CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Another day-life goes on, death approaches

Tien stared at the clear waters of the mountain lake. He had spent nearly two weeks on his own. He had returned for Chou zu the day before and was busy bathing. He could not keep his thoughts away from Miko and what he had done. The journal finished several weeks before, and it could have meant she had turned back from the path half of her was following. He dashed the water angrily. He had caused her death. And even when she could not defend herself he had hurt her, he never slept anymore, he could not bring himself to eat and he trained like a madman. He had no idea what he would do when he faced her twin. If Tien knew he would probably be preparing at this moment. But Chou zu insisted he stunk to high heaven and would not go near him unless he took a bath. So he did.

Sheme was busy drawing a picture of Miko and her bike. He always did his best when he drew Miko and was careful to get her shape just right. He sniffed a bit and took one of the special inking markers Miko had bought him a few weeks ago. She had bought him a huge art set and set up a studio of sorts in a corner of his room. He did not like sharing with Trunks. He sniffed again as he coloured her hair, careful to make the shading just right. He wiped away more tears so as not to smudge the picture. He was going to put it on his wall next to the picture of himself as a baby and Miko holding him. Bulma would come in and look at it all the time

Bulma in fact happened to be doing this at that exact moment. She sighed as she stared at a large framed photo. Miko was standing holding a tiny bundle of blankets with tufts of red hair sticking out, her knee length hair was slightly knotted and her clothing was ripped and torn, she was standing in knee depth grass on a cliff of some sort before a setting sun, somehow even with the light her face was glowing. She wore an expression Bulma had never seen her wear in reality, it was such pure peace, complete blissful peace. Even with Sheme Miko had always had a strange glint in her eyes, guilt maybe? Hate, fear? She never did find out. She stared at the younger form of Miko, she looked possibly ten, maybe slightly younger, her eyes were trained on the child she held so carefully and Bulma could see a tender smile from underneath her hair. It struck her how little she really knew about Miko's past. She sighed, brushing away a tear. Miko looked like a girl in this picture, Bulma knew her as a woman, a strong, powerful woman. And a hard calculating woman with no ends to her love for one person, the little red haired boy in her arms. It seemed strange that one dubbed so evil could love some one so much. She sighed as tears began to fall. Sheme was busy drawing in the kid's living room, Trunks hardly used it and Bulma had turned it into a studio for the young artist. He had amazing talent for one so young, se had seen professional artists who could not draw as well as him. She smiled, thinking of the trust fund Miko had left to him, it contained tuition money for art school and pretty much enough extra cash to set him up for life in style and comfort. Piccolo had told her of his promise to Miko and now stayed on the grounds permanently. She sighed again, how she missed her friend, and whatever anyone called Miko she would always be a friend in Bulma's mind.

* Sheme closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he never could get to sleep anymore. All he could think about was Miko and how much he missed her. It had never occurred to him before that anything would ever happen to Miko, she was always the one to protect him, he had seen her fly through walls and come away without a scratch, more than once various thugs had tried to bash her head in with steel bars, the metal had simply bounced off. He had seen her come off better in a fire fight with an armed offenders squad. It had come from a rather eventful and entirely frightening episode he could not to this day fathom just how it had come to pass

"Spread out, we don't know what we're dealing with here!" the man in blue with lots of badges barked. Sheme glanced at his sister and held his breath, he didn't know why she had told him to hide with her. To his knowledge police men were friendly, or at least this was what the people at school had told him, not that he believed it now, if something scared his sister he knew they had to be really bad

"Miko?" he breathed, so quietly he barely heard it. Her response was to suddenly spring up and over the over turn truck they were crouched behind. He was looking through a hole Miko's head had somehow made. He saw a flash of movement and a squeal Then Miko was beside him again.

Men were running everywhere

"What's going on?" he asked urgently, he didn't notice the streak of blue soaking into her clothes from her shoulder.

"Sheme," she said hurriedly

"I want you to run on my signal, somebody started some sort of riot, listen closely, run to the right and go as fast as you can, make as little noise as possible and don't look back alright?" He blinked but nodded, sometimes Miko told him to run, and he always did. The last time he had disobeyed this kind of an order she had thrown him for what felt like a mile. His sister was really strong

"Ok" she winced ad he noticed she was breathing hard. Suddenly he saw the blue liquid "What's that?" she glanced at it and he saw her face tense "Nothing, now go when I say, don't look back no matter what happens" he nodded, not stopping to wonder if he would ever see her again.

Miko suddenly disappeared and he waited for a split second, there were sudden bangs and yells, taking this as his cue he took off at a gallop, he was pretty fast from following Miko all the time, he trailed after her like a faithful dog. This ran through his mind as he catapulted in the ordered direction. He was heading for home, a small building containing perhaps twenty small apartments. Miko called their three-room living space a hole. He called it home. He preferred it to their old home anyway, it held to any memories of their parent, he roughly brushed away a tear, Miko never cried and she was a girl, but then again she was the toughest and greatest girl in the world, and she said he was allowed to cry if he wanted to, crying didn't mean you weren't gutsy and brave.

Reaching the dull dirty apartment block he did not even slow down. Taking a flying leap at the wall he latched onto the conveniently placed grip. Miko entered this way, she said it was quicker than the stairs, and much easier to get in and out of if you were ever caught, caught doing what he didn't know.

He slipped into the window and closed it after himself, then settled down to wait on the couch.

*

Miko didn't come home, the nice old lady from downstairs came up and told him he was to stay with her, Miko had said. He liked this lady so he agreed, it was not as if anything in this world could hurt him anyway, Miko would always save him.

Miko didn't come back the next night either. Mrs Sandine let him watch TV; it was perhaps the scariest thing he had ever seen in his life

"Our top story tonight a young woman is in hospital with multiple gunshot wounds from the riot reported two days ago. Paramedics arrived on the scene just as the police brought the situation under control. The only injured person on site. Police are baffled as multiple shots were fired. The doctors were amazed at the fact she survived; having taken several bullets to the abdomen with what should have been fatal damage. She was in fact still conscious when taken to hospital and refused treatment. Suspected drunk or high it was compulsory, police intervened and hand cuffed her, she is currently resting in a guarded ward, police are searching for any evidence she was involved in the riot"

The screen flicked to a picture of several policemen in blue walking with some one in between them, some one with long green hair covering her face. Sheme froze.

Miko didn't come home that day.

Or the next night.

It was not until a week later that she turned up home; Mrs Sandine fussed over her for a while. But Miko would not let her see the gunshot wounds. Sheme had to help her a lot of the time, she walked normally but every now and again she would make a sudden move and her face would twist in pain and she would grabbed her shoulder or her stomach. Sheme's illusion that she was bullet proof was well and truly shattered then, but not his belief that nothing would ever get him, because Miko would always be around

Sheme drifted through his happier memories of Miko, he had never been more scared in his life than then. Except perhaps when his parent's had died. He did not even want to think about that. He had never seen Miko break down before, not even for a second, even if it was only for that space of time. But she had never cried. She never cried.

