Chapter Text
The scooter began roaring its way up the mountain, Tien holding on as Yamcha controlled the vehicle.
The milk bottles jostled with heavy clanks, the groceries with plastic hisses. Tien merely watched the trees and grass move in the endless haze of mountainous scenery, feeling discomfort come closer and closer with the familiar pathway they drove up in.
".. Alright, buddy?" Yamcha asked him after a few minutes, the bumpy dirt path bumping the two of them on the scooter.
Tien blinked, trying to swallow and finding momentarily that he couldn't. "I'm fine."
Yamcha was quiet for a moment before shrugging lightly, continuing on. "I normally did this route every now and again for some older ladies. 'Didn't even know there was another training ground here."
Tien's mouth felt sticky and dry. He really didn't know why he came here.
It was silent for a good ten minutes, Yamcha spending a good quarter of it navigating the royally shitty holes that would most definitely send them flying into the air had he not done this trip many times beforehand. It became more untouched by humanity the further they went, the sweet forest greens blocking the sunlight ahead as the air became clearer, fresher.
Tien felt himself hold on to Yamcha a little tighter when he began recognizing the exact crevices in the road. "Yamcha.." he said, his voice a fearful lilt that ended up weakening further. Yamcha held the handlebar with one hand, the other going softly over the shaking ones around his waist.
"It's alright, buddy."
Tien gulped. It most definitely did not feel alright. ".. I feel like they're gonna take me back," he anxiously swallowed, unable to look forward because he knew up ahead was the sentry's station, the large guard towers to avoid escapees.
"You don't have to go up with me, you know," Yamcha reassured, "I'm okay just getting the papers signed."
Tien's hands shook harder. "I'm scared."
The vehicle slowed gently, coming to a stop on gravel that scraped against the rubber tires. Tien's shirt was plastered against his body with sweat, his hands clammy and his face pale as a ghost. Yamcha turned to look, eyes lowering in sadness. "C'mere, buddy. It's okay," he said softly as he turned off the scooter, moving his legs off to one side before pulling Tien into a hug. "It's okay. It'll be alright. I got you right here. They won't be here ever again."
"They'll find me," Tien said, voice shaky and weak as leaves falling. Yamcha squeezed him further.
"They won't. They're dead, and they'll stay dead in the depths of Hell for what they did to you 'n all those other kids. Here is all federally mandated karate camp classes for middle schoolers."
Tien swallowed his irrational fear, that somehow- just like his teacher becoming a cyborg and scarring his chest inch-deep with metal- they would find a way to crawl through the needle lake of Hell just to torture him again. He inhaled thinly, sighing with a shudder. ".. I need to do this."
Yamcha chuckled softly, the sound warm and dull. ".. Well, y'don't need to do shit, but I'll be here if you decide to."
Tien smiled, even now feeling the warmth of embers flutter in his stomach. Yamcha always seemed to have that effect on him. "I want to. Besides, I doubt your scrawny little arms can carry all those bottles by yourself," Tien teased, pulling away and getting off the scooter awkwardly, stretching.
Yamcha chuckled, following suit. He hissed getting off the scooter, stretching and groaning in pain before Tien laughed, shaking his head in embarrassment.
"Getting too old to move, Grandpa?" Tien snickered chidingly as he picked up some bottles.
"Only with you, toots- aw, shit. Did we forget the- ope, nevermind, I found it," Yamcha said distractedly, picking up the bags of groceries as Tien rolled his eyes, still grinning.
*
The cicadas seemed to burn holes through Yamcha's hearing, the cries bouncing off end to end of Tien's hilly farm.
They both lay directly opposite of each other, stomachs to the cool ground and the shade of a large oak covering their rather bored and uncomfortable selves. Summer, as Yamcha took it, was always a bitch- especially when the air conditioning stopped working.
"Hey," Yamcha said, jaw against the dirt.
"Yeah?"
"Do we have to weed the fields today?"
"Yamcha, we've been holding off on that for weeks. You know we have to," Tien said dully, the heat smothering them like a wool blanket that would not move.
Yamcha blew a raspberry in dull defiance, Tien blowing one back.
".. I bet you could bake cookies on the main road."
Tien closed his eyes tiredly, an exhausted cat with none of the bite. "I'm sure you could."
The cicadas rang more, more, lulling them.
".. One more day?" Yamcha said.
"... Fine."
