Kera:
Bulma sat on the ground. In front of her was a blanket on which the girl lay, muttering happily to herself, while Bulma held a rattle in front of her, which she grabbed eagerly. As Bulma pulled the rattle away to make the girl sit up, the expression on her face changed for a moment and the rattle flew out of Bulma's hand right into the baby's little fingers.
Startled, she looked at her empty hand, then at the baby.
Kera jumped forward and picked up the little girl. "Hey, Bulma, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so," she replied hesitantly. Then she shook her head and stood up. She gently stroked the child's cheek with one finger. "She's so cute."
"Are you really okay with her being here?" Uncertainly, she stepped from one leg to the other.
Bulma smiled. Hesitantly at first, then more openly. "I'm happy to look after her. She's a lovely girl."
"I mean ... because ..."
Bulma put a hand on Kera's shoulder. "Kera, you don't have to ask me every time. It was a shock when I caught you two and I was hurt. I could have snapped. No one can change what happened. We all have to live with it. And if it means I'm a stepmother to a little girl, then so be it."
Touched, Kera swallowed and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She hugged Bulma.
On the flight back home, she looked at the little girl in her arms over and over again. Although she was only a few weeks old, her eyes already looked so all-knowing that Kera sometimes got goosebumps. Then, when she smiled, that feeling quickly faded.
Kera landed in front of the house and was briefly disappointed that neither her children nor Piccolo came running to meet her. When she turned towards the waterfall, however, she saw why no one was paying any attention to her. The three of them had turned their backs on the house and were gazing intently at the rock face, where there was no longer a waterfall thundering down into the depths.
'Just a moment more. I don't want to break Menka's concentration now,' Piccolo said in her thoughts without turning around.
Slowly Kera stepped closer. To Piccolo's right, Menka stood with her hands outstretched towards the waterfall. She was breathing heavily. Her dark shirt was already wet with sweat at the back. With her mental abilities she had dammed up the water. And had been doing so for some time, as Kera realised when she looked up. There, the water was already collecting several yards high, as if it were being held back by an invisible wall.
Kera was impressed by her daughter's telekinetic powers. She was almost a little envious. She had clearly inherited these abilities from her father. She wondered if Menka would become even stronger than him.
"Release it now," Piccolo said.
Instantly, the wall in front of the water dissolved and everything rushed into the depths. With a loud splash, the water of the upper river rejoined the lower river. Piccolo, Menka and Reyak were splashed from top to bottom. Kera had jumped backwards in time with the baby on her arm and only got a few drops.
"Try it a little gentler next time." Piccolo shook himself. Kera heard a smirk in his voice. With a wave of his hand, he dried their clothes.
"Hello, my lovelies!" called Kera, stepping forward now. Menka and Reyak turned and grinned. Kera crouched down to give them both a hug.
"Have you been training with Uncle Vegeta too?" asked Reyak, taking the baby from her arms as a matter of course. The little girl beamed at the elder. There seemed to be a deep bond between the two.
"Yes, I trained with him a little. Before that, I happened to meet Gohan. Love." She looked to Piccolo as she stood up. He nodded. "I had some tea at Aunt Chi-Chi's place and then flew to Uncle Vegeta's."
"Any news?"
Kera knew why Piccolo asked the question. He wanted to know if they were still coping with the situation that there was a baby, which was to be the beginning of chaos. It was clear to him that as long as they did not name the baby, they themselves were not convinced that it could live normally among them.
"Actually, yes. Gohan told me that there will be a fighting tournament in a month."
"You mean one like the one Goku and I participated in many years ago?"
Kera nodded. "Exactly like that. Gohan will participate. And Vegeta and I will definitely participate as well, because - hold on to your hats - Kakarrot will be coming from the afterlife for a day to participate as well."
Before Piccolo could utter a question, he was interrupted by Reyak. "May I also participate? Please, please, please!"
A brief mental vote with Piccolo and Kera nodded to her son, who jumped in the air with joy.
"Would you like to participate too, Menka?"
She shrugged. "I don't know," she said softly.
"You can still think about it." Kera knew that Menka was simply not a born warrior. She was strong, no question, and she knew how to defend herself. But she avoided voluntary fighting if possible. Piccolo didn't like to admit it, but to Menka, it seemed, much of what had made Kami had gone.
"Will there be more participating that we know of?"
"Gohan was going to inform Tienshinhan, Yamcha and Krillin. I'm guessing 18 will also attend when she hears how much the prize money is."
Piccolo smirked. "Knowing you, you've already discussed a training schedule with Vegeta." It wasn't a question.
"I have. I'd like to train with you one day and with Vegeta the next."
"Agreed. Who will take care of the baby?"
"Bulma."
"Good, then let's have dinner."
