Warning: Language!

Facing the Future

Chapter 7

Athea stayed in the room almost the rest of the trip, only coming out to bathe and eat. The saiyans didn't bring up the little prank they played on her weeks ago, therefore pissing Raditz off. All for their own amusement. Athea bit her lip, glancing over at the saiyan in question.

They were eating dinner, some sort of rice concoction that was thrown together. She didn't ask what was in it. Was scared too! She forked a piece of what looked like pork, studying it for a moment before sliding it off, instead scooping some 'rice' into her mouth. She refused to think of it as anything but rice. It was easier that way. If she thought too hard about it, she would starve while on this ship!

She sat her fork down, letting out a soft sigh, listening with half an ear as the men practically shoveled food into their mouths without breathing. Or chewing! She avoided watching them eat, instead studying the table until the long-haired saiyan beside her finished.

She had learned her lesson a few days ago. Having just finished their mid-day meal, she had been confident she could find the room without any help. Imagine her surprise when she got so turned around, she didn't know which way was which. She had finally stopped, sinking down onto the floor, waiting for someone to hopefully come along. She had been terrified of the possibility of nobody coming, leaving her to die of starvation or thirst. Raditz had finally showed up after what seemed like hours later, and she had burst into tears at the sight of him. Much to her embarrassment. But, surprisingly, the man hadn't said anything, just motioned for her to get up and follow him. Athea didn't traipse around the corridors by herself anymore, unless she was going to the shower. At least she knew her way there, not having to have the massive saiyan escort her every time she had to go to the bathroom!

Athea peeked over at the man, thoughts of that kiss still swirling around in her mind. She folded her arms, biting her bottom lip. She jumped a moment later when her plate was whisked out from under her nose, devoured before she could even look up to see who had taken it. She figured it must have been Raditz, seeing as how he was still eating as the other two men sat back, letting out small sighs. She tensed slightly as Nappa grunted, hoping he didn't pass any gas and drive them out of the room again. The man was just way beyond disgusting. No manners whatsoever! Why did Raditz want him to come again!?

Athea's head jerked up as Raditz stood, following him out of the room without a word as he quickly left, not looking back to see if she'd follow. She knew he knew she would. She'd been trailing him since she got lost, not wanting to experience that fear again. He pointed once they rounded a few corners, not pausing as he passed the door indicated. Athea stopped, glancing at the door before watching the massive saiyan disappear down some steps. She walked over, waiting for the door to slid open, taking a step in and letting the darkness descend as the door shut behind her. She let out a loud sigh, reaching over and cutting on a light. The saiyan must be going to train. She grunted softly, catching herself a moment later. Great! Now she was picking up his mannerisms! Athea rolled her eyes at herself, quickly changing into what she deemed sleep wear, a large shirt and stretch pants. She didn't know where Raditz got the clothing, having never seen anything belonging to a female the whole time she had been at his house. Nor on the ship. So where did he get these clothes from!? She shook her head, deciding it best not to question anything the man did so literately. He was actually being a little nice to her for a change.

He didn't snap at her when she asked him a question now, just sort of grunted. Athea became accustomed to interpreting what his grunts meant, from "No" to "Don't give a fuck". She bit her lip, climbing under the covers. The prince had seemed in an irritable mood earlier, so their sparring match would probably last awhile. At times like these, sometimes Athea didn't see Raditz until the "next day". Or what she deemed the next day. It was after she woke up, so...

It was hard to tell nighttime from day, the only indication was her body signals. She would get tired after dinner, and wake up several hours later, to start the day over again. These saiyans didn't believe in clocks, so she never knew what time it was. She often wandered how they knew what time to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And all the other times they ate. Maybe they didn't, maybe they just ate when they felt like it. Athea softly chuckled at that thought, not in the least surprised if that's what they were doing. She listened to her breathing in the silent room, staring up at the ceiling. She listened to the sounds of the ship, now familiar enough for her that she automatically tuned them out, not hearing them unless she focused on them. Like now. She heard the clank of pipes in the walls, a door whooshing shut somewhere down the hall. It sounded like the ship groaned, vibrating a little. Athea sighed, her thoughts going to the planet they were headed towards. Namek. Excitement bubbled in her chest, and she smiled. She would actually get to see Namek! Well...her smile slipped, replaced with a frown...that is if Raditz lets her off the dang ship! She grumbled a little at that thought, rolling onto her side. She closed her eyes after awhile, feeling light-headed. It washed over her as she dozed, staying in the realm of half-awake, half-asleep for awhile, before finally going under fully, thoughts of green namekians and a long-haired saiyan filling her dreams.