He let out a heavy sigh and turned over. Knowing he would not be sleeping at all tonight.

*

Miko scowled annoyedly, tuning out King Kai's incessant jokes, she had never been annoyed by some one so much in her entire life, and the fact not only he but Gregory and perhaps Bubbles (though it could have just been a monkey thing) made passes at her, some subtle, and some not so subtle. It had been nearly a month now.

She often found her thoughts drifting back to Sheme, she prayed he was ok, all his life she had protected him, treated him as her best friend, for indeed he was her only friend, he seemed to understand her better than anyone while only seeing one piece of her. Perhaps the happiest part of her. She sighed sadly, tears came and went regularly now, she had given up trying to stop them, simply training with little rivers flowing down her cheeks, King Kai could take a hint and did not mention this. She scowled darkly as King Kai approached to her position meditating under the lone tree, a nifty trick she had swiped from Piccolo; levitation without the use of too much ki, she found it very relaxing and it was gradually allowing her to sort her mind out.

"Miko?" she scowled and opened an eye

"What?" she growled, he took a step back, she had never actually attacked him, but with her walls down she was ferocious and lethal, fatal attraction was what Miko was all about.

"I, errrr, I invited some of the residents of the H.F.I.L to come up here so you could train with them" she raised an eyebrow

King Kai blinked, she looked so much like Piccolo, the expression was the same, the position and she seemed to generate the "Don't mess with me or else" waves he had picked up from the green man the whole time he had been on the planet. He swallowed and she closed her eyes again

"Who?" he gulped

"Captain Ginyu, a few of the saijins, not many really, it had to be in reasonably large numbers otherwise none would be a challenge for you, but Cell and such would destroy the planet" she did not move, he had not mentioned Zarbon who would have been a challenge or Freiza, he knew they were too much of a risk, even inviting the Ginyu squad and Bardock's lot would be dangerous, though he knew they had little to no idea of Miko's heritage, this was a very good thing

"When?"

"NOW!" Berta jumped into pose.

Miko raised an eyebrow as the Ginyu squad went through their paces. She could think of a few things to do to them that would be fun. She was still cruel and vindictive, it was a trait bred deep into her, she liked to inflict pain.

"Hey, where's the fighter you said would challenge us?" it was a smallish red one with white hair that reminded her strongly of a rock singer who spoke. King Kai cleared his throat

"This is Miko, try not to hurt them too bad, they can't die again you know" Miko took a standing position and folded her arms. She could see each and every one of the varied group of five fighters eying her up. She was in gi King Kai had provided, it was basically a smaller version of Goku's that fitted much tighter and bore no symbol, She would not wear anyone's symbol.

"Is this it? We can't fight such a pretty thing, come on King Kai where's the challenge? I couldn't ruin such a pretty face" Jeiyce's accent was annoying

"Or such a hot body" the tiny green one said, his eyes crawling over her. She uncrossed her arms and sighed. The purple one smirked

"Yeah, I mean I could find other uses for her but not as a fighter, much too pretty, would look much better-' his sentence was cut short as Miko's fist sent him flying.

Berta gaped; no one, no one except Frieza had ever been able to just send captain Ginyu flying with one punch, not once had it happened before. He scowled

"Well we'll see how fast you are little girl" he zipped behind her. She did not turn around as he caught her in a strangle hold, her scent was intoxicating, he wondered what she would look like without the orange gi

"Well, look what I found" he breathed in her ear. He was not certain what happened next but he found himself on the ground underneath a blue boot. He yelped as his ribcage was crushed under incredible pressure. The girl's face was expressionless but there was a hungry, vicious gleam in her eyes, the kind of gleam he had seen in Vegeta, the saijin prince, a vicious blood lusted joy of causing pain, but in her eyes, it was much, much worse, he yelped again as she kicked him step by step a few yards before blasting him back to the H.F.I.L

King Kai grinned as the purple man went flying. Miko had had no trouble with Captain Ginyu fully powered up which meant that though through the whole battle her ki had remained level that it was at least two hundred thousand. He grinned again as she rounded on him

"Ah, yes, we have a few more coming, all sajins" she rolled her eyes

"Geat, more Vegetas" he grinned as Bardock and his dead squad approached. Most of the saijins had not been truly evil in their souls, they had simply been raised that way, but many had come from the other world for a chance of a good fight, they did not know It was Miko, he normally did not bother asking for fighters but Miko was wily and vicious, a challenge to anyone

Miko blinked as an older version of Goku with a scar across his right cheek landed a few yards away from her

"This is the challenge?" he said disbelivingly

"Bardock" she said levelly, he turned to smirk at her, looking very much like Vegeta

"In the flesh, so to speak" she smirked back, he had a rather high fighting power for the average saijin and she had a feeling he was as wily as herself, possibly more so

"Shall we?" she said sweetly, the ten or so other saijin backed off, leaving their squad leader alone

King Kai watched carefully. Bardock was clever, though he did not show it particularly, but Miko tended to have a sense about people, she would be fine.

Bardock couldn't help but smirk at the tall girl. Her golden eyes and green hair kept reminding him of somebody, though he did not know who

"Zarbon's brat" he hissed, she smirked wider as she slid into a seemingly relaxed stance

"So you knew good old dad then" she said sweetly, he could no longer see the future in the other world as time had little meaning in the term foresight came under but he could still read people, she was a clever, and vicious, and downright merciless, how very unlike her father, forever worrying about his looks, he was not exactly easy on anyone anyway, but he never went hard out, always scared to break a nail, but he had also known her mother, the woman was strong and proud, and fiercely protective of the little green and white bundle, bundles actually.

He shrugged and charged, thinking a double fisted attack then a left hook with an upper cut and a sweep kick would take her out easily. She blocked three of his first moves then flipped him, taking hold of both his wrists and using his weight coupled with the enhanced gravity to basically wipe the grass with him. He yanked away and shot a ki blast right in her face. She avoided it easily and took a kick to the ribs in the process, she grinned as she round housed him in the head and caught him with a right cross, he had been waiting for a lower hit. While he was wiping the blood from his nose she had been taking out half his squad. He grinned as the five that were left took her on all at once. She led them on a graceful and highly entertaining dance around the planet for a while and left them in a tangled heap.

He smirked and folded his arms to watch the last weak attempts to even injure her; this girl was definitely a mysterious one, he wondered what had killed her, she must be good if she was here, so what then? But he could also sense incredible darkness coming from her, well, incredible for one who must be good. He wondered vaguely why she was dead at all, such a pretty face would not make anyone believe she was a threat. A burly saijin whistled past his ear.

*

Tien glared at the food before him. Food was now tasteless and dull, he hardly ate at all and only the fact that he wanted to live, however painful it was, made him touch it at all. The reason he wanted to live was not so much because he liked it, but more that he somehow felt he had a reason to live, maybe It was Chou zu, maybe some tiny delusion Miko would come back somehow, maybe that this was all some sick dream that he would wake up from, and never even remember Miko and all the trouble she brought, and maybe he would go an marry Lunch or something, who knew? Who cared?

