Stevie and Lia flew across the landscape looking for Trunks and Sierra. "Why do you think they came all the way out here?" Lia asked as the approached the island.
"I don't know. Maybe Sierra was feeling too much pressure about the up coming fight." Stevie sighed as she and Lia both landed on the outer edge of the island's beach. "Or maybe they just wanted some time alone. I don't know," she said restlessly.
Lia smiled at her best friend. "You never did get over him, did you?" she asked.
Stevie's eyes narrowed. "Let's not talk about that okay? We have a more important reason to be here." Stevie looked around and nodded. "So, my family comes here a lot do they?" she asked mainly herself.
"Yeah. When I first found Trunks and Sierra, they were at the top of
that waterfall. The house shouldn't be too far away from that."
Bra and Cosse fought sword against sword above the main building of CC. Bra smiled as she and Cosse flew apart and saw him nursing a cut on his arm. "I didn't hurt you did I?" she asked as she put her swords over her shoulder.
"Nah," Cosse smiled. He looked at his arm and sighed. "I just forgot that you're Saiya-jin."
"So, what's that supposed to mean?"
"You are a sadist. It's in your blood to be mean and cruel and never pull a blow."
"Trunks does it all the time."
"Trunks has his own way of fighting. As does you and Stevie."
"Your point?"
"Stevie fights like an assassin...."
"She was one."
"And you fight like your father."
Bra was taken back slightly. "My father?" she asked strangely.
Cosse landed on the roof and looked back at her. "Yeah. You go looking for blood. And you'll use anything in your power to win. And you'll never admit that someone is better than you at anything."
"That's not true. My mother's a better cook, and technician than me."
Cosse looked at her and laughed. "Bulma-san doesn't count."
"You said anything."
"You know what I meant." Cosse watched as Bra lowered herself to the ground. He jumped down and followed her.
"You're just upset that I proved you wrong," Bra said smugly. She folded her hands behind her neck, and walked along humming.
Cosse looked at her and smirked. "So, who's the better fighter, Stevie or you?" he asked.
"She has an unfair advantage," Bra hissed. "She's also Shitarian."
"See, that's my point right there. You always find something to hide behind so you don't have to admit it out right."
"I do not."
"Then who's better with a sword, me, you, or Trunks?"
"You both studied longer than I did. I'm just learning how to use one."
Cosse smiled to himself as he and Bra walked inside of the building. "It's okay Bra, we both know the answer to that," he smirked.
Bra looked at him bitterly, then she smiled. "Okay, if we're admitting things now, what's your real name?" she asked. She saw the surprised look on his face and smiled. "I know you all changed your names from something, where did Cosse come from?" she asked.
He lowered his head and sighed. "Connor," he said lowly.
"Connor, that's nice." Bra then smiled as she started to glide down the hallway. "I'll race you to the kitchen, Connor."
He looked at her with wide eyes. He then smiled. "You're on," he said
simply before they both took off.
Bulma and Kyoya sat in the kitchen drinking tea together, when Sherrie walked in. "You haven't left yet?" Bulma asked.
She shook her head. "Stevie wanted me to stay behind with you. Just in case when all the fighting broke out someone came back here."
"Vegita can handle it."
"As much as I'm sure he figures he can, I doubt that. The Shitari are schooled in fighting differently than Saiya-jin. After a few battles any Saiya-jin is in tune with his or her partner, but in most cases Shitarian are partnered off a birth. They grow up together, learn to fight together, they are so in sync that it's almost like fighting in a split form."
"Then who was your partner back on your planet?" Bulma asked.
"That's real easy. Cosse. We were already born together, why not fight together." Sherrie sighed as she sat down next to Kyoya. "And our little band knows something that the other fighters of the empire don't."
"What?"
"They can all switch partners in mid-battle," the former commander answered. "The one thing that my squad was never able to do was fight back to back with your partner one minute, and then back to back with someone else the next."
"Is it that hard?" Bulma asked. She then thought about it. "I guess that because you're raised to practice with that one person you get used to fighting with that style alone, and trying to help someone with another style doesn't always work as planed."
