Disclaimer: Dragonball/Z/GT belong to Akira Toriyama. I am using the characters without permission and am making no money from this piece of amateur fiction.

Author's Notes: I have so many stories started on FF.net and others on discs not yet posted that I should be working but noooo I have to go and start something brand new. I hope you guys enjoy the first installment of Marron's Tale. I felt like doing something different from the usual fairy tale parody so I hope this turned out ok.

I just wanted to make one thing clear before you start yelling at me for being mean to Trunks. I don't hate the guy, really. *Mutters to self* He's just such an easy target.

Remember to review and I accept constructive criticism. Flames will be laughed at.

Marron's Tale

Raidne the Silent Siren

Chapter 1

Marron sat in her desk chair staring blankly at the monitor of her computer. Her chin was propped on her fists while her elbows rested on her desk.

"I hate you," she muttered to her computer. Her word processing program was open and glaringly blank.

Her English professor had assigned a creative writing project after they had discussed some of the history surrounding folk tales and fairy tales. Now she was supposed to add a new twist on a well-known fairy tale. Surprise. Surprise. She had writer's block. She had no idea anything could be this annoying.

Her eyes wondered around her room in search of inspiration. They settled on a picture of Trunks sitting among several group photos of her and her friends. She had been wrong. There was something more annoying than writer's block. She let her eyes linger over the pictures. There was one group shot with her, Pan, and Bra goofing off at the mall. There was another one with Trunks, Goten, and Uub hanging out at the beach together. One had Bra and Uub together and there was one with Pan in a fighting pose glaring at the camera. She began to get an idea. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't. Her eyes turned back to the blank monitor. She began to grin slowly.

"What they don't know won't hurt them," she said to herself. As she readied herself to type she added mentally, 'Or me.'

Marron placed her fingers over the keys and began to type…

Cindermarron

Marron was a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes. After the death of her father she had been left in the care of her stepmother Chichi. There were rumors that Lord Krillen had died just to escape her. No one knew anything about Marron's own mother. All that the servants knew was that one day he had come back from a long trip and had brought with him a small blonde baby girl wrapped in a blanket. A marriage with Lady Chichi was arranged immediately afterwards by his uncle.

If the marriage was supposed to be an easy way to explain her birth it failed horribly. Both her father and stepmother had black hair and eyes while Marron had blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Whenever her father had been questioned about her real mother he would never tell. The whole affair was surrounded with rumors and intrigue. Despite this her father had loved her unconditionally.

Marron wasn't the only child in the house though. When her father and stepmother were married she had been a widow. It was for this reason that many people thought she had become such a shrew, because she still mourned her late husband. When she had moved into the manor she had brought her own daughter with her. Marron hadn't had any real problems with the girl except they just hadn't had anything in common. There was only a couple of months difference in their ages but they were very different girls.

After the death of her father, Marron left the room she had been sharing with Pan, not voluntarily in either case. She ended up sleeping in one of the rooms that had fallen into disrepair on the first floor. She kept her bedroll close to the wood stove for heat. After a few weeks of walking around with cinders in her hair and clothes, Pan took to calling her Cindermarron and the nickname, unfortunately, stuck. There were times when she was sure that she was the only one left in the house who remembered it wasn't her real name and she wanted to scream in frustration every time she heard it. She never could speak out though no matter how much she yearned to tell off both her stepmother and stepsister. She was nothing more than the bastard child of the late lord. She was lucky in many ways that she hadn't been kicked out the day of the funeral. Hell, she was lucky she hadn't been out on the streets when his death was confirmed.

So our story begins with Marron sitting in her room with Pan's dress in her lap and a needle between her fingers. There were very few times in her life where she could agree with her stepmother on anything but this morning had come very close to being one.

Marron let the memory replay in mind. Pan stood in the front door in a dress that had ripped seams and torn sleeves. She stood defiantly in front of her mother and waited stubbornly. Anyone who had been looking carefully, like Marron was, would notice that the stubborn eyes of the girl did not quite meet those of her mother and were staring somewhere around the region of her chin.

"Can't you be more careful with your clothes" Chichi shrieked, "and how many times have I told you to be more ladylike?! You're a young woman now! How do you expect to find a husband if you continue like this?"