*
"It's too beautiful today," Yamcha said, gaze peeking through the rustling, ripe foliage of early summer to the cloudy blue sky beyond. Tien smiled.
"It'll be a good day. Oh, you're gonna love this- Chiaotzu's making dumplings tonight."
"Oh, shit!" Yamcha exclaimed, "Damn, this is gonna be great! Is he gonna make the miso, too?"
Tien coughed a little, a hand moving to scratch the back of his own neck bashfully. They were slowly approaching the lane of their wheat, the sickles already stashed and waiting for their blunt hands to go crazy. "No, that's my thing for tonight. Sorry."
Yamcha guffawed. " Sorry? Sorry for what? Your cooking is fine, dumbass."
Tien stuck his tongue out, the dust kicking up as he got to the wheat, stalks quite large even in comparison to him. The hum of heat and crickets made the world feel a little more homey. "I know you were the world's worst thief, but I guess you can add 'liar' to the repertoire, too," he said, picking up the wood-handled sickle with his hand and feeling the age of it.
"Well, fine! Fuck you, then," Yamcha muttered sarcastically, Tien snorting at the bluntness of his response.
Tien quickly sliced a harsh line through a row of glistening wheat, the attack dangerously close to cutting Yamcha into two even slices. He smiled. "Keep that attitude up and I'll tell Chiaotzu not to give you any honey water during break."
Yamcha recovered from his mild heart attack and chuckled. "Oh, really? I'll tell you again for good measure!" he countered, grabbing his sickle and giving a deep, quicker line across the wave of grain before stopping abruptly at Tien's neck, the dull and uncurved part at the whole of his throat.
Tien's eyebrows raised in amusement as if checking the weather. "Huh. Didn't expect that one. Nice shot, Yamcha."
Yamcha smirked at his victory. "Yeah! That's what I-"
Tien's scythe, which had suddenly appeared from nowhere or perhaps everywhere, sliced directly down, narrowly avoiding splitting Yamcha into two vertical strips by the balls.
They both stayed in that frozen position as if locked by wires, the cicadas not giving two shits about the local dumbasses having a dance of knives in the middle of their agricultural property.
Tien smiled and moved his blade away.
Yamcha snorted and gave a bitter eyebrow raise, following suit.
*
".. and so Puar had, like, three whole-ass assignments to do," Yamcha said, taking a piece of fried catfish from the pan and setting it on his plate. "And we had, like, maybe twenty minutes to do it. Wasn't tough or anything, but I was, like, jesus, Puar-"
".. Puar still goes to school?"
Yamcha went quiet. ".. Yes, she.. still goes to school."
Tien nodded, quiet as he continued chewing his food.
Yamcha waited a moment. He glanced at Tien. "You're not gonna ask why she still goes to school at, what, thirty four?"
Tien politely shrugged. "I'm curious, yes, but frankly, it's not entirely my business."
Yamcha sighed once more, grabbing his plate from the kitchen and sitting across from him. "Well, I'll explain it to you because at some point it may be relevant."
Tien's eyes locked with his partner's before nodding. "Go ahead."
Yamcha cut his fish, the action delicate with the serrated knife. He chewed a mouthful of fried catfish before swallowing. ".. So-.. Okay." He sighed, obviously unsure of where to start with this. He looked around for something before spotting the pepper jar. Tien wordlessly gave it to him, and Yamcha nodded. "So, like, Puar's ability to shapeshift as a whole is actually a.. sort of genetic defect, if you will. Not a common trait. She's mixed with a bit of mammalian, obviously a bit of feline, but mostly, uh.. they suspect Trisnian as giving her a lot of weird genetic stuff."
Tien's eyebrows raised. "You mean the Trisnians? I thought they, uh.. had all died out a long time ago from the Trisn-Arkite War."
"They did," Yamcha said, eyebrows furrowed before taking another bite of his food. "They suspect the mother was at least half Trisnian, and that gave her the ability to shapeshift, but.. otherwise, she was feline-humanoid. And, uh.. Feline-humanoids and Trisnians were not known to actually have offspring that, like.. genetically developed. 'Non-viable zygotes,' a lot of them said, but.. Puar was an exception."
Tien put his fork down, eyebrows firmly perched on his forehead and his third eye wide and attentive. "God damn. Definitely didn't know that."
