Zarbon frowned at the horrible, loud ringing of his alarm clock. He opened his eyes, and glared at it. Hadn't he switched it off? He groaned, and got out of bed. He smacked the small clock, shutting it up.
"Stupid thing." he mumbled, and looked at the time. One o' clock.
Zarbon rubbed his eyes, and headed for the shower.
Meanwhile, Maria was still fast asleep. She didn't need to get up so early, and had no intention of doing so. Her face was peaceful for a while, but then she frowned a little. She'd done that a couple of times that night. And all because of that dream, which ever since last night's date had come and gone during her sleep.
Maria became tense. The dream wasn't just coming and going now. It was playing all the way through. She began to breath heavily out of a mixture of fear and horror.
"Please..." she whispered in her sleep. But although it sounded like a whisper, in her dream she had screamed the words. "Please don't... don't, please! Stop it!"
In his bedroom, Zarbon was sitting down. He had already gotten dressed. He watched himself in the mirror as he plaited his long green hair. He glanced at the clock. Another fifty minutes until that meeting, but they'd probably have to leave at about half one. Twenty minutes, then. Zarbon decided he'd better make a move; he'd miss breakfast soon. He got up, and left his room.
The dining room was a little beyond Maria's bedroom. Zarbon almost walked past her room without even seeming to notice, when he heard something. He stopped dead outside, and listened. Was she talking in her sleep? Or was someone in there with her? As soon as that possibility came to mind, Zarbon instantly thought of Frieza. Hadn't she said he was cute only yesterday? Zarbon growled. That bitch! Well, there was no way she was using her charms on Frieza! He forced the door open.
"Maria, you -" Zarbon almost choked when he saw nobody but a sleeping Maria. He was speechless for a while, silenced by his embarrassment. What had he been thinking? As if Frieza would even consider going with someone like her! A street rat!
"No..." Maria gasped. "You bastards!"
"Hm?" Zarbon looked at her. He turned his head to look at the open door. He'd better shut it. He didn't want to be seen in Maria's room. Zarbon closed the door, and went over to Maria. He listened in confusion and curiosity at what she was saying.
"How... how could you do that?!" Maria whispered. "How could you do that to her? Don't you care? Don't you care about her? Don't you care about me?"
"What...?" Zarbon mumbled. Maria's somewhat disgusted and angered expression turned to fear. "What are you doing? Stay away from me!" she screamed. "STAY AWAY!!"
"Whoa!!" Zarbon gasped, and jumped back as Maria suddenly leapt up. Shocked, Zarbon breathed heavily and looked at Maria. She was also breathing heavily. She sat, her head bowed. Looking down at the quilt. She swallowed, and sighed.
"Just a dream..." she mumbled. Maria chuckled. "Just a stupid dream." she shook her head. "Get a grip, girl! It happened years ago. Don't be scared now." she lectured herself. She knew what had brought that dream on - Zarbon's question about her past yesterday. It had made her think about it for a while. That must've been why she'd had that dream. She'd been thinking about... "it".
"Nightmares?" Zarbon asked.
"WHA?!" Maria screamed, not realising there had been anyone there. She stared at him, wide - eyed. "What're you doing in my bedroom?!"
"To tell the truth, I thought you were with someone." Zarbon admitted. He looked at her. "And someone like you has no right to be with anyone on this ship - except a slave."
"Thanks." Maria said sarcastically. She smirked at him.
"But I can't quite figure you out. When I met you, you seemed to have a pretty high opinion of yourself. And now you seem to be calling yourself a slave."
Zarbon frowned at her.
"Don't flatter yourself! Like I told you, I'm way out of your league!"
"If you think that much of yourself, it's no wonder you're still single. With a personality like yours, you're gonna need more than good looks to meet anyone and make it last." Maria warned him.
"Well, if you really think I'm that awful I won't have to worry about getting stuck with you." Zarbon answered back.
