Only Words

9: When Words Are Not Enough

"What the fuck are you doing here, you filthy tramp?" Bra snarled. Her eyes had narrowed so much that she looked like her jinzouningen double from the alternate reality. "I thought I told my mother not to let you in!"

"You did," Marron replied. "She just has a little more sense."

"What do you want?" Trunks asked cautiously.

"A moment to speak, that's all. If Bra will let me, of course."

"Burn in Hell, slut!" was Bra's reply. She stood to physical show Marron the way out, but Trunks stopped her.

"Why should we let you, after what you did?" he demanded.

"You Saiya-jin are all alike," Marron sighed angrily. "You never seem to use your brains. You just want to beat up everyone! You don't know what happened. You weren't there the whole time. But even if you were, you both want to know why. Who better to tell you than the offenders?" Marron walked over to Bra's window, and opened it. "Why don't you come in, Goten?"

"Marron," said Goten. There was still a look of hurt in his eyes. "How did you get inside?"

"It doesn't matter. Come in; we all need to have a little talk."

As Goten climbed through the window, Bra stood glaring at both he and Marron. Trunks' expression was unreadable, a trait he probably inherited from his father.

"So talk already," Bra growled, refusing to make eye contact with Goten. She feared that if she looked into his eyes, it would make her forgive him.

"Actually, I think it would be easier if I showed you," Marron stated, and as she did, the whole room warped. In less than a second, the four of them were outside, in a place three of them didn't recognise.

"What the fuck?" Trunks managed to say. "Where are we?"

"Still in Bra's room," Marron replied. "It's just a vision."

Sure enough, if Goten, Bra or Trunks closed their eyes, they could still see the desolate landscape around them. A moment later, they had company.

"It's Bra," Goten stated. "And Juunanagou and Juuhachigou. What's going on?"

The Bra in the vision seemed to be training, so concentrated in doing so that she did not notice the jinzouningen twins until it was too late. Juunanagou grabbed her from behind and dragged her away.

"He can't do that!" Bra cried. The vision again warped, and they were suddenly in a dark laboratory of some sort. What they saw next brought horror to all of their faces.

Juunanagou was standing outside a holding cell. He pressed a button, and it opened. Out stepped a newly awoken jinzouningen Saiya-jin Princess.

"He turned her into a jinzouningen," Goten whispered. Trunks and Bra remained completely silent.

The next vision was even more disturbing. Bra screamed as she watched the jinzouningen version of herself ruthlessly slaughter her own father. She tried squeezing her eyes shut, but could not block out the terrifying vision.

"Stop, please stop," she begged Marron.

Marron, who seemed unmoved by the vision, shook her head. "There is more."

The next scenes were events that Marron herself had experienced. Everything from her arrival to the final battle. Goten choked as he witnessed his own death at the hands of Juunanagou, and even Bra was sobbing openly. Trunks stood silent and unmoving, while Goten shut his eyes to block out seeing the death of his niece.

Trunks' silence was broken when he saw Juunanagou kill Bra. He screamed at the same time as his alternate universe counterpart, "Bra, no!"

Bra had now become silent. In fact, she had gone completely white. She didn't struggled when Goten wrapped his arms around her.

While her friends witnessed the terror of the alternate universe, the real Marron was standing just outside Bra's room. The favour that she had asked of Shenlong was to show her friends just what she had experienced. The scenes from before she had arrived there had been Shenlong's own little touch.

Since the vision was not for her, when she looked into the room all Marron could see was Bra, Goten and Trunks screaming in horror at everything they saw, and her own double standing calmly near them. Shenlong-Marron looked over at Marron and winked. It was nearly time for Marron to come in, but she would wait until the signal.

The vision had almost ended. Trunks had witnessed his own death – he and Juunanagou had been crushed when the building collapsed. He sunk to the ground, while Goten held Bra close. After the had seen Uub's death, and Juuhachigou's attack on Marron, Shenlong ended the vision.

Trunks, Goten and Bra looked around at their surroundings. They were back in Bra's bedroom, and they were very much alive.

"What was that?" Trunks demanded breathlessly. "The future?"

Shenlong-Marron shook her head. "No, it's not the future, but it is a reality which could be. You only witnessed it; Marron had to live through it."

"Have you gone mad? You're Marron."

"No, she's not," Marron stated, finally entering the room. "She's just a friend who owed me a favour." Shenlong-Marron nodded in support.

"You lived through all that?" Trunks asked in disbelief. "When? Why?"

"After what happened the other night," Marron explained, "I stupidly wished that I had never been born. That was a reality in which I hadn't been born. Living through all of that was my punishment for my actions."

