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PART 21 Blue Melody


[I'm sorry, Trunks. I'm so sorry.] Marron said in her mind as she
drove back home. She reached the Kame House and was glad that she
made it. She rushed up to her room, locked the door and cried on her
bed.
"Marron! Is that you?" Juuhachigou called out from the kitchen
when she heard the door slam shut. She went upstairs to her daughter's
room when there was no response to her call. She put her ear to
the door and heard a crying sound.
"Marron?" she asked as she knocked on the door.
"Please leave me alone, mother." Marron replied through her tears.
Juuhachigou could hear the sadness in Marron's voice and suspected
that something unpleasant had happened.
"What happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm not in the mood to talk right now."
"May I come in?"
Marron didn't reply. She didn't want to let her mother in because
she felt that she should be alone. But she couldn't say 'no' either
because it would be rude and disrespectful. She kept quiet and
hoped that her mother would realize that all she wanted was time
alone by herself. But she didn't.
"What happened on your date?" Juuhachigou asked.
"Nothing serious." Marron lied.
"I don't think so, Marron. Please open up."
"I need to be by myself, Mama."
Juuhachigou hesitated for a moment. Then she knew that Marron
would not open the door. She stepped away from the door and went
on her way downstairs.
"You can come downstairs when you are ready, Marron." Juuhachigou
said before she left. Marron was silent for a while. She didn't
continue crying or anything. Then she buried her face in the pillows
again.
"I don't think I can ever leave my room, Mama. There's nothing
to go out for..." Marron said to herself.


(Trunks) I can't believe myself. I AM stupid. I DO do stupid things.
I let her slip out of my hands again. Kami knows for how long she'll
be gone. A few days or for all eternity. Why didn't I go after her?
I had the power to stop her from running away but I didn't. Maybe
we aren't meant to be after all. She's right. But I can't give up
now. I just can't. I know that she wants to be with me as much as
I want to be with her. I just don't know how...


Marron woke up to the smell of pancakes.
"That's strange." Marron said to herself. "We haven't had those
things in such a long time."
She got up from her bed and decided to go downstairs to investigate.
She put on some fresh clothes, put on her slippers and went to the
bathroom. When she got out, she went downstairs.
"Oh, Marron. You finally decided to come down." Juuhachigou said.
"I feel better now, mother." Marron replied. "Why are we having
pancakes?"
"I know how much you like them and I made some since your night
wasn't exactly that good."
"I-I can explain about that..."
"No need. Just wait a few more minutes, all right?"
"Sure."
Marron went to the living room and found Master Roshi and Oolong
pouting.
"Dang it! Those stupid news people! Always ruinin' everything!"
Master Roshi complained.
"What's wrong with you two?" Marron asked.
"Oh, g'morning, Marron." Master Roshi said.
"Good morning." Marron replied with a bow.
"They interrupted our show for some news about an accident somewhere
in Satan City." Oolong explained.
"That's too bad." Marron said.
"Well, might as well go channel surfin' again." Master Roshi said,
lifting the remote and looking through the channels. Marron was
about to go into the kitchen to see if her mother needed any help
until she heard a familiar tune.
"Wait!" Marron said. Master Roshi stopped changing channels and
looked back at Marron.
"What is it, Marron?" he asked.
"Go back! Go back!" Marron said. Master Roshi did as he was told.
"Stop right there!" he stopped. It was showing a concert. There
was a man on stage, playing the piano. He was playing a tune that
Marron recognized right away.
"It's Blue."
The pianist stopped playing and there was a commercial break.
Marron sat down on the couch and hoped that the show would continue
and she might perhaps get a chance to carefully examine the young
man on stage. The show started and an Asian woman was shown on the
screen.
"Hello. We are back to the concert in Beijing, China." the woman
said. "We are at the concert in Pink Pearl Hall with the famous
pianist, Senritsu Aoi. Thank you very much for tuning in to this
channel." She bowed and the pianist prepared to play a piece. The
camera made a close up and it was, in fact, Aoi Blue Senritsu. The
love that Marron left.

