(Preparing for Namek I)
Guest: Relax, I'm not forgetting about that story, but I've got others to focus on.
Nalagory: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
ElementalDrift: Yeah I get it, but I've learned that I can't focus on one story all the time or I'll just end up burning myself out, and none of us want that.
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: My point exactly. He learned the Kamehameha and Evil Containment Wave just by watching Roshi do it, so I don't think the Kaioken is too much of a stretch.
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At long last, the battle with the Saiyans was finally over.
"Oh good, that's such a relief…" King Kai breathed a heavy sigh as he watched the conclusion of the battle take place from his home planet "They had me worried for a minute there. I know that I'm not really supposed to take sides, but that Saiyan really does have the potential to be a menace to the entire universe. Someone as evil as that was bound to get a big taste of his own medicine sooner or later. It was just a matter of time, really."
"I hate to burst that bubble, but he still managed to escape." Gregory looked up at him "Doesn't that mean he's going to come back and try to get revenge at some point?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did, but if this battle is anything to go by, it shows that if they beat him once then they can do it again." King Kai paused as his gaze hardened "But one thing is for sure though: No one will be safe until the root of this evil is cut off at the source. The battle itself may be finished, but this entire struggle is far from over."
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Meanwhile, with the triumphant heroes…
"I don't agree with it either Goku, but I'll respect your wishes. And keep in mind, you're not the only one who wants to take another shot at him. Especially after everything he's done. And when he does come back, we'll be ready." Tien shot a glare at Vegeta "If any part of you is wise, you'd keep that warning in mind."
"Oh believe me Triclops, I will." Vegeta gave a weak smirk as he climbed into his pod and it began to start up "Until then, I believe it's about time for me to make my exit. But don't think that this is over, not even for a second. And don't think there's going to be another miracle for you to save yourselves from me next time. That much I can promise you." and on that note, the hatch to the pod closed, allowing it to shoot into the sky, then the atmosphere, and depart from the planet altogether.
"We'll see about that. Like I said, we'll be ready." Tien turned his gaze away from the retreating form of Vegeta's pod, then slowly made his way over to where he could see Gohan lying among the rubble "Any chance you can stand on your own?"
"I… I think so…" Gohan slowly tried to pick himself up off the ground and onto his feet, only to quickly fall forward again, but was stopped before he could hit the ground by one of Tien's arms, and subsequently hoisted into the air and placed on one of Tien's shoulders "Thanks… Sorry about this…"
"Don't be, it's kind of… nostalgic in a way for me. I used to carry Chiaotzu like this almost all the time." Tien gave a small sad smile at the thought as he carried his way over to where Krillin stood next to Goku's crippled form "At least he and the others should be able to rest a little bit easier now, knowing the fight is finally over."
"Oh thank god, looks like my work here is done." Yajirobe breathed a big sigh of relief from where he lay amongst some rubble upside down "But seriously, what the hell is the deal with you two baldies? Why the hell did you just let him go like that?"
"You can thank Goku for that."
"Figures. No way he would've gotten away from me like that, I wouldn't have been so nice when I got my hands on him."
"Right… whatever you need to tell yourself." Tien just rolled his eyes as he and Gohan sat on the ground next to the others "For the record, I still don't like the choice to let him go."
"Yeah, I… I figured you wouldn't…" Goku let out a pained chuckle as he turned his head toward the others as much as he could "I know that wasn't easy, so… thanks guys…"
"I did it out of respect for you… but that's not the only reason." Tien paused and looked up at the skies above "To be honest Goku, I do get it. You fight powerful enemies all the time, and you see it as a sort of benchmark for how far you have to go… and I get it. Once I finished my training with Kami, all of us really, we thought we were invincible… and then I saw what the Saiyans were capable of. It was like something out of a nightmare… But when you put it like that, it can set an example of a level of power that it's possible for us to achieve for ourselves if we all train hard enough… So I think it's about time to start aspiring to that level…"
"I know… it's kind of exciting to think about."
"That's one way to put it." Tien's face fell as he turned back to the others "But it's not the sort of thing to think about right after something like this… Not after everything he's done… Not after all of the people that died because of him…"
"I know what you mean… Even though Goku asked us to, letting him go really just didn't feel right." Krillin sat on the ground next to the group "But I've got an idea, and if it works then it may be able to undo the damage that he's done."
"Wait, really?" Gohan looked up at him "But Piccolo is gone, and the Dragon Balls…"
"I know, but if this works then we might be able to-" Krillin was cut short when a loud whirring noise drew their attention upwards, to an air craft in the distance coming towards them "Oh come on, he's coming back?"
"No, I don't think so…" Tien got a closer look using his third eye, and then his face lit up with relief "It's just the cavalry."
"You mean-"
"HEY!" Master Roshi poked his head out of the window of the plane, waving at the group with his staff as the plane descended and touched down on the ground a short distance away "Sorry to keep you waiting! Also for what's about to happen."
"What do you mean, what's-"
"GOHAN!" that ungodly shriek came from inside the plane, causing all of those present to go stiff almost immediately.
"...I'm going to assume that's Goku's wife?"
"Yep… that's Chichi for you…" Goku let out a nervous chuckle, but paused as he looked over to see Gohan still seated on one of Tien's shoulders "You may wanna take a few steps back… for your own safety."
"Why?"
"Where is he, where's my baby?!" the second the door was open, Chichi shoved Roshi out of the way and bolted towards the group with murder in her eyes… and then in an instant, she managed to rip Gohan from Tien's shoulder and cradled him in her arms "Gohan are you okay?! It's gonna be alright now baby, mommy's here!"
"M-Mom?" Gohan recovered from the shock and looked up at her "Is that really you?" and that just made Chichi start smothering him again.
"My precious baby boy, you must be traumatized after everything you had to go through!"
"Given everything that happened, I wouldn't blame him if he was." Tien slowly made his way over to the two of them and ruffled Gohan's hair "But after seeing the way you came through for us today, there's no doubt about it. You really are Goku's son. Speaking of which, Goku is the one that needs the most help. He'll live for sure but he's in pretty bad shape, you should probably go check up on him too. I can hold onto Gohan for you."
"You expect me to leave my baby's side after everything that's happened?" Chichi levelled a furious glare at Tien, though this did nothing to stall him "Besides, it's because of him and the rest of you that Gohan got sucked into this mess in the first place! There's no reason Gohan had to get involved!"
"Is that what you think?"
"But mom they-" Gohan's defense was cut short by Tien holding up a hand to him, his gaze never leaving Chichi's.
"Because to my understanding, Goku was already dead by the time Gohan got wrapped up in everything. Piccolo is the one who chose to take Gohan away to train him, if anyone should be blamed for Gohan's involvement it's him. Did none of the others tell you this?"
