In which SIGohan adds to her small child collection

thewittywhy: ahha yeah lol. I'm running on a plan as you go for a lot of Namek, but there are a few scenes I've got planned for certain, especially in terms of making fun of Vegeta. Mostly in terms of making fun of Vegeta

frankieu: Thanks lol. I don't expect Cargo to affect much in the grand scheme, but I've had some fun writing for him

Shadowj6480: The child collection grows lol. and yeah, the time frame is hard. I've got one aspect of that covered, but as the arc goes on, I expect that to fall apart as well

I expected to be chased down. I distinctly remembered the pink guy chasing Krillin and canon Gohan. And for much less than blowing out at least a few of his teeth.

And with both of us holding a child there's no way Krillin could have gotten both his hands-free for a solar flare.

I don't know why he didn't. I don't know why Frieza demanded he do so in canon but not here. Maybe he prioritized killing the elder. Maybe he considered Dodoria's injuries bad enough to prioritize his healing. Maybe Frieza was just so caught off guard he didn't give the order until we were too far to track without Scouters. Maybe he just didn't care. I don't know. There was no way for me to know.

Whatever the reason, Krillin and I touched down on one of the islands after flying a few miles away. We tucked into a space between the rocks to catch our shaken breath.

We set the children down on their feet.

The one I was carrying immediately turned on me.

"What have you done! You left him there! You just left Elder Moori there to die!" Tears welled up in the kid's eyes.

"There's nothing we could have done."

"You don't know that! You just ran away! You could have-have-"

"No. We couldn't. We are no stronger than your warriors were. We'd fare no better than they did," I couldn't make eye contact as I spoke.

The boy's tears were freely falling now. I looked to Krillin for help, I was no good with anyone crying, let alone children.

"Cargo," the other child interrupted before stepping forward and turning to Krillin and I, "thank you for saving us. I'm sorry for Cargo's rudeness."

"Hey, no harm done. It's natural to be upset after what you two just went through. I'm pretty shaken up about it myself," Krillin grinned at the two before kneeling and pulling the smaller one, Cargo, into a hug.

"Hey buddy, I know you're upset, and if there was anything we could have done we would have. But if you're gonna be upset with anyone, be upset with me. I mean hey, Gohan's the one who stepped up first to save you two after all."

The boy sniffed and looked down, his eyes darting from space to space, his pointed ears flickering as if they were responding to his emotions.

"Sorry for yelling," he shuffled in place.

"No worries, better to be angry now than bottle it all up. Besides, I could only imagine what would happen if you snapped at Bulma like that instead."

"Who?" We turned to the other one, Dende, again.

"Ah, right, I was thinking the safest place to take you two would be back where we've been hiding out with our friend, Bulma. That is, unless you have somewhere else you'd like us to take you."

Dende looked between us and Cargo before frowning, "no, with you is probably best. I'm, I'm afraid of if we went to another village and they got to them first."

Krillin frowned, before smiling, "hey I know! All you'd have to do is wish them back with the Dragon Balls right?"

"How do you know about the Dragon Balls?" Dende asked, confused, before growing concerned, "those men demanded our Dragon Ball, is that why you're here, to take them as well?"

He put his hands over Cargo's shoulders before taking a step back, pulling the smaller along with him.

"Hey, ok. We did come here for the Dragon Balls, but we were just gonna ask if we could use them to bring our friends back to life. Not, not anything like those monsters," Krillin appeased the kids.

Dende frowned, looking down, before nodding.

"Ok. I believe you."

"Great. Should we head back over to Bulma then?"

After confirming that they still wanted to come with us, and checking where all the enemy threats were at this moment-

Frieza and company were heading off in whatever direction, as long as it was away from us I couldn't care at the moment, and Vegeta was skulking around close between where he started and the place Frieza was heading.

Ah man, that means that Vegeta won't be killing pinky yet. That, that probably wouldn't throw too much off, would it? It's fine.

