I'll be lucky if I get this out by Monday afternoon. Anyway, Happy new year! Hope it was wonderful.

I wake up to find Kirei gone. Or rather, in the bathroom. I walk there and knock on the door.

"You can come in!" She shouts, obviously preoccupied with something. I shrug and go in, finding her frustrated, trying to brush her hair.

"How the hell did you do this, Goku?" She asks as she tries to pull a brush through the long light brown strands.

I chuckle and go to her, gently pulling the brush out of her hand and moving behind her. I work the paddle through her hair easily, and she groans.

"Do people like long hair?"

I shrug and continue. "People like what they like. Your hair is really long, though. It's all personal preference."

"Bulma has short hair." She says sadly. I rub her shoulder with my free hand.

"It just looks like that to you. She has pretty long hair compared to other people."

"Not to me, though."

"Who cares? I think your hair is beautiful. Isn't that what matters?"

She turns around after I'm finished.

"I guess. Are you ready?"

"That's supposed to be my line." I set the brush down on the sink and braid her hair again quickly. "But yeah, I am. Let's go."

Silently, we leave the bathroom. We slip on our shoes and she climbs on my back. I fly into the air and gradually speed up.

"So," I say, looking back at her. "You sure you're ready?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm really nervous, but I'll be okay." She tightens her arms around my neck slightly, and I speed up.

We land a quarter mile from the city, to avoid being caught in the air. Kirei lowers to the ground and steadies herself. I grab her hand and we start walking.

"So, Goku, how long do we have to be in the city?"

"Oh, only an hour, maybe," I glance over at her as she pulls her braid in front of her with her free hand. "Given we don't see anyone I know, but I doubt it."

She tightens her grip on my hand and walks slightly faster. "What would happen if we did?"

"Probably not much. Maybe I'd just introduce you, tell them I'm doing fine, yes, I'll see them again soon, and we'd go on our way."

I let go of her hand and throw my arm around her shoulders, fingering her braid absentmindedly. "And I promise they'd behave better than Bulma."

She relaxes and slows down again, letting the weight of my arm calm her.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

After a couple seconds of silence, Kirei looks at me and asks, "Do you have any other female friends?"

I look away to think, biting my lip, Kirei waits in silence.

"I guess so, but I wouldn't call them friends."

I look back at her and she looks confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not as good of friends with them as I am with Bulma. They're actually the only other two females I know other than you and her."

"What are they like?" She asks, curious.

"Well, one is a talking cat and the other is a divination witch lady. They're weird."

Another few seconds of silence passes.

"Oh."

We come out of the woods into a cul-de-sac and we proceed to walk down the pavement hand in hand.

After passing about ten houses a whole city comes into view.

I immediately look to Kirei to assess her reaction.

The first thing I notice is that her eyes are wider than I've ever seen them.

the second thing I notice is a huge smile on her face. I exhale in relief.

"It's..."

"I know. Let's go get you that mirror."

I grasp her hand again, leading her to the sidewalk, where a lot of people were strolling along.

Out of the corner of my eye I see her shoulders hunch slightly and without looking at her I say,

"Stand up straight, Kirei. You're safe."

She glances at me and tries the straighten her shoulders.

After a few more minutes of walking, we come to a small shop full of mirrors of all different shapes and sizes. I point Kirei over to a large ornate one. she looks at me wide-eyed and skips over to it.

Stopping fast, she stills completely. In the reflection I can see her eyes widen more. She pokes the glass and drop her hand.

She moves to the next one, staring intently at her face in each one.

"Like it?"

She touches her face. "I... I'm not sure."

Okay, I didn't get it out by Monday. I'm in a rut right now. It's really hard for me to make my sentences sound as good as they do in my head. Sorry for the short chapter, but I really need to go and soak in some inspiration juice.

~MVO