"Let me just get this straight," Maria began. "My men don't choose me, I choose my men. Got it?"
"Choose me if you like, but when you get to the checkout somebody will tell you that you can't afford me." Zarbon smirked nastily as he responded.
"I'll have to save up then, won't I?" Maria replied.
"Anyway..." Zarbon was interested in that dream of hers. He was under the impression that it had something to do with her past. So he needed to know what had happened in it.
"What was that dream you had just now?"
"Oh, it's... nothing." Maria mumbled.
"Tell me." Zarbon ordered.
"There's nothing to tell!" Maria protested. "Honest!" she looked at him. "Would I lie to you?"
"Obviously, yes." Zarbon replied.
Maria shrugged.
"Yeah, probably." she admitted.
"Maria, tell me about this dream." Zarbon, becoming inpatient, growled.
"You could at least sound concerned if you want to know." Maria told him. Zarbon rolled his eyes.
"Fine." he approached her bed, and sat down next to her. "Maria, please, please, please tell me about your scary dream because I'm ever so concerned."
"Now you're just taking the mick!" Maria growled.
".... Yeah..." Zarbon replied. Maria sighed.
"Forget it. I'm telling you nothing until you learn to act your age."
"You're the one who needs to grow up! What kind of a cry-baby has nightmares that make them scream?!" Zarbon argued.
"You bastard!" Maria snapped. "You don't even try to understand!"
There was a knock at the door. Too angry to even think to ask who it was, Maria just shouted:
"Enter!"
"By any chance, have you seen Za -" Frieza stopped when he saw the two of them sitting next to each other on the bed. Maria was under the covers, while Zarbon on top of them. Frieza smirked.
"Well... it looks like you have seen him. Quite a lot of him."
"Lord Frieza!!" Zarbon leapt up onto his feet. His face was red. "This - this isn't what you think!!"
"How do you know that?" Frieza asked. "What do you think I think?" he smirked. It was so much fun to torture Zarbon like this. Zarbon, however, wasn't laughing. He'd never felt so embarrassed. And having to answer Frieza's question was even more embarrassing.
"Well... I thought you - I mean we - I mean... I thought you thought we were - I mean, er..."
"We weren't having sex." Maria said calmly. Zarbon felt like fainting. She didn't even hold back! Didn't that women ever get embarrassed?!
"What exactly were you doing?" Frieza asked.
This embarrassed Zarbon, too. What was he going to say?
"No, Lord Frieza, we weren't having sex. I just came in here because I thought you and her might be." yeah, sure. Like he'd say that!
"Well?" Frieza looked at Zarbon. Zarbon swallowed, and began to answer.
"Er... well... I heard voices coming from her room and wondered what was going on. I thought it best to come in case -"
"Somebody was taking her away from you?" Frieza smirked.
"Wha - Frieza!" Maria reddened, insulted and slightly embarrassed by this remark.
"It wasn't Maria I was angry about..." Zarbon thought to himself.
"Hm hm." Frieza chuckled. "Anyway, I don't have time for this. If anything was going on, I'm sure you two would be more careful with your timing, right?" in other words, he didn't care what they were doing as long as they didn't let him know. Frieza looked at Zarbon. "Come on. I need you and Dodoria to come to that meeting with me. You'll have to miss breakfast." he said, and shifted his eyes to indicate Maria. "Well, the kind that doesn't move, anyway."
"Frieza!!" both Maria and Zarbon reddened at the comment. Frieza laughed, and left the room.
"I never thought he could say such embarrassing things!" Maria exclaimed when the changeling had gone. She looked at Zarbon. "Is he like that all the time?"
"It's in his personality to make snide jokes," Zarbon told her. "But, he doesn't usually get the chance to."
"Not often that he finds his right-hand-man in bed with the slaves' boss, then?" Maria smirked.
"Don't you start." Zarbon mumbled. "Oh, that's right!" he looked at her. "There's something I need to talk to you about. Remind me when I get back, alright?"
