The immaculate white tiled courtyard of the Tenka sparkled in the sun as preparations were made for Earth's remaining warriors to meet with the strange visitors from the future. Dende, the young God and his assistant Mr. Popo, were very gracious in welcoming Trunks and Marron, extending them every courtesy and comfort while they waited for the others to arrive.

Marron picked at the huge plate of food the sweet Mr. Popo had brought her; despite her assurance she wasn't the least bit hungry. Trunks on the other hand, was having a momentary lapse, eating with an abandon she hadn't seen in him before. If it weren't for the lavender hair she saw over the top of the bowl, she would swear it was Goten loudly stuffing his face across from her. She was too upset to eat, anxious about meeting the remaining warriors. Would they have the same reaction to her that Kuririn and Gohan had? And then there was her argument with Trunks, their first, if you wanted to start counting. She didn't want to fight with him, beyond the fact that he was her lover; he was her one ally in a strange and hostile time. But at the same time, she couldn't just lie down and say nothing when he spoke so matter of factly about destroying her mother and uncle. She idly pushed her chopsticks through the food on her plate as she thought, brow furrowed. She glanced up and met Trunks' eyes over the bowl of soup (his third by her last count) he was eating. He paused, putting the bowl down, his expression thoughtful.

"Please don't…I don't want to talk about them again right now," Marron told him firmly. Trunks smirked a bit.

"Think you know me so well already? I was going to suggest you actually eat some of that. Who knows when we'll get another chance. You need to keep your strength up," Trunks said indicating her mostly untouched plate. Marron met his gaze defiantly for a long moment before taking a tiny bite of the food, then setting her chopsticks down when she was done and pushing the plate away.

"More than that," Trunks told her. She folded her arms; she had no idea why she was suddenly feeling so…stubborn. She loved Trunks with all her heart, but she couldn't just let him run roughshod over her. They were supposed to be a team, and take care of each other; she didn't want him to forget in his desire to protect her, that she was quite capable of taking care of herself.

Trunks' eyes gleamed a bit and he slid his chair around next to hers. Marron watched warily as he took her chopsticks and picked up a strip of meat from her plate and held it in front of her mouth. Marron scowled at him fiercely.

"I'm not hungry. And I certainly don't need to be fed like I was a child," she snapped at him. Trunks leaned close to her, the expression on his face pure Vegeta as he smirked at her.

"Then stop acting like one," he told her quietly. She opened her mouth in outrage to start yelling at him and he stuck the piece of meat into her mouth. She ate it so she wouldn't choke on it, still annoyed. "Good girl," he said silkily, and took another piece of food from her plate.

"Don't think you'll get away with that again," she told him darkly. Trunks shrugged and popped the food into his mouth instead, still smirking at her as he ate. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised at his behavior, she'd seen it all too often in his younger self when they had dated…being a manipulative son of a bitch was just in his blood, he couldn't help it.

He closed the distance between them and caught her lips in a kiss, his tongue gently opening her mouth to allow him entrance. She almost forgot all about being irritated with him, or being anxious about her reception, there was only him. His skill was unparalleled in grabbing her attention and keeping it.

She broke away when she felt his hand reaching into her jacket. She glanced around the room, but saw that Mr. Popo and Dende-sama had withdrawn, leaving them alone. Her eyes slid shut as he kissed her again, lips moving on to the soft skin under her jaw, one hand tracing up the opposite side of her neck to cup her face. Putting his thumb on her chin he pried open her mouth and popped another bite of food in.

"Jerk!…" she sputtered in exasperation, but he just smiled smugly at her, leaning back in his chair.

"Never pull the same trick twice," he told her, and started eating some of the fruit on her plate. She glowered at him, but he was just too irresistible to hold a grudge.

"Baka. Deny it all you want to, but you have moments when you are EXACTLY like your father, Trunks," she grumbled affectionately. Trunks just grinned and tossed one of the grapes he'd been eating at her.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Yamucha's not such a bad guy," Kuririn said as he joined them, followed by his two younger, and perpetually hungry, half-Saiyajin charges. With a nod of greeting Gohan sat down with them and started inhaling everything Trunks hadn't, while Kuririn and Goten tried to get their share. Goten was too little to see over the table top, so Marron picked him up and set him down in her lap.