"Well yes but…" Chi-Chi paused for a moment, before her gaze hardened again "How would you know about all of that? You weren't even there!"
"And to my understanding, neither were you." Tien was met with silence, at least for a moment or so.
"But… But you all still let him fight!"
"Actually, we didn't." Tien turned his gaze towards Gohan as he continued "One of the Saiyans was killed yeah, but once the battle with the other was about to start, Goku told the rest of us to go to Kame House while he fought him alone. But then things turned bad when we saw that Saiyan transform, and Goku was losing. Gohan was the first one to choose to go back and help, so really the rest of us were just following his lead." that was enough to leave Chichi stunned and silent, and so Tien carried on "You might not like the thought of Gohan being dragged into a battle like this, but the fact is that if he wasn't here, the rest of us might not be either. The way I see it, you should be proud of him."
"Proud of what?" Chichi's tone was filled with bitterness "Proud that he almost got killed by a pack of delinquents that like punching each other all day long?"
"Proud that he's willing to put the well being of others before himself. As far as I'm concerned, your son is a hero. Ask anyone else and they'd agree." Tien was met with silence.
"I… I want to go check on dad…" Gohan slipped himself out of Chichi's embrace and made his way over towards Goku's downed form, with Chichi following behind him in silence.
"Right, I think the rest of us should too." Tien was about to follow after them, only to stop as he noticed Krillin gaping at him "What?"
"You… You realize what you just did right?" Krillin finally found his voice as the two of them made their way over to join the others "You just won an argument with Chichi. How in the hell did you pull that off?!"
"Looking back, that's one of the few useful things I learned from Crane School. In the face of pure unbridled girl anger, dig in your heels and never show them fear, because they love to feed on it. Of course Master Shen was no help in that regard, given that he was about as… indulgent with women as Master Roshi is, so I have Mercenary Tao to thank for that lesson."
"Huh. I never imagined someone like you taking that to heart."
"Considering I've spent the last five years being chased all around the world by Launch in her blonde form, I've had a lot of practice."
"Oh no, no!" this was when Bulma and Roshi quickly rushed their way out of the plane over to where Goku lay "Goku we're here, talk to me, say something! Are you okay?"
"I hate to break it to you Bulma, but I don't think any of us really count as okay." Krillin made his way over to them, with Tien by his side "They really did a number on us."
"I don't know, it's… not that bad…" Goku gave a weak and tired grin "But I'm sorry… the Saiyan got away from us…"
"Don't apologize my boy." Korin made his way over to the group "The fact that you're alive at all is a blessing. After all, not just anyone can run off a Saiyan warrior like that."
"Korin is that you? Hey…"
"You're not wrong. I still haven't wrapped my head around how powerful he was." Tien paused as memories of the battle flashed in front of his eyes, and his face fell "The five of us were lucky we made it out alive at all… If only the same could be said for everyone else… And Bulma, this isn't going to be easy to hear but-"
"It's okay Tien, you don't have to." Bulma flashed him a fake smile "I already know, it was all over the news."
"Oh…. so then I guess you know about what happened to Piccolo and Kami too. Both of them are gone, and that means the Dragon Balls too."
"Yeah well I…" Bulma's smile fell as tears brimmed her eyes and she turned away from the rest of the group "I know all of that okay, just shut up already!"
"Oh…" Tien paused and shared a look with Goku and Krillin, then turned to Roshi "I guess she knows about it already…"
"Yes, I explained it to her on the way here." Roshi looked down sadly "It's a shame that Piccolo wasn't one of the ones to survive the battle."
"I know… I never thought I'd see the day where we'd be saying that."
"Trust me, neither did I."
"Well excuse me for living." Yajirobe let out a groan as he picked himself up and joined the rest of the group… which immediately earned him Bulma's ire.
"Who the hell asked you fatass?!" Bulma rounded on him in anger driven by grief "The only reason why you're still around is because you were hiding like a big fat coward the whole time and never actually got off your lazy ass once!"
Yajirobe was taken aback by this, along with the others, but his face turned red with anger as he managed to drum up some courage "Hey you take that back you little-"
"Shut up!" Bulma continued her tirade against him, now with tears streaming down her face "If you had bothered to show up then maybe Piccolo wouldn't have been killed, and then everyone else could come back! Did you ever stop to think about that you fat jerk?!" and then the dam finally burst as she broke down crying and fell to her knees… which did very little to earn any sympathy from Yajirobe.
"Hey you little bitch, if it hadn't been for my help then everybody here would be dead, and that counts Piccolo too! It's not like I asked for any of this headache, just leave me the hell alone for once!"
"Alright alright, take it easy you two." Korin was quick to break up the scuffle "Bickering isn't going to solve anything. We need to get our friends some medical attention, becuase I gave the last of my Senzu Beans to Goku earlier. Yajirobe, you mind helping the others get Goku onto the stretcher."
"Yeah yeah, just get off my back already." Yajirobe rolled his eyes as he picked up one end of the stretcher Goku was on, with Roshi getting the other half as they carried him into the plane, with the rest of the group following suit, before the plane took off, leaving the battlefield behind.
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Of course, even with the battle over, the aftermath still had to be cleaned up.
"This is the area right?" Roshi flew the plane over the skies while Bulma was still crying in a corner, searching for the initial battlefield "This is where the battle started, where Yamcha and the rest… you know?"
"No, this isn't the right spot." Gohan poked his head up to the window and saw the landscape below them "It's a little bit further to the West. The Saiyans came after me and Piccolo in the spot where we were training."
"Yeah, that's what the rest of us thought. We locked onto your Ki signatures and got there as fast as we could." Tien paused and looked back at where Bulma was still crying in the corner, and his face fell slightly "She's taking it pretty hard… not that I can blame her. I know she and Yamcha have a lot of history."
"That's one way to put it. Not always a good thing though." Krillin let out a sigh as he slumped down into the seat next to him "Definitely had a few spats over the years, and the last one was pretty bad too from what I heard."
"I'm guessing you were there?"
"Not personally, but the day we were gathering at Kame House and Goku's brother showed up, I asked where Yamcha was and Bulma said that, in her words, he could be chasing after every girl in the city for all she cared. Then we tracked him down to fill him in on what was going on with the Saiyans, and then I saw what happened…"
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1 year ago, give or take…
"Wait hold on, what?!" Yamcha looked at Krillin in a mix of shock and disbelief as he slumped against the wall of the stadium "You mean Goku is… like, for real?"
"Yeah… he's dead." Krillin's face fell as he looked down at his feet "He sacrificed himself to take the Saiyan out. Piccolo was probably happy about it."
"It's just… After all these years, I never thought he could… you know."
