"It's good to see you Omega, you've been thought dead for several years now"
"I expected as much, what exactly do you want me to do?"
*Good question Zoe, he might be more helpful on your search but at the same time...*
*I know Jazz, let me think for a moment*
After a few minutes Zoe had obviously made up her mind
"Okay so here's the plan, Omega, you and I are going to take...uh I just realized I never actually caught your name big guy"
"Linsaranato"
"Right, Omega and I will be taking you home and then Omega is going back to Earth, no wait actually you're heading to Cybertron first Omega, just remembered that Ratchet and First Aid are both stuck there for at least another six months for reasons I never caught. While we take Linsaranato home though we're going to let the rest of the family know that you're alive, once that's done I will find a way to rendezvous with the rest of the group to continue our own mission"
"Thanks Zoe, but what good am I going to be to my family like this?"
"We'll heal you on the way home big guy, either Omega will be able to or I will be able to but either way you'll be back home and completely healed I promise"
"By the way, what exactly are you doing out here Zoe?"
"Jazz, you get to explain the full situation to Omega while I start seeing what all, besides what I've done, has happened to Linsaranato"
And so Omega is given a full update on what was going on and that's when another sort of good thing happened to the group, when Omega was shown a picture of Jiban he gasped
"What is it?"
"I know him, I never learned his name but I fought him once"
Zoe who had managed to hear that part spoke up
"When?"
"Zoe?, what is it?"
"Omega please, I have to know when you fought him"
"At least two years ago"
"I see, then ultimately nothing about my mission has changed"
"Zoe?"
"He's dead Omega, don't know how long but I found out about two months ago"
"Then I should stay and help"
"No, you need to report back to the Primes and Galvatron once Linsaranato is home, they'll decide your mission from there after you're cleared by Ratchet or First Aid"
"Understood"
"Wait, while your data is two years old it might still be useful, what are the coordinates of the fight you two had?"
And so Omega shows the group the coordinates and then he and Zoe take Linsaranato home with Zoe being the one to heal all of his injuries
"Thanks Ms. Kerenai, for allowing me the chance to come home"
"You're welcome, I just wish I could have done more for the other fighters"
"Some day there will be change, I promise, more and more of the slaves being forced to fight are talking about a revolt, and the events are being found by police more often too somehow which is breaking up the slave rings and thus the gladiator rings"
"I see"
"Still, maybe I can..."
"No, you deserve to be home just like all the other slaves, you've suffered enough"
"Very well, but if I find word on your friend's killers I'm sending word immediately, and if my family allows it I'm joining in on the hunt"
"I won't stop you, and I know you can fight but be careful if you do just that, we don't want you recaptured and needing to be freed from the gladiator rings again"
"I understand, good luck finding your friend"
"We won't find him, but his killers are another story, they'll be found, arrested, and tried on Earth for their crimes"
"Well I'll help you if I am allowed and can, here's my frequency to call me if you need to"
And with that the two left and rendezvoused with the rest of the team before Omega continued on to Cybertron
"So, time to follow those coordinates"
"Indeed, let's hope they lead us to our ultimate goal"
"Agreed"
Three months later and they would come across the second nasty surprise, pirates which managed to damage their ship severely enough that once they landed on a planet they could no longer use it for travel of any kind safely
"Now what?"
"Good question, I think we might need to barter for our ride"
"This is going to take a while"
As it turned out though it didn't take as long as suspected due to the fact that one of the Cybertronian allies were in the area, recognized Jazz and had a solution to their dilemna within two weeks
"This ship is now forever yours you guys, and you can protect yourselves from the pirates in this area and any other that you might come across"
"Thanks, and...pass the word that we're looking for the killers of this guy, if possible they're to be arrested and sent to Earth for trial"
The group shows a photo of both Jiban and his killers as far as the group was aware they looked liked anyways
"We'll keep an eye out we promise"
"Then I guess it's time we started our search again"
And so the group continues the search and soon enough it had been a year since Zoe had started traveling the universe with the EDC to find Jiban's killers and each lead they followed gave them another lead to follow that was considered solid enough to continue their mission
"So, a year huh?"
"Yeah, so much has happened, we lost our first ship but gained another, found and saved Omega, we've gained many allies and...well we keep getting closer to our ultimate goal"
"Yes, we do indeed keep getting closer to our ultimate goal"
"In any case we should...Jazz we're about to be boarded, I've received an intergalactic message that states we are to stay in position or be fired upon"
"But who?...oh okay I know what's going on, just follow my lead everyone and it will all turn out okay"
And so the group that sent the signal for boarding boarded and Jazz gave the intergalactic peace greeting and explanations about who they were and then the entire group was shocked when the group responded back in English
"Understood, do you want to introduce us then?"
