"Sire, Kakarotto, Saiyajin elite, reporting." Announced a violet alien servant, quickly scampering away at a simple wave of his lord’s hand.
"Well, Kakarotto…" Freeza mused, turning to face the boy.
"Yes, Sire?" Kakarotto asked, forcing himself not to tremble.
"I am curious of the relationship between yourself and your prince."
"He’s my best friend, Sire." Kakarotto answered honestly, more than a little confused.
"I see. Nothing more?"
Kakarotto wondered at a relationship beyond friendship. Was there such a thing?
"I see. Well, a dull boy. You’re dismissed." Freeza said, accepting the confusion that had played across the boy’s face as a no. It was obvious that the mighty Kakarotto was nothing more than a pet to the dear prince. A dog that willingly obeyed every order without question. Freeza paused for a moment in his own thinking. Perhaps it was time he got a new pet.
****
"Isn’t it a little strange that Lord Freeza should be calling private meetings in the middle of the night?" Raditz questioned, knowing that it wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. He’d seen it happen before with Zarbon, but Zarbon was more of a sex slave. Realization pounded into the worried older brother’s mind.
"Don’t worry so much. I’m sure nothing is wrong." Nappa said, trying to calm the other warrior.
"Nonsense. Something is wrong."
The two soldiers looked up to see their prince stepping out of his room, wearing only a pair of tight black sparring shorts. They both nodded slightly, respectfully.
"It seems Freeza has taken notice of Kakarotto’s strength. I’ll have the boy conceal it more than he’s been."
"He’s been hiding it?" Nappa asked more than a little shocked. He’d seen the boy fight. He was absolutely amazing. That would mean that he’s much stronger than what he’d witnessed in the training hall.
"Yes, Nappa. Kakarotto and myself have been holding back for quite some time. We’re much stronger than you know, but it seems our hopes of going unnoticed have failed."
Nappa nodded. So, it was true.
"Raditz, I want you to keep a closer eye on him. If anything should happen I want to be informed immediately."
"Yes, Sire." Raditz answered quickly. It seemed an odd order. He had slacked off on his bodyguard duties but only because Kakarotto was quite capable of taking care of himself. It was also odd that he’d have to run to find his prince in case of an emergency since the two Saiyajin were inseparable. He let his thoughts drift away when he saw Vejita jerk his head up and look to the door. Suddenly, it slid open and Kakarotto entered.
"Hiya!" the boy greeted, peeling his shirt off as he stepped in and plopped down on the couch next to Vejita.
"What did he want?" Raditz asked cautiously.
"He wanted to know if me and Jita were best friends." The boy answered innocently, leaning back and breathing in deeply.
The prince watched the boy’s chest rise and fall in motion with a deep sigh. It seemed Freeza was planning something. If only he knew what it was.
"It smells so good in here. Mmm… It makes me hungry." Kakarotto said as he sighed again, letting his eyes drop closed in relaxation.
Vejita swallowed, knowing that the smell the boy continued to pick up on was his own. He’d smelled the boy before during the many nights they shared a bed, that earthy, sweaty scent. He’d inhaled it like some sort drug with every breath, but he knew right away what he smelled. It was strange that Kakarotto hadn’t figured it out yet, but then again, Kakarotto was a very naïve, innocent person. He knew of nothing unless he was told it. Vejita sighed lightly, letting his eyes drop closed as well. Then, he remembered how tired he was.
"Let’s get back to bed." He snapped, standing and making his way to his room, hearing the padding steps of Kakarotto right behind him.
Cuddling back against his prince, Kakarotto continued to inhale the delicious scent. Gently, he turned until he was facing his friend. He reached a hand out to the stilled face of his prince. Slowly, he ran a finger over the older Saiyajin’s cheek, pulling back and quickly tasting his finger. Suddenly, sleepy eyes fluttered open.
"Chibi… I want… I want you to stay away from Freeza." Vejita mumbled, falling back into a deep sleep.
Kakarotto was a little surprised but smiled when he realized how worried Vejita really was. Then, his thoughts quickly found their way back to his finger that was still in his mouth. That taste… Vejita’s taste… It was the taste of that smell he’d been smelling. He had a strong urge to just run his tongue over the prince’s skin but knew better. Vejita would surely be upset to wake and find his face being devoured. So, the boy turned back around as to lessen the severity of the scent and soon was sleeping deeply as well.
****
"You don’t think it’s strange?" Nappa asked, slowing somewhat in his attempt to block the younger Saiyajin’s attacks.
"Nah, they’ve been friends since they were just runts. They’re more like brothers if you ask me." Raditz replied, stopping when he noticed Nappa wasn’t concentrating.