"Trust me, I don't think any of us did." there was a pause, and then Krillin perked right up "But don't forget about the Dragon Balls, we just gotta get our hands on all 7 of them and we can wish him right back."
"Yeah, yeah that's true." Yamcha's face lit up at the realization "So what the hell are we waiting for then? Let's just go track them down and bring him back."
"That's actually the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Long story short, if we're gonna be ready for the next two Saiyans showing up then we're gonna have to head up to Kami's Lookout for training."
"For real? That's awesome! But what about the Dragon Balls?" Yamcha followed Krillin out to the stadium parking lot, where he did spot the radar… in Bulma's hand, the two of them locking eyes "Oh… hey."
"Yamcha, hey." Bulma's face lit up when she caught sight of him, but then it morphed into a scowl as "Jerk."
"Yeah well if I'm such a jeark, who do you think I learned it from?" Yamcha scowled and looked away indignantly.
"Am I missing something?" Krillin gave a raised eyebrow.
"Depends on whether or not Yamcha wants to go skirt chasing again."
"Oh for crying out loud, we're doing this again?" Yamcha let out a frustrated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair "How many times do I have to tell you they're just fans? They're the ones who come after me and I'm just being nice, what am I supposed to shoot them on sight?"
"You could stop letting them fondle you all over the place, not to mention the time I caught you locking lips with one of them."
"She forced herself on me, how many times do I have to tell you that?"
"As many as you have to. Besides, how about any of the other times I catch you flirting with one of those random skanks?"
"Oh really? You really wanna talk about that?"
"Uh oh…" Krillin shared a look with Puar 'This is gonna get really ugly… not that it hasn't already.'
"So you really wanna talk about flirting with some random skank?" Yamcha levelled his own glare at Bulma "Maybe we could have a little talk about flirting with anything that moves after the next time you wind up flirting with every random muscle bound jock you come across?"
"Excuse me?!" now Bulma was red in the face as she stormed towards Yamcha "I just talk with people, that is not the same thing!"
"Yes it is! You pick up a conversation with some random guy on the beach, I end up chatting with a girl who happens to be a fan of my baseball career. The only difference is apparently when I do that it counts as cheating. So how's that different?" Yamcha just crossed his arms and hardened his gaze "Go ahead. Tell me how."
"Well that's not- But I- I-" Bulma was actually left stunned by this, though that didn't stop her from trying to come up with a counter "I- I- I don't-"
"Don't have an answer? I didn't think so. Maybe one of those bodybuilders can try giving you one." Yamcha promptly walked past her and over to Krillin and Puar "Come on guys, if we're gonna go do special training with Kami then we'd better fill Tien and Chiaotzu in on everything going on. Puar you'd better stay here, help the others track down the Dragon Balls so they can wish Goku back."
"R-Right." Puar watched as Yamcha pulled out a capsule and summoned a hovercar "But are you sure you want to go NOW?"
"Yeah… I know exactly where I should be, and besides… I don't think there's anything else for me here right now." Yamcha paused and took one last look at Bulma, only for her to turn away, and so he let out a sigh climbed into the driver's seat of the hovercar and started it up.
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And now back to reality…
"And that's about the end of it." Krillin finished his story to Tien "Far as I can tell, that was the last thing they said to each other before… well you know."
"I see." Tien looked back to where Bulma was still crying "When you put it like that, her taking it so hard does seem to come out in a new light of sorts. That being the last thing they said to each other, not being able to make amends… and now they might never be able to."
"I wouldn't say that just yet…" Krillin leaned forward slightly "I know things do look really bad right now… but that doesn't mean that the lot of us oughta just quit trying. If my hunch is right, then we might be able to fix everything."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Tien's gaze hardened after a moment "I really hope this isn't just a bad joke of some kind."
"It's not, and I know it's definitely a long shot, but it might work… and so long as I'm not missing anything, I think it's possible that everyone the Saiyans killed could be brought back to life, and… it might include Chiaotzu."
"Really?" Tien's gaze hardened further "But even if it works, Chiaotzu was already brought back by the Dragon Balls once before, and even if we can bring back everyone else… Is this what you were trying to tell us about before Goku went to fight Vegeta."
"Yeah. I didn't want to say anything before because I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up if this didn't work… What exactly are you thinking?"
"Well the truth is-"
"Hey hold on, this is it!" Gohan directed everyone's attention to where a number of craters could be seen on the ground below them.
"I'll explain it all later, it looks like we're here. Go ahead and set it down Master Roshi… the rest of us will start getting the bodies on board."
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One quick landing later…
"Okay, here we go." it didn't take long for Roshi and the others to gather the bodies of Piccolo and Yamcha, placing in them in freezing capsules that Bulma handed to him "There, now just one more to go… but I haven't seen Chiaotzu anywhere."
"You won't find anything…" Tien drew their attention from where he was gazing up at the night sky without looking back at them "He blew himself up trying to kill one of the Saiyans… but it didn't work."
"Oh… right… Let's get the others on board." and so Roshi and the others carried the two freezer capsules onto the plane, setting them down in the back.
'Piccolo…' all the while, Gohan just stood outside the plane watching as the freezer capsules were walked past him, until something caught his eye a short distance away, leading him to rush off.
"Gohan wait, where are you going?" Chichi was quick to rush off after until, only to come to a stop when she noticed he was kneeling on the ground holding something in his hands, that being a small black and red hat "Oh don't worry about that sweetie, we can always get you another one after-"
"It's not mine." Gohan made his way back over to the plane, catching Tien before he could board with the others and held it out to him "We may not be able to find Mr Chiaotzu himself… but that doesn't mean we can't find anything to remember him by."
"This is…" Tien slowly removed the hat from Gohan's hold, and after a moment he knelt down next to Gohan and gave a small sad smile "Thank you for this."
"I just… thought it was right." Gohan followed Tien back into the plane, though his face fell even further as his eyes landed on the capsule containing Piccolo's body "This… This doesn't feel right."
"I know how you feel son." Korin made his way over to them "It really is terrible, a loss so senseless. I think we all wish there was a way to turn back the clock and prevent this tragedy from happening. The way things stand right now, far too many decent people have made too great a sacrifice."
"It just… This feels so wrong… Things like this shouldn't happen… I was too scared to help them before, and now I can't do anything to change it…" Gohan shut his eyes and clenched both of his fists tightly "It's just not right…"
"No, it really isn't."
"Alright you guys, go ahead and buckle in. I'll take the wheel okay?" Bulma made her way back to the driver's seat, earning a few uncertain looks from the others "You don't have to worry, I'm fine now."
"Oh, that's… that's good."
