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Liquid Sky

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The northern forests of Earth…

Standing on a balcony, Tenshinhan held his hand to his forehead, sheltering his three eyes from the early morning sun. Squinting slightly, he looked down at the town that sprawled around him. It was a modest town, full of people with modest means. Nonetheless, it was a proud town. It's citizens were, after all, the last vestiges of a nearly dead nation. They were the last of the people loyal to Chouzu.

The sight of the town never failed to fill Tien with pride. It was probably the single greatest accomplishment of his life. He had started this town, nearly from scratch. He had even funded much of the early infrastructure with his own money. His winnings from the Twenty Second Tenaichi Bodukai.

Tien had never been comfortable with that win, and had never been comfortable with the money he got from it. To alleviate his conscience, he had decided to use the money to build a residence for his friend, the deposed Emperor Chouzu. After all, Tien had reasoned, not even a deposed emperor deserved to live in a log cabin for the rest of his life…

As far as palaces go, it was a modest residence. No more lavish than a medium sized house in Satan City. Nonetheless, when word got out about the reconstruction of 'Chouzu's Palace' people began migrating to it. Refugees, partisans, everyone who still revered the old Emperor began a pilgrimage to the Palace. And much to Tien's surprise, many of them seemed intent on staying in the Palace's shadow.

Not knowing what else to do, Tien had spent the rest of his prize money making the town a palatable place to live. He diverted a local river to provide a steady supply of water, paved the primary streets, built the court house, the school, the market square…

It was nowhere near the size, sophistication, or glory of Satan City, West City, or even the newly rebuilt Ginger Town, but it was a suitable place to live. And the fact of that he had helped make it that way filled Tien with pride whenever he thought about it. Of course, the fact that Chouzu had officially named the city Tien Town usually tempered that pride. Tenshin had never felt comfortable puffing his own ego.

"But I'll get you back for that, little guy. Maybe a big statue of you in the town square… Fighting Nappa. That'd teach ya…" Chuckling to himself, Tien walked back into the 'Palace' proper.

As he walked through the corridors to Chouzu's room, Tien nodded cordially to the passing servants. As usual, they nodded back, but otherwise did not stray from their tasks. Soon, Tien came to a large pair of ornate doors that marked the entrance to the Emperor's bedchambers.

Lightly, Tien knocked on the doors. "Chouzu? Hey little guy, you awake?" The was no immediate response. Tien turned the handle and eased the door open, wincing slightly as it squeaked. "Chouzu?"

Timidly, Tien slipped his head into the room. All the curtains were drawn, but a few rays of light slipped through then and shown on the bed. As he watched, one of the bed's two inhabitants shifted as the light slipped across her face. "Hmmmph…" Mumbled a mass of tangled blue hair. "Go'way, Tien…"

Stifling a chuckle, Tien eased the door shut. "Guess Chouzu had another late night," he quietly joked as the door latched shut.

"Good for him," came a voice from beside Tien. As it spoke, Tien felt the muzzle of a machine gun brush across his chin. Smirking, Tien turned to face the blond haired bearer of the gun. "Now the question is, why didn't you have a late night?"

Tien chuckled nervously. "Uh, because when I got back, you were already asleep."

Wearing a loose smile, and a looser nightgown, Kushami put the gun aside as she drew closer to Tien. "…So?"

"And you were cradling a glock," finished Tien, with a wry grin on his face. "That's just kinda disturbing."

"Wuss." Kushami eased closer to Tien and draped her arm around his shoulder. "But that aside, any chance you might be having a… Late morning?" Kushami licked her lips as she finished the question.

"Tempting," said Tien as he ruffled Kushami's hair. "Very tempting, but you know I can't. I have to train…"

At the mention of training, Kushami tilted her head to the side with a slight pout. "Still? But you're already the strongest human on Earth. Even if you do spend so much time flat on your back." Kushami winked. "Can't you skip just one day?"

Tien sighed. "You know I can't. I may be strong, but I'm not strong enough. I let a good friend die because I couldn't—"

"Tien," cut in Kushami, almost angrily, "stop blaming yourself for that. That was years ago. There was nothing you could have done against Cell. You couldn't have saved Goku."

"Maybe not then," conceded Tien, an all too familiar hint of resignation seeping into his voice. "But I should never have let things get that far. I should have jumped in earlier. I never should have let Piccolo fight alone. I should have gone all out when the androids first appeared… There were so many places I should have stopped it…"

Kushami put her hands on Tien's face and stared intently into his eyes. "Tenshin. The weight of the world is not on your shoulders. Not anymore. There are many fighters to protect Earth. Not all of them need to be perfect. You're doing the best you possibly can. You always have…"

Tien abruptly grinned and wrapped his arms around Kushami's waist. "So you're saying you're willing to settle for a guy who's only second best?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Kushami closed her eyes and the pair shared a quiet kiss.

As the embrace ended, Kushami looked up at Tien. "So how long will you be gone?"

"I've got two day regime planned," Tien replied, straightening out the red t-shirt he wore. "I'll be back tomorrow night. Leave a candle on for me."

Kushami smirked. "Always... Anything you need me to tell Chouzu?"

"No, he should be--"

Tien was interrupted by a loud boom and a shockwave that shook the entire palace.

"What was that?!" With Kushami following him, Tien raced down the hall back to his balcony. Once there, it became obvious what had happened.

"Tien!" Called Kushami, still making her way through their room. "What do you see? What happened?"

"That," he responded. Upon reaching the balcony, Kushami looked to where Tien was pointing. Far off in the distance, a streak of smoke angled across the sky. Where it hit the ground, a new pillar of smoke was starting to rise. "Must have been a meteor of some sort," informed Tien. "But there's something that doesn't seem right about… Kami… There's something alive in there!"

Kushami was knocked against the banister as Tien suddenly, and very violently, powered up. "Tien, what's wrong?!" She yelled, trying to stay upright. "What's over there?"

"I don't know," replied Tien, now hovering above the balcony. "But I intend to find out! Stay here. Wake Chouzu. Make sure the town is on alert. And if I don't come back," for the first time, Tien tore his gaze from the smoke and looked down at Kushami. "…Well, you know what to do then…"

Before Kushami could say anything more, Tien shot towards the impact site, his aura leaving yet another trail across the sky.

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