Raditz was glad to see the older Saiyan leave. One, because he didn't like him. Two, because it looked like his mother didn't like him that much either. He watched from another room as Gine shut the door that Bardock had left wide open when he retreated. She turned around and leaned her back against the door, sighing and putting her face in her hands. Raditz felt a twinge of worry. He'd never seen her like that before.

"Mama?"

Gine looked up and gave him a gentle smile. "Oh, Raditz." She beckoned at him with her arms and he quickly hopped into them. "How was your day?"

His tail twitched in the air and he pouted at her. "It was fine until he came! I was making food and he came in and I tried to fight him and he kicked me!" He avoided looking at her face, ashamed to admit the last part. "I had to retreat. It really hurt."

She shifted him to one arm and stroked his hair with her free hand. "Sometimes retreating is the smart thing to do. Bardock is really powerful."

"I'll beat him next time!"

At that, she giggled and he scowled. "Your papa is one of the strongest Saiyans I know," she said. "I don't think you're quite ready to face him yet."

"What if he comes back?"

She looked surprised. "Of course he's coming back. This is his home too."

Raditz's eyes widened. "He's going to live here? But I don't like him!"

"Raditz! None of that. That's your papa! This is his home just as it is yours."

"But you don't like him!"

"I happen to love your papa very much. We only had a disagreement. I don't think we'll be seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to fighting in this house."

Raditz's tail lashed behind him, only one word sticking out to him. "I want to fight him!"

"Oh, for goodness sake," Gine said, shaking her head. "I guess you'll be taking after him… That's probably a good thing. Dinner first, then we'll train."

Bardock landed in the middle of a random road bustling with activity. Not much had changed in the few months he had been gone and he was not the only one returning home. Other Saiyans crowded the area, their loud boisterous voices hammering into Bardock's ears, irritating him more than he already was. A glance to his left gave him an explanation as to why everyone was being so loud. He'd landed near a tavern and Saiyans were drinking to their comrades' return. He was sure it wouldn't be long until a brawl broke out from their overindulgence and Bardock honestly didn't feel like being a part of one right now. Those fights were pointless if his opponent wasn't at one hundred percent mentally.

Still, he knew that a good number of intoxicated Saiyans would want to fight him so he made a move to leave this area.

"Hey, Bardock!"

Grimacing, Bardock turned around to face his long-time comrade, Tora. He didn't get a chance to say anything since Tora's arm draping around him roughly knocked the breath out of him. He rolled his eyes at Tora's loud laugh. His comrade was drinking already.

"What are you doing out here?" Tora said, shaking him a little. "The night's just started. I figured you'd be with Gine!"

Bardock shrugged his arm off and huffed, giving his friend a onceover to see how much he'd have to say. Unfortunately, Tora wasn't completely drunk yet so he'd be sober enough to grill him for more details.

"My kid came out of incubation when I was gone."

Tora's eyes lit up and he raised a mug. "No shit? Congratulations! May the gods grant him the strength and courage of his father, eh?"

Bardock ignored the blessing and leaned against the wall of a housing unit on the other side of the tavern. "Tch, brat's a menace and I'm pretty sure he drove Gine insane while I was gone."

Tora chugged down the contents of his mug and tossed it away, raising an eyebrow. Slowly, his face widened into a grin. "Let me guess, you had a run-in with the kid before she could properly introduce you two."

"How the hell-"

"You should know more than anyone that brat's are vicious things. I think I still have a scar from where you bit me and you were what, nine? You know brats can be more violent than us." Tora jerked a thumb at the rooftops of the housing units where Bardock noticed for the first time some orphaned Saiyan kids were lurking. They ducked when he made eye contact with them, eyes glittering in the light of the flickering fire from some lanterns. "Take those scraps for example. Earlier a whole pack of them tried picking a fight with Fasha for some babaya jerky she took out of storage. They went straight for her tail and almost kicked her ass."

Bardock smirked. "Don't let her hear you say that."

"Anyway, what'd you do?"