"Yeah." so Bulma started the plane back up and it continued flying its way through the skies, but it did nothing to stop her thoughts from drifting, especially as she glanced back at Yamcha's freeze capsule 'It's funny… When I first went to track down the Dragon Balls, I wanted to wish for the perfect boyfriend… instead I got him… and look what's happened.' and then memories began to flash through her mind of the years she spent with him.
When they first met: "Hey listen, do me a favor and close your eyes for a quick second, would you?"
When they first got together: "I think Yamcha and I decided that the two of us wanna spend a little bit more time together. And I don't think I'm gonna need my wish on the Dragon Balls after all.'
When they had their encounter with Hasky, and she thought he was cheating on her: "You little piece of- You're so dead, you hear me?!"
After he lost his match with Tien in the 22nd tournament: "Hey don't be like that, you didn't let anyone down. You gave it everything you had. Everybody knows that. I know that."
'One hell of a rocky road it's been over the years, but we kept sticking together through one crisis after another… first Pilaf trying to take over the world, then the Red Ribbon Army, even the likes of King Piccolo… But now that I think about it, no matter how many times it got all fucked up… somehow we kept finding our way back to each other, like it's the two of us just belonged…' Bulma gave a small sad smile at the thought, though her face fell once again as the next set of thoughts flashed through her mind 'Yeah, I bet you were eager to show these guys just what we were all about on Earth… But you gave it all up in the process… and you're not coming back this time, are you…?' and that thought was more than enough to leave tears streaming down her face once more.
All the while, Krillin just watched Bulma from his own seat, and once she started crying again he turned his gaze away from her 'Yeah, I know how she feels… Losing Piccolo and the others the way that we did… It's just not right… But maybe we can-'
"You know you never finished." Tien cut his thoughts short as he sat next to Krillin, which also drew the attention of everyone else "What you were saying earlier I mean. You said there might be a way to bring everyone back."
"Well it's more of a theory than anything else, but here goes… You see, the Saiyans already knew about the Dragon Balls when they got here, because they heard us talking about them over that communicator that Goku's brother was wearing. They didn't come here looking for revenge, at least not entirely. They seemed a lot more interesting in tracking down the Dragon Balls for themselves so they could make a wish."
"You think so?"
"That's my guess anyway. But it's what they said about Piccolo that caught my attention. It was before you and the others showed up to the fight, but when they first saw him they said he was called a Namekian." now that definitely got everyone's attention "Then Piccolo and Kami, it sounds to me like the two of them might have been aliens."
"You just figured that out? Dude they're both green." Yajirobe pointed out dryly.
"But it's what Vegeta said after that that's got me thinking. He said that if they visit Piccolo's homeworld, then they would get the answers they wanted."
"So they know where Piccolo's from, big deal."
"It might be a bigger deal than you think."
"I heard that too." Gohan rushed up and sat down next to the two of them "I just didn't know what they meant at the time. But now that I think about it, it's like they knew they'd be able to find more Dragon Balls on Piccolo and Kami's home planet."
"That's right, and that means that if we can get to this planet Namek, and I know that really is a big if… but if there's some way we'd be able to find it, then we might be able to bring those Dragon Balls back here, or just make a wish on them there."
"Yes!"
"I think I get what you're saying." Tien frowned in thought "You're saying that all we would have to do in that case is make the wish to bring back everyone killed by the Saiyans."
"Exactly!"
"And that means I'd get to see Piccolo again!" Gohan's face lit up with joy, albeit earning a look of horror from Chichi in the process.
"They'd all be brought back to life, and if Piccolo comes back then Kami will too, and if Kami comes back then so will the Dragon Balls, or if not then he can make more!"
"This… This might actually work." Tien broke out into a smile "If this theory of yours is right then that could actually work… we can bring everyone back… If nothing else, it has to be worth a try."
"Yep, goodbye to the Saiyans and hello to bringing our friends back to life!"
"You're forgetting that's a lot easier said than done." Bulma finally spoke up from her place in the pilot's seat, her expression sullen "We'd never be able to pull that off. It would be like trying to find a needle in an intergalactic haystack. It's hopeless."
"Maybe for us but not for you, I bet you'd be able to find it right?"
"Do you have any idea how many planets there are? Maybe if we had some clue as to where to look for this Namek or whatever it's called, but we don't."
"Hang on a second you guys, leave that one to me." Goku finally spoke up from his place on the stretcher, and got into touch with his friend on the other side "You hear that King Kai? I bet you know of just about every planet in the universe, so you probably know where Planet Namek is don't you?"
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I know where Planet Namek is." the voice of King Kai rang through the minds of everyone present, leaving them taken aback "After all, I'd be a pretty sorry king if I didn't know of the planets in my own realm. As a matter of fact, I can give you its exact coordinates. They can all hear me right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"So he's the King Kai you trained with in Otherworld?" Tien looked over at Goku "And he can use a form of telepathy too by the look of it."
"More or less yeah. Alright King Kai, you're coming in loud and clear. Go ahead and do your thing, we're all listening."
"Definitely a nice change of pace compared to you Goku. Alright just hold on a minute, I'm trying to translate the coordinates to Earth terminology so you guys can understand it. Now let's see here, it says here that you'll have to keep a barring of SW66- No wait, that's not it. God, this thing might as well be written in Japanese. Okay maybe this is, SU83 by 9045YX. Yeah I think that's the one, go ahead and give that a try."
"Wait a second, I wanna make sure I heard that right." Bulma's gaze snapped upwards "You said it was 9045YX?"
"Oh, so you understood that?" asked Krillin "I'm glad somebody did, I have no idea what the hell any of you are saying."
"Hey one of you take the wheel for a few minutes, I need to do some calculations."
"I guess getting a pilot's license was a worthwhile use of my time after all." Tien made his way into the pilot's seat and went on with flying the plane while Bulma got to work.
"As I recall, Planet Namek was once an extremely beautiful world whose population was made up of a large number of Namekians, but then a long time ago there was a major change in the climate of the planet. It was horrible, and as a result all but a few of the Namekians ended up being wiped out."
"Cool so that's it, the balls are gone. Big whoop, now let's get out of here." Yajirobe rolled his eyes, only to be smacked upside the head by Korin's cane.
"Don't go jumping to conclusions just yet, nobody knows what it's like on Planet Namek in this day and age, but I can go ahad and check it out for you with my antenna. Okay just have to try and position them and… There we go, I found it!"
"Yes, I think I understand it now." Korin frowned in thought "So then Kami, or that is to say the Namekian that would become Kami, escaped from his home planet and then came all the way here to Earth, and assuming that is the case then two things must have happened. Kami either must have lost his memory, or he was too young to remember any of it when he first came to Earth. But either way, it's safe to assume that his past must have been pretty hard for him to deal with."