Chou zu was busy chomping through some stew. They had returned to Kame house to train, having only three months until Miko's twin arrived. He often wondered about Miko, how she was doing, and what exactly her motives were, after all, she had not been bent on world domination or anything such, simply revenge. But the fact she was obviously not planning to help them meant that she was too great a risk, and with evil inside her, contact with her twin could have very well seen them all destroyed.

*

Piccolo blinked as a voice invaded his skull

"Piccolo"

"Huh? King Kai, what are you doing?" he mentally growled

"Listen I need you to gather the dragon balls"

"Why" he asked suspiciously

"Just do it and I'll explain later, you have to hurry"

*

King Kai glanced uneasily at Miko, he wondered how she would react, brining her back was a risk, but he knew she had to resolve everything or she would go completely evil, and then they were all in trouble, and he, like Dende, knew that only Miko would be the one to defeat her twin, oddly enough Miko herself had become as much of a villain, and yet she was meant to be the good one.

"Soon" he muttered. He knew his planet had helped Miko, it had given her a place where she could concentrate solely on her mind. But she had not resolved anything, she had simply pushed it all back and put a seal on it, and without the pressures of what she had once been the seal would hold.

He felt sorry for Tien, he had known almost instantaneously the triclops would be smitten, completely inexperienced in such areas to fall for some one like Miko was just the sort of luck Tien would have, he still remembered the way Tien had had such a hard time trying to make him laugh, poor lad. But Tien had also proven himself to be cleverer than he looked.

Miko was not quite as clever as she thought she was, and Tien had surprised her more than once, he had not actually realised why at the time but he was reluctant to go along with her, it was really because he had seen partially through her web of diversions and ingenious tactics, but in the end he caught her out. And she had not reacted well. Watching the massive fight that lasted less than two minutes was perhaps the most frightening and heartbreaking thing King Kai had ever seen. He had known it was coming, but to see such a hardened soul as Miko just break down like that rent the heart to pieces. And King Kai had always been a softie.

*

Piccolo stood before the dragon, he knew what King Kai wanted, he did not agree with it, but none the less he did it.

"Bring the one known as Miko back to life" he called up to the massive beast, the booming answer came

"It is done"

*

Miko looked down at her hands, she was fading "What the-" she did not get to finish because the world dissolved in a swirl of angry colours. The next thing she remembered was a thud and the sound of thunder

Piccolo wondered if he was doing the right thing. King Kai had said that her mind had healed all it would until she faced a few people, she had to finish what she started for any chance of a real recovery, in the very least it would take out the kink in her soul, and put the evil twist In her to the side, so that she could control it, but really she could not without security, and there was only one person who could give that to her. Though Piccolo doubted the Triclops would be in any state to provide it. Tien's ki had been going lower and lower and his sensitive ears had caught snatches of things said about him. Piccolo had never given Tien much thought and could never understand just why he had been stupid enough to fall head over heels for such a bitch, but then again he wasn't much smarter than Goku, so what could one expect?

"You have one more wish" the dragon boomed, as Piccolo was wondering what to use it for he heard Miko's voice

"TURN KING KAI INTO A PURPLE DONKEY!!!" Miko shrieked. Piccolo could have sworn he saw the dragon smirk

"It is done" Miko dusted herself off and brushed her waist length hair out of her eyes, it grew at incredible speeds, as though it wanted to be long. She scowled and took off without a word.

Piccolo frowned, wondering what King Kai's purpose had been in bringing her back. He realized that with King Kai in his current state thanks to Miko he would have to wait at least twenty-four hours before a way was found to reverse it. No doubt the dragon had not made it permanent.

Miko was busy trying to bring order to her thoughts. To this world she was dead, so effectively she had nothing to go back to. Sheme,

"Gods, Sheme, I can't ever go back for him. Damn you, you bug eyed bastard! First I die and then you send me back so I can't even see my little brother!" she began to scream and curse at the air. She realized she had instinctively flown to Satan city. She had a feeling since nobody had any idea who she actually worked for and how to contact her when at work, that nobody would have told Robert, Sally, Rona and her agent who she could never remember the name of knew that she was dead. Which meant she had something to fall back on, but not straight away, she wanted peace.

Sheme sighed sadly, it was his first day back at school and no one would leave him alone. He hated this, all he wanted to do was curl up into a little ball and die so he could see his sister; he missed her more than he could explain. He never drew anymore unless it was of her; he kept all his drawings of her hidden away in a crammed draw. His work was suffering as soon as he got back and it hurt to try and speak to anybody. He stared at the floor as he trudged along the crowded corridor, being jostled by kids as they made their way past him. Nobody paid any attention to the little red haired boy who had lost his big sister.

Tien looked up. He could feel something funny in the air. For a second there had been a surge of power, but it had left as quickly as it had come. He sighed and went back to replaying his latest training combination in his head. The only thing that seemed to give him any rest was complete exhaustion, and this was hard to achieve without injury, which meant he had to rest anyway and gave him nothing else to think about other than what he had lost.

Miko landed on a building roof. She pulled her hair into a bun and took the cloth wrist band and tied her hair into a rough plait. She quietly slipped over the edge.

A clerk on duty at the desk of a rather large hotel blinked as an attractive but also rather smelly woman entered, her long green hair was pulled into a plait and she looked as if she had just been through a hedge backwards while running at a hundred miles per hour, her face glistened with sweat and there were dirty smudges on the strange orange and be clothing she wore, none of this could hide the fact she was drop dead gorgeous.

"I want a room," she said simply

Miko dropped the cash on the table. She had had her wallet on her when she died so it was coming in handy. She scowled as he wrinkled his nose, she was well aware she did not smell particularly tolerable, but King Kai was not famous for such things as a shower. In the other world, one did not eat, or drink, at least unless you wanted to therefore one did not need a bathroom, and if you were dead it didn't matter if you smelt or not. She shrugged as he handed her a key and gave her the number. She strolled towards the elevator and slammed her hand against the button. Of course this was not the wisest move as it left a sizable dent. But it seemed to work; one empty elevator appeared immediately.

The young clerk frowned, she looked familiar but he could not really remember, suddenly he realised, Nokia! He smiled dreamily; he had seen Nokia face to face. Despite the fact she looked as if she had been on a rigorous training regime, but to keep in shape the way she did she most likely needed it. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair with a smug expression, now he had more than one up on his mates.

The first thing Miko did was run a bath. She stripped as the boiling water filled the spacious tub. She tested it to find it perfect. She could handle temperatures of up to almost a hundred degrees, and much, much more when powered up, but she preferred no higher than scalding for a seriously relaxing bath. She smiled as she sank beneath the surface, her hair swirling around her in clouds. When her head broke the surface without a single ripple she saw the whole top of the water was covered in her dirt. She wrinkled her nose and used the tiniest amount of ki to incinerate it. She grinned; ki heated up the water perfectly.

