Over the next two days, work proceeded swiftly on restoring and modifying the Namekian vessel, which had been commanded to fly up to the Lookout for Kami's own convenience. With his assistance, modifying the ship to operate in English rather than Namekian took far less time than the alternative: Mr. Popo teaching her what little he knew of Namekian, or her gutting the entire operating system and building a new one from scratch. Either option could've taken over a week, and from what she had heard, they didn't have that kind of time.

After the linguistic modifications were completed, the ship was transported to Capsule Corp by Krillin and Yamcha, who had just recently been outfitted with a prosthetic to replace his missing right arm. Gohan still had yet to fully recover from the injuries he had sustained, and without senzu beans, there was little to no hope of Goku or Tien ever making a full recovery. Still, as repairs continued, Bulma was optimistic about their upcoming mission. However, her efforts to recruit volunteers to accompany her were considerably more mixed than the progress of her repairs.

"Absolutely not!" Chi Chi answered promptly, the intensity of her voice causing some of the objects in the hospital room to vibrate slightly.

"Look, I understand where you're coming from, but-" Bulma began before she was swiftly cut off.

"No buts! You are not sending my son to some alien planet a trillion miles away! I already had enough to deal with with him being kidnapped for over a year, and almost murdered by that Prince Vegetable or whatever the hell his name was!"

"I don't know, Chi Chi, Gohan was pretty insistent on going..." Krillin began before he too was interrupted.

"He's five years old! He's not old enough to make informed decisions on something like this!"

"But-" Bulma began.

"The answer is no! No no no no NO!" With this last scream, the windows of the hospital room slowly began to show cracks, which Bulma and Krillin readily observed.

"...Okay the answer's no," Bulma said, her fear evident across her features.

Korin looked at Bulma and Krillin quizzically. "Who told you this?" he asked.

"Yamcha," Bulma replied. "I asked if the Senzu beans could heal his missing arm, and he said-"

"Bah! He doesn't know what he's talking about! Of course the Senzu beans can heal the kind of damage Tien suffered. True, it may take a bit more to get him back up to full strength, but one should be enough to help him regain consciousness."

Bulma's face brightened at the prospect. "Great! How soon can you get one ready?"

"Listen, Miss Briefs, I'm growing these things as fast as I possibly can," Korin said, evidently exasperated by the pressure. "Your friends went through almost my entire stock during their training. I had to actually leave the tower and catch fish to eat for the first time in centuries! The simple fact of the matter is that this batch is going to take at least another month to produce."

"A month?!" Bulma and Krillin cried out simultaneously.

Krillin continued, "You're saying Goku and Tien will be out of commission for at least another month?!"

"Not to mention Yamcha's arm! The prosthetic has been broken three times so far, the instant he tries to power up fully!"

"Tell me: how simple a task do you consider growing holy beans with restorative powers beyond the understanding of your science and enough nutrients to feed a man for ten days straight?" As the two remained silent for several seconds, Korin continued, "That's what I thought. I'm sorry, but you can't rush something like this. A month, minimum. It's the best that I can manage."

Bulma sighed and glanced over at Yajirobe, who was busy devouring a large fish.

"Will-"

"Don't even think about it," he replied flatly, to Bulma's chagrin.

After thanking them for their time, Krillin slowly flew Bulma off of Korin's Tower and back to Capsule Corporation.

"Well, I don't entirely know what I was expecting, but...I'd feel a lot better about this if we had Goku up and about," Bulma admitted.

"Yeah. Same here," Krillin replied. "Of course, there is one other person we haven't asked yet."

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "You're 100% certain we can trust him?"

Krillin thought over the events of the past few days, sparing a glance at the bandages on his right shoulder and the side of his head.

"Uh...more like 75%."

After Krillin took off, Bulma made her way to Goku's hospital room and relayed what she had heard throughout the day.

"So, in summary, me, Krillin, and Yamcha are more or less ready to head out as soon as the modifications to the ship are done."

