Breaking Free

Breaking Free Chapter 3



I do not own Dragonball Z.

It has been a month since æthe incidents its it was being called now. She was still mad about
the entire thing. It wasn't like she fell in love with Zen, she didn't want to make him her mate. It
was about her father controlling her life. Taking all the fun out of it.

He had taken away any privileges she might have had before. Now everywhere she went, she
was shadowed by two female guards. They were given strict orders not to let the princess out
of their sight. She had killed the first two assigned to her, so now if she gave them any trouble,
they called her father. It was a nightmare. The palace was now nothing more than a lavish prison.

It had been the last straw. She had to get away or she would go insane. Bra spent the first
week in her room, refusing to see anyone. She spent the time thinking of a way to get out. No
one really knew what she looked like, because she had been out of the public eye since her
mother's death. But, her blue hair and eyes would be a dead give away. Not to mention the
moment her father and brother felt her ki leave the palace they would track her down.

These were the things she had to work on if she was to get out. Her hair wasn't a big problem.
She simply concocted a black hair die that she could wash out with a special solution. Her
eyes had taken a little more time. Eventually she came up with brown contacts, something she
got from her mother's journal. None of it really mattered though, if she couldn't hide her ki.

That was what she spent the last couple of weeks working on. Before her mother's death, she
had been working on a device that could completely hide someone's ki, like they didn't even
have one. That wasn't what Bra needed, but it was a start. She only had to modify it to change
her ki slightly. This took up every available moment of her time. It was her ticket out, if she
could figure out how to do it. Her ki was like a beacon to her family.

Bra had just spent the last 15 hours straight in her mother's lab. It was late, about four in the
morning, she figured. No one had even bothered with her in the last day. Trunks' and Pan's
wedding was later today, so they were busy preparing for that and so was her father, much to
his displeasure. Her guards had fallen asleep some time ago. Bra was putting the finishing
touches on her device. She had spent the last two and a half weeks working on it. She didn't
know if it would work or not, but it was her only hope. As far as she could figure it would
work. There were only a couple of bugs she hadn't managed to work out.

Bra sighed and sat back in her chair, looking over the little device she constructed. She had
set the tiny circuitry into an anklet. Even though she was running away didn't mean she couldn't
do it with some style. On the countless times her father had asked her what she was doing,
she had actually shown him the device, saying it was a wedding present for Pan. Pan. She
couldn't really believe she was going to be leaving her. She could hardly remember a day
when she wasn't with her, except for the last month. But Pan would be ok. She had her
brother now and they were going to be mated tonight.

And tonight was when she was going to make her escape. It was the best time. After the
ceremony, everyone would most likely be drunk and would not miss her. She wouldn't have
time to test her invention before she used it. She just hoped it worked like it was supposed to.

She yawned and stretched then looked over to her guards. One was snoring like an idiot.
Disgusting,' she thought making a face. I should just leave them here. But then father would
have kittens and not let me out of his sight.' Bra laughed, picturing her father with kittens. No,
he was upset enough already with the wedding and would be in a stink after discovering her
gone tomorrow. Bra shot a small blast in the direction of the guards. The explosion startled
them awake. She stood, giving them a dirty look and went back to her room.

**********************

"Hey, Old Man! You still alive in here?" Goten yelled as he walked into his grandfather's
house. Bardock came from the other room followed by Callie and Tavis. Goten smiled seeing
Callie with her one-year-old son Avis. He walked over to the both of them and gave them a
hug, earning a dirty look from Tavis.

Goten stepped back to look at the two of them, ignoring Tavis. "Hey little guy, you're getting
pretty big." Goten said to Avis. He started making stupid faces at him and Avis laughed.

Callie laughed too. "Goten when are you ever going to grow up?"

He stopped with his face making and looked at her. "Never. Who wants to get old and not
have any fun?"

Tavis snorted. "That's why you'll never be a real warrior, Goten. You're not serious enough.
That's why you'll never be a squad leader." He said with a superior smirk on his face.

Goten shot him a dirty look. "Funny, it's always enough to save your sorry ass."

Callie saw the growing tension between the two warriors and intervened. "Hey, knock it off
you two. I made some dinner. Enough even for the æbottomless pit' over here. Why don't we
go eat?"