Regardless, we confirmed the two could fly, Dende could comfortably, Cargo could as long as he was holding someone's hand. He liked Krillin best out of the two of us so by default that's who he went with. As such, I was to make sure Dende didn't fall behind.

We made sure to keep to a reasonable speed, both to accommodate for the kids, and because while Frieza's Scouters were destroyed, Vegeta almost certainly still had his. It was bad enough he'd be able to sense energy now, but having a scouter on top of that is just asking for trouble.

Soon enough we had made it back to our cave and Bulma.

We landed, Krillin and I each holding a hand of our respective kid as we walked back towards our cave.

"Hey Gohan," Krillin spoke up suddenly, his voice solemn, I'm sorry I got you into this. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here. I mean, I want to wish our friends back, but at this rate, we're gonna get ourselves killed before we can do that much."

"You didn't get me into anything. I volunteered, very much against the advice of my mom."

"Yeah well, maybe you should have listened to her. I know you'd be a heck of a lot safer on Earth right now."

"I also wouldn't be able to make sure Piccolo comes back safely. That's my priority here."

I walked ahead as we got back to our cave, dragging Dende in tow.

"Hey Dende, you ok?"

Dende opened his mouth to respond before pausing, "have I…introduced myself?"

I mentally kicked myself, darn it, "ah sorry, I heard you elder mention it before…" I trailed off.

"Oh, well, I suppose I'm as well as I can be."

We entered the cave, to see no Bulma.

We went deeper into the cave, to see, a capsule house. That is, so convenient. I want one.

The door opened a crack, before flying open to see a disgruntled Bulma.

"Well, it's about time you two came back!" She snapped.

Cargo ducked behind Krillin, Dende the curve in the cave.

"What took you so long anyway? I thought I was gonna die from boredom!"

"Must have been rough," Krillin deadpanned.

I didn't respond at all, resisting the urge to roll my eyes and instead turning back to Dende.

Finally, it seemed Bulma noticed the two additions.

"Hey what's the deal with the miniature Piccolos? They're Namekian right?"

Cargo peaked his head slightly out in curiosity. Dende sank further behind the curve.

"Hey it's ok, Bulma won't bite, though her tone might say otherwise sometimes," Dende looked hesitantly between me and my outstretched hand before taking it, taking small steps back out into the open.

"How about we go inside first, then we'll tell you the whole story," Krillin walked towards the door.

"Oh Yeah!" We all stopped our movements as Bulma seemed to remember something.

"So I have great news! Also, some, interesting, news."

"Can, can we get the great first?"

"Well, I'd have to tell you that one first anyway," Bulma wave him off, before continuing, "I just talked to my dad a while ago, and guess what! Goku's on his way here! To Namek! And it'll only take him six days to get here!" Krillin and I perked up immediately. Finally, something canon-compliant.

Not to mention, over the month of not having much of a day-night cycle, something that Namek's three suns weren't gonna help any time soon, we had slowly shifted from a 24-hour sleep schedule, to closer to a 36 hour one. It'd be an absolute pain to fix once we got back to Earth, but at least for now, it meant that that six days would feel more like four.

It also meant that we were gonna have to sleep soon. Hopefully before any more plot.

Krillin was ecstatic by the news, immediately laughing and pulling me into a hug. Cargo politely waited for Krillin's celebration to wind down before reclaiming his hand.

Then, the other thing Bulma said came back to mind.

"What's the interesting news?"

Krillin's laughing paused long enough to look back at Bulma but didn't stop smiling at all.

"Right so, apparently, that other Sayain, Nappa or whatever, he's also on his way with Goku…" Bulma trailed off, gauging our reactions.

Krillin seemed thoughtful, but not put off.

I just stared, all but watching more of canon slowly fly away. Safe, relatively speaking, canon.

"Why?" Was all I could say.

"Something about owing you his life…?"

"Oh no. The consequences of my actions."