Tien jumped, another small surge of ki had nicked his senses. He shrugged, telling himself he was just a little nuts, and went back to training

Nokia pulled on the bathrobe and pressed a button, a maid arrived minutes later. Nokia was thankful her hair was hidden in a towel

"How may I help you?" the polite mechanical response was annoying

"I have five hundred dollars for you. I need you to go out and get me a pair of size twelve jeans, a size fourteen shirt, anything will do. Some blonde hair die and a coat as well, I'll give you the money" she handed the maid a few large bills and smirked as the woman hurried out.

Bulma sighed as she stared at Sheme, The boy was busy drawing, all he ever drew was his sister. Miko on her bike, Miko holding him, Miko smiling, Miko fighting, Miko happy, Miko sad, always Miko. She did not see this as healthy but he could not be prized from his pencil and paper even with Vegeta's strength, he always found a way. She sniffed a little as her eyes began to burn, how she missed Miko, the girl had left such a hole in her heart.

Miko stepped onto the street in a pair of dark blue jeans and a red halter neck top, it was a little revealing but it did not bother her as she jogged with the speed of a sprinter out of the city. She smiled as the ground disappeared. She had no idea where she was going or what she planned to do but she was starting a new life, if it was on the other side of the world she would go there. Though flying that kind of distance presented a problem. She shrugged it off as she passed Sheme's school, to take off she had had to head in the opposite direction to where she wanted to go to get where eyes could not see. She blinked as a spec of red stood out beneath the throng of kids making their way out of school, she sighed sadly as her eyes began to sting. She blinked angrily and shot away to the west

Piccolo smirked; King Kai was back to normal

"Little vixen, after all I did for her" he grumbled, he suddenly grinned in a way he had picked up from Goku

"But she was still hot"

*

Miko landed somewhere in a little place called Nepal. It seemed like the perfect place to live in peace

Authors note: yeah well, she's back, have fun with the aftermath

CHAPER THIRTY-TWO: The aftermath

Piccolo scowled

"You have to find her Piccolo, her mind is as healed as it can be by the powers of the other world, but no more can be done for her unless she resolves old hurts, she will quickly go mad again, and much, much more lethal than before, bloodlust, and darkness, incredible darkness"

"Where is she?"

"As to that I do not know specifically, but she is somewhere near a mountain range, somewhere deserted, and certainly not in Japan" he scowled and took off

Miko was busy meditating, in her unaware state, deep in the recesses of her mind, her heart and metabolism and her body's needs slowed down so completely she could go for days without food and survive the cold easily on body fat, not that she had much. Thankfully, females have a layer of fat beneath the skin as extra insulation, human females anyway.

Piccolo smirked, Miko was not easy to find but with King Kai's help he at least knew which country she was in. He felt a small pulsing ki, the way ki felt when in a deep state of meditation, it had to be Miko because no one else besides himself could meditate in such a way. It was deep and powerful and all around rather relaxing. He had never tried to teach anyone because they never expressed an interest in the deeper forms. Miko on the other hand had simply copied his position to annoy him, she had mimicked it so perfectly, even manipulating her ki to match his own, (where she got the power and skill he did not know) seeing this he simply began telling her what to do, surprisingly enough she listened, being a good little pupil and eventually convincing him over a two month period to actually train her. He smirked; the little vixen was clever, she knew how to get what she wanted. And by way of revenge for his harsh treatment, she had gone all out without thought of gaining strength, simply beating the crap out of him, the bruising had taken weeks to fully go away.

Miko blinked, rising back into awareness for some reason. The reason was in fact standing right in front of her. She Jumped up and backed away

"Oh no" she raised her hands, her eyes wide

Piccolo calmly took a step towards her

"Look, I'm only here because King Kai told me to find you, he says you have to resolve old conflict or else you will go completely nuts" she jumped into the air. He sighed and followed her.

Miko snarled hatefully as he overtook her easily

"Look, if I had my way you'd still be dead" She scowled and shot away again. His hands closed around her wrists, she pulled and struggled, but he was nearly ten times her strength

"Don't make this any harder" he growled

She gave up after half an hour, breathing hard she fell out of the sky and impacted the solid ice. He hauled her to her feet and half dragged half carried her into the air.

Piccolo scowled, she did not appreciate being thrown over his shoulder and was making it rather painful, he rearranges her so he had her the middle of her back and the back of her knees. She relaxed and sort of curled against him, this annoyed him but the fact she was not struggling was enough to keep him quiet. He noticed for the first time how small she was. Really only five foot nine at the most; tiny for a warrior. He realised with a jolt she was asleep, her head resting on his collarbone and her arms against his chest. He stare at her face and smiled. Whether he admitted it or not, he was fond of her, it was like having a little sister. Killing her was one of the hardest things he had ever done. But she was strong and courageous even when there was no chance of surviving. He smiled again as she shifted, murmuring in sleep something that sounded suspiciously like the name of a certain triclops. Her hands clenched and unclenched from where they were twined in the thick white material of his cape. He smirked again as the lookout came into view

Miko awoke with a jolt and fell out of a pair of arms. She hit the white below her with a painful thud. She got up and wiped the small trickle of blue blood making it's way out of her left nostril and from both her lips. The aches of bruises passed within a few seconds. She scowled as Dende emerged

"So King Kai was not trying to trick me then" he said quietly. Miko scowled

"Why exactly am I here?" the young namek smiled

"By request of King Kai, we need to let the others know you are alive and well, and mean no one any harm" she raised an eyebrow, still rather sleepy, she had not slept in a long time, preferring to meditate, at least she could escape her dreams that way.

"And just what makes you think I want them to know?" she said dangerously, her most recent nightmare still hanging in her mind.

"Well it's a bit late now" the voice of Vegeta cut through her sleepy haze. She scowled and stepped close to Dende, narrowing her eyes and showing her canines ever so slightly, he gulped and took a step back, she felt a hand on her shoulder

"Leave the little runt, he's not worth the effort" She turned to snarl at Piccolo. He too backed off

Tien looked up as Goku and Gohan landed

"What are you doing here?" They grinned a little

"Dende wants us all up at the lookout"

"How come" Gohan shrugged but Goku grinned knowingly. Tien shrugged to himself and nodded to Chou zu. They all blasted into the air

Goku couldn't help but grin. Tien was going to get a surprise apparently; he (being Goku) had no idea what it was. He shrugged it off as they neared the lookout.

Miko scowled as she felt Goku and Gohan approach, and another ki. She turned to snarl at Dende

"You bastard" she raised her hand to have it caught by the older namek again.