"Probably for the best, everything is good guys, these are intergalactic police officers who decided to board us on suspicion of piracy, but I explained who we were so instead they'll simply be doing a safety inspection"
"Also, what are humans doing so far away from home?, I get that some of them are EDC officers what with Jazz the Cybertronian here but one is obviously not"
"We're looking for the people who killed this person"
Zoe shows Jiban's picture and one look was all it took for everyone to cue in that something was up
"What is it officers?"
"It's just that, either we've seen an extremely good look alike or that person isn't as dead as you think they are because we've seen them"
(Sighs) "I might have a very good reason behind that, but first I need to know exactly when you saw this possible look alike"
"About two months ago"
"Two months your time or two months Earth time because those are potentially two very different things"
"Two months Earth time"
"Then...then as of two months ago, if it really is him, he was alive, where did you see this person?"
"During a raid on a combined illegal gladiator ring and slave trading ring, they managed to get a tip off that we were coming but not soon enough that we couldn't free some of the slaves there, though that person was being hauled away in a cage when we arrived"
"Do you have anyone really good at going undercover?"
"We have several people"
"Then...if I may make a request"
"What is your request and I'll make a decision based off of that"
"Could you send people undercover while spreading this picture around to said undercover agents, along with a message?"
"Of course, if you're out here searching for this person then they must be important"
"Then here's the message, once your people confirm that it is him, his name's Jiban by the way, tell him that Kerenai and her family are looking for him and will follow any and all leads until he's safely with us once more"
"Will do, and we'll contact you if we find him or his captors and then turn them over to you guys"
"Thanks, though depending on various factors we might ask you guys to act as guards for the prisoners"
"And we'll gladly do so"
And so the officers do their inspection which they pass and then six months later was the second best day ever in Zoe's mind since this whole journey started, Jazz received a private comm that he decided he would speak his half out loud
"Jazz here go ahead...really?...I see...okay...okay...where's the location?...okay we're on our way Jazz out"
Jazz then turns to Zoe and switches to Cybertronian
*He's been found Zoe, an officer managed to get into the same circuit as him and there was a raid at said officers signal and he's free, Jiban is currently being checked out at a medical facility and will be waiting for us at said facility as a guest once he's medically cleared*
*Then what are we waiting for?, let's go*
And with that Jazz inputs the coordinates and after several more months, on Zoe's 21st birthday she sees Jiban in person for the first time since she was fifteen
"Jiban...Jiban!"
She rushes up to him and then switches immediately to Japanese
*I've missed you so much*
*I'm sure you have, I'm sorry it took so long to be able to return home*
*Not your fault, though admittedly there's going to be a lot of paperwork to get you declared alive in your two identities...again*
*Couldn't be helped unfortunately, and I suspected that I was declared dead some time ago so I'm ready for the paperwork*
*Good, now then are you cleared to leave?*
*Yes, I was cleared within a week of my arrival*
*Then let's go home*
*Home...that sounds nice*
*Yeah, and once we're home we both have training to get to, you need basic retraining possibly while I need to go through the entire police academy since I've finally decided to become a full-time police officer instead of a dispatcher*
*Wait, what?*
*Yeah there's a lot you need caught up on, but more importantly you should know you don't have to worry about finding a place to live immediately*
*Really?*
*Yes Jiban, you're going to be staying at my place until you feel ready to move out on your own, it's a two bedroom apartment that I deliberately got for the day you were found...though I admit I did start losing hope when your weapon was found along with the story of your vaporization*
*Still, are you sure you'll still have it when you return?*
*Yeah, it's being used by the EDC as a safehouse at the moment at my request, kind of like what you did with your place*
*In any case you two let's get going so that we can get home and deal with all the paperwork that needs dealt with*
*By the way my captors were arrested if you weren't aware of it and they are here*
*Then we'll ask the intergalactic officers for help in escorting them back to Earth*
*Which we're prepared to do, we have a prisoner transport ship ready and waiting for your signal*
*Then give them the signal and once they arrive we'll get going*
And with that the group departs and on board is when they celebrate Zoe turning 21
"Happy birthday Zoe"
"Whoa, I didn't even remember my own birthday"
*I remembered*
"Uh Jiban, is it just you wanting to speak your native language or can you only speak in Japanese while still understanding English completely?"