XXX

Raditz watched her eyes flutter, a whimper coming out of her a moment later. He had returned from his sparring match hours ago, intent on doing nothing but sleep for several hours. Instead he was sitting on the floor, watching the girl as she seemed to struggle in her sleep, gasps and small whimpers coming out of her every now and then. Her eyes flinched briefly, her hands balling into the pillow underneath her.

Apparently she was having a nightmare.

Raditz sighed, looking away. He wasn't going to get any sleep with the damn woman making all that noise! He looked back over, fixing to reach over and shake her when she let out a small cry, shooting to a sitting position. Raditz let his body relax, giving no indication that he was fixing to rouse her. He settled his arm on his raised knee once more, listening to her shallow breaths as she blinked the sleep from her eyes, glancing around nervously before realizing she was awake. Raditz narrowed his eyes.

"Oh," she whispered, after catching sight of him sitting on the floor. Raditz watched her tug the blanket closer, heard her swallow in the quiet room. "I...I hope I didn't wake you," the woman said softly, earning a grunt from him.

"I wasn't asleep," Raditz stated, looking away from her once more before leaning back, settling in his makeshift bed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes, slowly letting his body relax now that the girl wasn't making that godawful noise.

Raditz was jerked out of his dozing a few minutes later at the sound of Athea's voice, his eyes cracking open as he scowled.

"What?" he barked, irritation running through him. He was tired, dammit! And now the girl wanted to talk! Hell!

"I said, how was your training session," she asked softly. Raditz could hear the covers moving, rustling lasting for several seconds before her face appeared above him, leaning over the bed.

He frowned, closing his eyes to the sight. "Fine," he practically snapped, listening to the silence for a moment before breathing a sigh of relief, letting sleep overtake him once more.

"Goodnight Raditz."

Those soft words brought him out of his doze once again, his brows furrowing. He studied the side of the bed, listening to the girl settle back under the covers. He let out a silent sigh, studying the ceiling for awhile, deep in thought.

It was hours before he finally succumbed to sleep.

XXX

Athea let a small breath out, her eyes wide. They were floating just over the planet Namek, getting situated before descending on the unsuspecting race. Raditz had brought her up here almost an hour ago, then promptly ignored her as him and the prince did a maintenance check.

She looked behind her, where the two were looking over the fuel intake valves and checking the outer perimeter of the ship. They were softly talking amongst themselves, well...Vegeta was growling orders and Raditz was responding. Nappa had disappeared awhile ago, and she had no clue what he was doing. Athea looked back towards the massive window, swallowing hard. It had been exciting, yes...but to actually be there was a whole other story. She knew what happened on that planet. Well, what was supposed to happen. Things haven't exactly gone according to what knowledge she had of the series.

"Alright, that should do it."

The sound of Raditz' voice brought her out of her thoughts, turning towards the two. He was standing from laying underneath the console, having checked some small glitch in the ships' terminal. That was another thing that she hadn't known, that had came as a complete surprise to her.

Raditz was tech savvy, although he kept that knowledge tightly under wraps.

She didn't let on that she had figured that out, because the man acted as if he had no clue what she was talking about, when she had mentioned it once when she had caught him fiddling with his scouter one morning.

Athea didn't press the issue, just let it be. She knew for certain that the man was a lot smarter than he let on. She had laied there and watched him tinker with the device that morning, and she could tell that he knew what he was doing.

The prince grunted, turning towards the window and sitting in the control chair. He didn't once look over at her, having ignored her since him and Nappa had their fun with screwing with Raditz. The door slid open, Nappa strolling in.

"And where the fuck have you been?" Vegeta asked, not looking up from the control dash, his fingers moving over the keys.

A grin spread on the tall man's face, and he rubbed his bald head. He let out a small chuckle.

"Letting a load off," Nappa explained, rubbing his stomach.

Athea's nose scrunched in disgust, moving away from the man. Vegeta and Raditz sent him a disgusted look, the prince's lip curling back.

"Stay the fuck away from me," he stated, looking back down at the controls. "Get your asses in the seats. We're fixing to descend."

Raditz moved towards her, brushing passed Athea and taking the additional front seat. He buckled up before glancing over at her, flicking his head at the seat behind him. Athea nodded slightly, not saying anything as she buckled in, trying to hold her breath as Nappa sat beside her. She wasn't successful, coughing as she caught a whiff of the man. He smelled like diarrhea!