After the show, the woman came back on.
"Thank you very much for tuning in with us. Mr. Senritsu will be
performing at Tokyo, Japan next week. We will be there with
him once again when he performs. It has been a wonderful time..."
[Aoi is coming to Japan.] Marron thought to herself happily as
her heart leapt at the news. [And I'll be there when he comes.]


"Marron's going to Tokyo." Bra told her brother. Trunks stared
at her when she told him of the news.
"Why?" he asked, trying not to sound too curious.
"She's going to surprise a certain somebody." Bra replied, sitting
down on a chair. Trunks removed his glasses.
"What...certain somebody?" Trunks asked.
"A certain lover boy." Bra retorted. Trunks wanted to get up from
his seat and shout 'WHAT IN THE HECK?!?!?!'. But he didn't.
"Oh really?" he simply said.
"Yep."
"So how come you're telling ME?"
"Because Marron's not gonna tell you."
"And why not?"
"..."
"Why not?"
"... None o'your business."
"Then how come you told me in the first place?!"
"Just wanted ta keep ya in suspense."
"Feh. Who cares?"
"And make you jealous."
Trunks was speechless for a while.
"Jealous?! Me? Jealous? Why in the HECK would you think I'd be
jealous?!" Trunks asked.
"'Cause you love Marron, that's why." Bra said.
"I am NOT in love with her!"
"Suit yourself."
Trunks mumbled something to himself and continued on with his work.
Bra stared at him, waiting for him to say something.
"What do you want?" Trunks asked.
"Nuthin'." Bra replied.
"Can you please get out of my office?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Bra sighed. "Because I want you to confess to me that you're madly
in love with Marron-chan and you're jealous that she likes someone
else."
"I will not because that is not true."
"Oh please. You know you are."
"And even if I was, why would I tell YOU?"
"'Cause."
"'Cause what?"
"Oh, I dunno...so maybe I'd blab it to her, she'll fall in love with
you and you'll live happily ever after."
"And what makes you think that I want that?"
"The fact that you proposed to her the other night."
"Wha-- How did you...?"
"You DID!"
"No way!"
"Oh c'mon. You KNOW you did!"
"No, I did NOT!"
"All right. She rejected you anyways so why care?"
"She... I did not propose to her, you hear?!"
"Then why did this box for a certain engagement ring pop out right
out of your laundry?" Bra took out a red ring box and showed it to
Trunks.
"And what makes you think that's an engagement ring box?"
"Oh...just a little something I picked up from reading a little
this and that." Bra began to read something written inside the
box. "'To Marron Love, Trunks'."
Trunks' face turned as red as the box he snatched away from his
sister's hand.
"Then-then wh-what makes you think it was an-an engagement ring?"
"Oh...just say that I found a little piece of veeeery important
information written on a certain piece of paper in the certain little
engagement ring box..." Bra said, taking out a piece of paper.
"'How I'll propose to Marron'." Bra read out loud from the paper.
"Number one: Get..."
Before Bra could say anything else, Trunks had taken the paper
from her and tucked it and the box into his pocket.
"They're all lies, Bra! Someone's out there to ruin my life, 'kay?
Please just GET OUT!"
"Not unless I'm convinced."
"ABOUT WHAT?!?!?!"
"You know EXACTLY what I mean, Trunks Briefs. You wanted to propose
to Marron and you know it!"
"Is it really any of your business?!"
Bra's eyes were starting to get teary as she stood up. "Yes, Trunks!
It IS my business! Marron's my best friend and I know she loves you
a lot and you do, too! Now you're letting her go all the way to
Tokyo to see someone she doesn't belong with! If you don't stop her,
you might never get any more chances with her and you'll realize
sooner or later that it was the biggest mistake in your whole life!"
Trunks blinked at Bra. She was starting to cry. She turned around
so he wouldn't see.
"Gee, Bra, I didn't know you were THAT serious." Trunks said as he
stood up. Bra turned around to face him.
"I AM!" Bra replied.
"Okay, okay! I want to marry Marron!" Trunks spit out. Bra stopped
crying and looked up at him.
"You do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! Yes! I do!"
"I knew it!"
"You...WHAT?!"
"I knew it! I knew it!"
"I just said that to make you stop crying!"
"Oh please. I have GOT to tell mom and dad!" Bra skipped happily
out the door.
"NO!!!!!!!!!"


