Bardock Begins

"Bardock! I hate you! You did this to me! I hate you!" Zukini screamed as she yelped in pain.

"Zuki, I don't get what the big deal is. You're just having a little baby," Bardock replied indifferently as he wiped her forehead with a rag.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" She shouted, grabbing the collar of his Saiyan armour and brought his face at her eye level. "You want to the pleasure of pushing the baby out then?!"

"Uh no, you're doing a fantastic job!" Bardock amended immediately after witnessing the saiyan rage burning in her eyes.

The doctors chuckled at the young couple's interaction as they monitored the birth of the latest saiyan child.

Bardock gazed at his first child sleeping in his crib among the other saiyan babies. This may be the only time he would get to see him before he was shipped off to conquer a planet for the Planet Trade Organization.

"How's our little Raditz doing?" Zukini asked, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. She peeked over his shoulder to look at her first child.

"He resting peacefully after the ordeal you put him through with all your screaming," Bardock joked and Zukini slapped him playfully.

"He looks strong," Zukini murmured, pressing her hand on the window that separated the nursery from the viewing area.

"According to the reports that the scientists ran on him, he's average. They'll send him to one of those medium-danger planets," Bardock corrected her.

"Are you going let some science report decide the strength of our child?" Zukini asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"Seeing as you and I are pretty prominent scientists here on Vegeta-sei, you should be vouching for our exemplary research," Bardock replied and Zukini responded with laughter.

"Oh ho, you discover how replicate artificial moonlight and now we're exemplary scientists? I still think we've only scratched the surface when it comes to reading power levels. I don't think the power levels that we were born with will determine how high our power levels can rise," Zukini countered. "Think about the legendary super saiyan, what kind of ki levels would a child have to project for us scientists to verify such untapped power?"

Bardock chuckled at his mate, as this was a debate the two had regularly over dinner.

"You know my response to that. The legendary super saiyan is just that: a legend. There's no proof that it ever existed, except in your crazy old grandfather's stories." Bardock responded. It was an unpopular opinion that he only shared with his wife, as much of the saiyan population believed in the existence of the super saiyan.

"Well...what about us? We're good examples that these scientific reports on the baby's ki levels aren't as accurate as they could be. We're two 3rd class saiyans that have clearly surpassed our parent's expectations. Our children may surprise us yet," Zukini argued, defending her first son.

"I think we got a little help after the trouble you got us into as kids. I'm pretty sure most saiyans didn't get that on-the-fly training like we did that day," Bardock exclaimed as he kissed her forehead. His eyes fell on the long golden necklace that he gave her when they became mates. A gold anchor charm hung askew from the long gold chain and every time he saw it, he recalled the day he first fell in love with her.

*FLASHBACK*

"Come on Fasha! Let's grab as much bananas as we can before those Tuffles catch us!" A young 15 year old Zukini whispered loudly, waving over her best friend to stout stone wall she was hiding behind. Fasha looked quickly to her right and left before she scurried over to Zukini's side.

"What now, Zuki?" Fasha asked in low voice.

Zukini peeped over the wall, looking into the garden of some high-ranking Tuffle. Their gardening bot was set to recharge, which meant that there was no surveillance over the lush property.

"The coast is clear, let's go!" Zukini instructed, hopping over the wall and Fasha followed suit. They filled their arms with as much bananas as they could manage.

"Hurry, Fasha! I've surveyed that gardening bot for a couple days now, it'll be fully charged in a few minutes!" Zukini advised as she rushed back to the stout wall for cover.

"Just a few more!" Fasha cried back, reaching for a cluster of bananas that were slightly out of reach. But it was too late, the gardening bot returned and immediately spotted the invader and started moving toward the young saiyan girl.

"Invader!" The robot chirped as it scanned the garden for the intruder. Locking onto Fasha's position, it took stats on the individual that it had captured in its cross hairs. "Saiyan Invader! Saiyan Invader!"

"Fasha, come back quick!" Zukini called from the wall. The garden bot had already doubled in height as it transformed into its security bot form as it approached Fasha. Fasha gaped up at robot as she dropped all the bananas in her arms. She only had experience with fighting with other saiyans that were her own size and she was still perfecting her moves.

Before the security bot could makes its first move, its left leg buckled and it almost toppled over. Zukini had thrown a sizeable amount of ki at its leg, so Fasha could escape.

