Epilogue.

Waking from her deep slumber, Rhuba squinted at the bright sun shining through the tunnel into her burrow.
It wasn't as homely as the one she grew up in, having only been freshly dug.
"Garagus?" She yawned, reaching out to him, only to find an empty space.
Rolling onto all fours to arch in and out her back, Rhuba stretched her arms and legs before climbing out of the tunnel.
Her whole life, she'd crawl into the scorched red skies of Planet Vegeta.
Feel the warm breeze on her face, carried with the scent of the lake and after a Saiyan Gathering, the lingering smell of smoke and food from the days before.

Now, the cool breeze carried the scent of flowers and pine as she climbed into the bright sun under the deep blue skies of Dapume, where Garagus could be seen tearing up the topsoil with his bare hands and planting roots and seeds.

Rhuba leaned on her hands as she watched him work away.
He'd mentioned a few days after landing that he fancied the idea of growing their own food since going foraging got so scarce on Vegeta.
So he went to one of the cities and after he returned, the two of them had spent the last few days studying a compendium of flora for the surrounding region.
He'd already spent the morning collecting and seeding various edible fruits and roots, now it was just time to get planting.

Rhuba was just about to climb out and help when suddenly, she lost all strength in her arms and collapsed face-first on the ground.
The pain shot up her spine, she could feel her teeth pulsing as her body trembled.
The only external sensation she felt was as though someone was climbing up her tail like a rope.

Rhuba closed her eyes, waiting for it to be over until finally, she felt hands on her lower back, then on the back of her ribs with a knee digging into her spine, then hands on her shoulder with knees on her ribs, before Celerave tumbled over her mother's shoulder and landed on the grass.

"mum, ma muh mama!" She mumbled, waving her arms as she rolled onto her hands and knees and started crawling up to Rhuba's face.

"good morning Celerave…" Rhuba muttered, waiting for the feeling to come back to her arms. "where were you hiding?"

She was so sure when she woke up that the girl must be with her father. That or she was hiding under a quilt.

Her head was lifted and pushed by impatient little hands.
Celerave wanted attention and being paralysed was not a valid excuse in her opinion. If anything, Rhuba should be thankful for being allowed to wake up on her own.
"Muma! Mama!" After one big pull and a slip of the hands, Celerave tumbled back and landed on her own tail.

Rhuba bit her lip. It's bad to laugh, but she could tell karma hit the little one back.
"Not so fun, is it?"
Forcing her arms to move, Rhuba gathered up the shivering girl and carried her to Garagus.

Seeing his family approach, Garagus leaped over the patches where hopefully, food will be showing up by the following year.
"You're awake?"

"Here to help." Rhuba held Celerave to the side, letting her tail swing around and wrap around the girl before securing the little one at her back. "What do you need?"

Celerave wriggled back there, but there was little she could do to escape.
Rhuba would only need to sway her hips to keep the girl happy.

"Actually, there is something. While I was foraging, I met some of the Al' Colics from up in the hills."

"Oh," Rhuba had seen their shrine while flying over in the ship. She was curious, but they decided to leave the natives alone. "What are they like?"

"I was worried when I first saw them, they seemed… weird." Garagus made a face. "But they're friendly as you like, and here's the thing. They found us because they detected us living here."

"Do they have scouters?"

"No, they 'sensed' us. They've been sensing us out for a while before coming down. After a chat, they offered us some food to keep us going if we're willing to pick it up from the shrine."

Now Rhuba was making the face.
"That sounds like a trap."

"That's what I thought, so if you want to keep farming, I could-" Before another word was said, Celerave was plopped in his hands.

"Mine!" Rhuba announced before taking off, only to be grabbed by her ankle.

"No! If they're planning to ambush us, they'd have done it already." Garagus told her.

"I'm not going to bash heads." Rhuba insisted, still trying to fly away, but he was being such an anchor right now. "I'm just going to see what they want."

"Okay, but if it is an ambush, I should deal with it."

"No!" Rhuba stopped trying to ascend, so Garagus let her go so she could land. "Look, we need to watch each other's back. I let you deal with the Dishians when they were threatening the tribe who helped us. So let me deal with this, please?"

Garagus rolled his eyes.
"Fine… just be careful. Don't start trouble, we've only been here a month."

Kissing Celerave on the head and kissing Garagus on the lips, Rhuba shot off again, yelling back the words "love you!" to them.

Celerave wined and waved her arms as she watched her mother vanish over the trees.
"muma…"

Garagus sat Celerave down.
"One second sweetie."

Celerave was nearly blown back as Garagus shot off in the same direction.
"muma…?" She reached out, grabbing at the sky, crawling after them.
She crawled only ten steps before both parents returned.

"Come on!" Rhuba huffed, hanging upside down by her tail.

"I don't want our daughter to think lying is okay. So you can sit here while I deal with the Al' Colics."

"Me dealing with the Dishians only proves I can handle it!" Rhuba insisted.

"Yes, and if you'd said that instead, I'd have agreed to let you go. Too bad for you." He grinned, slapping her butt.

"HEY!" Rhuba squirmed before landing on the ground next to Celerave. "like you never lied about anything."

"I've not told one lie for as long as I've lived on this planet." Garagus laughed before shooting off.

Rhuba sat there, watching him disappear.
It wasn't long before Celerave was climbing up her.

"muma!" She laughed, hugging her around the neck.

No matter how pouty or grumpy Ruba wanted to be, Celerave shattered her way through and forced a cuddle from her.

"Celerave~" Rhuba reached for the girl's tail, carefully guiding it around so her own could twine with it. "That's how mummies and daddies show affection back home…" Ruffling the girl's silver hair, Rhuba wondered if what she said was true. "No… your gran would hold me like this too, and me and Garagus would hug like this when we were sleeping back-to-back…" A smile came back to her.
"You have a chance to live here, Celerave…" Rhuba whispered, staring down at her daughter's face. "but you'll never get to live like a Saiyan…"

Surviving Saiyans
will return as
Surviving Saiyan Z

Author's Note: So you may have noticed a few changes since I LAST posted this chapter.
For real, this time. Surviving Saiyan Z will be coming out on the 28th of this month.

Assuming I don't get Isekaied or my computer catches fire.