They drove down a scenic coastline, pristine blue ocean on one side and small, scruffy hillside on the other, both of them quiet for the first few hours. Seventeen broke the silence after they passed through a large city and were back out on the open highway. "I hope you've decided on what to wish for, bug. We'll be there before nightfall."

Marron felt a jolt of panic similar to having forgotten to study for a test.

"I still can't decide," she wailed. "There's so many possibilities. Now I understand why Oolong wished for panties!"

Seventeen laughed.

"Well, I know your mom would kill you if you didn't at least wish for some money."

Her mom. Money. Marron felt an idea sparking in her brain, and when her uncle started to say something else she shushed him, not noticing the amused smirk on his face. Marron was sure her parents thought she didn't know, but she had seen the enormous credit card bills they were still paying down. When they thought she was asleep they would speak of the future, grand dreams of a house of their own, a nice school for their daughter, two cars, closets full of clothes; but always these dreams were accompanied with the caveat of "when we finally get out of debt." She even knew the approximate number of that debt and the cost of a house like the one they dreamed of buying. Counting on her fingers, she did some math and finally turned to her uncle, grinning broadly.

"I'm going to wish for 345,297,680 zeni," she said, and frowned when her uncle gave her a skeptical eyebrow.

"That's a pretty specific number," he pointed out.

"You're right, I guess," she said, a little let down that he wasn't sharing her enthusiasm. "I could just wish for 350."

"What are you going to do with that much money?" he inquired a little incredulously. She looked at him haughtily.

"Not me. My parents."

The look he gave her was part surprise, part something else. She gazed back defiantly until he turned back to the road.

"That's really thoughtful of you, Marron," he said, and he didn't seem to be teasing her at all. She quietly amended her wish to 400 million zeni, the extra 50 mil for her uncle who, she suddenly realized, probably didn't exactly have a healthy bank account either.

"I think I'll leave the other wish for emergencies," she finished. Seventeen nodded. She kicked her feet against her seat, watching the palm trees slide by.

"What would you wish for?" she asked. He tilted his head, thoughtful.

"I don't really know," he admitted. "I've been thinking about it, but there's nothing the dragon can give me that I don't already have."

"Really?" Marron had seen his house. She was pretty sure there was plenty the dragon could give him.

"I'm a simple guy with simple needs," he said, a smile twitching in the corner of his mouth. He glanced down at Marron. "Besides, I've already gotten the thing I was hoping to get."

She stared at him, puzzled.

"What?"

His smile spread to the rest of his mouth.

"Nothing," he said, looking steadfastly at the road. And no matter how much Marron wheedled and prodded, he wouldn't tell her what it was.


Her parents were surprised to see her, but she was more surprised to see Kame House swarming with people.

"What's everyone doing here?" she asked her father, who looked a little sheepish.

"We were going to throw you a surprise party for when you got back. We were checking the dragon radar and we noticed you had gathered them all. We didn't expect you to come back here with them, though."

Marron fingered the bag holding the dragon balls in her hand, not sure how to feel. Goku was being directed by Bulma to hoist something up on a stage. Trunks was holding Bra and wheedling his mother to let him give her back, and Goten was offering to take her instead. Yamcha gave her a wave from where he was helping set out drink cups. Marron gave him a weak wave in return.

"Bulma said she'd try to restrain herself," Krillin added in a mock whisper. "But that's the karaoke stage and I think she's got a caterer coming, so we can see how that turned out."

Marron laughed, and Krillin was pleased at how unrestrained it was. He looked up at Seventeen, and they shared a look, both pleased that Marron was no longer the moody, listless child she'd been a few weeks prior.

"What are you going to wish for?" Krillin went on. Marron gave him a secret smile.

"It's a surprise," she told him, and then went off to say hi to Trunks. Krillin watched her go, smiling fondly, as she went up to him and held her arms out for Bra. Trunks gave his little sister over, opting to chat with Marron instead of annoying his mother. Krillin's happiness faded to alarm as he noticed Marron twirling one pigtail around her finger while swaying in place, Bra unnoticed in the other arm.

