Goku had thought Krillin was dragging his feet when they went into the city to sign up for GFA, but that was nothing compared to how slow his father was moving as they made their way to the Vegetan castle in Kingdom Center.

It had been a week since the party, Goku's leg had completely healed, and Bardock had been forced to accept that his son would have to go into the lion's den with his own two feet. But he wasn't about to let him go alone.

It was very obvious to Goku that his father was extremely uncomfortable in the city. Goku wasn't a big fan of all the hustle and crowds and noise, but his father looked like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin. It wasn't just the tension of the upcoming meeting with King Vegeta, either, it was the city itself. It weighed on him.

Goku decided to take advantage of them being alone together to ask a question he'd been wanting to ask for a while, and to maybe take his father's mind off the discomfort of being in the city.

"Father, do you know if there are any important people in our ancestors? Like maybe," he tried to pass it off as something that had just occurred to him, "a commander in the Ox King's guards. Or something."

Bardock snorted. "No. We're peasants and farmers all down the line. Up until your great great grandfather, anyway."

"But there might be someone older than that," Goku insisted. "Because you're really strong, and I'm really strong, so maybe there's someone in our family who was really strong too."

Bardock considered the point. "There might have been," he conceded, "but I wouldn't know. You ought to talk to your grandmother if you're interested in that kind of thing. She won't know about Pa's-I mean, my father's family, but she might have some old papers of his lying around. Some of his old stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"He had things like copies of birth certificates, death certificates. You could go up to the family plot at the cemetary. That would make your grandmother real happy."

Goku nodded.

"There's one thing," Bardock said suddenly.

"What?"

"When I was a kid, my great-great-uncle used to take us over to this lady's house up in the hills, where the rich people live. She had a swimming pool, and she used to let us, me and my cousins, splash around in it. Then she'd make us sandwiches. Uncle said that she was a relative and that's why. But that wasn't true."

Goku seized on this. "How do you know? Maybe she was. Maybe there was someone really important and rich in our family-,"

"She was human."

"Oh." Goku paused. "But still, maybe."

"She wasn't," Bardock said firmly.

"Oh." Goku sighed defeatedly.

They walked in silence for a bit. Suddenly, Bardock spoke again.

"One of my cousins went upstairs once," he said. "We weren't supposed to do that. He said there was a picture of my father up there."

"Really?"

Bardock shook his head. "Barin was always a liar though."

"Barin?!" Goku squeaked with excitement.

"One of my cousins. You don't know him, he married into a Cove family."

"And his name was Barin!"

"I know it's old-fashioned, but it's a family name," Bardock said.

Goku had to bite his lip hard to stop himself from blabbing to his father about the Commander Barin his cousin was named after. "Maybe-maybe he wasn't a liar."

"Why would some old human lady have a picture of my father on her wall?" Bardock pointed out. "Even if she knew him, and I don't think she did, but even if she did, why would she have a picture of him? Where would she even get it from?"

"Well," Goku said slowly, "maybe it wasn't a picture of your father. Maybe it was a picture of someone else. Your father had our hair, right?"

"My father, my grandfather, my great-granfather, all the way down the line."

"So maybe it was someone like that, an ancestor."

"I-," Bardock paused. This had obviously never occurred to him.

"We should find out!" Goku said excitedly. "We could go see her and ask about it!"

Bardock shook his head. "She's long dead by now. She had a foot in the grave back then, and that was what, 55 years ago?"

"But the house will still be there!"

"Kakarot, we're not going to some strange human's house and asking them about a picture I'm pretty sure doesn't exist."

"But don't you want to know if someone in our family was rich and important?"

"No," Bardock said. "What difference would it make? And anyway, she wasn't related to us. She was human."

"So then why did she let you use her pool?"

"I don't know. She was probably just lonely. Look," he said, "we were little kids. Little kids lie. Barin had gone upstairs when he wasn't supposed to, he had to make something up so it would be worth it."

Goku deflated. He knew his father when he got like this, he was stubborn and no amount of evidence would shift him from what he thought was right.

"Listen," his father said, blushing slightly. "Raditz told me you met a girl at the bar, at that party."

"I met two girls! They were so nice, they-,"

"I don't need the details, I just…it was just kissing, right?"