"TRUNKS!!!" Bulma called out a few minutes later. Trunks let his
head drop down onto his desk.
"Oh man!" he said to himself. Bulma came out and entered his office.
"What's this about you marrying Marron?" Bulma asked. "How come
you didn't tell me? Did she say 'yes'? Of course she did. Why didn't
you tell me? I should know about these things, y'know. When did you
propose? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?!?!"
"Mom! Mom! Calm down, okay? I'm not marrying Marron!"
"Bra told me you proposed the other night! You're getting married
and you're not telling your dear old mother. Trunks, I..."
"I'm not getting married to anyone, mom!"
"Why didn't you tell me? You're going to get married in Las Vegas,
aren't you? You're going all the way to America and..."
"Mom! I'm not going to get married!"
It was quite a while until Bulma understood (about 2 hours). Trunks
explained that he wasn't going to get married at all and Bulma
finally calmed down to listen to him.
"Well, next time you plan to get married, Trunks, please tell me."
Bulma said.
"I will, mom." Trunks replied. Bulma nodded with satisfaction and
left. She felt a bit disappointed to hear that her son wasn't going
to settle down yet. And she recalled how happy she was to hear the
news. Especially since she thought that it was with Marron. She
sighed and continued on her way downstairs.
Trunks watched as his mother left the room. He let out a sigh of
relief and seated himself back on his chair. He replaced his glasses
onto his face and went on to his work and then stopped when Bra
came in.
"What do you want?" Trunks asked. To his surprise, Bra didn't
laugh or anything like that. She crossed her arms and looked at
Trunks.
"What?!" Trunks asked, removing his glasses once again.
"She's leaving on Thursday next week." Bra said, taking out a
piece of paper and putting it down on the desk. "Good luck."
She unfolded her arms and left.


Marron clenched her fists tightly together. She had so many emotions
in her but overall, she was nervous. 'What if he doesn't want to
see me?', 'What if he doesn't recognize me?'. All these kind of
questions were asked in her mind. Every second, a question asked
but she had no answer to any of them.
She looked at her watch. 11:45 PM. His plane was due at 12:35. Fifty
more minutes. She got some coffee to keep her up and waited patiently.
[Please be here...] she thought hopefully as she looked down at the
black liquid in the cup. [Please...]

Trunks watched as Marron sat there, waiting. He felt his pocket to
check if the item was there and let out a sigh of relief when he
was assured that it was safely tucked in his pocket. He kept his hand
there in fear of losing it somehow.

Marron looked at the empty cup in her hand. It was already 12:23.
She stood up to finally throw out the paper cup into the trash can.
She sat down and looked out at the airplanes outside. She hoped that
one of them was his.
It was already 12:41. She didn't see him. Then an announcement came
up about the arrival of his plane and an apology for the delayed
flight. She stood up and searched around for him.
[Where are you?] she wondered as she looked through the crowd of
people just coming off the plane from Beijing, China. She clasped her
hands together and prayed that he was there and would remember her.
Then there he was. He looked like quite a celebrity. With fancy
sunglasses and nice clothes. Marron sat down again. She didn't want
to see him. Actually, she did but she was scared that he would have
forgotten and didn't wish to see her. Of course he had forgotten
about her. Nobody except for family and friends has remembered her
after a long period of not seeing each other. Even one of her best
friends forgot about her so how would this man, a man known throughout
the world, remember her? Someone he had only seen for a week. Marron
stood up and looked for the exit.