"She, uh, doesn't have a crush on him, does she?" he asked his brother-in-law. Seventeen took on an affected air of distant uninterest.

"I really couldn't say," he said in a manner which all but confirmed it. Krillin let out a noisy breath and shook his head, filing that information away for later.

"I see she came back with all her limbs still attached," Eighteen said dryly, coming up behind them. Seventeen rolled his eyes.

"We were just looking for the dragon balls. What did you think was going to happen?"

Eighteen rolled her eyes right back and did not dignify that with a response.

When Bulma finally noticed Marron and Seventeen's arrival she put a halt to party preparations and let Marron summon the dragon, whispering the phrase to her so she could say it herself. Everyone in attendance could not help but smile as Marron's eyes lit up and her mouth dropped open to see Shenron appear in all his glory. For once everyone remembered how impressive Shenron was to someone who didn't see him on a regular basis.

"SPEAK YOUR WISH, AND IT SHALL BE GRANTED," Shenron boomed. Marron gulped hard, but there was no way she was chickening out now, especially not in front of all these people.

"I wish for four hundred million zeni!" she said. There was a long pause, which gave her time to be nervous (would the dragon actually grant such a simple wish? Would everyone think her wish was dumb?), but eventually a thick stack of bills fluttered out of the sky to land at her feet.

"IT IS DONE," Shenron said. "NOW, WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?"

For a brief second Marron was struck by the endless possibilities before her, but since she had barely been able to decide on the wish of 'lots of money' in a month's time, she demurred.

"No other wish for now," she said.

"VERY WELL," Shenron said, and disappeared in a flash of golden light, all seven balls she had worked so hard to gather flying off in different directions.

Marron bent down to pick up the large wad of money, holding it in her hands and just reveling, for a brief moment, in the feeling of nervous excitement that comes from holding a large amount of money. Then she flipped the stack in her fingers until she counted out fifty million and handed it to her uncle.

"There," she said. "For you."

The shock on his face was not the happy gratitude she'd been hoping for, so she quickly turned away and held out the rest of it to her parents.

"Here," she said, her stomach doing somersaults for reasons she couldn't guess at. It was just her parents. What was there to be nervous about? "This is for you guys."

Her parents looked at each other, and then back at her, totally nonplussed and a little shocked. She held it out further, willing them to take it. Krillin did, his movements slow with amazement.

"You're not going to keep it?" he asked, and Marron let out a nervous laugh.

"What would I do with that much money?" she asked, though secretly she was a little mad at herself for not having thought to peel off at least a ten thousand note for herself before handing the rest over. Her father looked up at her mother again, but Eighteen was staring at Marron with a peculiar expression on her face. It was a very particular expression, one Marron had always assumed was a kind of distant annoyance. It turned something over in her stomach to realize it was actually uncertainty.

"But Marron..." Her father trailed off, and then found his voice again. "Marron, what did you think we were going to do with that much money?"

Marron tucked one of her bangs behind her ear in a gesture so much like one of her mother's it made Krillin ache a little. She fidgeted, unwilling to speak aloud in public things her parents hadn't even wanted her to hear.

"You know," she mumbled, "the credit card and stuff. The house. You know."

Again her parents looked at each other, dismayed.

"You weren't supposed to know about that," her mother said, her voice faint. Marron rolled her eyes.

"I'm not dumb, mom," she said softly.

She would have gone on, but she was beginning to be really afraid that her parents were displeased, and she couldn't figure out why. When Krillin leaned forward and pulled her into a tight hug it was almost a relief, despite the automatic embarrassment. She squirmed a little, but made herself stay in her father's arms, for his sake. Eighteen met her eyes over Krillin's shoulder and gave her a small, rare smile, the one that meant, I'm proud of you. Marron was relieved to see she hadn't been wrong about that one.