"No, we-,"

"You kept your pants on, right?" Bardock interrupted insistenly.

"Yeah. They wanted me to go somewhere else with them, but I remembered how worried you were and I said no, I was gonna stay at the party with my friends."

"Good." Bardock's gaze was fixed at a distant point in front of him. He was obviously deeply embarrassed and powering through the conversation despite his best instincts. "Look, you're old enough now to talk about stuff like this. Soon you'll meet a girl and you'll want to…go somewhere, with her, and when you do, you need to make sure you have protection."

"I know all about that," Goku said. "Daiken told me."

"Daiken?" Bardock turned to his son, surprised.

"Yeah. He said, 'no balloon, no party.'"

Bardock burst out laughing. "Damn. I'd forgot about that. Shugesh used to say it all the time, I guess he must've told Daiken. Alright then, I guess that's fine. But," he paused, "look, I like Daiken, but he's not the best example for you when it comes to stuff like this. You know, when you jump around from person to person like he does, eventually someone gets hurt. I don't want you to be like that. I want you to settle down, eventually. Get married, have kids. That kinda thing."

"Alright," Goku said obediently.

"Daiken shouldn't have been the one to talk to you about this stuff anyway, it should have been your brother. I still can't believe he left you alone in that bar." When Raditz had eventually shown up the day after the party, Bardock had reamed him out but good. "And he should be settling down too, instead of hooking up with random girls when he's supposed to be watching his brother," Bardock continued. "You know, when I was his age, he was three!"

"He's been really busy being a captain and all," Goku said.

"So was I, it's no excuse."

Goku paused for a minute. "Uncle Turles says Mother got pregnant on purpose so you would marry her."

Bardock rolled his eyes. "Turles wanted me to marry a rich girl. Like he did. He wanted us to do better, have more than we'd grown up with."

"So he's mad at Mother for being poor?"

"Basically, yeah." Bardock patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. "Don't listen to your uncle, okay? I would have married your mother eventually anyway."

"Okay," Goku said.

"Good. Now are we done with all this family stuff? Because you need to concentrate." They were getting closer to the castle. "You will be respectful. You will call the king 'sire' or 'highness' all the time."

Goku tried not to roll his eyes. He'd already heard this lecture five times, and that was just today.

"You will agree with everything he says," Bardock continued. "Even if he insults you. You will not ask for the other 500,000 zeni." He'd argued with Gine about this for days – she wanted the money, but even though Kakarot had technically earned it, it was just asking for trouble. "And if anyone, anyone, in the castle challenges you to a match, you will lose."

"But-,"

"But nothing! You have to lose, do you understand? If they think you won on a fluke, this whole thing might just go away."

Goku pouted.

"Do not make that face at me," Bardock said. "You're a grown man, you need to stop acting like a child. And for the love of all the gods, wrap your tail."

"Why?" Goku whined. "Tails are supposed to be the pride of the Saiyans! You should unwrap yours!"

"Wrap your tail!" Bardock hissed, pointing a threatening finger in his face. "I don't care how strong you've gotten, I am still your father and you will do what I say!"

Goku grinned. "Can we spar later?"

Bardock drew himself up. "Stop treating this like a big joke, Kakarot! This isn't about how strong you are, alright?"

"You could probably still beat me, you know," Goku said earnestly.

"Kakarot, stop it. I'm not a little kid you have to make feel better. I'm very proud of you, alright?" he huffed impatiently.

"I mean it," Goku insisted. "You know all my techniques, and you're better at telling a person's real strength without a scouter. Right?"

Bardock shrugged. It was easy to lean into the scouter, but he'd fought enough strange creatures all over the galaxy to know that it didn't always tell you everything you needed to know. Most GFA soldiers didn't bother, but Bardock had made a point to try to size up his opponents as best he could without a scouter. He had to fight them a bit first, or at least watch them fight, but after so many decades fighting, it didn't usually take very long.

"And you would take me seriously." Goku grinned. "But that kid never saw me coming."

"Stop calling him that kid. He's the son of one of the most important generals in the entire kingdom, and he's the reason you're in so much shit right now."

"I think you're overreacting," Goku said.

"I just can't get through to you, can I?" Bardock grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "Come on, let's move it. You're going to be late."