"I guess that’s true. I was close with my brothers long ago too." Nappa said, letting his worries leave him as they started up the spar again.
****
"Jita… Wait up!" Kakarotto called, chasing after his prince. A few heads turned at the informal nickname.
"Where’re we goin’?" the boy asked, purposely looking directly into the shorter yet older man’s eyes.
"The gravity room." Vejita answered simply. He could feel the boy’s eyes on his face and wondered what the thought behind them was. He was pretty sure that the naïve boy had no clue what he was doing. The boy was practically throwing himself at the prince. Luckily, other warriors had not yet noticed. Had Kakarotto been a woman, they would all know. Not many seemed to accept the idea of same sex pairing.
"Gravity room?"
"Yes. It’s a new training room Freeza had built recently." Vejita explained, purposely breaking his train of thought.
"Neat." Kakarotto chimed, stepping a little quicker than his prince in an excited manner.
****
"How long has it been?" Raditz asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"Well, we got here about an hour late… I’d say they’ve been going at it for nearly eight hours." Nappa answered. After their own training, the two bodyguards had reported to the new gravity room. The room was built in a dome and the roof of the dome was made of a very thick glass that had a high visibility. Freeza was watching with Dodoria and Zarbon along with many others.
The gravity was set at one hundred times that of Planet Vejita’s; however, the two warriors within the dome were standing tall. Both had many wounds and their clothing was torn to shreds. Suddenly, they were back at it again. Of the two, it seemed Vejita was going to prevail. Throwing kicks and punches and ki blasts, the battle continued. It seemed the two were out to kill one another. They stepped back for a moment and that was when Nappa noticed that his prince seemed to be out of breath. He never thought he’d see the day when he’d go all out.
"Zarbon, make a note of these monkey’s strength." Freeza said, watching closely as the battle commenced again.
"Ji… Jita," Kakarotto said in a tone much quieter than that of a whisper, "They’re watching."
Vejita didn’t answer the boy. All his frustrations were surfacing and he continued to go all out on the boy. He had so many things in the back of his mind that were slowly driving him mad. His need for Kakarotto. The fact that he was unable to recognize his feelings for the boy. His homesickness for his planet and people. And the fact that the boy was stronger than he was. Everything. It was all coming to him in a blur of rage and blood. That was the only way he knew how to deal with it.
Both Raditz and Nappa’s jaws fell open. The prince attacked in a blind fury, and with simple ease, Kakarotto blocked the attack and held an open palm to the prince’s face. He’d won. The boy had won.
"It seems he’s worthy…" Freeza snickered.
"Excuse me, my lord?" Dodoria question, not knowing for sure whether his king had said something or not.
Freeza simply waved it off with a simple hand gesture as he rose from his seat, followed by the others as he left.
"I’m sorry! Vejita, I’m sorry…" Kakarotto rattled out quickly, falling to his knees before his prince. The garage-like door to the gravity room slid open and Nappa and Raditz watched in disbelief.
Vejita was a little surprised as well. Had he just lost? He was the strongest Saiyajin in the world, and a third class warrior had just defeated him. Although he was quite shaken up, he allowed reality to sink in. What was happening? Was Kakarotto at his feet?
"Forgive me, Vejita…" the boy said, resting his spiky-haired head against his prince’s knees.
Vejita? It had been a long time since the boy had called him that. Vejita smiled, looking down at his love, "Love? Where did that come from?" he thought. It didn’t matter.
"Shhh… Kakarotto, it’s okay." He said, watching as the boy cracked a small smile as he stood.
"You know, I had to go all out to get the speed to dodge your attack." Kakarotto said, letting his prince know that it was not an easy victory.
"Hn." Vejita answered simply, turning to face the two remaining men.
"It seems Kakarotto is number one now." The prince said simply, stepping out of the room and away from them all. He was surprised he wasn’t being followed, but he didn’t complain. He needed some time to himself to think things through.
Vejita made his way down several unfamiliar corridors until he came to a large window, where he had a good view of space. All he could see was blackness with a few shimmering stars here and there. It allowed his mind to become blank, which allowed him easy access to his thoughts. Kakarotto. He knew now that he loved the boy. It was obvious he had for some time now, he’d just been too stubborn to admit it. What the Hell was he thinking moments ago? He knew Freeza was watching. Surely, there were going to be problems now, nothing he couldn’t handle hopefully. Leaning against the wall, the prince wondered what the others would think if he made the boy his mate. Why did it matter what they thought? If he didn’t do something soon he was going to go crazy.
