Kera:
Kera felt more refreshed the next morning than she had in a long time. Spending an evening with her family and a night with her mate seemed to recharge her energy significantly more than any meal could.
She landed at the Briefs' estate after breakfast. Only moments later, Vegeta stepped outside and Kakarrot came flying in as well. She looked at her brothers and grinned.
"Well, had a nice night?" She winked.
Neither Vegeta nor Kakarott bothered to suppress their grins.
"You did, too, apparently," Vegeta said with a smile.
Kera just tilted her head with a grin.
"So who do we want to take to the tournament?" she asked the group.
"I have to tell you guys something first: Bulma has the new dragon radar ready and ..."
"Wow, that's great!" interrupted Kakarrot Vegeta.
"Let me finish!"
"Sorry."
"She was able to finish building the radar. However, I guess it only works when you're in the middle of the universe. She wants to collect the Super Dragon Balls for us now so we have something on Beerus."
"I hope you talked her out of that, because that's a pretty bad idea." Kera felt an uncomfortable tug in her stomach area. Bulma had to be careful. They couldn't afford to mess with Lord Beerus.
"I tried that. She then contacted her sister, who gave her the contact details of this Jaco."
"Wasn't that that weird guy who watched the fight against Frieza? The one who pretended to be an elite officer in the Galactic Patrol?" asked Kera.
"That's the one. He was told to come here and refused. Then threatened that I would destroy his headquarters." Dumbfounded, Vegeta looked at the other two.
Kera and Kakarrot laughed out loud. "Bulma really knows how to use you." Kakarott could barely breathe with laughter.
Offended, Vegeta crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Sorry." Kera patted her brother's shoulder encouragingly. "Since there's nothing we can do about that right now, we should think about who we can take to the tournament."
"I'd rather train now," Kakarrot grumbled.
"The sooner we come to an agreement, the sooner we can train," Vegeta commented.
For a moment the three of them sank into thought as they slowly strolled through the garden. When Kakarrot suddenly looked up, Kera followed his gaze. Krillin came flying towards them and landed next to Kakarrot. He raised his arm towards Kera and Vegeta in greeting.
"Hey, you three!"
"Krillin! Where did you come from?" Kakarrot was visibly surprised to see his oldest friend.
"From home. I just found out from my wife that we've been invited to a picnic in space. So I thought I'd better ask you directly what was behind it." He looked at Kakarrot piercingly.
"Er, well ..."
"Who did 18 hear it from?" asked Kera.
"From Chi-Chi. She called her."
With a raised eyebrow, Kera looked at her younger half-brother.
"You lied to your mate? That's not right," Vegeta said with an indignant tone in his voice.
"Now please bring me up to date on what's going on," Krillin asked again.
They told him about the encounter between Champa and Beerus, the twelve universes, the battle that was to take place between the sixth and seventh universes and as their reward there would be the Super Dragon Balls.
"So you three are fighting. Who are the other two who are going to fight?"
"Beerus said he had someone even stronger than us. We can choose the last contestant," Kakarrot reported.
"Do you already know who you're taking?"
"We were just about to vote on that."
"What about Buu?"
"Beerus took out Buu in one fell swoop. I don't think it's the best choice." Kakarrot swayed his head back and forth.
"What about Trunks? Goten? Menka? Reyak?" suggested Krillin further.
"No!" shouted Vegeta and Kera simultaneously. "The children are kept out of this.
"Gohan isn't trained enough," Kakarrot said with clear frustration in his voice.
"Piccolo then," Kera suggested.
Everyone was silent for a while, weighing the pros and cons.
Finally, Vegeta nodded. "Probably that's our best choice. Have you informed him about the tournament yet?"
"Of course. I don't tell my mate fairy tales, after all," Kera replied, squinting at Kakarrot, who was visibly uncomfortable at being asked about it again.
"You know how Chi-Chi is," he murmured.