Piccolo had a hard time stopping her from ripping Dende to shreds, he caught a lucky opening and caught her in a strangle hold. She writhed and kicked and screeched like a banshee straight from the depths of hell, but that was most likely where she had been these past few weeks so it was understandable. He suffered quite a few claw marks and bruises for his efforts. In the end he just knocked her onto the ground and pressed a knee between her shoulder blades, all the while Vegeta sniggered

"Well you try if you're so strong" he made the mistake of removing his knee. She shot out from underneath and dealt a ringing blow to his left cheek, her small fist and immediately afterwards, foot, sending him crashing onto the tiles

Miko sat down where she was, defeat and frustration, governing her thoughts, the three kis were getting closer.

Tien landed to see the rest of the Z fighters waiting. And somewhere to the right was

"Miko?" she did not look up, resting her forehead on one raised knee, perfectly still. He found millions of emotions come bubbling to the surface, anger, hatred, need desire, sorrow, grief, violation, fear, gods so much fear. This must have shown on his face because Goku placed a hand on his shoulder

"Take it easy, she didn't get a choice in this either" Goku's tone was quiet and serious

Miko did not raise her head, though she heard her name said. Dende went through a brief illustration of how she got back. Little was said about history but she could see it in on their faces.

"She deserves another chance" she jumped to her feet angrily

"You think I want "another chance"? I do not give a dam about this ugly little ball of rock. The fact is, my life is gone, my little brother thinks I'm dead! How can I walk up to him, do you have any idea what that does to a kid! And you just expect all of this to go away, what you think because I'm back that I'm not evil, that I'm not out to get you, you think you know me so well" she was speaking to Dende now

"You don't know the first thing about me, for all you know I could be playing you for a fool, gathering power to kill you all in one blast" they all visibly tensed at this.

After some debate many of the Z fighters left. In the end, Miko was alone with only one other fighter

"You sure?" Chou zu asked

"Yeah" Tien nodded

"I need to sort this out, it's driving me crazy"

Authors note: ok so I don't mind Miko all that much, but it was still fun to kill her, several times ;)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: The truth-exposed before my biggest fear

Miko was sitting on the steps up to the palace when she heard footsteps approach her

"Leave me alone" she said flatly, some one sat next to her, her bent head meant she could not see them though she knew who it was

"Why?" she smirked

"You were gullible, vulnerable, easy to toy with, and downright amusing"

Tien blinked, that stung

"Nice try, the truth this time"

"Fine, I hated you, saw your attraction to me, played on that, almost seduced you if you hadn't been too scared of me, though you would have found it worth your while then took my revenge and paid the ultimate price" Tien frowned, then smirked, something very uncharacteristic of him

"Liar" she snorted

"What? You think I honestly liked you? You wouldn't even be worth it for the fun, if I thought you were any good" she added as an after thought, adding insult to injury

"You like to lie don't you Miko" she could hurt him as much as she liked, he was not going anywhere

"The truth Miko" he told he sternly. She sighed then chuckled

"You don't give up do you?"

"Nope, now the truth" she snickered quietly

"At first I thought you'd be good in the sack, but obviously my views changed pretty quickly, you're so clumsy fully clothed I had serious doubts about the opposite, other than that it was fun to mess with your head" he grinned stupidly

"Miko, you hurt me so bad your insults don't work anymore, you can lie all night, I'll just wait until you're ready to be honest" suddenly her hands were around his throat and she was hissing and snarling in his face

"You think you know me" she hissed

"You couldn't tell me from a ditz with an orange sized brain" her grip tightened, he removed it easily. This did not please her one bit. He was past the point of really caring how she felt, he just wanted to know, and if she was as hard and cold and she would lead him to believe she had not done a good job. He sat back up from where she had temporarily pinned him and release her wrists, this too did not please her as her hand immediately raked across her face

Miko spent three hours telling him anything she could think of, she did not have the energy to be convincing or even to hit him again, fighting Piccolo and depression at the same time was too much

"Just leave me alone" she moaned, she heard a cruel chuckle

"Now we're getting somewhere, it hurts doesn't it? To have some one know you so well you can't hide from them, to have some one get inside your head for a change"

"Go away before I say something you'll regret" she said dangerously, she suddenly felt warm breath in her ear, she shivered involuntarily

"See?" he whispered in her ear, she couldn't help the way her body reacted, her pulse increased and her nerves jangled

"You want me as much as I wanted you, you can't help it can you? You're afraid" his fingertips traced their way up her spine to touch the base of her neck, she couldn't breathe. How she hated him for doing this to her, stealing her control. She scowled and moved away a few inches

"You're afraid" he half chuckled half whispered.

Tien couldn't help but toy with her, it felt both good and bad to make her feel this way, the good part felt the lust of revenge and the control she had always wielded. But the bad part was he was hurting her, he didn't want to

"Will you tell me the truth now?" she turned her head to smirk at him

"Easy prey" she said simply

* Miko awoke in an unfamiliar bed. She blinked a few times and realised from the shape of the wall and the colour that she must be in the lookout. She suddenly remembered, she had eventually fallen asleep on the steps. Tien wouldn't leave her alone. She groaned as she realised he was asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. She slipped out and slipped past him, a hand closed around her wrist

"Nice try" the contact made her shiver and shudder at exactly the same moment.

Tien frowned, suddenly realising she was trembling, her breathing coming in short high gasps. He released his grip, cursing himself, he had let his anger get the better of him last night, he had been cruel, he should have known she wouldn't stand up to interrogation. She went to step away but he caught her arm again, albeit a little more gently.

Miko scowled as Tien pulled he onto the arm of the chair

"Miko, stop lying to me" he told her sternly, obviously he had hardened after the emotional thrashing she had given him, she, on the other hand had gone soft, weak, weak, weak. The words chased each other around inside her head

"About what?"

"The truth" his gaze was calm and uncompromising. Her core was crumbling. She smirked

"So pathetic" she said softly, smirking a little, tracing the shape of his nose with her finger, giving the impression of a cruel mistress with a pet

"The truth, now"

It took another hour before she gave him some shred of truth

"Just go away" she moaned, his hand still held onto her arm lest she decide to take off

"Not until you tell me, you know as well as I do I have a right to know"

"Just leave me alone" she whispered, he could see tears forming in her eyes, he himself had no more left, he had nothing but anger inside of him and was still fighting the urge to hurt her, badly.

"One more time, you tell me now and I'll leave you alone"

"What you want to hear is not necessarily the truth, what you want to hear s that I'm just a dark twisted insane little bitch who fell under your spell and had already formulated this little plan, and of course you found out about it after she had decided to abandon it. Therefore proving to your sad little mind and broken heart that you had found true love and don't have to worry about It anymore, so you can be the gracious one and forgive her" he gave a smile that almost turned into a snarl. He held himself in check and leaned his head next to her. She was shaking, with what he was not exactly sure

"Please" he whispered in her ear. She broke down into sobs, he blinked in surprise

"I couldn't let myself start caring about you. You wormed your way into me head and refused to leave. Being so dam sweet and attentive, I had to get away from you" she sobbed, trying but failing abysmally to contain her emotion

"Then why betray me?"

