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Chapter Three: Siblings.

March 7th, 796 A.D -- March 8th, 796 A.D

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Goten knew his reputation. He was not quite, but close to, a play-boy according to it, someone who would use and loose his girlfriends. The only reason he had any girlfriends in the first place was because they all thought they could change him, and that they would be the ones to make the very eligible Son Goten want marriage.

Goten knew his reputation, and didn't try to deny it. He was satisfied with it... in his mind, there was no use in denying the facts, and it wasn't even that he treated his girlfriends badly. He treated them all very well, very politely, and that was what made them think they were the 'special' one.

Of course, they never were. Goten had long since known that he would never marry or have children, ever. He had first known it immediately after his first date in high school, at the age of fifteen. He would not marry and have children, because he knew as well as everyone how much he was like his father.

And Goten also knew as well as anyone that his father was a lousy one.

It was one of the first things he explained to his girlfriends -- albeit highly paraphrased, and leaving out several details of his life -- and it was usually greeted with smiles that meant that she thought that she would be the one to change it, or looks of relief from the more like-minded women.

Marron, however, was silent and rather expressionless. Goten wasn't even sure why he had told her all that, seeing as it was only a first "date" and all, but the topic of Goku had come up, and it had only taken a few minutes before Goten's story had trickled out.

After a minute of being stared at by the blonde, Goten averted his gaze. "What?" He asked.

Marron blinked. "Oh, sorry."

"You apologize too much." Goten commented.

They had spent the entire afternoon together, after the movie they were able to find conversation from it, and had gone from Satan City Mall to Goten's apartment to drop off Madrid's purchases. Once there, they had ended up staying and watching some T.V together -- turned out both Goten and Marron liked silly game-shows -- and chatting over it. After that Goten had burned them some dinner, and they were now talking over the table, still covered with dirty dishes.

Marron began to apologize again, but stopped herself. Goten looked at her critically, an idea dawning on him.

"You've been... shrinking me, haven't you?" He accused gently, more teasing then angry.

Marron caught that, and smiled teasingly. "I'm sorry."

"Have you, though?"

"It's a bit of a habit," Marron said. "I'll stop if you'd like."

Goten paused, nodding, before grinning consciously. "So... am I crazy?"

"Well," Marron said seriously leaning forward over the table and looking sympathetic, before giggling at Goten's surprised look. She was very good at being deadpan serious, it turned out. "No, you're not crazy."

It struck Goten as a little odd, the way Marron was now so confident and... he didn't know what, exactly, but something besides that was different about her. She certainly was more... attractive then she used to be.

Marron glanced at a wall clock, and stood up in surprise at the late hour. "I should be getting back." She said. "It's nearly ten."

Goten also glanced at the clock, affirming the time. He waved off Marron's attempts at clearing the table. "I'll do it, don't worry." he said cheerfully, walking with her a moment later to the door.

"Oh... alright." Marron said uncertainly, wanting to do the polite thing but not wanting to argue over it. It wasn't that big of a deal, anyway. She slipped on her shoes while Goten opened the door for her. "I'll see you around, then? This has been a lot of fun!" Marron said cheerfully.

Goten nodded, and hesitated. Marron caught the look, and remembered what had happened last time the Saiyan had given in to her. "Want to get together again sometime?"

"So we're dating?" Marron asked, blushing very slightly. One date could be written off as catching up between old friends, but two definitely implied something else.

"Sure!" Goten said with a grin. "When do you start work?"

"Next Monday, a week from now." Marron said slowly, a little shy now.

"How about Friday, then?" Goten suggested. "What's your phone number, I'll call you."

Marron gave it to him, writing it on a piece of paper from a small notepad she carried in her purse. Although her shyness had slowly vanished over the course of the afternoon, it was returning now with a vengeance.

"Great," Goten said, looking briefly at the paper before shoving it in his pocket. "See you then..." He suddenly leant down -- Marron was at least a head shorter then him -- and kissed Marron on the cheek.

Marron blushed furiously, and Goten grinned in a way that very much echoed his father. "See you!" He said, closing the door to his apartment behind him.

Marron walked down the hall to the elevator -- Goten was on the ninth floor, it wouldn't do to walk all that -- slowly. Although it hadn't really been a kiss, it had been Marron's first... as sad as that sounded to her, to receive her first kiss at the age of twenty-four, almost five. And from Goten, of all people!

It wasn't a real secret; Marron thought as she waited for the elevator, that she had had a small crush on Goten when she was younger... around the age of thirteen. That was part of the reason she had accepted Goten's date, despite what she knew about him. It would be foolish to think that they would stay together for too long -- Marron was smarter then that -- but she couldn't help but think now that maybe there would be something, maybe.

It didn't hurt to dream, after all.

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Most people hate high-school, but Bra was the exception to that and most other rules. Like the rule that to be popular you had to be an idiot, and the rule that just because your family was weird beyond belief meant that you were too.

Yes, Bra hadn't even entered High School but she had already mastered it.

She had been prepping herself for the school year to come since graduating from West City Junior High, and now that school's start was less then a month away Bra was finalizing her preparations... namely, buying her school clothes.