Goten immediately forgot about Tavis at the mention of food and took off for the kitchen.
Callie laughed and grabbed a hold of the frowning Tavis and followed him.

"Are you going to eat with us Bardock?," She asked as she walked away.

"No, not too hungry right now. Make sure that cub gets enough. You know how Goten can
be." He heard Callie laugh from the kitchen. He went over to his couch and sat down. He
could hear Callie and Goten in there laughing and talking.

Bardock had raised the two of them since they were tiny brats. He had always thought they
would become mates. He knew that Goten at least wanted too. They were raised together,
had gone to the same academy together, and were even on the same squad. But as it turned
out Callie had fallen for their squad leader Tavid nod now they were mates. That's why Tavis
and Goten did not get along. The only reason he eveme ome over here was because she made him.

Bardock grinned. Goten could be a squad leader if he wanted too. He had it in his blood. He
had been a squad leader, so had Raditz and Gohan. But Goten was too much like his father.
He was content to taking orders than giving them.

With that thought his mind unhappily returned to the thoughts he had before the kids came
over. His family, or what was left of it.

His mate, Qulia, had been beautiful, smart, and caring. The complete opposite of Bardock.
That was what he liked about her. She had given him two strong sons also. Raditz and
Kakarrot. Raditz had looked just like her, but had Bardock's mentality. He was cunning and
ruthless. Raditz had quickly risen through the ranks, as far as a third class warrior could go.
He had been a squad leader at a young age and was even going to be in the royal guard, an
honor for third class warriors. This was of course before the accident. The accident that took
both Raditz and his mate.

Bardock had been off the planet at the time, picking up his youngest from a purging mission.
The two of them were on their way to meet him and their son. They didn't even get out of the
atmosphere before the ship exploded. Some freak accident the officials told him when he
returned. He had been angry and blamed himself for insisting they come, and blamed
Kakarrot for being off planet.

Suddenly he was stuck raising his only son by himself. He had no idea what to do with kids.
Kakarrot had only been ten at the time. He was a carbon copy of himself but was just like his
mother. This annoyerdocrdock to no end, having the boy around only brought pain. So he
had thrown him into the hardest academy they had, just to be rid of him, to change him.

Kakarrot was strong, stronger than Raditz had been and Bardock thought he would be
something special. He had been sorely disappointed when he passed up every opportunity for
squad leader. He just didn'tersterstand it. His boy was a soft headed fool!

Then Kakarrot met Chi-Chi. She was the meanest, nastiest girl he ever had the displeasure of
meeting. Bitch was an understatement. She was a big ball of trouble. Chi-Chi had been
transferred there for causing trouble in her old academy. They had hoped to get her in line, but
had been poorly mistaken.

He remembered Kakarrot coming home every other day, the shit beaten out of him. He had
been defending Chi-Chi from the hotheads in the academy. She would start a fight and when it
got too hot for her to handle he would jump in and save her sorry ass. She had been an
ungrateful bitch about it too. Don't get me wrong, Chi-Chi was a desirable woman, she just
had a nasty attitude.

It went on like that for months. Bardock knew Kakarrot wanted Chi-Chi to be his mate. He
just didn't understand why he didn't just take her. One day though, while he was dozing on the
couch after a sparring session, Kakarrot came home carrying Chi-Chi in his arms. He sat up
and said to him æbout damn time, boy,' and Kakarrot had looked at him with that stupid smile
and said æI know.' He would never understand his son or why he chose such a bitchy mate or
why Chi-Chi wanted to be with such a fool.

Chi-Chi was pregnet almost immediately after that and Bardock was afraid to see what their
child would be like. Gohan had surprised him. The boy was smart, cunning, and ruthless, even
as a small child. He reminded Bardock of Raditz so much it was scary. The kid had so much
power, far too much for any normal third class. He rose through the ranks faster than he or
Raditz had, becoming a squad leader at a young age. The boy was special, he had promise,
that is . . . until he met Videl.

It was all the Queen's fault that Gohan met her. He had no business in the palace. But the
Queen insisted on personally congratulating Vegetsei's finest. It was Gohan's first time in the
palace. His squad had just successfully purged a difficult planet with no casualties. She was
with the Queen and the Queen had left them alone and that's where the trouble began.