"You can have mine," she told him, sliding her overloaded plate in front of him. Trunks turned a disapproving look her way for not eating more that she met with a silent challenge, eyebrow raised. He turned his attention back to Kuririn, ignoring the reference that his father was Bulma's husband.

"Is everyone here now?" Trunks asked. Kuririn shook his head, trying in vain to snag a gyoza or two before Gohan decimated the plate of them.

"Naw, but they'll be coming soon. Bulma and Yamucha went to Kame House to get everyone. Yajirobe and Karin should be here any time, we told 'em on the way up," Kuririn said.

"Who's all coming?" Marron asked Kuririn. Kuririn stared at Marron sitting there with Goten on her lap, mostly because the boy was for once displaying some table manners so Marron didn't get covered in flying bits of food.

"Bulma, Yamucha, Little Trunks, Karin, Yajirobe, Kame-sennin, Oolong, Puar, and Chaozu," Kuririn told them. Marron's eyes met Trunks' over Goten's head, and she could tell what he was thinking, that the strongest warriors that remained were he, Kuririn, Gohan, and probably Yamucha. Four of them against five Jinzouningen, Marron held his gaze, telling him without words not to count her out of any fight.

"What happened to Gokou, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and Vegeta?" Trunks asked. Kuririn glanced at the two younger boys before answering.

"Gokou died when we fought Cell. Cell was a Jinzouningen creation of Dr.—" Trunks cut him off.

"I know who Cell was," Marron's eyes flicked up from where she had been watching Goten at Trunks' sharp tone. Trunks already had his jaw set as he encouraged Kuririn to continue.

"Then you know Cell had to absorb Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou to become perfect, ne? Demo, during the fight -the Cell Game, he called it- Gohan-kun knocked him a good one and he spit out one of the Jinzouningen," Kuririn told them between bites.

"Juuhachi-gou, right?" Trunks nodded. Kuririn shook his head as he reached for one of the steamed buns Mr. Popo had just brought them, smacking the back of Gohan's hand when he got in the way.

"Nope, it was Juunana-gou. Cell reverted to his imperfect form and was going to blow the whole kit and caboodle when Gokou Shuken Ido'd him to Kaio-sama's. We thought it was over…but he came back," Trunks was leaning forward hanging on every word the smaller man said now. He knew all too well what happened in the past time he had visited, Cell had killed him.

Goten had finished his meal and twisted his head up to look at Marron. He gave her a grin, his face covered in food. She couldn't help but smile back at him, despite the somber conversation going on next to her, as she wiped his face with a napkin. She thought he would get down off her lap now that her usefulness as a booster chair was over, but Goten just leaned back against her, his spiky black hair tickling her chin.

"Anyway, when Cell came back he was in his perfect form again. He blasted Piccolo before any of us knew what was happening. Lucky for us Piccolo was able to re-generate. Gohan-kun was ultimately able to defeat Cell, with Vegeta's help," Kuririn summarized. "We tried to wish Gokou back, but he didn't want to be."

"What did you do with Juunana-gou after he was regurgitated by Cell?" Marron asked quietly, since Goten seemed to be settling down on her for a post lunch nap. Kuririn looked at her strangely a moment.

"We left him there, he was destroyed during the last of the fight between Gohan-kun and Cell, Why?"

"He and Juuhachi-gou were both revived when you wished everyone on earth killed by Cell brought back, right?" she looked thoughtful as she chewed her lip.

"Hai," Kuririn nodded. Trunks saw where she was going with her line of questioning. Essentially, the timeline had remained for the most part the same without his second visit, up to Cell's sicking up Juunana-gou instead of Marron's mother. Trunks had been there when Kuririn wished for the Jinzouningen to be made human again; it was his attraction for Juuhachi-gou that had made him wish her well and free of the self-destruct device.

"What did you use the second wish for Kuririn-san?" she asked him, her gaze steady. Gohan finally looked up from his fourth plate of food, with a grin.

"Kuririn-san didn't make the second wish, Dende-sama wished for all the damage done by the Jinzouningen and Cell to the Earth be repaired," Gohan told them. Marron shifted little Goten in her arms to a slightly more comfortable position, he was heavy for a five year old with those dense Saiyajin bones. Gohan noticed his little brother had fallen asleep on Marron and jumped to his feet, hurrying around the table.

"Sorry, Marron-san. I'll take him," Gohan offered. Marron shook her head with a little smile.

"He's fine. It's kind of funny actually…in my time Goten-kun is older than I am. He'd just die if he could see this," she said with a chuckle. Gohan sat in the chair next to her.

