A/N: Quick turn around this time! The prompt for this one was "Marron asking Krillin about his parents" and I think this one, while a little bit sad, is also very sweet and shows a tender moment between father and daughter. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!
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WHOSE YOUR DADDY?
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Krillin sunk back into the plush softness of his favourite squishy armchair, smiling as he felt his body finally start to relax. It had been a long day at work. Too many hours on his feet dealing with angry, obnoxious crooks who all seemed to have a personal grudge against him for having the audacity to uphold the law.
But he was home now, and the problems of the day were quickly fading away. The second he had sat down, Marron had crawled up into his lap, snuggling in as close as she possibly could to her daddy. Krillin welcomed her in, wrapping his eager arms around the small girl in a big bear hug, he listened to her chatter away to herself as he half-heartedly watched the TV.
"Daddy?" Marron nuzzled her little head under her father's chin, earning his attention.
"Yes, little bug?"
She reached up and landed a big kiss on the side of Krillin's face "I love you!"
Krillin's heart swelled with love for his daughter. He squeezed her a little bit tighter and said, "I love you too, little bug."
"And I love mummy, and I love Grandpa Roshi and Oolong and Turtle, and Uncle 17," it seemed that Marron wasn't quite done with her declarations. Krillin could only smile as she rattled off the names of almost everyone she knew.
"Daddy?" she asked again, as a thought struck her.
"Yes, little bug?"
"Is Grandpa Roshi your daddy?"
"Uhh," the question caught Krillin off guard, and he stiffened in his chair. What was he supposed to say? He didn't want to lie to Marron, but he wasn't sure what degree of the truth was even appropriate. She was only three; he thought he had at least a few more years up his sleeve until she started with the awkward questions.
"Kind of," he eventually muttered lamely, knowing instantly that it would not placate Marron's insatiable curiosity.
"Is he mummy's daddy?"
"No!" Krillin sputtered and laughed. He could just imagine the look of horror that would grace his lovely wife's face at the mere suggestion. "No," he tried again, "Grandpa Roshi isn't mummy's daddy. He looked after me and Uncle Goku when we were little like you."
"Oh," Marron seemed to accept that answer and paused for a moment while she digested it. "Who is your daddy?"
A strange pang of emotion pulsed through Krillin as he thought about Marron's question. The way she was looking up at him, with her big dark eyes, her little hand holding firmly onto his, it sparked feelings inside him that he had thought were well and truly dead and buried. Who were his parents indeed? And why didn't they want him? They were questions that he simply didn't have answers for.
"I don't know," he kissed the top of Marron's head. "Not everyone has a mummy or a daddy, little bug."
"Why not?"
Krillin was in over his head with this. "Uh," he fumbled, "because sometimes mummy's and daddy's decide that they would like someone else to look after their children, so they give them to people like Grandpa Roshi, who take care of them instead." Krillin patted himself on the back, for what he thought was a pretty good, age appropriate answer to a tricky question. That was until he looked down at Marron to see her little bottom lip quivering, and her eyes sparkling with tears. "What's the matter, princess?" he asked, wiping a droplet off her cheek with his thumb.
"I don't want someone else to look after me," Marron blubbered through sobs as she began to properly cry.
"Oh, little bug," Krillin felt his heart break as he shifted Marron in his lap so he could cradle her right into his chest, the way he used to when she was a baby. "Mummy and daddy will always be here to look after you, I promise." He kissed Marron on the side of her head, and then kissed her again for good measure.
"Really promise?" Marron asked, her face was buried in the crook of Krillin's neck, muffling her voice, but he heard her.
God. If only the toddler had any idea just how much Krillin meant it, when he said he would always be there to protect her. If she knew that he had summoned Shenron the day she had been born and wished that she would never know a single moments' pain in her life. If she knew the heartache he had felt when Shenron had said that such a wish was beyond his power. Everything Krillin did, every single breath that filled his lungs, he did to keep his family safe. He would die, had died, for them, for her. "Really promise," he closed his eyes and held his tiny daughter a little bit tighter. "Mummy and daddy love you so much, for ever and ever."
There was no force in the universe that was strong enough to separate Krillin from his child.
"C'mon, little bug," Krillin stood up, taking Marron with him. "Let's go run you a bath and get ready for bed, shall we?" This conversation was too sad for either of them, and Krillin wanted to be done with it as soon as possible, to shove it far back into the darkest corner of his memory he was able to.
"Can I sleep in your bed tonight, daddy?"
"Of course you can princess." He was glad that she had asked, because that meant Krillin didn't have to come up with an excuse to give to 18 when she asked what Marron was doing in their bed. Truth be told, he had no intention of the small girl sleeping anywhere other than between her parents loving arms tonight. He needed it even more than she did.
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A/N: So a little bit shorter than some of the others, but I really enjoyed this one none the less! If you did too (or if you didn't) I'd love to hear your thoughts. Likes and reviews are always very much appriciated. If you'd like to join in on my writing adventures, or suggest a prompt yourself, you can follow me on tumblr, the link to my blog is at the top of my bio page.
Will be back with the next prompt soon, so until then,
Big Love,
D.B.
