I do not own DBZ

Raditz stood watching the pod until it vanished. He breathed a contented sigh and spun to face the next challenge. He went over to where Krillin still cradled Gohan in his arms and looked down at the small man.'Well done.' he said. It was meant earnestly but the man gave him a look of distrust. 'What, can't take a compliment little man? Ah, whatever. Look, you did well, and so did my nephew. Now give that boy over to me.'
Krillin scowled at him. 'Why should I?' the bald headed warrior asked suspiciously.
Raditz temper flared for a moment but he quickly beat it down 'Because little man-'
'My name is Krillin.' Krillin cut in.
'If you interrupt me again and I'll back hand you.' Raditz warned 'Now look Krillin, my nephew's been through a rough time of it but he's pulled through. Now his fighting standards need immediate attention.'
'Are you crazy? He needs a hospital!' Krillin shouted back at the saiyan.
'He'll be well taken care of I can assure you.'
'You aren't taking Gohan anywhere mister!'
Raditz snarled and Krillin yelped and backed away for a moment. 'Idiot! I can't help the brat, but I know someone who can - Kami can help him!'

Krillin's face turned to puzzlement and as it slowly dawned on him what Raditz was talking about he shook his head sadly and put Gohan down, then he turned to ask Radtiz. 'You don't know do you? About Kami and Piccolo's bond?'
It was Raditz turn to frown in confusion 'They look sort of similar. I thought they were brothers or something.'
Krillin shrugged 'Yeah, kinda like that. But the catch is if one dies they both die. Kami's gone because that big guy took out Piccolo.'
Raditz felt the world spin for a moment, surely it was impossible for two people to be connected in such a way, but on the other hand, they weren't exactly normal, and if it was true...
He grit his teeth, grabbed Krillin and shook him as he shouted 'You lie little man! If he's gone then whose going to train that boy to be a great warrior, huh? Whose going to vouch for me being reformed to Yemma? Whose going to help me figure out what to do with my life? Well?'

Krillins teeth rattled as he was shook 'I- I don't know!' he cried out.
Raditz let him go and spat dust from his mouth. 'I'm going to the lookout. I'll show you, you're wrong. And if you're right, those Dragonballs next wish is going on him coming back - you hear me!.'
As Raditz took off Krillin tried to shout out after him about the Dragonballs but he gave up on the idea. If Raditz was going to the lookout he'd soon learn the truth. Krillin sighed and lifted Gohan up. He headed for the nearest city to see that Goku's son recovered as soon as possible. He had a gut feeling that he'd be needed soon.

Raditz flew hard towards the Lookout, unwilling to accept what he knew deep down was the truth. He'd never heard of life bonds and he'd never given magic any credit before he heard about the Dragonballs. He lived in a world where what you could touch and feel was defined as 'real' and anything else as cheap entertainment or superstition.
But as he drew closer for a few moment his heart lifted, there was solitary figure standing at the lookout with a gnarled old cane. 'Shows what you know little man!' Raditz crowed happily. As he landed however he noticed the figure was too portly and muscular to be Kami.
'Who are you?' he demanded 'And why are you holding that cane?'
The figure turned round with tears in his eyes 'This was Kami's, he's gone now.'
Raditz felt his heart sink. He looked around uncomfortably and tried to be more reasonable 'Are you sure? Maybe the old guy just... I don't know, needed the toilet?' he suggested.
The figure shook his head fiercely and wept harder.

'Geez' Raditz muttered 'Tone it down.' he went over and patted the figure gingerly on the back. 'Come on, it's alright...' he stopped himself, he was no good at comforting, he'd never had the need to be and now he felt foolish.
'I'm Raditz,' he offered the distressed individual 'And you are?'
The dark skinned figure wiped his eyes 'M- Mr Popo. Kami spoke highly of you when I last saw him. I was surprised after what he initially said about you a year ago.'
Raditz nodded thoughtfully 'Things change.' he offered as way of explanation.
Popo nodded and cleared his throat. 'If you're here then I assume that the Saiyans must have been beaten?'
Raditz smiled 'Oh yes. I can say that for sure. They won't be back for a long time.'
Popo smiled at that 'That is good to hear! I'm sure the others will be delighted...' his eyes went distant as he thought about something 'But they have also lost friends. If only the Dragonballs were available...'
He turned to face Raditz with a hopeful look 'I wonder if you might be interested in helping me with something?'

Raditz shrugged 'Depends on what "something" is, if it's being a Kami replacement then you're on your own.'
Popo laughed 'Oh my no! You see there are another set of Dragonballs on a far away planet known as Namek. If you were to travel there then you could bring Kami back to life and restore Earths Dragonballs in the process, however it would take some time and there might be danger.'
Raditz sighed, there was merit in the proposal but right now he had other things on his mind.
'I don't know,' he mused 'But I'll give it some thought. I had plans to stay here awhile longer, but with Kami's dissapearance I need some time to think.'
The servant nodded. 'As you wish, but don't take too long. I have little doubt the others will want to wait.'