"Okay. What?" Maria asked.
"I'll tell you later." Zarbon said, and exited the room.
Maria watched him leave, and thought about what Frieza had been saying.
"Hmm..." she smirked. "Me and Zarbon... not a bad idea." she lay back down with her hands behind her head, liking the thought.
*later*
Maria was sitting in the dining room, a little bored. There was nowhere to go on this ship. She'd already sold everything she could to those that were interested. Not many of them were, and the ones that were had only bought a few things. She still had a lot of stock.
"Maria," Maria turned her head when she heard someone saying her name. Zarbon was standing in the doorway.
"How was the meeting? Has Frieza bought this planet?" Maria asked.
"Yes. The meeting went well." Zarbon nodded. "The king of this planet and his people will be leaving soon." he shook his head. "But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh yeah. You said you wanted a word this morning." Maria remembered. Zarbon approached the table, and sat down opposite her.
"That's right." he said. "Lord Frieza has noticed that you're being rather friendly with the slaves -"
"Hey, they're not a bad lot, y'know. Some of them are a right laugh. You should try talking to them." Maria interrupted. "They're alright."
"Maybe," Zarbon didn't appreciate being cut off like that. "But they're still slaves. Either stop giving them breaks and money worth more than they are, or you're going to be fired."
"What?!" Maria's jaw dropped.
"You heard me." Zarbon replied firmly.
"But why?!" Maria demanded.
"Lord Frieza doesn't appreciate you treating them like this, and nor do I. But it's his ship so you follow his rules. Understand?" Zarbon said.
Maria folded her arms and gave an annoyed sigh.
"Fine." she mumbled.
"Good." Zarbon smiled.
"But I don't see what's wrong with them." Maria admitted.
"They're lower than us - and the saiyans especially don't deserve what you're giving them." Zarbon told her. Maria looked at him.
"What's the big problem with the saiyans? Some of the guys are kinda cute - and they have good personalities."
"You may think that but I don't - and Frieza certainly doesn't." Zarbon answered back.
Maria looked at him.
"Is there something going on with Frieza and the saiyans?" she asked.
"Well... I'm sure you've heard of Planet Vegeta, right?" Zarbon began.
"Heard of it; been to it; banned from it." Maria replied proudly. Zarbon stared at her in disbelief.
"Banned?!" he repeated.
"Yep." Maria nodded. "One of those saiyans accused me of stealing food. Of course, I pleaded not guilty, but they didn't believe me."
"You mean you were wrongly accused?" Zarbon gasped.
"No..." Maria replied. "I pleaded not guilty, but I was still guilty."
"Maria..." Zarbon sighed.
He shook his head.
"Anyway, you've heard of King Vegeta, right?"
"'Course." Maria replied.
"Well... let's just say that right now Frieza and King Vegeta aren't the best of friends..." Zarbon said.
"What's going on?" Maria asked.
"I can't tell you that. It's strictly between Frieza, King Vegeta and myself." Zarbon told her. "Until Lord Frieza says otherwise."
"Okay. I guess that's fair enough." Maria agreed.
Zarbon began to wonder about that dream again. If her past was THAT disturbing, he and Frieza needed to know about it. She could be dangerous. Perhaps she was on the run from someone? Was that why she was a traveller? Well... she wouldn't tell him here. Maybe if they were more alone? Where nobody could hear? Zarbon swallowed. He'd have to ask her to come outside with him... and she'd definitely take it the wrong way. Still... it was his duty to find out what she was hiding.
"Maria..." he began, and stood up. Maria looked at him.
"What?" she asked.
"... Would you... er... I mean...." Zarbon looked at the ground. Man, this was embarrassing! "Um... would you come outside with me later? For a while?"
Maria looked at Zarbon in surprise. She smiled.
"Zarbon...? I never thought you'd ever ask me that."
"Yeah... well..." Zarbon felt like hanging himself. She'd taken it the wrong way! He knew she'd do that!
