Only Words

Just in reply to some of my reviews.

Viper2999: Yes, Jinzouningen Bra is acting a lot like Vamp Willow, from that BtVS episode (called "The Wish"). In fact, this whole story was inspired by that episode, but I will try to make Bra a little less Willowish (though I must admit I do like that image of Goten chained to the wall…lol)

Starry-Eyez888: I will explain how Bra knows who Trunks and everyone are in this chapter, but thank you for bringing it up. I might have forgotten it completely if you had not.

Thank you to all the people who have reviewed the story. Keep it up! I can't become a better writer if I don't get your feedback

4: Gaining Trust

Marron, Goten and Trunks all collapsed against a cliff face, utterly exhausted. Marron knew that they had only just escaped with their lives, and she was thankful for it. She looked over to Trunks and, trying to sound calmer than she felt, said, "Now do you believe me?"

Trunks just rolled his eyes, and dismissed her comment with a wave of his hands. Marron knew that was as close to an apology that she would ever get from the stubborn Saiya-jin, so she didn't push the matter any further.

After they had had a moment or two to regain their breath, Trunks spoke up. "We can't go back tonight. If they're still around, they might see us again, and follow us back to the others."

Marron bit her tongue, and resisted the urge to comment on the fact that Trunks had accepted her suggestion of how the jinzouningen had found them. "I guess we should start getting comfy here then, huh?"

"That's right."

"We'll have to do without a fire," Goten stated. He addressed Marron, "We should be okay, but what about you? How are you with the cold?"

She shrugged. "I'll live."

Every moment she spent in this alternate world toughened her. Only days earlier, she never would have imagined herself saying some of the things she had, or facing some of the situations. Goten just nodded at her reply.

With Trunks out of earshot, Goten smiled almost sheepishly. "If it gets too cold, you could snuggle up to one of us…"

Marron smiled. "Thanks, Goten." After another couple of silent moments had passed, Marron voiced the question that had been most on her mind. "H-how…how did she become…?"

Marron stopped talking when she heard the sound of a rock shattering. The small crumbs of dirt slid from within Trunks' hand. Marron regretted asking the question; she had only just started to get on Trunks' good side.

Goten sighed, and explained, knowing that his friend could not. "They made her like them, into a jinzouningen. Well, Juunanagou did. I don't think Juuhachigou was too pleased about it. We don't know exactly how he made her into one as such, but you can see that he did."

"But why?"

"Juunanagou became obsessed with my sister," Trunks said in a completely emotionless voice. "It started a long time ago, probably before he and Juuhachigou started killing again. They captured her when she was about seventeen – she was out by herself. It's my fault really…"

"Hey, Trunks. Don't say that," Goten interrupted. "We've been through this plenty of times. You aren't to blame." He looked at Marron. "Trunks likes to think it's his fault because he should have been looking after her, or something like that."

Trunks continued with the story. "By the time we realised she was missing, we stopped feeling her ki. We knew she was dead."

"Vegeta was pretty pissed off, as you can imagine," Goten sighed. "But then, a couple of months later, we were fighting them – the jinzouningen, I mean – again, and she just showed up. At first we didn't notice anything different, which was really stupid of us. The total lack of life force and creepy eyes should have been a dead give away, but we just so excited to see her. Vegeta was the first to realise something was up…"

"She killed him, didn't she?" Marron asked. Trunks nodded mutely. His eyes seemed to be unfocussed as he stared into the distance.

"You catch on quick," Goten said, trying to sound light-hearted.

Marron shook her head. "When I first came to this world, someone spoke to me. Told me what had happened in this world. They stopped before telling me exactly who had killed Vegeta; they just told me that it wasn't my okaasan or oji-san. They said that someone else would be arriving, who would be more suited to explaining it."

"I'm guessing they meant us, right?"

"Yes." A thought suddenly occurred to Marron. "Wait a minute, my mother always told me that she didn't remember anything from before she became a jinzouningen. She couldn't tell us her name, where she was from, who her parents were. The only reason she called Juunanagou her brother was because that's what their creator told them. How does Bra know who you all are? She shouldn't know that she's Trunks' sister."

"But Juuhachigou and Juunanagou know," Goten pointed out. "They would have told her the minute she woke up as a jinzouningen who she was, and what sort of relationship she had to all of us. And you have to admit, she wasn't acting very sisterly."

"I guess…"

"We also think that the process might not have gone exactly to plan. You must have noticed that she was a little…"

"Insane?" Marron offered. Oh yes, she had noticed how bizarrely Bra had been acting, and it had disturbed her a lot.

