Notes: After a long hiatus and thinking over the prospect of deleting this story, I've decided to continue. Working on three stories at once really stretched me too thin, but with one story finished and another nearing completion, I can finally give this story the attention it deserves. Look for a new chapter sometime soon.

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and its characters are the property of Akira Toriyama.


Chapter 7: Hikiawase

The sun had reached a burning peak in the sky, an arid wind blew coarse dust about and Faye had had enough. After picking herself off the ground, she had spent her time watching and glaring at Cell. She hadn't forgotten how he referred to her as 'dear' when she had specifically asked him not to. Nor was she willing to forget how he had tried to murder her twice and how dismally he had failed.

As the time continued to drag by, Faye could feel her impatience growing. It would have been easier to manage if Cell's action mirrored her own restlessness, but fate had decided to thwart the unlucky human once again. For the hours that passed, Cell had remained in a singular, stationary position.

He had remained unblinking and unmoving. Faye had blithely wondered if he was even breathing, but had learned enough about fate to know that he was still living. And it nearly drove her mad.

Faye had been fully prepared to ignore Cell, given the success of her earlier executions. But at the moment, the silence combined with feelings of defeat and restraint were putting her on edge. She began cracking her knuckles, humming some chipper little tune and even resorted to talking to herself, hoping to rouse some reaction.

Nothing worked. Cell was in his own little meditative world and nothing, save an impossible answer would stir him. Faye rolled her eyes at the still-standing android. It was only when she glanced away from him that she felt a stir of the opportunistic nature.

Cell isn't paying attention to me, so surely I could just sneak away from him without him noticing. Faye smirked at the thought, but froze. Easy, but what if it's too easy? Knowing Cell, he's already counted on me trying to leave and has something planned for me if I try to do so. Still…Faye couldn't help but find the itch to depart too tempting to leave unscratched.

He can't kill me, she thought resolutely. If he did, he'd end his own life as well as mine. It would be stupid or illogical on his part. He'd never go through with it.

Armed with this information, Faye did her best not to appear guilty as she proceeded to sneak away from Cell. Feeling as though her feet were made of lead and convinced that they could hear the pounding of her heart at the Capsule Corporation, Faye continued on.

It wasn't until she heard crackling sound and noticed a rise in the temperature around her that Faye realized what had happened. Somehow, Cell had found her out and sent one of his energy…things flying at her.

Faye gave a yelp of surprise and awkwardly threw herself to the ground. Squinting her eyes against the arena's dust, she saw the tail end of a spherical ball of golden light as it continued on its course and shattered the barren ground at the arena's end.

Growling lightly at the blatantly embarrassing position she was in, Faye sent a hateful glower in Cell's direction, only to find him glancing at her appraisingly.

"You could have hit me with that, not a very swift idea on your part." Faye admonished snidely as she stood for what she figured to be the penultimate time that day.

Cell made a disbelieving sound and gave a cool smirk. "Nonsense. I had full control of the blast and by anticipating your given reaction, I had absolute power over the situation."

"You'd just love to think so." Faye responded sardonically. "But I know you didn't."

"Of course I did." Cell replied evenly. "For you are not only a cliché my dear Faye, but also becoming invariably predictable."

There it is again. Due to only a few smarting words, Faye could feel her anger rising. Cell always seemed to know the exact thing to say in order to set her off. Well not this time.

Making a supreme effort on her part, Faye clenched her fists tightly. She wasn't going to explode and make herself look like more of a fool than she already had. Rather, Faye put on a thin-lipped smile and tried not to look as though she had been feasting upon pieces of glass.

"Really." Faye answered with false geniality. "Well how's this for being predictable: I'm hungry."

Cell's even expression never wavered. He might have just said, "So" and achieved the same reaction. Faye stared at him and mentally chanted her "Do not get angry," mantra over and over again.