Marron nodded to Shenlong-Marron. The room warped for one last time, and the five of them were standing in the Kame House.

"This is the night of the party," Goten stated, still holding Bra.

In actual fact, it was right before Trunks and Bra had left a very drunk Marron in the care of Goten. Shenlong-Marron showed them exactly what had happened; the simple accident that had resulted in so much pain.

"She just slipped…" Bra whispered. "You guys weren't making out at all." She looked up at Goten, tears sparkling in her eyes. "You tried to tell me that and I didn't believe you."

"It's okay, Bra," Goten replied, tears in his eyes also. "It's okay." He pulled her close to him, and held her tightly. He never wanted to let her go again, especially after what they had seen in the vision.

Trunks looked at Marron, the real one. "Oh, Marron, I'm so sorry…"

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. Sorry for what I did, and sorry that I had to show you all that death."

"So we forgive each other then?"

"Of course!" Marron ran into Trunks' open arms. She savoured the moment. Breathing in his scent, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. She had missed him so much.

As the couples reunited, Shenlong-Marron decided it was probably time to leave. She caught Marron's eye as she started to go. She winked as the young woman mouth the words "Thank you," before vanishing completely.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Pan had seemed surprised when Marron had called to tell her that she and Trunks, as well as Goten and Bra, were back together. Pan knew Bra and Trunks well, and both of them were quite efficient at holding grudges. But she realised that they would know what they were doing, and so believed Marron when she said the whole mess with Goten had been a huge accident.

Of course, it probably helped that Marron had spent an hour apologising for her vicious outburst at Pan and Uub.

About a week after all had been forgiven, the six young people had gone on a picnic in one of the parks in Satan City. Bra had mentioned to Pan what had happened to Marron, so she and Uub both wanted to hear the full story.

"That is so crazy!" Pan stated, once Marron had finished. Marron was so happy to have her own Pan back. She was so happy and carefree, and not bitchy at all.

"It's weird that I was still around," Uub pondered. "I guess you didn't really have much of an effect on the whole thing with Buu."

"Guess not," Marron replied. "I was only two years old, and the only thing I did was get turned into chocolate."

"I can't believe I was turned into a jinzouningen!" Bra stated, with a flick of her hair. She snuggled up to Goten. "Especially by Marron's uncle!"

"Oh, so it's okay to be with my uncle, but it's not okay to be with Marron's?" Pan teased.

"That's different! Juunanagou is heaps old and stuff."

"Not really," Trunks pointed out. "As a jinzouningen he wouldn't really age. I think you guys would make a cute couple."

The others all laughed as Bra went bright red. Marron smiled. This was how it was supposed to be. She leant back against Trunks' chest, and felt his lips place a feather light kiss on her ear.

The other two couples left – Bra and Goten to get ice cream, and Pan and Uub to chase ducks by the lake. Marron and Trunks were left to mind all the picnic stuff, but Marron didn't care. She just wanted to enjoy a moment alone with the man she loved.

"What are you thinking about, beautiful?" Trunks asked, running his hand through her hair.

"How much I love you," she replied.

"Hmmm, I love you too. Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask you: you didn't have anything going with that other me, did you? In the other world?"

Marron smiled. "He hated me when I first got there. He kept calling me 'jinzouningen', or 'daughter of Juuhachigou', stuff like that. But in the end, he seemed to change his mind. But he wasn't like you, so I couldn't love him like I love you."

"Good, that was the correct answer to give," Trunks stated, with a cheeky grin.

With a laugh, Marron playfully hit Trunks. "And here I was thinking you were less of a jerk than him. Guess I was wrong, huh?"

"Guess so." Trunks smiled broadly at Marron, and brought his lips to hers. Lost in the pure bliss of Trunks' kiss, Marron didn't even here Goten's juvenile wolf whistle. She was back where she was supposed to be. She was home with the man that she loved.

And she couldn't have wished for anything more.

*   *   *   *   *   *

A/N: There, finished! I hope you enjoyed reading this fic, as much as I enjoyed writing it. I just have a couple of thanks to shout out before I go. Firstly, to all the girls at the YamMar Faction Yahoo group, for all of their support and feedback. And a special thanks to Mar (or hippiechic as she's sometimes known) for reviewing nearly every chapter. Thanks also go to Legolas Luver for the same reason, and for having a great name, and to Bloodlust Night (who did review every chapter!). Even though I thanked her before, I have to thank Vegeta's Lil' Princess for letting me use her idea of changing Bra into a jinzouningen. Sorry to anyone who also thought up that idea, but she's the one I got it from. And finally, a big thank you to everyone who read the fic!