous. But it was so wonderful.
She CAN be someone better than she was born to be. That discipline and skill could triumph over strength, and that her own determination to be better was what made or broke her resolve. Could it too good to even be true?
Korin looked up at her with a soft gaze. "You ARE worth something, Gine. You mean the world to your son, and so much to your friends down below on Earth. And we all owe you for saving our planet and our lives, mine included! For someone who could do all that, then you DO have the power to become stronger than you were born to be. It's your willpower and action alone that determines how you become, not someone else's words."
Gine didn't feel angry at answering her mental questions anymore. She was more overrun with that revelation than anything. That words had no power over her actions? She could become better even if all of her comrades and fellow Saiyans of old said she couldn't? It was still hard to believe, but it sounded worlds better than anything Saiyan society could ever offer her.
Korin could sense the potential in Gine. Just like Roshi said to her earlier when they left his island. Was that true? Is it possible she was not worthless afterall? She asked herself again and again, digesting the idea.
She then remembered her conversation from just hours ago with Gohan on Roshi's island...
"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."
That one snippet she remembered of her talk with him held everything she needed to address.
Gohan was right. She had to get better at dealing with problems that could come their way, or at least try instead of wallowing in defeatism. She has had enough of it in her life. And if this world was that truly precious to her for giving so much at a second chance at life and happiness, then she should try her damnedest to protect it.
Through all of this, Yajirobe remained quiet as a mouse and observed the two of them talking while he collected the fallen beans as stealthily as he could. Or, at least observe Korin talk to this strange woman that Kakarot told him was his mother while she just stood there and looked on the brink of an emotional breakdown.
He reached down at for the last one in between Korin and Gine's feet.
"Leave it." Korin said, tapping his staff and Yajirobe froze in a jolt like a child caught stealing.
"Eh, sorry." Yajirobe said, and slowly backed away. Gine, through her cloud of mental and emotional changes, eyed the greenish bean curiously.
"What are those, anyway?" She asked Yajirobe, trying to distract herself from the turmoil going on inside her.
"Uh, senzu beans." Yajirobe asked hesitantly.
"Never heard of them." She said.
"Yeah, only Korin grows them. They don't look like much but eating just one give's you about ten days worth of food." Yajirobe explained.
"Huh." She said in mild interest.
"And they can heal your wounds too!" He added, plucking out of the bag and flicking it into the air as if to eat one. But the one that was tossed was quickly swiped away by Korin's staff as he leapt up and swung at it in a blur, and it bounced off one of the pillars to land squarely in Korin's open paw.
"Huh? HEY!" Yajirobe exclaimed in displeasure.
"Still not to be wasted in demonstration, thank you!" Korin said angrily to Yajirobe. Then turned to Gine.
"Kid you not, each one takes about a year to grow."
Gine looked at him disbelievingly, "Really?"
"Really." He confirmed curtly, as if to finish that distraction for her to take a mental break from processing their little talk.
Korin padded over to Gine and held the Power Pole she gave him back up at her.
"Why don't you head back up there and give Kami a chance to teach ya a thing or two. What harm could it do, huh? But if you still don't want to go, I understand." He offered. "It's your choice."
Gine eyed the Power Pole in Korin's hand, thinking.
She really appreciated that he was at least offering her the decision still, without judgement. Afterall, she just wanted to go home after such a few days it was, not be stuck in the clouds for three years with her son. Afterall she wanted to be away from him during his growth spurt.
In the last few days she was just supposed to watch a tournament. That turned into a drama of good and evil, followed by the murder of her son's best friend, to a battle for the fate of the world. And now, here she was talking to a mind-reading cat that undid everything planet Vegeta ever did to her psyche since the day she was born. She sometimes wondered if this planet was even real or if she was just dreaming.
On the other hand...maybe this training could help her. She had doubts still, as she had no idea how they would train her mind or prepare for facing things she'd rather forget. Or even if she was too old, that what if her mind and body were too set in their ways at age forty rather than Kakarot, who was so mendable to grow at such a young age?