Bardock remembered that night. He had been at his son's house playing with his newest
grandson, Goten. He and Kakarrot were waiting up for him to come home. He came home
late that night, a little beat up but with a stupid grin on his face that could only mean one thing.
A girl. Gohan didn't want to talk about it at first but, they gave him a hard time and he finally
broke down and told them about Videl. The Queen's personal guard. An elite. Forbidden.

It was against every rule in the book. You do not mate outside your class. Kakarrot lost it. He
slammed Gohan against the wall and forbade him from ever seeing her again. Gohan was
enraged and the fight that followed nearly tore the house down. In the end Gohan did as he
wished. And because of his selfishness everyone died.

Bardock had been living on the planet long enough to know what happens when you break
the rules and cross a noble family. He knew it was only a matter of time before something
horrible happened. After three years everyone relaxed, even him. He was enjoying his
three-year great granddaughter and five year old grandson.

He took the kids one night and went out into the woods to hunt and spar with Toma and his
daughter Callie. He knew something was wrong when he returned home. The houses were
dark and silent when they should have been alive with the women cooking breakfast. He
couldn't find any traces of ki in either of the houses and had hoped against hope that they were
all out. He left the kids outside and wen. Th. The sight that he found in his son's house turned
his blood cold. They hadn't even had the chance to get out of bed and defend themselves.
There were huge holes blown through both of the men and the women looked as if they had
been raped and tortured. Videl's head was missing and to this day it hadn't been found.

Bardock didn't remember much of what happened after finding his son, grandson, and their
mates like that. When he came back to himself Pan had been taken away and he was stuck
raising Goten on his own. He knew that if he hadn't taken the kids out that night all of them
would have died. He hardly heard word of his great granddaughter after that. Only that she
was living in the palace as a royal guard to the Princess. Not too long after that terrible day the
Queen lost her life. The King kept the entire planet in a state of mourning after her death.

Goten never talked about that day. He had come into the house after hearing Bardock
scream, but never said one word. He never shed a single tear. Goten never talked about his
father or his brother or his lost niece. He kept it all to himself and pretended that they never
excised. Tonight was different though . . .

Bardock was brought back to reality by the sound of Avis running through the room, Goten
hot on his trail. Callie was laughing and Tavis had his arms wrapped possessively around her
waist. Avis ducked underneath a table anten,ten, who wasn't paying attention, ran right into it
head first. Everyone burst into laughter while Goten laid out on the floor rubbing the forming
lump on his head.

"Uhh, hh, that sucked. Hey! Does anybody want to go to the bar? I think I need a drink."
Goten said. He leaned his head back to look veryveryone.

Tavis made a face. "Goten you're nothing but a drunk. Can't you do anything other than drink?"

Goten sat up and got a devilish look on his face. "Yeah, I can think of something lots more
fun, but I doubt she'd return to you when I'm done with her." He said looking expectantly at Callie.

Tavis growled and lunged at Goten with a look of murder on his face. Goten dodged the
punch but not the kick in his mid section. The kick sent him flying backwards into a wall. The
entire house shook frhe fhe force of it. He jumped up and met Tavis in the middle of the
room. The entire house was about to fall apart from the force of their fighting. Bardock
growled, he did not want his house torn apart tonight. He went into the middle of the fight and
blasted both of them, sending them flying into opposite walls.

"Knock it off you two! Don't you know how to respect your elders?"

Tavis sat up and glared at Goten. Goten glared back. Callie stepped in between the two of
them breaking up their little staring match. She shot Goten a dirty look over her shoulder and
picked Tavis up. "Come on, lets go home. Avis needs to sleep."

Tavis followed her out the door with no argument. "We'll finish this tomorrow Goten. You
won't be walking away next time."

Bardock helped Goten up after they left. As soon as he was standing, he smacked him on the
back of the head, sending him flying into the floor again.

"Aaahhh! What in the hell did you do that for?" Goten yelled as he picked himself up off the
floor again.

"What the hell is your problem brat!? You don't say shit like that to another man's mate unless
you want to die. Especially not your squad leader's mate! Are you a complete idiot?" Bardock
yelled. As of late Goten has been acting as if he was losing his mind. It was to the point that
Bardock was becoming a little worried.

