"I’ve never been in one of these." Kakarotto said to himself in a tone of curiosity, looking at the four space pods that they were to leave in.
"You’ve never been on a mission?" Raditz asked, worry spreading over his face. He was assigned to protect the boy, but how was he supposed to protect him in space? What if his ship ventured off course or he pressed the wrong controls?
"Nu-uh." Kakarotto answered simply, stepping over to inspect his ship.
"Prince Vejita?" Raditz called, stepping over to his prince, gaining his attention.
"What is it?" Vejita snapped, annoyed with the low class warrior.
"I hear Kakarotto has never been on a mission and knows nothing of spaceships. Perhaps it would be wise…"
"You’re right," Vejita interrupted, immediately understanding, and worrying somewhat, "He’ll ride with me."
Raditz was surprised but didn’t dare think to question his prince. Instead, he informed the boy that he’d be riding with the arrogant prince.
****
Vejita leaned back in the uncomfortable seat and stared out into space. It was going to be a quick trip and they’d be landing soon, but Kakarotto still found a way to fall asleep. The boy was so innocent, so oblivious to the real world. Why shouldn’t he be? He’d spent his entire life under the watchful eye of the prince, never leaving the palace. Out of curiosity, Vejita had looked up the boy’s background. He’d always held high standards for the boy until that day. He’d learned that his father was of third class and his mother wasn’t even a warrior. Bardock. That was the name of Kakarotto’s father. He’d also learned that he had a brother, Raditz. That’s why the annoying, longhaired warrior had suddenly been chosen to stand at the boy’s side. Raditz must have pulled some strings just to stay close to his younger brother. Vejita decided not to say anything for fear of upsetting the boy.
"Why do I care?" he found himself thinking, watching as the red planet grew smaller and smaller. It was true, he cared for Kakarotto. He easily admitted that he considered the boy a friend but never out loud.
Suddenly, he became all too aware of the boy’s warm breath on his neck. Kakarotto’s head had somehow ended up resting on his shoulder.
"When did that happen?" Vejita thought, lightly shaking the boy, gaining a small moan from him as he woke.
"Morning, Jita." Kakarotto mumbled, wiping his eyes.
"Baka, it’s not morning! We’ll be arriving on Freeza’s ship any minute. Now, remember what I told you." Vejita snapped, his tone softening as he continued.
Kakarotto nodded, sniffing the air. Something smelled really good. It was sweet and spicy at the same time like some kind of rare dessert.
"What are you doing?" Vejita asked, giving the boy a look of disgust.
"You don’t smell that? Hmm… It smells yummy."
"I think you need to get your smeller checked. First you’re smelling Raditz and now this. Nappa was right, you're more like a dog." Vejita teased, a smirk gracing his lips.
Kakarotto laughed lightly, turning his gaze to the window. It was amazing. Had he been sleeping through it the whole time? Planet Vejita, his planet, was beautiful. It was a swirl of different shades of red. It looked more like a giant ki blast than a planet. Then, the planet disappeared from view and all he saw was blackness. He wasn’t prepared when a large white ship suddenly came into view, Freeza’s ship.
"Docking in ten… Nine… Eight…" a computer’s small monotone voice announced from the intercom on the control panel of the ship. The ship began to shake lightly and Kakarotto instinctively held on to his prince. He was surprised that Vejita hadn’t pushed him off. Lately, the prince was somewhat moody, avoiding his touch. It didn’t matter though. He’d stay by his side nevertheless. He was all he knew.
****
"Ah, here they are, Zarbon. I told you the dear king wouldn’t disobey direct orders from his Lord Freeza." The tyrant snickered, glancing at the group of warriors that were making their way towards him.
"Yes, Lord Freeza, you were correct as always." Zarbon chimed. Zarbon was a tall green alien with feminine features and long braided hair. He and the giant tub of lard, Dodoria were Freeza’s top warriors and servants. They were unfortunately his right hand men.
Vejita slowed slightly as he entered the throne room. The temperature was surely below freezing and he fought the goose bumps that were threatening to break out across his skin.
"Sire." Vejita stated flatly, hearing the voices of his comrades echo the word.
Kakarotto stood beside and slightly behind his prince. The raspy voice of Freeza sounded familiar as if he’d heard it somewhere before. He could hear Freeza droning on about where their quarters were and what was to be expected of them. It reminded him so much of the king. Those few days he’d spent with the king, being belittled and humiliated. He wondered if that was what Vejita had gone through when he was younger. His sweet prince, no one knew him the way he did.
He snapped into reality hearing something about being dismissed and he looked up. The sight of Lord Freeza had him frozen in place. It was the monster from his dreams, the monster that had hurt him so painfully. Breathing seemed extremely hard all of a sudden and movement wasn’t an option.
"Hmph, the boy seems frightened. Are you sure he’s one of your strongest?" Freeza sneered, smirking evilly at the youngest of them.