But Korin was right. So what if everyone from her home planet told her she couldn't be more than what she was, she would at least try. And besides, they weren't here to taunt her anymore, they were long dead. She had friends now. And they all looked up to her. If anything, at least she could defend them and her home better.
Could be fun, she remembered saying to herself before she set off for the tournament a few days ago before everything else that happened that lead her to here. She mentally shook her head for tempting fate like that, and with thinking of those words again.
And what of the dragonballs? She remembered.
Korin said that whatever questions she had of their abilities could only be answered by Kami alone. She was afraid of what those answers would be, but Korin's ever wise words came back to her. Wouldn't she at least try to ask than live with not knowing? Or as Gohan used to phrase: nothing ventured, nothing gained?
The possibility that she could unlock with those mysterious orbs if she was brave enough to ask, and the possibility that she could actually amount to something even just a little more than worthless... was an allure she couldn't resist anymore.
She made up her mind, and took the Power Pole from Korin.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
Korin said nothing, but smiled knowingly at her.
Without another word, Gine turned around and leapt out of the cupola of Korin's Tower.
She hovered back up to the roof and landed next to the gold onion dome, and slide the red pole into the slot as Korin showed Kakarot. Then, she clutched it as tight as she could and looked up to the sky with determination in her eyes.
"POWER POLE EXTEND!" She commanded.
The Pole momentarily glowed, and she felt the roof of the Tower sweep away from beneath her feet.
Gine held on for dear life, wrapping her legs and tail around the Pole as it made its way back up to the Lookout.
She willed herself not to look down, but to keep her eyes forward.
With that, it became something she resolved to do. That no matter what, she was going to set her sights on what she could be in the future. That the Gine of old, that had been reduced to nothing but an outcast filled with nothing but self-pity, was not going to be her anymore. Not if she could help it. She had been living in doubt and self-loathing for far too long. Now it was time for her to make a change for the better. To make herself what she wanted to be.
If she tried hard enough, she could be like her son. She could be strong, she could be a decent warrior. She could even dare to be better than him someday. It was an audacious thought, but she never knew how to set an ultimate goal before. But it seemed a grand enough aspiration for her.
In that moment, she wished Bardock was here...and Raditz...
And with that thought too, she was even more afraid of what she was going to ask once she got back up there...
After another trip through the sky without storms, Gine reached the Lookout again. Without looking down and with great swiftness, she found the rungs of the ladder and made her way up the bowl-shaped bottom of the floating temple.
She reached the rim and peeked over.
Near the center of the tiled platform, she could see the forms of Kami and Mr. Popo watching over the unmistakably orange clad figure of her son, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back to her.
Gine hauled herself up the last rungs and onto the tiles, then walked towards their direction. From her vantage point, it looked like Kakarot was meditating.
"Well, Kakarot, it's to make good on my promise. Now the first thing I want you to do is..." Kami was saying, before he stopped as he noticed Gine. He didn't seem too surprised to see her again, but there was a trace of a hopeful smile on his face.
"Huh?" Kakarot said, opening one eye in confusion as to why his new master stopped talking to him.
He followed Kami's gaze to behind him, and gasped. "Mom?!" He exclaimed.
"You're back." Kami stated.
Gine nodded, "Yep."
She stopped just short of a few meters in front of Kakarot as he got up and starred at her.
Mother and son regarded each other for a few long, silent seconds.
"Kakarot..." Gine started. "...I just want to say-"
"YOU'RE BACK!" Her son squealed in joy as he threw himself at her. She caught him in time but the flinging of himself at her almost knocked her over.
"I love you so much, Mom!" He half said/half cried into her chest as he hugged her tightly.
Gine felt her heart fill with warmth and relief at his words. She was so afraid that he never wanted to talk to her again after what happened just not too long ago. But she forgot just how big and kind her son's heart was. That he never held ill to anyone, least of all the one he looked up to most in the world.
"I love you so much too, sweetheart." She said back to him, holding him closely too. They stayed that way for a good long moment before Gine set him back down.