"So have I. But I don't get it, it doesn't make any sense." Yajirobe grumbled "The Dragon Balls can grant any wish, if they made them then they could've just tried making a wish so the climate was normal again and all of those Namekians wouldn't have died."
"I doubt that would've worked." Roshi turned to face the rest of the group "Stop and think about what Shenron said to us when we summoned him. We asked if he could get rid of the Saiyans for us, but he couldn't grant a wish beyond the power of the one who created the Dragon Balls. They were too much for Kami, so they were too much for Shenron as well. It's because of the fact that the Dragon Balls have limits that we're in this mess to begin with."
"So then what good are they? I mean come on, you might as well not even bother with the stupid things." Yajirobe was immediately with a smack to the face courtesy of Korin's tail, causing the others to burst out laughing.
"Thank you Korin, I believe all of us have been dying to do that."
"Hey look alive everybody, I found the Namekians! It looks like there are almost 100 of them, I mean granted it's not nearly as mny as before but they're still flourishing!"
"So there are 100 others like Piccolo and Kami out there." Tien's gaze hardened slightly "Part of me does have to wonder how much of a good thing that is."
"That is the case yes, but I wouldn't worry about that too much if I were you. The Namekians are well known for their gentle nature, they're nice like how Kami was on your planet. Piccolo did have a mean streak for sure, but that was more of the exception than the rule. Keep in mind that both Piccolo and Kami used to be one, but Kami was exposed to evil within him that he would never have known on Planet Namek, and when he decided to purge the darkness that crept into his nature, it resulted in the birth of Piccolo, the embodioment of all of the evil that he had come into contact with."
"Right, Piccolo was born thanks to the darkness within Kami… it definitely does explain a few things. There definitely is enough evil out there, in space or just on our world. Trust me I would know, I used to be one of them." Tien paused and looked at the others "So does this mean we have a solid plan?"
"Sounds like it to me." Krillin gave a wide grin "That means there isn't anything stopping us from going to Planet Namek and using their Dragon Balls to bring back to life everyone that was killed by the Saiyans!"
"Are you serious right now? Do you have any idea how naive that sounds?" Bulma let out a loud scoff "Even if we do have some idea of where this Planet Namek is, how exactly do you plan to get there? Have any of you actually stopped to think about that?"
"I didn't really think about that, I just guessed we'd go in a spaceship of some kind."
"Oh sure, and I figured you might have used your brain for once. I just ran a few calculations to see how long it would take a spaceship with the world's best engine, built by my dad, to get us to the coordinates that King Kai gave us. Don't bother guessing, I doubt you'd come remotely close to the right answer, so I'll just show you." she held up the calculation she was using "It would take us 4,339 years and over 3 months, assuming we'd even live that long."
"Ah… well that did have me worried too, but I'm pretty sure I have that figured out. There was something bugging me about the spaceship Vegeta ran away in, but then it hit me: That thing was so small, barely big enough for one person to ride in. There's no way both Saiyans came to Earth in the same pod, which would mean that the other Saiyan came here in should still be sitting in the same spot he landed it."
"Oh yeah, you're right! I bet we could find the spaceship Raditz came here in too." Goku paused and let out a chuckle "Well actually we can't, not after what Gohan did to it. Yep, that's my boy alright."
"Right, forgot about that… aw crapbaskets."
"Still though, one of those alien spaceships might be enough!" Bulma's face lit up with hope "I mean I can't say for sure until I see it for myself, but I bet I can figur something out. The only thing is that it's probably somewhere close to East City, after the Saiyans landed that was the first area that got destroyed. We'll have to look for it some other time."
"I've got a better idea, how about we use this and it just leads us right to it." Krillin gave a smirk as he pulled something out if his gi, that being a small remote control "It belongs to Vegeta, it's what he used to summon his ship when he tried to get away. I saw it lying on the ground after he left and I thought it might come in handy. So what do you think, was I right?"
"Give me that." Bulma snatched the control from him and studied it for a moment, and then her face lit up with joy "Oh my god you're right, this could actually work!"
"So then there may be hope for our friends, Chiaotzu included, after all." Tien's face lit up with a mix of joy and relief, as everyone pointed forward to where the sun rose beyond the horizon in front of them "To planet Namek, and to the Dragon Balls!"
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Of course there was a lot to do before they could put their plan into action… starting with recovering from their wounds.
"Anyway, that about explains it." Tien turned to the rest of the group from where he lay in a hospital bed, clad in bandages mostly around his torso and one of his arms, with Gohan (having bandages around his head and a few small ones on his arms) and Krillin (bandages over his head and one of his arms in a sling) in beds next to him "The doctor said that Gohan and Krillin will be let out in the next few days, but they want them to stay overnight for observation. I'm not so lucky, I'll have to stay in here for at least a week thanks to the muscle strain I got from using the Kaioken at the end."
"Hey trust me, using it for the first time isn't so much fun when you're dead either, but you still got me beat." Goku gave a grin from where he was placed in his own bed, and his entire body being covered in bandages except for his face "The doctor said it was probably gonna be at least 4 months for my injuries to heal up right, but he said that even if I do there's still a chance that I'm never gonna be the same."
"I wouldn't worry about that too much, before Korin left he said that the next batch of Senzu Beans would be ready within the next month or so. Just hang in there until then and you'll be back in fighting shape in no time."
"Speaking of which, how's Yajirobe doing?"
"Apparently he wasn't injured enough to be admitted to the hospital. He wasn't too happy about that, apparently he thought he deserved it too after the beating he took, as he put it."
"You mean the beating he got when he was begging the Saiyan not to hurt you?" Krillin asked dryly.
"His words, not mine. But yeah, pretty much that. He also passed that off as trying to get him to let his guard down so he could take him out." Tien paused and let out a sigh "But I will say that if it wasn't for Yajirobe, we probably wouldn't have made it out of there."
"Well one thing is for sure." Ox-King gave a grin as he made his way over to the group "I'm just so proud of all of you for running off those nasty Saiyans off like you did. Not only did all of you save the human race, but now everyone who died in the battle can be brought back to life."
"Exactly, assuming everything goes according to plan."
"Hey guys!" this was when Bulma came rushing into the room "Hurry and turn on the TV, this is all over the news!"
"Oh Bulma it's you, I thought it was a man-ish nurse with a dated hairdo." Roshi was met almost immediately with a smack over the head with his staff.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, now shut up and check it out." Bulma snatched the remote and turned on the news for everyone to see… revealing their hopes and prayers in captivity by the government.
"The mysterious object was found in the remains of the recently devastated Metro East area, and although it cannot be confirmed at this time it appears to be some type of alien spaceship. Based on early reports that we've been provided from the scene, this is one of the two flying objects that had landed in the Metro East area mere moments before the city itself was attacked."
