Chapter Two - A Moment to Relax

The flight over the Tanarian captial city had been quiet after Hotaru had finished her story. Yamcha had taken the time to see what he could of the city in the trees. He hadn't seen a single car or motorized vehicle of any kind. Most people were walking or on bikes. He'd also noticed that, for a race of warriors, a lot of the people weren't much stronger than the average Human. He'd have to remember to ask about that later. Right now his eyes had moved along the tree tops toward a distant hill that was slowly growing closer.

Now that they were closer to it he could see the stone and glass structure that sat within the hillside. The only building he'd seen yet that wasn't made of wood. He figured it was the palace and that most of it was probably underground. A few moments away from the building still, he sensed a handful of powers come up from inside, stronger than those he'd felt within the city but lower than Akira or Sango's. He cast a glance at them and saw that they wore armor that reminded him of Sai-jin armor. The design wasn't quite the same, these were vest like in appearnce, but the similarity was still there.

Yamcha also noticed that the strongest of the five that had come to greet them wasn't a Tanarian. That much was obvious by the blue skin tone, red hair, and yellow eyes. Considering how little Akira seemed to like the idea of other races being on the planet the sight was something of shock. Sora gave them a nod and said something to the alien as he moved up and flew alongside her. The man cast a glance back at Hotaru and Yamcha, nodded, and then descended into the trees. The other four flanked them and flew them the rest of the distance to the palace.

They touched down on a small balcony area, their escorts landing with them. Two of the escorts opened the large doors in the wall before them and entered leading the way through a series of halls. Sora, Hotaru, and Yamcha followed with the other two escorts bringing up the rear. Yamcha took the time during the walk to examine what he could see of the palace. The walls and floor were made of stone and the ceiling was wooden. Down the center of the halls was a red carpet that worked as insolation from the cold stone floors.

The walls were dotted here and there with tapestries and paintings which Yamcha took note of as they went. Several of the paintings drew his attention more than others as the obviously depicted transformed Tanarians, something he'd not yet seen. As they turned a corner his eyes fell on one of these paintings showing a look he'd not seen before. Hotaru noticed him looking at it and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "That's our true forms."

Yamcha nodded and looked more closely at the image. It was of a young woman with red hair streaked with silver. The detail to the painting was great enough that he could tell all the areas not covered by clothes were covered by orange fur. There were tiger like stripes of red fur on her face, neck, and arms. While her face looked pretty much the same as the current Tanarians her eyes were golden and very cat like. A second later they were past the painting and entering a large room. It was the most advanced place he'd seen since landing on the planet, the room was full of computer consoles and communications equipment.

"We've kept this stuff here and working all these years." Sora said looking it over. "Mostly just so we could listen in on the rest of the galaxy but I always hoped we'd be able to make contact with the other races again." She turned and looked at Yamcha. "Is it possible to contact your world?"

Yamcha nodded. "Sure, the Sai-jin embassy is set up for long range space transmissions, well, it should be by now. If not then Bardock at least has the stuff Bulma whipped up."

Sora turned around again and moved over to one of the consoles. "What's the transmission code?" she asked.

"Umm... Alpha, Nine, Omega, Omega, Seven, Zero, Two, Six, Beta." he said.

Sora nodded and input the code to access that frequencey. She paused for a moment before pushing 'transmit'. The three stood in silence, in fact the entire room had gone quiet now. Those who'd already been in the room knew that something was happening but weren't sure what. A moment later the large screen in the room flashed green once and then was filled with Bardock's face. "Ah, Yamcha, Hotaru, you made it safely then?"

"Yes, thanks to your people's help." Hotaru said. "I must thank-you again for retrieving and repairing my ship."

Bardock waved it off. "It was nothing. You are one of the reasons we're all still here, and a friend."

Hotaru bowed lightly. "I'd like to introduce my Mother, Sora, Queen of Tanaria." she said with a slight motion.

Sora noded to him. "I'd like to thank-you for keeping an eye on my daughter."

Bardock grinned. "No problem your majesty." he said.

He was about to say something more when another voice broke over the transmission. "Hotaru!" A second later Gohan's face popped up between the screen and Bardock's. "Hey! How are you guys doing?! Are you on your world now?"