"What the hell is that!?" Vegeta said loudly, his tone laced with disgust. He glanced behind him, letting a snarl out. "Did you even clean yourself!?"

"Of course Prince Vegeta," Nappa said simply, shifting in his seat.

A moment later a loud sound ripped through the air.

"Oh God!" Raditz shouted, coughing.

"I'm going to fucking kill you Nappa!" Vegeta snarled, covering his nose with both hands. "You're revolting!"

Athea copied the prince, covering her nose as tightly as possible. Her eyes watered, looking out the large window as the planet came closer and closer.

Please hurry! Let me off of here!

Her eyes never left the scenery in front of her as they broke through the atmosphere, her hands still clenched over her face. In fact, everyone's was.

Except for Nappa.

Vegeta was still snarling and snapping curse words at the bald man, and Raditz was glaring at the man, his eyes glistening at they teared up.

Athea's shoulders fell in relief as they finally came close to land, the ship shaking a little as they landed. She scrambled to unbuckle her seat belt, Raditz and the prince already standing. The long haired saiyan disappeared within seconds, while Vegeta let out a snarl, punching the bald man behind him hard in the jaw. Athea's eyes widened a little as Nappa's head jerked back, before falling forward. He didn't move.

"Nasty son of a bitch," Vegeta snapped, glancing over at her before crossing his arms and leaving the control room.

Athea stood, quickly leaving the room and the aroma coming from it. She followed the prince, since Raditz had already left. She followed him out of the ship, pausing behind him when he stopped on the lowered dock. His tail unwrapped from his waist, flicking back and forth slightly. She saw his head cock a little to the right before the sound of him sniffing the air reached her ears.

"What is that...smell," he said softly.

Athea saw his shoulders tense, his tail quivering a little before doing a little mesmerizing dance. He suddenly sucked in a breath, slowly turning towards her. Athea took a step back when she saw the gleam in his eyes.

"Oh shit!" Raditz said from somewhere outside, before he appeared at the bottom of the ramp. Athea gulped, looking over Vegeta's shoulder at the long haired saiyan, a question in her eyes.

"What-" she asked, her voice shaking a little.

She cut off when Vegeta took a step up, moving closer to her. He suddenly leaned forward, his eyes piercing as he slowly inhaled.

"Prince Vegeta," Raditz said quickly, his voice slightly apprehensive. He waited until the prince slowly turned, those black obsidian orbs lit with an unnatural light.

That was the longest minute of Athea's life.

"I sensed some powerful ki signal's off to the right, several miles away sire," Raditz stated, swallowing when Vegeta finally turned his head and looked at him.

The man finally moved, his tail still twitching as he reached the ground. The prince didn't look back at her as he lifted into the air. Raditz met her eyes as he hurried over to her, his gaze sharpening on her face when he caught a whiff of what was making the prince react that way towards her.

"Go," he commanded softly, his voice a octave lower than usual.

Athea opened and closed her mouth, confused as to what was making them change so suddenly. She felt a warmth in her lower region, and her eyes widened. Athea could feel her face go beat red and took a step back.

"You'd better take care of that brat," Raditz said softly, his tail starting to flicker exactly like the prince's. "You don't want three horny saiyans attacking you, believe me when I tell you girl, it won't be very pleasant for you."

Athea felt her face burn even more, flustered and completely mortified. They were reacting to her...her menstrual cycle! She swallowed hard, avoiding the man's gaze as she went back into the ship.

How the heck was she supposed to avoid another confrontation like that!?

"Aw, man!" she whined as she reached her room, shifting through the stuff the man had given her over the passed month, before going towards the bathroom.

She had to stay on the ship after all! Well, until this little problem passed. She scowled at herself, frustrated that she would have to be cooped up in this damn ship for the next several days before it was safe for her to leave.

Her face flushed again, remembering the look Raditz had been given her. His heavy lidded eyes, the gleam in them as they trailed over her figure. Oh God! She swallowed, a small shiver running through her. Did she want the saiyan to make a move on her!?

Her brain shouted "Yes!" as she stepped into the shower, biting her lip. Athea resisted the urge to bang her head against the shower tiles. Was she an idiot!? The man didn't like her like that! And she was too young, well...too young in her mind. He was a man!

And she was just his ward.

XXX

~Chapter by GVLuver~