Author's Note: Hey hey hey. How's everybody in the house doing tonight? Happy summer! Well, I'll be posting this chapter by the 5th of July. On the 5th, I'll be getting on an airplane and heading back home to Michigan. I won't have Internet or computer access until the 10th, and I highly doubt I'll have time to write. I am so sorry about this, but having 9 hours in Miami, I'm sure I'll get some work done! I assure you however, that the story will go on once I've settled!

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Maron was in an intense state of mourning for a strong two weeks from the loss of Krillin. The rest of the girls and I tried to do everything in our powers to get her out of her room. She's gained a good deal of weight and become pale from not seeing the sun.

"Come on, Mar. You want to go eat Chinese food right? Some good Pi-King Duck?" Bulma offered, speaking in a soothing manner through her door.

We had quickly found out that coaxing her with food was the best way to get her out. She opened the door and stepped out slowly. He hair was greasy from not washing it but thankfully she had not body odor. Her stomach was now dominant from her tank top and her legs much thicker in her boxer shorts.

"Come on honey," I said, taking her hand and walking over to her closet. "We'll get you changed and go get some food, okay?"

Her room was a mess. Packages of food, dirty dishes, clothes randomly thrown around, bedding tossed over the mattress in a feeble attempt to clean up. I knew that once she snapped out of her funk, she'd be in a living nightmare. She's always been a very clean person with both her appearance and her room.

The Chinese restaurant was five blocks from Maron's house, so we walked. It was an unseasonably cool day, which forced all of us into a pair of pants instead of our typical shorts. Occasionally we would hear a rumble of thunder, and the air smelled like rain, but it hadn't all day.

We all sat in silence at 'Golden Chopsticks' in our usual booth. Rini, Bulma, and myself had planned to go around to the different bridal shops in town so I could shop for my dress, or at least look at inspirations so I could get one made.

"Hey Maron, are you interested in going wedding dress shopping with us today? Goku's Mom is meeting us at Evening Bridal after this and we're looking at dresses. After that we might go out clubbing." I asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders and stared at the packet of chopsticks in front of her. That meant 'yes'. We've been lucky to adapt for the new form of 'Maron Communication' quickly so we knew what she would want. Shrugging meant yes. When she went quiet or looked at you deeply in the eyes meant no. She'd point when she wanted something; either that or she just took it. Apart from that, she really didn't say much unless letting out a stream of words that would make a sailor blush in shame.

"You should talk to us about this. We want to be here for you, but you won't let us." Rini had been greatly bothered by how Maron had been reacting. She's never witnessed anything like this before, so she didn't know how to handle it.

"Hey Rini, guess what? You can suck my fucking cock." Maron said, not bothering to lower her voice any and shifting a death glare in Rini's direction.

"Maron, that's enough!" I snapped at her. "You have the right to be upset, there's no doubt about it, but you're just being difficult. Rini is your friend and you're treating her like garbage. Knock it off."

She cast me a look that I would never forget. She bore her eyes so far into me it was like she could see through to the other side. Standing up with her glass of water, she threw it down at the table closest to where I was sitting. The glass shattered and water splattered all over my shirt. She walked out the door as if nothing had happened.

A Chinese waiter came over to the table and began to clean the glass up in a frenzy, as if he hoped his tip wouldn't be lessened because of what Maron had just done. Bulma picked up shards off glass and placed it in the waiter's hands while apologizing profusely and offering to pay for the glass.

"Oh no miss," The Chinese man said. "Me have bad service. Me be bad waiter."

"No, you aren't at all!" Bulma said, taking out a 5-dollar bill and putting it in his hands. "Take this, and thank you."

He bowed his head to us. "Thank you. Bus boy clean up water soon."

Bulma put a hand to her forehead. "What a nightmare."

I watched the water drip slowly onto my jeans.

"Why is she acting like this? She's hurt, I know she's hurt, but she's acting like a 5 year old who hasn't gotten her way so she's throwing a hissy-fit." Rini said, mopping up the water dripping on my leg with her napkin.

"We can't take this. Chi was right, she's just being a little shit. How in the world do we deal with this?" Bulma asked.

They both looked at me. I had read enough mothering books when I was pregnant so I'd know what to do. "You ignore her. Until she has decided that she behave like someone respectable and of her own age, we ignore her."

We were served our food soon after and our topic of conversation changed to more pleasant things such as movies and celebrity studs.

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We went to dress store after dress store, trying on dress after dress. There were so many styles to choose from with different shades of white, and even different colors. I wanted to find a simple, shimmering white wedding dress with no straps and no fancy beading. Who would have thought that would be a nearly impossible task?

