A/N: Hello guys! I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter in this series, I hope you guys will continue reading later on when everything starts to get a little better.
[Big thanks to Sejii and dragon96 for the great reviews they gave me. ]
Disclaimer: Dragonball, DragonballZ, and DragonballGT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fujii TV, and Akira Toriyama.
"I'm Bulma, by the way." The blue woman smiled sweetly.
Tea arched an eyebrow. Bulma… It was her name. "Bulma..." the word felt odd con her tongue. "I am Tea, I am not familiar with this language." She replied with a frown.
Bulma nodded, "That's what I thought." She smiled quickly before movement in the doorway caught her eye. It was Piccolo, what was he doing here? And why does he look so angry? "Hey, Piccolo." She greeted. "How long have you been there?"
Tea turned to the doorway. It was the emerald man, the one that pulled her from Frieza's ship. His name was Piccolo.
Piccolo grunted. He'd been here since the alien attacked Bulma. He had almost killed her then, but the look of utter terror on her face made him hesitate. Then that old bastard, Kami, butted into his thoughts. So what if he wanted to assess this alien? It wasn't any of his business in the first place. But, if Kami could figure out if she was lying about being friendly or not, the old man could come in handy.
"Kami wants to speak with the alien." He snapped.
Bulma scrunched her nose; she wanted to introduce Tea to the Z Fighters while they were all in one place. She couldn't argue with Kami, though. "Well, go on and take her. Just make sure he knows she's telepathic. She almost scared me to death with the stunt she pulled earlier." Bulma stated sheepishly and turned to leave the room.
Piccolo snorted and looked to the alien, her color had returned, good. He scowled and turned on his heel. "Follow me."
Tea obliged quickly and rushed to catch up with Piccolo. "Thank you." She whispered to his back. "For helping me." She added quickly.
Piccolo huffed, not bothering to face the woman. "Forget it." He turned on the woman when they were outside, "Can you fly?" his words were harsh, almost masking the question in his sentence.
Tea looked up at Piccolo. Surprisingly, she didn't have to look up far. He felt a lot taller in the building, but now she could tell that she only came up to his shoulders. "Fly?" she asked, genuinely confused by his question.
Piccolo's scowl deepened. Perfect, he'd have to carry her to Kami's Lookout. "Never mind." He spat as he advanced on the woman, grabbed her middle and hoisted her over his left shoulder. He then powered up and flew off at top speed.
Tea shrieked at first, but was able to calm herself. Piccolo must be a warrior. Only the warrior of her home tribes had the unique ability to fly. And none of them would carry another while in flight. It was invigorating.
Tea would have laughed like a hatchling if it were not for the pain in her chest. She also would have told Piccolo of the pain he was causing her if she could only find the proper words to do so. She decided that she would have to tell him the only way she knew how.
Piccolo flinched when he felt the woman palm the back of his neck. "What are you doing?" he fought back the urge to toss her down. Surprisingly, he felt her pushing at the walls around his mind. With reluctance, he lowered them and was immediately regretting his decision.
He could feel her pain. It was immense and he was causing it. He stopped abruptly and pulled her over his shoulder. He decided that cradling her like a child would cause the least amount of pain. Piccolo quickly pulled the walls back over his mind and resumed flight. "Ribs. Those are what hurts." He clarified for her. "A lot of yours are broken."
Tea's brows furrowed, "Ribs..." So she had broken ribs. No doubt from Frieza. "Thank you." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but she was sure he heard her.
A hearty "Feh" Was his only response.
"Mr. Popo, could you please prepare tea for our guests?" Kami never turned his head away from the direction that Piccolo was coming from, but Mr. Popo still rushed off to complete his task.
This woman's power was strange. Kami could feel her chi, but it wasn't as strong as some of the other Z Fighters. He also felt her awareness of everything living around her. It was intriguing. She was also trained fervently in some practice he was not familiar with. But the strength of her mind was what fascinated him the most.
Before Kami could contemplate the stranger any farther, Piccolo landed on the Lookout, cradling the girl to his chest. Kami smiled and opened his arms wide in welcome. "Hello, stranger. Welcome to Kami's Lookout." He took a few steps forward and clutched his staff. "I'm Kami, the Guardian of Earth." He grinned as he motioned to the approaching genie. "And this is my good friend, Mr. Popo."
Piccolo lowered the alien's legs to the ground and released her torso when she stood. She turned and thanked him, but he only crossed his arms and walked away to meditate.
Tea's brows furrowed at Piccolo's hasty departure, but she decided to leave him be. Instead, she turned to the Elder and bowed her head slightly. "I'm Tea." She smiled softly.
Kami ducked his head in response and approached Tea. He slid his arm around her shoulders and motioned her into the kitchen where Mr. Popo had prepared tea. "Come, child. We have much to discuss."