"Of course." Maria replied, chuffed that Zarbon had asked her out. He didn't even seem to like her. She wondered what had brought this on. Maybe it was what had happened this morning...? Perhaps that had made him think? Anyway, it didn't matter now.
"What time?"
"Er..." what time was best? Maybe if he let her decide, she'd pick her favourite time. Then she could tell him everything.
"You decide." he said.
"Um... okay..." Maria thought for a moment. "How about... twelve?
That's about seven on our clock, right?"
"Alright. I'll pick you up later." Zarbon agreed.
"Cool." Maria smiled.
*at twelve*
Zarbon picked Maria up, and led her outside the ship. They both looked around. Zarbon remembered where he'd seen a clearing on the way to that meeting this morning. He looked at her.
"You can fly, right?"
"Um... a little. I prefer to go on my feet." Maria admitted. "But I can fly if I need to."
"Good. Follow me." Zarbon ordered. He took off, flying quickly. Maria followed at a slower pace. She growled. Zarbon wasn't slowing down for her. He really needed to work on his manners!
They ended up a little away from the ship. Zarbon landed, and stood there as he waited for Maria. She came along half a minute later. Maria frowned at him.
"You flew too fast!" she scolded.
"You should learn to fly faster, then." Zarbon answered back. Maria shook her head. He was impossible!
She looked around where they had landed. It was on a dry, sandy cliff. There wasn't any grass around here. But then again, this planet didn't have much grass. It was mostly just stone. Maria looked over the cliff edge. They were pretty high up. What was that below? A river? Yes. It was late. The sky was dark and the planet's two moon had already appeared. They made the river glow. It looked kinda cool. She looked ahead of them. It was nothing but desert. Sandy ground and mountains in the distance. The river went on for as long as she could see. Zarbon sat down, his legs hanging over the cliff edge. Maria did the same.
"I can't believe you wanted me to come here with you." she admitted, and looked at him. "What made you do it?"
"Well..." what was Zarbon meant to say? If he gave her the real reason there was no way she'd tell him anything. Oh man... he'd have to...
"I er..." Zarbon felt his face burn up. The things he did for work! "I... thought it would be nice for just the two of us to come here..."
Maria looked at him, and smiled.
"Zarbon... I never thought you liked me that much. This is really surprising."
"Yeah..." Zarbon mumbled. He looked down at the river that flowed below them. How was he gonna start talking to her? What would he say? Maybe if he just acted interested in her she'd talk...
"What's your birthday?" he asked.
"You really wanna know?" Maria looked at him. Zarbon nodded.
"May 10th." Maria told him. "I'm a Taurus."
"Do you have any family?" maybe that would make her say something.
".... No." Maria replied, looking downwards. She watched the river flow as a few memories tried to enter her mind. She wouldn't let them.
"Not even a brother or a sister?" Zarbon asked. Maria shook her head.
"What about your parents?"
"They... aren't around anymore." Maria mumbled.
"What happened?" Zarbon urged her to tell him. Maria looked at him.
"Do you really want to know? Or are you just obeying Frieza's orders?" she demanded.
"Well..." Zarbon was about to think that he was just obeying orders, when a new possibility entered his mind. Was he actually interested? He felt like he wanted to know what had happened to her. Not just because of his orders.... he actually wanted to know.
Zarbon was choked. He'd never given a damn about anyone but himself. Well... apart from Frieza. But this girl was nothing like he or Frieza. She was a street rat. A thief. A peasant. So... why was he interested in her?
Zarbon decided to think of this later, though. This was his chance to get a background check on her. He had to take it. Zarbon nodded.