Trunks looked at Marron getting up from her seat, falling back
into it and getting up again. This time, she looked very unhappy
and brokenhearted.
[Now's the time, Trunks.] he said to himself in his mind. [Go to
her.]
He started to make his way over to her until...

"Marron!"
Marron looked back to see who called out her name. The man dropped
his bags and put up his sunglasses up to his forehead. He had a
look of surprise and happiness on his face. When she turned around,
he immediately recognized her and Marron could tell that he felt
glad to see her again.
Without thinking, Marron just ran to him and jumped into his arms
and he spun her around. She buried her face in the hollow of his neck
and breathed in the scent of his expensive cologne. He let her down on
the ground and looked into her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her
passionately. It was a result of pure instinct but none of them were as
startled as they should have been. They were just so happy to see each
other again.

Trunks watched as the two embraced each other and kissed. His spirit
was broken and he walked to the nearest counter to get a ticket back
home.


"What do you mean 'Trunks isn't home'?" Marron asked.
#"Yeah. He's been gone for HOURS." Bra replied through the phone.
"Well, do you know what happened to him?"
#"I don't know. One minute, he was busy working on his papers and
the next...well, he was gone."
"Do you have any idea where he might be?"
#"Well...I think. But first, I thought he was playing hooky but when
he didn't come, I didn't think so anymore."
"Do you have any idea why he left?"
#"Well...I did tell him about you going all the way over there to
Tokyo to see a certain somebody."
"So you're saying that he's here?"
#"I guess. I don't know where else he would be. I mean, he DOES
kinda...like you."
"I'll look for him, okay, Bra?"
#"I'd appreciate that very much."
"Okay. Goodbye."
#"Bye."
Marron hung up the phone and turned to Aoi. She kept her eyes to the
phone because she was so worried about Trunks' sudden disappearance.
"I hope we find him..." Marron whispered.


(Meanwhile, back at Capsule Corp.)
"Yes!" Bra said. "Worked like a charm. All there is now is to find
out if Marron's REALLY worried about Trunks.


"So far, we still haven't found him." Marron said.
"Do you think he might be here at all?" Aoi asked.
"I'm so worried about him, Aoi! What if someone killed him or
something?!"
"Don't panic, Marron-chan. If we don't find him today, it's a sure
thing that he wasn't killed. You know better than that."
"Yeah... I guess you have a point there."
"C'mon, Marron. Calm down and don't stress yourself too much."
"It's just that...it's just that..."
"It's just that...?"
"I really care for him. A lot. Not knowing that he's safely at home
is really killing me."
"It's gonna be all right. He's gonna be safely at home in a few
hours or something. He's a really tough guy, isn't he? I'm sure he
can take care of himself. He's not gonna let anybody hurt himself...
especially if he knows that you're worrying about him."
"The problem is that...I'm not sure he does think I'm worrying
about him."
"Oh, c'mon. I know he's thinking about you."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because...well...I'm not sure if we should go into romance when
we have a situation here."
"I'll calm down if you tell me what you think."
"Okay...well...of course he'd be thinking about you when you two
are so meant to be."
"You-you really think that?"
"Didn't you know that?"
"It would never work out, Aoi."
"Come on. You'd expect the both of you to lose all hopes when you've
been through so much?"
"But, Aoi..."
"Marron, trust me. I know. It's so obvious that you're meant to be.
You've told me about him and you."
"But there were so many chances and we blew all of them."
"So what? Couples would give up after that second or first fails
but you... Well, you had so many and you blew them all. That's actually
good. You're still at it and you're not giving up. It proves that
you really wanna be with him."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
Marron paused for a second. Then she looked up at Aoi and smiled
at him.
[I guess you were right, Trunks. I guess you were right.]


Trunks looked at Marron smiling at Aoi. He felt so envious of him.
He got to get her beautiful smile. An announcement came up, telling
of the flights now boarding. He went towards the gate and looked back
at Marron and Aoi.
[I guess you were right, Marron. I guess you were right.]