"See what I mean?"
"I don't like the sound of that." Tien muttered "That's pretty much the only chance we have to bring everyone back, and it's locked up in some kind of lab with people who probably don't even know what they're messing with."
"You won't be saying that in a few minutes." Bulma gave a smirk as she held up the remote control "If this remote control or whatever it is that Krillin found really does work, then we can just summon th ship right to our front door and take it for a little test drive. They aren't even gonna know what happened."
"I think I speak for everyone when I say, is that really a good idea?"
"Look I'm the genius here, just sit back and leave the thinking to me. Besides I spent most of last night studying the thing anyway, now shut up and let me do my thing." Bulma pushed a couple of buttons on the remote, causing it to beep repeatedly… and then the ship immediately exploded on the TV screen.
"My word! Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that the suspected UFO that crashed into the Metro East area earlier this week has just exploded! There's alien debris everywhere!"
"But… But what went wrong?"
"I think you just hit the self destruct sequence." Tien muttered.
"But… But that was the only ship on the planet fast enough to get us to Planet Namek! It was the only chance we had to bring everybody back, so what in the name of hell are we supposed to do now?!" Bulma fell to her knees, then immediately rounded on the others "This is all Krillin's fault, he's the one who found that stupid remote in the first place!"
"This coming from the woman who pressed a bunch of buttons without knowing what it was going to do." Tien's gaze hardened as he stepped in front of Krillin and the others "Try and take accountability for your own actions."
"Yeah well… shut up!" Bulma scowled indignantly and turned away… only to immediately let out a terrified shriek over what she saw at the window, which led her to fall to the ground with an audible thud.
"What the-"
"Hello." as it turns out, Mr Popo was standing outside the window on top of his magic carpet "If a spaceship is what you need, I might have a suggestion if you like to see it."
"Mr Popo, you never cease to amaze." Tien breathed a sigh of relief "But are you serious about this? You really know of a ship we might be able to use?"
"Possibly at least, but we would need to confirm."
"Well then-"
"What the hell is that thing?!" Chichi immediately jumped in front of Gohan "Stay behind me baby!"
"Everybody calm down, that's just Mr Popo. He lives up on the Lookout with Kami and more or less acts as the right hand man to him and past Guardians of the Earth. He's also one of the ones that helped train us and the others over the past year for the fight with the Saiyans." with that said, Krillin turned his gaze over to Mr Popo "So just so we're on the same page, what exactly do you mean when you say you might have a spaceship?"
"Well it looks like a spaceship." Mr Popo frowned slightly "Possibly at least, but I want to make sure before you get your hopes up. I can take one of you to it if you want to see it with your own eyes."
"Right… in that case, I vote Bulma. Anyone else?"
"Aye." was the immediate response from most of the others.
"Wait what?" Bulma shot a glare at the others "Why me?"
"Two reasons mainly." Tien held up two fingers "One, you're the only one of us who would know anything about spaceships. Two, you're the one who blew up the other one."
"You're not gonna let me live that down are you?"
"As soon as you admit you're the one who did it without trying to deflect the blame. But that aside, you going with him does make the most sense."
"Okay, but… do you really trust this guy? He's just got sort of a creepy look in his eyes."
"Relax, he doesn't bite."
"Not as long as you remember the pecking order." Krillin muttered.
"Exaclty."
"Fine, but if anything happens to me while I'm gone I'm kicking your asses." Bulma gave one last scowl as she nervously climbed her way onto Mr Popo's carpet "I should warn you now, I don't do well with heights."
"We should go now." Mr Popo told her calmly.
"Fine, just… not too fast okay?" and then the two of them were gone in an instant.
"And there they go." Krillin shared a look with Tien and Goku "So much for not too fast, am I right?"
"I'm just concerned about her knowing the pecking order." Tien let out a sigh as he glanced out the window 'Yamcha, you're my friend and I have nothing but respect for you… but honestly, I sometimes can't help but wonder what you see in her.'
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A few hours later…
"It's not just a spaceship, it's a freaking amazing one!" once Bulma and Mr Popo got back to the hospital, she was quick to explain the situation to the others "It managed to take us to Jupiter in just a couple of seconds so you know it's fast, and it won't even need much work. All we need to do is make a few minor modifications and fix some wear and tear. We could easily make it to planet Namek within a month."
"That's promising, but it raises another question." Tien cast a raised eyebrow "How long would it take us to be ready to launch?"
"My guess is that if we work fast, we should be able to launch in five days!"
"So you'll be taking Kami's ship to Namek after all." Roshi breathed a sigh of relief "It seems as though there may be a light at the end of this tunnel after all!"
"It's all thanks to Mr Popo here, and thank god he's gonna be joining us and being our pilot and everything."
"Oh, I cannot go to Planet Namek." Mr Popo quickly wiped the grin off Bulma's face "I'm sorry but I just can't, if I went with you then I would be away from the Lookout for at least 2 months or more. That's far too long."
"You've gotta be kidding me! You're the only person who speaks Namekian, you have to come with us! And besides you're huge, what if we get attacked and we need your help?"
"You can learn, I will teach you to understand Namekian."
"But…"
"Go for it Bulma, if anyone can do it then it's you." Krillin gave a grin "Think about it, if the ship breaks down then you'll be there to fix it."
"...Fine, I guess the trip won't be too dangerous." Bulma immediately gave a scowl "But there's no chance I'm going all by myself, you understand me? One of you is coming with me."
"Well that rules out Goku, he's still to hurt to go." Krillin paused at the sound of disappointed groaning coming from one of the beds "And he knows it."
"So then you and Tien will come with me right?"
"I mean I guess we could, if you really want us too. But didn't Tien say he'll be stuck here for like a week?"
"To be completely honest, I was never going to stay that long." Tien pulled himself to his feet and turned to face the others "But that being said, I don't think it's right for both of us to go."
"What do you mean?"
"Keep in mind that Vegeta is still out there, and who knows if he's going to try anything once he's fully healed. If anything happens while we're gone, someone has to be here to keep the Earth safe."
"So what are you thinking?"
"The way I see it, once he's recovered he'll do one of two things: Either come back here to get revenge, or make a beeline for Planet Namek. In either case, we should be prepared for whatever he may try. So one of us should stay here and keep training, be ready in case something happens, and the other should go with Bulma, keep her safe in case anything happens on Namek while we're there."
"Fair enough. You have any ideas on who's doing what?"
"Actually, I do." Tien paused for a moment "Call this selfish on my part if you like, but in the event this plan succeeds, I want to be there to do what I can to bring the others back… and see for myself if Chiaotzu can be brought back."
"Ah, right." Krillin paused and broke into a small smile "Don't worry, I understand. You do what you have to do out there, I'll keep things safe on the home front for the time being."