The following month passed quickly. The daily training completely filled the days. They only interrupted it to eat and sleep. Kera felt reminded of the time when she had trained with Piccolo and Gohan for the arrival of Vegeta and Nappa. That was so far in the past.
Even Menka was training with them, though she wasn't sure yet if she would actually participate in the tournament. Besides the strength training, she also stayed with Dende for a few days to refine her mental skills.
Since flying back and forth took up a lot of time, they had quickly agreed with Bulma and Vegeta to temporarily stay at the Briefs' estate. This way the training became even more intense and they didn't even have to worry about food. Reyak trained with Trunks and Goten joined them every now and then.
The day of the tournament had come. Since it would take place on an island far out at sea, they flew out early in the morning. Vegeta accompanied them. Bulma would follow with the plane and Trunks, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Goten and the baby.
Waiting was not a strength of the Saiyans, Kera had to realise for the umpteenth time. Restlessly she walked up and down in the shade of the palm trees that lined the way to the entrance of the tournament area. There was still nothing to be seen of the actual venue. The grounds were surrounded by a three-yard high wall. Kera suppressed the urge to float up and look over the wall.
Vegeta tapped his foot impatiently. "Where are they?"
Piccolo had all but melted into the shade of a palm trunk, while Menka and Reyak had sat down on the ground beside him.
"Papa!" Trunks came running towards them. Following behind him were Bulma, Yamcha, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Goten, 18, Krillin, Marron, Puar, Oolong, the Ox King, as well as the Turtle Hermit.
Kera had to smile when she saw all these people who meant so much to her. Joyfully she hugged Chi-Chi and Bulma.
Piccolo:
He hadn't seen Gohan for a few weeks, but he sensed how much the boy had been training. He had on a strange disguise with a red cape.
"Hello Piccolo."
"Hello kid."
"Have you seen my father yet?"
"No, not yet. But I see a figure of fun with the voice of Gohan. How are you?"
Offended, Gohan folded his arms in front of his chest. The scarf around his hair and the big sunglasses didn't fit Gohan any more than fire fit ice.
"I need a disguise so my classmates won't recognise me. That would be embarrassing. That reminds me ..." He turned to the group. "Hey, listen up for a second, please. Please don't turn into Super Saiyans during the tournament. I don't want people to know we fought Cell back then."
"You don't tell me what to do, kid!" roared Vegeta.
Kera cleared her throat, which made Vegeta instantly calm down. "Fine by me. I'll beat you all anyway," Vegeta grumbled before turning away.
Vegeta:
What was this fool thinking? Telling him, the prince of the Saiyans, what to do? Outrageous.
Kera was on the boy's side, though, and he had no desire to mess with her just yet. They would do that in the fighting ring.
Finally they would find out which of the three of them was the strongest.
"Has anyone seen Goku yet?" Kakarrot's wife looked impatient.
Vegeta concentrated. Wasn't that Kakarrot's aura there? It was coming towards them rapidly. He turned and saw that Kera was also reacting to something, while no one else showed the slightest hint of a reaction.
He blinked once, then another time. Kakarrot's aura was now almost with them. When he blinked a third time, Kakarrot was standing just a step away from them, raising his hand. "Hi guys!"
Chi-Chi jumped up and hugged her husband.
"Papa, who's this?" Trunks stood beside him and looked at him questioningly.
"This is Kakarrot. I told you about him."
"He doesn't look so strong."
Vegeta couldn't suppress a smirk.
Piccolo:
He listened for a moment to the joyous babble of reunion. Goku was happy to hug his second-born son for the first time and told his wife how much he had missed her. Piccolo was surprised that there could be so much emotion in Goku.
"Papa?"
He leaned down to Menka. "What is it?"
"Is that Uncle Kakarrot?" Piccolo nodded. "His aura is very powerful."
Piccolo looked at Goku. He could feel his aura, his presence, but could not have told how strong he was now. Like all fighters, he didn't walk around all the time showing his true strength.
"You can feel his strength even if he suppresses it?"
Menka nodded.
Piccolo stroked her hair gently. "You really are amazing."
Uncertain, she smiled at him and Piccolo smiled back.
"Wow, Piccolo is smiling. A rare sight." Goku suddenly stood beside him and grinned.
Piccolo didn't respond. "So we meet again."
"Is this your daughter?" He leaned down to Menka.
"This is Menka. And this ..." He beckoned Reyak to him. "Is my son Reyak."
"Hello, you two."
Piccolo cleared his throat. "We have to register if we want to participate."
Together they walked to the large passageway in the wall, in front of which several tables had been set up, where scribes sat and registered the participants.
Piccolo and the others joined the queues of people waiting at the tables. Reyak stood to his right and had already arrived at the table, while there were still two people in front of Piccolo.