"Hm," Goku replied clearly, having been fully conscious for the last day. "And you're sure that Piccolo isn't going?"

"Krillin's gone off to try and recruit him. Doubt that'll go well."

"Eh. You never know," Goku said before pausing, a thought having occurred to him. "Say, didn't you tell me you started working on another ship yesterday?"

Bulma chuckled. "No, my dad's working on that one, remember? Between the pod that Nappa character arrived in and the one we recently found near Mount Paozu, he's got plenty to work with as far as the propulsion system goes. He even started designing an artificial gravity generator for it after examining the Namekian ship. Pretty neat stuff."

Goku's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Can it go beyond Earth's level of gravity?"

Bulma considered this for a moment. "I don't know. From what I saw, if it can't, modifying it shouldn't be too tough."

"While I was training with King Kai on his planet, I had to adapt to ten times Earth gravity. Made me way stronger!"

"Tch. Of course your mind immediately jumps to training," Bulma said with a chuckle. "Well, I'll go ahead and pass the idea along. In the meantime, I suppose you'll just have to wait a month until you'll be back on your feet."

Goku sighed, his annoyance evident. "Well, not much I can do about it. Thanks for keeping me in the loop on all this, Bulma!"

Bulma smiled slightly, ever amused by Goku's upbeat attitude. "Don't mention it," she replied as she closed the door behind her.

She then began to walk down the hall, chuckling to herself, before she became aware of a quiet presence a few steps behind her, standing furtively in the hallway.

"H-hey," Launch called out somewhat softly, causing Bulma to stop in her tracks and turn around.

"Launch? How long have you been standing there?"

"...How long were you talking to Goku for?"

Bulma blinked once before responding. "Like, ten, twenty minutes?"

"Then that long."

Bulma couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "So, you heard everything?"

"Most of it. Is it true, what you said about the Senzu beans?"

"Came from the guy-uh, cat who makes them," Bulma replied. "So I'd say it's accurate."

"Hmph," Launch said, muttering something under her breath which Bulma couldn't make out.

Bulma chuckled. "Not too happy with Yamcha, huh?"

"No," Launch replied, crossing her arms and huffing slightly. Bulma smirked-from her, that was almost an angry rant.

"Well, I'll be sure to grill him for it next time I see him." As if on cue, a small beeping sound could be heard from a device on her wrist. "...Which would seem to be now-his new arm just broke again. See you later!"

"Yeah..." Launch replied, giving a half-hearted smile and a small wave as Bulma took off running down the hall. She spared one last glance in the direction of Tien's new hospital room two doors down, before she withdrew to a small corner of the hallway and sneezed.

Krillin touched down on a plateau overlooking a large desert valley-the latest wasteland Piccolo had found for himself. "I wonder how he finds these places?" Krillin thought idly as he nervously approached the Namekian. Eventually, just as he was about to risk speaking, Piccolo spoke up for him.

"I've been sensing your energy for the last ten minutes," he replied flatly. "Make it quick."

Krillin steadied his nerves and took a deep breath before responding.

"You're already aware of our plans."

"Yes. You intend to travel to Namek to gather their Dragon Balls and revive your allies."

"And yet, in two days, you haven't reached out to us on whether or not you wish to join us."

"'Reached out?' I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that this expedition of yours was one of your human festivities."

"Piccolo-"

"I've had other things on my mind, okay?!" he spat back before closing his eyes once more, trying to calm himself.

Krillin took a slow step forward. "I have trouble believing you're not the least bit curious about your home planet, the people who live there?"

Piccolo scoffed. "Please. Knowing Kami, they're probably a bunch of nature-worshipping dullards who sit around doing nothing but meditating or discussing philosophy. They won't be a world of warriors, I assure you."

"You're Namekian, and you're a warrior."

"Only because I was born with the will to do what cowards like Kami refuse to do when it becomes necessary."

