Like the summary says, just a little reminder that there are four members in the Battalion.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, the Titanic or Police Academy Six.

Forgotten Soldier: Part I

"Please just come with us Aaron, Julia won't mind I'm sure." Mathilda was pleading, I quickly had to look away, she was using those eyes again, the ones that could make all three of us do everything for her, I loved her like a sister but this time I would not, I could not give in.

Aaron smiled, he always smiled.

"I can't go to a party to which I'm not invited Mattie, just go and have fun, I'll be fine."

Fine my ass.

"But Aaron, I'm sure Julia didn't mean it like that, I think she just…"

"Forgot?" Miguel snaps, his eyebrow is twitching; he looks like he could kill Julia right now. Hell, I'm feeling like killing her right now and I'm not exactly one of the most aggressive people around. The reason for Miguel's and my mutual murderous thoughts? Julia Fernandez, or to be more precisely her sweet sixteenth birthday party to which our team is invited save for one, Aaron. She just came up to us last week and gave us our invitations, with him standing right next to us! She ignored him completely and if it hadn't been for Mathilda being such good friends with her, I would have ripped that frilly pink piece of glittery paper right then and there.

"Just leave it captain, all three of you leave it, you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"It isn't nothing Aaron!" I hate it when he does this, when he just shrugs and pretends he doesn't care, like he is nothing. Oh, I know he cares, we all do, we all saw that flicker of hurt when Julia skipped him and just continued to chatter to the rest of us.

He shrugs, "I really don't see what you're all going on about, I don't even like parties." None of us do Aaron, Mattie and me are both too shy to loosen up and Miguel doesn't like complete strangers coming up to him, which always happens.

"Besides," he grins, "There's a great movie on TV tonight which I wouldn't wanna miss for anything." We've seen enough of his real grins to know that this one is fake, he has one of those grins that makes others smile too, when he really grins his whole face lifts up and his eyes start to sparkle, God knows how many times he has cheered us up with simply grinning. Most people however would have been convinced by that grin, he's a great actor, the best of our team I think. Sure, all four of us can lie like the best, but he always was the one to safe our necks whenever coach Barthez caught us doing something he didn't like, and believe me, to fool someone like Barthez you had to be good.

"Don't…" Miguel bites his tongue and looks away; I knew what he wanted to say. "Don't use those bloody movies as an excuse Aaron." You know those comedies in which the jokes are so bad that you start laughing at how lame they are instead of the actual joke itself? Aaron loved them, and whenever we went out and he was to be left behind he would use them so we wouldn't feel guilty.

"I said leave it you three, now go or you're going to be late, I'll be okay seriously."

Miguel opened his mouth again but I cut him off.

"I'm not going either, you all know how I feel in large groups so one party per week is more than enough for me." Apparently Raul did not agree with his sister's guest list so he was hosting his party coming Saturday, a party to which every beyblader was invited and not only the popular ones, or those in the clique, it sounds like something out of a bloody high school movie now I think of it.

"Claude you really don't have to stay for me, I told you…"

"That you'll be fine yeah, we got it but I just don't want to go." That wasn't a lie, from the moment Julia treated one of my best friends like garbage I decided that I didn't want to go, Miguel felt the same but he didn't want Mattie to go to that party on her own.

"That's settled than, now we need to go before," he looked at his watch, "scratch that we're going to be late but if we go now it can still be fashionable Mattie."

Mathilda had almost closed the door before Aaron's shout made her freeze.

"Good luck with limey!"

Miguel and I shared a confused look. Limey? Judging by the nice tomato shade of red her face had become and the small smile Mathilda knew what he meant.

She mumbled a small thanks before closing the door.

I blinked and looked at the still sniggering Aaron.

"Limey?"

"You'll know in time," he said as we walked into the living room, "In fact I think you'll know when they come back, at least I hope it for Mattie."

"C'mon, just one hint."

Shaking his head he laughed.

"I'm not telling you Claude."