"Let's go Fasha!" Zukini called. Fasha blinked when she realized what happened and used the moment of distraction to run. Fasha leapt over the wall and began running toward the Saiyanjin border with Zukini. Yet, the security bot was still hot on their heels.

"Zuki, it's gaining on us!" Fasha cried, when she turned her head around to see how far away it was.

"We have to destroy it then!" Zukini concluded, stopping in her tracks. "Let's attack its other leg and then we'll take out its head!"

"Hai!" Fasha agreed, stopping along with her. As they were regular sparring partners, the two of them knew how to work well with one another. Joining hands, Fasha and Zukini combined their collective power and threw another ki blast to the robot's other leg. The leg buckled but the robot didn't quite fall over as they hoped.

"Why don't we just aim for the head?!" Fasha shouted and without waiting for Zukini to agree, she tossed a huge amount of ki at the robot's head.

"Noooo!" Zukini cried, knowing what would happen next. Zukini had been researching the technology of Tuffles for quite some time and she knew most the robot's strengths and weaknesses. The robot's head was made of some advanced material that deflected ki energies, so it bounced off and hit Fasha square in the chest which rendered her unconscious.

It was only Zukini versus the robot now. She needed to bring the robot down in size so she could attack the top of its head which was its Achilles heel because that's where the motherboard was stored. Zukini bit her lip as she quickly thought about ways to bring the robot down.

"Hey, isn't that Arugulo's daughter there?" Bardock asked his friend Toma as he pointed past the Saiyanjin border. They had been preparing to sneak into the Tuffle border for some casual mayhem and fun just like every other 15 year old saiyan boy in their age group did. Toma looked in the direction Bardock had pointed to and could see young female saiyan standing up to Tuffle robot and smiled.

"Aw, looks like she got ahead of us," Toma said.

"Well, we can't let our females have all fun!" Bardock claimed with smirk and flew to Zukini's aid. Toma laughed and followed closely behind him.

The robot began to advance on her, by attempting to step on her small frame. Its large metal foot began pressing against her head, but Zukini held on tight to its boot as it pushed down. This is great! Zukini thought, this is exactly what I needed this foolish robot to do! If she could garner enough energy, she could totally push back on the robot's foot which would cause it to slip and expose its weak spot. But the foot was heavier that she expected as she grunted with all her might to push the foot in the other direction. Before she knew it, a familiar handsome Saiyan boy was by her side, resting his back casually against the robot's boot.

"Heavy burden on your shoulders?" he teased with an assured smile.

"Great deduction, genius." Zukini huffed out sarcastically.

"Oooh, I like girl with spirit!" Bardock responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. He took a fleeting look at her, admiring more than just her spirit. She hadn't pick up on the latest saiyan trend of keeping her hair pixie short, as her long dark raven hair hung loosely in ponytail that reached the middle of her back. Her eyes were a piercing navy blue which was framed by dark curly lashes that resembled black lace. It was clear that she was strong but she wasn't covered in bulky muscles since her figure was toned and lithe but she was still curvy in all the right places.

Turning around, he helped the young girl out by pushing the robot's foot off her. To her surprise the foot was getting lighter, as she didn't really believe that his additional help would make much of difference. Suddenly a taller and slimmer saiyan appeared next to them and started helping them. The new saiyan on the scene glanced over his shoulder at the young girl.

"Oh, she's cute!" He said with lecherous grin and Zukini blushed angrily. The first saiyan growled at his friend, appearing to be territorial over her. With a loud grunt, the first saiyan shoved the foot with a new burst of energy and robot fell over.

"Hurry, we have to attack the top of its head!" Zukini cried, not even taking a moment to enjoy the heavy weight off her shoulders.

"What's your hurry? We just got here and the fun's just beginning!" Toma jeered.

"I think she's right, the Tuffles technology still surpasses our own. We should take it down right now. We still have time pick some fights with the Tuffles soldiers later." Bardock agreed with Zukini, while trying to appease his best friend. Zukini smiled appreciatively at Bardock.

"Whatever, I'm came here to have some fun!" Toma said, soaring above the fallen robot, using it as shooting practice as he tossed little ki blasts at it. The robot rocked side to side as it tried to manoeuvre itself back in an upright position. So much for the advanced Tuffle technology.

"We're better off leaving Toma alone to have his fun," Bardock told the young girl.

