Make a Difference von Nevaeh ================================================================================ Kapitel 17: ------------ “Why can´t I go back to Vegeta-sei?” Yasai didn´t even look at him, she was busy scrolling on her phone. “Can´t play babysitter.” She looked up, a mean grin tugging on her lips. “You get to talk to your little friend, what are you even complaining about? Do you want a video call?” “I did what we agreed upon. Of course I´m complaining!” Yasai finally got up. As if that would scare him, she barely reached his nipples. “Cilek will pick you up tomorrow. I will mention your efforts to the king, don´t worry.” She smiled and patted his shoulder. “I don´t give a fuck, Yasai, I just want to…” Her hand had shot out quicker than he had been able to see, choking him enough to make him gasp. “See, you´re not the strongest around anymore. And you have never been the best fighter… just do what you´re told.” She let go of him and Goten turned around and left, hating himself every second of the way back to his quarters. She was right, of course. There was not much he could do. And getting beaten up didn´t change anything or help anyone. He only hoped that no one ever knew what a god damn coward he was. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “…and on the top floor is the bridge. If you can´t remember right away, you can look up the floor plan on all those panels.” Cilek pointed to one of the displays on the wall, the size of a sheet of paper. He leaned in closer and Goten suppressed the urge to back off. “It all looks the same anyway.” Cilek laughed and patted Goten on the shoulder, gesturing at him to follow. At least someone had fun. He strolled over to the middle of the room and got cozy on the huge chair. It did look a bit like in the movies though… “Alright Gohtin, enough introduction, let´s get started.” Goten stopped next to the chair, eyeing the other people in the room. They all tried their hardest not to stare at them. “With what even?” Cilek turned around, looking at Goten as if he was joking. “Well, learning the job? Hasn´t Yasai told you? I thought I had sent a little instruction guide…” Goten snorted and crossed his arms. Fucking bitch. “She told me you´d pick me up and that´s it. So enlighten me, please.” “Alright, I had wondered about your lack of eager questions. You´re my new apprentice. I know, it´s unusual, you´re not in the troops and a mixed bastard and all that but I talked about it with Yasai and since you´re staying here, you might as well become useful.” Goten´s gaze turned stony. “Am I, now?” “Sure, where would you go?” Cilek smiled as if it was the easiest thing in the world. “Can´t let you get in the lower ranks, you´re too strong and we already know you and sometimes it´s good to bend the rules a bit, eh?” He still smiled and Goten just wanted to punch his teeth out. “Also, Poroto´s territory is now without a commander and I can´t do it all on my own. I mean, I can, but it´s also good practice.” Goten huffed, trying not to rub his eyes and scream. This was all absurd! “For me becoming a commander?” Now Cilek looked confused. Had taken him long enough. “Of course not, we´re bending the rules a bit, not throwing them out the airlock! A diplomat! I can use someone who´s good with the natives on the planets we control and you are quite…” “Nice.” Cilek frowned. “Yeah… but every fault can be good for something. And you´re a good talker, you actually did a good job teaching all that crap.” Not to you… Goten pressed his lips together. This was all insane! “Can´t say I´m much on board with all of that.” Cilek laughed, harsh and short and not amused anymore at all. “Gohtin, you´re not getting asked. You just do it. You should be glad.” He stared at Cilek for a while before he slowly turned around and left the bridge. “Where are you going?” “My quarters. Don´t worry, I´ll find the way.” Cilek didn´t respond to that. Maybe he would at least get half an afternoon to think about it. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ His head was pounding when an alarm went off the next morning and the lights went on automatically in the small room that had been assigned to him. He groaned and rubbed over his face. He hadn´t slept a second, his thoughts running in overdrive since the moment he had entered the room. It was all a mess… He simply didn´t know what to do. And it didn´t make it better that he felt homesick to a degree it was almost physically hurting him. The longer he and Bra were separated, the worse it got. She was the only normal part of it all and if he was honest… he had told her he wished Trunks was here, or his dad. Because Trunks always knew what to do and his dad was just… he was friends with the gods, for fuck´s sake, he would figure a way out of this. But he didn’t miss them the most. He missed his brother, and so much had happened that he wanted to talk to him about, and… his mum. If it hadn´t been for her Bra and he would´ve probably been dead by now or god knows where the saiyans would´ve dumped them. She had trained him after all. He turned around and suppressed a laugh, knowing he would most certainly start crying. They used to talk almost every day and it had been months and he was just so sick of it! And no matter how he turned it around in his head, he just saw no way to make it better! The alarm started beeping again. Goten reluctantly got up, knowing that if he didn´t appear in time someone would come and get him. He was in no mood for an argument. Better get it over with. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “What do you mean? You can´t just…” Cilek´s eyes were wide and angry and Goten saw the woman with the short hair on the console right behind Cilek staring very focused on the same spot without moving. It´s always the same when the boss gets angry… Smiling, he looked back at Cilek. “What, you wanna force me? As far as I remember you´re the one who didn´t ascend. And I don´t guess you want to call your buddies to beat me up?” Cilek started grinding his teeth. Good. “I´ll go back to my room. You can decide if you want to let me stay or throw me out on the next planet.” “Listen Gohtin. You should consider your options very carefully. You´re new to this, that´s the only reason I will tolerate another day of stubbornness. You better know what is good for you tomorrow, because believe me, you should stick to your people.” Cilek turned around, barking some orders at his very uncomfortable crew while Goten slowly left the bridge. He didn´t go back to his room, instead he left at the third floor, where the recreational rooms where. You could also… place a call. It took almost half an hour until he had Bra on the phone, she was busy with some lectures or whatever but he didn´t care. He didn´t care at all! “Goten, what happened, are you alright?” Sure she would think that. He had never called first. “Yes, I´m good. I just wanted to know if you are fine.” “Yeah, it´s ok. Finally feeling better again…” He frowned. That was weird, they had talked a couple of days ago and… “What? Did someone hurt you?” She laughed, loud and heartily. It definitely wasn´t the right reaction, he had feared someone would do something to her, now that he was away and couldn´t protect… his thoughts stopped right there. He couldn´t protect her. He couldn´t. “Please Goten, I can take care of myself. I had a cold. Can you imagine? Now I understand why mum always acted as if she was dying! It does feel a little bit like that…” “What?” A cold? She had been sick? But… “How is that even possible, we never get sick!” “I know, right? I guess it´s only human germs we´re immune against, now that we´re with our other people the little buggers seem to be more potent. But I`m good now. I was actually allowed to stay at home, legally. Even the saiyans have to admit that a cold is awful.” She laughed again and it sounded sincere. He closed his eyes for a moment, thanking whoever wanted to listen that Bra was ok. “So, why did you call?” “Nothing in particular. Just wanted to hear your voice.” Getting a little bit of normality back. Even if he had to grasp it with both hands. “Are you getting romantic on me?” She huffed, and was quiet for a moment. “Same, though. My teacher is nice but besides her I´m really… lonely.” “I´m so sorry I´m not back yet.” But he would make it right. He had to. “It´s not your fault. Don´t worry about it. Goten, have I told you that I´m meeting little dad again?” “Vegeta? How did you…?” “Can´t tell on the phone, but doesn´t matter. It´s only a short time every two weeks for now, but hey, better than nothing. It´s the only thing I can look forward to.” “I´ll be back. I promise.” There was no reply for so long that Goten assumed the connection was broken. He was about to hang up when Bra spoke again, so soft he could barely hear it. “You can´t promise that. But I´ll do my best to get to you first.” And then she hung up.  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Later that evening, Goten lay in bed, trying to get the mess in his head in order. He hadn´t thought the short talk with Bra would… leave him like that. Vulnerable. Hurt. She… she shouldn´t be the one protecting him. But that´s what she did since they arrived, hadn´t she? She had negotiated and argued and managed to give them proper ground to work from. And all he had done was… kill someone. He turned around and pushed his head in his pillow, a feeble attempt to drown out all the accusations running through his mind. All he had done was following, and now that he was on his own he didn´t manage to do anything well either! If he were at home, he would… he chuckled. He would be writing, of course. He had just been done with the first draft of his new novel, but he hadn´t touched a pen since he got here. He hadn´t really felt like it. He turned around again. He had to… he had to think this through. If he wanted to get back to Vegeta-sei, he could take Cilek hostage and make them fly back to the planet. And then what? He couldn´t fight against everyone, there were billions of people on the planet and to make matters even worse, Yasai was right. She was stronger than him. Mikan and Nashi probably as well, most certainly. Fighting had always been a fun hobby, and since both he and Trunks had jobs and less time they barely met for a spar. It just wasn´t worth it. And his advantage in strength was gone as well. He hadn´t known he had grown that weak over the years, Yasai wasn´t even that strong as a newly made super saiyan… So he wouldn’t get back. Not like that. Bra had the same problem, besides the fact that she hadn´t been a fighter to begin with. He could play along, of course. Cilek wasn´t wrong, it was a good position he offered him and Goten had realized that much that the saiyans tended not to be nice if possible. He wouldn´t get the chance twice. Considering… what if they never got back? Bra thought about going to Namek, but they don´t know where it is and they definitely don´t want to lead any saiyan to the planet. They could go to Earth, his dad was probably there, but that would just be a reminder of everything they didn´t have anymore. Besides, they had the same problem as with Namek. They could just try and be on their own, but without any money or any knowledge about the society they were in… So that was it. That´s what they needed. Goten got up, his eyes moving frantically in his head. Cilek was right, spot on, Goten was good with people and for fuck´s sake he would use it! If he refused he would get nothing out of it, but if he agreed… he could learn from the devil himself and when the time was right, they wouldn´t be completely thrown into cold water. And he could write again. No one was able to read his script and language, and it would feel good to just take notes, to just do something! Grinning, he got up and started walking up and down his small room. It didn´t matter what Yasai and her lackeys were doing, he didn´t care if they killed Freeza or not. He only cared that Bra and he were safe. And this was the best way to do it. He slept soundly that night for the first time in weeks. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “Glad you came around, Gohtin, now you only need a uniform!” Cilek beamed at him, clearly happy he didn´t have to deal with more unpleasantness. No wonder that one hadn´t ascended, he obviously preferred things not to get too heated. And without high emotions… “I`m not going to wear one.” Cilek sighed, a long and heavy sigh. “Not another insubordination, commander, but why should a diplomat wear a military uniform?” Cilek eyed him for a while before he shook his head. “I have a feeling that you will be too good for this, Gohtin. Alright, for the beginning I got some reading material on this datapad…” Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)