"Evil, maliciousness, it's my safety guard" he blinked. On impulse Tien lifted her by the waist, noticing how thin she had gotten and set her on his lap. Her sobs had quieted and she was no longer crying with any volume

Miko remained silent as his arms curled low about her waist and set her on his knees. He sighed deeply and rested his chin on her shoulder, his cheek was warm against her ear

"Are you sorry you did it?" she blinked

"No" he froze from where his hands had been curling back around her waist

"But I felt it even more than you did"

Tien frowned

"How so?" it was odd, they were speaking almost conversationally, he was still at war with more than one urge, he wanted to kill her and he wanted to kiss her, hold her, take her away to a place no one would find them and just be, forever with her. He blinked and wondered where that train of thought came from

"I did love you, every minute I loved you, Gods I wanted you, it hurt to love you because I don't know how to love anyone in that way, but I did, you wormed your way into my mind and you wouldn't go, it hurt because I was scared, terrified, and because it hurt to hurt you. And I paid the ultimate price in the end. My only real friend knows me as dead; I can't go back to him now. I had no idea what to do, I was confused; when you don't know how to love, even caring for some one is painful. I have nothing now, my life wasn't great but I had something, now I have nothing at all" she said all this tonelessly and expressionlessly. On impulse Tien brushed his lips against her ear lobe

"You've still got me" he whispered. She froze

Miko slowly turned her head to stare at him, every nerve in her body jangling. He was watching her carefully, his hand slowly pulling her against him. She instinctively curled against him, much like a cat with her head resting just below his chin. It occurred to her how tired she was. An old habit of sleeping anywhere, any time died hard.

Tien blinked in surprise, her eyes were closed and her whole body was vibrating, he realised with a surprised jolt that she was purring, he lowered his head so it was next to her face, sure enough, there was a steady quiet, feline purr coming from her throat, quieting slightly as she inhaled. He also realised she was fast asleep. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled a little, she was more of a small child than he thought, noticing the way she curled up, it was so much like a cat he had to wonder if she had feline DNA or something, but her nature was unknown to him so he had no idea. Now that Tien thought about it, she was very feline, he had seen it so many times. But never before had he heard her purr. It was odd to say the least but it seemed to suit the way she snuggled against him, making a small ball remarkable for her height. And still managing to rest her head under his. He kissed her slightly dulled hair and closed his own eyes.

*

Miko awoke and realised before anything else that she was purring, it had been a long time since she had, it was more automatic than something one intended to do so turning it off took a bit of remembering. This done she realised she was curled into a little ball on some one's lap. Arms were around her and some one was breathing evenly in her ear. She realised with a jolt it was Tien. As carefully as she could she removed one arm. His eyes opened and he jumped

Tien yawned as reality flooded back into his mind, for the first time in months he had slept peacefully, and to wake up to a feline ball of drop dead gorgeous girl in your arms is a rather pleasing thing indeed. He smiled warmly at her, not realising she had been trying to move away.

"Sleep well?" he teased, she turned her head away and leaned back against him

"I never knew you could purr" this resulted in a short burst of rattling sleepy vibrations, he grinned

"Automatic, since I was a kid" she said sleepily. He frowned

"What triggers it?" he was curious to learn about this rather cute quirk. She shrugged and sort of leaned against him, the way a cat arches it's back almost

"You should be able to figure it out" he grinned

"And you can switch it on and off?"

"I have to think about it but yeah"

"Where'd you get it from?" she was answering in casual sentences, no malice in her voice, perhaps a little annoyance at his questions but he wanted to know.

"A wild cat taught me" he frowned

"How?"

"I asked, it answered" now he was confused

"You can speak to animals?"

"No, I can sing to them" her sarcasm was almost good natured, but not quite

"How?"

"I was a wild kid, ran away more times than you can count, acted more like a cat than a human kid"

"What else can you do" a cat like growl followed a feral one, a high pitched and threatening hiss, he noticed also she moved her ears when she did this, and several more animal noises

"Cool" she shrugged

"I didn't learn to speak until age six" he gaped

"But you don't sound like it"

"Oh I could understand from age one, I just couldn't speak"

Miko shifted slightly, soaking up the warmth he generated. His arms wrapped around her again, she shivered a little and involuntarily began to purr again, this earned a little chuckle from Tien as she wriggled so her head sat in the hollow where his neck and head joined. Being in a feline mood she naturally required much more sleep than normal, quite the opposite of her normal four hour requirements, four and a half if she was tired. Her body seemed to adapt to whatever way she trained it in most things, and for a cat it was sleeping wherever, whenever. She slipped into dreamland again

Tien smiled as her whole body vibrated slightly, it gave an odd feeling to any part of him that was in contact with her, making the nerves go slightly numb then stopping after he got used to it. He sat with her that way for maybe an hour

*

Miko woke up feeling relaxed and calm, she turned to smile at Tien, she really had no idea what to do or where this was going to go.

"So, where are we headed?" he asked gently, reading her thoughts. She smiled and leaned in to steal away his breath, she could see him wondering where it had gone

"I have absolutely no idea, but I'm in for the ride" she said mischievously, he grinned and his hands found their way to the base of her neck, tilting her head upwards.

Tien kissed her gently, loving her taste. She was sweet and intoxicating and thrilling and dangerously compelling all at the same time. Her hands made their way up to hold his head in much the same way he held hers. Gentle turned into heated then down right fiery. He was gasping for breath when she released him.

"Listen I'm going to get a place in the city" she was unsure as to why she was discussing this him but Miko supposed if it was going to be real this time then it would be easier to talk to him more openly

"Ok" he sounded surprised

"What I wanted to know was." She searched for the right words, he frowned

"What?"

"Do you want to join me?" he blinked

"What do you mean?" she sighed at his blatant innocence, unsure as to why she hadn't seen it the first day she tempted him

"Move in with me?" she repeated in terms he would understand. He seemed a little taken aback, if a hanging jaw was any clue. She closed it by nipping at his lower lip, he tensed at her playful antics

"We don't have to share a room if that's what you're worried about" she said softly, slightly disappointed.

Tien wondered, he was more than a little afraid but it seemed ludicrous that he, one of the two strongest human fighters in the universe should be scared of the green and tan purring ball that was curled up in his arms, but he was. She looked rather hurt, but he was still wary of how genuine she was, he decided to be as nice about it as possible

"You know, maybe we should just wait and see" she shrugged but her eyes were hurt. He shrugged it off and settled for kissing her again

*

Miko found herself an apartment easily enough, she had decided not to go back to work, but rather to tell her agent she was taking six months off, if they lived that long. As she pulled out the case of capsules Bulma had prepared for her (Bulma had been told by Vegeta and immediately come up to welcome her just as she had been going to leave the lookout) she threw down the capsule containing all her clothes and various possessions Bulma had collected for her, she had still left plenty of stuff at Capsule Corp, she had no purpose for it. And Bulma had also told her that Sheme would always go and sit in her old room all the time. Miko sighed; her heart was breaking every second she thought about Sheme. She suddenly realised she had no furniture. She made a note to go out tomorrow and get something. For now her old beanbag would do to sleep on, it was an old favourite from her childhood when she refused to use a bed.