They reached the castle in 20 minutes. Bardock paused a few feet away from the grand entrance. He couldn't go in with his son, he was explicitly not invited, and he didn't want to run the risk of bumping into Nappa. But that meant he had to let his son walk in there and face the king alone.

"Alright." He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I guess this is it." He rubbed the soft cotton fabric of Goku's new tunic - Launch had made it for him because he didn't have any clothes of his own that fit him, not since he'd Grown. He'd been wearing Raditz's old stuff since he'd returned from the Lookout. Bardock had to admit, she'd done a pretty great job. He hadn't expected her to be so good.

"Be careful," Bardock said. "Be respectful-,"

"I know, I know!" Goku said, throwing his head back dramatically. "Call him sire, don't get mad if he's rude, let him win if he challenges me to a match, you told me already."

"Fine, fine!"

"It'll be okay, Father. Trust me. Please?" Goku smiled hopefully.

Bardock sighed. What choice did he have?

He watched his son walk through the lion's jaws.

Once he was out of sight, Bardock walked around the perimeter of the castle. Goku had told him about Bulma's private entrance. He waited.

Presently, the wall slid open and Bulma appeared. "Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Come on in."

He followed her through the white corridors. Bulma wasn't his favorite person. He'd spent a miserable four weeks on the road with her three years ago, looking for his son in all the towns and cities they had visited with Krillin over the years. She'd spent most of that trip doing her hair, from what he remembered. Now she'd shorn it very short, and it wasn't an attractive look on her, he thought.

"This is the lab!" Bulma announced proudly as they walked through a nondescript door. It was a busy room with machines whirring everywhere. Arale was sitting in corner, working diligently on a computer. She looked up at him and waved. He waved back.

"This is my sister, Tights," she said, gesturing towards a pretty blonde girl sitting at a central table with a book in hand. She smiled brightly at him and reached out a hand to shake.

Bardock grinned maliciously. "So," he said with considerable relish, "you're the pretty sister." Bulma turned red next to him.

Tights giggled flirtatiously. "Oh you!"

Bulma rolled her eyes at them. "I know what you're doing," she spat. "And I'm not going to take the bait. Dad! Daddy!" she called out. The older man turned to her, blinking in surprise, then came over to her and Bardock.

"Goodness, Goku!" he said, peering at Bardock with concern. "What happened to your face?! You have a terrible scar!"

"Daddy!" Bulma snapped. "This isn't Goku, this is his dad! Obviously! You met him barely two weeks ago!"

"I did?" Dr. Briefs said, obviously confused.

"Yes! At the tournament, remember? They stayed over at our house!"

"Oh. Yes, yes, I remember now," Dr. Briefs said. "Yes, of course you're not Goku."

Bardock smiled and put out his hand to shake. He wanted to be offended, but Dr. Briefs was so obviously befuddled he couldn't manage it.

"No, no," Dr. Briefs said as they shook hands, "you're much to old to be Goku!"

Okay, now he was offended.

Upstairs, Goku was being sat in a spacious dining room on the main floor of the castle. Anyone else would be dazzled by the marble floor, the intricate mosaic design covering on the walls, the soft cushion in his chair, and the shining mahogany table spanning nearly 10 feet. But Goku had spent three years surrounded by glittering marble tiles and gold-tipped spires, not to mention all the castles he'd seen from the past. Besides, he was hungry, and there was a lot of food on the table.

His father had warned him not to eat or drink anything, out of fear that it might be poisoned. But the food looked and smelled so good, and anyway, it would be rude to refuse such a generous offering.

"This is delicious!" he said, mouth full.

King Vegeta smiled from his seat at the head of the table, but there was no joy behind it. He was also eating, but with considerably less gusto than the young man.

"Kakarot," he said when Goku had finally stopped stuffing himself to take a drink, "I understand that you made use of some of the Turtle Hermit's techniques in the tournament. Do you know him?"

"Master Roshi, yeah," Goku nodded. "I trained with him when I was a kid."

"I see," the king said slowly. "And after that, with whom did you train?"

"Master Baru." It was true, it hadn't just been language lessons the entire time. He and Krillin had both gotten a good training in martial arts techniques with Master Baru, in some ways more so than with Master Roshi, who mostly made them run around and do chores with a turtle shell on their backs. "He was a student of Master Roshi too."

