AN. And here we are in Chapter 23! It's been a wild ride so far and I appreciate you all for sticking around, really, for absolute real. Thank you all so, so much! I hope you enjoy :D

Again, massive shout out and my eternal thanks to Ryu no Ohi for betaing for me. You're awesome! Y'all should stop by and read her story 'Savior of Demons' - I've sadly fallen behind but you guys should totally be better than me!

Chapter Twenty-Three

It was the night before the title fights. They were both lying in their separate beds, aware that the other was not asleep, listening to Shen's soft snores.

Tien and Chiaotzu had easily cleared the preliminaries, facing opponents who were not the calibre they had expected from a world martial arts tournament. Tien had not been as brutal as Chiaotzu had feared, though all of his opponents had required stretchers to be taken from the preliminary hall. Chiaotzu had badly burned one of his opponents with the Dodonpa after misjudging the flammability of his clothing. He hadn't thought someone would actually come to a tournament wearing a coat made of woven straw — apparently, it was traditional armour in their homeland, and not subject to the tournament's restrictions. Regardless, the man hadn't died, so Chiaotzu had been allowed to continue in the competition.

Their newfound rivals, the Turtle students, had been keeping a close eye on Tien all day. They had lurked in corners, seeming to hide behind larger competitors, trying to get a handle on Tien's fighting style. Chiaotzu was both pleased and a little nettled that they had seemed to disregard him completely; his small frame and doll-like face apparently not worthy of scoping out when compared to the tall, imposing triclops.

"Goku," Tien said softly, making Chiaotzu jump. He sat up and looked over to Tien in the dark, biting his lip. The triclops' voice had been low, rage lurking just below the surface of his flat tone.

"Tien?" he asked, voice quavering slightly.

"That bloody kid. I didn't think we'd be seeing him again so soon," his brother spat.

Chiaotzu fell back onto the pillow with a soft sigh, staring up at the ceiling. His stomach felt like a huge empty pit, a yawning void behind his belly button that made it impossible to settle or be comfortable. It had bloomed when he'd seen that spiky haired child standing with the two other Turtle students, wearing the same orange gi with the Kame symbol emblazoned on the back. The boy had recognised them as well, bringing up their betrayal of the boar-butterfly-deer hybrid.

The other two students had been initially standoffish, but Tien's sarcastic tone had grated on the adult of the trio, who had struck up a quick rivalry with the top Crane student. The other child, a bald former Orin Temple monk, marked by the dots on his forehead, had focused on Chiaotzu. The telepath, stuck at a young age and knowing deep within himself that he would never grow any older or taller, decided it would be funny to mock the child for his height, something he was clearly self-conscious about. The little monk had been sufficiently aggravated, and Tien had seemed slightly surprised by his companion's childishness.

The former champion had interrupted their squabbling, much to Tien's delight. An old man, his limbs thin and reedy, a good-humoured smile on his wrinkled face, had immediately disarmed the Turtle students' anger. Tien had been very smug about the idea of this old man defeating any of the other students before them, much to Chiaotzu's confusion. He should know better than anyone else that you shouldn't judge another fighter based on their appearance.

Now, lying in the dark, reflecting on the day and the fighters they had met, the latent anger Tien had suppressed from their previous encounter with the child was bubbling to the surface, interrupting his sleep.

The other students seemed strong too. They all made it through to the title fights, Chiaotzu sent telepathically; worried that if he spoke aloud his voice would awaken their sleeping master.

The little bald one won't be a problem, Tien sent back, his mental voice thoughtful and very slightly strained with his anger. He's too self-conscious to be a threat. You can fight him, if you'd like. You seemed to enjoy riling him up.

Chiaotzu flushed slightly, even as a smile pulled at his lips. Yeah, that'd be good.

You can fix the order? You're sure?

Yes, Tien. It'll be easy. It was true; tweaking the folded pieces of paper so that a specific one would fly into the right hand was child's play, a psychic trick he'd been able to do since his early childhood. He wasn't great at numbers — Shen had never deemed academic pursuits to be useful to their training — but if he stared hard enough at the position he wanted the person to end up in, it wasn't a problem. Which one do you want to fight?

There was a pause as Tien considered the options. I want to fight Goku at some point...but I think if I destroy the adult first then that will demoralise him.

The words sent a cold shiver up Chiaotzu's spine, but he didn't let it show in his mental voice as he sent, Of course, I can arrange that.

We're going to crush them into the dust, Tien sent, smugness in his tone. That damned Turtle Hermit will have to piece them back together again bit by bit...if at all.

Chiaotzu chewed on his lip. He didn't think he was going to be able to hurt the former monk the way Tien and Master Shen expected. He had always had difficulty in that regard. Though if the boy showed up in his orange gi the telepath could just use the Dodonpa, burning him badly. That would satisfy the others, surely.

We should get some sleep, Chiaotzu, Tien sent finally, interrupting the boy's planning. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

Okay. Good night, Tien.

Sleep well, little brother.

The link between them closed painlessly, Tien rolling over onto his side and curling up slightly, his breathing slowing and becoming regular after only a brief moment. Chiaotzu remained awake, lying frozen, his eyes stinging with sudden unexpected tears. It had been a long time since Tien had called him his brother; not since shortly before their joint assassination, when the walls around Tien's mind had formed. Since then Chiaotzu had not felt completely sure where he stood with the triclops, not wanting to intrude on the young man's mind, keeping a respectful distance.

However, it seemed that Tien did still consider him a close friend and ally, still a brother despite his distance, and that simple revelation had somehow filled in that void of anxiety in his gut. He blinked away the tears in his eyes, rolled over in the bed, and fell easily to sleep for the first time in months.

AN. Aww, that's kinda sweet I guess! I've gotten a bit stuck at the moment sadly, hopefully will break through the block before I get to posting the next chapter! Thanks all again, you guys are the greatest :D See you next time!