"Are you back to train with me?" He asked hopefully, but with a hint of reservation.
Gine regarded him sadly, remembering how their last talk went. But she replaced that with remembering her talk with Korin.
She rested her hands on his shoulders and smiled at him. "Well, does Kami's offer still stand?" She said, before looking towards the Guardian of the Earth.
"Of course." He said with an actual smile. Kakarot's face looked as if he was about to burst in excitement when she said what he hoped to hear.
And she did, "Then yes I am, sweetie."
"ALRIGHT!" Kakarot practically leapt into the air and landed in his mother's grasp again in a fit of giggling joy. Seeing him so happy like this was one of the few things that made Gine feel so fortunate, and she laughed with him too. She didn't know why, but her son's laughter could be contagious with her.
After their little celebration together, Gine set Kakarot back down on the ground again. The laughter he shared with her making her feel more at calm already, and it made what she had to say much easier.
"Sweetheart..." Gine said as she knelt down to his eye level, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for pushing you like that."
"Aw, it's okay Mom. You didn't even hurt me." He told her.
Gine smiled at how her son could forgive and forget so easily even if no physical damage happened. "It was still wrong of me to be mean to you, and I'm sorry." She said with a twinge of regret in her voice.
Kakarot shook his head though, "No, I'M sorry Mom. Kami told me that it isn't right to make people do things they don't want to do, even if it's something I like real much, like training. So I should have respected your choice to leave if you wanted to."
Gine could almost burst into tears of joy at hearing her son say those very words from his mouth. But she wasn't going to. She was very proud that her son had finally understood what she was trying to teach him all these years. And so she let him know that.
"I'm so proud of you to hear you say that, Kakarot." She said, stroking his cheek.
"Aw, shucks." Kakarot said, half embarrassed and twiddling his feet. "So, what made you change your mind?"
Gine thought for a moment, and decide to just sum it up truthfully without diving back into all the painful details. "Well, Korin and I had a little talk. And I guess, maybe I could learn something afterall."
"Oh, well that's good I think!" He said with an open smile, not pushing for more details of how she changed her mind. "There's always something to learn." He added.
"Ain't that the truth." She said, half to herself over everything that happened back down at Korin's and how her son had accepted something she wanted so badly. "Like learning how you could be so surprisingly smart sometimes."
"Well, it took me awhile to realize that I shouldn't force my wants on others, but Kami's a great teacher." Kakarot said, pointing towards the Namekian.
Gine chuckled lightly for the first time that day. "I bet he is. An hour up here and he taught you something I've been trying to teach you for years."
"Your son is quite a quick learner, Gine." Kami said.
"Well, whatever you did, you did good." She said as she stood back up to face Kami and Mr. Popo again. "And if it's alright with you, I would like for you to teach me everything you know like my son here."
Kami nodded. "That can be done. Are you prepared to stay here for the next three years also and do all that is necessary to pass the training?"
Gine though for a couple moments, then nodded solemnly. "Yes."
"Very well then. We can start today if you wish and pick up where your son had just left off on meditation. Or you can start tomorrow with sparring against Mr. Popo here."
Gine looked at the dark-skinned demigod, then back at Kami. She thought of just asking if she could turn in after all the events that happened today with Piccolo...
But then there was the nagging questions in the back of her mind that popped up with Korin.
She took a breath, willing herself to speak the words. She may not get another chance to pluck up the courage within to ask again. So she must. And a part of her was scared at how she'd react, that her questions answered wouldn't tear up whatever friendship she and Kami had now that she agreed to training after such a life-altering talk with Korin. These questions could destroy her own heart too, but she has to ask.
"Actually, before we start anything, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."
That perked Kami's interest. "Is that so? What did you want to ask?"
Gine looked Kami in the eye. "Tell me about the dragon balls."
A/N: There we go! Hopefully I go the flow of this one right as I had in my head and changed many times over the months I had it written down as a rough draft!
But anyways, Now Gine has made up her mind and is about to ask some questions about the dragonballs that could have consequences for our characters. Find out what happens on the next installment!
'Til next time!