Tien blinked a few times, he realised he had been asleep. He ascertained he must have dropped off on the couch at Capsule Corp. He did not know why he was sleeping so much all of a sudden. He yawned and stretched. Intending to head back to Kame house.

*

Miko curled up on the small bean bag and immediately dropped into a restless sleep

"Ahh, sister, you have returned to life" Miko looked wildly about her

"What the hell" she muttered. The darkness melted into a fun house of mirrors and memories, she started to run, her breathing coming in hard scared gasps in time with her pounding feet, her reflection made grotesque shapes all around her, she hit a dead end, spinning and smashing her way through a maze of mirrors, she knew this world all too well, there was no escape

"Join me" she swung around, and was shoved so hard she fell into a mirror, smashing her head into the glass, she screamed as the shards suddenly rose up and drove themselves into her skin

"HELP" she screamed, no one came, suddenly there was a new face there, one with three eyes. Smiling cruelly

"Revenge, my turn" it whispered, taking her by the shoulders with arms she could not see

CAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Ice-frozen solid

Miko awoke in a cold sweat, all her clothes were soaked and her hair was plastered to her head. She calmed her breathing slowly. She got up and scowled, heading for the bathroom, which was pretty much empty, she took a towel from the stack she had decapsulised a while ago and took a hot shower, a very hot one. Stepping out with her hair hanging limp and wet she shivered, pulling on some clothes. It was nine pm so she could still go somewhere without too much trouble. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep all that well after the psychotic dream, it was by far the worst she had ever had, and the presence of a three eyed some one was what made it so much more unbearable

Nokia strolled along the lit street, her wallet in the back pocket of her jeans. She strode into a fast food joint and ignored the stares she was getting, she was used to it now, her style of dress attracted many eyes, some jealous, some offended, some hungry, some just plain horny. She ordered the greasiest thing she could find and stuffed it into her frame, junk food had a way of calming her nerves. She spent the whole night wandering around, and getting into more than one brawl.

* Miko stepped into the swanky store with an air of distaste. Immediately a smarmy man approached

"May I help you?" he said in an oily, well trained voice, his face a mixture of attraction and distaste as he eyed her quickly. Her clothing was not befitting of a millionaire but it was also rather pleasing to the eye. She smiled sweetly

"I just moved into a new condo and Daddy says I have to get new furniture and stand on my own two feet. But he says he'll buy me anything I want, can you help?" she blinked and widened her eyes, going into ditz mode.

The salesman grinned greedily, he loved people like this, especially ones who were so hot, she reminded him of some one but he did not know where from. He made for the most expensive part of the store, this would be easy

Miko enjoyed toying with the man. She ditched him after an hour and left. Of course she came back ten minutes later and was attended by a female assistant who, though a little uppity was much more likable. She emerged with three maxed out credit cards and a long list of things to buy. She shrugged to herself. She never knew a couch could cost that much but it was just what she wanted. *

Tien took a deep breath and knocked on the mahogany door. She had certainly chosen a posh building, but then again, he knew so little about who she really was so he did not know if this was what she liked or not

Miko was busy placing a painting on the wall above her gas fire when she heard a quiet knock, she frowned and stepped up the cute little steps to the door. She opened it and inhaled silently

Tien smiled at her surprise

"Hi" she grinned a little and stepped back, pulling the door open a little wider

"Come in" she said quietly. He stepped inside and gaped.

The spacious living room was sunny with windows taking up perhaps half the walls, it had a sunken circular piece in the centre with two steps leading down to it, around the edges that went from a meter to two meters width there were a few chair positioned in the sun and a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony covered in millions of flowers. There was a cosy feel to the centre of the room, with big squashy chairs and a bold blue couch, the French vanilla walls and creamy carpets gave a light simple feel. On the walls there were about ten different paintings, they all looked similar and varied in mood from light and bright to dark and moody. There were lights set into the roof and a small glass table covered in papers and pens and what looked like pages and pages of scrawl, and something official looking as well.

Miko indicated the couch and stepped into the compact kitchen

"You want a drink" she flicked a switch on he wall a cup of black coffee appeared for herself

"Water, thanks" she shrugged and filled a glass. The kitchen was state of the art and pretty much everything folded out or appeared at the flick of a switch

Tien smiled as she reappeared from the hallway that sort of curved out of sight, she handed him a blue patterned glass and sank into a squashy green vinyl armchair that enfolded her perfectly

"So what's been happening?" he knew what she was asking

"Sheme is doing better. Maybe if Bulma explained to him." he was trying to be encouraging, she shrugged, though her eyes were sad, he noticed how the sunlight made her glow, looking somewhat like an angel,

How ironic

Light and truth were not always as correct as they thought they were

"We'll see" he got up and went to hug her. She did not move or return this gesture of comfort, he sat on his knees in front of her, his collarbone about level with her calves which were hooked up underneath her

"It'll be ok" he told her, She smiled and kissed him softly, slow and sweet, it left a taste he could not get enough of on his lips. She smiled at this and kissed him again, this time less gently and more invitingly. Gods it was hard to resist, but he was also scared

Tien stayed for an hour. He left with a parting embrace. Miko sighed sadly and went to finish fixing up her room. It was a medium sized room with bamboo doors that opened onto another much smaller and more closed in balcony. She had chosen a rich creamy yellow for the walls and soft lavender for the carpets. Her double bed was covered in a simple orange, red, green, and purple duvet with matching sheets. A room to the right housed a secondary bathroom and another door was a spare room she used as an art studio, her apartment was full of self portraits, it helped to examine herself when she separated each piece of herself and looked at it, touched it, spoke to it.

*

Life settled into a routine, Tien and Miko were not what one would call "together"; they barely saw each other. But it was a sort of mutual agreement that it was what each needed. One example of this happened several days later

Tien picked up the phone

"Hello?" Miko voice sounding rather strained came through the receiver

"Hi.listen-" he cut her off

"I'll be over in a few minutes" he flew into the city. When he entered her apartment he immediately sensed how low her ki was

"You ok?" she was curled up in the armchair, pale and shivering. He crossed the room in a split second, kneeling beside her, she shook her head. He swept her into a hug, lifting her right out of the armchair and seating himself on it, resting her on his lap. She sobbed into his shirt for a while. He blinked, she was as cold as ice

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Cold, cold, ice

Miko shivered, his body heat was gradually warming her. He held her tightly. She sobbed for a while until she regained control of herself. He kissed her forehead softly

"What happened" she could see his eyes scanning her quickly for any sign of injury, had she not been so cold she would have snorted, but she was so cold, Gods she was so cold

"Nightmare" she croaked. He blinked and immediately nodded

Tien held her for another few hours, knowing her dream must have had something to do with him. He remembered all too well how the aftermath of such a dream felt. In the end he slept beside her, holding her close all night, it was just as much a comfort to him as he knew it was to her. It took until morning but her ki recovered and her body temperature rose back to normal, but he could see it in her eyes, she was scared, terrified

Miko tried to smile but her face was fixed in a taut mask of fear. She had never been so afraid in her whole life. But it felt good to have some one beside her, however innocent it was. She was in no state to take anything further, though she doubted he would go along with it anyway. As morning claimed the sky she slipped away from his sleeping form. She dressed quickly in the thickest and warmest clothing she could find, more for comfort than warmth, she doubted any clothing would make her feel warmer, there was a yawn behind her as she perched on her side of the bed, sipping a scalding cup of coffee.

