Disclaimer-DBZ isn't mine

Talking With Maron

"I want to thank you."

Maron turned around to see Juuhachi in front of her. "Oh, it's you. We were never formally introduced. I'm Maron."

"Juuhachi-gou, but Kuririn calls me Juuhachi."

The two girls looked at each other. Silence reigned for a moment.

"He told me about you," Juuhachi said. "That he was going to propose to you, but you walked out on him for some pimp in a sports car."

"We were young and…no, I was young. Too young for him. We weren't right for each other. Still aren't."

"Well." Juuhachi coughed into her fist. "Are you married?"

"No."

"Engaged? Anything?"

"I have a friend. Satan, he calls himself. A widower with a daughter, Bideru, I think."

Juuhachi flinched a little on the word 'daughter'.

"What about you and Kuririn? Are you two married?"

Juuhachi shook her head. (A/N: This is an AU, where the androids showed up only 1 year after Turankusu warned them instead of 3 years. Juuhachi escaped Seru and hid out with Kuririn until she was finally discovered and absorbed. The Seru games were held 3 years after the androids appeared) "Kuririn and I…have a very complicated relationship."

"Oh." Before becoming a doctor, Maron would've pressed, but with her new, worldly perspective, she kept her mouth shut.

"Is my daughter going to be okay?" Juuhachi asked.

"I hope so," Maron said. "Her chances are slim. 1 out of 4."

"2 out of 8, 3 out of 12, 4 out of 16…"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to come up with a statistic that makes her chances seems better."

"Oh, God, please don't. If you start that, I'm going to cry, and…"

Maron stopped talking, and then flung herself at 18 in a hug.

"Even if the baby dies, you'll…you'll stay with Kuririn, won't you? I was such an idiot to give up on something as good as his love…and he's so frail when it comes to matters of the heart…if you leave, he'll die. Please don't leave him."

Juuhachi had been too surprised to pull away from Maron's embrace, and she was even more surprised to find herself returning it.

"I'm not going to leave Kuririn," she said quietly.

"Good." Maron pulled back and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She sniffled, and wiped away the last tear on her cheeks with her index finger. "I have to check on Kuririn, and then make my rounds."

"Kuririn."

Kuririn looked up as the blue-haired beauty came into the lobby. "Hi, Maron."

"I came to check up on you. And also to…apologize."

He was taken aback. "Apologize?"

"Yes. For walking out on you when you wanted to marry me. And when I came back, not being patient enough to wait for you."

"You came back?"

"Yes. You were away fighting."

"God." He put his head in his hands. "That's when I met Juuhachi."

"And here you said you were never popular with girls."

Krillin gave her a weak smile. "You were always popular with boys."

"Yes, well, that's not a very fulfilling way to live."

She sat down next to him and started fiddling with her coat ends.

"Maron?"

"Hmm?" She looked over at him.

"Why did you become a doctor?"

"Because…I had a baby."

"You WHAT?!"

"I had a little baby girl."

"Who's the father?"

Maron shook her head. "I named her Tenko, and she was the most beautiful baby in the world. I vowed that I would take care of her, even if I didn't know her father."

"Where is she?"

"In Orange Star cemetery."

"I'm sorry."

"Her father passed on a gene for mental retardation. She was slow in everything. I thought it was just a phase, and it would pass. But she began to get really sick very quickly, so I took her here. They said that it was too late to do anything. She…she died in my arms."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

"I realized that I hadn't been able to do anything for her. And that if I hadn't been so slutty, she wouldn't have been born in the first place. That's when I woke up. And I decided to become a doctor. I had enough money to get into medical school. I graduated in 3 years. It usually takes 8 years, but they considered me a genius because I aced all of my classes and got to higher levels in a minimum amount of time. I wasn't a genius. It was just determination…determination that I could prevent more babies from dying, and more parents from going through the heartache of losing their children."

"I…I'm glad you did. Become a doctor, I mean. But with someone like this…the end doesn't justify the means, does it?"

"No. It doesn't."

"Paging Dr. Tenko."

"That's me." Maron stood up.

"Tenko?"

"I made it my last name."

She took off.

"What is it?" she asked Hanako at the desk.

"They need you in the OR. It appears that the baby they brought in is losing the fight."

"No…" Maron's face went white.

"Wash up and get your butt in there quick."

Maron was already gone.