"Papa!" called Reyak. Questioningly, he looked at his son. "We have to fight in the junior ones because we are under fifteen."
"You win the junior fights then," he replied.
Reyak smiled and put his name down. Satisfied, Piccolo noted that after Reyak, Menka also registered. Trunks and Goten followed.
"Let's go to the locker rooms then." The fighters joined Piccolo and went through the big gate into the event area. The spectators went through another entrance.
They followed the signs pointing the way to the dressing rooms.
"Hello, how are you? What is your name? What made you enter the tournament?" Puzzled, Piccolo looked at the petite woman who held out a microphone to him. He ignored her and just kept walking. The woman was not deterred in her drive and walked towards Vegeta, who also ignored her.
No one had wanted to answer her questions and so the blonde woman was left behind them in frustration.
"Earl, don't these people look familiar to you?"
Piccolo's ears twitched. 'Menka, please destroy the camera,' he asked his daughter in his mind. Without looking, she shot invisible energy at the camera, which instantly burst into flames. 'Thank you!'
Kera:
"Excuse me? An impact meter?" In disbelief, Kera looked at the man in the striped shirt who had just explained to them the procedure of the tournament and at Hercule who had demonstrated the function of the device. "This is ridiculous."
"We have to be careful not to break this thing," Piccolo remarked.
Kera nodded. She wasn't in the mood for this kindergarten.
They had to line up and take a number to determine the order in which they would go to the impact meter.
18 was first in line from her group. Kera watched exactly how she punched. The result was many times higher than that of Hercule and the previous participants. This also made the referee suspicious, who asked 18 to strike again. This time the score was lower, but still many times higher than that of Hercule.
Kera waited her turn. She didn't need to see the results to know that they were all qualified. The numbers were always much higher than those of the "normals".
It was Vegeta's turn. After him, Kera would finally be able to beat.
"This is ridiculous!" shouted Vegeta, stretching out an arm and destroying the punch meter.
"Tell me, are you still ticking right?!" she yelled at Vegeta. "Now I'll have to wait even longer." Vegeta flinched briefly before tightening again.
"You think it's unnecessary too, don't you?"
"Yeah, well, there's no point in breaking the device. We want to fight, after all."
"Those who have not yet been able to beat it will have to be patient now, unfortunately. We will bring in a new device," the referee informed them with a slightly nervous undertone in his voice.
"See? It's on."
Arguing, they walked a few steps until Gohan called her name. "Aunt Kera!"
She walked to him. Kakarrot stood beside Gohan. Vegeta followed her. Next to Gohan was a black-haired girl wearing a long white T-shirt. She had to be the same age as Gohan
"This is Videl," Gohan introduced the girl next to him.
"Nice to meet you." She shook Videl's hand.
"This is my aunt Kera and my ... and Vegeta." Kera had to grin. No one had said they should be addressed as aunt and uncle. The younger children had quickly established this, Gohan found it difficult especially with Vegeta.
"Was the baby I saw outside yours?" asked Videl Kera.
"Yes."
"How old is it?"
"She's two and a half months old."
Videl's eyes widened in disbelief. "And then you can fight again already?"
Questioningly, Kera tilted her head. "Sure."
"Not bad."
"Uh yeah ... So Kera and Vegeta are my father's siblings. My cousins are also participating. With the juniors."
"The one with the purple hair?"
"That's the one. And the two with the greenish skin colour."
Kera saw it working in Videl as she tried to trace the relationships. Her gaze flitted over those present. "And who are the parents of these two?"
"Kera and Piccolo." He pointed to the Namekian, who stood a little apart.
"They look very different from the baby."
"Yes, because ..."
"It's okay, Gohan," Kera cut him off. "Why don't we watch the junior fights and examine the fighting ring beforehand?"
Gohan took the hint and followed them.
They made their way through the waiting crowd and came through a short tunnel that connected the outer compound to the ring, onto a balcony that overlooked the arena.
A huge fighting area stretched out below them, lined on all four sides by metre-high stands.
"It's like a monkey circus," Piccolo said snidely.
"Why?"
"The ring is much bigger than at previous tournaments and the crowd is much bigger too."
Kera shrugged. "The main thing is that we can fight. Videl," she turned to the young woman, "do the same rules apply here with the adults?"
Videl nodded. "Yes, whoever is knocked out or flies out of the ring loses. There is no preliminary round here, though. All the contestants compete."
"I am very curious to see which of the four will win," Kera said to Piccolo. The latter nodded with a grin.
"Why four?" Videl looked irritated.
"Well, Reyak, Menka, Trunks or Goten."
"But there are many more participating. Anyone could win."
Kera shrugged. "Sure." She looked at the ring.