Chapter 6

*I can be cruel

I don't know why

Why does my ba-lla-loon stay up

In a perfectly windy sky?*

-Tori Amos, "Cruel"

Miura rolled over to hit the alarm clock without opening her eyes.

"What time is it?" she muttered, rolling over on her side. When she got no response, she hit Trunks on the back of the head with her hand.

"Hey! What time is it?"

She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked at the clock.

"Holy shit! 9:37! Trunks, why didn't you wake me up?" Her companion slept soundly on, blissfully unaware that anything was wrong.

"Guess I wore him out. Wus. I thought he'd be able to withstand a lot more than that." She nudged the sleeping Trunks and hissed in his ear,

"Hey, wake up!"

"Huh...Wha..." He sat up on his elbows and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What time is it?"

"That's not important!" Miura cried while rolling her eyes, pulling the sheet around her and jumping out of bed. "Where did you throw my clothes last night?"

He rolled over on his back and put his arms behind his head.

"I dunno."

"You don't know!?!" She stormed over and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of bed. "Help me find them, or I'm gonna be late!"

Trunks reluctantly put on a pair of boxers, then went to Miura, putting his arms around her.

"Why do you need your clothes for? You're not going anywhere, are you?"

Miura let herself sink into his strong arms. Maybe the mission could wait an hour longer...

She shook her head, her violet hair spilling over her shoulders.

"I have to leave today."

Trunks visibly deflated. "Oh, that's today?"

"Yeah."

"Your clothes are in the far left corner."

After Miura collected her clothes, she went to her own room and changed, then went down to the lab. Bulma was going over the final checklist on the time machine, making sure that all the systems were in working order.

"Good morning, Bulma-san," Miura greeted. "Where's Montana?"

Bulma looked up from the paper with a concerned expression.

"You mean she's not with you?"

"No, I haven't seen her since training yesterday."

The two woman heard shuffling footsteps in the entrance of the lab, and turned to see Juuhachi slowly hobbling towards them.

"I sent her to my brother's cabin to give him the virus," the android said sofly. Miura gasped and shook her head in disbelief.

"Did she take anything to protect herself with?"

"You mean like a gun or something?" Juuhachi asked, "My brother is harmless, she won't need anything to protect herself with."

Miura sweatdroped. She obviously didn't know Montana very well.

"Its not her I worry about, its him," Miura muttered under her breath. "Well, I guess I'd better go and get her. We have to leave within the hour."

The Saiya-jin girl lept into the air and proceeded towards the andriod's cabin. Once she got to were Juuhachi instructed her, Miura cautiously knocked on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" she asked, her indigo eyes wide with concern. When she didn't hear an answer, she slowly opened the door. "Hello?" Wandering from room to room, Miura looked for the missing Saiya-jin girl. Upon entering the kitchen, she found empty cartons of ice cream strewn carelessly around the table. Yup, Montana's been here, she thought wryly, as ice cream was the girl's favorite food. Miura tiptoed down the hallway to the last remaining room that she had to look in. As she knocked on the slightly ajar door, it swung open to reveal Montana, sitting on the edge of a bed, smoking a cigarette.

"Montana!" Miura cried, running towards her, "What the hell are you doing here?" Then, she thought about the stupidity of the question. "Well, its obvious WHAT you're doing here, but that's not the point. We need to get back to Capsule Corp. now. The time machine is leaving in a half hour, with or without us."

"Shit!" Montana muttered, and put her cigarette out. She collected her belongings, and departed the cabin. Thinking back, Montana only hoped that Juunana would understand her abrupt departure. She told him that she would be there when he got out of the shower.

When they arrived at Capsule Corp., Bulma, Vegeta, Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks were all waiting impatiently.

"Its about time! You almost didn't make it!" Bulma yelled pointedly as the two women ran into the shuttle. Miura turned as the doors where closing, and shouted,

"If we're not back in a half hour, give up on is, OK?"

She said it with a smile, but when she looked at Trunks, the expression on his face was enough to rip her heart out. She gave him a weak smile, and waved. The doors shut then, and the two girls were on there way.

"So, Montana," Miura asked once they were out of sight of Capsule Corp., "You know how to drive this thing?"

"Yup."

"Anything I should know about when we enter the time stream?"

Montana's face grew serious and she turned to the younger Saiya-jin. "Actually, yes. When we enter the time stream, you may feel some discomfort because our bodied will age extremely fast." Seeing the alarm on Miura's face, she quickly added, "Don't worry. Our bodies will only age about seven or eight months. Nothing to be concerned about."

Miura relaxed and sat back in the copilot's chair. "So, what did you do last night?"

The blue-haired Saiya-jin blushed and muttered, "That's none of your business."

"OOOHHH!!! Montana!" Miura teased, "You didn't!"

Giving the younger girl a sidelong glance, Montana asked, "What exactly do you think I did?"

It was Miura's turn to blush. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"That's what I thought."

A blinking light began to flash on the console, and Montana flipped a switch underneath it.

"Are you ready, Miura?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."