Tien awoke to see Miko in a thick jersey with a beanie on her head. He reached out and caught her around the waist, she jumped violently, almost spilling black liquid everywhere. A single drop landed on his hand, it hurt a bit but was so hot it evaporated. He wondered how Miko managed to drink the stuff. She turned around and smiled, almost with relief. She lay back down and snuggled against him. He realised she was purring ever so softly, so softly in fact it was actually pleasant to the touch when she did. He wondered whether she meant to or not. He left after a few hours of silence. Little did he know he would have to call on her in much the same way rather soon.

*

Miko took a deep breath and waited. Sheme was sitting with his back turned, he turned around and froze as she approached

Sheme slowly digested the sight before him, he was sure he was dreaming, tears started to roll down his cheeks

"Sheme?" she said softly, he could see her eyes brimming. He jumped up to smother her in a hug, sobbing freely into her shoulder

"Gods I missed you" Miko murmured, a few tears escaping her eyes. Sheme did not let go for a long time

"Am I dreaming?" he whispered in her ear. Miko sniffed as she tried to breathe through her own sobs

"No" she whispered

"If you were I would be pinching myself right now" what she had said made little sense to her but she said it simply because she was so relieved and so scared and so happy and so sad and confused and muddled all at the same time that saying something that made such little sense was the only way to express it, she sat down heavily in the long grass, still holding her little brother as if he were her own child

"Where were you?" Miko sat down next to him in the long grass, he loved places like this, it was one of the more neglected parts of the estate

"Well, I was dead" he frowned

"You see Sheme, but you can't tell anybody this, no one at all. There are these things called Dragonballs"

"Yeah?"

"And if you find them all, you can bring people who have died in certain ways back to life, but it takes a while to find them, no one wanted to get your hopes up" That was the first time Miko had outright lied to Sheme, sure she sugar coated some things so he would understand but most of this was blatant lies, he nodded, hugging her so tightly she felt as if she would pop

"Ok, Sheme, I want you to stay here. But I'll see you every single day whenever you want"

*

Miko opened the door and her eyes widened. Tien was standing there, looking as if he'd been through the battle of his life, his lips were almost blue and his face was white. She immediately pulled him inside.

Tien was in a daze, he barely remembered much, he had somehow found his way to her apartment even though he could barely see for shock. He remembered hot water and some one peeling off his clothes, hands leading him around, hands covering him with something warm, something hot being forced down his throat.

Miko sat on her knees, rocking Tien backwards and forwards with the fire on full. It was nearly midnight and he was so cold she felt sure he should be frozen solid. After a while he came out of his zombie like state and blinked at her

Tien blinked. He felt much warmer, but he was still shivering, perhaps it was the fact he remembered parts of what had happened, and the parts he remembered were painting a picture he did not totally understand, what had happened?

"You alright now?" he just stared at her

"What happened?" she smiled warmly, this seemed to generate more warmth in him than the blazing fire ever could

"You just turned up. You were freezing, I had to shove you in a hot shower, wrap you up, we've been in front of the fire for over an hour now" he frowned

"Nothing else?" she smiled, understanding what he was asking

"Not if I had my way but no, nothing else" a surge of something ran through him, it was almost as if he were disappointed about it. He wondered why, he was afraid wasn't he? Was he?

Her hands were around his neck, rubbing his shoulder blades softly, he realised she was humming as he lay his head against her front, this contact was no longer comforting, but more set his nerves jangling, and wanting

Miko realised he was taut and there was something strange in his pulsing ki, it was, she suddenly smiled, beginning to tug at his shirt.

(And unless you haven't noticed Miko's thought processes and various advances you will be able to guess what happened next)

*

Tien felt her arms wrap around his waist

"Told you it would be worth your while" she said, her fingers making circular motions.

"Well it certainly warmed me up" she smiled and kissed him softly

"Say good bye to virginity" he grinned, placing his own arms around her to pull her against him.

"What was your dream about?" her eyes were gentle and full of calm, he realised that in the short space of time they had been physically joined she had released much of the tension between them

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" she tensed for a second but nodded

"But first let's get under some covers huh?" he nodded, getting up and lifting her off the ground, she did not seem to mind this as she snuggled against him, still purring quietly.

Once under the covers of her bed Miko wrapped herself up in Tien's bulk. She had never cared for, nor found such an inexperienced lover before, but for some reason she did not care, it would be fun to teach him

"Go on" he prompted

"You first" she teased, her toes sliding up and down his leg, he grinned and slid a hand down and caught her ankle, the purr became louder and looser as she wriggled her toes. He began

"Well It's got a lot to do with you so don't take it the wrong way" she nodded, suddenly noticing his body temperature drop a few degrees, she hooked her legs about the back of his knees and pulled him closer, this seemed to warm her again

"Well, it's like this weird blackness, and I keep seeing you, only it's not you, it's like all these different people with the same appearance, some good some evil, some downright frightening" She nodded, with him so far

"And then it sort of turns into this strange war, like I see half of you fighting the other half and some one else, stuck in the middle, there's dark everywhere then it melts into some sort of fun house, only it's in mirrors and your reflection is-" Tien blinked, she had gone as cold as ice

"You somehow latched onto my dream" she whispered. He gaped, feeling himself go cold. Gods he was so cold.

Miko shivered

"And another one, dagger, rose" she half whispered, missing words through her sluggish tongue. He froze

"With a blue and red ocean."

"I stab you in the heart" she finished for him

Tien suddenly need to be warm, he pulled her against him, combined body heat creating some warmth

"I can't help but think this is not normal" he whispered. She nodded from where her head was buried in his chest.

"I have weird effects on males, but nothing like this" he held her closer, unsure of what exactly to make of this. She snuggle under his chin, purring again, this was strangely comforting as the quiet rattling vibrations seemed to warm him up and calm his thumping heart.

"I think perhaps" he said sleepily, he was no longer freezing but still cold

"That we should be more careful next time" she tensed and turned to frown at him

"Huh?"

Miko wondered for a second what he meant

"You could be..we didn't use." it hit home

A/N: I didn't use a lemon scene for the simple reason that I suck at them. I'm sure you can make up something interesting to fill the gap.

Ehehehehehehehe, this is my revenge for the absence of reviews. ehehehehehehehe