".... Yes. I really want to know what happened." he told her. Maria became uneasy. She looked down again, not being able to look him in the eye as she spoke. She'd never told this to anyone before. No other guy had heard this story, and neither had her best girlfriends. Of course, there hadn't been many. She'd never stayed on a planet long enough to become good friends with someone. Maria didn't even know why she was telling Zarbon this. There had been loads of guys had she'd know just as long as she'd know Zarbon. Some of them, longer. But she hadn't even considered telling them. Maybe it was because... Zarbon was so different to them. They'd just been interested in taking her out. Zarbon, he'd never wanted her for that one purpose. He'd never even wanted her. It may have seemed weird, but that fact made Maria think that she could trust him. She didn't know why. Maybe it wasn't just that fact alone...
"Well?" Zarbon became impatient.
Maria swallowed, and began to tell him everything she remembered.
"Okay, you know I was born on Zacrimania, right?"
"I know." Zarbon replied. Maria nodded.
"Well.. I never knew my father. He died before I was born. But... I had a stepfather. My mother remarried when I was a baby." she smiled. "I always called my stepfather "dad". He was like a dad to me. He was nice to my mother and myself. So nice... he always put us first. And he always had the answers. He got us through any trouble that came to us. He was so... so good to us." her throat tightened as memories began to come back - the bad memories. "But then... he changed..."
"Changed?" Zarbon looked at her. Maria nodded.
"He started going out a lot and coming back early in the morning. I was just a kid at the time so most night I never saw him. My mother started to get angry... They... they began to row." she shook her head. "Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep or if he'd come home when I'd only just gone to bed... I heard them shouting. Swearing at each other." a tear rolled down Maria's cheek. "He said... he'd kill her if she didn't shut up. I remember hearing him hit her. And I saw her black eye in the morning. She said she'd just fallen over. But I'd.... I'd heard her crying..."
"She put up with it?" Zarbon seemed amazed that Maria's mother hadn't left her husband.
"For a while... she thought he'd get better. She thought it'd go back to the way it was before. And... she knew how much I'd loved him. We'd both loved him."
More tears escaped Maria's eyes. She couldn't fight them. If she tried, she wouldn't be able to continue talking.
"... He changed back. He started to love us again. So my mother stayed with him. But he said he didn't want to stay on Zacrimania. He said it just brought bad memories. We moved to another planet."
"That's why you don't know much about Zacrimania. You were a child when you moved?" Zarbon asked.
"I must've been about four or five." Maria told him. "Anyway... he was fine until I was about seventeen. Then... he started to get angry all over again. Mother divorced him eventually. She'd had enough. She... didn't want to go though the beatings again... she thought I might be old enough to remember it that time," Maria shook her head. "But I was old enough the first time. I've always remembered." she said. "But when she divorced him, she didn't have a good job. She hadn't done well at school. She'd tried, but failed. So... we needed more money. My father had brought most of the money home. My mother was just a waitress. He'd owned a few restaurants."
"She got married again?" Zarbon assumed. He was also amazed at how interested he was. Why? Why was he so interested in her?
"No," Maria shook her head. "I was still at school, but I quit to get a job."
"Couldn't you just stay at school and get a part time job?" Zarbon shrugged.
"Nobody would employ me part time. On that planet - Abec - there were a lot of jobs but too few people. You couldn't just work part time. You had to be available at all hours if you wanted a good job."
She paused. Those memories were coming closer. She couldn't stand them. Those horrible memories… Couldn't she stop there?
"What happened next?" Zarbon asked.
"..... Bad things." Maria replied, trying to drive the memories away. If she told him, she'd see it again. "Please..." she whispered. "Must you know...?"
"Yes." Zarbon replied. He noticed how stressed she looked. "Take your time, then."
"....... I met someone at my new job..." Maria began. "Tock - my first boyfriend. He was... he was really nice. He even helped my mother around the house. She loved him. She was really happy that I'd met someone so nice. He was mature, responsible. Sophisticated. I was so pleased."
"So? What's bad?" Zarbon urged.
