Disclaimer: Anyway, I don't own anything to do with Dragonball Z. The amazing Akria Toriyama does. I only own the plot and my own characters.

Bardock's story

Chapter 3: Start of a friendship

A few hours later, Bardock woke up to find himself out of the pod. He was lying on his side and had his head on someone's lap. He opened his eyes and looked around him. It didn't look like any room at home. The walls and ceiling were smooth and white. He started to wonder what was going on. Then he felt her fingers touch his hair.

"Mama?"

"Hey," Matrika's voice said, "It's about time you woke up."

"Where am I?" He asked sleepily, sitting up to face her.

"You're still in the medical centre. Are you ok now?"

"I think so."

He seemed physically fine but Matrika couldn't stop staring at the wound on his face. It ran right along his cheek. Bardock noticed his mother wasn't looking straight at him.

"Mama? What's up? I'm ok."

"I'm sorry sweetie. It's just that you've got a nasty cut on your cheek."

"Didn't the pod heal it?"

Matrika shook her head. Plenthor had told that this wound would become a scar in time. It didn't look right on a six-year-old boy's face but soon it would be the distinguishing feature of her son.

There was no hurry to get back home yet as the doctors wanted to be sure that Bardock was healed properly so Matrika persuaded her baby to sleep again. As he did, Courne walked in. She looked at Bardock and smiled.

"He looks better."

"Physically," Matrika replied, "Apart from that, I'm not sure."

Courne sat beside Matrika and watched Bardock sleep. Courne could see the gash on Bardock's face from where she sat. It wasn't a nice thing to see even to a child she didn't know.

"I see he wants to be a warrior in the future."

Matrika nodded, tenderly caressing Bardock's hair.

"Well, he's looking good. Does he always train by himself?"

"Pretty much. I try to join in but he gets there before I've had a chance to get ready."

"I get you. Well, maybe he'd like to train with my kids."

Matrika looked at Courne. Courne explained she and her mate, Bane, had twin boys the same age as Bardock. Matrika was astounded. Twins were incredibly rare in saiyans. The last set was nearly thirty years go. Courne was used to the gasps of astonishment towards her sons. She just smiled calmly.

"Tora and Tarro are similar to your boy; they're very head strong and self-assured. I think it would be beneficial for all of us if they trained together."

"How so?"

"Well, Bardock will be much safer training with others than alone, all three will make friends and we can carry on with other things knowing they'll be ok. So how about it?"

Matrika looked down at Bardock and gently ran a finger along his new scar, deep in thought. Right now, she felt it owed to her son. She should've been there for him to stop Aikon attacking. After a few moments, she smiled than agreed with Courne's idea.

A few days later, Bardock was back at home and staying out of Aikon's way. The Saiyan commander still glared at his son with hate but didn't touch him. However, he was shocked by Matrika. As soon as she saw him, she was furious. Deep down she wanted to strangle him. She even visualised pinning him against the wall and holding him there until he passed out. But she just resorted to shouting at him.

"How can you be so cruel?" She began, "What you did to Bardock was just disgusting!"

"According to you it was."

"That's the feeling from everyone who witnessed it."

"I was doing what you want, I was training the boy. He just isn't cut out as a fighter."

"No, you went too far. It's you who can't cut it!"

Enraged, Aikon went to storm at her but she stood firm. She knew he wouldn't hurt her. No matter what Aikon did to Bardock, he wouldn't do it to Matrika. She was right. He stopped right in front of her but backed off. Aikon just remained quiet, staring Matrika's stubbornness. Bardock, however, had watched this argument, unknown to Matrika and Aikon. His heart was in his throat. He thought his mother was going to get hurt. He was amazed at her courage. Aikon was much bigger than she was but she wasn't scared. Well she didn't seem scared.

