Frieza smirked at Zarbon. They were sitting opposite each other in what could be called a canteen. Frieza always sat with his left and right-hand-men. The Ginyu Force had their own table, and the rest of the room was reserved for anyone else that might be on the ship. Maria sat chatting with a few "upper slaves". Basically, these were people that actually got paid for working - which wasn't many. The "lower slaves" - who were mostly saiyans, and a few members of other random races, that nobody gave a toss about, took up most of the canteen. They were the first to leave, however, as they weren't given as much food as everybody else.
"Dodoria," Frieza began. "Go and sit with the Ginyu Force."
"Wha?" Dodoria looked at him. "Why?"
"Just do it." Frieza ordered. Dodoria knew better than to disobey orders. He stood up, and took his tray other to Ginyu's table. Zarbon, realising Frieza had left the two of them alone, swallowed. He dreaded what Frieza would say. Frieza hadn't wanted Dodoria around. Was it about Maria? Zarbon and Maria? But how did he find out?
"Zarbon..." Frieza began. Zarbon felt his face burn up. He looked at Frieza innocently, as if he didn't know what the changeling was about to say.
"Yes, Lord Frieza?" he asked.
"You and that girl got back pretty late last night, don't you think?"

Maria looked across the room, and saw them talking. Oh no... Would he find out? No, Zarbon wouldn't tell him about them. But... would he tell Frieza about her past? Maria prayed for him not to.
"Please... don't..."
Frieza looked at Zarbon.
"Why were you out so late?"
"Er..." Zarbon thought quickly. What was he meant to say?! He looked at Frieza.
"Well... I took her to a far away spot. We... were out pretty late because of the long journey there and back...." good... keep going...
"Mm?" Frieza was buying it.
"And.... we... talked... for a while." Zarbon said. He glanced across the room at Maria. He could tell by the look on her face that she didn't want him to say anything about her past. Dammit... what was he meant to do? He couldn't lie to Frieza. No way! But... how did he feel about Maria? Last night... why had he done that? Did he... love her?
"About what?" Frieza interrupted his thoughts.
"We..." Zarbon had to decide fast. "We, er... I tried to get her to tell me about her past..."
"Ah, good." Frieza smiled. "Did she?"
"Er..." Zarbon couldn't think fast enough. His mind played with the two answers. Which one? Quick!!

"No." he said, only half-realising which answer he'd chosen.
"Pity." Frieza sighed. He looked at Zarbon. "She didn't tell you anything at all?"
"She said that her parents died when she was young and she started doing odd jobs on different planets. That's about it, really." Zarbon shrugged. He felt like shit. Lying to Frieza. He was meant to be Frieza's most loyal worker! Why was he doing this?
"Why did they die? Anything interesting?" Frieza questioned.
"Um..." how was he meant to answer that?
"The flu. Maria was the only one in her family who didn't catch it. It killed her parents." Zarbon told him. Oh man... this was horrible!
"So you think I can trust her?" Frieza asked.
"Well..." Zarbon began. He just about managed to hide a smirk. "She seemed alright from where I was standing." he couldn't resist saying that!
"Alright... I suppose I can trust her, then. She hasn't caused any problems so far - oh, but you had a word with her about the slaves, right?" Frieza checked. Zarbon nodded.
"She'll stop." he promised.
"Good."

*later*

Maria saw Zarbon walking down the corridor in front of her. She ran over to him.
"Zarbon!"
"Hm?" Zarbon turned around. He looked at her. "What?"
"You didn't tell him, did you? About last night? Or what I said?" Maria asked.
"Of course I didn't tell him about us!" Zarbon rolled his eyes.
"But... my past...?"
"No." Zarbon said. Maria breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew. Thanks." she smiled, and then looked at him with an expression of confusion on her face. "Why? I thought you adored Frieza?"
"..... I do..." Zarbon mumbled. "I feel so bad about lying to him. I've never done that before, you know. Ever!"