".... We were fine. I was going out with him for about a month. Then... some close friends of my mother's had said he'd seen Tock hanging out with my stepfather. My mother spoke to me about it, and I talked to Tock. He that he'd been nowhere near my father.... I believed him..." Maria shook her head. "I was so stupid to believe him. I saw it with my own eyes eventually. I... heard my father telling him things. He told Tock that... I would cheat on him. I would never do that! And he said that my mother had been having an affair when they were married! He told Tock that I was seeing someone else..."
"Why would he do that?" Zarbon thought aloud.
Maria shook her head.
"He was angry when mother told him she wanted a divorce. I suppose it was revenge." she pulled her knees in, and rested her head on them. Closer... she'd have to tell him soon. And then she'd see it.
"He told Tock so many lies. Bad things. He got Tock on his side, and then..." she began to cry. "They killed her! They killed my mother!" her sobs became louder as the memory came.
"Maria?!" Zarbon gasped, seeing the state she was in.
"I was there! They broke through the kitchen window downstairs, and went upstairs to our bedrooms. My mother and I were asleep. Dad went into her room while Tock came into mine." they dragged us out of bed. Pushed us downstairs... onto the living room floor." her breathing and words were fast as she saw them standing over her. "Tock went into the kitchen. My mother tried to stand up, but dad knocked her back down. She shouted at him, he slapped her." tears were racing out of her eyes, a mixture of the sadness that she'd lost her mother, and the horror of her murder.
"Tock came back with tape and a knife. They tied mom's hands and feet up. She tried to escape, but dad kept beating her." Maria said. "Then, they tried to do the same to me. I fought them, but they got me. They tied me up. Tock punched me. They didn't gag us because... dad said he wanted to hear us scream."
"Scream at what? What did they do?" Zarbon couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"They started on my mother first. Dad beat her. Cut her with the knife. She screamed real loud, so he told her to shut up and hit her. And when she tried being silent to make him stop, he just told her to scream and hit her for being quiet. Tock forced me to watch. He held my face so that I could see her. I began shouting at dad, then he told Tock to help him. Tock... refused. He said he'd just stay and hold me in place, but dad threatened him with the knife." her firsts clenched. She hated them! Hated them!
"Tock started to beat her too. I was screaming at them. Begging them to stop. I asked Tock if he... I said "don't you love me?" and... he just said that he loved me as much as I loved "the other guy". He wouldn't believe that there was no - one else. Then, dad started to rape mom. She screamed, and I started swearing at him. Telling him to stop. She was already bleeding from where he'd cut her. Tock just stood there. Dad asked if he wanted to rape her too. Tock didn't want to, so dad just started beating her again. He... he picked up the knife... and killed her!"
Maria stopped talking. She just sat and cried.
"..... Maria... that's horrible..." Zarbon mumbled. Maria nodded.
"What about you?" Zarbon asked. "You escaped?"
"... Dad laughed when mom was dead. He was pleased, and he was amused when he saw me crying. He loved every second of our pain. Our screams. Then... they started to come towards me. I told them to get away. Swore at them for killing her, swore at them to try to get them to leave me alone. It just made them angrier. Dad raped me, too."
"His stepdaughter?!" Zarbon was disgusted. "He's sick!!"
"He asked Tock if he wanted to rape me. Tock didn't want to. Dad started mocking him and calling him weak because he wouldn't even rape his girlfriend. Tock punched me a couple of times. Then dad picked up the knife. He didn't beat me half as much as he'd beaten my mother. He didn't hate me that much. He was going to kill me. But then Tock asked why he'd bother. He said that I'd seen enough. He said that seeing my mother being killed was enough punishment. I... I know he was acting like he didn't think I was worth the trouble, but think he was just trying to save my life. He... still cared a little, I think. So... dad agreed. He said that I had to leave the planet immediately. And that if he ever saw me again... he'd kill me." Maria cried. So much pain. She couldn't stand seeing that scene again. Why... why did Zarbon have to know?
Zarbon watched her cry. That was so horrible what had happened to her.v He wanted to do something anything to stop her crying. Why? Why did he want her to stop crying? Zarbon frowned in confusion. What...?