Kami guided the woman to the kitchen with Mr. Popo close behind. Once inside, Kami pulled a chair out for Tea and motioned for her to sit. Mr. Popo was already fixing a glass of tea for the woman and himself and already had a glass of water ready for Kami.
Kami smiled as he took a sip from his glass. "Now, Tea, what brings you to Earth?"
Tea's brows furrowed in frustration. She knew the story well, but was still unfamiliar in this language. She wouldn't be able to explain herself. Tea sighed as she took a drink from the odd beverage in front of her. Kami called it tea, it was actually refreshing. "I do not think I have the words to answer." She looked over at Kami, he was smiling, obviously pleased at something.
"Well, there is another way we could discuss this matter. It will do for now, but I do believe I will have to give you lessons on our language if you are to remain here." He smiled pleasantly at Tea. She seemed civil.
Kami lowered the shields of his mind and pushed at Tea's. He knew she was trained in telepathy, he secretly hoped that she would not disappoint him.
Tea's brows shot up in surprise. This guardian was knocking on her mental shields. She smirked; he knew she was a telepath. Good, she wouldn't have to force herself on him. She lowered her shields and allowed the Elder to search her memories.
Disappoint was the last thing this young lady did. Though, he did not want to call her young. She was over sixty, still young to her people but, at around thirty human years old, she was much older than she seemed. She was humble, as well. Patience, stealth, and humility had been trained into this woman.
He could feel her memories of hunting, she was graceful and at home in the wild. Hunter is what her people called her class. She was a hunter, her chi was powerful, but her tribe did not allow much chi training for her class.
Kami pushed farther into her mind. He wanted to know more of her race. And as soon as he pushed for that knowledge, he could hear Tea's voice echo through his thoughts. 'We are Laythians. Layth is my home.' He smiled and softly thanked her for her compliance.
As quickly as his smile appeared, it vanished. She was pushing her memories of Frieza into his mind. So much pain and betrayal followed suit. Frieza had come to her planet looking for soldiers and assassins for his army. He took many warriors and hunters from tribes across her planet. And once Frieza had what he needed he demolished Layth with glee.
She was there. She watched her home and family be destroyed. Kami couldn't fathom how this woman stayed pure. She had denied Frieza's assassin training and was sold into slavery shortly after. She couldn't bring herself to kill for an evil like Frieza, so she suffered for months while Frieza used her as a whipping child for his anger.
And, as a final insult to this poor woman, Frieza mercilessly beat Tea to vent his anxiety about arriving on Earth to defeat Goku. The monster left her to die in his prison and felt no remorse. She was angry with Frieza that much Kami could understand. But, she was not consumed by grief or hatred. She was still a pure soul.
Kami smiled at Tea's resilience. She was a strong woman with no intent to harm the innocent. With proper chi and martial arts training, she would be a reliable ally to the Z Fighters. But, the language barrier would prove to be maddening.
Kami sighed and spoke through Tea's mind. 'Child, you need lessons in our language. I will allow you to stay here, but brace yourself. I am about to relay my knowledge of Earth's native tongue.'
Tea relaxed as best she could, but the information she was getting from Kami was vast. She already felt an understanding of this language. And with a few more sessions with Kami, she should have it feel normal to her. She was pleased with herself; she was able to obtain a mass amount of familiarity of the language in just one sitting.
Kami exhaled as he pulled himself from Tea and built his barriers back up. She was a fast learner.
Tea smiled and took another drink of the earthy beverage in front of her. "That was exhilarating, Kami. It has been too long since I last communicated properly through telepathy."
Kami smiled as he handed his empty glass to Mr. Popo. "I am glad you enjoyed our time together, Tea. I must confess that I thought bringing forth such terrible memories would darken your mood.
Tea smirked, "It takes more that memory to break me, Kami. Even Frieza could not control me. I would never allow memories to do what he could not." She smiled up at Mr. Popo as he took her glass. "And thank you, Mr. Popo, the tea was quite refreshing."
Mr. Popo grinned sheepishly. "You are most welcome, Tea, I do hope you will make visits with Kami and me routine."
"As do I, Mr. Popo. Tea, you are welcome here as often as you would like." Kami smiled, Tea was already speaking quite well. Her thick accent and rolled 'r's being the only remnant of her unfamiliarity with the language. "I am sure you would like to get back to Bulma's to acclimatize and find your place among the Earthlings. But before I let you leave, I must ask Piccolo to take you to Master Korin for a senzu bean. I'm sure you do not want to spend weeks healing your injuries before you can properly adjust."
A/N: Lana again! I'm just going to let you guys know that I'll probably have a new chapter up every 5 or so days, so make sure you keep up!