FOREWORD

Ah, Dragonball, the most famous shounen franchise of all time. While not actually my favourite (in terms of action-adventure shounen series, that honour goes to Fullmetal Alchemist), it still holds a special place in my heart, not least because Dragonball Z was one of the first anime series I watched, knowing it was an anime.

Looking back on it, especially with the help of Team Four Star's Dragonball Z Abridged, one does note a lot of holes and ridiculous parts to the story. But there is a rich mythology, ripe for fanfic-writing. As of this writing, it is the eighth most popular manga/anime series with pure fanfic being written for it, and sixth most popular for crossover fics.

This isn't the first time I tried my hand at Dragonball fanfiction. I initially tried to write a story where Goku remembers he is supposed to be Kakarrot, and how that effects the series (he's still a hero, but a more complex one than in canon). Unfortunately, that went nowhere fast, and there are more than a few out there. Indeed, amongst my favourites is the fanfic A Saiyan Warrior by darksupersaiyan, who has done exactly that, and well enough for me to enjoy the story.

However, one what-if I wanted to look at was, what if Gine, the until-recently unnamed mother of Goku, survived Frieza's genocide of the Saiyans? And what if, at a certain point, she ended up meeting her own son? This work will take Bardock: Father of Goku rather than Dragonball Minus as canon, but Gine will have backstory elements from the latter.

I chose the point where Goku crashes on Yardrat as a starting point for the story. And from there, the canon will change, in small ways and big ones. I'm also mixing in a few elements from Dragonball Z Abridged. I certainly think more than a few pieces of dialogue should have been in the canon series.

I wish I could call this work Dura Mater, but I've already used that phrase for my Silent Hill/Metal Gear Solid crossover. So, Mater Familias (meaning 'mother of the family') will have to do.

Anyway, firstly, this is an M-rated work due to violence, language, and sexual references. You have been warned.

Secondly, this work will be heavily annotated as per my usual works. In addition, most of the name spellings will come from the Funimation dub. If you don't like either of those things, the door is there. You may leave now.

Thirdly, there WILL be spoilers for the entire Dragonball saga. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, as well as so many other iterations of the franchise, are the property of Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Please support the official release. Otherwise, you'll get a Spirit Bomb to the face.