Krillin chuckled. "As well as some of your dad's pride, evidently."

Piccolo growled slightly, causing Krillin to step back a pace, before he turned back around. "Perhaps."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Krillin got back up and stepped back a few paces. "We're probably going to leave in a few days, a week at most, as soon as the ship's up and running. If you change your mind..." he let the sentence hang for a few seconds before lifting up off the ground and flying back to Kame House, leaving Piccolo to attempt to steady his thoughts once more.

"Hey! You. Bartender. Can I get another of these?"

Bad Launch leaned across the bar of a fairly run-down establishment in the northern quarter of West City, having to push past all of the empty mugs where beer had once resided. Quick observation from anyone at the bar would reveal her to be fairly intoxicated-yet, clearly, not as much as she wanted to be.

"Another?" The bartender, a portly man in his mid forties, replied, his concern evident. "You've already had six in less than an hour!"

"Yeah? Well, I. Want. Another," she replied forcefully, causing the bartender to cower in fear as he rushed to the back of the room and hastily poured another mug before setting it down in front of her. She sighed in irritation and began to lift the mug to her lips, before the sound of a minor commotion reached her ears.

"Say, good looking, why don't you come over and join us?" A gruff man, considerably more intoxicated than Launch, posed to someone who had just entered the bar-evidently an attractive woman.

"Hmph! I happen to be a married woman, thank you very much!"

"Really? I don't see a ring. Besides, aren't you a little young to be married? Can't be over 20..."

At this, the woman blushed slightly in embarrassment, before regaining her composure. "I don't have time for this. Just go back to your stupid friends and your stupid drinks and let me go about my business!"

The drunk man chuckled more forcefully than he likely would have under normal circumstances. "Aw, come on, hun, just one little drink..." He slowly began reaching his right arm around her waist, but before he could move it another inch, he suddenly found himself completely out of breath, only hearing the resounding impact of her fist into his diaphragm a second after he staggered away.

The woman scoffed at the prone figure while his friends at a nearby table looked on in shock. Hearing her dismissal of him enraged the man, and as soon as he was able to stand again, he sprinted towards the woman with a look of fury. "Don't you disrespect me like that, you-!" His retort and attempt to grab her wrist were both cut short when the woman suddenly grabbed his own hand, lifting his body off of the ground and over her head with only one arm before sending him crashing down onto the floor in front of her hard enough to produce a noticeable crack in the boards.

By this time, Launch had turned around to observe the conflict directly, chuckling as she downed the mug in one motion. "Heh. Didn't think she had it in her," she remarked to no one in particular as the drunk man's friends got up from the table and approached her threateningly. The woman looked back up at them with a neutral expression as the drunk man slowly regained consciousness.

"Now, listen, gentlemen, I don't want any further unpleasantness. I just came to see a friend of mine, and I'd rather not get on the kind bartender's bad side any further. So why don't you pick up your friend, go back to your homes, sleep it off, and we'll forget this whole thing happened, hm?"

The drunk man staggered to his feet, growling, as his friends sneered at her.

"Sorry, little lady, but you don't beat up our pal over there and expect to get away with it," one of the other men, a rather lanky figure with a slight country accent.

"Really, sir, this is quite unnecessary," she replied, causing the men to laugh.

"'Sir?' 'Gentlemen?' Coming in here dressed like that, no less! Who does this stuck up bitch think she is, anyway?!"

While the men continued to laugh as they slowly approached her, Launch simply smiled. The young woman took a deep breath as her expression changed, a cold, emotionless manifestation of her barely repressed fury.

"Okay," she said simply, and all hell broke loose.

Some time later, Chi Chi and Launch sat in a forested glade outside of the city, having finally evaded the local law enforcement to Launch's satisfaction. Chi Chi was preoccupied with the potential consequences of her actions, but Launch laughed her off.

"Trust me. Those West City cops couldn't catch a criminal if he turned himself in. And you're hardly that."

