BadaGine Week 2020

The Life We Share

Day 1: Life On Earth

"How much is it?"

"Three thousand."

"Three thousand?" Mr. Anaheim whistled. "That's a lot. How about Twenty-Five hundred?"

No deal. Bardock glanced over at the three huge crates beside him. "I'm giving you a lot. Gine was kind enough to cut the meat in portion sizes which makes it easier for you to sell. Plus, you resell at a higher price. Three thousand or I go higher and to your rival."

Mr. Anaheim admired Bardock's shrewd business mind. If Bardock went to his rival, he'll lose a lot of profit. Half of his sells were due to his partnership with Bardock. His rival tried to persuade Bardock to sell to him but Bardock refused. He had loyalty to Mr. Anaheim. He was the first to buy from him when no one else would. It was very strange that this tall, hard looking muscle man came out of nowhere wanting to sell fish and dinosaurs he caught on Mount Paouz.

Mr. Anaheim asked around but no one knew anything about Bardock or his wife except the old hermit Son Gohan. He was a legend who created a name for himself as a martial artist. It was his reputation that allowed Mr. Anaheim to take a chance on Bardock. Bardock was definitely rough around the edges and inexperienced in business but he learned quick and two formed a good partnership. Bardock was still a mystery to Mr. Anaheim but he made him money and that was more important to him than Bardock and his family's personal life.

"You drive a hard bargain, Bardock, but deal." Mr. Anaheim signaled his workers to step forward. Three men took two trips to pick up three heavy iced crates of fish and dinosaur meat Bardock carried in the shop. The three men weren't skinny. They were strong but in comparison to Bardock, were very weak.

As Mr. Anaheim counted Bardock's pay, he asked, "How's that wife of yours?"

"Gine is good. Resting."

Mr. Anaheim raised a knowing eyebrow. He understood why Bardock's wife was resting. "How much longer?"

"Another two months."

Mr. Anaheim placed Bardock's money in a thick envelope. "Get as much sleep as you can. Once they are born, you're never getting it again."

Bardock agreed as he took the money. "I know that from the other one. He's a fireball of energy."

Just as Bardock turned to leave, Mr. Anaheim called out to him. "Bardock." He handed him a flyer. "I think you should try this." As Bardock read the sheet, Mr. Anaheim explained, "You're strong. I think you can go all the way. It'll be good money for your family, especially with another one on the way."

Bardock returned the paper to Mr. Anaheim. "Maybe, but it's not my thing."

"Talk to Gine," Mr. Anaheim insisted. "Maybe she will convince you."

"It's a girl this time. I'm sure of it."

Gine sipped her lemonade on the patio in her front yard. It would be nice. She'll have an ally among her with all these men if it were true. Gine was an idealistic and hopeful woman but she was also a realist, especially now in her new life. Still, Gine humored the kind old man with a, "You think so, Gohan? I would like a girl this time but Bardock will want another son."

Bardock's son happily ran in the yard chasing his pet dinosaur. The dinosaur was three times the child's size but the child didn't fear it. He loved it, especially when the dinosaur carried him on his back and flew him around. The child was brave and reckless, playing with anything he touch. A year ago, he and Bardock came upon the baby dinosaur alone. Bardock couldn't find the dinosaur's parents and his son refused to leave the baby alone. His son decided to take the pet home and once Gine learned the dinosaur was an orphan the matter was settled. They were keeping it against Bardock's wishes.

The child stopped chasing his pet when he heard the familiar roars of an air truck approaching. He knew that sound. Daddy's coming home.

"Papa! Papa!" The little boy waved at the approaching vehicle.

As soon as Bardock stepped out of his truck, he felt the tiny arms of his son wrap around his long leg. Bardock picked up the child. "Hello, Kakarrot. Having fun today?"

Gine pushed herself on her foot as Bardock approached her. "Gine," he greeted his wife with a kiss. Holding Kakarrot on his hip, he touched Gine's round belly. "How's the baby?"

"Kicked a lot earlier but she's fine."

"She?" A daughter would be nice but Bardock wanted a son. "You don't know that. It might be a boy."

"Well, Gohan said it's a girl. He might be right."

Bardock half rolled his eyes. He respected Gohan. Gohan welcomed him, Gine and Kakarrot to Earth after they crashed on Mount Paouz. He taught them about life on Earth and advised Bardock how his family can live but old hermit had some quirky ideas at times. "I rather wait until the child's birth. Speculating the child's sex is a waste of time."

Gohan chuckled as he poured himself another glass of lemonade. "Loosen up, Bardock. It's fun speculating."

Knowing the two will get in a friendly argument over Bardock's need to loosen up, Gine changed the subject. "How did the sale go?"

"Good." Bardock pulled out the envelop Mr. Anaheim gave him and placed it on the table. "I wanna take this money and buy more equipment. West City might have what I need."