Trunks, the very picture of misery, was slumped down in one of the small chairs in the dressing room area of the store he and Bra were visiting. His suit was mussed and shirt un-tucked and he was rubbing one of his temples to try and ease a headache caused by his sister's dragging him from store to store for the better part of the day. "You do realize that West City High uses uniforms, right?" he muttered.

Bra rolled her eyes and glanced at the first of her shopping bags, the one that contained her newly purchased school uniform -- a gray pleated skirt, white blouse, navy blue vest, knee socks and black shoes -- before turning back to admire her new outfit in the mirror. It suited her much better, a bright red mini dress.

"There's always after school." Bra replied, checking how the dress looked from the back.

Trunks didn't bother to reply to that, but he did groan. "Can you hurry?"

"You should be glad I'm taking my time." Bra said, heading back into the changing room to take off the outfit for purchase. "It means more time out of the office for you."

"I'd rather be at work." Trunks replied, mostly to himself because Bra was now changing. He sat up in the chair and attempted to straighten his clothes, aware at how sloppy he looked. Although he had volunteered to go with his younger sister to buy her school clothes, he hadn't had an idea at the time as to how long it would take.

After a minute, Bra stepped out of the dressing room wearing her normal clothes (if you could you such a word to describe a red tube-top and black short-shorts) with the dress draped over an arm. "Shall we pay? I'm done here."

Trunks perked up visibly at his sister's words, and Bra laughed. "Only one more store, I promise. After all, you are paying and it wouldn't do to get you pissed." she said teasingly, but friendlily.

They walked over to the cash registers -- there was no line, for the store they were in was far too expensive for most -- and Trunks paid for the dress. The clerks recognized them, for Capsule Corporation's owners were very rich and very regular customers. On the way out, Bra suddenly stopped short her walking and clutched her stomach.

"You okay?" Trunks asked, concerned. Bra frowned deeply.

"Yeah. My stomach just hurt for a moment." she replied, sounding a little confused. "It's gone now." Bra brightened. "Must be cramps."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Thanks for keeping me informed."

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"So, let me get this straight." #17 said slowly. "You're my sister, even though you look completely different then you should. And we were kidnapped by that guy I used to work for, and turned into cyborgs. Except then I tried to kill you, so you helped kill me, and then I got turned into a human again for the hell of it."

#18 wished he wouldn't make it sound so much like a bad soap opera, but she nodded.

They were sitting alone in the Kame House's living room, her on the sofa and him on one of the chairs. None of the home's other residents were anywhere to be seen or heard, even Turtle, which lead to an uneasy background silence for the middle of the afternoon... normally, Roshi's television programs or Krillen's chatter or Oolong's whines made for a background screen but today there was only the sound of waves on the beach.

#17 paused before speaking, and when he did he looked her straight in the eyes with his now larger and human shaped ones. "Have you ever considered seeing a shrink?"

'Don't punch him; he's just being stupid right now.' #18 told herself sternly, jaw clenched. She normally never had these violent urges, only when #17 was around. Maybe it was part of her programming, maybe it was just because #17 was annoying: #18 didn't know or care.

"I believe it, I guess." #17 said finally, after several moments of awkward silence. He said it casually, as if it didn't matter what his past was or not. "I mean, I do remember what Gero did, so I guess the rest makes sense, sort of."

"You... remember?" #18 asked. She didn't, and for the first time she saw potential usefulness in #17's revival. Baba had mentioned that he was essentially 'from the past,' so wouldn't it stand to reason that he might remember life as a human before Gero? #18 could remember hardly anything about her human life, only a few scattered memories... playing in a park, being introduced with her brother after changing schools, her first day of work in an after-school job, throwing a snowball.

If #17 could remember more, then...

"A bit." #17 said with a nod. "This is kinda weird," he mused, "that I remember only up 'til a certain point, and you can't remember anything before it." He blinked. "So, I, uh, tried to kill you, huh?"

"Yes."

He said nothing more about it, but neither did #18. The siblings were silent a moment.

"What am I going to do?" #17 asked. "Live here or something?"

#18 nodded. Although it had been over a full day since #17's arrival, the other residents of the Kame House had been making themselves very scarce since word of #17's arrival had reached them, delegating her to be the one to explain everything to him.

While she had been resentful and angry towards him at first, #18 had quickly found herself feeling... if not happy about #17's return, not upset either. Perhaps because he was so clueless about everything that had happened in the last thirty years, perhaps because he was literarily harmless, but in any case #18's qualms about #17's new life were very quickly vanishing.

Even if she didn't really like it.

"Marron has just moved out, so I suppose you could use her room." #18 said. #17 looked blank. "My daughter. Your niece." she elaborated.

"How many years has it been since Gero took us?" #17 asked, surprised and obviously unaware up until that moment that there was a daughter to begin with. "I mean, obviously a lot, but --"

"At least thirty." #18 said, thinking of the time since and a possible estimate for time Gero took to create them. She realized that she'd need to explain a little of her social life, too, instead of just a brief recounting of fights and villains faced. "I've been married for most of that time, and my daughter is twenty-five."

"Oh." #17 said. "I'm eighteen."

#18 tried to ignore that statement the best she could.

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No Name Puns this chapter.

Thanks to Brandon B. for beta reading!!!