The Ten style dojo sat in between two distant mountains next to a small village. The forests nearby were full of life and all kinds of interesting things. Things discovered mostly by a young and very enthusiastic boy with an eye to spare when searching for treasures, around the age of seven, named Kichiro.

On this particular day he'd come across a particularly special rock sitting in a creekbed. It had to be a gemstone of some kind. Any experienced appraiser would recognize the value held within the pebble. For Kichiro, however, he liked it because it had his favourite colors in it. Being careful to not muddy his gi too much he lifted it out of the water and held it up to the sunlight. Green and orange flashed as the rays hit it. Kichiro grinned and wiped off the stone on his obi. Clutching the rock tightly in a fist that barely covered it he began to walk towards home. After a few seconds he broke into a run. With an immense amount of concentration his feet cleared the ground and he giggled happily as he flew above the trees, albeit a tad wobbly in doing so. It didn't take long for him to backtrack all the way home.

He touched down outside the main doors of the dojo and headed inside. He waved to a few of the nice men who were students there. He knew quite a number of them from when they'd babysat him. Then Kichiro remembered to head back to the front gate and take of his shoes. After doing so he continued his journey. On his second walk down the hall he noticed someone particularly special headed his way.

"Uncle Chiaotzu!"

"Hey Kichiro! Did you have a fun time exploring?" Chiaotzu asked. The boy nodded and held up his find.

"I got this! It's really pretty." he said. Chiaotzu floated closer for a look.

"It is really pretty. Great job, Kichiro. Are you gonna show your dads?" he said. Another nod in response. "Better get going then. They just finished a class."

"Thanks uncle Chiaotzu!" Kichiro said as he started walking again. He was happy he'd run into uncle Chiaotzu. He was super nice and always wanted to see what Kichiro found. He knew most uncles were a fathers brother but that wasn't always the case. After all, Trunks called Kichiros' dad "Uncle Yamcha" but as far as Kichiro knew neither of his parents were related to anyone in Trunks' family.

"Any good finds today, Kichiro?"

The boy looked towards the source of the squeaky voice and smiled wider.

"Puar! Look what I have!" he said. He held out the stone for inspection.

"That's amazing!" Puar said.

"Uh huh. I'm gonna show daddy and papa." Kichiro explained. With a small wave towards Puar he hurried off again. Puar wasn't an aunt or an uncle but they were still an important person, like Chiaotzu. If both uncle Chiaotzu and Puar had agreed the rock was pretty then Kichiro knew for sure his parents would love it. As soon as one of them came into sight Kichiro launched himself at them.

"Woah there kiddo! You must have found something pretty cool this time." Yamcha said with a laugh as he caught his son in a hug. Kichiro pulled back and held up the gemstone.

"Yeah! Lookit this!" he said with glee.

"Wow! That's one helluva rock." Yamcha said. "You were really lucky today."

"Yup. It's a special rock." Kichiro said. He looked at it proudly. "Super special."

"I'm sure it is." Yamcha said as he set Kichiro down.

"I wanna show Papa too." Kichiro said. Yamcha took one of his hands with a smile.

"Of course. Let's go find him." he said. Kichiro led the way and it wasn't too long before they located who they were looking for.

"Papa! Look what I found today!" Kichiro exclaimed. Tien knelt down and looked at the stone.

"It's very nice, Kichiro." he said. "Where did you find it?"

"In the creek by the caves." Kichiro said. Tien stood up with a slight scowl.

"The caves we've told you not to go near? The ones with the bears?" he said. Kichiro suddenly felt the need to hide his discovery and look away. "You know it's dangerous up there, especially alone."

"But I had to! The rest of the creek has boring rocks." Kichiro reasoned with a pout. Tien sighed and might have started a lecture had a look from Yamcha not stopped him.

"I know it's a pretty rock..." Tien said.

"A super special rock." Yamcha pointed out.

"A super special rock." Tien continued. "Even so we don't want you risking your life for... pebbles. Promise me you won't go there again unless we say you can?"

"Okay." Kichiro agreed glumly. Tien mussed up his hair lightly and earned a giggle.

"That's my boy." he said. "Why did you need a rock like that anyways?"

" 'cause you're supposed to give pretty rocks to people you love." Kichiro said.

"Is it for us?" Yamcha asked. Kichiro shook his head.

"Nope. It's for Hon." he said.

"Hon Lu? From the junior class?" Tien asked. Kichiro nodded.

"He's super nice and brings really good snacks an' always agrees to spar with me even tho the others are scared 'cause I'm the teachers kid." he reasoned. "So, I love him and I'm gonna give him a pretty rock."

"Giving people you love pretty rocks? Where did you hear that?" Yamcha said.

"From Papa!" Kichiro said. He pointed to add emphasis. "He's gonna get one for you. It's smaller than mine, though, and he spent weeks searching."

Kichiro couldn't fathom why his Papa's face turned bright red. His Daddy had let go of his hand too. He huffed and looked up at his obviously ignorant parents. Weren't they impressed? He'd found his rock in only one day. His frustration grew as it appeared his fathers were continuing to ignore him and his achievement.

"I.. uh.. well I mean we haven't... it's been seven years... and I know it's your dream..." Tien fumbled to complete a sentence. He didn't have too as Yamcha quickly enveloped him in a tight hug. Kichiro wondered if he should just walk away. His papa was still talking nonsense and his daddy... was crying?

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Kichiro asked. He ran up to his parents and tugged on the edge of Yamcha's shirt. "Why are you crying?"

"Nothing's wrong Kichiro. Everything's fine, more than fine." Yamcha assured him. "They're happy tears."

"Papa doesn't even have his rock yet. You can't be that happy." Kichiro said.

"It's what the rock means more than the rock itself." Yamcha said. He picked up Kichiro and added him to the hug. "Remember when Auntie Launch got married?"

"Uh huh." Kichiro said. He did. It was like a big party but with a lot of sitting down and talking before you got to eat. It was boring at first and then fun at the end. "She promised to love Auntie Yurin forever and ever."

"She did. Before that Auntie Launch gave her a rock like the one your papa is getting for me. It's a promise too."

"It is?" Kichiro said.

"Yeah. It means you promise to get married someday." Yamcha said. Kichiro thought it over.

"So you and papa are gonna get married?" he concluded.

"We are. Even if I don't have my rock yet." Tien said.

"Do I haveta sit through more speeches?" Kichiro asked. Both his parents laughed.

"We'll try to make them short, okay?" Yamcha said.

"Okay." Kichiro said. He wiggled out of his dads arms and started down the hall. "I'm gonna go give my rock to Hon."

"Alright. You do that." Yamcha called after him. Kichiro smiled as he caught the sight of his parents kissing. The other kids said kissing was gross. Kichiro didn't know why. Kisses were for love and love wasn't gross. He wondered if Hon thought kissing was gross.

He'd have to ask him after he gave him his rock.