"She was mine first" Goten grumbled.

Bardock rolled his eyes. "She has been with Tavis for almost five years and you're just now
getting bitter? Tell me what the problem really is."

"Never mind those two," Goten said sourly. "Come old man, let's go to the bar and celebrate.
My niece is a princess today."

*************************

Bra walked into her room and closed the door, leaving the guards outside. She promised them
her special tea that got rid of hangovers since both had to much to drink tonight. The
ceremony was beautiful. It had gone smoothly, even her father behaved himself. Pan was
radiant and glowing and looked gorgeous in her gown. Her and Trunks didn't take their eyes
off each other the entire time. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever witnessed her entire
life. Bra cried during the entire thing. She cried because of the beauty of it, because you could
see the love they shared radiating from their eyes when they looked at each other. She cried
because this would be the last time she would see any of them.

he fhe finished making the tea and added the fine, white sleeping powder to both cups. There
had to have been well over a thousand people in the palace alone for the celebration.
Everyone was drinking for all they were worth. Just as she had suspected her father got shit
faced. He didn't drink very often but when he did, it was a sight to behold. He had stumbled
around, making an ass of himself, and arguing with anyone he came into contact with. It was
one of the funniest things she'd seen in a while.

She took the cups outside to her guards, who gratefully took them. She told them she was
turning in for the night and returned to her room to prepare. She didn't plan on taking much
with her. A few trinkets, some makeup, and undergarment. She stole a couple of lower class
uniforms to wear, knowing her royal armor would give her away.

She went into her bathroom and applied the black die to her blue hair. After she was done
with that she put her contacts in. She took a good look in the mirror. She gasped at her
reflection. She almost didn't know the girl staring back at her. The simple alterations hadn't
changed her too much, but if she went far enough away nobody would recognize her.

Bra tiptoed to the door and peaked out. The guards were fast asleep. She figured her father
would be passed out by now and Trunks and Pan were surely too busy to realize she was
gone. She sighed and put on the armor and ki altering device. She packed her few things and
walked over to the balcony doors. Bra pushed them open and stepped out into the crisp night
air. She turned around and gave one last look at her room, then jumped into the air and flew
away as fast as she could.

Bra flew high into the sky, enjoying the freedom she got from flying so high. She flew to the
south, intent on flying until she was too tired to do it anymore. Only then would she land and
seek shelter.

*************************

Bardock sat back in his chair and drank his ale. He laughed at his grandson, who was on top
of the bar making a fool out of himself. Goten was up there with a bowl on his head singing
and dancing like an idiot. The entire place was packed with Sayians. Everyone had come out
to celebrate the union of Prince Trunks and Pan. They had been there for a few hours and
already Goten was smashed. Bardock was too feeling a bit tipsy.

He turned his attention from his grandson to the door when he heard someone come in. He
started when a young, pretty Sayian female walked in. She was very young, Bardock
observed, far to young for him. She wasn't very tall, but her body was full of curves and had a
nice muscle tone. She had long, straight black hair and light brown eyes. She walked with an
air of dignity and purpose up to the bar where she sat down and ordered a drink. As Bardock
watched her he got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was like he had seen this girl
before, but couldn't place when and where. Tirl irl seemed almost out of place in the loud,
dirty bar. There was just something wrong about her, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

The girl caught the attention of several others in the bar as well. Goten had completely
stopped his song and dance routine to stare at her. He jumped down from the bar, grabbed a
drink and headed over to Bardock.

"Whew! Man, do you see her? Who the hell is that!?" Goten yelled over the loud music.

"I don't know." Bardock answered back. "Never seen her around here before. I don't think
she belongs here. I've got a bad feeling."

Goten never took his eyes off the pretty, young girl sitting at the bar. "I told you not to eat
those bar chips, old man!"

Bardock rolled his eyes and watched as two guys walked up to the girl.



Bra sat in the loud, dirty bar feeling sick. This was the most disgusting place she had ever been
before. Her drink was gross too and she order the best they had. Bra decided to leave to find
somewhere more suitable for her class. She paid the bartender and stood. When she turned
around to walk out she came face to face with two drunk Sayian men.

"Hey beautiful," the first one slurred. "What's a place like you doing in a girl like this?"