Hotaru laughed. "Hey Gohan. Yeah, we're on Tanaria now, and we're doing well. How are you doing?"

Gohan grinned. "Better today, I finally managed to get away from the stack of books mom keeps dumping on me. She's insisting on making up for the time I missed training and fighting..." he sighed.

Yamcha laughed. "Chi-Chi is probably the only person in the entire universe that you and Goku are afraid of."

"Well she's got a frying pan!" Gohan called causing Bardock, Hotaru, and Yamcha to crack up laughing again. After that Bardock moved Gohan aside and held a... more formal conversation with the Queen and her daughter. After a few moments Bardock patched them into a three-way conversation with Planet Vegeta. While they worked on setting up diplomatic ties Hotaru had one of the palace guards take Yamcha to his room. He'd sprawled out on the large bed just to relax but was soon asleep. It felt like it had only been moments since he'd laid down that he was awakened by several loud cracks and flashes of orange and silver light through his window, and the detection of two high powers.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Hotaru sat leaning back against the hard rock of the cliff face. Her eyes were closed as she let the cool night breeze blow across her, tossling her hair in it's movements. As she listened to the rush of the waterfall a few yards away she relaized how much she'd missed coming to her favorite spot. This had been her place to get away from the rest of the world for years, ever since she'd first found the small cave that wound it's way up inside the cliff and emerged on the ledge she was sitting on.

Tilting her head back and letting it rest on the cool rock relaxed and did some thinking. A lot had happened to her in the more than a year that she'd been away from her world. A lot had happened in general for that matter. She'd gained quite a bit of power, a good amount of it thanks to the Namek guardian Azura. Had she not recieved that power-up she'd probably only be around Akira's level of power.

She sighed as she thought back to when she'd first arrived on Earth. The large number of low powers she'd felt and the small number of rather high powers had been interesting. She still found it incredible that the Humans, normally rather weak, held so much potential once they learned to use their KI. Yamcha, Krillin, and especially Tien were all far beyond any other Human in terms of power and speed. And then, at the Budokai, even though she'd known to expect it seeing a child displaying control over KI was still a shock.

Gohan... he'd been stronger than her then and was much stronger than her now. And yet he was just child. It was still hard for her to grasp that. She was so used to her own people that the thought of a child with KI control was odd, the thought of one with that much power seemed impossible.

She smiled as her mind drifted forward in time to the year she'd spent on the Lookout on Earth, training with Yamcha and the others. She'd missed Tien and Vadora getting closer during that year but she had a good reason, she'd been so wrapped up in her own feelings the rest of the world had been practically empty. Bulma seemed like a nice enough woman but she and Yamcha didn't always get along too well, which was a good thing in her mind.

Her smile turned into a grin and a little laugh as she remembered Bulma's comment about the Sai-jin prince when she'd first seen him. That would be a dangerous pair, their firey attitudes would be more than enough to scare off most people but she could see the two of them together. That is, if the Sai-jin Prince ever got over the fact that Goku was a Super Sai-jin. Otherwise he'd probably kill himself trying to get the power as well.

She opened her eyes slowly as she felt a power nearing and quickly recognized it as Sango's. "Princess." the young woman said in greeting as she landed on the small ledge and then sat down beside her.

Hotaru frowned. "No formalites up here." she said. "Especially from you Sango."

The other nodded as she gazed up at the stars. "What was it like?" she asked after a few moments of silence. "Being on another world I mean. You got to see Earth, and Namek, and Planet Vegeta..."

"They were beautiful worlds." Hotaru said with a smile. "But they weren't home. Earth was too plain, all the plants were green. Namek was backwards to Earth and still plain. Planet Vegeta had some sights but... What did Yamcha call it again? Oh, yeah, the 'Concrete Jungle' just isn't for me. The Nameks were more at one with their world than the Sai-jins or Humans but Namek was mostly open expanses."

Sango nodded. "I've always wondered how they could live in cities like those. So far from the trees and from nature."

"Most Humans and Sai-jins seem to have this self important attitude. The feeling I got from most of them was that since they were the dominant species of the planet they were beyond it. Their cities just serve to reinforce that feeling by seperating them from the wilds."