"Pretty please?"

"I promised Mattie to keep my mouth shut."

"Fine I'll wait till tonight but if I don't know it by then I'll haunt you till you tell me."

Snickering he settled himself on the couch.

"Good luck with that."

"Hhmp." He wouldn't tell me, no matter how much I'd pester him, that was the reason Mattie always went to him first, he never broke a promise, if he said he'd shut up he'd shut up.

I heard him turn on the TV while I went into the open kitchen.

"Do you want a beer?"

"No thanks, but could you bring a bottle of water?"

"Sure," I gritted my teeth, always the damn water; he hadn't drunk anything else since Julia's invitation. None of us spoke about it but we knew that Aaron was sensitive about his weight. The thing with Aaron is that he likes good food, not the artery clogging junk most people would expect, he just ate too much of it. He immediately eats five apples instead of one, but whenever something liked this happened, when someone excluded him because of his appearances he would start eating half of what a normal person ate and the only thing he would drink was water. Oh, I know that Julia didn't invite him because of his looks, take me for instance. Julia and I aren't friends, I can't even remember ever having a real conversation with her, and I'm not exactly one of those that lit up a party but she still invited me. Why? Because for some reason she thinks I'm worthy of that bloody clique of hers.

Flopping down next to him, I tossed him his water.

"So what're we watching?"

"The Titanic."

I choke on my beer.

"What?"

"The Titanic," his face is completely serious.

"You're joking are you?"

He gives me an incredulous look, "What's wrong with the Titanic?"

"Nothing but, why?"

Aaron snorts, "The thing has eleven Oscars, it has to be good."

I just stare, my mouth is hanging wide open but he ignores me, his eyes are glued to the TV.

About ten minutes later he starts laughing uncontrollably.

The only thing I can do is blink, did I miss something? What the hell is so funny about a vault?

"You, you, I can't believe you fell for that!" He wheezes between fits of laughter.

My mouth must have fallen to the floor by now, he's clutching his stomach and I can see tears of laughter.

"Your face was priceless!"

"Uhh…" My vocabulary seems to have shrunken to that one sound.

Still shaking he grabs the remote and changes the channel.

"You really thought we were going to watch the Titanic?"

"Uhh, yes."

He shakes his head grinning.

"You're way to easy Claude; we're going to watch Police Academy Six."

We stare at each other and before I know it I'm laughing too, tears are actually rolling down my cheeks and my stomach hurts so much that I have to clutch it.

When the movie ends I'm still grinning like a loon, not because of the movie, it was just as bad as I thought it was going to be (but then again what can you expect from a comedy with six sequels?), but because of Aarons comments.

"Aaron?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you say we were going to watch the Titanic?"

He frowned while sipping from his beer. (He dropped the water after the second commercial, if everything stays okay I think he will be eating normally again by Thursday.)

"You needed to cheer up, there was something on your mind and you would have been brooding the whole night if I hadn't distracted you from it."

It was true, after that laughing fit I hadn't had a single thought about Miss Almighty's party.

"Claude?"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about me, as long as I have the three of you I'll be fine."

"But what she did was just low! There are things that you just can't do Aaron, and she did…"

"Claude, I don't even want to be liked by someone like her, just let her do whatever the hell she wants and forget it."

That was what he did best, he made people forget. With one comment he could crack someone up and make them forget their troubles just for a little while.

"Aaron?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for distracting me."

He just gives me a smile.

"No problem."

We sit in silence for a while, staring at the blank television screen and sipping from our beers.

"Claude?"

"Yes?"

"You do know that if Miguel ever hears about this sappy cheesy moment thingy we're never going to live it down do you?"

I can feel the corners of my lips turn up as I reply.

"Then I suggest we just forget."

We look at each other and he starts grinning too, a real grin, the one with which his eyes sparkle and his cheeks are filled with dimples.

"I think that is a very good suggestion Tackleberry."

This time I'm the first who bursts out laughing, he follows shortly.