"Kicked him. Once. Brat whined like I beat him within an inch of his life."

"That all? Gine'll forgive you for that. You don't have to be pissy about it."

"I'm not… pissy."

"You look pretty pissy. Why else wouldn't you be back home with her? You've been crying about wanting to see her for weeks."

The statement almost made Bardock punch him. "Like hell I did! I never even mentioned her!"

"Please, we all know what you're thinking when you look up at the sky after a mission." Bardock felt his face heat up and was relieved it was too dark for Tora to see any sign of his embarrassment. He looked away anyway, just in case. Tora just chuckled and dropped it. "Hey, you know Gine. She's got a soft heart and is probably just very protective of your kid. What's his name, anyway?"

"Uh… Raditz."

"Good name. Is it from Gine's side?"

"I don't know, probably? Sure as hell ain't from my side."

Tora suddenly snapped his fingers. "Shit, that reminds me. Gine's old man, Arlic? He died a few weeks ago. Wasn't even in battle, poor bastard."

Bardock's eyes widened. "Is that why Gine's a fucking mess?"

Tora shrugged. "No idea. You know how their breed's mind works better than me."

He wished someone had told him about this before he had come back home. Gine didn't like purging planets because of the kills they'd make and when a personal member of their squad was killed in combat she'd take it hard. Bardock could only imagine how she'd reacted when she found out her father, the one who raised her, was dead.

"I gotta go back," Bardock sighed.

Tora hummed softly and shrugged, probably understanding that this was due to one of Gine's quirks. "Alright. Give us a heads up when you want to head out again."

Bardock turned away when Tora marched back into the tavern and hesitated. If he was going back home after their argument, he should probably bring something to Gine (as a peace offering, not an apology). Food would be best. He had almost cleared their stash.

He didn't have any credits on hand at the moment so he wouldn't be able to purchase anything. Either he'd have to hunt or snag something from another Saiyan. He didn't particularly mind stealing (he'd done it all the time as a brat) and it wasn't looked down upon if you won it so he looked around at the Saiyans who were wandering outside the tavern or heading home.

Two Saiyan brutes were sitting outside on a table just outside the tavern with two brown burlap sacks underneath, looking seconds from passing out. He smirked and approached without them noticing, quickly slamming both of their heads down onto the table, knocking them out and causing a few observing Saiyans to burst out laughing. When he was sure they were out cold, he reached under the table and pulled up one of the sacks, pleased to see it did carry food of some sort. As he bent down to retrieve the other one, a hand grabbed his tail with an iron grip, sending a shocking pain up his entire spine.

Bardock stiffened and clenched his fist, swallowing the cry of pain he almost let out. He'd trained his tail. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough that he wasn't rendering completely helpless. Letting out a breath, he slowly drew himself up to full height and faced the one who dared to grab his tail.

It was a female Saiyan who towered over him by at least two feet. When he met her eyes, she released his tail from her grip, giving him a disdainful glare. There weren't many Saiyans in this town but Bardock was sure he'd never seen her around before. He was about to ask her what her damn problem was but she cut him off.

"How pathetic," she said, sneering down at him and the sack he hadn't noticed he dropped. It's contents had fallen in the dirt, ticking him off even further.

Bardock scowled at her, tail tight around his waist. "The hell did you say, bitch?"

She chuckled and tapped the button on her scouter. "Power level of 2,402. Such an insufficient power level. Do you really think you can afford to get on my bad side?"

'Shit. Middle-class soldier. She's not from around here, that's for damn sure.'

His eye twitched. He didn't have a scouter so he wouldn't be able to read this Saiyan's power level, but now that he got a good look at her armor he could see she was a much higher rank than him. If 2,402 was a low power level to her, that meant she had to be a middle-class soldier. You had to be born in the middle-class and there was only a handful of those and they all worked for the royal family. It was possible she was bluffing since she saw he wasn't carrying his scouter but that wasn't a chance he wanted to take.

"These your comrades?" he asked gruffly, nudging one of the unconscious Saiyans with his boot.