"Ah," the king said. "You have inherited an excellent tradition then. And you come from fine Saiyan stock as well. Your father has a great reputation in the GFA, I've been told. Yet you haven't followed in his footsteps?"

Goku shook his head. He was still chewing.

"So what are you doing with your talents?"

Goku swallowed. "I just finished training a couple months ago, so I haven't decided yet. But I was thinking I would work with Master Roshi to help train other kids." His father had run the farm idea by him when he'd gotten his 500,000 zeni, but to Goku it sounded incredibly dull.

The king shook his head and leaned forward. "No, no, that simply won't do at all. Such a waste of your talents. No, a young man of your strength must dedicate himself to serving his planet."

Goku was no mindreader, but everyone knew what "serving your planet" was code for. "I don't want to join the GFA," he said quickly.

"I would like you to join my son, the prince, as his assistant on Lord Frieza's ship," King Vegeta continued, as though he hadn't heard him.

Goku was already shaking his head. "No thanks. I don't wanna be anywhere near that ship."

The king's face darkened. "Perhaps you don't understand. This is what I would like to see happen, and therefore this is what will happen."

"But I don't want to go!" Goku insisted.

"And yet, you will," King Vegeta smiled with satisfaction. "This is a very prestigious post with many benefits and privileges. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. You will meet with General Nappa tomorrow morning-,"

"Tomorrow?!"

"- so he can inform you of your duties. After that, Prince Vegeta will meet with you and tell you his expectations. I am certain you will enjoy the work." King Vegeta stood up. This should have been Goku's cue to stand as well, but he was too stunned to move. "You should begin to prepare yourself right away. I believe the next ship out is in two weeks."

Goku stood up in a daze, tripping slightly over one of the chair legs. He stared down at his half-full plate, laden with some of the best food he'd ever eaten.

Now it was turning to ashes in his mouth.

Amarah was sobbing on the bed. Nappa sat next to her, awkwardly patting her back. He'd already ordered her several times to stop crying, but it hadn't worked. He sighed heavily. Apparently, he'd just have to wait it out.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the patience. "Would you stop that now?!" he said, shoving her a bit. "There's no use crying, you know."

"I won't let him do this!" she said between sobs. "He can't take you away from me!"

Nappa rolled his eyes. This was the problem with royalty – everything was always about them. "It is the king's prerogative to reassign his soldiers as he sees fit. Look," he bent down to her and lowered his voice, "I'm not happy about this either, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. The king has given orders, and we must obey."

"I hate him!" she shouted.

He smacked her head. "Stop that!"

In truth, Nappa was hoping this change would only be temporary, that the chaos that would inevitably result from all the changes the king was making would show him that he needed a more experienced hand to deal with managing the soldiers in the GFA. Nappa was one of only a few first-class Saiyans serving his planet aboard Frieza's ship, and he'd been doing it for almost his entire life. Things on the ship were different in ways it was hard to explain to someone who had never experienced it before. Unfortunately, even Prince Vegeta's experiences with the third-class soldiers were vastly overshadowed by his interactions with other royalty – Nappa got involved early on in assigning crew members and he knew every crew captain by name. Vegeta neither knew nor cared. But that was a mistake.

They had to know they were being watched.

Amarah wiped her face and sat up. "You're the only person I like there," she whimpered.

Nappa patted her on the back. "You like Prince Vegeta."

"I hate him!" she spat. He smacked her again, a little harder this time, because now she was lying and they both knew it.

"I need you there," she said. "The queen says I have to join the crew with Kezah and Tonsa."

It was a conversation Amarah had had with Queen Selardi the day before, as the Hotsus prepared to return to their own planet.

"Kezah can't be my boss," Amarah had insisted, sitting cross-legged in the queen's bed. Selardi was brushing her hair. "I'm stronger than she is."

"That may be so, but she still outranks you," Selardi said.

"No, she doesn't," she said. "Not on that ship. You don't understand," Amarah turned her head around, and the queen gently turned it back so she could continue to untangle the soft blue curls. "It's different on the ship. I'm a princess, I have to be treated differently from just regular soldiers."

"Amarah," Selardi said gently. "You're not starting to believe that, are you?"