"It should," Gohan sipped his glass of sweet juice. "West City is one of the most scientifically advanced cities in the world. Dr. Briefs, inventor of the capsules, lives there."

Gine noticed a folded piece of paper with the envelope of money. She opened and read the letter. "What's this, Bardock?"

Bardock drunk from Gine's glass. "Something Mr. Anaheim gave me. He thought I should participate."

"Ten….ka… chi Budo…kai?" Gine read the words carefully like one read something new in a different language. "What is that?"

"Tenkachi Budokai?" Gohan's eyes glazed over in nostalgia. He didn't realize that time has come again. "Ah. The Strongest under the Heavens."

"Strongest?" Bardock inquired curiously.

"It's a tournament," Gohan explained aware of Bardock's renewed interest. "All the strongest martial fighters around the world compete in this tournament. There's no killing allowed. It's all in good fun and the winner is declared the strongest in the world. They also get 500,000 zeni."

"500,000?" Gine gasped. "That's a lot of money. Bardock, you should compete. We can use that money."

"Anaheim said the same thing." It was tempting. Bardock hadn't a good fight since he landed on Earth. Gohan was a fair partner but nowhere near his equal. Still, the old man had tricks. He had an ability called the Kamehameha Wave. Bardock saw it once and as much as he asked, Gohan hadn't taught him how to perform that trick. "But I can't. We're on Earth in hiding for a reason, Gine. We don't want to bring attention to ourselves."

Gine waved off Bardock's worry. "We've been here for two years. No one's come looking for us."

"And they won't as long as we stay hidden."

"I understand your concerns, Bardock." Gohan knew Bardock and Gine's story. "But from what you told me, Earth is a backwater planet compared to the planets you plundered. They wouldn't be looking for two adult Saiyans here. They'll be looking for a child." Gohan eyed Kakarrot as he reached for the envelope and flyer on the table. The child's curiosity could not be squelch. "Someone like Kakarrot."

It was as if a bomb was dropped on them. Gine became sullen and Bardock grimaced. The only sounds were of Kakarrot's nonsensical babbling. Bardock put Kakarrot in a chair and walked off. Gohan wanted to shoot himself with a Kamehameha Wave. He didn't mean it like that. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was only saying…."

"We know, Gohan." Gine placed a kind hand on Gohan's weathered hands. "We know you meant no harm by your words." She looked at Bardock standing alone. She felt her own heart breaking in pain. "Could you watch Kakarrot while I talk to Bardock?"

"Of course," Gohan promised.

Gine carefully waddled to Bardock. On Planet Vegetasai, women didn't carry their babies in their bodies as Earth women. They were extracted from their bodies and grown in an incubator until they were ready. Being the first Saiyan women in generations to carry a baby like an Earth woman made Gine very nervous. She read all the books Gohan provided her but the birth slightly terrified her. Gohan insisted they will need a midwife to aide them but Bardock was very protective of Gine and against the idea of a midwife. There was something in the child's birth that would bring attention to them not being from Earth and Bardock wasn't ready for the world to know their secret.

Bardock stood on the edge of the yard. He wore a frown on his handsome face as he stared at the sky. With Gohan, he learned the use of Ki and could feel Gine approaching him. This new trick Gohan taught him was useful to warn him of a possible enemy but very comforting when he knew Gine was coming to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Sometimes I wonder what planet he's on; what's he doing; how I couldn't save him."

Gine leaned on Bardock. Her hand rubbed her stomach as she gazed at the sky with her husband. "There was nothing you could do. Raditz was taken from us like all Saiyan babies when they're measured for their power level. You didn't know what planet he was one when we left. It was impossible to save him." Gine was crushed they couldn't rescue Raditz but as always, Gine saw hope with every bad news. "You save Kakarrot and our new baby growing in me."

Gine said the right words but it didn't ease Bardock. "I have this premonition Raditz will come here one day. He'll be a cold, evil warrior dedicated to Freeza's regime. He finds us, sees the life Kakarrot and our child has; sees how different it's from the harsh life forced on him and explode in a rage of fury that won't be satisfied until we are all dead."

"I refuse to believe that. No matter what, Raditz is our child. No matter what anger or darkness that's in him, we'll push through that and get our child back. I know we can do it."

Leave it to Gine to look at things with a spark of hope. "You and your optimism."

Gine saw her optimism as a strength. She believed she, her husband and child can build a life here. Earth was more than what she hoped for. "So, will you enter the Tenkaichi Budokai? That money can help you buy the supplies you need."

The money would help. Since establishing their life on Earth, Bardock used what was savaged from his and Gine's pods and built a satellite room to monitor everything from space. He could only monitor this solar system. He needed money to buy material to make equipment that can reach outside to other galaxies.