"So... why'd you do it?" Maria asked. Zarbon paused. Why? Why HAD he done it? And why had he done that with her last night? What was wrong with him?!
"I don't know." he admitted. "Why would I do that?"
"Maybe..." Maria began. "Maybe you feel the same way about me as I do about you..."
"Wha?!" Zarbon gasped. "No way! But Lord Frieza!!"
"Huh?" Maria looked at him, and smirked. "Hmm... so you DO like him."
"Don't." Zarbon mumbled, reddening.
"Wow... turning a loyal gay guy straight! I didn't even think Maria the Mighty could do that." Maria smirked.
"I'm not straight!" Zarbon protested. He realized what he'd said instantly, and changed his words.
"I mean I'm not gay!! But I don't like you.... like that!"
"So... what happened last night?" Maria asked. "Was I just a experiment, or something?"
"No..." Zarbon began to question himself more. Why had he done that? Why?!
"What, then?" Maria folded her hand on her hip and looked at him.

"I... just did it..." Zarbon replied. "I don't know why. I don't know what I was thinking or what I thought would happen afterwards." he admitted. "I just saw you crying.... and..." he couldn't believe what he was saying. He'd cared about her. He'd actually given a damn about someone else. And not just anyone - Maria! The person he'd least expect himself to care about. What was she? She was just a street rat.
No... that was a little harsh. She hadn't asked to be a street rat. She'd had no choice. "Zarbon..." Maria stepped closer, and looked up at him. "You wanted to comfort me? Is that it? Did you want to get rid of my pain?"
"....." Zarbon looked away. "I don't know why..."
"Really?" Maria asked. "Or do you just not want to admit it?"
"Admit what?" Zarbon demanded.
"That... it wasn't just a one night stand..." Maria replied.
".... I don't know, okay?" Zarbon growled. "Quit pestering me, and maybe I'll figure it out. Alright?"
".... Okay." Maria was slightly surprised at herself, too. She never thought she'd end up feeling that way about him. But she knew she did.

She was surprised that she could ever really feel this way about anyone again. Tock was the only one that had made her feel like this, and look what he'd done. But... Zarbon was different. Yeah, yeah, Tock had seemed so sweet and innocent, but Zarbon was definitely not going to go crazy. She kinda wanted to tell Zarbon, but... it was best to leave it. For now, anyway.
"See ya." she said briefly.
"Yeah." Zarbon mumbled. Maria walked away. Zarbon sighed, and headed for his bedroom.

He entered it, and lay down on his bed.
"Dammit..." he muttered. None of this made sense. He thought about Frieza. His feelings for Frieza hadn't changed. Well, Zarbon didn't think they had, anyway. But Maria... he certainly cared about her. Why? Frieza had been the only one... what did Maria have that Frieza didn't?
He couldn't.... he couldn't love Maria. How was he meant to know, anyway? What was love? Caring about someone? Was that all?
Well... last night had happened because he'd cared about Maria. You're meant to do that when you love someone, right?
So... did he love her? Zarbon closed his eyes. Maybe he'd be able to think better after a nap.

~~~~~

Zarbon looked down into Maria's eyes. She stared up at him, into him. Zarbon only just knew his surroundings. It was sunset, and they were on high land, either a mountain or a cliff. That's all he knew. Everything around them didn't seem to matter. Nothing seemed to. It was like the whole word was frozen. Like they were the only ones time cared to look at. And they had all the time in the world. The world was theirs. And Maria... she was his. As he gazed at her, Zarbon didn't know when she had become his, but now that he had her, he didn't want to let her go.
He felt a little numb. He wanted to move, to talk... but he couldn't. She was so beautiful, he couldn't say how beautiful with words. All he could do was drown in her golden eyes.

Maria continued to gaze into his. She raised her hand, and gently placed it on the side of his face. Zarbon just stared at her, and let her pull his lips to hers. Zarbon closed his eyes as he kissed her. His arms wrapped themselves around Maria, not letting her go. She put her arms around his neck, not wanting him to leave her.
Zarbon kissed her harder, his tongue brushing against hers. He pulled her closer to him. Maria did the same. She ran her hands though his hair.

Finally, Zarbon pulled his lips away from hers, and gazed into her eyes again. Maria up looked at him. Zarbon was frozen again. She was so beautiful...
He knew she'd go away now... they both had somewhere to go. He'd have to leave her for a while. No! He didn't want that! He wanted to be with her all the time. He felt like he could never leave her. He just couldn't! He wanted to be with her all the time... he wanted her to be his. Her sweet lips, he wanted to be the only one to feel them. Those golden eyes, he wanted to be the only one to watch them sparkle. And that purple diamond on her head, he wanted to be the only one to see it.
Zarbon opened his mouth. He knew exactly what he wanted to say. The words just wouldn't come out. He wanted more than anything to say them, though. So... he forced himself to. He forced the words out. He gazed at her, and began.
"Maria..."
"Yes..?" she replied in a soft voice. Zarbon swallowed.
"Maria... I -" his eyes widened. Maria stood, frowning in confusion.
"What?" she asked innocently. Zarbon gasped, and stepped back.
"Maria!" he watched in horror as she began to fade. Maria just stood, looking at him with that same puzzled expression on her face.
"Wait!!" Zarbon cried out. He tried to grab her hand frantically, but his went straight through her.
"No!!"
"Zarbon...?" Maria's voice became fainter, and it echoed as she faded. "What are you trying to say?"

Zarbon leapt forward, and tried to grab her. But it was too late. She'd faded completely, and he hit the ground hard.