Amarah pouted. "It's not what I believe, it's what everyone else believes."

"Everyone else is insignificant. We are Hotsus, and this is the Hotsu way. You were bred as a soldier-,"

"The best soldier," Amarah pointed out.

"But you still have to earn your rank, and that comes with time and experience, and service to your planet and your people. Things Kezah has earned."

"Kezah can't give me orders on that ship," Amarah insisted. Her face was turning red. "People will make fun of me. And Vegeta and Zarbon will get suspicious. Especially Zarbon."

"Hmm," Selardi mused. "Perhaps you make a good point."

"Yes," Amarah sighed with relief.

Behind her, Selardi was smiling with pleasure at herself. How was it that Tonsa and the others hadn't been able to win this girl's trust? It was so easy.

"In that case, Kezah won't give you orders on the ship. But she will give you orders in the field."

"But-"

"We will humor these other species in their backwards ways, but among the Hotsus," Selardi tapped her gently on the shoulder with the back of the comb, "we will follow our own ways. Ways that have been perfected through a million years of scientific excellence. Just like you. Now," Selardi kissed the top of her head and squeezed her shoulders, "go get me that hair tie so we can make you a nice braided bun, and you can wake up in the morning with perfect hair to match that perfect face."

"But," Amarah said as she got up, "what if we do joint missions, with other crews?"

"Does that happen often?"

"Not often, but it's happened a few times before. And not just with the Saiyans either, we did two missions with the Ginyu Force."

Selardi had heard a lot about those missions, and they had worried her. "Well," she said slowly, "in such cases, we will say that Kezah is captain, and you are her supervisor. Kezah will give the orders, and you will approve them. What do you think?"

"Yes," Amarah plopped back on the bed again. "But she also has to say that I'm her supervisor. And when we're on the ship she has to always ask my approval in front of the other species."

"Alright," Selardi grinned.

"And she has to walk behind me like Nappa does with Vegeta. Her and the whole crew!"

Selardi laughed, leaned forward and pinched her nose playfully. "You are a spoiled little girl who wants to grow up too fast."

"No," Amarah said, "it's only because on the ship-,"

"Yes, yes, I know. Now come on and let's braid your hair."

Amarah sat herself back in the same position. "What about Tonsa?"

"Tonsa will continue to act as your guardian." In fact, Tonsa had requested that she be returned to Hotsu, but Selardi had refused. After what she'd heard about the Ginyu Force, she needed as many eyes and ears on that ship as she could spare. And she didn't trust Kezah and the others to protect Amarah properly. Lodj would try, but Selardi didn't quite trust him enough either. Between protecting Kezah or Amarah, she needed him to pick Amarah, and she wasn't quite sure he would.

Perhaps some organic sentiment would not be amiss.

"She and Kezah are always fighting over dumb things," Amarah complained.

"Such silly girls. But you know, when you're with the crew, you'll be better able to monitor their behavior, make sure they're not embarrassing us on this ship." Amarah had been inadvertently feeding her details on Kezah and Tonsa's ongoing feud for the last seven years. It was nothing new to Selardi, and in fact quite dull. Lodj would tell her anything really important. But she wanted to keep Amarah talking. Soon, she too would be an important source of intelligence.

Amarah nodded. "That's right. So really I will be their supervisor."

"Of course!" Selardi tied off the braid at the end and began to twist it up into a bun.

Too easy.

"That sounds great!" Nappa said after she relayed the conversation she'd had with Selardi.

"Yes, but Kezah and Tonsa won't be happy about it," Amarah said. "I need extra extra training, and I need to learn more about strategies and tactics in battle. I need your help!"

"Prince Vegeta will help you."

"He's always yelling at me!" It was true – Vegeta didn't have the patience necessary to be a teacher.

"But he'll help you, and that's all the matters," Nappa said.

"But," tears began to well up in Amarah's eyes again, "I'll-I'll miss you."

Nappa blushed. He did not have, want, or like kids. He'd had a few long-term relationships when he was younger, but had lost interest in such things in his 50s – too much work, he'd decided. Now he had a very simple and peaceful arrangement with a nice young woman, whom he went to see when he felt like it. She often told him she'd missed him.

This was different.