Sango scrunched up her face. "I could never live like that."

"Me either. It's too hectic, too noisy, and too cramped. This is what life is. Calm, quiet, relaxed, peaceful." Hotaru sighed smiling. "But Earth does have some good things."

Sango glanced over at her and grinned. "Oh really? And I bet you brought one of them along with you, hmmmm?" she prodded. When Hotaru's face started turning red she laughed. "I knew it! I saw the way you looked at each other earlier, Akira's going on and on about an alien diplomat but I knew he was more than that." Sango's red eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "So... details, come on, spill!"

"What! Hey! Nothing like that's happened yet!" Hotaru cried turning redder. "I've only known him a little over a year!"

"Alright, alright... well, is he good kisser at least?"

Hotaru mock frowned at her and then pushed her off the ledge. If Sango hadn't been able to fly she'd have fallen into the river below them. "Oh come on, you have to share! It's just not fair!"

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "And why do you even care? I thought you'd sworn off men?"

"Well now I'm back to men again, women are to bossy." she said sticking out her tongue.

Hotaru's had shot up faster than Sango could see and grabbed hold of her tongue. "And why do I get the feeling that by women you mean me, hmmm?"

"Ithwp othrip plthu..." she began as she tried to speak while Hotaru still had hold of her tongue. After a second the Princess let go and it snapped back into Sango's mouth only to be stuck out at her again a second later. "And of course I mean you." she said sitting down on the ledge again and leaning back against the rock. "Haven't been with any other women."

Hotaru closed her eyes and rested her head back against the cool rock again. "I'm sorry about just taking off like that... I would have taken you with m..."

"It's okay." Sango said. "After the fight we'd had I wasn't even sure you would talk to me again so I was very happy with at least getting that letter." She turned her head and looked over to Hotaru. "So, is Yamcha at least a good guy? And does he have a brother?"

Hotaru laughed again. "No, no brothers. Though maybe I'll introduce you to his friend Krillin some time. But yeah, he's great." she sighed and sat up straight again. "He's funny and smart, but not smarter than me." she added with a laugh. "Which is always a good thing. And he's got a really caring soul too. I mean, he was willing to die to protect his friends..." she closed her eyes as the memories of his death in the fight against Zarbon drifted to mind again. Sure, he was alive now but it still hurt.

She turned her head as she felt Sango's hand rest on hers. "Hey, he's alive so don't look so down." she said with a smile. Turning to look out across the forest again she sighed. "Now I just need to find me someone... Soooo, what's this Krillin that you mentioned like? Hmmm?"

Hotaru laughed. "He's short and bald, he has no nose, he's strong, and he's nice. I didn't talk with him a whole lot, even during the year of solid training we went through preparing for Zarbon. But he's one of the few single ones left. Goku's married, Yamcha's taken, and Tien is too it seems." Hotaru suddenly burst out laughing. "Of course, there's always Master Roshi!"

"Who?"

Hotaru shook her head. "Just an old pervert, he's perfect for you!" Sango frowned and stuck her tongue out again. Then suddenly reached out and grabbed Hotaru before diving off the ledge toward the water. A few feet up she stopped and let go of the Princess dropping her into the cold river. A second later she shot back up again and spun around quickly throwing off the water. The Princess' orange eyes sparkled as her body shifted positions slowly and the other girl grinned.

Sango's long hair flowed out behind her as her red aura flared to life and she shot across the open expanse of sky at her friend. Hotaru dodged deftly to the left around a right hook but was smacked with a knee to her stomach that doubled her over. Hotaru drifted back and powered up some to even their odds and then swung her right foot at Sango's head. The other girl brought her arm up and blocked the kick with a loud crack and then... vanished.

Hotaru's eyes widened as she looked around for her. /Well, that's new... I can't sense her KI, where'd she.../ Her thoughts were cut off as a knee slammed into the back of her head knocking her forward. She flipped around and used the momentum to launch a kick at Sango's face but the girl vanished again. This time Hotaru didn't waste time looking for her and powered up to her max quickly.