Marron stood nearby sweeping the floor. Since she had her back turned to the two combatants she felt secure in mouthing the words to the often-heard tirade. She was so damn sick of hearing this! She was nearing the point where she was considering posting flyers next time she went to get groceries in town advertising Pan to any prospective husbands in the area. If Pan got married and moved out it would be one less person to clean up after. The richer the guy the better, because then the chances of getting rid of Chichi also went up.

"…Now Marron is going to have to mend that dress!"

Marron's head whipped up when she heard that. 'Ah crap.' She wasn't surprised but couldn't the dress be deemed unsalvageable? It was much easier tossing the thing out than trying to fix it.

Marron sat with the dress in her lap mending the tears and wishing with every stab of the needle that she could strangle Pan with the dress. Her bitter? Noooo.

'They make me so mad!' She started sewing quicker and quicker. In her hurry she pricked her finger with the needle. She hissed in pain and stuck the finger in her mouth. 'This is my life, ladies and gentlemen. I'm a servant in my late father's house to his wife and stepdaughter. This is my life.'

**********

"It's my life!" Trunks shouted. His two best friends just stared at him and waited for him to finish. He had been like this for an hour now and was finally beginning run down. They knew they were only sitting through this because he didn't have the guts to tell his father what he really thought about his decisions in regards to his children. It was not a good idea to make the king angry with you. So the prince ranted as he paced back and forth already started to wear a path into his expensive and meticulously sewn rug and not once did he consider the amount of work that had been put into its creation since he could easily afford a new one.

"How could he do this??" Trunks continued to complain.

"Because he's the king and you're to scared to stand up to him," Goten supplied.

"I hadn't wanted an answer."

"Then why did you ask?"

"I think we're getting off the subject," Uub interrupted.

Trunks stopped pacing and flopped down onto a chair. "I can't believe Father is going to throw a ball just so he can marry me off."

"Look at it this way, you are going to have every single, noble girl in the country all in one place, for the soul purpose of making a good impression, at the least, on you."

Trunks looked thoughtful for a moment before breaking out into a smirk that was worthy of King Vegeta himself. "Goten you are genius."

"Of course."

"So are you two going to come and keep the leftovers company?"

**********

Princess Bra snuck back into her bedchamber after listening at her brother's door. She hadn't been present when her father had announced his decision concerning her brother and she had been on her way to confirm it when she had heard the voices behind Trunks' door. She had been hoping to get some dirt on him but hadn't had much luck. All that her spying session really did was confirm that her brother was the idiot and wimp she thought he was.

Well, maybe the night wouldn't be a total waste. Her eyes grew a little dreamy as she thought of a certain young man who was presently in the company of her brother. Uub. Her face took on a look that said she was planning something. Her father would never let her marry a prince from another country because that would mean combining the two lands and he would never allow that. Uub and Goten were both sons of wealthy noble lords. There was a very good possibility that her father might start interviewing possible future husbands for her among the sons of his wealthier and most loyal vassals. This could work in her favor if she planned it right.

Uub and Bra had been seeing each other in secret for months now but hadn't dared make mention of it to her father yet. He was staying in a bad mood with the disobedience of her older brother and thought it would be best to mention it when he was in a good mood, well as good a mood as he ever got in. Bra knew that her mother already suspected that she was in love but she didn't know if Bulma knew whom yet. The fact that only her mother had any idea at all was a compliment to both of their abilities. Queen Bulma had always been intelligent and resourceful and had passed these qualities onto her daughter; Bra was convinced that it had skipped over her brother.

Bra collapsed on her bed with a plan firmly in mind. If her brother got off of his ass and got married she could talk to her father about letting her marry Uub. It was unlikely that he would turn her down with Trunks out of the way. Hell, after having to drag Trunks down the aisle, like he most likely would, he would probably be thrilled that he didn't have to go through a repeat.

…Marron leaned back in her chair after saving the night's work. 'I need to be careful writing this or Bra may still my thunder.' She had to put Bra in otherwise when the girl found out about the story she would never hear the end of it. She would find out about it of course. Marron wouldn't tell her but somehow Bra tended to find out everyone's little embarrassing secrets. She usually only used her skills for good, otherwise known as Trunks torture, but better safe than sorry.

Looking at the clock, she saw that it was already past midnight and she had classes in the next morning. This was enough for one night. She shut down her computer and went to bed.