"Still...I must admit to feeling some slight twinge of guilt."

"Ah, come on, those punks were asking for it!" Launch replied before chuckling. "Although, I gotta say...kicking all of them in the junk...I didn't expect that out of you."

Chi Chi laughed in spite of herself. "I suppose we all become somewhat...uncharacteristic when we lose our temper."

"I'll say. Remind me never to piss you off," Launch said, laughing slightly herself. "Ah...tell you the truth, that was just what I needed after...everything that's happened."

"You needed to see a bunch of drunkards get beat up?"

"Pretty much!" Launch said, laughing heartily. "Nothing quite like a good old fashioned bar fight to take your mind off things."

"Hmph. A rather odd coping mechanism," Chi Chi replied frankly.

"Maybe, but it seems like a decent alternative to killing my brain cells with beer. Seriously, I'm not quite sure how I managed to swallow seven whole mugs of that."

Chi Chi found herself chuckling. "Well...I don't know about beating up random strangers just for the thrill of it, but...being out alone, not having to deal with taking care of the house or worrying over my son or...Goku, feels...nice."

"Been awhile since I've had someone to really hang out with, either. You guys all seem to kinda do your own thing for years at a time without seeing each other. Or talking. Like, at all. Pretty weird thing for friends to do, if you ask me. Especially since, you know, phones are a thing."

"Hm. Well...perhaps we could work on changing that," Chi Chi replied with a small smile. Launch found herself returning it more easily than she had expected.

"Yeah..." she replied, blushing slightly in spite of herself. The two sat in silence for a moment before she continued, "So, uh...Goku, huh? How, uh, how's that been going?"

Chi Chi was surprised by Launch's evident hesitation, but replied, "Oh, you know. It has its ups and downs. He's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet, but sometimes he can just be such a...such a..."

"Blockhead?"

"Yeah."

"Heh. Know how that feels."

"Seriously! I keep telling him that he needs to go out and get a job, but he just keeps focusing on-"

"Training!" The two said in unison, startling each other for a second before they both laughed.

"Right?!" Chi Chi began. "All the man does some days is eat, sleep, and punch rocks!"

"Heh. At least yours remembers to eat," Launch replied with a chuckle. "I have to pester Tien for days before he'll finally eat something. Says it helps him 'center his mind' or some crap. Honestly, I had half a mind to just leave him alone one of these days. See how centered his mind is when he's starved himself for two weeks!" She scoffed slightly, recalling their argument the previous year.

"...But you're not going to, are you?" Chi Chi asked in a soft voice, surprising Launch and causing her to blush slightly. She chuckled.

"Nah. Nah, probably not," she answered, her voice beginning to crack a little. Chi Chi placed a hand on her shoulder, slightly surprised by Launch's lack of resistance.

"This isn't going to be easy," she said frankly. "I can tell you that much firsthand. But, I just want you to know that we're all here for you...if you're willing to accept our help."

Launch was silent for a while, before finally muttering, "Could you even look at him?"

"What?"

"If you saw Goku in that hospital bed. His eyes shut, barely breathing, body broken to hell, tubes jutting out all over the place...could you bear to look at him?"

Chi Chi was at a loss for words. "It...it would be hard, I admit. But...I think it would hurt even more to not be there at all."

Launch considered this before continuing. "Yamcha explained it to me the last time I was there. That 'Kikoho' thing, the 'Max Power' state, all of it. He told me what it did to whoever decided to use it, what it must've done to Tien to use both at the same time. Using up all of his energy, wrecking himself to hell, shortening his own life...all so he'd be strong enough to kill that alien bastard. And...I'm just left wondering...why he'd go that far to protect everyone. ...Even a no-good crook like me."

As Launch took a few shallow breaths, Chi Chi was quick to respond, pulling her face towards hers. "Launch. Listen to me: You. Are not. A bad person."

Launch let out a short laugh. "Are you kidding me? I'm one of the most wanted criminals for miles around!"