A second later she felt a blip of energy beside her and shifted to the right just in time to dodge a punch aimed for her face. She reached up and grabbed her arm and then flung her down and into the river before diving in after her. After both girls vanished beneath the shimmering waters the night went calm and quiet. Beneath the gently rolling waves of the river two shadows moved quickly with the current and toward the lake by Tanaria City. After a few moments the waters of the lake parted into locations exploding upward as a red streak and an orange streak shot into the sky and toward each other.

As they neared Sango grinned. "Watch this!" she called as her muscles tightened and her aura flicked. "Nibai Kinryoku!" she suddenly shouted. Her aura flashed, vanished, and then flared back to life a vibrant silver color. The fact that Sango had just used the Kinryoku shocked Hotaru enough that she forgot to block the punch aimed for her face.

After sailing backward several dozen yards she righted her self and grinned at Sango while licking blood off her lip. "When did you pull that off?" she called as she sensed several powers, large and small alike, begining to gather on the beach.

"When you left I spent a solid month practicing the Kinryoku. Day in and day out. I vowed I'd be able to do it by the time you got back." Sango grinned. "Now, to even things up a bit more... Sanjuu Kinryoku!" Here aura exploded outward for a second as she shot across the sky above the lake. Hotaru's orange aura flared up once more and the two girls began to trade blows as they arced through the sky.

As flashes of orange and silver lit up the night the gathering crowd grew larger and larger. It only took a few moments for Akira, Sora, and Yamcha to reach the location as well. "Oh, wow, look at them go." Yamcha said watching.

"I didn't know Sango could use the Kinryoku." Sora said watching them.

"Neither did I." Akira grumbled.

There was a loud crack as their fists smashed into each others faces and they were flung apart. Sango spun around, came to a stop and held her arms out to her side making a cross shape. Red flame like energy began to swirl about her hands as she grinned. "Buuuuuuuuurning...."

Hotaru stablized her self and saw the forming attack and smirked as well. Her body shifted in the air, her hands cupping at her sides, as blue energy swriled to life between her palms. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

"Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash..."

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

"Aaaattaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Sango thrust her arms foward and the energy shot off in a swirling wave twoard Hotaru, bathing the entire lake in a bright red glow.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Hotaru cried thrusting her arms out as well and launching a blue wave of energy. The glows mixed in the air as the attacks surged at each other above the lake turning everything bright purple. Directly off to the center of the lake the two beams collided and their ends exploded before mingling and then pushing against each other. The force of the swirling energy churned the waters of the lake as the girls grinned and poured on more and more power. After a few seconds Sango's beam began to overtake Hotaru's.

"Sorry Sango!" Hotaru called. "But you won enough of our old spars, it's my turn to win! Nibai Kinryoku!" Hotaru's aura flared out and shifted to silver. The tips of the aura swirled about and mixed in with the Kamehameha Wave sending streakes of silver along it's length for a moment along with a swell of new energy. The extra power smashed into Sango's attack and forced it back rapidly. Seconds before it would have hit her she suddenly vanished again.

"What the?" Yamcha asked looking around.

Akira snorted. "Her Transport Technique." he said. "She can move to another location in a matter of seconds, great for last second dodges. But she says it's hard to maneuvor where ever it is she goes when not here or she'd reappear faster.

There was a resounding crack from above again as Sango appeared once more and tried to kick Hotaru only to have the attack blocked and a fist smashed into her stomach. Sango drifted in the air holding her stomach for a second, her aura sputtering, and then she began to fall as her aura vanished. Hotaru dove down and scooped her up before she fell into the water and then flew over and landed where her Mother, Akira, and Yamcha stood and breathing a little hard. "Sorry about waking everyone like that..." she said.

"Don't worry about it." Sora said as the applause and cheers began again. "I think they liked it..."

"Hey, I know." Yamcha said perking up. "How about we hold a Tournament here on the beach?" he asked.

Hotaru looked over at him and grinned. "You mean like that Earth Budokai?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Maybe some friendly competition would get our people to train harder too." She glanced down at Sango in her arms. "We'll figure out the rest later, I need to get Sango to the Clinic... her KI is still going down, I think my last punch may have been a bit to hard..."

Sora nodded. "Then get going." she ordered.

Hotaru nodded and blasted off toward the palace at top speed.