Nappa patted Amarah awkwardly on the back. "Well, I'm-I'm sure we'll see each other again. I'm sure Queen Selardi is already planning to host us on Hotsu very soon. And we'll have you over again."

"It's not the same!" she wailed, throwing herself against his chest.

"Amarah, get a grip!" he stumbled backwards. "Look, I'll-I'll send you things. Letters, with the prince. And you can write back and tell me how you are.

She wiped the tears from her face. "Really?" she said quietly.

"Yes, yes, sure," Nappa said. "Just, pull yourself together. Listen," he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, "if you're going to be a captain, you have to toughen up and smarten up. No more of this crying nonsense, alright?"

She nodded.

"You're a princess. One day, you'll be queen. Remember that, okay? And act like it."

Her breath caught.

She nodded again.

The man was leaned forward against a long wooden table in a room in the inner chamber of the Floating Palace. He was an older Saiyan man, in his late 80s, and he'd never met any of these people before. Of course, he'd heard of the Ox King, and the Queen of the Floating Palace, and even the Turtle Hermit. Who hadn't? But he was a traditional tribal man of the Plains, a chieftain, and he wasn't used to running decisions by anyone, no matter who they were descended from or what martial arts tradition they'd invented.

But as a chieftain, he had responsibilities to his tribe.

"That Vegeta," he said in a hoarse voice, "would give us orders, command us to send our boys and girls to the GFA…," his voice trailed off, and his face contorted in disgust. "Treating us like, like, like-,"

"Servants?" Deima said. She was seated next to him. They hadn't had to find him; he'd come to them. And he wasn't the only one. At the table, along with Elder Lekeo, Master Roshi, the Ox King, Queen Lita, and young Chiaotzu, was a middle-aged human man who was the head of the Provincial Council of the River Forest, and a young woman who was the descendent of the King of Yunzabit Heights. Another tribal head from the Plains was also present, an elderly man closer to Elder Lekeo's age.

The chieftain slammed his fist against the table. "We ain't servants to any man! Certainly not of the Tovos's, which is what he is! Vegeta," he spat, "he takes the entire planet for himself and now he wants our lives too!"

"King Jascki was trying to unite a divided planet," Master Roshi said by way of explanation.

"Divided planet my ass!"

"I'm with Chief Caul on this one," the Ox King said. He too had a dark look on his face. "He's already got my nephew, now he wants my daughter too. He could end the line of Lord Taiki, and he doesn't give a damn!"

"But it looks like Vegeta's uniting us still," Deima said, smiling.

"I ain't here to make friends," Caul growled. "And neither is Bage here, right, brother?"

The elderly man was quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the table. "The tribes have always been independent. We rely on ourselves, we solve our own problems, and we don't need help from nobody. Or at least," he rubbed his wrinkled hands, "that's how we used to be. But Vegeta…," he looked up at the assembled group, "he ain't got no respect for the tribes. The people he comes from. We don't mean a thing to him. Just bodies to use up and throw away. But not my kids. Not my grandkids."

"Some of my people have been able to get stays because they got family members they take care of," Queen Lita said, "but so far this draft has been pretty wide, and it's caught a lot of young people. Too many. You said," she turned to Master Roshi, "we needed to protect our young people from Vegeta and the GFA. Now what do we do?"

Master Roshi rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, and I stand by that. But maybe, maybe we can turn this around. I know the GFA is supposed to be a big shot job and good money, but none of us are happy, and I'm guessing a lot of young people aren't happy to be given orders either. We can use that."

Elder Lekeo nodded. "Let Vegeta train our kids for us. Let him make them mad. They come home. We can use that."

"Not all of them will come home," Chiaotzu said suddenly.

A silence fell over the table.

"No," Master Roshi said finally. "No, they won't. But we don't have a lot of choices here. That's the whole point of all this. Let's not forget that. Vegeta's taken away all our choices. We have to stick together, and cooperate on this. We can get out from under Vegeta's thumb, right?" he turned to Chiaotzu, who shrugged noncommittally. "But it's going to take time, years. And it's going to take a lot of sacrifice. The best we can do for our kids right now is train them as hard as we can before we go. And," he paused for a moment, thinking of Krillin, who'd gotten his orders the day before, "make sure they know we'll be here to take care of them when they get back."