"Kakarotto!" Vejita snapped. He was completely zoned out. It was strange, as soon as Kakarotto had laid eyes on Freeza his face had completely drained of blood, causing him to look paler than he normally was. Unable to snap the boy from his trance, Vejita simply grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the room. He could still here the loathsome laughter of the evil tyrant as the doors of the throne room were closed behind them.
Vejita shook the boy, watching as his eyes fluttered open and closed again. Soon, he passed out. Vejita bared his teeth in annoyance as he lifted the larger form of the boy in his arms, jerking him over his shoulder as they were led to their quarters.
"We share a room?" Nappa questioned to no one in particular as they entered the large room. It seemed to be a sort of common room with a large couch, two chairs, and a small table with an intercom placed neatly upon it. Vejita tossed Kakarotto onto the couch, letting his eyes wonder over the room, inspecting it carefully. They all looked around for a moment realizing that there were four doors other than the one they had just entered. After some inspection, they found that two led to single bedrooms, one led to a double bedroom, and another led to a washroom.
"It seems that Raditz and I are meant to share the double room, judging from the clothing in the closets." Nappa reported.
"Then have someone change it in the morning. Kakarotto and I will be sharing a room." Vejita said quickly, his attention moving back to an unconscious Kakarotto, gently laying him on the couch.
"Yes, Sire." Nappa answered, understanding since his prince and the boy had been sharing a room for the past thirteen years. Nodding, he plopped down in one of the chairs. Raditz copied his movements, finding comfort as he sat in the other chair.
"I told him not to make eye contact with Freeza. Now that damn tyrant surely thinks something of him, having caused fear in him." Vejita scoffed, shoving Kakarotto’s legs to the side as he sat at one end of the couch.
Nappa nodded, sitting back and glancing over at a stressed out looking Raditz. His prince seemed to notice this as well.
"Raditz, why haven’t you told him?" Vejita asked coldly.
"I don’t know how." The longhaired warrior answered quietly after an awkward moment of silence.
"I’m sure he’d be delighted to know. Kakarotto has a nauseatingly sentimental heart."
"Know what?" Kakarotto stammered, sitting up slowly.
"Raditz is your brother." Vejita said flatly, truthfully.
"Brother?" Kakarotto questioned, his eyes glazing over as he turned to stare at the warrior that was just proclaimed his own flesh and blood.
Nappa wasn’t too surprised. It made sense now why the fool had pulled so many strings to be the boy’s bodyguard. For the following hours both Nappa and Vejita sat back and listened as the longhaired warrior explained everything he could remember about their home, their parents, everything. Then, everything grew quiet again and the blood seemed to leave Kakarotto’s face yet again.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Vejita snapped with a hint of concern in his voice that he knew only Kakarotto would pick up on. He watched as the boy turned to him, his eyes glazing over again.
"The monster…" the boy sniveled.
Nappa was completely confused. What the Hell was the boy talking about? Raditz seemed equally confused, so, he kept quiet, watching as a gentle look of concern swept over the prince’s face.
"Come, let’s go to sleep," Vejita said quietly, "Nappa, Raditz, make sure we’re up on time in the morning. This isn’t the time for bad impressions." With that he stood, following the boy into their quarters. Once the door was closed, he began peeling off his armor and clothes, getting ready for bed. He looked up to see Kakarotto doing the same. That warm feeling began again in the pit of his stomach, and he was reminded that soon he wouldn’t be able to resist.
"What about the monster?" Vejita asked, breaking the silence along with his current train of thought. The boy was seated on the edge of one of the beds, shaking slightly
"Freeza… He’s… He’s the monster from my dreams. He’s… He’s the one that hurts me so bad."
"Chibi," Vejita mumbled, moving to sit beside Kakarotto, "Didn’t I tell you not to worry. I’ll protect you."
Kakarotto let a gentle smile grace his lips at the comforting words and soon they were both lying in the same bed with the lights off. It felt good to have the prince so close. A feeling of safety came over him that was far too rare. Feeling the older man’s warm body pressed against his own, spooning him, slowed an aching that he seemed to constantly have in the pit of his stomach, in the back of his mind.
"Jita…" he whispered, breathing deeply in realization.
"What?" Vejita muttered sleepily.
"You don’t smell that?"
"No." Vejita snapped, closing his eyes again. Of course, he could smell an earthy smell. A smell that reminded him of a gently breeze and a light sweat. It was a smell he knew all too well to be Kakarotto’s.
"Your nose is all screwed up." Vejita snapped again, hoping to quiet the boy.
"Nu-uh… The reason I smelled Raditz before was cause I recognized his smell. I guess it was cause he’s my brother… But this smell is stronger than that… It makes me want to taste it."
Vejita was a little surprised when the larger form in his arms gently pressed his ass firmly against his groin.
"What… What does it smell like?" the prince asked, faltering somewhat when he realized that the smell the boy was sensing could very well be his own.
"It’s really sweet and kinda spicy… I can’t believe you don’t smell it. It’s all around us."
"Just go to sleep." Vejita said, swallowing loudly as his suspicion was confirmed. After some time, he could hear a light snore and knew that the boy had fallen asleep. Soon, he too was asleep.