"She's strict and likes to have everything under control. But that's still no reason to lie to her." Kera took a step towards Kakarrot. She could feel anger welling up inside her. She liked Chi-Chi. She had stood by Kera after Piccolo had died at Nappa's hands that time and she hadn't even known where to go. And even when they had been training for the arrival of the androids, Chi-Chi had always been there for Kera, listening to her, encouraging her and always having food ready. "I find it impossible that you show your wife so little appreciation. She would do anything for you!"
"I would for her too," Kakarrot replied meekly. Although he was more than a head taller than Kera, he seemed to shrink under her gaze.
Krillin's eyes bounced tensely back and forth between Kera and Kakarrot. Then Vegeta cleared his throat and stood between his siblings.
"Kera, shall we come and talk to Piccolo?"
Kera gave Kakarrot another sharp look, then smiled at Vegeta. "I can manage that on my own."
"Good, I suggest we meet back here in two hours, have something to eat and then go to training."
"All right."
Kera floated up waving and then shot off towards her forest.
A short time later she landed above her den by the waterfall. As she had expected, Piccolo was sitting there meditating. She reached out with her senses for her children's auras, found them near Dende, and then tugged gently on the golden thread that connected her to Piccolo.
He broke free from his meditation and turned to her, smiling. "Are you done consulting yet?"
She nodded and took a seat cross-legged opposite him. "We are. And we've come to the conclusion that you will make our team complete."
Piccolo's eyebrows shot up sceptically. "Are you sure about that?"
"Of course. We've gone through all the possible candidates. You are the strongest, smartest and have the most potential," she rattled off the reasons for his selection.
Now his eyebrows drew together in annoyance. "I think you are mistaken."
"What makes you think that?" Kera was irritated. She had never heard Piccolo doubt himself before.
"I'm nowhere near as strong as you, Vegeta or Goku." He took one deep breath. "I don't get to train much because I take care of the kids."
Kera felt like someone had punched her in the chest. She opened her mouth, closed it again, then said, "Are you holding it against me that I'm leaving you alone with the kids?"
Piccolo folded his arms in front of his chest. A clear sign of his annoyance. "You're not around very often. The children are not so pleased about it either."
Kera didn't know what to answer. He was right. Her rational side could only agree with her mate. But she couldn't let that rational side get to her right now. She was too angry that he was bringing up the subject now. He knew very well that they had little time now. That they had to train in order to win the tournament.
She clenched her fists and tried to keep her voice calm. "Why are you starting this now?"
"When else am I supposed to talk to you? You're here for a moment and already gone again to fly to the next training. I never get a chance to talk to you!" Piccolo grew louder and louder as he spoke. He was as angry as Kera. As if he had been carrying these thoughts around with him for a long time and now he finally wanted to get rid of them.
"I want to protect the earth. Our homeland! Our family! All the time some guys come here and think they have the right to destroy the earth. Every time they are stronger and someone has to stop them!" Kera had jumped up. She couldn't sit any longer.
"Fair enough. Then maybe you could train for a few days or maybe just a few weeks and then take a break again to spend time with the family. Or you could just train how to fight with each other instead of always fighting alone. You self-centred Saiyans!" Piccolo had jumped up as well and built himself up to his full height.
"You know very well that honour is our ..."
"Fuck your honour! You fought Frieza with Vegeta too. Why all of a sudden? You could accomplish so much more if ..."
Piccolo was interrupted mid-sentence by Gohan, who landed next to them. "Excuse me! I overheard what you were ... talking about."
Kera wrestled a smile from herself, wondering how much he had already overheard of their argument. Momentarily, she felt ashamed. Even though Gohan wasn't her child, sometimes it felt that way. It was through him that she and Piccolo had found each other.
Kera looked at her mate, who also looked embarrassed and lowered his eyes a little ashamed.
"So, do you have an opinion on the subject?" asked Kera. The anger was not yet completely gone from her voice and Gohan winced slightly.