Bulma was trying to talk me into getting a dark red wedding dress she had seen. In reality, I really liked it. It was very simple, like I wanted, but the color wasn't what I wanted.

"You need to get married in white." Rini said matter-of-factly. "There's an old saying that goes 'a bride dressed in blue, red, or black, will wish herself back'."

"You don't really believe that do you?" Bulma asked.

She shrugged. "My aunt was dressed in a blue wedding dress on her wedding day and he began to hit her after they'd been married for a year."

"I like the idea of a white wedding dress anyway. It's classic, and in years from now my kids can look at the dress and it may very well still be in style." I said.

We left the store with Mom following us in her car to the next bridal store. As we arrived, Mom brought the veil I was going to use so that I could see what it would look like. It was hers when she had married Goku's father. It was going to be my something borrowed. As I browsed through the selection of wedding dresses, I wore it on my head.

"Hey Chi-Chi?" Rini called. "Do you like this one?" She held up a long sleeved wedding dress with beaded flowers all across the front.

"You're a brat." I said to her, barely able to keep myself from laughing.

Mom came up behind and tapped me on the shoulder. She was holding a dress that simply took my breath away. It was strapless and plain with no beading or bows. It was much in the style of my prom dress, except for the long, white train that came from behind it. "Do you like this?"

"Oh, I love it!" I said, with a hand to my mouth. I went to try it on.

As I emerged from the dressing room, I walked slowly forward to the pedestal in front of the mirror so I could examine myself. Rini had an awestruck smile on her face. Bulma looked on with a Vegeta like smirk. Mom put a hand over her heart and sighed happily.

"So it's good?" I asked, before looking at myself in the mirror. They all nodded.

I stood up on the pedestal and smiled widely. This was my wedding dress. I could feel it. I closed my eyes and imagined myself gliding across the dance floor at the reception with Goku in a handsome tuxedo. Yes, it seemed too perfect.

"I want this one." I said, while looking at all of them, smiling.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Mom asked the attendant. "How much is this dress?"

The attendant bustled over to us with her price book. "This particular model will cost $2,000 with alterations included."

I thought I was going to faint. Two thousand dollars was so much to pay for a wedding dress. I loved it so much, but I just didn't have two thousand dollars. Mom's eyes met mine. I could tell she was thinking the exact same thing.

"Thank you." Mom said, nodding at the woman. I stepped down and sat on the pedestal, crushed.

"Don't worry Chi, we'll keep looking." Bulma said.

"Yeah… I should change then." I said. I walked sadly bath into the dressing room and changed into my normal clothes.

After that, we all headed over to my house to discuss wedding plans and have some dinner. Mom cooked spaghetti with meatballs and we all sat at the kitchen table.

"You could have a wedding shower, and ask for only money. Maybe that can help pay for your wedding dress." Rini suggested.

"That's a good idea, but people aren't going to give her only money." Mom spoke up. "When I had my wedding shower, I did the same thing so that Goku's father and I could have a better quality wedding, but people gave me all sorts of things. Bed sheets, gift certificates, photo albums, silverware, dishes… the list goes on and on."

"It's worth a shot, though. Don't worry Chi, you'll get that dress. Mark my words." Bulma said.

We talked for a while and everyone decided to hold the party in 15 days from that night, on a Saturday afternoon at 4. It would be at my house since we had a large backyard with a nice garden. "I'll make sure to mention the dress on the invitation." Rini said. "That way, it'll be easier to get what we need."

We all made out a guest sheet of about 50 people. After dinner Bulma went upstairs to type up the invitation on the computer. Rini and me sat in the living room with Mom's Rolodex address holder, my little black book, and Rini's electronic address book. We had addressed about 10 envelopes when Bulma came downstairs with a rough draft.

"What do you guys think?" She asked, putting it in front of us.

You're invited to Chi-Chi King's wedding shower!

On Saturday, the 16th of July friends and family of the bride ask you to attend at 4:00 pm at the bride's home: 325 Rose Court.

The bride has stressed that if you feel the obligation to give a gift, cash is all that's truly needed to buy the wedding dress of her dreams. Unfortunately, she is not able to afford it at this current time.

Please RSVP to Bulma Briefs at 682-2893 or Rini Grantt at 574-6343. If you have any questions, concerns, or need any directions, please feel free to call at any time day or night.

We hope to see you there!

"Looks good." Rini said. "The thing about the money sounds… weird, but there really isn't any other way to get around it is there? Seeing as the situation can't be helped, you did a good job. Print them off."

After Bulma came down with all they copies, we each went to work addressing envelopes and within an hour they were done. The clock in the hallway chimed 8.

Rini stretched up. "Now what? These will be in tomorrow's mail so they should all arrive to people's houses on Monday. Is there a plan for tonight?"