"Thanks for understanding. I know you'll do great here Krillin."
"I gotta admit Tien, it really does sound like you're lucky." Goku muttered "I wish I could go with you guys. I'd really want to see what kind of dragon they have on Planet Namek. Who knows, maybe he's blue."
"I'll check it out for myself and let you know. But assuming this works, it'll more than likely be a sight to behold."
"I wouldn't really know myself." Krillin muttered "Would you believe that I've never actually seen Shenron with my own eyes."
"Really?"
"Yeah, from what I know I was never actually there when the others summoned him, and the one time I was there I was dead, remember?"
"...Oh. Huh."
"I know, hell of a copout right?"
"Well think of it this way, depending on how this goes you can gather up the Dragon Balls here once Piccolo and Kami are revived, and then summon him for yourself. In the meantime, I guess it'll be up to me and Bulma to figure this out."
"Actually, I…" Gohan finally spoke up and drew the attention of the others, tightly gripping th sheets on his bed "I want to go to Namek with you guys!" this was enough to leave the others taken aback, but earned hard gazes from both Tien and Goku.
There was a long pause, before Chichi broke the silence "Now sweetie that's adorable, but this isn't the right time to be making silly jokes."
"But I'm not making a joke, I really wanna go. Please let me, I don't want to stay here!" he looked down as his grip tightened, but this did nothing to curtail Chichi's stubbornness.
"No you're not going, do you hear me? You'd be away for another 2 months!"
"I'm sorry mom, really but… right now I want to go more than anything. I want to be there so I can see Piccolo when they bring him back to life."
"How could you even say something like that? Just look at yourself, you aren't even properly healed yet!"
"I'm fine… well I will be anyway." he began slowly removing the bandages wrapped around his head.
"Gohan, baby what are you doing? Stop it! Gohan listen to me, I'm your mother!"
"Please mom, all I want is for you to say that I can go."
"I will not, I forbid it! Do you even know what you're asking me? You're not going anywhere, not to another planet for two months! Have you even thought about what that means, everything you'd be missing while your gone?! Your school work for starters! You expect me to let you fall behind for a monster like Piccolo-"
"SHUT UP!" Gohan's tone was sharp and loud, and the forceful nature was enough to leave everyone present taken aback, and Chichi outright horrified.
"My baby boy… he's turning into a delinquent…"
"I'm sorry mom, but…" Gohan gritted his teeth "But if you want to talk about how bad I'm turning out, then we can do that later. Right now we have to focus on our friends. All of them fought hard trying to protect us, and they died to save us and the Earth. But all of it wasn't for nothing, it can't have been for nothing. I just… I have to do something. I'm sorry mom, I really am… but I have to do this…"
"But…"
"You have to admit Chichi, he has a point." Ox King patted her on the shoulder "It seems to me that he has his mind made up. So give him your blessing, let him go."
'Way to go Gohan, that's my boy…' Goku gave a grin from his own hospital bed 'He's getting stronger every day.'
"You don't have to worry about a thing." Bulma and Tien were quick to step up to Chichi "We'll be sure to take good care of him while we're out there. And with all of us there to look after each other, what's the worst that could happen?"
"I do have one question though." Mr Popo glanced over at Bulma "You said five days, will you be able to learn Namekian by then?"
"Good question… It's gonna take some time to program a translator too, so we should probably go with 10 days just to be on the safe side." Bulma turned to the others "How about it, we'll meet up in 10 days at Kame House."
"Sounds like a plan." Tien shared a look with Gohan and the of them gave simultaneous nods of understanding 'Looks like we're heading for Planet Namek… and on the plus side, now I won't have to sneak out of the hospital… Though hopefully I get out before Launch finds me.'
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Hours passed, and nightfall had once again settled over West City.
'So we're going to another planet… We'll have to make sure we're ready.' Tien opened his eyes from where he sat on his bed in a meditative position, though his focus quickly faded when he glanced over to the hat sitting on the night stand next to his bed 'Chiaotzu… Either we'll find a way to bring you back, or in the end I'll end up going to you… One way or another, we will be together again… I promise you that much.'
"Come on, come on…"
Tien glanced over at the sound of a voice to see Gohan writing on a notepad with a textbook opened in front of him "I'm guessing you couldn't sleep either?" his voice made Gohan jump slightly.
"I uh… I just wanted to try and get a head start on some of the work I missed before I went home tomorrow." Gohan frowned slightly as he looked down at the book in front of him "I'm a little bit out of practice."
"Understandable." Tien looked over at the book and he examined his contents "Is this beginner's algebra?"
"Yeah, you know it?"
"Sort of. I remember helping Chiaotzu with it." Tien paused at Gohan's curious look "After he lost to Krillin in their first fight because of math problems, kind of a long story, but he asked me to help him learn it so that wouldn't happen again."
"So you taught him algebra?"
"It started out as just basic addition and subtraction, and it kind of went from there. We only got to the basics before… Anyway, he struggled with it too, but I still remember the general idea of how to do it. In principle, it basically means to do to one side what you do to the other, then take the bottom half and multiple… which also helped me with developing the Multi Form technique initially. Except for the multiplication part, because I still haven't figured out how to get past the
"So do to one side what you do to the other… and X = 8." Gohan paused as he put down his pen and his face lit up at his results "I got it. Thanks Tien."
"Sure, no problem." Tien's smile quickly faded as his gaze hardened "Now do you want to talk about what's really keeping you up? I know your mom is overbearing when it comes to studying, at least based on what I've heard from the others, but I doubt she'd want you losing sleep over this. Especially not with you still in the hospital until tomorrow."
"...Oh. So you could tell." Gohan let out a sigh as he put away his textbook and notepad, clearing some room for Tien to sit on the bed next to him "It's just… It's about Piccolo."
"I see." Tien's gaze hardened further "Go on."
"I know he's done a lot of bad stuff… or the old one did anyway. He even told me himself that he and my dad used to fight each other a long time ago, and once the Saiyans were taken care of he wanted to pick up where he left off. But my dad didn't really think that bad about him. He used to tell me that ever since he was reborn he wasn't anywhere near as bad as he used to be, really he was more grumpy than evil now. My mom is still totally scared of him though, and she did call him a monster earlier, so… it's not like I can talk to her about this."
"And you just wanted someone to listen, I get that…" Tien's gaze softened slightly as his overall demeanor relaxed "Okay, I'm listening. Go ahead."
"It's just… I spent a whole year alone with him, and I just think… maybe he really isn't as bad as everyone else thinks. He did want to make me stronger, and he could've been a lot harder on me than he was. Plus, did you hear what he said at the end? He said I was the only person that never treated him like he was a monster… or maybe I helped him change? I don't know…"
"I think I do actually." Tien paused for a moment as his gaze fell on Chiaotuz's hat "I think you may have been to Piccolo what Chiaotzu was to me."
