Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

So Close And Yet So Far

The sound of calm, feminine breathing returned Bardock to consciousness. The Saiyan opened his eyes slowly, feeling the surging light call upon a headache comparable to a ring of knives being worn as a crown. It was through becoming accustomed to the pain and the hazy state that he was in that Bardock could regain more and more control over his body. Once a hint of feeling returned to his fingertips and his biceps, as well as his thighs, could twitch on command, Bardock could try recalling how he ended up this pummeled, to begin with.

That daunting task slipped to a role of secondary importance once Bardock set his eyes on a slender and short female Saiyan, pressing her body against the wall and peeking through a gap in the wreckage to stare at the sky outside. Her Ki was insignificant, like that of natural wildlife and she was no warrior though her spirit seemed rustled as if she was one. Bardock had been sensing Ki long enough to tell that the woman felt terrified and distressed, though an ordinary man might not have needed to take a gander into one's Ki to see the signs of such feelings.

"Gine..." Bardock muttered through pain, wriggling back to the wall so he could sit up against it. The woman jumped up and exclaimed in surprise before rushing up to the injured warrior, feeling up his body with her hands, as if her touch could have whisked the pain away. Despite the woman being no sorceress and possessing no healing magical powers, her gentle touch seemed to soothe Bardock as nothing else could.

"Bardock..." the woman whispered, pressing her forehead against Bardock's, leaving a bloody trail, the leftover from Bardock's massive battle with Captain Ginyu on her face as she touched him. "They're looking for you. That's okay though, they've gone elsewhere now."

"They...?" Bardock wondered before wincing in pain. "Damn Ginyu... Really did a number on me. Didn't expect to run into a crazy bastard like that. Just wanted to kick Vegeta's ass."

"Everyone was talking in the plant. I was so scared, didn't know what to think..." Gine sniffed and whimpered before punching Bardock in the chest. Despite the woman having little combat training or potential, Bardock howled in pain as her feeble blow resonated through his entire body and triggered every wound he had. The resonance seemed to encompass every torn muscle fiber in his body. Right now even his soft-core, scorned wife was a deadly threat.

"Sorry, Gine. I guess I got you into trouble, huh?" Bardock's voice softened up. It was something that only his wife drew out of him–the ability to not think about whom to punch next and keep grounded. Stop being a warrior and return to being just a man, even if it's only for a few moments.

"When I heard that you're fighting it out with the king and how crazy it's getting, I knew I had to help you. I figured I wouldn't be much help but... By the time I got to the royal palace, there was no more royal palace and your fight was over. The least I could do was hide you from everybody looking for you. We need to find you a healing pod..." Gine nuzzled Bardock's sore and broken body. A look of worry and care didn't leave her face for a second. The woman returned to a sash hanging on the right side of the wrecked building that the pair were hiding in and pulled out a massive chunk of processed meat from it, handing it to Bardock.

"Gine... You lifted this off work, didn't you?" Bardock grunted. Even if it was his wife, he didn't like the idea of relying on her and accepting her help. That was unless he couldn't help it at all, like when he was out and had no say in the matter.

"Just shut up and eat it!" Gine cried out with tears running down her eyes. The wrath that broke free was like nothing that could have come from the soft-spoken and kind-hearted weakling that Bardock knew, so it threw the battered Saiyan for a loop there. "When you left and started your rebellion, everybody was pointing fingers, talking. I grit my teeth and kept on working. Alone, hated, and blamed for everything, but I didn't care. I knew that all this was temporary, that you'd come back for me. My job, this planet, it was all temporary, you've thrown it away already when you sat inside that pod and took off to put sticks in between the Saiyans' and Lord Frieza's wheels."