Alone on a hot day Raditz sat in a forest by a stream, his feet and tail soaking in the gently flowing water. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of the forest enfold him, he smelled animals nearby, birdsong was loud in his ears and the wind softly stroked at his skin, cooling the sweat on his brow. He sighed and thought hard. It had been days since he spoke to Popo up at the lookout, the prospect of a long journey into space to find Dragonballs was not very appealing to him at this moment.

Right now, for the first time in his life, he was free to make his own choice. There was no Prince Vegeta to boss him around, no Frieza to assign a mission, he didn't even have to worry about Yemma because so long as he did his job right the Judge of the Dead wouldn't bother him.
He wanted to enjoy this newfound freedom for a while, which wasn't much to ask, however Popo had suggested that the task may be initially harder than it seemed and he didn't have long to make a decision because the others wouldn't wait.
The appeal of danger and fighting was equally tempting right now, because though Earth was a nice place to relax it wasn't good for much else and Raditz didn't want to wait for a indefinite period of time sitting on his laurels waiting for Kami to help him plan for the next step.
He sighed and got up, slipped on some sandals to protect his feet and went for a walk. His mind wandered and he thought back to the time before Earth, all those innocent people he'd killed. He smirked and shook his head, life had been simple then. He thought more about it, his job was basically to make up for what he'd done. He grunted, atoning for killing billions was going to take a lot of work.
His concentration was broken as he came across a house in the woods, an odd place for a home he thought, but he saw the practicality; sometimes you just needed space and on this crowded world that was hard sometimes.

Suddenly a snap made him spin, behind him stood his young nephew. Gohan yelped and dropped some the logs he'd been carrying but he recovered as he recognised the figure in front of him.
'R-Raditz!' he breathed a sigh of relief 'What are you doing here?'
The tall Saiyan grunted and indicated 'I was admiring the house. What about you?'
Gohan beamed 'Helping my mom, getting firewood. I live here. We all live here; me, Mom and Dad.'
Raditz wasn't that surprised to hear that; trust his family to want their space. They weren't exactly normal.
'So how is your father?' he asked the boy.
Gohan smiled at him 'He's better. Would you like to come in?'
Raditz shook his head 'No. No thank you, I need to think.'
The boy was dissappointed 'Aww. C'mon, you'll enjoy it?' he tried again.
Raditz grimaced and shot the boy a look that flickered between annoyance and temptation.
"There might be some cake left?" the boy said with a crafty, knowing grin.
Raditz immediately asked "What kind of cake?"

"Mom I'm home!" Gohan called as he came in through the door "I brought someone over too!"
"Who is it Gohan?" Chi-Chi called back "Remember you still have homework to do!"
Gohan paused as he looked back at the figure who loomed in the doorway "Um.. a friend"
Chi-Chi's voice went suspicious "Which friend? One of your fathers...?" her footsteps were heard coming in from the kitchen.
Gohan and Raditz looked at her as she came into the room. There was a long pause and her eyes narrowed.
"Who is this Gohan?" she asked.
The boy nervously shuffled "You remember that time Dad was 'away' about a year ago?"
Chi-Chi nodded but didn't take her eyes off Raditz.
"He met him before then..."
Chi-Chi's eye's fell on Raditz tail. As the details clicked into place she glared at him and leapt at the saiyan with a snarl.

"YOU!" she cried out and punched at Raditz.
"Mother no!" Gohan tried to stop her, but was too afraid to do anything but protest.
The saiyan caught the intended blow with one hand, as her foot lashed out he raised his leg to intercept it.
"YOU TOOK MY HUSBAND AND MY SON AWAY FROM ME FOR A WHOLE YEAR!" she continued to rant and tried harder to strike at him.
Raditz said nothing, his face was blank and he simply blocked, neither striking back nor speaking as she laid into him.
After a few more attempts Chi-CHi finally subsided and simply panted and glared at him.
"So you're my sister in law?" Raditz asked.
"WE ARE NOT RELATED!" Chi-Chi shouted at him.
Raditz raised an eyebrow and muttered to Gohan "Interesting mother you have kid? Does she eat her partners after she beds them as well?"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Chi-Chi demanded.
Before the saiyan could reply another figure came in, "Raditz?" Goku asked incredulously.
"Well, as charming as this first meeting has been" Raditz cooly brushed his way past Chi-Chi "I need to speak with your husband."
"THIS ISN'T OVER MISTER!"
Raditz actually stopped and gave her a warning glare that spoke volumes about his feeling towards this hostile woman,
"Oh yes it is. Don't talk to me if you can't do it witohut shouting."

-
Well another chapter comes up. Hope you're enjoying it, I can now work on the Namek Saga now that I've caught up with other fanfics.
Please R+R
Sigmund 17