Yamcha chewed his food, shrugging. "Puar was a-.. honestly, Puar surviving to even form a complete being after birth was a complete miracle in and of itself. Trisnian DNA and humanoid-feline are not typically compatible, but.. somehow, she managed to survive to birth. After that, well.."
Tien chewed his fish, an eyebrow raised.
".. The mixing from the two apparently compatible races resulted in a lot of weird, different traits. Her really squeaky voice, her ability to float, her actual catlike size as opposed to humanoid- none of those things fit perfectly to a child of either race. That wasn't all that was affected, though- not only did she end up developmentally delayed, but she also has a plethora of physical health conditions to boot. Straight up, it's still really difficult to find out which doctor to take her to when she's sick. But, yeah," Yamcha finished with a sigh. "That's why she still goes to school."
Tien's eyes widened before he gulped his food down. He expected the train of thought to continue this way, but it was still strange to hear it. ".. Strange. I never would have guessed, honestly."
Yamcha chuckled lightly. "Most people don't. As it is, she passes off as.. well, maybe a kid. She's so small and kitty-like that she fits into most educational environments like peanut butter and jelly. She's right at my age, though, and.. well, she probably will keep going to school as she is. Gives her something to do."
"Do you worry about her?" Tien asked, voice quiet.
"Uh, sometimes. She can work minor jobs and stuff, and she does go hang out with friends, but.. Christ, Shinhan, I found her near dead in the desert when she was, like, sixteen- right after she graduated from shapeshifting academy and she lost her housing. That's why I was with her when Goku first found me."
Tien frowned, eyebrows furrowing. ".. I'm sorry."
Yamcha wiped at his misty eyes with a forearm, the bittersweet smile on his face hot and flushed with sudden emotion. "I feel like she might do better in life now than when she was sixteen, but.. I worry a lot about her. Does she need it? Probably not. She's a big girl. It's just.."
".. Hard to not worry about someone you love?" Tien offered softly, Yamcha smirking shakily and chuckling.
"Yeah. Probably."
Tien watched his partner for a moment before sighing through his nose, putting a hand on Yamcha's across the kitchen table. ".. I understand."
Yamcha's eyes were dull but hazy with tears when he moved his forearm away, the lines of stress and age evident in the creases of his eyelids. ".. Chiaotzu doesn't really have the same kinda stuff, does he?"
Tien's grip on Yamcha's hand tightened slightly, a reassuring look on his face. "No, he doesn't. His carefree attitude is just him happy to be alive after Shen."
Yamcha's face suddenly broke, eyes watering vividly before he pushed his plate away and laid his face onto the table.
Tien's expression suddenly stiffened, heart racing. "-Oh, shit. Did I say something-.. I'm sorry, Yamcha, fuck-"
Yamcha cried a little, but a sad laugh could faintly be heard within it. "No, Tien- That's just so fucking sad. Holy shit."
Tien felt his lips turn up in a sad smile before he, too, chuckled. "Hey, we all have gone through some rough shit. Come on," Tien said quietly before moving to sit by him, pulling him in a hug.
.. At least, he thought this was a comfortable hug. Yamcha just laid in his arms like a plank of drywood. ".. What are you doin'?"
Tien went red in the face. ".. Giving.. you a.. hug?"
Yamcha suddenly understood. "Oh, holy shit, hug! That's fine! You never give me hugs," he said, jumping at the opportunity to hug him. Tien grumbled a little bit, both embarrassed at his apparent failure of a hug and also at how eager Yamcha was to be held by him.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, patting his back. "Well, you seemed really sad. I don't like seeing you sad." Heart skipping a beat, he added, "It makes me feel bad."
Well, that didn't really help, but Yamcha chuckled anyway, sniffling. "It's okay. God, I don't even know why I got so upset in the first place. I guess I'm just a little touch and go today."
Tien smiled, squeezing his friend tighter in the hug before letting go. "Hey, it's alright. Besides, I definitely feel more comfortable in helping out Puar if any school or doctor stuff comes up now."
In that moment, Yamcha's face lit up softly, a melting candle.
Tien felt his face heat up from it.
*
Puar was scribbling at the kitchen counter, apparently drawing a picture. Chiaotzu peeked at it while carrying a basket of folded laundry. "What'cha doin', Puar?" Chiaotzu asked, noticing the rather nice linework. It looked like the four of them holding hands.
"I'm drawing a picture of our family for 'Meet Your Guardian Day.' It's coming up next week!"