"Whatever, I understand you saiyan boys have your thirst for violence," Zukini replied, moving toward her injured friend as she tried to hide the fact that she was sneaking glances at Bardock. She had noticed the handsome saiyan boy at base before and was always intrigued by him. Now that he was so physically close to her, she could fully appreciate all of his gorgeous features.

"We saiyan boys have other thirsts as well," Bardock blatantly flirted and a blush rose to Zukini's cheeks once more.

Toma's ki blasts could still be heard in the background. Not knowing about the head's special material, one of his ki blasts reflected off its head and struck Toma on his good arm.

"That bloody robot hit me!" Toma seethed. Before they knew it, the robot's legs and arms retracted back into its body and stood upright once more. Its body spun around as it tossed its own blasts in random and unpredictable directions.

"Oh wow, those Tuffles are serious about protecting their bananas!" Zukini said in shock, unfamiliar with the robot's new line of attack.

"Bananas? This is what this blasted fight is over?" Toma asked incredulously, swearing under his breath. He attempted to throw ki blasts at it with his other arm.

"Don't listen to him, those Tuffles have always been serious about protecting themselves from us. This is why we visit their side of the border so often." Bardock shared with a wink, as he ducked away from a blast. "They're just so much fun to annoy!"

Bardock rose up in the air, next to his friend. "Come on!" He called to Zukini.

"I haven't perfected flying yet!" Zukini shouted back, her head hanging down in shame.

"This would be the perfect time to practice!" Bardock yelled. Zukini considered it but she had her reservations. She didn't want to look like a total doofus in front of the good-looking saiyan boy but she didn't want to die either.

After taking a deep breath, she focused her ki inwardly like her sensei had advised and floated slowly toward Bardock. Since Zukini was so focused with her flying, she didn't pay any attention to the shots spewing forth from the robot and was struck down. Zukini cried out in shock as she fell but Bardock caught her before she could even touch the ground.

"Maybe you should stay on foot in the meantime. Why don't you take your friend and yourself to safety, while my friend and I take care of this robot?" Bardock said as he balanced her on her feet. Zukini scowled at him.

"Your friend's good arm is injured and I'm perfectly fine! I was just shocked by the blast!" She said as she shoved his hands away from her. "You're going to need all the help you can get!"

And without another word she ran off, heading closer to the security bot. Bardock smirked, finding the young girl more and more interesting.

Zukini ran around the robot as she dodged its shots as she threw her own ki blasts at it. Toma and Bardock remained in the sky, conducting their own aerial assault. The robot appeared to be indestructible as long as it protected the top of its head and Zukini noted that its energy levels wasn't going to go down anytime soon as it was freshly recharged back at the garden. It was only a matter of time and stamina before they lost.

Zukini moved closer and closer as she planned to climb onto the robot. She theorized that the robot wouldn't try to blast itself, so she would be relatively safe as long as she could hang onto its spinning body.

Bardock watched her jump onto the robot, grabbing tightly onto outward pieces that protruded from its body. Following her train of thought, he smiled as he saw an obvious opportunity to get closer to the feisty saiyan girl.

"Toma watch my back, I'm going to help that girl out with her plan!" Bardock commanded and Toma nodded. After 15 minutes of struggling up the robot's body Zukini groaned loudy as she felt something heavy suddenly land on her back. Turning her face around, she saw that it was first saiyan boy that helped her from before and he even had the audacity to grin at her.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled against the wind.

"I'm going to help you climb this thing and make sure you don't fall off! I'll hold you close to its body as you go up, I'll even give you boosts up!" He explained. "I'll kind of be like your anchor!"

Zukini understood the brilliance of his plan and nodded, appreciating having him as her safety net. However, she narrowed her eyes at him, as he helped her out by grabbing her butt and pushing her frame upwards.

"Is that really necessary?" Zukini shouted down at him.

"I don't know, is living necessary?" The young saiyan threw back with a teasing smile. Rolling her eyes, she put up with it. It wasn't the worst thing in the world to be groped by her secret crush she supposed.

Approximately after an hour of butt groping and pushing, they made to the top of the robots long body.

"Hold onto me as I focus my ki onto its motherboard!" Zukini requested, not wanting the spinning motion of the robot to fling her ki back in her face. She had to pick exactly the right moment to guide her ki toward its target.

"Just promise me that you won't hit my face with your ki blast!" He responded with a short laugh.

"Oh no, we wouldn't want to scar that handsome face of yours!" Zukini teased.

