Time blinked by poof, another year gone.
Age 769, October.
Two and a half years had slipped past. In that time Vegeta and Nappa had been out in the field with Son Goku under the Galactic Patrol, grinding through mission after mission.
(When Goten turned one, Goku couldn't stand staying home anymore. Gohan ferried him to Planet Yardrat to learn Instant Transmission, then slotted him into Patrol duty as well.)
At first Vegeta and Nappa were all blade and fire decisive, ruthless, and messy. During that first year Merus had headaches daily; half their bounties were supposed to be brought back for trial, not reduced to cosmic confetti.
It wasn't until Goku joined them kindness as ballast that the two learned to pull their punches. They didn't have a choice. Unless a target was unforgivable, listed as "terminate on sight," or a direct threat in the moment, Goku would intervene and spare them. Eventually Vegeta and Nappa adapted. (Merus didn't intervene much himself; he preferred to assign missions, not babysit them through every step.)
Raditz, meanwhile
Popo's seals had almost fully unraveled. After finding Master Roshi, Raditz retraced little Goku's childhood regimen as best as it could be recreated. Some chapters Red Ribbon Army, Demon King Piccolo couldn't be staged, of course. It didn't matter. Raditz wasn't short on combat experience or bloodlust.
But turtle-shell roadwork, Korin's training, Popo's earthen golems, even the Ultra Divine Water… he did all of it.
The restless violence in him finally settled.
Kame House
"You've done well. I've nothing more to teach you," Roshi said, satisfied. It was the best pupil he'd had since Goku and Krillin.
"Master Roshi, thank you for your guidance these past two years," Raditz said, bowing deeply.
As he straightened, the final thread of the seal snapped. A vast, steady ki flooded out of him powerful, but no longer feral.
He glanced inward and nearly startled himself.
Base power level: one billion.
A full nine hundred million beyond where he'd been before the seal.
It wasn't anything like the numbers he'd forced out of himself in the gravity chamber. This was… different.
"Don't be shocked," Roshi said gently. "A strong heart tempers a strong will; a strong will lets you master your strength. You Saiyans are born with talent and bodies of iron. What you've lacked is will the mental realm. Two and a half years sealed did more for your martial cultivation than any weight could. Your ki rose to match."
He wagged a finger. "Eat well, drink well, sleep well. Whatever comes, keep your own heart in front. A steadfast heart means a steadfast path."
"Yes, Master," Raditz said. The thrill on his face eased into calm.
"Good. Training's over. This old back of mine needs a break," Roshi said, rapping his lower spine before ambling inside.
A moment later the TV purred to life.
"Stretch with me now… raise those legs… ten reps per set, five sets total great for a perkier "
"Heh-heh… yoga pants really are the GOAT… ohoho, butterfly pose!" Roshi's lecherous cackle carried through the door.
Raditz's expression shifted from serenity to bewilderment, then to helpless amusement. Of course he knew his master's… tastes.
"Perhaps that's what you meant by 'eat well, drink well, sleep well,' Master," he murmured.
(Master Roshi: No, I'm just a certified degenerate!)
Raditz angled toward Mount Paozu.
And there, too, life had marched on.
By the time Goten turned one, he was already like a three-year-old by Earth standards: talking, steady on his feet. Chi-Chi promptly enrolled him in preschool conveniently close to Gohan's middle school.
Which is how the duty of drop-off and pick-up landed officially on Gohan.
Unofficially? Once Gohan hit middle school, the rules loosened. He cut class when he could: either patrolling the city with Videl to smack down thugs, or Instant-Transmitting off to the Patrol to train with Goku and the others.
Pick up Goten? Please. Not happening.
One morning, on his way out early with Goten, Gohan detoured to find Piccolo…
"What? You want the Great Demon King to pick up and drop off your kid? Gohan, you've gone too far!" Piccolo's molars were grinding.
He'd known saying yes to Gohan back then would come back to bite him but this? This he hadn't imagined.
"Relax, will you? It's not like I'm sending you into a volcano. It's just drop-off and pick-up," Gohan waved, utterly shameless.
"I am Piccolo, the Great Demon King. You want a Demon King to ferry a toddler? Are you kidding me? No. Pick someone else. I'd rather die by your hand!" Piccolo was flat-out losing it.
"Goten, be good. This is Piccolo. He'll be taking you to school," Gohan said, crouching to the boy's eye level, ignoring the Namekian's meltdown entirely.
"Okay, big brother. You're going to train with Dad again, huh? Aren't you scared Mom will catch you and smack you? Can I come? Please?" Goten blinked up at him, hopeful.
"Later, when you're a bit bigger. And listen you absolutely cannot skip school. This family's depending on you. If you start copying me and Dad, we're doomed," Gohan said, visibly shivering at the mental image of Chi-Chi in rage mode.
After a gentle brain-wash er, pep talk Goten agreed.
"Shameless," Piccolo muttered. "Making a little kid carry your lie."
"Hey, Gohan! Are you hearing me?" Piccolo snapped.
"Goten's yours. School ends at five." Gohan didn't even glance back. He vanished.
"Bastard! Get back here!" Piccolo roared at the sky. Only the echo from the valley answered.
"Piccolo… uncle?" Goten peered up at him, big eyes guileless.
Piccolo froze, face twisting. "…Little guy, I'm only taking you this once. Don't expect me to pick you up."
He lifted Goten with a flick of telekinesis and flew toward town.
5:30 p.m.
"Goten, is your brother not here yet?" the preschool teacher asked. All the other children had gone home. Only Goten remained.
"It's okay, teacher. Piccolo-uncle will come get me."
Whoosh.
Speak of the devil. Piccolo arrived after all, conscience finally winning out.
Up in the air
"Piccolo-uncle, why don't you just teach me to train? Once I can fly, I can go to school myself. You won't have to take me," Goten said, as if reading Piccolo's reluctance.
"…That's actually a plan." Piccolo nodded at once. "Today's late. Starting tomorrow, after school I'll train you for half an hour, then take you home. You tell them the school changed dismissal time."
"Yay! I get to train too!" Goten cheered.
And just like that, the Son family's live-in babysitter came online.
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