"Really?"
"Yeah… the one person in the world that saw past the power and the way we terrified people, and just saw a person. To be honest, as much as I have spent years hating him, I can't help but think that I'm not that different from Piccolo… from having one person to protect, to wanting to better ourselves and surpass Goku… to the horrible things we've done in the past."
"But… you're not a bad person."
"Maybe not now… but I'm not proud of the person I used to be." Tien's gaze drifted to the stars shining in the skies outside the hospital window "I don't know how much Goku told you, but both Chiaotzu and I used to belong to the Crane school led by Master Shen. He taught us that our skills were a tool to lord over others and make them grovel at our feet, to hurt the people that stood in our way… It wasn't until I met everyone here, including Goku, that I began to really understand. Martial arts isn't something to lord over others, it's a tool to better one's self, and to protect those you hold dear. I think Goku understands that on a much deeper level than most can, and I've been trying to gain that understanding myself, so I can match him in battle, and then the day will hopefully come where I can surpass him… but also to make sure that I can protect the people that I care about myself." he was met with silence, and looked back to see Gohan fast asleep on his bed, to which he gave a small smile 'Right… with everything that's happened, it's hard to forget that he's just a kid.' he pulled the blankets over him, then paused as he looked towards the doorway "Don't bother hiding, I know you're there."
There was a pause, and then Chichi made her way into the room, her expression solemn "How long did you know?"
"Since you were first standing outside the door, I could sense your presence the whole time. So how much of that did you hear?"
"I heard every word."
"Just making sure. I mean I wasn't done, but I guess he was." he looked at Gohan's sleeping form, then turned his gaze back towards the stars "You and I never actually met at the 22nd tournament, unlike everyone else… and honestly I'm glad you didn't."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You said before that Gohan being around the likes of us would turn him into a delinquent, or a thug… and to be honest, if you had met me back then your fears would've been justified. Like I said to him, I'm not proud of the person I used to be." Tien let out a sigh "I was doing my best to follow the teachings of my school, and doing what I thought was right… but by staying on that path for so long, I ended up hurting a lot of people. A lot of those wrongs, I'll never be able to make right. Of course, that didn't stop me from trying, especially during when King Piccolo was running amok."
"You fought him?"
"Fought is a strong word. More like I got beaten within an inch of my life… and I was more than prepared to sacrifice it." Tien looked back to see Chichi's shocked expression, and so he chose to carry on "So many people had died at the hands of King Piccolo and his men. Krillin, Master Roshi… even Chiaotzu was gone. He even destroyed the Dragon Balls so no one could use them against him, or bring back anyone who could defeat him. But we had a chance, he could be sealed away again with the Evil Containment wave. Roshi tried that and failed, but I saw him perform it, and I trained my hardest to learn how to use it… knowing full well that using that techniqu would more than likely kill me."
"Was… Was it because you wanted to be with Chiaotzu again?"
"No. Well that was part of it, I'll admit… but it was more than that. It wasn't about me. I saw it as being more about the horrible things I had done over the years, and how I was no better than the likes of King Piccolo. The way I saw it, that was the only way I could atone, even if it wasn't enough. So I went to face him, fully prepared to die… and I probably would've if Goku hadn't shown up when he did. You know how that went from there."
"Yes…"
"But I never forgot what the original Piccolo did, and I never will… So it's not like I don't understand why you're so hostile regarding him. You see him as the one who crippled your husband to be and kidnapped your son. I see him as the one who killed my best friend… or at least, I did."
"You did. As in past tense?"
"At least when King Piccolo killed him, Chiaotzu could be wished back before, but now… Even if this plan of Krillin's works, there's no guarantee he can be brought back. Now whenever I try to imagine the one who killed my best friend, all I see is the image of that Saiyan. Not to mention the fact that I saw how Piccolo died… he sacrificed himself to shield Gohan from that Saiyan trying to kill him." Tien looked back to see Chichi looking absolutely floored "I know, I doubt I would believe it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Plus I heard what his last words were too… he said Gohan was the only person that never saw him as a monster."
"I… I see."
"I don't know for sure if Piccolo is the kind of person any of us could ever call a friend, but I think his actions do prove something. Anyone is capable of great good and great evil, so that should mean everyone, even the so-called son of a Demon King, have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance." Tien was met with silence, and turned back to face Chichi "That's just what I think at least, but your beliefs are your own."
"...Alright then." Chichi finally spoke up and lifted her gaze to meet Tien's "I guess that settles it then."
"Settles what exactly?"
"I won't pretend to be happy about the idea of my son travelling to another planet and being away from me for two months after I just got him back… but better it be with someone like you than the likes of Piccolo… or like Master Roshi."
"I don't question your reasoning for the latter."
"Nor should you." Chichi paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh "Look, I know what the others think of me. I know that they think I'm-"
"Overlydramatic and violent?"
"I was going to say protective… but yeah, that's probably how they'd put it. Anyway, I know that I can be books in and books out, but there is a reason for it. I want something better for my son than just having to survive off of prize money and welfare. You may find this hard to believe, but Goku is far from a financial genius."
"Actually I completely believe it. After we fought in the 22nd tournament I offered to give him half of the prize money I won, but he refused. His exact words were, he wouldn't know what to spend it on anyway. I know I can't stop him from going, even if I say no he'll probably just sneak on board anyway. But if anything happens out there, and if he fights and gets hurt, or god forbid dies, and you or Bulma could've stopped it…" her gaze immediately turned hard with suppressed fury "There is no dragon in this entire universe that will save you from me." and on that note, she kissed Gohan on the forehead, then turned on her heel and walked out of the room without another word.
"...I'll keep that in mind." Tien looked over at Gohan's sleeping form, then back up at the skies outside covered with stars 'One thing is for sure though. If something does happen on Namek, I'll have to be ready… and I know for a fact that right now I'm not. I have to find a way to change that in the days before we leave… but how?'
Power levels:
Tien: 1,830
Krillin: 1,770
Gohan (Zenkai after the battle with Vegeta): 1,500
Chichi: 86
Master Roshi: 139
Mr Popo: 260
A/N:
Yep, now we're about to take off for Namek, but not without taking a bit of time to prepare and/or relax before the big launch arrives. Truth be told, I was originally planning to have them blast off for Namek in this chapter, but after seeing how high the word count got, I decided to split it up into two chapters, so they'll be leaving in the next one. But yeah, we've already seen a few changes in the lineup: This time, it's gonna be Tien going with Bulma and Gohan to Namek, while Krillin stays back to keep Earth safe as a contingency plan.