~~~~~

"No!! MARIA!!" Zarbon leapt up. Pain ran through him from when he'd landed. Zarbon looked around frantically, and frowned in confusion.
"Wha..?" he wasn't on the cliff anymore. He was in his bedroom. Zarbon noticed his bed, and that he was standing close to it. A dream. He'd dreamt all that. And he was hurting because he'd fallen off his bed. Zarbon didn't care, though. He only gave himself a few second to work that out before he bolted out of the room.

He raced down the corridor, passing a few people on the way that stared after him in surprise as if he'd gone crazy. He didn't care about them, either. He just picked up speed, and ran straight past Maria's bedroom; turned around; went back; and burst through the door.

Maria was sitting down, looking into the mirror as she brushed her hair. She stared at him, incredibly surprised by his sudden entrance. "Hi. Can I help you?" she asked, looking at him in a funny way. Zarbon knew she thought he'd gone mad, but then again, so did he. He'd have to be mad to say what he was about to say.
Zarbon walked over to her, and got down on one knee. Maria seemed even more surprised when he took her hands in his. She looked at him in confusion.
"Zarbon, wha -"
"Maria," Zarbon interrupted. "I love you. Will you marry me?"
Maria's jaw dropped.
"Wh - what?!"
"I don't know what the hell you did to me, but now I can't stop thinking about you. Not just since last night, I've had you on my mind ever since you came here. I even dreamt about you just now. I want you to be my bride. Say yes." Zarbon replied, and added "Please, say yes."
"You're using manners?!" Maria stared at him in disbelief. "Zarbon -"
"I love you." Zarbon knew he sounded desperate, but with every second he felt more desperate. She couldn't say no. She just couldn't!!
"Zarbon..." Maria couldn't believe her ears. She'd never thought it would come to this. But... did she really not want it anyway? She loved him, didn't she? Yes. She knew she did. Maria swallowed nervously, and smiled at him.
"Yes." she nodded. "Yes, since you asked me so kindly, I'll marry you."