"Hungry." She repeated sharply. "In need of sustenance, desiring food, running on empty… I could keep going here. And if you think my food woes don't matter, don't forget our little connection. You may or may not eat, but if I start starving, I'll be taking you on the ride with me."

~*~

Though he chose not to say so, Cell knew that Faye was correct. Although he also knew it took multiple days for a human body t go through the symptoms of food withdrawal, emaciation being one of them, he wasn't about to wait for those numerous days to pass before he acted. Faye irritated him to no end as it was, he didn't want to deal with a hunger-ridden form of her. Even a perfect being such as him had their limits.

"Very well." Cell relented, albeit most reluctantly. "I will take you to acquire the food that you need. Perhaps consuming it will keep you occupied and serve as a deterrent for your wasted physical attacks against me."

The Perfect, invincible Cell bargaining with a human. This situation grows more ridiculous at every turn.

Cell moved forward, intending upon taking Faye in his arms and leaving. For the faster they did so, the faster they could return. But it was her face, its normally sharp features twisted into a look of sheer horror and dread…

~*~

There was no way. Absolutely no way that Faye could handle it. Losing everything that had mattered to her had nearly unhinged her. Almost being killed, she had dealt with that fairly well in her opinion. But this…this was the one thing she couldn't handle.

"No way." Faye all but whispered. "I'm not going anywhere with you, not flying, not disappearing/reappearing, nothing."

Looking slightly puzzled, Cell continued to walk forward. "I beg to differ." He remarked composedly.

Faye gave an exasperated sigh. "Differ all you want, it doesn't matter. Whatever it is you have in mind for travel, it and I don't mix. Unless maybe you want to be covered in something green other than that armor or whatever it is you're wearing."

Cell was unable to hold back an expression of pure disgust. "Surely you're joking." He inquired disbelievingly.

"I wish."

Faye watched Cell mull over her response critically. Though she might have lied about it, if the idea occurred to her, she was actually telling him the truth. Her motion sickness had been legendary, limiting her family's travel plans to places that could be reached by car. Her father was after all, the slowest driver in existence.

"I won't go anywhere!" Faye said, a little too loudly. "I'll stay here and wait."

"Yes, of course." Cell spoke dryly. "As you've done such a remarkable job of that already." He gave Faye his coldest of looks. "Nevertheless, I'd rather not be a witness to your…bodily functions. You may remain here. But do not forget that, were you to try and get away, I would have no trouble finding you."

With that said, the strange aura surrounded Cell's body once again before he took to the air. It happened so quickly that Faye almost didn't catch it. As though Cell was standing before her one minute, then mingling with the clouds the next. Just trying to make sense of it all made Faye's head hurt.

She gave a frustrated sigh and feeling slightly tired, decided to sit down. She sat cross-legged on the marble covered ground and put her head in her hands. Faye massaged her temples wearily and closed her eyes. I wish this day would just end. And that I hadn't been dumb enough to actually come here. What the hell was I thinking?

Faye might have continued stewing in her thoughts if a sudden gust of wind hadn't blown dust directly into her face. She began coughing violently moving backwards. It was only when her eyes had cleared that she noticed something unbelievable.

Where once unmolested air had resided, a pair of legs stood. Once Faye glanced upwards, she noticed an incredibly well built body attached to the legs, one wearing some strange type of orange fighting garments and with ebony hair that stood out in multiple directions, defying the laws of gravity simply by its existence.

But it was the man's face, for the person was most definitely male, that made Faye pale slightly. She had never seen such a look of focus, of raw determination that illuminated this new man's face. Faye hoped that no one ever looked at her in such a way.

As if reading her thoughts, the visitor lowered his gaze down to her level. His face seemed to relax considerably, shifting into what Faye would have considered the goofiest of grins.

"Sorry about that," He spoke warmly. "I didn't see you down there."

If her mouth wasn't figuratively scraping the ground, Faye might have responded.

"My name's Goku," The man continued, oblivious to Faye's catatonic state. "What's yours?"

~*~