A few days ago it would have been difficult for Tien to believe that a single word could have such a powerful effect on him. Maybe a full sentence like "No dragon balls" or "Frieza's back again". Never one word. Yet there he was. Barely holding himself in the sky as he flew to Yamcha's apartment. All because of a name.

Kichiro.

A name he himself had put the meaning behind the moment he gave it to the baby. The baby he now knew for a fact was partly his. He barely noticed his hands shaking as he tried to keep his breathing level. It was like all his wildest hopes and deepest fears had come true all at once. His initial reaction to the phone call had been a calm shock. He had agreed to visit Yamcha and Kichiro. Then he put Chiaotzu in charge of the classes and left. That was when all his emotions had started fading back in. Now he was halfway through the trip and going at a much slower speed than usual. He needed time. Time to sort through all his feelings. The most prevalent emotion was fear. Fear for what this meant for the future. What did his life hold for him now? After all the time he had spent being friends with Yamcha would what they had fall apart?

Not to mention his now confirmed fatherhood. As much as the prospect terrified him it was also exciting. He hadn't known until it happened how much he wanted to be a dad. Of course it wouldn't be easy but he couldn't help but feel happy. He wouldn't have admitted it before but now he could say with confidence that he was glad a stranger hadn't been Kichiro's parent. In many ways that would have been harder to handle. Someone they didn't know, that Yamcha didn't know, suddenly becoming a part of their lives? Things were better this way. That said, the sentiment didn't help calm Tien's nerves as he flew. He was already drawing a blank on what he would say to Yamcha when he arrived. Then again he had a history of winging it and surviving alright. He'd just have to hope for the best.

With this thought in mind he finally landed outside Yamcha's apartment. He knocked on the balcony door and was greeted by Puar.

"There you are! It's good to see you." they said with a smile. "Come on in!"

"Thanks." Tien said. A quick look around revealed that the apartment hadn't changed since the last time he visited. Things were still an absolute mess.

"Oh, I can't tell you how relieved I am." Puar told him. "I knew it was you! I called it!"

"That you did." Tien said with a weak smile.

"Now they won't shut up about it." Yamcha entered with Kichiro in his arms. He had a tired look on his face and Kichiro was gurgling up at him happily. "I've never heard Puar say "I told you so" this much since I ran the Mighty Mouse into a sand dune."

"Because I did! You were way off course." Puar squeaked. They looked from Yamcha to Tien and slowly started to float out of the room. "I'll give you guys some space."

"Thanks Puar." Yamcha said. Once Puar was out of sight he walked towards Tien. "So. Here we are."

"Yeah... uh... I..." Tien stammered. As expected he couldn't come up with anything to say. Yamcha stopped about a foot away from him and held out Kichiro.

"First of all, just hold the baby you dork." he said with the ghost of a smile. Tien really couldn't do anything but do so as he gently took Kichiro from Yamcha. The baby yawned and grinned. Tien gave him a gentle smile in return. Kichiro wiggled one of his hands free of his blanket and reached towards Tien's face. He let the infant grab one of his fingers instead. This seemed to satisfy Kichiro and he settled down.

"At least we already know he likes you." Yamcha said.

"It's a start." Tien said. He continued to look down at Kichiro and sighed. "... what now?"

"I'm not sure." Yamcha admitted. "I hadn't planned much beyond telling you."

"At least we're on the same page, then." Tien said with a weak grin. Yamcha let out a single chuckle and crossed his arms.

"It's better than nothing." he said. Another few moments of silence save Kichiro's burbling.

"... are you upset? That it's me?" Tien asked eventually. He'd been thinking about the question for a while now.

"What? No." Yamcha said. "I'm glad it's you, actually. Sharing my life, and my kid, with a stranger... it scared me. Anything could have gone wrong. Now that I know it's you... I'm happy."

"That's good to hear." Tien said. He relaxed his posture slightly and smiled wider. "For what it's worth... I'm happy too. Ever since you first visited with Kichiro... I don't know, I felt a connection or something. I hadn't thought about being a parent before but now that it's happened... I'm excited."

"Hopefully you can channel that excitement into more babysitting." Yamcha said. "I haven't really had the time to balance running my business and raising a child."

"Of course I can. What kind of father wouldn't?" Tien said. Referring to himself as a dad was... odd, but he supposed he'd get used to it.

"I can name at least two in our immediate social circle who haven't." Yamcha said with a short bark of a laugh.

"True. Our friends may not be the best examples of parenting." Tien agreed. "Krillin and Gohan seem to have it down fine."

"And they're the exceptions." Yamcha said.

"Goku's getting better at it." Tien pointed out.

"Maybe so but I still think we can do better." Yamcha said.

"Of course we can." Tien said. "We've been through more than most people and came out fine. We can handle fatherhood."

"Damn right, we can." Yamcha said. His smile seemed to have found its strength at last. He stepped a bit closer and lightly brushed a hand over Kichiro's hair. "Besides, we've got the best baby out of any of them."

"That we do." Tien said. He felt something in his chest warm and knew it wasn't just parental affection. There was something else. He thought back to what Chiaotzu had said the week prior. "It almost felt like romance for a moment there." There was no way. He couldn't be... right? All the feelings he'd pushed to the back of his mind came rushing forwards. The flutter of his heart when he saw the soft look on Yamcha's face... the hurt when he saw Yamcha run down and tired... every moment he'd ever felt like he wanted to do more for him... oh no.

"You okay?"

Tien snapped out of his rapidly derailing train of thought and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just... it's a lot."

"I know. Overwhelming is putting it lightly." Yamcha said. "I hate to pull the parent card so soon but Puar and I have to leave to finish up that job in a half hour or so..."

"It's fine. I'll take care of Kichiro." Tien said. He tried not to let his thoughts from before swell up as Yamcha gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks. You remember everything from last time?" Yamcha said.

"This time I'll write down whatever I sing." Tien said. Yamcha laughed quietly and went to get ready to leave. Tien sat on the couch and stared down at the infant in his arms. "Guess it's just us again tonight."

Another happy melody of garbled babbling. He grinned and let Kichiro continue to attempt to gnaw on his finger. It looked like things would be calmer than last time. He'd need the quiet to reflect on everything. He had a lot to sort through internally and no better time to do it.