Zarbon's face lit up. He stood up, pulling her up with him, and kissed her. Maria blushed. She looked at him.
"Do you really want this? You've not gone crazy for a few minutes, have you?" she asked, just to make sure he wasn't going to ditch her. Zarbon shook his head.
"Maria... only one person has made me feel like this, and I knew what I was feeling. At least, I think I did. And now, I think I know what I'm feeling now..."
"That other person..." Maria began. "Was it Frieza?"
"Shut up about him!!" Zarbon went bright red. Maria giggled.
"It was. I turned a loyal gay guy straight!"
"No, I -" Zarbon felt his cheeks burning. Of all the people to marry, he had to pick her! Man, she was annoying!!
"Well..." Maria decided to talk him out of his misery. "I guess it doesn't matter, anyway."
"Exactly." Zarbon agreed. Phew!
"Hey..." Maria smirked. "Now that we're engaged... and there's just the two of us... you know what we're meant to do, right?"
"But Maria!" Zarbon gasped. "What if someone finds out? We're supposed to be working! Not... well... doing that..."
"If Frieza thinks you're such a good worker, he won't mind if you take some time off to be with your fiancée." Maria replied.
"Well..." Zarbon knew he shouldn't... but it wasn't like he'd done anything like this before. Frieza owed him a break, right? But still... it was disobeying Frieza.... Ah, what the hell! He was engaged!

