Type: A/U

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Characters: Marron, Uub, Pan, Bra, Trunks, Goten

Disclaimer: Strictly speaking, I do not own any form of DB/Z/GT or any of its lovely characters. Technically, they belong to Akira Toriyama. But the plot of this fic is most definitely mine.

Between Friends

Part One: In the Beginning…

"N-now, Marron," Krillin nearly blubbered out, embracing his daughter protectively, "y-you go and be a good girl for daddy, okay??" He pulled back and stared anxiously into the big blue eyes of the little blonde-haired eight-year-old girl, before him, as he bent down to meet her eye-to-eye. She nodded a silent response and a small smile began form upon her chubby face.

He held onto the girl's small shoulders firmly. The mere thought of his little baby girl attending an unfamiliar school, unsupervised by his presence, would've broken down the poor man into a million Kuririn pieces, had he not managed, almost barely, to keep himself together. "I-I know this is your first time at a public school and everything, honey, and I know you're probably feeling very nervous right now," he said, barely audible, "but try to keep all your fears in until I come and pick you up after school, a-all right?"

Again, the girl nodded, staring curiously into her father's eyes. He had seemed more nervous and more worried than she was.

"Good." Krillin hugged her for one last time. "N-now, don't go thinking that we're abandoning you, you hear?" he added quickly for reassurance. "This is for your sake and, plus, your mother and I can't find the time and money to tutor you anymore. I-I'm sorry, but this is our only option, my peach." He continued to hold on to her as if there were no tomorrow.

"Oh, there, there, Papa, it's all right," Marron spoke up finally, patting her father's back to prevent him from crying. "I can handle myself. No need to worry." Krillin pulled back suddenly and she regarded him with curiosity. Her eyes were filled with so much determination and confidence, and he knew she was right.

A silent tear rolled down Krillin's cheek as he stood up, but he quickly wiped it away. "O-okay," he sniffed, looking off somewhere. He forced himself to beam. "Run along now. I-I really don't want you to be late."

Marron smiled sympathetically at her distraught father and jumped up to kiss him. She started walking off carefully towards her new class, timidly looking back at her father, and then broke into a run. Krillin fretfully watched her go. He wanted so much to follow her, and stay by her side the whole day, but he didn't. Instead, he turned around and walked slowly back to his car where his wife had waited for him.

Krillin grudgingly slid into the driver's seat and absentmindedly placed his hands on the wheel. Juuhachigou glanced over, noticing the familiar blank stare on his face. He was sensitive, she knew, but sometimes he can be a little too melodramatic. "So," she said casually, "how'd it go?"

Krillin didn't bother to look at her, still staring at the spot where he had last hugged his little girl. It took him a while to realize his wife was speaking to him. "Oh, I think she'll be just fine," he choked out, before starting the car and speeding off.

Marron stood rather impatiently by her class, waiting for the first bell to ring. She had not been allowed to enter yet, for it was not time. She had kept herself busy, watching other students as they passed by in groups of two or more. Something had made her feel quite out of place and a bit uneasy. Not recognizing any faces at all, she had realized how utterly alone she was.

Marron's gaze landed on a dark haired girl who was walking past her, along with another girl with glimmering aqua hair. They both stopped to look at her oddly, whispering quietly among themselves, and then heading off somewhere. Marron sighed and watched them go, tapping her foot against the hard sidewalk anxiously. When was that darn bell gonna ring? She would rather sit quietly in class than stand outside all by herself.

"Hello, there!!!" a cheerful voice chirped beside her, making her jump three feet into the air at the sudden sound and scaring her half to death. "Hey, I've never seen you around before. Are you new?"

Marron turned her head quickly to see a boy with soft brown eyes staring straight at her. He had a quite an adorable smile imprinted upon his jolly face and his black hair was oddly pointed in all directions. "Y-yes," she replied shyly, nodding her head.

"Well," the boy said, "the name's Goten." He extended a friendly hand. "What's yours?"

She took his hand carefully and shook it. "Marron."

The boy beamed. "Welcome to our school, Marron!" he said brightly. "I'm sure you'll like it here."

"Hey, Goten!" a raspy voice said, interrupting the two. "Who's your new friend?" Marron curiously leaned forward a bit to see a boy with a shock of mushroom-cut lavender hair and mysterious deep blue eyes positioned behind Goten. She stared at the boy and tried, almost in vain, to stifle a laugh. He had the funniest looking hair she had ever seen!

"Oh, Trunks," Goten said, "this is Marron, she's new. And, Marron, this is my best friend Trunks." He stepped out of the way to let the two shake hands. After neither had done so, he scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Okay, then."

Trunks crossed his arms stubbornly and looked the girl up and down. He observed her and instantly processed her features into his head. She was short, chubby, had blonde hair, and no nose. Wait a second… no nose??? His eyes immediately widened in shock and realization.

Marron took notice of this. "What? What is it??" she asked worriedly, looking about her.

"Y-your nose…" Trunks stammered, pointing nervously at her.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, freaking out like all hell had just broken loose. "WHAT KINDA GIRL DOESN'T HAVE A NOSE?!?!?! Oh my lord, oh my lord, OH MY LORD!"

Marron stepped back in surprise, and her mouth dropped open, truly insulted. How rude! "HEY!!" she fumed, clenching her tiny fists tightly. "What about you, huh?! What kinda boy has PURPLE hair?!?!" She hated him, she decided, despite the fact that they've just met. She absolutely and utterly hated him.

Trunks immediately shut up and glared at her. "That's not very nice," he said venomously.

"YOU'RE not very nice!" Marron countered, stepping towards him. She would've enjoyed the pleasure of smacking his face to Neverland, had Goten not suddenly cut in, separating the two before they did anything remotely rash. "Okay, okay, guys, stop it! NOW!!!"