"Let's take a look at some of the people who just saved the planet from destruction, hm?" Chi Chi responded, releasing Launch from her grip. "Yamcha? Robbed people for a living. Krillin? Selfish jerk who only wanted to get stronger to pick up women. Roshi-good God, don't even get me started on Roshi. And Piccolo? He tried to take over the planet and kill my husband six years ago! Hell, even your own boyfriend and his friend used to want to be assassins, for God's sake!"

"None of them are still doing any of that, though," Launch replied, her voice considerably smaller. She blushed slightly at hearing Tien described as her boyfriend.

At this, Chi Chi had to laugh as well. "What, you think people change overnight? Please. Change is probably one of the hardest things that any person can manage, and a lot of them don't. But you have changed, Launch. You're not nearly as violent as you used to be. You've made friends, you've made a life for yourself that...only occasionally involves robbing places or beating up random strangers," she added hastily, the tone in which she did so causing Launch to chuckle slightly. "It's a process, and hardly an easy one. But, if it makes you feel any better...I know for certain that at least three people believe you can do it." She got up and extended her hand towards Launch. "How'd you like to be the fourth?" she said, smiling brightly.

Launch hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching for Chi Chi's hand, allowing her to pull her up to her feet. Her eyes went up to meet Chi Chi's, and in a matter of seconds, tears began to slightly blur her vision. Without thinking, she rushed to embrace the young woman, beginning to let it all out. Chi Chi stepped back a pace in surprise, but warmly returned the gesture, closing her eyes and muttering words of comfort as the light from the sunset slowly faded, leaving the glade in total darkness.

The next few days leading up to the launch of the Namekian ship were relatively uneventful. With Piccolo still remaining distant off in the wastelands, Goku and Tien out of commission, and Gohan expressly forbidden from going by his mother, Krillin, Yamcha, and Bulma were left to prepare for the upcoming expedition as best as they could, the first two training together while the latter oversaw repairs. Before any of them knew it, the ship was ready to fly, and was transported to Kame House that morning so as to provide a clear space to launch while also allowing all of the crew's friends to say goodbye before they took off.

"Stay safe, everyone!" Chi Chi called out.

"Best wishes!" Turtle said.

"Take care of yourself, Lord Yamcha!" Puar cried, his anxiety for his master evident.

"Try not to die!" Oolong said, earning him a smack upside the head from Chi Chi.

"If that Vegeta punk ain't dead, make sure to kill him for me if you run into him!" Bad Launch called out enthusiastically, causing Chi Chi to look at her with some concern. Krillin simply laughed nervously before stepping into the ship.

"Goodbye, everyone!" "We'll see you soon!" Bulma and Yamcha replied before they too stepped into the ship and closed the hatch, faintly hearing continued goodbyes through the hull.

As Krillin and Yamcha settled in at various chairs that had been set up throughout the ship, Bulma, wearing her own custom-made space suit, strolled up to the helm and began a diagnostic of the ship's systems. "Alright, boys, strap yourselves in-this is going to be a pretty bumpy ride."

"Copy that," Krillin replied as he and Yamcha fastened their seatbelts.

After a few more minutes, the ship was set for takeoff, and Bulma gave the signal that they were about to take off from the cockpit of the ship. On cue, the onlookers stepped back into the house to avoid being hit by debris kicked up by the ship.

"Alright...now, ship, without any further ado..." Bulma began, somewhat dramatically. "Set a course for the planet 'Namek!'"

The ship's computer worked for a minute before replying. "Namek located. Estimated travel time: 34 days at maximum speed. Engaging thrusters in 5...4...3...2...1..."

In a matter of seconds, the ship took off and rapidly broke Earth's atmosphere en route to its destination, the passengers groaning as a result of the nausea. The people in Kame House looked up at the sky until the ship had long faded from view. Eventually, once the spectacle was over, Bad Launch struck up a conversation with Chi Chi.