Zarbon looked at Maria and smirked.
"Get on the bed."

~~~

Cabbi wondered where Maria was. He was a saiyan slave, and often saw her around. But he hadn't seen her much today... maybe she was sick or something.
He came across her bedroom. Should he check on her? Yeah, just to make sure she was okay. After all, she wasn't that bad. She was kinda fun, actually. All the slaves thought so. Too bad Frieza had started pestering her to become stricter. They were all having a bit of a laugh before. Sitting around talking, joking or just messing about, and only pretending look busy when Frieza, Zarbon or a member of the Ginyu Force came by. And even then it was hard to keep a straight face, because people were often joking about them.
Cabbi was about to knock on Maria's door, when he heard noises coming from inside the room. Voices? Who was she talking to? Cabbi listened, and could just about make out what they were saying.

"Hey... was I your first?"
Cabbi frowned in confusion. What exactly did that mean?!
"Shut up."
"I was!"
"I thought I said shut up. Does it really matter?"
"Not really..." this was followed by laughter. Cabbi recognized that voice. What was Maria laughing at - or who?
"Quit laughing!!" a male growled. Wait...
"Isn't that...?" Cabbi mumbled. He listened harder.
"Okay, okay. Sorry." Maria replied.
"What's so funny about it anyway? So I'm not a prostitute, big deal." that voice... Cabbi smirked. He knew who that was! "What, and I AM a prostitute?!" Maria sounded offended.
"Well what's wrong with it?!" what was definitely Zarbon's voice demanded.
"Nothing, really. I'm just surprised that someone as handsome as you couldn't pick any woman you wanted..."

Cabbi bit his bottom lip. Zarbon?! Well maybe he could pick any man he wanted...
Wait, why was he in there with Maria? He was funny, wasn't he? Maybe he was bi... Cabbi couldn't resist laughing at this point. He clasped his hands over his mouth in case they heard him.
"Hey... did you hear something outside?" damn, too late. Cabbi pressed his back up against the wall.
"You heard it too?" Maria asked. "I'll go look. Stay here, don't let anyone see you."
"Well, duh!" Zarbon sounded pretty sarcastic.

Cabbi heard the door open, and held his breath. Maria stood in the doorway. She moved her head to the right, and saw nothing. Then, she moved it to the left.
"Cabs!" she gasped when she saw him.
"Dammit." Cabbi mumbled. He looked at her. She was wearing a light purple dressing gown. Cabbi smirked.
"Got changed, hm?"
"Oh, um, yes." Maria reddened a little.
"A bit early for dressing gowns, isn't it?" Cabbi asked.
"I was about to have a bath. That's why I'm just wearing this for now." Maria told him.
"A bath with Zarbon?" Cabbi burst out laughing. Maria's eyes widened. "Cabbi!! Were you listening in on our conversation?!" she demanded.
"Okay, I'm sorry!" Cabbi replied. "I just came to check on you because I haven't seen you around much and I know I shouldn't have but I listened in on you guys but YOU AND ZARBON WERE DOING IT!!" he burst out laughing again.
"Cabs -!" Maria looked around. "Get inside!" she pushed him into her room and went in after him, closing the door behind her.

She leaned against the door and looked at him. Cabbi stood opposite with his arms folded, smirking at her.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"Listen, Cabs, I know it's Zarbon but it's not like we're just doing it." Maria began.
"It's serious?" Cabbi unfolded his arms and stared at her. "But I thought he was gay?" "Well he isn't." Maria replied. "In fact, he is so not gay, and we are so serious that we are -"
"- Not telling him!" Zarbon came running out of the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist. Cabbi looked at him and smirked. Zarbon just quickly glared back, and turned his heads to look at Maria. "We're not telling him first!" he said stubbornly.
"Why not?" Maria asked. "Cabbi can keep a secret, I promise! We're just lucky it wasn't Zia."
"Who?" Zarbon looked at her.
"Just a friend of mine." Maria told him. "And Cabbi's my friend, too. We can trust him to not tell anyone," she looked at the saiyan. "Right, Cabs?"

Cabbi moved his hand and zipped up his mouth.
"Sure." he promised, and looked at them. "What's the big secret?"
"Well -"
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Zarbon asked.
"Yes!" Maria growled. She smiled at Cabbi.
"Zarbon and I are engaged!!"

Cabbi's saw dropped.
"No way!"
"Yes way!" Maria exclaimed. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Would I tell anyone?" Cabbi asked innocently. Maria smiled.
"I knew I could trust you."
"One question, though." Cabbi began.
"What?" Zarbon sounded a little impatient. Cabbi looked at him.
"Aren't you gay?"
"No I'm not gay!" Zarbon's face turned red.
"Just checkin' ^_^" Cabbi replied.
"Make sure you don't tell anyone about our engagement." Zarbon ordered.
"Sir, I won't!" Cabbi protested. "Just like Maria said, I can keep a secret."
"Why aren't you calling her "Miss" or something?" Zarbon demanded. "You slaves are meant to treat everyone except yourselves with respect."
"Zarbon, a title doesn't suit me." Maria replied. "Just "Maria" will do, being called "Miss" or something makes me feel like a tight-arsed boss."
"You're meant to be a tight-arsed boss." Zarbon reminded her. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"So what am I meant to call you?" Cabbi asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Miss." Zarbon ordered.
"Maria." Maria argued, she smiled at Cabbi. "Okay?"
"Fine." Cabbi shrugged, and smirked at Zarbon. Heh heh... he'd been waiting so long to gloat at that tight git! Why was Maria even marrying him? She was worth so much more! Ah well, she must see something in him. The least Cabbi could do was be happy for her.

Zarbon frowned at Cabbi.
"Okay, now get back to work. Do you know you're not meant to have a break yet?"
"Do you know YOU'RE not meant to have a break yet?" Cabbi answered back. Maria laughed, and Cabbi smirked at her.
"You cheeky -"
"Wait, he was only joking!" Maria protested.
"Nobody speaks to me like that! And a slave doesn't even have the right to speak to ANYONE like that!" Zarbon growled.
"Sorry." Cabbi said innocently. "Anyway, see ya." he smirked at Zarbon. "I have to get back to work, sir." with that, he left the room.

Zarbon looked at Maria.
"How can you be friends with someone like that?" he demanded. "They weren't like this before, you know! You'd better stop letting them think they can just walk all over us otherwise Frieza's going to get angry." he threatened.
"They know who to talk to and who to suck up to, don't worry." Maria assured him. "Anyways, Cabs is alright. He's kinda cool."
"He seems a little like you." Zarbon commented.
"That's what I meant." Maria smirked. Zarbon rolled his eyes.
"Come on. We have to get back to work."
"When're we gonna tell Frieza?" Maria asked.
"I'll tell him tomorrow." Zarbon promised.
"Good. And once you've done that, I'll ask Cabbi to tell Zia and Mindi, and the whole ship'll have heard in about ten minutes." Maria replied.
"Yeah, great." Zarbon mumbled.