She laughed. "Please, like I'd associate with these drunken fools."

'Then why the hell are you here? Go back to your damn palace.'

"What do you want?" Bardock managed to ask, his voice straining to remain civil, even as his tail still throbbed in pain. He couldn't help but notice that the other Saiyans around them, some intoxicated, others not, had gone silent and were watching them. Bardock hadn't expected a fight today but there was no way in hell he was going to back down if she directly challenged him.

"At the palace we often have to stop you low-class trash from stealing food. I saw you attack and then reach for their pitiful scraps of food and grabbed you on impulse." She raised an eyebrow at the food that had fallen in the dirt. "I forget how pitiful the quality of food is down here. If I'd known you were scavenging for garbage I wouldn't have interfered at all."

Bardock bared his teeth. Nobody had dared insult him like that since he was a child. Nowadays he was one of the top third-class Saiyans in the area and the only reason people would challenge him was to have the privilege to say they got their ass kicked by him.

"Then I think your business here is done," he said, flexing his fingers. He wouldn't be the first to strike. He wasn't a moron.

She looked almost disappointed that he hadn't attacked her yet. Finally, she shrugged and walked away, making sure to step on the food that had spilled out of the bag before taking off and flying towards the royal palace. Bardock huffed and scowled at her from the distance. The other Saiyans around him slowly began to regain their liveliness and the event was quickly forgotten. When she was out of view, he looked down at the food on the ground.

Insulted or not, he'd be damned if he let the food go to waste. He shoved the food that was still intact back into the sack and tugged at the drawstring to close it. Ignoring the eyes of the other Saiyans on his back, he threw both sacks over onto his shoulder and flew straight home.

This time when he reached the door he didn't hesitate to push it open and see his wife in son in the middle of the room. Raditz had immediately stopped whatever he had been doing to glare at him. Bardock glared back, taking pleasure in the way he managed to get Raditz's tail bushed up. Still, the kid didn't back down right away, most likely because this time he had his mother with him.

"Bardock," Gine said, sounded so relieved that he was almost more insulted than he'd been by the middle-class soldier.

"I said I'd be back," he said gruffly. He pulled the sacks off of his shoulder and lowered them to the ground. "Here, I brought stuff to refill your pantry. Some of it met the dirt, though, so I'll just let you deal with that yourself."

That seemed to cheer her up and even Raditz looked content. Gine made a gesture at Raditz and he scampered off into another room. The bathing quarters, Bardock believed. Gine heaved the sacks up and onto a table, dumping out its contents and observing them. Luckily it was only the fruits and vegetables that had fallen in the dirt and she was able to clean those up quickly. The other bag contained grains and two wrapped packages of meat she stored in their icebox.

Bardock watched her quietly, waiting for her to say anything to him. He didn't like to start the conversations but if he didn't things would get awkward and awkward was irritating. She was already almost done, wiping the table and countertop with an old cloth.

"I, uh… I heard about Arlic. Your old man," Bardock said gracelessly. He wanted to punch himself in the face.

Gine stiffened, her grip on the cloth suddenly tight. Her hands trembled for a second and then her form relaxed and she looked at him from over her shoulder with sad eyes and a smile.

"Yeah, a few weeks after Raditz came out of incubation." Gine looked down at the cloth she was holding and dropped it on the counter. "It wasn't in battle. It was something with his heart. The medics tried explaining it to me that it was a kind of disease but the other Saiyans say it was because he was a Soft Heart."

Bardock sneered. "Who said that?" he growled. "I'll kill them."

Gine said nothing at first and then walked towards him, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck in a loose hug. "It's not important, Bardock. I know it's not true."

"They wouldn't have said shit if I was here."

She laughed lightly. "Of course not. Spare them your wrath, please." He grunted grouchily, tail lashing behind him as Gine kissed his chin. "Showing some kindness won't kill you."