"You think my face is handsome, do you?" The young saiyan replied with a smug smirk. Zukini sputtered at his boldness. Then she thought to herself he wasn't the only one who could be bold. Turning around to face him, she laced her arms around his neck and fused their mouths together for an electrifying kiss. He groaned in pleasure as he crushed body against hers, trying to get closer.

"Very handsome, actually," Zukini breathed, faint blush rising in her cheeks. Considering that her next ki blast could either disable the spinning robot or blast their faces off, she could afford to be a little daring before she attempted her next move. She then turned back to the task at hand. Zeroing in on the motherboard, Zukini concentrated her energy to that focal point.

"HYAAAH!" She cried, as she pushed out her hands toward the motherboard. The sphere of ki appeared to be heading toward the motherboard but then the robot abruptly stopped and started spinning counter clockwise. Her saiyan anchor acted fast and deflected the ki blast with one of his own and Zukini's original ki blast ricocheted off his and hit its target. The motherboard was destroyed and the robot was finally immobilized.

"You did it!" He cheered.

"No, we did it!" Zukini corrected with a bright smile.

His friend then landed next to them.

"Kami! That was like practically months of training right there!" The friend commented as he swiped his forehead. "I thought that damn robot would never stop spinning! Good job guys!"

"We should celebrate!" The better looking saiyan exclaimed.

"I'm sorry but I can't. I need to check on my friend and get her some help," Zukini told the two saiyan warriors.

"I'll help you down," He replied, pulling her into his arms. Zukini nodded reluctantly feeling shy around him now that everything was ok. She couldn't believe herself, she actually kissed a total stranger!

The two boys helped Zukini with carrying Fasha back to home base of the 3rd class saiyan sector and they dropped her off at the hospice. During their short amount time together, Toma noticed that Bardock was getting territorial around the young girl so he backed off when she told them she was heading home.

"I'm going to get sloshed at the local tavern, you in? My treat." Toma asked, testing the waters. He wanted to see what level of possessiveness his friend was at, as Bardock wasn't known for turning down the devil's brew that often.

"I think I'll pass on that," Bardock replied, trying to appear nonchalant as he could tell what his best friend was up to. But Toma wasn't fooled and chuckled quietly to himself.

Yeah, his friend was only two moves away from making this young one his mate and he hadn't even reached 20 yet. Well, its his funeral. But then again, this girl is pretty damn cute, too bad I didn't meet her first, Toma surmised to himself.

"Well, maybe I'll see the two of you around," Zukini said as she waved goodbye to them.

"Hay! I'll walk you home!" Bardock insisted and Zukini acquiesced. They could hear Toma hum the funeral dirge in the background and Bardock scowled at his friend.

"You're Arugulo's daughter right? The couple times I've seen you around, he's always by your side," Bardock stated, trying to make conversation.

Zukini nodded in response, not understanding why she was still afflicted with shyness.

"You know what's weird? After all that we've been through together, I still don't know your name. I think I should know the name of the girl who gave me my best kiss," Bardock joked and Zukini laughed, as he finally brought up the elephant that was in the room. It totally disarmed her and she was flattered that he said that she was the one who gave him his best kiss. It was was best kiss that she ever experienced as well, but it was also her first one.

"Zukini," she replied with a small smile, appreciating the humour in his question. "And what would your name be, my handsome saiyan warrior?" She inquired as she finally found some of her courage.

"I'm Bardock," he responded, pleased that she was flirting back. She looked him up and down.

"You look like a Bardock, it suits you." She said with a giggle. "Well anyways, this is our bunker. Thanks for walking me home."

"Before you go, I have something for you." Bardock said mysteriously, as he moved his hand to the backside of his saiyan armour.

"This is for you," Bardock said, placing a bruised banana in her hands and Zukini gasped with delight.

"When did you get this?" Zukini asked, amazed.

"I got it right before I helped you climb the robot. Sorry that's so bruised," Bardock apologized.

"Don't apologize!" Zukini replied, touched that he went out to get her the banana. Filled with emotion, Zukini threw her arms around Bardock and kissed him for the second time that day. Their second kiss was just as electrifying as the first one, Bardock realized as he tasted her sweet mouth and wrapped his tail possessively around her waist. After a few minutes of teasing each other with their tongues and teeth, Zukini reluctantly pulled away, her breath ragged and pulse beating rapidly. Bardock was out of breath as well as he held her intense blue gaze.

"I think I've met my mate today," Bardock stated, lowering his lips to hers once more.