"I don't think it's nice that you and Dad are gone so much either. It makes you miss being here. You could certainly find other solutions. Still, I think we need to keep fit regularly, because the threats to Earth just never seem to stop. And I think you should focus on the fact that you two are also very strong together. Think about it: You must be the strongest couple there is in the universe!"
Kera raised her head to look at Piccolo, who smiled at her. Gohan was right. Vegeta, she and Kakarrot were very strong as Saiyans, but she and Piccolo could also make quite a difference together. They had even trained to fight together in the past. How had she ever forgotten that?
"I've come for something else.
Piccolo looked questioningly at Gohan.
"First, I want to know about that picnic in space father told me about."
Kera groaned in annoyance and threw her arms in the air. "That idiot!" she shouted, enlightening Gohan about the tournament.
"I figured there was more to it than that."
"I already reprimanded your father for lying to your mother."
Gohan smiled, then looked at Piccolo. "The second thing I came here for: I want to get back into regular training. I won't be able to participate in the tournament, but I've become very aware of the threat to Earth after Frieza's attack. Please train me, Piccolo!" He lowered his head and indicated a bow.
Piccolo seemed caught off guard for a moment, but then nodded and smiled. "I thank you for your confidence. We will begin training after the tournament."
Gohan thanked him and flew off.
Kera looked to Piccolo. "You see how strong you are? Gohan is asking you to train him, not his father."
"That's right." Kera heard a smile in Piccolo's voice. She hovered level with his face and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her body and hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry for raising my voice," she murmured against his lips.
"I'm sorry too."
Kera enjoyed his closeness for a moment longer and then broke away from his embrace. "Will you come with me to Bulma's? I want to meet Vegeta and Kakarrot there again so we can coordinate how to train."
Piccolo agreed and they flew hand in hand to Bulma where Vegeta and Kakarrot were already waiting for them.
"Piccolo, are you going to fight?", Vegeta was already calling out to them instead of a greeting.
"Of course. You won't find anyone better after all."
Vegeta gave a short laugh.
Bulma came out of the patio door. She was carrying a green disc about the size of a dinner plate in her hand, with two handles attached to the side.
"What's that?" asked Piccolo curiously, pointing at the device.
"The new dragon radar for the Super Dragon Balls. I'm going to fly with Jaco to the centre of the universe to loacalise the seventh Super Dragon Ball."
"With Jaco? Don't let that guy touch you!"
"Don't worry." She winked. "I don't let anyone touch me but you." She purred almost like a cat and Vegeta blushed slightly.
"Can we train now, finally?" Kakarrot's patience was already exhausted.
"What do you suggest?" inquired Kera.
"In the hyperbolic time chamber. Dende rebuilt it after Buu destroyed it and you can now stay there for more than two days at a time."
"But we don't even know yet when the tournament will take place," Kera objected.
"Yes, we do. Whis has contacted us in the meantime to say that we have three days left," Vegeta said.
"So you want to train in the hyperbolic time chamber for three days?"
Vegeta and Kakarrot nodded. They had obviously already agreed.
"I don't know. Three years with you guys ... that's tough." Kera had to grin when she saw Vegeta's features slip from him for a moment.
"Are you okay with that?" She looked questioningly at Piccolo.
"I am," he assured Kera.
"If we go into the hyperbolic time chamber now, though, we won't know if Bulma was able to find the Dragon Balls." Thoughtfully, Vegeta tapped his thumbnail against his front teeth.
"Hmm, right." Kakarrot looked perplexed.
"Bulma can tell me. I can tell Kera through our link," Piccolo said.
"Convenient." Euphoric, Kakarrot clapped his right fist into his open left palm. "Can we go then?"
Kera turned to Piccolo and rested her forehead against his. 'Anywhere with you ...'
'... nowhere without you,' Piccolo finished the sentence they had sworn to each other years ago in her mind and breathed a kiss on her lips.
'When the tournament is over, I will spend time with you.' It was a promise, for she could not lie about the mind link.
In confirmation, Piccolo kissed her again.
Then Kera turned to fly with her brothers to Dende's palace.