"Well hey, it's not like we don't already know Goku's a lot stronger than he is. And that's a good reason if any for him to show up. It's not like we can't use as much help as we can get," Krillin reasoned. I scowled, logically he was right, this was absolutely the best outcome, even if he wouldn't make any sort of difference in the Frieza fight, at the very least an extra set of hands would be useful.

Didn't make the concept of hearing his grating voice again any less annoying.

The Namek babies just looked confused by the conversation.

Regardless, we finally went inside. Bulma, Krillin, and I got something to eat, and after a bit of explaining that Namekians didn't need to eat, Dende and Cargo got bottles of water.

We explained the situation over the food.

And finally, just as I was hoping, we got to sleep. Usually, I didn't like sleeping right after eating, but this time, I was fine with it.

It was decided that the children would all share a bed, while the adults would get one each.

Of course, I was a children.

I was tired enough that I didn't care at all and was out before the other two could even get situated.

…

I woke up to find the babies had fallen asleep between me and the wall.

I fell back asleep.

…

I woke up again. This time I was the last to wake up.

I debated just letting myself fall asleep again, but considering that Bulma and Krillin were looking at the Radar, I should probably get up.

Bulma looked over as I got up.

"We were just discussing what we were gonna do, earlier Krillin noticed another Namek village's Ki's disappearing. He says it felt like Vegeta's."

I nodded as I sat on the arm of the couch.

"I should have killed Vegeta when I had the chance," Krillin's voice was more spiteful than I thought possible for the man.

Dende and Cargo whispered among themselves, before nodding.

"Excuse me," looked over to Dende who spoke up, "will one of you please go with me? I must take you to see the eldest Namek. I know him best between the two of us, better than some of our adults even, I will surely be able to get you there!"

"And who is that?" Krillin asked.

"Grand Elder Guru is the father of all Nameks. He alone survived the great storm that devastated our planet so long ago. We are all his children or grandchildren."

"Uh, how exactly did the elder have children all by himself?" Bulma asked. Oh boy.

Dende looked thoroughly puzzled, "what do you mean how? He spits the eggs out of his mouth, of course."

Bulma blinked, "oh… right…ha, how silly of me…"

"Wait so what you're saying is, he is actually a she? A female."

"Female? What's a female?"

Bulma tried through several awkward explanations to no avail.

"I think it's a weird alien thing," Cargo whispered to Dende.

"It's not like that's even how it works all the time on earth," I butted in.

Bulma turned to me.

"I mean, there are plenty of species that aren't just male or female. Or are both, or neither. Why would aliens automatically fall under that?" I shuffled slightly under her gaze.

"I guess, it just sounds so foreign. But then, even for humans, never mind. I couldn't imagine there just being one type of person. How boring."

"…ok… if we're done with that…why is it so important one of us goes with you to meet this Grand Elder?" Krillin asked, having stood thoroughly on the sidelines for that entire conversation. Clearly, he had the right idea.

"He is very wise, but we must go quickly. The aliens who attacked us already had five of the Dragon Balls, and if another has fallen that means that six have been found and they'll be looking for the eldest Namek soon. There are only a few of us left, I-" Dende began shaking as his words trailed off.

"Wait, if there aren't many of you left, does that mean that the eldest Namek has the last Dragon Ball?" Krillin asked, Dende nodded.

"This is bad, it might take a while for Frieza's men to find him without their Scouters, but Vegeta probably still has his."

"Exactly!" Dende all but shouted, "We must warn the Eldest Namek that he's coming! Please! Please, you have to help me! Come with me please!" Dende ran up and began pulling on Krillin's Gi.

"Hey hey, it's ok. I'll come with you," Krillin appeased, placing his hands on Dende's shoulders, "you lead the way and I'll follow."

He then turned to me, "With any luck, this won't take too long, but you stay here with Bulma and Cargo, Gohan."

I nodded.

The two took off before flying off with a final farewell.

Cargo tugged on my Gi, I leaned down so he could whisper into my ear, "I'm sort of glad they did not leave me alone with her," He glanced back between me and Bulma as if concerned she'd hear him. I laughed slightly.