It could, actually. In several different ways. Any other day and he'd gladly list them, but seeing as her father was dead and she'd been left alone to grieve with her child it probably wasn't a good idea at the moment. Bardock huffed and rested his chin on top of her head, allowing her to pull him into a tighter embrace. He appreciated these small, quiet moments and he was willing to allow Gine to indulge in her desire for friendly physical contact in exchange.

"Mama?"

Bardock immediately pulled away from her to snap his attention to the voice. It was Raditz, of course, but it was still a voice he wasn't quite used to. Gine's fingers traced down his arm and squeezed his own for a brief second and then she faced their son, smiling at him gently.

Raditz was glaring at them with an expression Bardock quickly identified as jealousy. He couldn't help the smug feeling that rose in his chest and he smirked, causing the brat's glare to darken. His hair was dripping with water from his bath, reminding Bardock that Raditz was still technically a baby. It took a lot to get an adult Saiyan's hair out of shape, but a brat's hair was different. The strands were thin and lighter, much more prone to entrapping debris and becoming a mess of tangles. Hair like Raditz's would probably need a lot of care before it stiffened up as he got older.

"You all done?" Gine asked, approaching him.

Raditz nodded, glare vanishing.

"Alright, let's go get those tangles out."

Bardock watched with amusement as Gine led their son away to presumably brush his hair. He decided to spend his own time out on the roof of their unit and join Gine in bed once she was finished.

When he swung himself up onto the roof through the window, he was greeted with a burst of cool air. Night had completely fallen, causing the temperature on their desert planet to drop. A few lanterns lit the town but with the amount of stars filling the sky they were almost unnecessary. Bardock stretched and laid down, arms behind his head as the cool air bit at his skin and stared up at the sky, thinking of his next mission.

Originally, he had planned to set off after a quick visit to Gine but his promise to her that he'd train their son might change things. He was fairly certain his team wouldn't want to wait around for however long it took to get the kid in fighting form so it was likely that they'd do a few missions without him. Though, yes, Bardock would rather be out getting things done and rising in ranks, he supposed he could stand staying planet-side for a few weeks. Raditz was his breed. There had to be some good fighting instinct in there somewhere.

A sudden scuffle a few minutes later caught his attention and he sat up instantly to find its source. A couple of house units down was one of the Saiyan scraps. Apparently, he had mistimed a jump from one rooftop to another and had almost fallen before scrambling back up. Bardock watched quietly as he regained his balanced and continued on his way towards a group of other orphaned Saiyans.

The scraps were running across the rooftops in the distance and Bardock faintly remembered doing the same thing himself when he was young. It made attacking and stealing food much easier if you didn't know how to fly and adult Saiyans were not too eager to destroy their own homes to pursue them. Still, being a young scrap was dangerous. Not all Saiyans were like he, Gine and Tora. Others would gladly kill them to free the town from pests.

Raditz was fortunate he had not one, but two adults looking after him.

'Huh. I'm looking after someone.'

Sure, he had looked after Gine, but not in this sense. There was a young Saiyan below him that was pretty much a blank slate. No real life experiences yet. Bardock would be one of the beings in charge of shaping Raditz into the man he'd be in the future.

His stomach turned and he grinded his teeth. Shaping someone up was weird. He'd come into the whole mating business because he thought all he'd have to do was train the kid to fight, but remembering his encounter with the middle-class soldier and looking at the scraps, realizing they'd be shaped up by their hostile environment made him realize that being a father might involve more than just fighting. If he denied that then Raditz would be shaped by only Gine and he'd be sent off to meet other people that were decidedly more… Saiyan and the kid would be out of his league. Hell, if he was to face off against a middle-class soldier… his kid was as good as dead.

Another burst of cool air blew past him, ruffling his hair.

'Ok, fuck this, it's cold.'

Bardock slid back into his house and was pleased to see Gine was already in bed, more than enough space for him at her side. He approached the bed and saw her bury her face deeper into her pillow, a hint of a smile barely visible. Carefully, he lifted the covers and made a move to slid under it.

His leg bumped something small and warm. Something most definitely not Gine. He jolted back and lifted the covers higher to see what had invaded his half of the bed. The first thing he saw was the hair and he scowled.