Bra crinkled her nose at the fowl smell of his breath. She decided not to dignify that with a
response and tried to push past them. She barely made it a step past them when the second
one grabbed her arm.

"I think we were talking to you. A young thing like you shouldn't be so rude as to walk away
before we're finished." He sneered at her.

"How dare you touch me! You low class piece of shit! Get your filthy paws off my arm this
instance!" Bra yelled, out raged.

The man grabbed her other arm and slammed her into the bar. "Dirty little whore. Don't talk to
me that way." He looked over to his friend and grinned. "I think we're gonna have some fun
with this one tonight. She has spirit. What do ya say, cupcake? Me and my buddy are gonna
show ya a good time." He leered at her.

Bra froze for a minute before becoming consumed with anger. The idea that this low class
baka would dare to touch her and suggest such things! She grinned evilly at the man holding
her and brought her knee up into his groin. The man yelped in pain and doubled over,
releasing her arms at the same time. She looked smugly at her handy work and began to walk outside.

She just made it out the door when the first man grabbed her by her hair and slammed her into
a wall. Bra looked up dazed as the man pressed his body against hers pinning her to the wall.
She struggled against him but couldn't get away. was was beginning to get scared as she saw
several other men come up behind them. They were allghinghing and taunting her helplessness.

"Hey, be sure to save some for me!" She heard one of them yell out. This was followed by
cruel sounding laughter. Bra powered up, her aura flashing brightly, knocking the offending
man off of her. There were sarcastic ooohs and ahhhs coming from the crowd that had
gathered. She snarled angrily and flew at the one who had her pinned against the wall. She
landed an uppercut to his chin, sending flyiflying backwards. The guy got up and wiped the
blood away from his mouth. He smirked at her. "Yeah, I like spirited ones." He said as flew at
her.

The two of them traded blows but Bra couldn't get the upper hand. She had never been in a
real fight before, she didn't have control over the outcome of this. The guy was slowly wearing
her down. She tried to power up more but found that she couldn't. She panicked, æWhy can't
I power up?' she thought frantically as she dodged another punch. æOh no! The ki altering
device! It must be dampening it as well!' Bra was on full panic now. This was was going to
beat her if she couldn't power up to maximum. She thought about ripping the anklet off but
then someone would find her. In her panicky state the guy managed to land a kick to the side
of her head, sending her crashing into the ground.

Bra pulled herself up from the crater she made. As soon as she was up two men from the
c ran ran at her, grabbed both of her arms and slammed her into a wall. They held onto her
tight. She couldn't get away.

"Let me go! I'll have all your heads!" She screamed frantically as she thrashed about. The man
she had been fighting landed in front of her grinning. He walked up to her and slapped her
across her face. Bra's mouth dropped open in shock. She's never been treated like this
before.

"Cocky little bitch, you need to learn your place." The man said, then punched her in the
stomach. Bra doubled over from the pain and shame of it. She was beaten and it hurt. She'd
never been beaten before. She was so tired she couldn't get away! There were people
standing around watching the entire scene. Weren't any of them going to help her? Bra was
more scared than she could ever remember being since her mother's death. She screamed as
the guy ripped the top of her armor off. She began to tremble as the guy told her of all the
horrible things he planned on doing to her. Was this why her father and brother kept her
locked away in the palace? To keep her away from things like this? What she wouldn't give
for one of them to show up now and kill all these bastards. If only she could reach her ankle, it
would all be over. Bra crossed her feet, intent on kicking her boot off so she could reach the
anklet tucked inside.

The man saw her cross her legs and pushed his body against hers. He smelled like sweat and
liquor. Bra thought she was going to be sick. He grabbed a handful of hair and titled her head
back so she had to look at him. He was grinning evilly and had a crazed look in his eyes. Bra
winced as he gabbed his knee in-between her legs, forcing them open. He took his other hand
and began to brutally feel her up. Bra was vaguely aware that she was whimpering and
begging him to stop. He wasn't listening. Bra felt tears well up in her eyes but refused to let
them fall. This wasn't how it was suppose to be! Why didn't anything ever go as planned?

