Disclaimer: Anyway, I don't own anything to do with Dragonball Z. The amazing Akria Toriyama does. I only own the plot and my own characters.
Bardock's story
Chapter 11: Kayla
After the long journey back to Vegeta from Chosh, Bardock and his team landed. When they got out, Tora immediately patted Shugesh on the back.
"Thanks again, Shugesh."
"Don't mention it, Tora," Shugesh grinned, "but don't forget that you owe me one."
The two new friends laughed heartily as Bardock, Fasha and Borgos watched, smiling. But as they stood around, one of the deck crew came running over to them.
"Bardock," He called, "You've been ordered to find Commander Nappa as soon as you land."
"Why?" Bardock asked, frowning.
"No idea, sir. But he seemed furious."
Bardock turned to his team who stared, wide eyed. It didn't really take a genius to work out what Nappa wanted.
"I'll catch up." He assured a nervous looking team.
Leaving Tora and the others, Bardock set off to find Nappa's office.
When Bardock got to the door, he was slightly surprised when it opened. Then the surprises kept coming. Out of the office stepped her, the beautiful girl again.
"I'm not giving up on this, Kayla!" Nappa's voice boomed after her.
"Whatever, Commander" She replied coolly, not looking behind as she shut the door.
When she looked up, she stopped, stunned to see Bardock stood in front of her.
"Kayla, huh?" Bardock smiled, "You know you've got beautiful eyes and a great smile, Kayla?"
"Well, did anyone tell you you're a cocky bastard?" She replied, mischievously, "So, you are…?"
But before the young soldier could introduce himself, Nappa burst the door open.
"Bardock! Get your arrogant dick in here now!"
"There's your answer."
"Good luck, Bardock."
With a smile between them, Bardock finally did as Nappa ordered and went in to the office. As soon as he closed the door, the army commander let rip.
"Who the hell do you think you are, Bardock?" He demanded, "You are not in a position to decide when you abort a mission!"
"I was ensuring my team returned to Planet Vegeta safely." Bardock replied calmly, "After Tarro's death, I was determined to make sure no one else on my team ended up that way."
"We've lost a valuable planet! King Vegeta is furious right now, Frieza wanted that planet!"
"My team are far more important than expanding Frieza's empire, Commander."
Nappa snarled at how calmly Bardock was acting. The younger saiyan clearly wasn't intimidated by him. After the abuse from his father, the deaths of his mother and close friend and the, now resolved, chaos within his team, not even the mighty Frieza scared Bardock now. Nappa stared at Bardock for a few seconds. Then he turned away.
"Get out of my sight, bastard." He said threateningly.
With a slight nod, Bardock strolled out. But when he shut the door behind him, he was surprised to see Kayla stood outside the door, waiting.
"You're still here?"
"Waiting for you," She replied, "We've seen each other twice before yet it's only now that we get each other's names."
"Ah, so this is the best time to get to know me, right?"
Kayla smirked. "You can start by buying me dinner, I am starving"
With that, she turned and started walking in the direction of one of the nearest diners. Bardock stared for a few moments, his eyes taking in the sultry sway of her hips and tail, and then followed the delightful view of her bottom.
While Bardock was getting one of the best views he'd ever seen, Tora and the others had got themselves settled at the counter with a drink each. They had been there for a while, Tora and Fasha telling Shugesh stories of their first few missions together, one in particular had them laughing loudly.
"It was hilarious," Tora roared, "Bardock looked so stupid. His eyes were the size of dishes and he was practically shaking!"
"He was shitting himself!" Fasha blurted.
They almost fell off their seats as they laughed louder. When they started to calm down, it was Fasha who realised that they were still in a foursome.
"Hey guys," She said, "I wonder where Bardock is at."
"He can't still be in Nappa's office can he?" Borgos asked.
"I hope not." Tora replied.
"Maybe he's looking for us, doesn't know where we are." Shugesh suggested.
"Nah, we always drink in this bar. Bardock would come here to find us."
They all looked around and couldn't see their leader anywhere. Then, just as they were starting to worry, they spotted Kayla walking past the door. Then, just seconds later, Bardock was following her.
"Hey! Where's Bardock going?" Shugesh demanded.
"He looked like he was following that girl." Tora replied.
"That looked like Kayla," Fasha said, "Her hair and eyes are unmistakeable."
"And who exactly is Kayla?"
"She was Commander Sage's daughter, you know, the guy who lead the army before Nappa."
The eyes of the boys widened as they realised what this meant, Kayla was an elite and Bardock had expensive taste. The four saiyans looked at each other. Surely Bardock didn't stand a chance of pulling this girl, did he?
But, Tora and the others seemed to be wrong. After finally reaching the diner, ten plates of juicy food were placed on the table in between Kayla and Bardock. It didn't take long for them to tuck in. As they ate, Bardock noticed Kayla glancing at his scar on his face. It was intriguing her, not surprising considering the size of it.
"How did that happen?" She finally asked, pointing her finger.
"My so-called father," Bardock replied, "His idea of training was to try and kill me. This is from his first 'session' when I was about six."
Kayla's eyes narrowed as she took in this information.
"That's disgusting. Well, I personally think it suits you. You actually look like a warrior. Most guys look too feeble to be considered warriors."
Bardock couldn't help but smirk at that comment. It was a compliment but she had said in such a way that it sounded like a fleeting statement.
"So where were you and your crew off to when I first saw you?" She asked.
"A planet called Ethica."
On saying that planet's name, Bardock felt a pang of guilt at the memory of Tarro's death.
"What about you? Where were you going?" He asked.
"To the technician's lab, you know, Doctor Sports. I was helping him to update some scouters."
Bardock raised an eyebrow at that answer. Kayla saw the look.
"I don't go off on assignments like you do," She replied, "I love training and sparring with the right person is great fun but I'd rather not be involved with expanding Frieza's empire."
The latter part of that dialogue stunned Bardock a little. Kayla was a rebel to Frieza's cause and to pretty much every saiyan, including himself. Again, Kayla recognised the look on his face and smiled.
"I'm not saying I don't support you and the other warriors," She assured, "We saiyans are the greatest fighters around. But Frieza doesn't give us the respect we deserve, treating each of us as disposable, so I refuse to work for him."
"That's why Nappa roared at you earlier. He wanted to assign you somewhere."
"Well, assign me to a crew, yeah. But he's wasting his time."
Bardock smirked and leaned across the table staring at her. She smirked back, trying to decide what he was going to do.
"Good, we wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face of yours." He said, jokingly.
At least, Bardock thought it was a joke. Suddenly, before Bardock could register what was happening, Kayla stood up and slapped him straight in the face with her tail.
"I'll ruin yours if you speak to me like that again," She growled, "nobody objectifies me and gets away with it."
With a turn on her heel, Kayla strode out of the diner, leaving a stunned and speechless Bardock glued to his seat. But before she was gone from sight, Kayla stopped and turned back to face him to see him rubbing his face where she slapped him.
"If you want to try that again," She called, "I'll be training tomorrow morning, if you want try your luck."
She smiled seductively at him then slipped out. Bardock stared at the doorway, blinking, taking in what had just happened. Kayla may have hit him for crossing a line but she was giving him the opportunity to try again. Finally, a smug smile spread across his face.
"I think she likes me."