A week or so later, Matrika was flying with Bardock to another training centre. Today, Bardock was going to meet Corune's twins. He wasn't sure what to make of this. The only 'friend' he really had was his mother and he hadn't met anyone else his age before. But Matrika assured him that everything would be ok. They finally arrived and Matrika led Bardock inside. It didn't take long for them to find Courne. This was the first time Bardock had ever seen her. She had short black hair and indigo eyes. She wore purple and black strapped armour and a green scouter. Either side of her stood two boys. Both boys had dark brown hair, dark eyes, and looked identical. The main differences were their hair styles. One boy had hair that just fell neatly on to his neck. The other had most of his hair spiky and the rest was kept under control in a thin ponytail. Both boys, like Bardock wore black and white shouldered armour.

"So you made it." Courne greeted.

"Yep," Matrika replied, "Though we very nearly didn't. Someone thought he'd try to be shy."

Without saying anything, Courne understood. Bardock had tried getting out of coming.

"Well, let me introduce my boys."

Tarro was the one with the neat hair and Tora was the spike-haired one. Matrika then introduced Bardock. They both gave him a cheerful greeting.

'Well they seem ok.' He thought.

"Do you want to have some fun, Bardock?" Tora asked.

"We've got some awesome training games that we can do." Tarro added.

Bardock was unsure and looked up at Matrika. She smiled then gently pushed him forward with her tail. Without argument, Bardock took the cue and followed the twins to the arena. Matrika and Courne then went to sit and watch.

It was a slow start for the three boys. Bardock found it hard to join in. He wasn't used to sharing a training arena or joining in with others. However, Tora and Tarro were very encouraging. They liked their new friend and really wanted to play with him. So eventually, the three boys were getting in to their stride. They were really enjoying themselves and laughing when appropriate. They raced each other around the arena and had sparring matches without energy techniques. Matrika couldn't stop smiling. Bardock loved every minute. The happiness in his eyes was so heart-warming and she was starting to get teary. Courne looked and saw the watery eyes.

"You ok?"

"I'm just so happy to watch him like this." Matrika replied, "It's been a while since I've heard him laugh like that."

"Well, we'll have to let them see each other as often as possible."

"Definitely"

Back in the arena, the boys were so pleased with their training so far that they decided to step in up a level and start experimenting with energy attacks. Ten targets were put up throughout the arena. All the boys had to do was each destroy as many as possible in 30 seconds with only energy attacks. Tarro went first and managed to get five. His accuracy was a little off but he was quick at gathering energy. Tora was next and also got five. His accuracy was spot on but his attacks weren't always strong enough. Bardock, however, got eight. His technique was much better. The power, accuracy and speed were there in each blast. Matrika was hugely impressed by her son's ability. She was finally seeing what his training had done.

"Wow Bardock," Tora gasped, "That was awesome! How did you do that?"

"Hee, hee, hee," Bardock chuckled, "I'm not really sure but I've practised lots."

"Clearly," Tarro replied, "You've definitely trained really hard."

"Thanks."

After another hour of training, it was time for the three boys to come out and shower. They quickly washed then put on the clean clothes their mothers brought them. Once the boys were clean, dry and dressed, the two families were about to fly home when Tora walked to Bardock.

"I had fun Bardock," He said, "You'll hang out with me and Tarro again right?"

At first Bardock didn't give a reaction. Then a smile spread across his face.

"You bet I will, Tora," He grinned, "Today was awesome."

"Cool!"

Then, to seal their new friendship, the two boys gently knocked their tails together. Matrika couldn't stop smiling. Finally, Courne led her boys back home.

"Well, shall we get going too?" Matrika asked.

"Ok."

After flying for a few minutes in silence, Bardock saw his mother was looking at him with a smile that was encouraging to open up.

"This has been the best day ever!" He smiled brightly.

"So you really did enjoy yourself?" Matrika replied.

"Yeah, those games were so cool and fun. And Tora and Tarro were awesome fun!"

"And it looks Tora is your new best friend."

Bardock didn't say anything but the gesture he and Tora shared said it all. The mother and son continued home enjoying the warm sun on their skin. With Aikon being away on mission, nothing could spoil this new feeling of happiness. However, a very big darkness was about to descend on the family.

For the next two chapters, you might need your tissues. They're very emotional chapters.