Bra closed her eyes as the guy put his hand up the top of her body suite. She just hopped that
the guy killed her when he was done and not let the others have their way as well. She could
never return home after this. She felt so ashamed at not being able to fight back. She had
never felt so weak in all her life.

Suddenly the man stopped his torture on her body. He was shoutingethiething to someone
behind him. Bra couldn't quiet hear over the roar in her ears. She opened her eyes to see what
was going on, but her vision was blurred by her tears. Someone attacked the man in front of
her and he went flying to the other side of the alley. The two that were holding her let go and
went to fight who ever had stopped them. Bra slumped gratefully against the wall. She knew
they would be back to finish what they started but she was so tired she couldn't move.

Bra looked up to see who her savior was and saw the man that was dancing on the bar when
she first came in. He was taking on all three of her tormentors and didn't seem to be having a
problem. She watched in awe as he blasted one of them and sent him flying into another. They
both went crashing through a nearby building. He turned on his last opponent, grinned and
charged at him. She watched as he blurred out of sight only to come up behind the other guy.
He landed a hard hit to the back of the guy's neck, knocking him out. The man fell to the
ground and didn't move.

Her savior landed gracefully in front of her and gave a hard look into the crowd, challenging
anyone who dared to come forth. There were a few people who shot him dirty looks for
breaking up the show, but they all went back into the bar. Bra curled into herself when he
turned to look at her. She didn't know what he would want for saving her. The young man
frowned slightly seeing this. He offered his hand out to her and she looked im wim warily.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. What would be the point in that after I took care of
those guys for doing the same thing?" He said in a friendly voice.

Bra carefully took his hand, he smiled and helped her up. He had a nice smile, she noticed.
She smiled shyly back at him. They stood holding each other's hands for a moment.

Bra frowned, remembering something and snatched her hand back from his. "I could have
taken care of them myself." She said snottily. "I was in complete control. I didn't need your help!"

The smile never left his face as he answered. "I know, but then I wouldn't have been able to
play hero and save the damsel in distress." He said in a joking tone. Bra laughed a little in spite
of herself. "Let's go inside and have a drink. I'm sure you could use one. I know I can." Bra
agreed and they headed inside. She saw him turn to someone, who looked a lot like him,
standing a few feet away and give a little wave. The older man nodded and took off into the
sky. Bra figured it must have been his father.

He led her into the bar and over to a table in the far corner. She sat and he went to the bar to
get drinks. Bra felt a little more than nervous sitting there by herself, but nobody paid any
attention to her. He returned a few minutes later with drinks. She gratefully took hers and took
a big swig. She made a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out at the bitter tasting ale. He
laughed at her reaction and she shot him a dirty look.

"How can you drink this shit?! It revolting!" She said as she pushed the glass away from her.

He looked a little confused. "This is the best on the planet. Well, that third class can afford."
He said. "Why, have you had better?"

Bra suddenly remember where she was and quickly recovered. "Once, I just haven't drank
since then." She lied.

He looked at her suspiciously for a minute, then shrugged it off. "Anyway, my name's Goten.
What's your's?"

"Br...ah...Beta! My name is Beta." She said quickly and smiled sweetly. æWhew! Almost
messed that one up!' She thought as she took a sip of her ale. She was better able to control
her face this time.

Goten gave her a weird look. "Okkaaay. So, um, I've never seen you around here before.
Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from...um, the east! Yeah, I grew up on the east side of the planet. You from around
here?" æThis is a lot harder than I expected. I should have thought up a story.' She thought.
The weird look on Goten's face didn't leave.

"Yeah, I'm from around here. What are you doing this way? Did you get transferred to an
academy here or something?"

"Ah, no, I...ah, moved out here. Needed a change of scenery, I guess."

"Oh, what about your family?"

"Ummm...my family? They...ah, they're...um... I don't have a family." She said lamely. The
look on Goten's face got stranger.

"You don't have a family." He said slowly, as if he were trying to believe it.

"Well, I did have one, of course. They were all killed on a purging mission not too long ago.
That's why I moved. I was the only one to survive." She said thinking fast. She looked Goten
in the eye, hoping he bought her story. He did.

Goten's face softened hearing that. He could relate. "Oh man. I didn't mean to pry. I'm sorry."

