A/n: Konnichi wa, minna! I hope you all (who am I kiddin? it's 'ya'll' 'round these parts!) like the story so far. There's much, much more to come. This is only the fourth chapter. I'm writing the... ::looks in her notebook:: oh. Nevermind. I've only written up to the sixth. ::facefaults:: -.- I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOREVER!! WILL IT EVER END?! ::aHEM:: Sorry, folks.

From this disclaimer on, the story should become more serious. (maybe.) I was really trying for a comic story, but it only worked for the first 2 chapters. Sorry bout that. Also, I'm trying to put a bit of depth into this story, so bear with me. It's gonna be a long ride for some of you.

WARNING!! There's a bit on lemony-freshness in the dream. Not too much, but if you can't handle it or are not old enough to read it, please skip over the all-italics. Thanks. ^.~ I'm adding more about garters! I know it doesn't make sense, but it will be funny in the end.

Disclaimer:

RC: I don't own them.

Rabid Lawyers: ::sneek up behind her.::

Wufei: ::uses his katana to scare them away::

RC: ::gives him a high-five::

Wufei: ::grins and sits down to watch football::

Duo: Did I just see American culture given by Wu-man?

Quatre: Uh, Duo? I really don't think that he likes being called that... ::hides behind RC::

Duo: Oops.

Wufei: ::chases him with his katana, screaming:: INJUSTICE!!!

Mission: Cowgirls and Garters?

Chapter Four

Persuasion

Ruth went to bed that night, her sleep filled with haunting dreams. Her thoughts only involved the fate of the world and what was to become of her and the Gundam Pilots.

Through it all, there was only one of them she kept dreaming about. One whom she felt a certain pull towards. Why was she having feelings for this man? Someone who lived in a totally different time period?

/Flashback\

Her hair fell around her head, the black strands beaded with sweat. Her breath came out in short gasps as his hands traveled around her body. All her senses made her aware of him, especially when he touched her.

She whispered his name into his brown hair, using her shaking hands to unravel the braid that wrapped around his tightly-muscled torso. Her fingers got lost in it, and as he kept caressing her, she tightened her grip.

She saw stars as he entered her, all blue and purple and yellow. She opened her eyes, but saw nothing, and as she moved with him in that ancient rhythm, she screamed his name; moaned and whispered it, over and over and over...

/End Flashback\

"Duo!"

It was morning now, her scream waking her from her quite unusual dream. It was true, she had not been with a real man for quite a while, but just seeing this man made her want to jump and do unmentionable things with leather and garters...

Her thoughts left a grin on her face as she showered, thinking about...other things rather than the mission at hand. She had to choose between survival and romance.

She chose survival.

She dried and clothed, exiting her room for the one next door while pulling her hair up in a loose ponytail. She turned the knob, but noticed it was locked. Another grin spread across her face.

A few moments later, the lock had been picked, and Ruth stood in the doorway, a small black bra top and a pair of Heero's spandex shorts on. No one seemed to be there, though.

"Duo!" she yelled.

No answer.

"...Quatre?"

Still no answer.

Ruth took in a breath and walked towards Duo's room. I should've known better. He's probably still asleep.

But in the darkened bedroom, there was no Duo. Only bedraggled sheets that lay thrown around the bed frame.

"Where are you guys?" she yelled as she checked Quatre's room. Quatre wasn't there either. His bed was neatly but hastily made, as if he was in a hurry to go somewhere and fast...

"Did you leave me?!" she asked to the silent walls, their voices hushed in anticipation for her next reaction. She sauntered back into the living room, where a single note lay on a coffee table. It was folded in half and had her name printed on the front.

Duo did this, Ruth thought as she picked it up from its place.

It read: "Dear Ruth, please understand that we have gone and you are never to see us. As long as you leave us alone, we will find our own way to get back to AD195. Best wishes to you-- Duo, Quatre, Heero, Trowa and Wufei."

Her dark blue eyes looked away from the note and to the street below the window, which had now sprung to life.

This would be an interesting ride.

~~***~~

The hot sun beat down on the Gundam pilots, which were heading east towards the place where they first came here. Whatever was there was sure to bring them back. And if they couldn't find what they were looking for, at least there was going to be a town somewhere nearby.

All five sat on their horses, canteens in hand. All of them looked exhausted, worn out from the journey and from the blistering heat.

Heero spotted a small village in the clearing and pointed towards it. They galloped their way towards it and stopped at an inn, where they saddled their steeds and gathered at a bar, slumping down into a hard wooden booth.

Duo looked at them all and asked, "Do ya think she'll find us here?"

"Hn."

"That better not be a yes, Yuy," Wufei snarled before loosening his tight ponytail and letting the onyx strands free. "I'm considerably sick of that woman, and if I was you, I would think about trying to get back to the doctors."

"He has a point," Trowa agreed. "We need to find a way back there if we're not going through with this mission."

"I am going to go through with this mission, no matter what you do." Heero's Prussian eyes glared at the other four pilots. "Peace is something you have to fight for, not just something that is handed to you. And if you haven't learned that yet, then you shouldn't be with me at all."

The table was silent. Not one of the pilots had ever heard Heero talk this much about a mission, let alone anything else. He was dead serious; his eyes gleamed with the hope of having a mission after so long.

And Heero Yuy never failed a mission.

"Let's find a place to stay and not worry about it just yet," Quatre said meekly, hoping that a fight would not break up among them.

All he received was four stares, all asking the same question.

Whose side are you on?

~~***~~

A lone rider galloped in the sandy, hot desert. Horse and rider were one, making their way to the same destination. They co-existed in this world--man and beast. They breathed the same air and saw the same land. One would say that their intelligence was the same, only because the understood the laws of nature. It was just enough to make man and beast the same... infinitely.

Ruth wiped sweat from her tanned brow. God it's hot. I've been looking for those damned fools for the past five hours. When I get close to them... they are going to beg me from the pits of hell for their lives!

Zorro and Ruth carried on, searching high and low for any sign of the Gundam pilots.

Finally, she spotted hoof prints and droppings. Her loud "HAH!" echoed around her in the empty desert.

I found you! Reikoku cannot be wrong!

Dust was kicked up from behind the pair as they set off, followed by a soft wind that blew away their tracks.

~~***~~

Duo collapsed on the large rug in his new room. How could life be so unfair as to make hard rugs, wooden floors, and no water beds? Plus, Earth had a certain woman who made him think back to childhood and haunt him into a cold sweat in early morning hours.

There was a part of her that hated her. No, practically loathed her. There was a good reason, too. How could she think that they, the Gundam pilots, would do a mission that would change the future?

...But wasn't that what they did every time they went on one?

Heero wanted to take the mission. He had a feeling that the others did too, and that the only one on his side was Wufei, who really never cared for him that much in the first place.

Duo wanted to go back to the future and die right now rather than wait a few years.

I don't make sense. And what's worse is I don't have a real reason to hate Ruth. I think I... maybe I do have something to live for after all...

I'm in trouble.

Heero walked into Duo's room later that night and called out to him in his monotone voice. "Duo?" he asked through the pitch-black doorway.

"Duo?"

No noise came back at him.

"I have food."

No answer.

He lit a candle that rested on one of the bookshelves and looked around. No one was in the room.

And the window was open.

~~TBC