Bulma laid down on the couch. "I want to go out. The Cage over on 16th street has a karaoke/70's theme night tonight if we want to go through the humiliation again."

"What time does it open?" I asked.

"At 8, but the place doesn't get good until 10 or later."

I flipped on the TV and surfed. "We can play Mario." I suggested.

"Okay!" Rini said. We sat close to the TV and I switched on the Nintendo 64. We put in Mario Kart and raced around, more trying to crash into each other than win. After, we played Golden Eye 007 and shot each other repeatedly. Bulma turned out to be the champion for the night.

At around 9, we all went up to my room and everybody took turns at raiding my closet for clothes to wear out. Bulma chose a short denim skirt that I never wear anymore and my red tank top. Rini just borrowed a black tank top of mine and kept her dark blue jean capris on. I changed into my elephant bottoms and put on an orange halter-top that I had bought the other day for 5 dollars. We all crowded into the bathroom like we had on prom night and put on make up.

I put in my large silver hoop earrings and left my hair down. My hair had gotten really long; halfway down my back. Maybe I should cut it soon. Rini put her hair into a quick twist and fastened it with a clip. Bulma put hers into a ponytail high on her head.

I sent a text message to Goku's cell phone saying that once he got out of work we'd be at 'The Cage'. He messaged back saying that he'd be there with Vegeta and Brian, but later at around 10:45.

We arrived at 10 on the dot. We waited outside in the long line and shivered in the night air. Within 15 minutes we were inside. We left our jackets in the coat closet and sat down at a table to the left of the dance floor. Karaoke was going on until 10:30, so we sat and listened to the last few acts wrap up. One very good looking young man was up on stage singing Madonna's "Like A Virgin". He sounded like a dying cat, but he was nice to look at.

After the singers were done making asses of themselves, they dance floor began to pump with the disco beat. Ah ABBA. Could they have been any better?

The three of us sat around the table, checking out and playing our favorite game: 'Boxers or Briefs?'. We went around the room, pointing at random guys and came to the conclusion that there were an abnormal about of guys in brief tonight.

"Woah, woah, woah." I said, staring at a guy sitting at the bar with a blonde girl. "Is that…Krillin?"

Bulma squinted. "Mmm…yah. That's him alright."

"Is that the girl you saw him with before, Bulma?" Rini asked, keeping her eyes glued on the couple.

"Yeah, that's her."

"I want to get closer. See what she's like." I said.

"You mean bitch slap her?" Rini asked, laughing slightly.

"Nah. It's not her fault that Krillin is a little shit." I said. "Come on, let's go meet her!"

Warily, we each got up from the table and walked over to the bar to talk to Krillin and his new…or not so new girlfriend.

"Hey Krillin!" I said to him, waving.

"Oh…" he said, blushing a deep shade of red. "H-hey guys."

"Who's your friend?" Rini asked.

"Oh, she's um…um…" It appeared that Krillin didn't remember her name.

"My name's 18." She said. Her voice was deep. Her eyes were a beautiful bright blue and her hair was a nice shade of blonde. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a halter-top, exactly the same as mine, only in blue. "I like your shirt." She said, looking at me.

"Thanks!" I said. "Value Village?"

"I love that place!" She said with a smile. When she smiled, she no longer looked so serious. Thank god.

"Hey lady." Someone said into my ear while sliding an arm around my waist smoothly. I turned around and planted a big kiss on his lips, knowing it could only be one person.

"How was work today, sweetie?" I asked, wrapping my arms around him neck.

He rolled his eyes. "Torture." He looked at Krillin with 18. "That her?"

"Mmmhmm. She doesn't seem like such a bad person, but he's a jack ass. Maron threw a hissy-fit in Golden Chopsticks today and broke a glass. Caused a big scene."

"You guys can't put up with that. She's acting like a little kid, and she knows way better than that."

"Did I have hissy-fits that bad when I lost the baby?" I asked him.

"I can't compare since I haven't been around her that much, but I can safely say that you had your days. The thing is that you never had your days in public where people could see you." He kissed my forehead. "Want something to drink?"

We handed Brian money for drinks since he was the only one old enough to buy for us. Bulma, Rini, Vegeta, Brian, Goku, and I went back to the table where we had been before. After we finished our drinks we went to the dance floor.

The Bee Gees pumped through our veins like a drug as we shook our groove things on the dance floor. We did dance after dance in true 70's fashion. We danced the night away like they did when my dad was our age and smiled at the thought. I thought about how the music might be at the reception, and thought of how wonderful it would be if I would be wearing that dress.

Author's Note: BAH! What a terrible ending. I can't believe myself and how awful that was. Sigh Well, Thanks for coming around and checking out this installment. Check back soon!

Annie Bacchi