Picking Up the Pieces

Chapter 4: Bonding

Jiren POV

Goku... I never imagined his son would go through so much trauma.

When Goku left, I got curious about what was going on, so I hid my ki and followed him silently, suddenly finding myself at a large mansion. I watched him knock on the door from behind the tree and I saw a woman talking to him. She wasn't his wife, that was for sure, she was too young for him, and I was right. It seemed that she was the wife of his eldest son Gohan.

Once he had gone inside I peered through a window to find Goku comforting his son and, since it was slightly opened, I began to listen, and what I heard shocked me.

How could his own wife abuse their son like that? That was injustice of the highest order.

I never realised Goku cared so much about his family. Marcarita told me that the Saiyans of Universe 7 didn't exactly have a reputation of caring for their family, especially the fathers. But Goku... he was different.

It seemed extremely rare for a Universe 7 Saiyan to be pure-hearted and innocent, yet here was Son Goku. He always fought to protect his friends and family and made sure they never got hurt. Indeed, he made some incredibly stupid decisions for a good fight, but he was a Saiyan, it was in his genes. He knew that he could fight for fun because he knew that the ones he cared about were already safe, and he would fight for them if that wasn't the case. At least, that's what I deduced from how little I knew of him.

Quickly, I realised how much Goku had done not just for his family, but for me as well. I caused trouble for his team and attacked his friends at the Tournament of Power, claiming that friendship was useless, and yet he had done so much for me in this little time we had. He let me have a place to stay, showed me around Earth and he seemed to have little-to-no resentment for my previous actions.

How could he do it? How could he manage to have so much kindness in his heart and yet be so strong and willing for a fight? And soon, other questions came into my mind.

'Why am I so interested in Goku?' I thought to myself, so deep in my mind that I didn't hear Goku's singing, 'What made him different from my other new connections?'

Eventually, Goku came out of the house and I soon snapped back to reality. When he noticed me he freaked out a little. I chuckled slightly and told him that I saw everything.

"You're pretty good at calming someone down." I complimented, smiling slightly and making the Saiyan blush somewhat, but my smile soon faded as I remembered what happened, "I... I'm sorry about what your wife did. She shouldn't have done something so despicable."

Goku smiled sadly, "Yeah, I know. I should have realised before. I want to make sure Goten gets to live a good life, free from torment. I never imagined that she would do this, but I guess you can't judge a book by the cover."

I was surprised at how calm Goku was, but I immediately shook those thoughts away and smiled, "You are a strange one, Son Goku."

"Heh... look who's talking, Jiren the Gray."

"Huh?"

"You've been sendin' me mixed signals here." Goku stated, "What makes me so interesting that you just happened to visit me?"

Honestly, I had no answer to that. I had no idea why I was so interested in him, I had no truth, nor lie. So I answered the best I could.

"Well, I have no idea why I'm so interested in you, and yet I do."

Goku chuckled, "Is that your way of being cryptic? If so well, it's working!"

To that we both chuckled slightly, and seeing Goku smile brightly made me blush. That feeling of warmth in my heart grew stronger, and I knew I wouldn't be able to contain it any longer.

I soon understood... why Goku was so different.

Goku POV

I'll admit, after seeing Jiren smile like that made me feel happy inside. I never actually saw Jiren smile at the tournament, only smirk, so seeing a genuine smile from him felt like an accomplishment.

I soon felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart, I couldn't properly explain it in words. However, I knew deep down as to what they meant. I began to feel things for Jiren. They were foreign, yet welcoming. Confusing, yet sincere. I couldn't understand it. Along with these feelings came a sense of... gratitude. He seemed to care a lot about me and my family, and I thank him for it, I thank him for not only pushing me to become stronger, but to help me grow as a person.

Slowly but surely, I began to understand what these feelings meant. I was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but when it came to emotions, I had some kind of handle on it.

And I knew what it was.

It wasn't just friendship, it was more than a growing bond.

I began to like Jiren for who he was as a person, I began to care for him. I still don't fully understand the concept now but I knew... I loved him. There, I admitted it to myself. I loved Jiren. I... I guess Chichi didn't really give me what I wanted in my relationship with her, and I wanted something more.

But how could I tell him how I felt? He didn't seem like the type of person to ever be engaged in a relationship with someone, let alone me. We hardly know each other. But... I guess we could hang out more and see where we go from there. Well, I really hope I can live with friendship for a while.

Jiren POV

If there's one thing that stuck to me since my childhood, it's that I was never good with emotions, especially ones as intense as this. I could never tell Goku how I felt. He just divorced his wife! I doubt he'd want to be in a relationship with me. Let's see how things roll with friendship first.