"That's it in a nutshell," Sherrie said. "But over the past few years, we've all practiced with everybody. I can fight as anyone's partner if needed. All of us can."
Bulma looked at Kyoya with concerned eyes. "Then wouldn't it be better if Kyoya stayed with me? Sherrie you already know how to fight with everyone, and Kyoya doesn't... no offence."
"None taken," Kyoya smiled. "But I was the person who helped Lady Sayoko, I mean Stevie develop the idea. I can fight with anyone... except for the three Saiya-jin."
"Gohan, Trunks and Goten," Sherrie said as she walked over to the refrigerator. She glanced at the clock and pulled out a soda and a large sandwich. "And you won't have to worry about working with those three. They can all handle themselves well enough." Sherrie smiled as she held out the sandwich in front of her.
Before Bulma or Kyoya could ask what she was doing, two blurs flew into the kitchen, one of which grabbed the sandwich. Bulma sighed as she saw Bra sitting on top of the counter. "I hope you didn't break anything," Bulma sighed.
"Nope," Bra smiled. She then looked at Cosse as he ate his sandwich
happily. "Connor, I won," she beamed.
Sherrie almost choked on her soda as Cosse smiled.
Cosse smirked as Bra poured herself a glass of orange juice. "You cheated," he said as they both sat at the table. "You know that I don't know how to navigate those turns down the corridor."
"So, now you're the one making the excuses, huh?" Bra asked playfully.
Sherrie looked at the pair for a moment and then focused on her twin. "Cosse, what have you and Bra been doing all of this time?" she asked.
"Training," he answered around a large bite of his sandwich. He looked at Bra from across the table and smiled. "She's pretty okay. She just needs to let go and have fun."
Bra set her jaw as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm better than okay, and you know it. I beat you today," she said smugly.
"Almost," he retorted. "You forget, you're the one who stopped."
"Your arm's cut."
"I can still fight."
Sherrie sighed as she looked at Bulma. "They'll always be like this. I can feel it."
Just as Bulma was about to answer, an alarm went off inside of the building. Everyone jumped to their feet as Gohan and Goten flew into the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Kyoya asked.
"On the horizon.... from the looks of it, a hundred, maybe two," Goten said breathlessly.
"They're here?" Bra asked.
Gohan picked Bulma up into his arms. "I'm going to put her someplace safe. Tell Vegita not to worry."
Bra nodded once as Gohan took off with Bulma screaming in protest. She
then looked at Cosse, who was just finishing his lunch. "Well, I guess
we're about to find out who's the better fighter," she sighed just before
taking off out of the picture window.
Sierra flew out of the kitchen area covered in pancake batter. She couldn't help but laugh as Trunks followed her. As she reached the doorway, Sierra skidded to a halt. "Stevie, Lia," she said lowly.
Just as Trunks saw his older sister, he sighed. "What's up?" he asked as he started to wipe batter off of his face.
Stevie looked at the pair and sighed. "We have to get back. It might happen today."
Sierra's eyes widened. "No. It hasn't been three years, has it?" she asked Trunks.
"If it has, or hasn't, it doesn't matter now. It's going to happen soon. You have to be ready," Lia said. She looked at the way Trunks wrapped his arm around Sierra's waist and smiled slightly. "We all do," she added.
Trunks looked at his mate and then his sister. "How long do we have until the attack?" he asked.
"As far as I can tell, it could be as early as today." Stevie saw the concern in Trunks's eyes and raised her hand. "Okaasan has been taken care of. Sherrie, Gohan and myself took care of the arrangements."
Sierra took a deep breath and straighten. "Well then, it looks like today we've all been waiting for," she said lowly.
Stevie carefully hid her smile as she watched her reluctant princess starting to take her rightful place. "Which day might that be?"
The lavender haired woman slowly pulled away from Trunks and looked at him. She didn't want to leave him, but she knew by night fall, one way or another, she would. "The day I take my kingdom back."