"Say, Chi, where's that little squirt of yours? I would've thought he'd want to see the launch too."

Chi Chi chuckled slightly. "Launch, I told you: I prefer "Chi Chi." And I had Gohan stay home today to work on his physical therapy."

"By himself?"

"Of course not! My daddy stopped by last night to watch him so that I could come to the launch. Trust me, Gohan's in good hands."

Just then, the phone rang, causing Chi Chi to start slightly. After Oolong picked it up and talked to the caller for a moment, he passed it over to Chi Chi.

"It's your dad."

An uneasy feeling began to make its presence known in Chi Chi's stomach as she took the phone.

"Y-yes, daddy?"

"Oh God, Chi Chi, I'm so sorry! I was just coming in to give Gohan his lunch, but he wasn't there! He put some pillows under his bed to make me think it was occupied! I've looked all over the place, but I can't find him anywhere!"

As the Ox King continued to ramble on over the phone, Chi Chi had to summon up all of her willpower to keep from dropping it outright, and looked up towards the sky in horror.

"No no no no no no no no no..." She muttered softly to herself, placing the phone into the palm of her hand to muffle her father's cries of anguish. Bad Launch watched her friend with concern before walking over to her.

"Hey, Chi, what's going on? Did something happen to Gohan?"

Chi Chi could say nothing, save for pointing up at the sky with a shaking finger. As understanding dawned, Bad Launch's eyes widened in shock, and she found herself staring at the sky in disbelief.

"Oh, son of a bitch," she muttered softly, as Chi Chi abruptly hung up on her father.

And thus, the Namek Saga begins! This was definitely one of the harder ones for me to write, mostly because I simultaneously felt like I was padding too much and also not writing enough to really be worth uploading as a whole chapter. But, well, it's done, and relatively unchanged from canon minus Yamcha tagging along and some character interactions.

Anyway, there's something I've kind of been going back and forth on for a while as far as uploading this fic goes. My schedule's going to be a lot tighter for a while, and I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up the same pace of uploads that I have been. I thought about announcing a hiatus with the end of the Saiyan Saga in Chapter 10, but decided against it. I then thought about going forward with the hiatus anyway, but figured that'd be dumb to do in Chapter 11 or by adding it into the end of Chapter 10. I thought about trying to stick to the upload schedule I have anyway, seeing as I have two chapters down the pipeline, but figured that the stress would get to be too much to handle. Above all, I don't want uploading this fic to be stressful, because when uploading something's stressful, I stop. And I don't want to stop-this is the most I've stuck with any fic I've written in the history of ever. Not about to screw that up. So, ultimately, I'm deciding to go for a sort of compromise.

As of January 6th, 2019, Hermit is officially being uploaded every other Sunday starting from this chapter published on the 6th. So, you will all see Chapter 12 on the 20th, Chapter 13th on the 3rd of February, and so on. Hopefully this will give me the downtime I need to really focus on stuff in my actual life while also giving this fic the attention it deserves. Who knows? Might even be able to go back to the weekly schedule at some point. As always, thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Alright, questions from previous chapters!

"Have you seen the Jiraiya vs. Master Roshi video on YouTube?"

No-I'm told I should. Kinda fell out of watching Death Battle a while back, but I'll probably get around to it sooner or later. All I know is he stomps.

"Will Tien go to Namek along with the rest of the Z fighters?"

Evidently not-besides, he's in a coma, and his medicine's about a month out.

"And will Roshi get to use his lightning attack that both harms and paralyzes his opponents?"

Gonna be a bit tough for him to do that in the near future, considering he's dead.

And finally, not much to say regarding power levels: Goku's at 10,000 post-Zenkai just like in the manga, and Krillin, Gohan Yamcha, and Piccolo just got a bit stronger through training/Zenkai on Gohan's end. Not really worth mentioning.

With all that said, thank you all for reading, and I'll see you guys in two weeks!