Lalala… Another week, another chapter. I don't know what to say about this chapter, except for it's a mean cliffhanger; one of the first I've done, I think. Anyway, enjoy… there's not much left.

We continued to sort of share custody of Kira for about a month, until she had to go back to school. Then we decided that she could spend weekends and days off with me.

Kira went to Orange Star Elementary, and went into the first grade that September. Since Marron worked until six, and Kira got out of school at three, she went to Capsule Corp. instead of her grandparents. OSE was closer to CC than to Kame House.

But it didn't matter to me. I'd always go over there and spend about two hours with her. Life had finally taken meaning again, and I had a reason to get up and out of bed in the morning. And it was so great.

But by November, things started to get edgy. I knew that our anniversary was quickly approaching, and I didn't know exactly what to say to Marron on that day. Was it appropriate to tell your sort of ex-wife happy anniversary? I didn't really know anybody that was divorced, or in a situation similar to ours, so I asked Bulma, who kind of dealt with it with Yamcha.

"Oh, of course you should. Especially that you and Marron are on such good terms now. You have taken her out since you've come back into her life?"

I paused. "Um, we went out to dinner that one night, and I've gone over there for lunch and dinner, and she's hung out at my parents', but otherwise, no."

Bulma smiled. "Then take her out for an anniversary dinner!" she suggested. "Since you two never got to celebrate it."

So I first talked to Krillin and Juuhachigou, then my parents before Marron. We made a plan to have Kira spend the day with my parents, then the night at Kame House with Krillin and Juu. I figured that if I split the day up between both sets of grandparents, I didn't have to hear all the shit over which one was better. Not that Krillin and Juu would say anything like that, but I couldn't be so lucky with my parents.

And then I made some reservations at some restaurant in Gingertown and called Marron. When I told her about it, she seemed pretty excited. But when I remembered about the time she told me about our first anniversary, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I spent our entire anniversary in bed crying. Those words kept coming back to me, and I knew that I had seven anniversaries to make up for in one night. Everything had to be one hundred percent perfect.

The restaurant I'd picked out wasn't anything fancy, but it was good all the same. I bought flowers that morning and picked out a card. But when it came to write something in the card, I was at a complete loss for words. What exactly was I supposed to say? "Dear Marron, I'm sorry that I've been an asshole for the past seven years, but I want to change." Oh yeah, Goten, there's a winner.

Finally, I just scribbled something stupid like, how much I'd missed her, and how I wanted to be better at being her friend, if nothing more. I didn't know what else to say.

And I had that weird feeling again when I went to pick Marron up. It was like something was wrong. That's when I knew that Marron and I should be married, not having the occasional dinner.

I knocked on the door, and when she opened it, I smiled goofily. "You are so beautiful. Happy anniversary."

Marron grinned, and opened her arms for a hug. "Happy anniversary," she whispered into my shoulder. "This is a really great idea."

I held out the flowers. "These are for you, my dear. And here's your card."

"Thank you, they're beautiful. Here, let me put them in some water."

I followed her to the kitchen nervously, feeling like a complete idiot. "Um, Marron? Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck nervously. I needed to tell her how I felt, I needed to try and save us somehow. Or, more specifically, what was left of us.

"Mmhmm," she murmured, her back to me. "Just one second, babe."

I closed my eyes and ran a head through my hair. "I'll, um, be in the living room." I sighed and sat down on the couch, but then changed my mind and stood.

Marron walked into the room, the back of her skirt flowing in her stride. "What's on your mind?" she asked, smiling warmly. It made me feel better that she was so happy. For a brief second, I thought that maybe she was happy to be in the living room with me.

As silly as it sounds, I missed that living room. I missed sitting on the couch together, watching TV, or looking at old pictures, or eating pizza and drinking beer. My mind floated back to that last day, the day I left, and I remembered sitting in the living room wrapped up in the old green blanket, watching the rain fall and talking about our plans for the future. I remembered falling asleep in the living room, only to have Marron wake me up and bring me to bed. It's amazing how one room can mean so much to a person.

Since it was November, and it got dark early, Marron had the lamps on, and the light caught the diamond on her finger. Her wedding ring. She still had it on. After seven years of not being married anymore, she still wore her ring. I looked down at my own hand, where my ring had once been and hung my head in shame. I had taken it off out of anger and spite, and it sat on my dresser for seven years, never touched, never moved.

"You still have your ring on?" I asked in a whisper.

Marron blushed, and twirled the ring around her finger, something I had seen her do many times before. She only did it when she was nervous, or embarrassed. "Yeah, well, after you left, I was hoping you would come back, and after we broke up, I wanted something to remember you by, bedsides Kira, of course."

I crinkled my nose. "You wanted to remember me?"

She looked up at me as if I was crazy. "Of course. Why? Didn't you want to remember me?"

Like I could forget her if I tried. "Marron, there is no way in hell that I could ever forget you. I wanted to remember everything about you. I relived our life together in my head every day. I asked myself every five minutes why we weren't together."

Marron's eyes brimmed with tears, and she took a step closer. "Why weren't we together?" she asked.