"We think it may have something to do with Bra being an unwilling subject," Goten explained. "She didn't want to become a jinzouningen."

"And you think that my mother and her brother did?"

"Not so much that they were willing, more that they were ignorant. Gero probably would not have explained to them what was going to happen. He tricked them, or something. Whereas Bra would have known quite clearly what was going on."

"And as a result, she's unstable," Marron said, piecing the puzzled together. "That's barbaric."

"Tell me about it," Goten growled. "I can't say that I was exactly happy about having my girlfriend being stolen by the thing that killed my mother."

Despite his obvious rage, Marron felt that Goten was less affected by what had happened to Bra than Trunks. It was possible that they had not been together long enough to form a bond. Or it could have been that Trunks' guilt made him take it harder than his friend.

Marron knew that Trunks had always been very protective of his sister. When Goten and Bra had first started dating, Trunks had refused to speak to Goten for a week. When he had finally accepted that they really were a couple, he had threatened Goten with death if he ever hurt Bra.

That made Marron think about the mess that had brought her to this world in the first place. Would Trunks be more worried about how Goten had hurt Bra, or would his own broken heart be more important. Then Marron realised that she had wished that world away, so it didn't matter.

But, wait. Did I really wish it away? I mean, when Mirai Trunks came, he didn't change his future, he just created a timeline. But then, this isn't the past or anything. It's the same time, just a different world…oh, I don't know! Thinking was making Marron confused, and that was giving her a headache.

"Sleep," Trunks commanded. "I'll keep watch."

Marron smiled in thanks, and as per his offer, snuggled up to the already sleeping Goten.

*   *   *   *   *   *

"They've gone," Bra groaned. "Can't we go now?"

"She's got a point, Juuhachi," Juunanagou sighed. "I don't think we'll find them tonight. Why do you care so much anyway?"

Juuhachigou floated down to the ground, and stood in front of Juunanagou and Bra, who were both lazing on rocks. She scowled. "I don't care. I was just in the mood for a bit of bloodshed."

"Sure," Bra teased with a smirk. "You're just pissed off because onii-chan dobbed you in about the little daughter thing…"

Juuhachigou slapped Bra across the face. "She's not my daughter."

"Well, she seemed pretty convincing," Juunanagou mused. "Besides, she said she was from a different world, like another dimension or something."

"I still don't believe it. How could I have a child?"

Bra smirked again. "Aww, don't put yourself down like that. If you lost a little weight, and started listening to my fashion advice, I'm sure you'd be able to find a great guy!"

Juunanagou stifled a laugh, but Juuhachigou was in no way amused. She grabbed Bra by the throat and lifted the slightly smaller woman above the ground.

"One of these days," she hissed, "I am going to rip out that over-active larynx of yours. And believe me, I will enjoy every moment."

Unfortunately, Juuhachigou had never learnt how stupid it was to anger Bra. When she lost her temper, Bra somehow tapped into a hidden power, leftovers from her days as a Saiya-jin. Juuhachigou had often warned her brother about the dangers of his lust for the Saiya-jin Princess, but he was always quick to remind her of her own infatuation with a certain vertically challenged, nose-less monk.

Bra tore Juuhachigou's hand away from her neck and sent the other woman flying. With eyes narrowed even more than usual, she advanced upon Juuhachigou, who was pulling herself out of a large, newly formed dent in the cliff wall.

"How many times must I remind you not to touch me?" Bra snarled.

Juunanagou took this moment to step in before things became a little too messy. "Now, now girls, play nice."

Bra looked at him and her angry snarl dissolved into a pleading pout. "But, but…she started it."

"I know, Princess, but that doesn't mean you have to finish it." Juunanagou wandered over to help his sister, but she angrily pushed his hand away.

"I should make you keep her on a chain," she growled, dusting her clothes off.

"As kinky as that sounds, and as much as I'd like to, I don't think so. Anyway, back to the point that was at hand: why are you so worried about that little blonde? You keep denying that she's your daughter, so why are you so obsessed with her."

Juuhachigou finally gave in. "It's the whole thing about being from a different dimension. Remember how Trunks came from the future to stop us?"

"You think she could be a similar warrior sent to stop us?" Juunanagou asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Oooh, scary," Bra scoffed. "She didn't look like she could last two seconds in a fight. Someone should tell her that the whole pig-tail look doesn't strike fear into hearts."

"Shut up," Juuhachigou snapped. "If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it. Anyway, I don't know if she was sent here to stop us, but there's a chance that she was, and personally, I'm not quite ready for our fun to end just yet."