"What am I like in your time?" he asked, and then blushed a bit for sounding so eager. Marron tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. No matter how many times Trunks saw her make that gesture, it always reminded him of Juuhachi-gou. Excusing himself, he got up and left before Gohan could ask him what he was like in his time. He wasn't ready to tell another young man that he had been Trunks' only friend, his Sensei, and had died. Marron's eyes followed him out the door before returning to Gohan. "Did I say something wrong?" Gohan asked.

Marron shook her head. "No, Gohan-san-Gohan-kun…I mean. In my time you are a great scholar. In fact you were my Physics professor in college and my advisor when I got my doctorate," Marron told him with a small smile.

"Really? A professor…His Okaasan must be very pleased," Gohan said sadly. Kuririn nodded in sympathy.

"Chi-Chi-san was killed by the Jinzouningen several years ago," Kuririn answered Marron's questioning look. Marron bowed her head slightly to Gohan.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Gohan-kun," she said quietly, every new tidbit of information about what Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou had done chipping away at her heart. Gohan shook off his sadness like a dog shaking water from its coat and smiled for her.

"What about him? What was I like in his time?" Gohan questioned. Thankfully, Marron was saved from answering by the timely appearance of Mr. Popo, informing them that the others had arrived. She stood and followed Kuririn and Gohan out to the courtyard of the Tenka, still holding little Goten in her arms…maybe they'd be less likely to blast first, ask questions later if she was holding on to Goten.

She joined Trunks where he stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets watching the plane land. He glanced at Marron and Goten and gave a half smile.

"Made a new friend already?" he asked her. She shifted the boy so his head was on her shoulder, but the motion woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Marron owlishly.

"You're pretty," he stated. Marron smiled at him and rumpled his hair before setting him down.

"Sankyuu, Goten-kun," she said. Goten grinned at her and took her hand, standing next to her.

"And you smell good too," Goten informed them all. Kuririn laughed from nearby and Marron blushed a little. Trunks leaned over and gave Goten a mock serious look, his long hair falling over his face. Goten wrapped his little arms around Marron's leg and peeked at him.

"Quit trying to steal my girl," Trunks told him and winked. Marron snorted.

"Better watch it, those Son boys can really turn a girl's head," she told him archly, as she watched the others get off the plane. Her good humor fell away however, when she saw Bulma and Gohan carefully lead Yamucha off the plane. Goten ran over to join Little Trunks.

"What happened?" Trunks murmured. Marron had her hand over her mouth and was vaguely shaking her head. Kuririn shifted from foot to foot, looking from Marron to Trunks before he finally spoke.

"Happened just over three years ago, same time Chi-Chi died. Juu—uh, the Jinzouningen didn't kill him…they just blinded him and left him for dead. We managed to get him in time and revive him with senzu, but it didn't help his eyes," Kuririn told them quietly. Once he was off the plane Yamucha was doing fine moving around with his cane.

"Which one did it to him?" Marron asked in a tight voice, afraid of the answer. She'd noticed the hesitation in Kuririn's voice when he told them …she suspected Juunana-gou, she'd heard of her uncle's sadistic streak. Kuririn didn't answer and Marron closed her eyes tightly. How much worse could things get? She felt the tears start to prick the back of her eyes again. Trunks reached out to take her hand and she yanked hers away, despising suddenly the pitying look in his eyes. She didn't want him to pretend he knew how she felt.

"Marron…" Trunks said concerned. Marron shook her head numbly, her lips trembling. Yamucha was such a sweet man, in her time he'd been like an uncle to her, to see him like this and know it was her mother's fault. It was more than she could bear at the moment.

"No more…I can't hear anymore," she whispered and ran across the courtyard and into the far reaches of Dende's Palace. Trunks wanted to go after her, but he knew she probably needed some time alone. It pained him greatly that this was happening to her, perhaps Chibi had been correct after all. Marron would end up regretting her decision to join him in the Time Capsule. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, scowling his frustration at the situation.

"What about the Dragonballs? Couldn't they have restored his vision, and revived Chi-Chi-san?" Trunks questioned. Kuririn nodded as they moved to join the others.

"Sure, if we had them…unfortunately, we don't," he said with a shrug.

"I'm afraid to ask," Trunks muttered under his breath.

"'Fraid so buddy…Juunana-gou's got 'em."