*Bit of both actually, I'm enjoying speaking my native language but... the problem is I've been doing that since shortly after my rescue and the medics don't know how to correct that problem *
"Okay, how have you been communicating with the staff this entire time knowing that you don't know intergalactic languages?"
*Fortunately I can still write in English and one of the intergalactic officers stayed with me the entire time to help facilitate communication*
"That would definitely help, I think we may need to make a stop on Cybertron first though so that Ratchet or First Aid can look at you"
"I thought they would be back on Earth by now Jazz"
*Omega, his injuries were worse than initially expected and his repairs are taking longer because of that*
*Is Omega no longer field capable?*
*We're not sure yet*
*Understood*
Because Jazz and Zoe had spoken in Cybertronian no one knew about Omega possibly not being field capable anymore
"In any case they can check on you there and deal with any issues that I can't"
*Understood*
Ultimately Jazz would be unable to deal with the language issue, which frustrated Naoto but he also understood that there was little that could be done to change it. Six months later the group made it to Cybertron (due to the fact that since on the way to where Jiban ultimately was they had to make several stops and a winding path while the route home was more direct so it took less time)
"There's Cybertron, I called ahead and First Aid is there and waiting at the medical facilities for you Jiban, hopefully the rest of the damage can be repaired then which means you'll be able to speak English whenever you want"
"Indeed, and thus since you were told about Yoko speaking English you can keep each other in practice"
*Yes, why did she start anyways?*
*It truly was for herself, but it helps in her job too*
*Are there any other liaisons from the police to the EDC?*
*No, we've refused one ever since...*
*Since I was taken?*
*Yeah, to keep your secret mainly but there were other reasons as well that we never really explained to your fellow officers*
*I see, guess once I am cleared for active duty again I'm the liaison once more*
*With rules this time around*
*For my safety?*
*Yes*
*Makes sense*
An hour later and Naoto was able to speak English or Japanese at will, it turned out that while the people who found and rescued him had done a pretty good job dealing with his injuries there were shorted out wires that they weren't aware of and thus couldn't replace that dealt with Naoto's ability to talk in the two languages that he could speak, thus his programming prioritized his ability to speak his first language of Japanese while relegating English to a nonessential section where it made it impossible to speak any English, but because he was around intergalactic police officers who spoke English due to past work with the EDC his programming allowed him to write in English at the very least
"Come on you two let's get you home"
"Home...yes let's go home I don't mind the paperwork I have to sign to be declared alive again and the training I'll have to go through again, just seeing my friends again will be good enough for me right now"
"Jazz, do they know about Naoto?"
"No, we haven't told them anything as a precaution"
"Jaaazzzz..."
"Hey blame the Primes and Galvatron for that decision Zoe, they didn't want to create any false hopes considering..."
"Oh...that probably was a good idea actually now that you reminded me about that"
"What's going on you two?"
"It's just, there's been times after your disappearance and eventual declared death that the police were told about leads, the last time that happened and the lead didn't really go anywhere's the entire force got seriously depressed and it was decided that unless you were well and truly home they wouldn't get any more updates about you"
"Oh, so about how long until we reach Japan?"
"About two months of travel altogether"
"Understood"
"By the way, there's something you need to know Naoto that I completely forgot"
"What is it?"
"Yoko knows about you"
"Um...what are you talking about exactly?"
"She knows that Jiban and Tamura Naoto are one and the same"
"Oh, that secret, I'm fine with her figuring it out...that is if she did figure it out and no one actually told her"
"She figured it out on her own"
"Then that's fine, I always thought she might have figured it out"
Two months later and Naoto was back in Japan in several years while Zoe was back after about two and a half to three years
*I'm home everyone*
*Welcome home Zoe, Jiban we have a question, do you know about your living arrangements?*
*Yes, but I need some things before I actually move in Zoe*
*Kind of figured that Naoto that's why I factored in shopping before both of us reporting in to work*
*So, a day of shopping to get me what's needed and then we reveal my presence?*
*Yes*
*Guess I'm going to your...I mean our place tomorrow to see what all I need but I think that for tonight we're staying on base*
*Agreed, I did that even after I moved out on my own because of late meetings or simply because I wanted to spend time with my family*
The next day and after Naoto had seen what all was already in Zoe's apartment (which was basically enough cookware, plates, bowls, utensils and a bed in both rooms seeing as how Zoe had no tv or couch) the group went shopping for what Naoto wanted in his room and they also got a tv and couch for both of them to use should they want to watch a movie or the news and doing all the needed shopping did take half the day