Bra waved it away with her hand. "Don't worry about it. It was a while ago. Shit happens. I'm
just trying to move on." She gave him a reassuring smile. "So, um, why don't you tell me about
yourself."

Bra and Goten sat at the bar talking and drinking long into the night. They talked about
anything that came to mind. Bra was quick to come up with things to cover who she really
was. It was about the fifth time that Bra yawned that Goten got the hint.

"So, um, I guess you want to head home or something huh?" Goten said a little disappointed
that she wanted to leave. "Are you staying around here?" He asked. He really liked Beta and
wanted to see her again.

"Well, I just got into town tonight, so I don't exactly have a place to stay. I'll find a boarding
house or something though."

Goten made a face. "You don't need to stay in a dirty boarding house. I have an extra room at
my place if you'd like to stay there with me." He asked shyly. He never really felt shy about
inviting girls back to his place before, but this one seemed different.

Bra looked at him suspiciously. "No, I think I'll be alright. Thanks for the offer." She stood to
leave, suddenly uncomfortable.

Goten stood as well. "Come on. I'm not going to try anything. You'd be safer with me than at
a boarding house anyway. They don't exactly screen who they let in there. Come on, I give
you my word on the Queen's honor."

Bra was shocked that he said that and it showed. She swallowed the lump that had formed in
her throat at the mention of her mother. "The Queen is dead, Goten." She said, her voice hollow.

Goten gave a strange look at her reaction to the mention of the Queen. It looked almost as if
she wanted to cry. "Yeah, well, she was a good Queen and her honor still lives on. Look,
your tired and have had plenty to drink. If any creep tried anything you might not be able to
fight back. You're a sweet girl and I really like you. I'd feel terrible if something bad happened
to you." Bra opened her mouth to protest again, but Goten raised his hand to silence her. "I
know you can take care of yourself and all but, I'd feel better knowing you were safe until you
have some place to go. I give you my word as a warrior, I won't harm you." He finished sincerely.

Bra frowned. Why were people always trying to protect her? Did she have fragile stamped
across her forehead? But she knew what Goten said was true. She wouldn't be able to fight
back if something like tonight happened again. And there might not be someone to help next
time. She looked into his dark black eyes and knew that he wouldn't harm her. She barely
knew this man but she trusted him. She didn't have anyone else she could trust right now. He
saved her from those assholes earlier. She liked Goten. He was handsome and sweet and
seemed to have a boyish innocence about him. She couldn't explain it. She felt safe with him.

"This will only be for one night and don't you dare try anything or I'll be forced to kill you."
She said with deadly seriousness.

Goten broke out into a huge grin that made his eyes light up. He didn't say anything, just
nodded his head and led her outside. When they got outside, he took her hand and they flew
into the air toward his house. They landed about twenty minutes later in front of a small house
in the woods. Bra looked around. There was nothing else out there save for two other small,
dark houses a few feet away in either direction. She could just barely make them out in the
dark. Goten turned to her and smiled.

"Well, this is it. My father built it. It isn't much, but it's cozy." Bra tired to smile and not look
too disappointed in the size and condition of the house. It was smaller than her bedroom in the
palace. But she knew he didn't live the fancy life that she had. He opened the door and led her
inside. He turned on the light and she took a good look around. It was sparsely furnished.
Two couches and a table made up the livingroom. There was a small kitchen off to the side
and a short hallway with three doors. Goten led her to one of the doors and opened it. It was
a bathroom.

"This is the bathroom." Goten explained. "And this over here," he turned and opened the door
across from it, "is where you'll be sleeping. I'm just down the hall in the other room if you need
anything." With that he turned and went into the other room, closing the door behind him.

Bra walked into the room and closed the door. The room was medium sized with a king size
bed in the middle of it. It had a closet and a dresser for clothes. Bra sighed and took off what
was left of her armor and body suite and climbed into the soft bed. She was exhausted, the
day's activities catching up with her. She wondered if Goten would really keep his promise not
to try anything with her. She almost felt a little disappointed that he hadn't. She closed her eyes
and tried to sleep, but the bed was unfamiliar and therefore uncomfortable. Her mind was a
whirl of thoughts. She didn't know what to do now. She sighed again and decided to try a little
meditation to help her relax. It worked and she soon fell into a light, dreamless sleep.

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