"Hey, what's so funny?" I stood up straight as Bulma suddenly seemed interested in what was said.

"Oh, it's nothing."

I finally got to have some breakfast, before sitting down, and with nothing better to do, taking out a sketchbook to draw.

Curiously, Cargo looked over my shoulder to watch.

"How'd I get myself into this mess?" Bulma lamented, "no Dragon Balls! No spaceship! And all I want to do is go home!"

If I ignore her she'll be quiet eventually. Cargo glanced over at Bulma before deciding to follow my lead and not say anything.

"How can you stay so calm at a time like this?" She asked me, and since I am incapable of not responding to questions, I responded.

"There's no point worrying about something I can't change," or at least not out loud, "as long as we make it long enough for dad to get here it'll be fine."

"Well I hope he gets here soon, because I know one thing's for sure; I'll go crazy!" She fell back on the couch so she was lying down.

Just ignore.

I did a quick scan for people's Ki's.

Frieza was stationary at his ship, his two main henchmen were flying around, probably searching. Several of his lesser grunts were as well.

Vegeta had almost flickered away. Almost. Ok, that's interesting. He had a fight with fake pretty boy in canon right? The one where he first showed off the transformation that had me putting fake in front of the description. I guess that's what happened.

Krillin and Dende had just about made it to Guru's I assumed since they had stopped moving.

Time went on, dull and quiet.

Bulma looked down at the Radar.

"Hey Gohan, check this out," she motioned me to come closer, I floated up so I could look over her shoulder comfortably.

"One of the Dragon Balls is coming closer," she said, pointing at the device showing that, indeed, one of the indicators was heading this way.

"It must be Krillin coming back," I noted.

"Right, but look at this," she pressed the top button of the Radar a couple times to change the screen, "there's this one Dragon Ball that's separated from the five that Frieza has, and the one Krillin has."

"It's doesn't look too far away," I noted, "it must be the one from the village Vegeta attacked, either he couldn't find the ball, or he hid it somewhere in the area. Probably."

"If the bad guys don't have the ball we cannot let them get it!" Cargo all but yelled, standing upright.

"Right, I'll go find it," I held my hand out to Bulma, "I'll need the Radar. Whether Vegeta hid it, or couldn't find it, I'll probably need it to find the Dragon Ball myself."

"It's all yours kid," she handed the device to me.

"It's waterproof right?"

"Of course! Why do you ask?"

"Just double-checking."

With backpack and cloak in tow, I took off.

…

I didn't fly very far before stopping.

It wasn't that I was hesitating or wanted to ignore canon, it's just, there was a small Ki on one of the larger islands.

Flying closer, I saw a couple of destroyed buildings and rubble. If it weren't for the Ki I sensed I'd assume there were no survivors.

I landed, following the Ki, only to hear scurrying and rubble shifting.

Following that, I saw a kid hiding behind one of the destroyed walls. He was dressed similarly to Dende and Cargo, but instead of light-colored clothing and red vest he was dressed in purple with a yellow vest.

"Stay away! I- I'm a warrior you know! I can fight!" Despite his words, he stumbled back, almost tripping himself as he did so.

"Hey, it's ok, I'm not here to hurt you," I lifted my hands to try and show I was peaceful and was suddenly very glad I had left my sword.

"Liar! I don't believe you! Aliens came and killed everyone! You're an alien like them! You must be- must be-" he stuttered and stumbled as he spoke, glaring to hide the tears.

So instead of saying anything else, I sat, taking out my water bottle and taking a sip.

"If I were like them, wouldn't I have already done something?"

"You could be trying to trick me. Or want to get information. Or- or-" he hiccuped, then clenched his teeth.

I shrugged, drinking more water.

"Would you like some?" I held the bottle towards him, "it's water."

He glared. Then his eyes fell to the bottle. Then he glared again.

His eyes shifted between me and the water bottle. Finally, his facade broke and he stepped out of the quite literally broken home, hesitantly taking the bottle, each step slow and cautious, reminding me more of a stray cat than a child.