He'd decide later. Perhaps he could figure it out then. Zarbon clenched his fist, and released it. He put his hand on her shoulder. Maria was surprised at this. She raised her head to look at him. Zarbon saw tears still coming from her eyes. But, they seemed to be slowing down. Perhaps she was comforted by his gesture. Maria stared into his eyes. He gazed back into hers. They were glistening with the tears that had washed them. Maria sniffed. What was Zarbon doing? Was he trying to say something?
Zarbon pulled his legs up, onto the cliff. He sat there, looking at her. What did he want to do? All he felt like doing was getting rid of her tears. Did he honestly want that? He took his hand off her shoulder, and placed it on her cheek. Maria looked at it. Why...? Why was he doing this? She gazed up at him, and blinked away a few tears. She looked at his handsome face. He was just staring at her, almost expressionless. But... he had an expression. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was something she'd never really seen before. And... she felt something she'd never felt before. Who... was he?
"Zarbon...?" she whispered.
Zarbon brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes, and only looked into them for a few overwhelming seconds before he felt himself lean forwards. His lips touched hers before he even knew what was happening. His emotions grew strong. So strong they just took over. He wrapped his arms around her. She did the same. Blinded by their feelings, neither of them even thought about what they were doing. They only half knew. And they didn't at all care.
Zarbon fell on top of her. He didn't even seem to notice. He just continued kissing her, taking away her pain and turning it into something much greater. Maria ran her fingers through his soft hair. She brushed a few strands away from his eyes like he had done to her. She opened her eyes for a few seconds just as he did. They gazed into each other's souls, and drowned in their emotions again - each other's emotions.
Zarbon felt his hand move up her thigh. He knew where this was going. He didn't even know if he truly wanted it. He just let himself go. Let his emotions do the rest. Not caring where it would lead.
Maria felt his hand. She didn't care either. She wanted him. She'd never felt this way before. Never. He was the first to bring out this emotion. She couldn't let this moment pass without letting this emotion have it. So she let him.
I'm here,
So please explain,
Why you're openin' up a healin' wound again.
I'm a little more careful,
Perhaps it shows,
But if I lose the highs, at least I'm spared the lows.
Now I tremble in your arms,
What could be the harm,
To feel my spirit calm,
So I say,
~~~~
Zarbon stared up at the sky. The two moons pleaded for him to stay. The stars begged him. And his feeling wanted to give into the sky's demands. But he knew he couldn't. They both knew they'd have to go back some time, before Frieza came looking for them himself. Maria kissed him softly. Why did they have to go? She felt like staying. It felt so much like the world was frozen. Like this moment would never pass. But they both knew it would. It didn't feel like it would, but it would. Maria closed her eyes. Just a few more minutes - or even a few more seconds, anything! She didn't mind as long as she could stay safe in his arms for a little longer. Zarbon pulled her closer to him. Maria smiled, and whispered:
"Who are you?"
"Whoever you want me to be." Zarbon replied.
"My hero.... Zarbon..." Maria said softly. Zarbon didn't reply. He just lay there for a few minutes more, and then he sighed.
".... Is it close to morning?" he asked.
"I don't know..." Maria told him. "Frieza will be wondering where we are, right?"
"Yeah..."
"We'd better head back, right?" Maria asked.
"Sorry..." Zarbon said. Maria nodded.
"..... Okay. Then we'd better go..."
"We have to..." Zarbon told her. He shifted. Maria sat up. She kissed him, and picked up her clothes.
I think I'd better leave right now,
Before I fall any deeper,
I think I'd better leave right now,
Feelin' weaker and weaker,
Somebody better show me how,
Before I fall any deeper,
I think I'd better leave right now.
They got dressed quickly, and kissed again. Zarbon almost let his emotions take over again, when he forced himself to stop.
"We need... we need to go." he said.
"I know..." Maria replied. They got up, and began to re - plait their hair as they headed back for the ship.