"I don't know. We're here to hide, Gine. If I enter, I will win and my name will be in the news."

"On Earth," Gine reminded him. "Not space. The people here don't even believe life exists on other planets. It's arrogant but we can use that to our advantage. No one thinks we're aliens."

"They will if our tails are ever spotted. Damn Earthling clothes." The jeans Bardock wore were more constricting than the Saiyan armor he used to wear. "I don't think I will ever get use to this."

"I like the clothes here." Gine caressed the soft material of her summer dress. It was loose and flowing. Perfect for a woman in her condition. "When we went to South City, they had beautiful clothes in their shops. We can use some of the money from the tournament to buy clothes. Kakarrot will need some, too. He's growing so much and there's the baby…."

Bardock chuckled. "Okay. Okay. You made your point but we'll lose some of the anonymity. If I become famous by that tournament, there might be questions about us. This world is very nosy about the lives of famous people. If someone becomes too curious…."

"I think we'll be fine. Maybe this tournament is a sign we need to start integrating more with the people on this planet." Gine looked over at Gohan and Kakarrot. Her son was playfully being chased by the kind, old man. "Kakarrot is getting older. He's 'preschool' age as Gohan says. Maybe we should consider integrating him in school; build more allies; let some people know who we are."

"What people? Like Anaheim?"

"Maybe not him but what about that friend Gohan has? Gyumao. He has a daughter our son's age. In the last letter to Gohan, he mentioned his daughter being a spitfire. Maybe we can arrange for the two to meet and be friends. Kakarrot should have friends and not just be around us all the time."

"What about you?" Bardock inquired. This wasn't only about Kakarrot. "You keep bringing up the idea we need a midwife."

"I do need one."

"Gine….." Bardock warned her.

Gine wouldn't let this go. If it was only her health to be concerned with, she would agree with Bardock but there was a life inside her and Gine wanted to give it the best possible chance. She read the books on giving birth but she also wanted someone in room that knew what they were doing.

"We came here for a new life, Bardock. We escaped the one Freeza held over us. This world is so peaceful; so different from what we had. It's time to stop hiding, live in it and take all it has to offer."

The corner of his lips turned up in a smile. Leave to Gine to get through his stubbornness. She was right; knew it for weeks but didn't want to admit it. "You should be a, what's that word I read in that Earth book, 'motivational speaker'?"

"I think that's word." Gine shrugged unsure herself. "Sounds like it." Like her husband, Gine was still learning Earth terminology. "So…." Gine pursued carefully, "will you enter the Tenkaichi Budokai?"

Bardock considered Gine's words. She made a lot of good points. The money will help them a lot. He can buy the equipment he needs to build a better monitoring system and listen to transmissions outside this galaxy. Earth would be the last place Freeza would come to. It had an abundance of resources and the power levels of the people were very weak but it was so far off from any other galaxies and universes with life. It wouldn't be of interest to conquer a planet so far out. As Gohan said, if they wanted, they would send a Saiyan baby before they sent an adult and all the Saiyans were gone except a handful.

It meant Gine, Kakarrot and their new child can live a peaceful life here. It didn't curb the nasty premonition Bardock had of Raditz returning as an adult; fighting his younger brother and wanting to kill him. If it came to that, Bardock was ready to fight his son but as Gine said, they couldn't live in fear. That was definitely not the Saiyan way.

"All right, Gine. I'll enter the tournament. Maybe… maybe we'll find a midwife."

"I'm sure there are plenty at Gyumao's village." She clapped her hands as an idea popped in her mind. "Let's invite Gyumao and his daughter here. We'll introduce Kakarrot to Gyumao's daughter." The ideas for this meeting raced so fast in Gine's mind not even Bardock could stop her. "We can do it this week. I can prepare a lovely, yummy meal. You can brush up on your fighting skills with Gyumao and Gohan. Gohan told me Gyumao received the same training he did from his teacher, Master Roshi."

Bardock already knew what was going on in his wife's mind. "If you're trying to pair up our son with this Earthling child….."

"I'm only saying Kakarrot needs a playmate."

"I know what you're doing." Bardock was no fool. He knew what his wife had in mind with meeting Gyumao and his daughter. Gine used the television and books Gohan gave her to learn about Earth customs. She liked the idea of children playing together for fun, going to school and dating. She voiced more than once wanting that for their children.

Gine raised herself on her toes to place sweet kiss on Bardock's lips. "And?"

Bardock laughed. He won't win with her. He put his arm around Gine as they walked back to Gohan and Kakarrot. "All right. Set it up. If it's safe, if we can trust Gyumao and if Kakarrot and his daughter get along, we'll tell them about us. We'll even get that midwife you want so bad."

"Yay!" Gine squealed.

Bardock kissed the top of Gine's head tenderly. "Like you said, we have a life on Earth now. It's time we live in it."