Not breaking eye contact, he took a small sip of water. Then a bigger sip. Then he drained the bottle.

"Feel better?"

"No." Despite his refusal, his voice was much less shaky than before as he handed back the empty bottle and took several quick steps away.

I put the bottle back in my pack.

"My name's Gohan. What's yours?"

Apparently deciding his name wasn't vital information, he answered, "I am Ocari."

"Nice to meet you Ocari," I held out my hand to shake, once again cautious, he slowly place his hand in mine.

"Hey, I've got to refill my water bottle, so I can take you somewhere safe if you'd like."

He frowned, looking back at the destroyed buildings.

"This is my home."

"Doesn't do you much good to stay if you'd end up dead."

He sniffed, "I don't understand. We were a small village. Just starting to form. We didn't even have a Dragon Ball."

Ah great, crying kids again. Crying is better than being afraid I guess, at least he slightly trusts me.

"Yeah, those people aren't exactly upstanding citizens," I looked for something to say, "but if I can at least save a few of you I'd feel better."

I stood up stretching out my hand again, now I could notice that he was taller than either Dende or Cargo, a few inches taller than me even.

His eyes darted towards my hand and the buildings, eyes no longer filled with distrust, but guilt. I didn't have the words to help with that so I said nothing.

Finally, he placed his hand in mine again, and slowly I flew up, and he followed suit making our way back to the cave.

"Now, I have somewhere to go real quick, but I'm leaving you with a trusted friend of mine. There's another Namek child here as well that we saved earlier," I said as I walked him through the cave, never removing my hand.

He seemed hesitant to meet another new person but didn't say anything against it.

I opened the door to the capsule house, Bulma turning her head to me from the couch, "back already?"

"Not quite, I just need to refill my water bottle and drop off a new friend," I glance back at the boy who seemed ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

"Hey Cargo," I called and the boy's head appeared from around the corner, "can you show him around for me?"

There wasn't much to see, but the kid seemed to get the hint, and taking the boy's hand from mine he pulled the taller boy along to look around.

"So I'm just the Namek babysitter now?" Bulma asked, annoyance in her voice.

"Somehow, I thought you'd prefer that to being alone," I mused, "but anyway, he's really skittish, so he nice to him? Please?"

"I'm always nice."

"Be extra nice then."

I walked back over to where Cargo was showing off my sketchbooks to the new kid, oh well, at least he likes them, "hey Ocari, I'm gonna head off now, but I'll be right back, ok?" I crouched down so I was at eye level with the almost sitting child.

He looked between me and Bulma before nodding slowly.

I nodded back, standing up.

"Hey Cargo, you're in charge while I'm gone," I joked, ignoring Bulma's obvious rebuttal. The boy in question laughed.

I was then back outside and rushing to appease canon.

…

Following the blinking light on the Scouter was easy enough. What was difficult was landing in the village to find it littered with corpses.

Vegeta.

I scowled, turning away and towards the lake.

I did I quick scan. Krillin was almost back to the hideout. Vegeta was on his way in that direction, keeping a far enough distance not to be noticed. Fake pretty boy was following him.

I resisted the urge to fly to help. My job here was to grab the last Dragon Ball so Vegeta can't reclaim it.

I removed my cloak and jumped in the lake, following the indicator after clicking it to its most zoomed-in setting and following it until I saw bright Orange that was muted by the green waters.

The four-star ball. Of course.

I laughed to myself at the irony, losing precious air bubbles in the process. I retrieved the ball and made my way back up to air.

I smiled at least one piece of canon restored.

If all went well, the rest would follow suit.

Of course I was gonna include Bulma's awkward gender discussion with Dende. It's a scene I remember from when I was a kid, and it seemed to fit well enough in the fic

Yes I have added yet another baby Namek. I do not have an excuse.

The scene was loosely based on a side quest in DBZ Kakarot, though I changed his name to Ocari from Nekke since that name wasn't vibing with me for the purposes of this fic