The brat was in his bed.

Barely giving it a thought, Bardock pulled Raditz out from under the covers by his leg and tossed him to the other side of the room with a growl.

"What are you doing?" Gine shouted, jumping out of the bed to reach Raditz who was looking ruffled and confused. He hung from her arm, tail swaying lazily as he began to wake up properly.

"He is not sleeping with us!" Bardock snapped.

Gine sat on the ground, holding Raditz closer and looking him over for any injuries. The child seemed to have realized what was going on and clutched onto her, glaring at Bardock viciously.

"He's never slept on his own, before!"

She said this as if it was a valid excuse but Bardock could only curl his lip in disgust. "You've got to be kidding me. He slept alone for three years! The unit has another room for a reason!" Raditz snuggled into Gine's chest and she held him even tighter, an action that made something in Bardock burn. "Stuff like this is going to make him weak, Gine! He can't cling to you forever!"

"It's only been a few months-"

"When I was his age I slept outside alone with an empty stomach. If he's going to be a Saiyan warrior he can't expect these comforts! Frieza's forces barely even supply them. You're spoiling him!"

"He's my son, Bardock! I'm not going to force him to do things he doesn't want to!"

Bardock stepped forward and ripped Raditz from her grip by the arm. Raditz immediately struggled against him, using his free hand to try and claw at Bardock. No matter how hard he scratched or bit him, Bardock's grip didn't loosen and he carried him away. At first he wanted to throw his son outside, but that was something he was sure Gine wouldn't forgive. Instead, he settled for tossing Raditz on the bare, dusty bed in the room next to theirs. Without a word, he slammed the door shut and faced Gine who was in the hall, glaring at him with eyes full of tears.

Bardock grinded his teeth to try and find the right words so she'd stop looking at him like that. "I'm serious. You should know how Saiyans are, how the rest of us are. If he grows up thinking that that's normal, he's going to be weak." He jerked a hand to a window facing the homes of all the other Saiyans. "Weakness can get you killed out there! You should know because if it wasn't for me, you'd have been dead because of your weaknesses years ago!"

Gine wiped at her eyes with the back of her arm furiously. "That's what this is all about. You don't want him to be like me."

He kept his voice firm. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

She didn't say anything for a minute as she stared at him and then sighed. "He wants to fight, you know. You don't have to worry about that part." Her arms wrapped around herself and she leaned against the door to Raditz's room, wincing when she heard him banging against it. The housing units were created with Saiyans in mind and it would be difficult for a child to break through. "You said… you said you'd train him, right?"

Bardock stepped closer and bumped her side gently. "Yeah, I will. He'll get strong. He'll need to be if he wants to spar with me proper."

"He's your breed, so I'm sure he will," Gine said. She focused on the door for a minute and then surprised Bardock by opening it before he could stop her.

Radit leaped into her arms in a blur of movement. Gine took a deep breath and held him further from her, causing him to look at her curiously. To Bardock's annoyance, he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Dear heart, I know this is sudden but… you need to sleep there now. That is your room and your bed," Gine said.

Raditz's mouth dropped open in surprise. A second later, it snapped closed and he gave Bardock an accusing glare. "Is it because of him?"

"No, no," Gine said. "It's because if we keep sharing such a small bed together, you won't get any bigger. You need to have space to grow or else you won't get strong." She lowered her head closer to his face to whisper. "How else are you going to get stronger than your papa?"

Bardock scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Then why does he get to sleep with you?"

"He's not going to sleep with me." Bardock jerked in surprised. "Your papa is a big, grown man. He'll be sleeping outside, won't you, Bardock?"

"Wha-"

She silenced him with a glare, causing him to realize she was probably sore about the way he had handled Raditz earlier when he had shut him in his room. Scowling, Bardock watched as she carried Raditz back into his room and shook the dust off of the bed, placing him on it with some detachment. Her hand went through his hair affectionately as they bid each other goodnight.

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous when the only goodnight Gine gave him was a finger pointing out the window.