Marron backed away and so did Trunks. They glared at each other viciously past the dark haired boy. Goten felt the cold shivers go up and down his spine. He looked from one to the other and was about to say something when the bell rang, stopping him from mentioning whatever was on his mind. As if on cue, Marron briskly turned away and stormed into her class, while Trunks headed in the other direction.

It was recess time, and poor Marron had to frown slightly as she sat on a lonely bench overlooking the playground. She had wanted so badly to join the other kids on the field as they played games and had their fun, but she was just too shy and she knew they weren't about to invite her anytime soon. Casting her eyes around, she suddenly noticed that everyone she saw had a nose. Timidly, she reached up to touch her face, hoping that a nose would magically be there. But all she felt was a flat surface, and she still couldn't smell.

She looked about her and coincidentally spotted Trunks, Goten, and the two girls she had seen earlier, hanging out at the jungle gym. They were looking at her strangely and talking. Marron felt quite uncomfortable, and she tried to ignore them.

Just then, she felt a presence next to her. She turned to look and her gaze collided with a pair of dark eyes. A chocolate-colored boy was smiling at her. "Hi," he said, "you must be Marron, that new girl." He grabbed her hand and shook it. "I'm Uub."

Marron eyed him warily. This boy seemed to be about the same age as Trunks, which was around 10, although he was a lot nicer. "Hi," she said, smiling back. Some people can be so friendly at times.

Uub suddenly regarded her with sympathy, as he noticed something. "So, I guess you're alone, huh?"

"Yeah." She nodded, looking down.

"Want me to hang with ya for a while?" he offered.

Marron brought her gaze up to him inquisitively. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

She smiled appreciatively. "Okay, why not?"

Trunks watched the two new friends carefully and then came waltzing up to them unexpectedly.

"Hey, Uub," he greeted, purposefully ignoring the other person, "wanna join us at the monkey bars? We're having another contest. We can continue our match from the last time."

Uub glanced uncertainly at Marron, who had just looked away. "Sure," he said slowly, "but can my friend come too? I don't wanna leave her here." Marron gave him a curious glance, surprised that he had offered to invite her.

Trunks looked at the girl with an unreadable expression. Then he looked at Uub. "Well, all right, then," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "But she can only watch."

Uub nodded and looked at Marron. "Ya wanna come?" he asked. "It'll be lots of fun. Even to watch."

Marron smiled brightly. "Okay…"

Trunks kept his expression firm as he led the two to the monkey bars. Marron looked around and noticed the two girls giving her that weird look again, while Goten just smiled.

Uub grinned at all of them. "Hey guys, this is Marron," he said. " Marron, this is Pan," he pointed to the dark haired girl, who had looked about six-years-old, "And this is Bra." His gesture led to the other girl, with the shiny blue hair. She seemed to be at least seven. "She's Trunks' little sister." He looked at Marron. "And I think you know Goten already?"

Marron nodded and gave a small smile, feeling a bit uncomfortable around them.

Pan eyed the new girl cautiously and then turned to Trunks. "So who's gonna go first this time?" she asked, crossing her arms and waiting for the boy to answer.

He smirked rather arrogantly and stepped up to the first monkey bar. "Uub and I will go," he said, glancing over at the dark boy as he approached the other monkey bar adjacent to him.

"Well, alright, Trunks," Uub said mysteriously, "you asked for it." He narrowed his dark eyes at his opponent and positioned himself.

Marron watched with growing curiosity as the two boys stared each other down. She wondered what was gonna happen.

Then Bra started counting down. "Okay, guys. Three…two…one…GOOO!" she waved her arm in the air and the two boys were off within the blink of an eye.

Marron gasped. Their speed…it was incredible. Never before had she ever seen such velocity on monkey bars. Her eyes had nearly bulged out of their sockets when she tried to detect who the hell was ahead. But it seemed almost impossible.

Meanwhile, Trunks huffed and puffed as he swung from bar to bar, focusing carefully. He quickly glanced to his side and saw Uub one bar ahead of him. Trunks growled at this and speeded up. No way was he gonna lose!

Beads of sweat rolled rapidly down his face and dropped to the sand below. He was completely and utterly determined to win. Must win, must win, must win, his mind seem to race along with him. Must win…must win…must…Hmm. I wonder how far ahead I am now. He had been curious to know, and decided to look back just for a millisecond to see where Uub was. What harm could it do? He thought. But, unfortunately, because of this foolish desire, when he had turned his head to look, his hand had slipped unexpectedly and he fell to the ground with a loud and painful 'thud'. "Oof!"

Marron gasped at what she had just witnessed, while Pan, Bra, and Goten laughed hysterically beside her. She glanced at them, wondering what in the world was so funny.

Uub finally reached the end of his monkey bar and sat himself on the ladder. "I win," he stated bluntly, watching with growing amusement as Trunks slowly got up, spitting icky sand out of his mouth.

Marron looked around her worriedly, noticing that no one was about to help him at all. So, she ran over to the fallen boy, and tried to pick him up. "Are you all right?" she asked deeply concerned, examining him to see if he had any injuries.

Trunks coughed up some more sand, disgusted by its taste, and then turned to Marron, giving her a strange but curious look. "Yeah…yeah…I'm fine," he said slowly, staring intently at her. But then he blushed in embarrassment.

Marron smiled at this. "Well, I'm glad," she said, placing a nervous arm behind her head.

Trunks kept staring. Why had she helped him? No one had ever done that before. The thought tugged at his brain. But he quickly put it aside, letting a small smile grace his handsome features. "Uh, thanks…"

Marron unconsciously dusted sand from his hair. "Hey, no problem."

To be continued…

(Seven years later) Part two: Marron, the Wonderful

Coming up next on Between Friends!