Chapter 21: What Friendship Really Means

1st POV

Zarbon didn't move for a long time. Then, when he did, it was just repositioning himself against the wall. I looked down to the boys, who refused now to let go of me.

Zarbon's pride was hurt more than anything else. That's why he hadn't moved. He had served Frieza for so many years, and now this was his payment. He was alone now. I wasn't going to let him stay alone.

"Do you see now? You could not take a beating from Frieza. He even beats his own men into remission." I shakily stood and pushed the boys off me gently. I walked the short distance to Zarbon's side. I gave him a look over. Besides both legs being broken, he seemed okay.

"Ms. Rina… is he okay?" Goten asked.

I didn't reply as I tried to make eye contact with Zarbon, but he wouldn't look at me. I took my hand and cupped his chin, and gently turned his head to face me. He still averted his eyes.

"Zarbon. Look at me." He still didn't look at me, "I am sorry… it is my fault you got hurt." I turned to the boys, "There is a closet over there. Get out whatever there is and bring it to me."

They nodded and went to the closet. I bent down as I made Zarbon look into my eyes. My gaze, like that of most females Saiyans, had the power to capture another's focus. It was like the other person was put into a trance. I was never very good at it, but with Zarbon's weakened state, it worked effortlessly.

"Zarbon, can you speak?"

"A… lit-tle." He choked out.

"Then do not speak if you do not have to. Is there anything else broken besides your legs?" he shook his head, but kept eye contact, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Just… my… pride."

"I told you not to speak unless it was necessary." The boys had come back with everything they had found in the closet. It wasn't much.

Some sheets, a few pillows, and some construction materials. Very odd things, but then, if this was a bomb shelter, they may have needed these things.

"Thank you, boys." I went through the stuff and sorted it out, "Zarbon, I need to see your legs. I may have to set them."

He nodded and reached down slowly to remove his blue legs sleeves. He hissed in pain as he slid the material off. Neither break had punctured the skin, but you could see the bones poking about and the bruising.

His right femur had been snapped, and his left kneecap was shattered. I looked through the construction material and found some wood planks. Those would work for splints.

I started to work with Zarbon's legs, pressing the right pressure points so the pain would die long enough for me to wrap and set his legs.

"You're very gentle." He whispered.

"So were you when I needed you to be."

The door opened, and Cell set a large tray of food on the floor, then shut the door and left without a word. It distracted us all for a second, but then I turned back and finished wrapping Zarbon's legs.

The boys brought the tray of food closer to us.

"We should all eat something." I said, turning to the tray. It was RME 's, basic military food and toiletry packs. I handed a few to Zarbon and the boys and I began to eat. They say to starve a cold and feed a fever, so I guess it was good for me to eat now.

"I can see now… just how amazing you've been all those years." Zarbon said, taking a bite of his bread, "You were beaten and abused so hard."

"I had to be strong for my people. But… you are pretty amazing too."

"Just like dad?" Trunks asked, making me turn to him.

"Yeah… I do not know what Frieza did to your father, and we can only guess that the two of us had similar situations." I looked down at the bread in my hand, now very interested in the texture, "Frieza had your father for a longer time than he had me…"

I realized Frieza must have had Vegeta for at least twice as long as he had me. How could Vegeta live, knowing his people were all dead?

Vegeta knew they were dead… but he never stopped fighting. I can't stop fighting either.

"Ms. Rina? I also found this in the closet." Goten pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to me. I looked it over, "Do you know what it is? It just looks like a bunch of dots to me."

"This is a music sheet." I said, looking it over. It was a full page, but only half of the page was filled out. Somehow I could read it, and it was beautiful. The page was ripped around the edges and there was a scorch marks on one side.

"Dad said your clan were musicians. Is that true?" Trunks asked.

"Yes. My clan was the best at music, yet… I never knew that because of my father. He was married into the Red Wolf clan, and did not have the same feel for music. I guess he did not like it. However it went… I had never heard music until I came to earth."

"That's a shame." Zarbon said.

"Can you sing that?" Trunks asked. I looked from him to the lines on the paper, "I mean, I know it doesn't have words, but…"

"Wolves do not need words." I said.

I looked over the music and tried a few notes, singing the tune. The boys and Zarbon watched and listened in awe as I went to the end of the short, unfinished piece. It was so haunting and yet, hopeful. I didn't want to stop, but I sang the last note for the set length and had to stop.

"That was beautiful." Zarbon said. I looked up, back in reality again, and looked to the boys, who were in awe.

"Whoever wrote this was very depressed at the time." I said.

"It must have been written during the last war." Trunks said.

"Who was earth fighting?" I asked.

"Well, uh… it was this country and a western country, I think."

"You mean earth was fighting itself?" Zarbon asked. Trunks looked embarrassed as he replied, looking at the floor.

"Well… yeah."

"Many planets do this… but from what I have seen, I thought earth had evolved passed that." I said.

"No… people here still judge you just because your skin is darker or lighter that theirs. It's happened to me before." Goten said. He sounded very mature for his age all of a sudden.

"What? When was this?" I asked.

"My mom tried to enroll me in a school in the city. While I was there, I started to play with another boy. But then his mama ran over and pulled him away, saying 'our people do not associate with their people' or something like that. His skin was really pale and he had red hair. He wasn't from this country, but I didn't care." Goten looked at his RME and sighed, putting it back down.

"She did not even know you were half-Saiyan, did she?" I growled, "Look at us. Zarbon looks nothing like us, does he? Does it matter to us?"

"Nope." Trunks said.

"Uh-uh." Goten added.

"Some people care, though. It's fear." Zarbon said.

"Before I went on my mission I had never seen anyone who was not Saiyan, but that does not mean I judged Frieza or anyone else on his ship by their looks alone. Well… I knew Frieza was trouble as soon I saw him, but it was his eyes that gave him away."

AS22: I got kinda preachy in this chapter, sorry ;; Review for the next chapter!

NEXT TIME: time is running out for Rina as the virus progresses.